I am not responsible for anything that happens in your life. Including what happens as result of following steps in this thread.
Hello all. After a long journey here, we figured a new thread would be in order for new comers not to have to read through fifty pages of information. Here you will find firmware to fix or update your Viking Pro. You will also find root methods, bootloader unlock and custom recoveries for this tablet. Lets start with ROOT...
Method 1: Kingroot. Kingroot works on this device. you can find it here. It's pretty straight forward, just download and install the apk and root.
Method 1.5: SuperSu. Kingroot works but it's not the best root out there. once you have root, follow the instructions here and Kingroot will be replaced with SuperSu.
Method 2: Su flash-able ZIP. This method requires you to follow steps in posts No. 3 and 4. Once you have custom recovery installed, You can flash This.
This method is a bit redundant. However, it does allow you to make a completely stock unooted backup of your rom before making any changes.
Check out posts 2, 3, 4 & 5 for the good stuff.
I'm gonna go ahead and thank everyone responsible and If I forgot to mention you, please don't hesitate to tell me and I will correct the situation:
@Bogram (Edited the bootloader so it could be unlocked on x.12.x versions)
@Jacube22 (Duplicated the method from Bogram to make the bootloader on x.9.x versions unlockable)
@vampirefo (Compiled a compatible CWM recovery for us)
@ewilley2008 (Found most of the firmware)
@mayzemay (Initial root thread)
@NepoRood
@jerryvail35
@Sir Jaxxy
@Snigglez
@Spartan Legionnaire
@bobl61
@csla
@Chainfire (For root)
FIRMWARE
There are two main branches of development for this tablet. It is very important to know which one you have because they are incompatible with each other. I personally bricked my first one with firmware from a x.9.x while mine is x.12.x. How do you check? Simple. In your build number, you can find it in "About tablet" in Settings or in the text at the top of the recovery screen. It's at the end of the number and it will look like 1.12.30, 10.12.20, 2.12.20, 1.9.1, 1.9.5, 10.9.1...etc The number in the middle is the important one.
Steps(Windows): For step 2 you will have five seconds. Preloader mode is only active for five seconds. So read first!
1- Extract the drivers to the destktop and open the device manager.
2- Plug your tablet in as such: turn off the tablet. Plug a male to male USB wire from the computer to the USB port on the tablet. now plug the power wire into the tablet. now very quickly in the device manager locate the new device and right click on it. select "update driver software" then select "browse my computer for driver software" and "browse". Now navigate to the driver folder, select the "CDC" folder and click on "OK" the "Next". The driver should install at this point. Once that is done, unplug the power cable from the tablet.
3- Extract the firmware and the sp flash tools to your desktop.
4- Start the sp flash tools and where it says scatter file loading click and navigate to the folder where you have the firmware and load the scatter file. You will see the firmware get loaded and a checksum check.
5- Once that is done, uncheck the preloader from the list and click on the download button.
6- Plug the power cable into your tablet. At this point the sp flash tool will load the firmware into the tablet. DO NOT UNPLUG ANYTHING UNTIL THE SP FLASH TOOLS SHOWS YOU A GREEN CHECK MARK TO INDICATE THAT IT IS DONE OR YOUR TABLET COULD BE HARD BRICKED AND UNREPAIRABLE.
7- Press the reset button and turn it on. Done!
Drivers: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz4bOoJ_E5XzRWJCbGFINndmVmc/view?usp=sharing
SP Flash tools: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz4bOoJ_E5Xzb0g3ZnlEcHE0bEE/view?usp=sharing
Firmware x.9.x:
RCT6303W87DK-ANDROID5.0-V37-V10.9.21-NFC-V2.3LA-20150820
RCT6303W87DK-ANDROID5.0-V32-1.9.1-20150409
Do not flash the preloader for the Surf1001 versions!!
Firrmware x.12.x:
RCT6303W87DK-ANDROID5.0-V77-V1.12.50-EMMC-user-Kingston-V6.1_20160316
RCT6303W87DK-ANDROID5.0-V70-V1.12.30-B-EMMC-user-Kingston-V6.1_20160121
SURF1001-ANDROID5.0-V11-V7.15.0_T8515B_V6.3_SAMSUNG2G_20151116 (Use method No.2 for root)
RCT6303W87DK-ANDROID5.0-V63-V10.12.0_T8515B_V6.3_PCDDR31G_20151106
SURF1001-ANDROID5.0-V07-V7.15.0_T8515B_V6.3_SAMSUNG2G_20151016
RCT6503W87DK-ANDROID5.0-V66-V20.12.20-B-Camera-2M_PCDDR_V6.3-20150928
RCT6303W87DK-ANDROID5.0-V63-V2.12.20-B-EMMC-user-Kingston-V6.1_20150811
Sources:
http://laurentiumihet.ro/technology/...test-versions/
http://www.needrom.com/download/mtk-...er-v5-1453-03/
http://pan.baidu.com/share/home?uk=2...ategory/type=0
http://baiduyun.57fx.cn/so-result.ht...7DK&type=share
And Google of course...
Bootloader
So the bootloader on this tablet is locked. To unlock the bootloader, in a perfect world, you would usually boot the tablet in fastboot and type the command "fastboot oem unlock" and then follow the instructions on the screen. However RCA did not code in the volume keys in fastboot mode so it was impossible to unlock the bootloader that way. So our friend Bogram edited the bootloader and now the volume keys are not needed. What swell guy eh?
Unlocking your phone’s bootloader completely wipes (formats) your Android phone’s internal memory including applications, contacts, SMS and MMS messages etc.
So what you need is a scatter file like this one and a patched bootloader like these: x.12.x or x.9.x .
You will also need ADB & Fastboot and the drivers.
1- Just like in the FIRMWARE section, install drivers and SP Flash Tools.
2- Open SP Flash Tools and load the scatter file and in the line where you see "uboot" on the right click in the blank field and a window will pop up. select the patched bootloader. Make sure it checked and click on the "Download" button.
3- Now plug the male to male USB cable and then plug in the power. SP flash tool will flash the bootloader and then show you a nice little green check mark.
4- At this point you need to unpack the adb folder from the RAR file and place it in the root of you hard drive(C: ) then open a command prompt and nvigate to you adb folder (cd c:\adb) and leave it there for just a second.
5- On your tablet unplug the power wire, hit the reset button in the back and boot it into recovery mode by pressing and holding the volume up and power buttons together until the RCA splash screen comes up then release them.
6- In recovery, use the volume keys to navigate to "reboot to bootloader" and use the power button to select.
7- At this point your tablet will be in fastboot and your computer should detect it and install the driver. If not, the driver is in the "Android" folder in the driver files you extracted.
8- In your command prompt you left opened earlier, type "fastboot oem unlock".
9-Your tablet will do some magic, summon a demon, banish it to the depths of hell, reboot a couple of times and then it will have a unlocked bootloader.
10- Done. now you ca move on the next post and flash recovery.
Bogram also created a tool that patches the bootloader automatically should you have a different version we don't know about or what not...
Code:
RCA LittleKernel Unlock Patcher
By Bogram (http://forum.xda-developers.com/member.php?u=7182821)
Tested models:
RCA Viking Pro (RCT6303W87DK), RCA Maven Pro (RCT6213W87DK)
USE THIS TOOL AT YOUR OWN RISK, NO WARRANTY IS PROVIDED.
License: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html
Input file:
W:/HaxeToolkit/projects/patcher/lk.bin
Wrote to:
W:/HaxeToolkit/projects/patcher/lk_patched.bin
Press any key to exit.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz4bOoJ_E5XzSnJ2R3d2NkxlU0k/view?usp=sharing
RECOVERY
This section depends on a unlocked bootloader. If you did not unlock your bootloader in the previous post, do so before continuing to this one.
So what you need is a scatter file like this one and a recovery.
CWM + Carliv compiled by vampirefo: (x.9.x)Clockworkmod recovery (x.12.x)Clockworkmod recovery
TWRP V3.00 compiled by Neporood: (x.9.x)TWRP V3.00 recovery (x.12.x)TWRP V3.00 recovery(Coming soon)
- Open SP Flash tool and select the scatter file.
- in the recovery line, on the right side in the blank field, click and select your downloaded recovery.
- Click on the download button.
- Make sure your tablet is off, plug the USB cable first and then the power cable.
- SP Flash tool will flash the recovery and show you a lovely green check mark.
- Once that is done your recovery will be flashed.
** The stock system has a file in the system folder called "recovery-from-boot.p". this file flashes stock recovery randomly at boot so with a rooted system, navigate to the folder with a root capable explorer and delete the file so that your new recovery stays there.
** When rebooting from recovery, cwm will tell you to fix root. Don't. Select no every time.
For thos of you who want a file explorer in recovery, You can download this Aroma installer flashable
It's a nice tool to have...
Aroma comes from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646108
ROMS
Not yet but soon.....
I'd swear I've seen all this somewhere before... lol
Good job, brother!
Now , let the roms...begin.....
woot ... just in time as I brought my Viking Pro home from Wallyworld Saturday night.
Any thoughts on ADB? I couldn't make it all the way through the other thread and eventually just gave up.... ended up figuring out Kingroot on my own and then just enabled ADB over wifi. Would much rather have a wired ADB solution as moving an APK (I'm a developer, duh) over wifi can be somewhat s-l-o-w.
Any plans to make a thread like this for the RCA Maven Pro (RCT6213W87DK)? It'd be really swell.
EDIT: Actually, with those sources you posted, I actually might be able to do this on my own.
thevypr said:
Any plans to make a thread like this for the RCA Maven Pro (RCT6213W87DK)? It'd be really swell.
EDIT: Actually, with those sources you posted, I actually might be able to do this on my own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got a Maven, and I've already done the porting. I'll be posting a guide tomorrow morning sometime. For now, I've sent you a PM with links to the firmware. Check your firmware version, mine is V36-1.9.21 (as long as you have the "9", you should be ok) The zip file has everything in it, preloader, scatter, custom recovery, etc...
Maven Guide is up, find it here
Synman said:
woot ... just in time as I brought my Viking Pro home from Wallyworld Saturday night.
Any thoughts on ADB? I couldn't make it all the way through the other thread and eventually just gave up.... ended up figuring out Kingroot on my own and then just enabled ADB over wifi. Would much rather have a wired ADB solution as moving an APK (I'm a developer, duh) over wifi can be somewhat s-l-o-w.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still working on adb... Trying to make a flashable ROM with the fixes... No timeframe tho..
smartmanvartan said:
Still working on adb... Trying to make a flashable ROM with the fixes... No timeframe tho..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't get the port(s) to light up under OSX. I've tried a couple build.prop changes, plugging in micro usb, usb type a, power connector, and various combinations but none of them appear to trigger registration of a usb device of any kind on the host machine.
I can't even get simple stuff like MTP to work.
Synman said:
I can't get the port(s) to light up under OSX. I've tried a couple build.prop changes, plugging in micro usb, usb type a, power connector, and various combinations but none of them appear to trigger registration of a usb device of any kind on the host machine.
I can't even get simple stuff like MTP to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Time is my issue but I'm looking at two things. there is a firmware package i found on the Chinese server for a tablet with the model number rct6603w47dk with the same board as the viking pro but with a 8163 instead of the 8127. i think its doable to port over to our tablet. it is android 6. also the maven pro(rct6213w87dk) which is really close to our tablet with the same board but a larger screen, has adb working on it...
You should be getting a reaction through the micro usb port... on windows it shows up as a malfunctioning device.
i get nothing when sniffing the USB bus on my MBP.
Synman said:
i get nothing when sniffing the USB bus on my MBP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I does the same thing on Ubuntu 14.04, absolutely nothing shows with "lsusb" in the terminal, unless it's in fastboot mode. You can use fastboot to flash the device, if you don't have access to a Windows machine...
I tested the new 1.9.3 firmware on my tablet... and it just shows a black screen.
DO NOT FLASH IT. it didn't work
Jacube22 said:
I tested the new 1.9.3 firmware on my tablet... and it just shows a black screen.
DO NOT FLASH IT. it didn't work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ill find you guys some newer software that boots...
What's the difference between sp_drive_v2.0_finally & mtk_sp_drivers_v2.0
Because I got the sp_drive install but having a problem with the mtk_sp , it keep popping up as incompatible software.... I'm stuck on the boot loader section
e923 said:
What's the difference between sp_drive_v2.0_finally & mtk_sp_drivers_v2.0
Because I got the sp_drive install but having a problem with the mtk_sp , it keep popping up as incompatible software.... I'm stuck on the boot loader section
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version of Windows are you running..the difference is the drivers are signed or unsigned.. This matters more on newer versions of Windows.
New to this community I hope this post is welcome here. Thanks to many of you I got a successful first time root and thought I would make a decent guide for others that stumble across this eventually.
This guide is for Windows only. I'm sure it would work similarly on Linux, but this is specific to Windows.
I AM NOT RESPONSABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR BRICKED DEVICE. That is always a risk you take with rooting, altering any software/firmware. This method did work for me, and if followed correctly it should work for you. Make sure you are using the same device this guide is for. That all being said, if anything goes wrong, this device is very easy to fix bootloops, soft bricks etc. Carry on.
YOU WILL LOSE ALL YOUR DATA AND YOUR TABLET WILL BE RESET TO FACTORY DEFAULT!! BACKUP ANYTHING YOU DONT WANT TO LOSE BEFORE STARTING THIS ROOT.
YOU WILL NEED A COMPUTER. This is NOT a hardware only root, in this guide, again, we will be using Windows 10.
Before starting anything, this will be the software list you need to download and install before moving forward...
The latest release of Magisk: GitHub - topjohnwu/Magisk: The Magic Mask for Android v.25.2 was the latest release at the time of this post, it might be updated when you are reading this. It should still work the same.
Odin: https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachments/odin3-v3-14-1-zip.5158505/ this should be a direct download link. If you dont like that, here is a link to the XDA fourm itself, make sure to download the Odin3 3.14.1.zip, ( 3.13.1.zip is not a link, reddit just highlights it because of the .zip, you just need to scroll down and find it in the forum, should be 1st or second in the list) NOT THE PATCHED VERSION.
The Firmware for your device (SM-X200) This is where I got mine, mind you it's the USA version: https://samfw.com/firmware/SM-X200/XAR/X200XXU1AVC1 If you are out of the states, there is many other sources for your exact firmware version, just type the second half of your build number (starting with "X200...etc.' into the browser followed by firmware then "download". The build number can be found in the software information inside of the "About tablet" section at the bottom of your settings.
The Samsung USB drivers: Samsung Android USB Driver | Samsung Developers You will need these to ensure a proper connection between your PC and tablet
And finally, this is optional, this already patched boot.img file already converted to .tar: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rm4BPaIVXWClhjKFencRnheJlDB3RRVm/view This is a working boot file, at least for me and many others on XDA, feel free to make your own if you wish, it will be explained in the guide below.
P.S Using the boot file above will save you some time and may help you avoid errors or crashes inside of odin or on your tablet. Also, better for those not as experienced.
The Guide now starts below.
Enable Dev options. (This is done by going into the "About Tablet" section at the very bottom of your settings, clicking "Software information", then clicking build number multiple times until a prompt shows up saying you are now a developer, or have unlocked dev settings.)
Enable OEM unlock inside of Developer settings.
Power off device, then hold both volume up and down buttons and plug your tablet into your PC to boot into download menu
Hold volume up once in download menu, to start OEM unlock prosses
When unlocked, the device with automatically factory reset
Set up device, Enable Wi-Fi either during or after setup prosses.
Re-Enable dev settings (as we did in step #1), and make sure "Enable OEM unlock" Is on and or grayed out.
Download latest firmware for your device and extract it using 7zip, (Link for firmware is at the begining of this guide) there should now be a list of 4 files starting with BL_, AP_, CSC_OMC, and HOME_CSC. (We won't be using HOME_CSC, more on that later).
Using Odin, install the AP BL and CSC . In the BL slot, click the BL, then go to the extracted firmware from earlier and select the file the file that starts with "BL_X200". Then give it a second to load in, move to the AP section. Click AP, then select the file from the extracted file again, that starts with "AP". And for CSC, select the file "CSC_OMC..." Not the "CSC_HOME..." After all the files are in the correct slots, click Start at the bottom of the Odin3 application.
Once odin is finished, you need to boot back into stock OS by holding down volume and power button to get out of download menu, if prompted to push power button during boot, do so.
Go through the setup again, enable Wi-Fi and check and make sure OEM unlock is still grayed out and enabled.
Download Magisk From there official GitHub on to your tablet (Link above)
Install Magisk
IMPORTANT!!
This is where you have two options, either skip these steps, and use the provided boot.img file, or make your own (this is harder, you may run into errors and issues, but most of you have been doing this much longer than me, this is just a guide from someone new to this, so I thought my incite may be easier to understand) SKIP STEPS #14-#21 if you chose to download the provided boot.tar file at the beginning of this guide. (I would recommend reading them still, because understanding the prosses will help with a successful root, whether or not you choose to make your own boot.img file, this advice is from experience. Knowledge is power, right?
14. If you choose to make your own patched boot file with magisk, go back to your PC, extract the "AP_X200..." file inside of the firmware file you already extracted, send that file to your Tab A8 (again this is for the SM-X200 ONLY!) via plugging your tablet into your laptop (MAKE SURE ITS POWERED ON AND UNLOCKED)
14.5. You will be prompted to allow data transfer between your tablet and the PC something like " allow this PC to access...etc". Allow it. Open your tablets root storage from the file manager on your windows computer. This PC, then select your tablet. You should see the root files.
15. Return back to the folder of the extracted AP_X200... file you extracted previously; it should be in a standard file format now, not a .tar file
16. Find the "Boot.img" file, copy it and return to your tablets root file
17. Paste the boot.img file you copied from the extracted AP_X200... file, into the root directory of your tablet. Then unplug your tablet and return to your tablet for the next step.
18. Open magisk, click install on the top option, to the right of "Magisk" NOT THE ONE THAT SAYS "App". Then click "Select and patch file" find your "boot.img" file you previously copied over to your tablet in step #16/#17, its often in recent files, but should always be in the tab "Galaxy tab A8" You can find that tab by tapping the hamburger icon (three horizontal lines) in the top left corner. Once there, select the "boot.img" file.
19. Once you find your file, click "Let's go" back in the main Magisk screen
20. Once completed, it should show that it installed the patched boot.img file in your tablets download directory. You have now successfully patched the boot file. If you get an error or a crash, try again. If you keep running into errors, make sure your file is the correct "boot.img" file. Don't be shy, re-read the guide, start over, if necessary, we haven't gone too far yet to try again.
21. Plug your tablet back into your PC, go back to your tablets root directory via your computers file manager, open whichever file Magisk installed its patched "boot.img" file (it should be in the downloads folder of your tablets root directory) copy it to your computer. You can move it anywhere but if you move it back to where the other firmware files that we downloaded and extracted are, you will need to right click the file, hover over 7zip, then click "Add to archive". Then, in the section of the options where it says "archive format" change the file type to tar. You will need to do this step either way, but make sure it's done BEFORE moving it to the other files we extracted earlier, because it will prompt you to replace the file, we don't want to do that.
22. Now take your tablet, unplug it if it's still plugged in, and power off. Once it's powered down completely, hold both the volume up and down buttons like earlier to get into download mode when unlocking the OEM, and plug it into the PC (WHILE STILL HOLDING THE VOLUME BUTTONS UNTIL THE MENU APPEARS). Once the download menu appears, (should be familiar by now) click once on the up-volume button, and you will now be ready to download your files to root your device! Yayy!
23. Open Odin3, and it should have on the left a, "Log" info box, "<ID: somthing/somthing> Added! ("something/something will be numbers, just make sure it says added, that means it sees your Tablet is in download mode and ready for your patched files"
24. You will see 4 slots to the right of the Log page inside of Odin. They will read (top to bottom) "BL", "AP", "CP", "CSC, and "USER DATA". Only BL, AP, and CSC will be used in this prosses, and should be the only ones with check marks to the left of them. If the check marks are not checked, check them.
25. Now, (don't worry almost done!) In the BL slot, click the BL box, go to the extracted firmware from earlier (Step 8) and select the file the file that starts with "BL_X200". Then give it a second to load in, move to the AP section. Select it, then find your boot.img file you made using magisk, or downloaded via the link at the top of this post. Select it, and now move on to CSC. Click it, find your "CSC_OMC" file (you might get away with using the CSC_HOME..." file, but at this point your tablet shouldn't have anything you want to save, as it should have been wiped when unlocking the bootloader, so just take my advice and use the stock CSC_OMC file.
26. Now, you should have files in the BL slot, the AP slot, and the CSC slot. Double check and make sure there are nothing in the "CP" slot, nor the "USERDATA" slot. Once you are ready, and all files are in the correct slots, and your tablet is ready to start downloading, (should have an empty progress bar under the "cancel" instructions on your tablet screen) go ahead and click " Start" at the bottom of the Odin application.
27. This prosses should be relatively quick, less than a minute, but in my many tries, sometimes it was quick, other times it took a minute or two. Once done, the Odin app on your PC should read "Pass" in a green box towards the top right corner of the app, under the Odin logo.
28. Proceed to shut down the device, by holding down on the Power and Volume Down keys, once the screen goes black, lift off the power AND volume down key, and immediately press down on the Power key (again) and the Volume UP this time. (Some guides have said it's not necessary to release from the power key when the black screen starts, and to only change from the volume down key to the volume up key, but in my experience, this may lead to a bootloop *Don't worry, it's fixable*. So, I recommend you lift off both and then immediately start clicking the power *again* and volume up) This should bring you into the system recovery menu. Use the volume down key to scroll down, and the volume up key for up, the power button is to select the option in the menu. Scroll down to "Wipe data/factory reset" and select it. Confirm when prompted, and it will reset your device using the firmware you just installed.
29. Setup as usual, enable the Wi-Fi, double check that OEM unlock is still enabled and grayed out in the developer menu (you will have to re enable the dev menu). Then go to Chrome, type in "Root checker apk" and download the apk, should be available in the first or second result of Google. MAKE sure to allow Chrome downloads, it will prompt you when the apk is downloaded. Open it, and check for Root. This is when I got a pop-up from Magisk, but it may happen at any time. Whenever it happens, just follow its instructions, it will reboot your tablet, then when it's powered back on, go back to root checker. When you check for root, wait a couple seconds, a pop up should show up with a count down, allow it, and it will show that you...are now...ROOTED!
YAY, you did it congratulations. This took me probably 12 hours and many different forums, because there has been a great debate on how to do this properly, but from what I've experienced this is all the right info and guides shoved into one. Many thanks to the XDA forums, and especially user "tofor" on the XDA forums, for the patched boot file when people where still having issues making their own.
I may make a YouTube video explaining all this, but I'm not super into the idea. We will see, depends how this post does and if people still need help. Again, I'm not a pro when it comes to rooting. I'm a nerd, I know my way around tech, but I was an iPhone kid, so I grew up with jailbreaking, which was 100% easier cause most the work was done for you. That all being said, I'm sure I missed some terms, or dint explain something perfectly, so please, to all of you who are much more experienced with this, FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ME!! Have any questions, I'll try to get to them, but I'm not super active. If I don't get to you, I'm sure somebody will. I really hope this helps; this was hell for me.
Great job on the guide! Worked perfectly for me on the 1st try!
Thanks for the guide, also there is TWRP out there now for this tablet
[RECOVERY][UNOFFICIAL] TWRP 3.7.0 for 2021 Galaxy Tab A8 10.5 [SM-X200]
Notes: What's posted below is a work in progress, but it should suffice to unblock efforts to build custom ROMs for this impressive tablet. This is unofficial and unsupported, so the usual caveats apply. Since we don't flash the bootloader, you...
forum.xda-developers.com
On step 25 for "Then give it a second to load in, move to the AP section. Select it, then find your boot.img" when I try to add the boot.img in the AP section it does not show the boot.img for me to select like it does with the other files.
Edit: I found out I needed to select the .tar and not extract and select the boot.img
Edit: Rooted doing what I need now! Thank you for such an awesome tutorial!
Sorry new to rooting here, for Step 8 do I need to go to the blue download screen for Odin to work? My odin is stuck on setupconnection
I only want to change the ''tap'' sounds when the display is touched. Do I really need to do all of this (root access) or is there an easier way to do that? This seems like a lot of work and I use this tablet regularly.
Hello and Thank you for your work.
Do you think your guide works for android 12? knowing that I found my version on samfw.com, namely the X200XXU1BVI6 version (CSC European Union). Thank you.
SerielRipou said:
Hello and Thank you for your work.
Do you think your guide works for android 12? knowing that I found my version on samfw.com, namely the X200XXU1BVI6 version (CSC European Union). Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes the only thing i did was
extract the boot.img from the tar
put it on my phone patched it with magisk
put the new patched file on my pc.
created a new ap tar using all the old files it had except i added the new patched boot.img
after all files are in i created the .tar
used the same BL_X200XXU1BVI6_X200XXU1B
used the new ar has all original files except the modified boot.img
used the same CSC_XAR_X200XAR1BVI6
it worked super su says its rooted. been at it all morning coudl not have done it without this guide
Got as far as step 28, where things went a bit off.
After the download from odin was complete, the device immediately shut down and starting going through a bootloop without me having touched power or volume at all.
Then after getting into the system recovery menu and doing a factory reset, it didn't reset the device with the firmware and when trying to power it on it just remained in the same bootloop as before doing the factory reset.
I'm using the boot.img file with firmware EUX - SMX200XXS1BVJ1 which I'm pretty confident is the correct version as it matches the build number on the device.
This is what I get on the system recovery after doing a factory reset.
at step 28 your supposed to
"Wipe data/factory reset" and select it. Confirm when prompted, and it will reset your device using the firmware you just installed.
it reinstalls the tablets new firmware
edit - it wont just start up the tablet like everything is brand new out of the box. thats why you need to "Wipe data/factory reset
I did factory reset. That's what produced the lines after -- Wiping data...
After factory resetting it doesn't seem to install anything and just goes right back to the system recovery menu. Rebooting the device at that point just has it going back into a bootloop.
Got it working.
Had to redownload the firmware from step 8 onto the device and then use magisk to make my own boot.img
Things to note in case anyone needs them is that the file magisk makes might not be called boot.img, in which case you do need to rename it to boot.img for it to work and also if you get stuck with being unable to access the download mode on your device, you can use FRP HiJacker to fix it.
I'm also stuck on "SetupConnection" in Odin. I enabled USB debugging, but that didn't seem to help.
Worked, thanks for this tutorial and your work with it.
regards
mkpcxxl
Hello, I conjured up the Android 13 on the A8 today. But unfortunately I can't get it rooted. The root checker says it's not rooted. What do I have to do to make it count as rooted again?
I got it solved myself and now have Android 13 on Samsung A8 (x200) and rooted :-D
Worked for me.
I initially had issues and thought I had bricked it, but a combination of Odin issues and possibly cable/bad firmware issues caused the problems and not this guide.
Nice one.
Sync999 said:
New to this community I hope this post is welcome here. Thanks to many of you I got a successful first time root and thought I would make a decent guide for others that stumble across this eventually.
This guide is for Windows only. I'm sure it would work similarly on Linux, but this is specific to Windows.
I AM NOT RESPONSABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR BRICKED DEVICE. That is always a risk you take with rooting, altering any software/firmware. This method did work for me, and if followed correctly it should work for you. Make sure you are using the same device this guide is for. That all being said, if anything goes wrong, this device is very easy to fix bootloops, soft bricks etc. Carry on.
YOU WILL LOSE ALL YOUR DATA AND YOUR TABLET WILL BE RESET TO FACTORY DEFAULT!! BACKUP ANYTHING YOU DONT WANT TO LOSE BEFORE STARTING THIS ROOT.
YOU WILL NEED A COMPUTER. This is NOT a hardware only root, in this guide, again, we will be using Windows 10.
Before starting anything, this will be the software list you need to download and install before moving forward...
The latest release of Magisk: GitHub - topjohnwu/Magisk: The Magic Mask for Android v.25.2 was the latest release at the time of this post, it might be updated when you are reading this. It should still work the same.
Odin: https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachments/odin3-v3-14-1-zip.5158505/ this should be a direct download link. If you dont like that, here is a link to the XDA fourm itself, make sure to download the Odin3 3.14.1.zip, ( 3.13.1.zip is not a link, reddit just highlights it because of the .zip, you just need to scroll down and find it in the forum, should be 1st or second in the list) NOT THE PATCHED VERSION.
The Firmware for your device (SM-X200) This is where I got mine, mind you it's the USA version: https://samfw.com/firmware/SM-X200/XAR/X200XXU1AVC1 If you are out of the states, there is many other sources for your exact firmware version, just type the second half of your build number (starting with "X200...etc.' into the browser followed by firmware then "download". The build number can be found in the software information inside of the "About tablet" section at the bottom of your settings.
The Samsung USB drivers: Samsung Android USB Driver | Samsung Developers You will need these to ensure a proper connection between your PC and tablet
And finally, this is optional, this already patched boot.img file already converted to .tar: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rm4BPaIVXWClhjKFencRnheJlDB3RRVm/view This is a working boot file, at least for me and many others on XDA, feel free to make your own if you wish, it will be explained in the guide below.
P.S Using the boot file above will save you some time and may help you avoid errors or crashes inside of odin or on your tablet. Also, better for those not as experienced.
The Guide now starts below.
Enable Dev options. (This is done by going into the "About Tablet" section at the very bottom of your settings, clicking "Software information", then clicking build number multiple times until a prompt shows up saying you are now a developer, or have unlocked dev settings.)
Enable OEM unlock inside of Developer settings.
Power off device, then hold both volume up and down buttons and plug your tablet into your PC to boot into download menu
Hold volume up once in download menu, to start OEM unlock prosses
When unlocked, the device with automatically factory reset
Set up device, Enable Wi-Fi either during or after setup prosses.
Re-Enable dev settings (as we did in step #1), and make sure "Enable OEM unlock" Is on and or grayed out.
Download latest firmware for your device and extract it using 7zip, (Link for firmware is at the begining of this guide) there should now be a list of 4 files starting with BL_, AP_, CSC_OMC, and HOME_CSC. (We won't be using HOME_CSC, more on that later).
Using Odin, install the AP BL and CSC . In the BL slot, click the BL, then go to the extracted firmware from earlier and select the file the file that starts with "BL_X200". Then give it a second to load in, move to the AP section. Click AP, then select the file from the extracted file again, that starts with "AP". And for CSC, select the file "CSC_OMC..." Not the "CSC_HOME..." After all the files are in the correct slots, click Start at the bottom of the Odin3 application.
Once odin is finished, you need to boot back into stock OS by holding down volume and power button to get out of download menu, if prompted to push power button during boot, do so.
Go through the setup again, enable Wi-Fi and check and make sure OEM unlock is still grayed out and enabled.
Download Magisk From there official GitHub on to your tablet (Link above)
Install Magisk
IMPORTANT!!
This is where you have two options, either skip these steps, and use the provided boot.img file, or make your own (this is harder, you may run into errors and issues, but most of you have been doing this much longer than me, this is just a guide from someone new to this, so I thought my incite may be easier to understand) SKIP STEPS #14-#21 if you chose to download the provided boot.tar file at the beginning of this guide. (I would recommend reading them still, because understanding the prosses will help with a successful root, whether or not you choose to make your own boot.img file, this advice is from experience. Knowledge is power, right?
14. If you choose to make your own patched boot file with magisk, go back to your PC, extract the "AP_X200..." file inside of the firmware file you already extracted, send that file to your Tab A8 (again this is for the SM-X200 ONLY!) via plugging your tablet into your laptop (MAKE SURE ITS POWERED ON AND UNLOCKED)
14.5. You will be prompted to allow data transfer between your tablet and the PC something like " allow this PC to access...etc". Allow it. Open your tablets root storage from the file manager on your windows computer. This PC, then select your tablet. You should see the root files.
15. Return back to the folder of the extracted AP_X200... file you extracted previously; it should be in a standard file format now, not a .tar file
16. Find the "Boot.img" file, copy it and return to your tablets root file
17. Paste the boot.img file you copied from the extracted AP_X200... file, into the root directory of your tablet. Then unplug your tablet and return to your tablet for the next step.
18. Open magisk, click install on the top option, to the right of "Magisk" NOT THE ONE THAT SAYS "App". Then click "Select and patch file" find your "boot.img" file you previously copied over to your tablet in step #16/#17, its often in recent files, but should always be in the tab "Galaxy tab A8" You can find that tab by tapping the hamburger icon (three horizontal lines) in the top left corner. Once there, select the "boot.img" file.
19. Once you find your file, click "Let's go" back in the main Magisk screen
20. Once completed, it should show that it installed the patched boot.img file in your tablets download directory. You have now successfully patched the boot file. If you get an error or a crash, try again. If you keep running into errors, make sure your file is the correct "boot.img" file. Don't be shy, re-read the guide, start over, if necessary, we haven't gone too far yet to try again.
21. Plug your tablet back into your PC, go back to your tablets root directory via your computers file manager, open whichever file Magisk installed its patched "boot.img" file (it should be in the downloads folder of your tablets root directory) copy it to your computer. You can move it anywhere but if you move it back to where the other firmware files that we downloaded and extracted are, you will need to right click the file, hover over 7zip, then click "Add to archive". Then, in the section of the options where it says "archive format" change the file type to tar. You will need to do this step either way, but make sure it's done BEFORE moving it to the other files we extracted earlier, because it will prompt you to replace the file, we don't want to do that.
22. Now take your tablet, unplug it if it's still plugged in, and power off. Once it's powered down completely, hold both the volume up and down buttons like earlier to get into download mode when unlocking the OEM, and plug it into the PC (WHILE STILL HOLDING THE VOLUME BUTTONS UNTIL THE MENU APPEARS). Once the download menu appears, (should be familiar by now) click once on the up-volume button, and you will now be ready to download your files to root your device! Yayy!
23. Open Odin3, and it should have on the left a, "Log" info box, "<ID: somthing/somthing> Added! ("something/something will be numbers, just make sure it says added, that means it sees your Tablet is in download mode and ready for your patched files"
24. You will see 4 slots to the right of the Log page inside of Odin. They will read (top to bottom) "BL", "AP", "CP", "CSC, and "USER DATA". Only BL, AP, and CSC will be used in this prosses, and should be the only ones with check marks to the left of them. If the check marks are not checked, check them.
25. Now, (don't worry almost done!) In the BL slot, click the BL box, go to the extracted firmware from earlier (Step 8) and select the file the file that starts with "BL_X200". Then give it a second to load in, move to the AP section. Select it, then find your boot.img file you made using magisk, or downloaded via the link at the top of this post. Select it, and now move on to CSC. Click it, find your "CSC_OMC" file (you might get away with using the CSC_HOME..." file, but at this point your tablet shouldn't have anything you want to save, as it should have been wiped when unlocking the bootloader, so just take my advice and use the stock CSC_OMC file.
26. Now, you should have files in the BL slot, the AP slot, and the CSC slot. Double check and make sure there are nothing in the "CP" slot, nor the "USERDATA" slot. Once you are ready, and all files are in the correct slots, and your tablet is ready to start downloading, (should have an empty progress bar under the "cancel" instructions on your tablet screen) go ahead and click " Start" at the bottom of the Odin application.
27. This prosses should be relatively quick, less than a minute, but in my many tries, sometimes it was quick, other times it took a minute or two. Once done, the Odin app on your PC should read "Pass" in a green box towards the top right corner of the app, under the Odin logo.
28. Proceed to shut down the device, by holding down on the Power and Volume Down keys, once the screen goes black, lift off the power AND volume down key, and immediately press down on the Power key (again) and the Volume UP this time. (Some guides have said it's not necessary to release from the power key when the black screen starts, and to only change from the volume down key to the volume up key, but in my experience, this may lead to a bootloop *Don't worry, it's fixable*. So, I recommend you lift off both and then immediately start clicking the power *again* and volume up) This should bring you into the system recovery menu. Use the volume down key to scroll down, and the volume up key for up, the power button is to select the option in the menu. Scroll down to "Wipe data/factory reset" and select it. Confirm when prompted, and it will reset your device using the firmware you just installed.
29. Setup as usual, enable the Wi-Fi, double check that OEM unlock is still enabled and grayed out in the developer menu (you will have to re enable the dev menu). Then go to Chrome, type in "Root checker apk" and download the apk, should be available in the first or second result of Google. MAKE sure to allow Chrome downloads, it will prompt you when the apk is downloaded. Open it, and check for Root. This is when I got a pop-up from Magisk, but it may happen at any time. Whenever it happens, just follow its instructions, it will reboot your tablet, then when it's powered back on, go back to root checker. When you check for root, wait a couple seconds, a pop up should show up with a count down, allow it, and it will show that you...are now...ROOTED!
YAY, you did it congratulations. This took me probably 12 hours and many different forums, because there has been a great debate on how to do this properly, but from what I've experienced this is all the right info and guides shoved into one. Many thanks to the XDA forums, and especially user "tofor" on the XDA forums, for the patched boot file when people where still having issues making their own.
I may make a YouTube video explaining all this, but I'm not super into the idea. We will see, depends how this post does and if people still need help. Again, I'm not a pro when it comes to rooting. I'm a nerd, I know my way around tech, but I was an iPhone kid, so I grew up with jailbreaking, which was 100% easier cause most the work was done for you. That all being said, I'm sure I missed some terms, or dint explain something perfectly, so please, to all of you who are much more experienced with this, FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ME!! Have any questions, I'll try to get to them, but I'm not super active. If I don't get to you, I'm sure somebody will. I really hope this helps; this was hell for me.
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what about android 13 on on sm-x200 is it same as these steps just use the tar for the android 13 build u r on? or no?
ignore this post.
So no root for android 13 ? if u find root could u share n ill do same if i fine a way.