I have done a lot of reading her about rooting and updating my TF300. After getting a headspinning amount of information, I'd like someone to verify what I think I know.
I have a TF300, stock ROM, no root, running US .17. I have not received any updates after going to Settings/about tab/update and pressing the update button (I get "no updates found') I have cleared DM and CM client and rebooted several times, but no updates are found. I have tried on several WiFI networks I have access to.
1. I should be able to root using one of several one click methods I have found here, correct?
2. Once rooted and root keeper is installed, I should be able to update to .29 and keep root, correct?
3. A manual update to US .29, once rooted, will cause me to lose root, correct?
4. Will I receive Over The Air update once rooted? If not, how can I update to US .29 without losing root?
5. Is this the best path to take, or is there another path that would be easier for a newb like me (I know just enough about Android to be dangerous)? What I mean by another path is, should I manually update to US .29 and wait for a one click solution to come out later, all the while enjoying the new update.
6. All this is to fix some lag issues I have with all browsers....Tried Stock, Dolphin, Firefox, Opera...all the same. Some FC and others just hang for up to 30 seconds, even in Performance mode (With only one tab open!) So this will "FIX" those lag issues, correct?
Thank you for your time
If you're still on .17, root with sparkyroot, save it with ota rootkeeper, update to .29 (if it isn't there, they've been posted in many places on the forums), and restore root. As for fixing lag issues, it depends on what you do, rooting alone won't change anything, but you can try out the different tweaks available.
Sent from my Incredible 2 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5
Missed a couple of your questions, yes, you will still receive ota updates if you're rooted, as long as you don't unlock the bootloader. This is the easiest way to root too, all you need to do is follow sparkyroot's instructions and back up your root.
Sent from my Incredible 2 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5
One question always leads to another
Thank you! But of course, I now have just a few more questions.
I do understand rooting alone will not help me with my lag issues. I'm hoping the update to .29 will. I am not a power user, but I would like the option open to me later to install ROMs, hence why I want to root now.
1. I thought I had to unlock bootloader to root. With sparkyroot I do not?
2. Since I have not unlocked bootloader, will rooting alone void my warranty? I thinking not since I should be able to unroot with no trace, correct?
3. I thought, (or read somewhere here, I think) that if I do a MANUAL install, I would lose root and be unable to regain it. If I get an update PUSHED to me by ASUS, Ill be able to regain root with rootkeeper. Is that correct?
I'd like to thank everyone here, by the way, for all the information I have gotten in my 30 days of owning this tablet and lurking here.
Throb1231 said:
Thank you! But of course, I now have just a few more questions.
I do understand rooting alone will not help me with my lag issues. I'm hoping the update to .29 will. I am not a power user, but I would like the option open to me later to install ROMs, hence why I want to root now.
1. I thought I had to unlock bootloader to root. With sparkyroot I do not?
2. Since I have not unlocked bootloader, will rooting alone void my warranty? I thinking not since I should be able to unroot with no trace, correct?
3. I thought, (or read somewhere here, I think) that if I do a MANUAL install, I would lose root and be unable to regain it. If I get an update PUSHED to me by ASUS, Ill be able to regain root with rootkeeper. Is that correct?
I'd like to thank everyone here, by the way, for all the information I have gotten in my 30 days of owning this tablet and lurking here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need to unlock for root. They are completely unrelated. Just update manually and use THIS THREAD to root .29. There's even a one-click tool like you wanted. Don't forget to press Thanks for miloj.
Oh, and after you've updated to .29 and rooted; don't forget to use OTA rootkeeper to backup root.
If Asus releases a new update it may save your root.
EndlessDissent said:
No need to unlock for root. They are completely unrelated. Just update manually and use THIS THREAD to root .29. There's even a one-click tool like you wanted. Don't forget to press Thanks for miloj.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's still on the .17 software, so no need to do that. Just use the sparkyroot method, backup with rootkeeper and then update.
Edit to add that no, rooting will not void the warranty, just unroot before you need to send it back.
Sent from my Incredible 2 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5
Yeah, he's still on .17, but he's not getting the OTA prompt. He wants to manually upgrade, and you can't restore root after a manual upgrade, so my advice still stands.
Thank you both! Rooted with Sparky root and backed up with OTA rootsaver. Now I have downloaded the .29 update from ASUS webpage and installed. It says I have lost root.
I tried to restore root with OTA and it says SU restored, however it does not show that I have root access. Tring to use Titanium BU also shows I do not have root.
Tried then to go back to Sparkyroot and try again, but to no avail. Do I now have to downgrade back to .17 to gain root because I messed it up, or is there a solution? I was rooted for several hours before the upgrade to .29.
Throb1231 said:
Thank you both! Rooted with Sparky root and backed up with OTA rootsaver. Now I have downloaded the .29 update from ASUS webpage and installed. It says I have lost root.
I tried to restore root with OTA and it says SU restored, however it does not show that I have root access. Tring to use Titanium BU also shows I do not have root.
Tried then to go back to Sparkyroot and try again, but to no avail. Do I now have to downgrade back to .17 to gain root because I messed it up, or is there a solution? I was rooted for several hours before the upgrade to .29.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you need to go to:
h tt p://forum.xda-developers.c om/showthread.php?t=1704209 (sorry for the chopped up link. I can't post links yet)
and root again.
EndlessDissent said:
Yeah, he's still on .17, but he's not getting the OTA prompt. He wants to manually upgrade, and you can't restore root after a manual upgrade, so my advice still stands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, ok. Didn't realize you couldn't restore if you updated manually.
Yes, it is as I thought. Tried Sparkys and miloj's root program and I can not get root. I ran the program twice from my lap top. Driver's for TF300 show installed in Device manager (Windows 7). ASUS sync was installed in laptop and recognized TF300 but the program was not running during root attempt.
When I run Superuser and attempt to update SU binaries, I get "Failed" when it attempts pathway to write update.
Attempted to restore using OTA rootkeeper but all I get is "SU Restored". Check boxes indicate no root.
Any other ideas?
Confirmed I am on .29 from a MANUAL update.
Tried again from home computer. Ran Sparky and miloj program. I get error stating
"failed to copy 'Superuser.apk' to '/data/local/tmp/Superuser.apk' : not a directory"
Tablet reboots and says I should be rooted but obviously not. Superuser not written to tablet
Throb1231 said:
Tried again from home computer. Ran Sparky and miloj program. I get error stating
"failed to copy 'Superuser.apk' to '/data/local/tmp/Superuser.apk' : not a directory"
Tablet reboots and says I should be rooted but obviously not. Superuser not written to tablet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you just install Superuser from the market? The su binaries might be there and the app just isn't installing. I may be wrong, not sure how the automated program works, but it can't hurt.
Just tried that. Installs fine but when I try to update binaries, I get error writing to filepath, telling me there is no root. I'm hoping this makes 10 posts for me so I can actually go to Sparky's thread in Dev. forum and ask directly. Thanks for your help tho. Ill still be monitoring here if anyone has a solution
Throb1231 said:
Just tried that. Installs fine but when I try to update binaries, I get error writing to filepath, telling me there is no root. I'm hoping this makes 10 posts for me so I can actually go to Sparky's thread in Dev. forum and ask directly. Thanks for your help tho. Ill still be monitoring here if anyone has a solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try manually doing the code from miloj's thread?
While the instructions in his thread are clear, they are way past my level of expertise. I would not attempt it without someone standing next to me. I have not entered code since the 1980's Compute! magazine days.
Throb1231 said:
While the instructions in his thread are clear, they are way past my level of expertise. I would not attempt it without someone standing next to me. I have not entered code since the 1980's Compute! magazine days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I can't think of anything else, you could just use the downgrade method, that's easy enough. The code really is just copy/paste though.
Throb1231 said:
Just tried that. Installs fine but when I try to update binaries, I get error writing to filepath, telling me there is no root. I'm hoping this makes 10 posts for me so I can actually go to Sparky's thread in Dev. forum and ask directly. Thanks for your help tho. Ill still be monitoring here if anyone has a solution
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your problem is not with the superuser apk.
The actual root is when you write an "su" binary to system and makes it executable (there is some access control stuff in between, but it's what's happening in essence).
So - your trouble is not with the installation nor the messages from superuser.apk - it's with the actual rooting method.
Make absolutely sure your adb drivers are working and that you've got the files "debugfs", "su" and the other debugfs file on top of the .bat file, which is the installation script, in the same directory whilst running the .bat file.
Agreed. I posted this in development.
It was surprisingly more difficult to install the drivers correctly than anticipated.
For those noobs like me, here's a step-by-step for installing the drivers before running the root method.
http://transformerprimeroot.com/tra...all-transformer-prime-usb-drivers-on-windows/
Please note that before using the step-by-step guide above, I also had to put the tf300 in Camera Mount to even get the "“ASUS Android Composite ADB Interface" option to show up in Device Manager.
Once you get this far, you can manually update the driver (found in the sparkym3 "Drivers" folder from the download) via the step-by-step.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using XDA
(FYI, this is my first android device so i'm a noob to this world, but I have some experience in the iphone jbreaking)
SITUATION: Ok, so I picked up a TF300 US model, with ICS 9.4.3.17 on it. Reading up all over the forums for help and did the following: used sparky's guide and used the Sparkyroot.apk tool, along with Superused.apk and VoodooOTArootkeeper, and it worked great! Thanks to the "Allaboutandroids dotcom" youtube user guide.
My plan is to stay on stock OS. I do NOT want to unlock. (keep warranty and such)
I'm into retro gaming mostly and I don't think I need custom ROMS to enjoy most apps. I would like to moderately overclock the CPU, if that's available without unlocking.
THREE QUESTIONS:
1. So i'm reading that to do the future updates and eventually JBean, that I need to let it do the OTA (that's the tablet requesting to update without me manually selecting it right?) and I will lose root, but SHOULD be able to restore it, without unlocking correct?
2. HOW/WHERE is my root backed up to and how can I extract it to my PC, in case I need to copy it back over after an update. (I have a microsd card in the tf300 as well)
3. Before I do an OTA update, should I do anything?
4. Can I somehow just jump to the latest JB update, or does the tablet need to do incremental updates starting with 9.4.3.18 (or whatever is after .17)
Thanks again for any advice forum people. Regarding question 3. I hear people saying I need to do stuff in Voodoo AND/OR install SuperSU. (Not just Superuser.apk
Great forum and helped my decision to get one of these. Just hoping now I can get my wife to stop nagging me for not getting a 2.5X as $$$ iPad! (under $250 for NEW TF300 16gb. Yay!)
So just as an update, I ran root checker and everything is good and in green. I have superuser installed but NOT SuperSU (I guess it's one or the other but not both, and i'm not sure what the difference is between them)
But when I go to update superuser binaries, it fails at the first step (downloading manifest) every time. I have shut down/restarted so that's not it.
I also ran superuser update fixer 1.2, and it says that everything is fine.
I read that binaries should be updated before allowing an OS update so any thoughts on next steps? The goal is to get jellybean up and running and NOT permanently lose my root. (while still keeping the bootloader unlocked, which it currently is)
I've hooked it up via usb to laptop and gone to the googleplay store and found superuser (in case I had a old version) but it always states "This application is not compatible with your TF300 device" and refuses to install it that way. Could try hunting on the net for a loose .apk version of it, if that's what I need.
Thanks!
Just get supersu (a lot more reliable than superuser) and run it right after installing, it will update the binaries. Then make sure your root is backed up with ota rootkeeper. Once you have done those things you can update through the notification on the pad. I'm not sure if the updates are incremental, but they might be, so just in case between each update restore root with ota rootkeeper run supersu and reboot before going to next update, also always make sure your root is backed up. Good luck, once you are on jb there's no way on getting rooted without unlocking as of yet, so I repeat myself make sure your root is backed up wit ota rootkeeper and you have supersu before updating.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk 2
jgaf said:
Just get supersu (a lot more reliable than superuser) and run it right after installing, it will update the binaries. Then make sure your root is backed up with ota rootkeeper. Once you have done those things you can update through the notification on the pad. I'm not sure if the updates are incremental, but they might be, so just in case between each update restore root with ota rootkeeper run supersu and reboot before going to next update, also always make sure your root is backed up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks jgaf for the help!
So when I do the "backup" with rootkeeper, it's actually 'saving' the root but temporarily turning it off right? And doing an update doesn't wipe my device, so rootkeeper SHOULD be there correct? So to do a system update (when I click on the bottom right and see the brightness adjust and enable wifi, etc, there is a message saying a system update is available. That is the OTA update correct? Before I do that, I need to run rootkeeper and click the "temp save root", and it basically turns off root access but saves it from being wiped off with the new update right?
I've read that some people say to activate some optional "prevent root loss due to update" feature on Superuser. Does supersu have/need that?
And last, if I switch from Superuser to SuperSU, how do I safely switch over? Do I delete Superuser, and then download/install superSU, or install both on the device and then do some kinda remove or update?
I read that by doing the update methods you decscibed, I can basically keep my root on jellybean without being unlocked. (but it's tricky and some users lose the root regardless) Guess there's not one 100% "rooted and locked" foolproof method yet.
So far this method is working but i've only had one OTA update offered and that bumped it from .17 - .30. So that's not JellyBean yet. Hopefully the rootkeeper and supersu reapplying method will continue to work like this. Thanks!
You don't really need to temp unroot for updates, just make sure that everything is checked in rootkeeper. Sorry I took so long to answer, but those switching from superuser to supersu you need to install supersu and run it before removing superuser.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk 2
I've made this thread to teach T337A owners how to root their device with SuperSU. Please note that this is a system-less root, meaning it's temporary, but can be re-applied. Rooting only takes about 5-7 minutes and brings numerous tweaks and advantages to your device. Just remember that every time you reboot or shut the device down, you will need to repeat the rooting process. This tutorial was designed for Lollipop 5.1.1, but it should work on KitKat as well.
Before beginning, you will need to download the following file, unzip it on your pc, then transfer it to your device's internal storage/external sd card.
T337AUCU2BOH4 (Lollipop) firmware can be found here
Root Files can be found here
Lets start!
1) Install both the APK files in the file on your device, If prompted, allow installation from unknown sources.
2) Make sure your device is connected to WiFi, then open Kingroot.
3) Once Kingroot is "Done searching for the best root strategy", click the "Try Now" button and wait about 3 minutes for KingRoot to give you a "Root Successfully" message.
4) This is where it gets kinda tricky, immediately after receiving the root success message, go into SuperSU-me, and grant root permissions when prompted.
5) Click on the big blue button in the middle of the frame and wait about 1 minute for the process to complete. DO NOT UPDATE THE SUPERSU BINARY, IT WILL CAUSE YOUR DEVICE TO BOOTLOOP.
6) IMMEDIATELY after the process has completed, go into Settings and make sure KingRoot or Purify is not installed! This is an important step because Kingroot and Kingroot adware tends to install itself in the system partition which can cause problems and frustration.
7 - Recommended) Download a root file explorer (such as ES File Explorer) and search "King" under /data and /system to ensure that the KingRoot app and its bloatware has been wiped from the system. This is to ensure that Kingroot still works properly after a reboot.
8) Enjoy root access!
If this tutorial helped you please be sure to hit the :good: button. If you had any issues or troubles during this process please feel free to let me know down below.
Cheers!
@KingOfTheNet
will flashfire work? bc it wont with kingroot
also, could itit.d be enabled and run these off of a script for example on startup so we don't have to do this after each reboot/shutdown
but i believe you would have to capture kingroots data somehow in the process of rooting
toolhas4degrees said:
@KingOfTheNet
will flashfire work? bc it wont with kingroot
also, could itit.d be enabled and run these off of a script for example on startup so we don't have to do this after each reboot/shutdown
but i believe you would have to capture kingroots data somehow in the process of rooting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FlashFire does work on SuperSU, I've tested that for myself. It does not work with KingRoot.
For the second question, I'm not sure. I haven't looked through that file myself and I might look through it later but right now, I would just avoid rebooting the tablet if you wanna keep root without repeating the process over and over again. It's what I do, repeating the process over and over again can get very tedious and annoying.
Cheers!
I assume you're talking about 5.1.1? It won't work with kingroot versions higher than 4.8. Also, flashfire will load, but if you try to flash a zip you're screwed. You can actually use replace kingroot with supersu zip in terminal emulator on any version kingroot. Same deal with su binary, don't update it. Wish I could figure out how I had permanent for with kingroot. I had to go messing with things and lost it. Nothing really special about this method, unless there's a dev out there that can do something with it.
xjimmy said:
I assume you're talking about 5.1.1? It won't work with kingroot versions higher than 4.8. Also, flashfire will load, but if you try to flash a zip you're screwed. You can actually use replace kingroot with supersu zip in terminal emulator on any version kingroot. Same deal with su binary, don't update it. Wish I could figure out how I had permanent for with kingroot. I had to go messing with things and lost it. Nothing really special about this method, unless there's a dev out there that can do something with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the late response. Yes, somethings I forgot to mention in the original post:
1)Updating the SU Binary will put your device in a bootloop
2)Flashing anything with flashfire (based on what I've seen) results in a soft brick
3) I know you can replace kingroot with SuperSU in terminal, but when you reboot, you're unrooted again.
4) I'm trying to figure out how I could altar the boot.img so we can get permanent SuperSU on this thing the same way Chainfire did it with the US and Qualcomm Samsung Galaxy S7's.
Cheers!
Hi, @KingOfTheNet, thanks for helping out with this device, i rooted my device on KK nk2 build and now updated to 5.1.1, thanks to you! now i would like to root 5.1.1 (am aware it is a temp. root)
i have superSu Pro, do i need Super Sume for this to work?
KingOfTheNet said:
Sorry for the late response. Yes, somethings I forgot to mention in the original post:
1)Updating the SU Binary will put your device in a bootloop
2)Flashing anything with flashfire (based on what I've seen) results in a soft brick
3) I know you can replace kingroot with SuperSU in terminal, but when you reboot, you're unrooted again.
4) I'm trying to figure out how I could altar the boot.img so we can get permanent SuperSU on this thing the same way Chainfire did it with the US and Qualcomm Samsung Galaxy S7's.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Somehow I had it permanently rooted with kingroot a while back. I had the 4.9.6 apk on my tab at the time, is all I know. I could've updated from an earlier version, and maybe that was the cause. I've tried so many different versions of kingroot with no luck, but one peculiar occurrence; if I open kingroot, get into the settings and uninstall kingroot without saving a backup of root, then delete all the files in the tablet's main directory, and reinstall kingroot version 4.8.0, it somehow retains a partial permanent root. At least on my T337A running 5.1.1 BOH4 it will, as long as I get a fresh install of 4.8.0, let it root, then hit the optimize button right after. Then wait until it finally tells me that kingroot has been deployed as a system app. After that, when I try to open any root apps, the screen will darken as it does when the root permission tab pops up, but it never pops up. The app just freezes. I can kill it in the task manager screen to just go back to using my tablet. After I restart the tab, sometimes it'll tell me an app has been granted superuser permissions. If I open up terminal emulator, type in the 'su' command and hit enter, the screen will turn dark again like it's going to ask me to allow or deny superuser permission, but it just freezes like that again. I've tried all kinds of stuff with 4.8.0, but I still can't get it to stick. If you don't hit the optimize button in kingroot right after rooting, and just wait for kingroot to install as a system app, the allow/deny prompt comes up without freezing, but the partial permanent root glitch doesn't remain. ugh, tired of messing with it though. lol
Edit: I may be wrong. It might need to be rooted with 4.8.0, optimized, then rebooted right away for the partial root. I'll try to do it again and let you know what I find.
bklyndiaz said:
Hi, @KingOfTheNet, thanks for helping out with this device, i rooted my device on KK nk2 build and now updated to 5.1.1, thanks to you! now i would like to root 5.1.1 (am aware it is a temp. root)
i have superSu Pro, do i need Super Sume for this to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm happy to help out! You'd need king root installed, root the tab with king root, then use SuperSU me to replace the kingroot binaries with the SuperSU ones. It is an automatic process and should only take about 30 seconds or less. Pro version of SUPERSUme is not required, free version should work just fine.
Cheers!
xjimmy said:
Somehow I had it permanently rooted with kingroot a while back. I had the 4.9.6 apk on my tab at the time, is all I know. I could've updated from an earlier version, and maybe that was the cause. I've tried so many different versions of kingroot with no luck, but one peculiar occurrence; if I open kingroot, get into the settings and uninstall kingroot without saving a backup of root, then delete all the files in the tablet's main directory, and reinstall kingroot version 4.8.0, it somehow retains a partial permanent root. At least on my T337A running 5.1.1 BOH4 it will, as long as I get a fresh install of 4.8.0, let it root, then hit the optimize button right after. Then wait until it finally tells me that kingroot has been deployed as a system app. After that, when I try to open any root apps, the screen will darken as it does when the root permission tab pops up, but it never pops up. The app just freezes. I can kill it in the task manager screen to just go back to using my tablet. After I restart the tab, sometimes it'll tell me an app has been granted superuser permissions. If I open up terminal emulator, type in the 'su' command and hit enter, the screen will turn dark again like it's going to ask me to allow or deny superuser permission, but it just freezes like that again. I've tried all kinds of stuff with 4.8.0, but I still can't get it to stick. If you don't hit the optimize button in kingroot right after rooting, and just wait for kingroot to install as a system app, the allow/deny prompt comes up without freezing, but the partial permanent root glitch doesn't remain. ugh, tired of messing with it though. lol
Edit: I may be wrong. It might need to be rooted with 4.8.0, optimized, then rebooted right away for the partial root. I'll try to do it again and let you know what I find.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kingroot does allow your device to retain permanent root after a certain time. However, Kingroot is not as powerful as SuperSU, is very limited in terms of what It can do, and has it's own 'bloatware' titled Purify. I'd honestly stick with SuperSU because it's (probably) the most powerful and efficient way to root your phone. I'd also suggest avoiding having to reboot the tablet at all with temp root because you would have to take 5 minutes to install it again, which was a pain in the butt for me.
As for the kingroot app freezing, that's usually the result of a bad download or a bad root. Plus kingroot is very limited in terms of what you can do on your kingrooted device. SUPERSU is the equivalent of an IOS jailbreak. SUPERSU gives you full control of your device, with no bloatware and limits, unlike kingroot.
Kingroot does sometimes delete the su binaries upon rebooting, which is another reason I don't like it all that much.
Another theory I thought of is that it's not Kingroot that's deleting the binaries, it's actually something that's set to happen when the device boots up. Either the actual Android os or the bootloader searches for and deletes the su binaries to prevent root.
I don't know for sure, I've kinda slowed down work on this device mainly because of a project I've been working on with the Samsung Galaxy S7 AT&T (SM-G930A). I'll look into these things when I get the chance.
Cheers!
I understand the limitations of Kingroot, and certainly supersu by all means is better. In the case of flashfire with supersu in this scenario, it's merely the difference of being able to open and run it just enough to work improperly and brick your device vs. Kingroot not being able to open it at all. I posted in a thread long before this one, how to replace kingroot with supersu, only I use the zip file in terminal emulator. Pretty sure I went over flashfire as well. The terminal emulator method works with new versions of kingroot, unlike supersu me. Are you suggesting that the T337A running 5.1.1 BOH4 can achieve permanent root via kingroot after "a certain amount of time"? Because I'm the only one I've seen on xda who's ever posted that they had permanent root from kingroot, but I didn't know how I did it. After I messed with things, i softbricked and had to flash back to stock, which, no offense, the stock file was available way before you posted it. Anyway, it's not the kingroot app freezing per se, i was talking about after rebooting, and without re-rooting, when trying to use rooted apps, they actually start to engage in the kingroot request superuser permissions pop-up. So, no, it's not a bad download, etc. I believe an older version of kingroot somehow permanently rooted my tab, perhaps with the help of something I was messing with at the time, perhaps not. I've intentionally rebooted my tab an unimaginable amount of times, testing to see if I possibly regained permanent root to no avail, so I know how that works. And it's not about having a hard time deciding on kingroot or supersu for a temproot, it's the interest in permanent root, the possibility off something like safestrap, and/or flashing custom roms, etc. When people say temproot is better or safer, i say boo. How many custom roms include a root toggle in the settings? Anyway I wish I could've gotten hold of a developer while I had permanent root. Maybe I could've done a system dump, or even try replacing the permanent kingroot with supers and drying out that could've stuck. You say you slowed down on this device, do you mean you were pursuing permanent root for it? Are you a developer? I have the AT&T S7 Edge (G935A). What's your project on the 930? Is it something for rooted S7's? I still have my edge running the engboot with the echoRom. Anyway, thanks for your reply.
---------- Post added at 01:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 AM ----------
https://forum.xda-developers.com/tab-4/help/t337a-temp-root-bootlp-fix-tar-official-t3473737
*https://forum.xda-developers.com/tab-4/general/permanent-root-t337a-5-1-1-kingroot-t3518334
A couple of threads I started a long time ago that may be of interest to you.
xjimmy said:
I understand the limitations of Kingroot, and certainly supersu by all means is better. In the case of flashfire with supersu in this scenario, it's merely the difference of being able to open and run it just enough to work improperly and brick your device vs. Kingroot not being able to open it at all. I posted in a thread long before this one, how to replace kingroot with supersu, only I use the zip file in terminal emulator. Pretty sure I went over flashfire as well. The terminal emulator method works with new versions of kingroot, unlike supersu me. Are you suggesting that the T337A running 5.1.1 BOH4 can achieve permanent root via kingroot after "a certain amount of time"? Because I'm the only one I've seen on xda who's ever posted that they had permanent root from kingroot, but I didn't know how I did it. After I messed with things, i softbricked and had to flash back to stock, which, no offense, the stock file was available way before you posted it. Anyway, it's not the kingroot app freezing per se, i was talking about after rebooting, and without re-rooting, when trying to use rooted apps, they actually start to engage in the kingroot request superuser permissions pop-up. So, no, it's not a bad download, etc. I believe an older version of kingroot somehow permanently rooted my tab, perhaps with the help of something I was messing with at the time, perhaps not. I've intentionally rebooted my tab an unimaginable amount of times, testing to see if I possibly regained permanent root to no avail, so I know how that works. And it's not about having a hard time deciding on kingroot or supersu for a temproot, it's the interest in permanent root, the possibility off something like safestrap, and/or flashing custom roms, etc. When people say temproot is better or safer, i say boo. How many custom roms include a root toggle in the settings? Anyway I wish I could've gotten hold of a developer while I had permanent root. Maybe I could've done a system dump, or even try replacing the permanent kingroot with supers and drying out that could've stuck. You say you slowed down on this device, do you mean you were pursuing permanent root for it? Are you a developer? I have the AT&T S7 Edge (G935A). What's your project on the 930? Is it something for rooted S7's? I still have my edge running the engboot with the echoRom. Anyway, thanks for your reply.
---------- Post added at 01:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 AM ----------
https://forum.xda-developers.com/tab-4/help/t337a-temp-root-bootlp-fix-tar-official-t3473737
*https://forum.xda-developers.com/tab-4/general/permanent-root-t337a-5-1-1-kingroot-t3518334
A couple of threads I started a long time ago that may be of interest to you.
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Click to collapse
No offence taken on the firmware post, I was simply trying to spread the fact that the firmware for the device does exist but is very hard to find and is often posted on shady websites for money, unless you're looking in the right places. It only took me 5 minutes on Google to find one of those sites.
You asked if I was saying that the Tab 4 BOH4 firmware allows you to retain permanent root after some time, and yes, that's exactly what I was saying. I rooted my tablet with Kingroot 4.8.0 a while back and after about 4 - 5 reboots (I counted how many times I rebooted it, but the numbers could vary), It retained root. All I do today is avoid rebooting the tablet at all costs. I prefer SuperSU because, like we've said, there are almost no limitations of what you can do in terms of being rooted. I'm trying to find out how I can make root permanent on the tab with SuperSU by using the eng-boot method used to root all Qualcomm variants of the Galaxy S7, but that may take a while. Since my S7 has the eng-boot root method, I can reboot it all I want and it stays rooted with SuperSU. But at this point, It's just an Idea. I mainly need to find out whether or not the bootloader or the os is wiping the binaries on boot. Some older and newer versions of kingroot can retain root after reboot, but I have yet to find a version of the app that can do so.
Actually, some versions of Cyanogenmod and other custom roms had root pre-installed (not like SuperSU, but close enough), and like CM specifically, there was a section in the settings app for this pre-baked root. Even if I still used CM today, I still would've flashed SuperSU. But on a small number of devices, temp root really is better. However, most of those devices that would be on that list have very little to no development on them. Thus, they are not yet (and may never be) supported for permanent root.
I am partially on the road to becoming a developer, but I don't know how far that's gonna go (my prediction is not that far at all). I was doing research on how I could make an eng-boot for the Tab 4, but I became interested in my Galaxy S7 (AT&T). By that, I mean I wanted to make my own custom version of the stock Marshmallow rom ("Custom but stock OS"). To shorten it up, I wanted to create a .zip flashable "super package" which included SuperSU v2.79, Viper4Android, Overclock tools, and other stuff. I've kinda been on and off in terms of motivation to make this idea a reality, primarily because most of the things I wanted to include in this "package", can easily be installed by you in like 3 minutes, or maybe less. The original motive behind the idea was to lessen the work for power users who wanted to free their device "from the shackles". I've been on and off on work between both devices, but It's hard for me to continue the work without proper motivation. These projects are merely just an Idea at this point, but some drafts and copies do exist on my computer.
Creating a custom Android rom straight from my own head is basically an impossible task for me, considering most of the devices I work with have locked bootloaders. I am still learning Java and other Android programming languages in some of my free time but, again, the motivation to continue is something I struggle to find.
Cheers!
Upgrading OS and rooting
I am currently running my t337a on 4.4.2 with build NK2. I was able to root with towel root awhile ago. I want to upgrade my os to 5.1.1 and root after but would like to make sure I go about it the right way.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
loc626 said:
I am currently running my t337a on 4.4.2 with build NK2. I was able to root with towel root awhile ago. I want to upgrade my os to 5.1.1 and root after but would like to make sure I go about it the right way.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can root on the latest Lollipop firmware, but it's systemless supersu/temporary, meaning it will go away if you shutdown or reboot the device (you can re-root it, of course, but It can be annoying). The option to upgrade is up to you, and once you do upgrade, you can't downgrade (Locked bootloader & different bootloader versions. Lollipop has the new bootloader.) If you are going to upgrade, you can flash the Lollipop firmware via Odin or upgrade via OTA. If upgrading, I recommend taking it over the air, mainly because I'm still working up Odin packages for them. The Odin packages that I do have available are the BOH4 (the previous and the initial Lollipop update) ones, so if you upgrade OTA, it'll take away one step in the upgrade process, making your life a tad bit easier. Reply back if you need further help or have any more questions.
Cheers!
KingOfTheNet said:
You can root on the latest Lollipop firmware, but it's systemless supersu/temporary, meaning it will go away if you shutdown or reboot the device (you can re-root it, of course, but It can be annoying). The option to upgrade is up to you, and once you do upgrade, you can't downgrade (Locked bootloader & different bootloader versions. Lollipop has the new bootloader.) If you are going to upgrade, you can flash the Lollipop firmware via Odin or upgrade via OTA. If upgrading, I recommend taking it over the air, mainly because I'm still working up Odin packages for them. The Odin packages that I do have available are the BOH4 (the previous and the initial Lollipop update) ones, so if you upgrade OTA, it'll take away one step in the upgrade process, making your life a tad bit easier. Reply back if you need further help or have any more questions.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm highly considering an upgrade for the feel and hopefully a better performance. Also, a few apps I have need updates but only compatible on Android 5 and up. I have the OTA ready to go. Would I need to unroot before upgrading the OS?
loc626 said:
I'm highly considering an upgrade for the feel and hopefully a better performance. Also, a few apps I have need updates but only compatible on Android 5 and up. I have the OTA ready to go. Would I need to unroot before upgrading the OS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would be best to unroot before installing to avoid any issues during the installation. Other then that, you're in the clear! Just remember, you cannot downgrade after the install!
Cheers!
KingOfTheNet said:
4) I'm trying to figure out how I could altar the boot.img so we can get permanent SuperSU on this thing the same way Chainfire did it with the US and Qualcomm Samsung Galaxy S7's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have always been under the assumption that the boot.img for the locked BL on the s7 was literally an engineering kernel from Samsung, and not something Chainfire created. The reason Im saying this is because if Chainfire created a boot image that can get around a locked bootloader, then logic should state that he cracked Sprint/ATT's signature for the BL. So my way of thinking is the success of even one locked boot loader ... it should apply across the board for all, correct? Or am I waaaaay off? lol
leeboski44 said:
I have always been under the assumption that the boot.img for the locked BL on the s7 was literally an engineering kernel from Samsung, and not something Chainfire created. The reason Im saying this is because if Chainfire created a boot image that can get around a locked bootloader, then logic should state that he cracked Sprint/ATT's signature for the BL. So my way of thinking is the success of even one locked boot loader ... it should apply across the board for all, correct? Or am I waaaaay off? lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(1st question) Actually yeah, lol. It was an engineering kernel, he didn't make it . I'm assuming that was used during the development of the phone so Samsung and AT&T could construct the OS without running into any issues with the phones locked bootloader. At the time, I thought that Chainfire thought of some "mad science" to altar the boot.img so that it wont check the signatures of any of the files on boot.
Now I'm thinking:
1) He found a way to obtain all the phones signatures so that way he knows what signature the desired files (like a build of TWRP, or instance) would have to have so it can flash and boot properly.
--OR--
2) He somehow obtained or reproduced the engineering kernel that, like I said, was most likely used during software development for the phone (constructing the OS and the rest of the software).
I've done a little research on what engineering kernels actually do and why they are so useful now (to most people, the name is enough, lol). Apparently, they completely skip some of the signature checks on boot, primarily for /SYSTEM (The OS), which is why we were able to achieve permanent root the Qualcomm Galaxy S7 & S7 edge models. I do not think they skip signature checks for /RECOVERY or /BOOT, but we know that if we either reproduce or obtain the engineering kernel for this tablet, we can achieve permanent root the exact same way. I could be wrong, as I do not know for certain the Ins and outs of engineering kernels and how to get them, but It is very possible.
(2nd question) Now, I do not have much knowledge of bootloaders and signature checks, but I would go to the best assumption that since Sprint & AT&T, for example, are 2 completely different companies and are not affiliated (as of writing this), their bootloaders and updates would not have the same signatures. If they did, then Sprint would have to go to AT&T to sign their updates and such, and AT&T would have to do the same thing for Sprint. It just wouldn't really make sense. Lets think of it this way, If Target wants to sell a product in their stores that's already sold at Walmart, then should Target have to go to Walmart to get that approved? Or if Walmart wanted to sell something that's already sold at Target, then should Walmart have to go to Target for approval? Absolutely not, that wouldn't make any sense. Once again, I could be wrong, but it would make the most sense.
Please, anyone, correct me if I'm wrong.
Cheers!
KingOfTheNet said:
(1st question) Actually yeah, lol. It was an engineering kernel, he didn't make it . I'm assuming that was used during the development of the phone so Samsung and AT&T could construct the OS without running into any issues with the phones locked bootloader. At the time, I thought that Chainfire thought of some "mad science" to altar the boot.img so that it wont check the signatures of any of the files on boot.
Now I'm thinking:
1) He found a way to obtain all the phones signatures so that way he knows what signature the desired files (like a build of TWRP, or instance) would have to have so it can flash and boot properly.
--OR--
2) He somehow obtained or reproduced the engineering kernel that, like I said, was most likely used during software development for the phone (constructing the OS and the rest of the software).
I've done a little research on what engineering kernels actually do and why they are so useful now (to most people, the name is enough, lol). Apparently, they completely skip some of the signature checks on boot, primarily for /SYSTEM (The OS), which is why we were able to achieve permanent root the Qualcomm Galaxy S7 & S7 edge models. I do not think they skip signature checks for /RECOVERY or /BOOT, but we know that if we either reproduce or obtain the engineering kernel for this tablet, we can achieve permanent root the exact same way. I could be wrong, as I do not know for certain the Ins and outs of engineering kernels and how to get them, but It is very possible.
(2nd question) Now, I do not have much knowledge of bootloaders and signature checks, but I would go to the best assumption that since Sprint & AT&T, for example, are 2 completely different companies and are not affiliated (as of writing this), their bootloaders and updates would not have the same signatures. If they did, then Sprint would have to go to AT&T to sign their updates and such, and AT&T would have to do the same thing for Sprint. It just wouldn't really make sense. Lets think of it this way, If Target wants to sell a product in their stores that's already sold at Walmart, then should Target have to go to Walmart to get that approved? Or if Walmart wanted to sell something that's already sold at Target, then should Walmart have to go to Target for approval? Absolutely not, that wouldn't make any sense. Once again, I could be wrong, but it would make the most sense.
Please, anyone, correct me if I'm wrong.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No that makes perfect sense and thanks for clearing it up.
The whole thing about the signature being the means by which the bootloader is locked is important. Atleast to me it is, so thank you for clearing that up. :good: And so, it makes sense that the System partitions Signature check being skipped IS what allows access to root. But where my opinion differs on this is the Boot and Recovery implementation of the Signatures. I believe that it IS the carriers implementation that does not allow the Recovery and Boot partitions to be modified. If it were Samsungs then how is Samsung going to incorporate a Universal bootloader that knows how to load all carriers data, policy, etc?
And possibly this is what you were saying above and I am misreading it...
***EDIT*** I see you said that the signatures would NOT be the same between carriers, so I am in line with your theory there as well.
leeboski44 said:
No that makes perfect sense and thanks for clearing it up.
The whole thing about the signature being the means by which the bootloader is locked is important. Atleast to me it is, so thank you for clearing that up. :good: And so, it makes sense that the System partitions Signature check being skipped IS what allows access to root. But where my opinion differs on this is the Boot and Recovery implementation of the Signatures. I believe that it IS the carriers implementation that does not allow the Recovery and Boot partitions to be modified. If it were Samsungs then how is Samsung going to incorporate a Universal bootloader that knows how to load all carriers data, policy, etc?
And possibly this is what you were saying above and I am misreading it...
***EDIT*** I see you said that the signatures would NOT be the same between carriers, so I am in line with your theory there as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad I could be of help, however I don't see where I stated that the signature implementations on the BOOT and RECOVERY partitions was Samsung's idea not the carriers, if you could point that out for me that would be great.:good:
The engineering kernels skip SOME signature checks, both when flashing and booting into partitions, but I do not know exactly which ones they skip. We know it skips some of the signatures for /SYSTEM, but it does not do the same for the 2 other main ones, those being /BOOT & /RECOVERY. We know because "one of our own" attempted to flash their own build of TWRP recovery to the device (SM-G930A to be specific) only to get a signature check fail when booting the phone, which of course means that the phone has a locked bootloader and that the signatures for the /RECOVERY partition are still checked, but I do not know for certain about /BOOT. If I had to assume I'd say that /BOOT isn't checked, given the fact that if your phone is rooted then you would have had to flash the engineering kernel, which, like I said, skips some signature checks.
I hope I've cleared most things up for you.
Cheers!
KingOfTheNet said:
I've made this thread to teach T337A owners how to root their device with SuperSU. Please note that this is a system-less root, meaning it's temporary, but can be re-applied. Rooting only takes about 5-7 minutes and brings numerous tweaks and advantages to your device. Just remember that every time you reboot or shut the device down, you will need to repeat the rooting process. This tutorial was designed for Lollipop 5.1.1, but it should work on KitKat as well.
Before beginning, you will need to download the following file, unzip it on your pc, then transfer it to your device's internal storage/external sd card.
Root File: https://mega.nz/#!74Jl0ZqY!knlHuexbYGFkk1f4wHxq16u3L38EtfR9scQ0H7hISTA
Lets start!
1) Install both the APK files in the file on your device, If prompted, allow installation from unknown sources.
2) Make sure your device is connected to WiFi, then open Kingroot.
3) Once Kingroot is "Done searching for the best root strategy", click the "Try Now" button and wait about 3 minutes for KingRoot to give you a "Root Successfully" message.
4) This is where it gets kinda tricky, immediately after receiving the root success message, go into SuperSU-me, and grant root permissions when prompted.
5) Click on the big blue button in the middle of the frame and wait about 1 minute for the process to complete. DO NOT UPDATE THE SUPERSU BINARY, IT WILL BOOTLOOP.
6) IMMEDIATELY after the process has completed, go into Settings and make sure KingRoot or Purify is not installed! This is an important step because Kingroot and Kingroot adware tends to install itself in the system partition which can cause problems and frustration.
7 - Recommended) Download a root file explorer and search "King" under /data and /system to ensure that the KingRoot app and its bloatware has been wiped from the system.
8) Enjoy root access!
If this tutorial helped you please be sure to hit the :good: button. If you had any issues or troubles during this process please feel free to let me know down below.
Need T337A firmware? Check out my thread here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/tab-4/general/download-sm-t337a-lollipop-firmware-t3536509
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The firmware you provided saved my sm-t337A tablet from being soft bricked. Although I was able to gain temp root from this method, king root tried to disable the SELinux on my device and after trying to temp root again caused the app to implant itself as bloatware into the /systems folder and was non functional when using the app. Do you happen to know of a custom recovery (TWRP or CWM) which would work for this device?