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[Q] Root/update question

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

Getting to 4.3...got past 402 error!

Apologize in advance if this is intuitively obvious to other but after searching and reading a better part of the day, I can't figure it out...
In any case...I rooted my 4.1.2 phone a while back with the casual root. Didn't unlock the bootloader or install a custom recovery, just rooted. So that puts busybox and supersu on my phone. Later on, I installed a custom sound thing to get some decent volume out of this thing.
Now I tried taking the OTA and it failed. I thought it would just wipe out the root stuff and be on it's merry way (like other devices I've had in the past). So, I used the one touch unroot in SuperSu and tried again. Still failed. And it still showed me busybox in the app drawer.
So, here's my question...
Do I need to remove my custom volume thing as well as do the unroot?
And do I need to uninstall busybox before doing the unroot via supersu? Or do i just go to the apps and install it there after the SuperSu unroot?
And, if none of those work right, do I fall back to flashing 4.1.2 directly - or maybe better to flash 4.3 directly? I plan on using saferoot once I'm up to 4.3.
If anyone can help me sort this out, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm rerooted for the moment.
Thanks!

doncaruana said:
Apologize in advance if this is intuitively obvious to other but after searching and reading a better part of the day, I can't figure it out...
In any case...I rooted my 4.1.2 phone a while back with the casual root. Didn't unlock the bootloader or install a custom recovery, just rooted. So that puts busybox and supersu on my phone. Later on, I installed a custom sound thing to get some decent volume out of this thing.
Now I tried taking the OTA and it failed. I thought it would just wipe out the root stuff and be on it's merry way (like other devices I've had in the past). So, I used the one touch unroot in SuperSu and tried again. Still failed. And it still showed me busybox in the app drawer.
So, here's my question...
Do I need to remove my custom volume thing as well as do the unroot?
And do I need to uninstall busybox before doing the unroot via supersu? Or do i just go to the apps and install it there after the SuperSu unroot?
And, if none of those work right, do I fall back to flashing 4.1.2 directly - or maybe better to flash 4.3 directly? I plan on using saferoot once I'm up to 4.3.
If anyone can help me sort this out, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm rerooted for the moment.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OTA will look for any rooted app and fail so you best bet is just Odin the full 4.3 then root with saferoot. This is you also have a nice clean install.

buhohitr said:
OTA will look for any rooted app and fail so you best bet is just Odin the full 4.3 then root with saferoot. This is you also have a nice clean install.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
Been a looong time since I messed with Odin...this will just be firmware - no data or store apps will be touched, right?

doncaruana said:
Thanks!
Been a looong time since I messed with Odin...this will just be firmware - no data or store apps will be touched, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but flashing the full firmware will wipe everything bring it back to factory stock phone, so you need to backup all your stuff.

Well, just to share with everyone, I did not flash back to stock. For a number of reasons, that wasn't really an option.
My first step was removing viper4android. That actually got rid of the "custom" screen with the open lock on boot.
Then I uninstalled busybox from within itself. Unfortunately, as noted elsewhere, that leaves several hundred symlinks in xbin, so I removed all of those (I was only left with dexdump and su there). After that, I actually uninstalled busybox via the app manager.
Then I used the unroot option in supersu to clean up the rest and remove it.
At this point, I should be completely unrooted, but still got the 402 error when failing to upgrade with the OTA.
So...I plugged the phone in and ran the software upgrade assistant that shows up on the "CD" that presents itself from the phone when you plug it in to USB to the computer. And, actually, that successfully completed the upgrade to 4.3!
Haven't embarked on re-rooting yet (using saferoot) but that's the plan at least.

Root solution for D801 Lollipop

I found a solution for rooting my D801 running Android 5.0.2. I used KingRoot to gain root access and then Super-Sume Pro to remove KingRoot and install SuperSU. I have not installed TWRP because I am going to stay on stock. It was difficult to find a one-click solution so I hope this helps someone else.

Kingroot has worked for me, too. Nothing else worked, no matter what I did. But Kingroot works great! Thanks for posting.

I have tried Purple Drake, ioroot, StumpRoot, and LGOneClickRoot. None of these worked. I'm particularly chagrined over the ioroot failure because ioroot is listed in the Cyanomodgen installation instructions.
I have not tried Kingroot and am hopeful it's the answer to my prayers.
Could you please confirm your T-Mobile Lollipop software info with mine to make sure we're on the same page? Many thanks.
Android version: 5.0.2
Build number: LRX22G
Software version: D80130c
Woohoo, Kingroot does indeed root the phone. That's the good news.
Now for the bad news. Super-Sume Pro does NOT remove KingRoot v4.8.0 (latest version). I like having a rooted phone, but I don't like having Spyware running on it that chews up bandwidth. How do I get rid of this thing? Brute force delete of binaries?
UPDATE: I got rid of KingRoot via method 2 at https://www.droidmen.com/remove-replace-kingroot-kinguser-with-supersu/. Unfortunately although RootChecker claims the phone is rooted none of the apps that need root can find the su binary because the SuperSU installation failed. Effectively the phone is un-rooted since apps requiring root are inoperable. So back to square 1. It's a big steaming pile of you-know-what.
UPDATE: I retraced my steps and re-ran the shell script of method 2 above. This time it worked. Kingroot is gone, SuperSU 2.49 is installed, and the phone is rooted according to root checker. The phone seemed strangely unstable for a while, but seems to have settled into normal behavior. Don't know if that was a consequence of this procedure or is possibly a hardware problem (battery?). Will keep a close eye on it, but for now all the apps that need root have it. Contemplating the installation of TWRP via GooManager, but that's not a high priority right now.
If anyone reading this is a bloatware removal expert (especially with regard to LG & T-Mobile) I'd like to hear from you. Tools that I've seen mentioned in this regard are Titanium Backup, System App Remover, and Clean Master.

Guys, just followed nbi1's method and finally got this working! Thanks!

Bageland2000 said:
Guys, just followed nbi1's method and finally got this working! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you by any chance install TWRP? If so, how did you unlock the bootloader? I'm looking for a pain free unlock. Held out hope for FreeGee, but despite claims to the contrary this app doesn't support many G2 variants such as mine, the D801 30c (T-Mobile).

nbi1 said:
Did you by any chance install TWRP? If so, how did you unlock the bootloader? I'm looking for a pain free unlock. Held out hope for FreeGee, but despite claims to the contrary this app doesn't support many G2 variants such as mine, the D801 30c (T-Mobile).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never installed TWRP, sorry...

Bageland2000 said:
Never installed TWRP, sorry...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't try it with Flashify. It'll destroy your recovery. Before trying any custom recovery make sure you have the stock kdz on hand so you can flash the stock recovery if need be.
UPDATE: I was able to flash the stock recovery.img. Of course that doesn't help as far as TWRP is concerned, but at least you wouldn't have a totally munged recovery on the phone.
UPDATE: Was able to successfully install TWRP using Autorec after figuring out that the SuperSU "Mount Namespace Separation" setting needs to be cleared/unchecked.

nbi1 said:
I have tried Purple Drake, ioroot, StumpRoot, and LGOneClickRoot. None of these worked. I'm particularly chagrined over the ioroot failure because ioroot is listed in the Cyanomodgen installation instructions.
I have not tried Kingroot and am hopeful it's the answer to my prayers.
Could you please confirm your T-Mobile Lollipop software info with mine to make sure we're on the same page? Many thanks.
Android version: 5.0.2
Build number: LRX22G
Software version: D80130c
Woohoo, Kingroot does indeed root the phone. That's the good news.
Now for the bad news. Super-Sume Pro does NOT remove KingRoot v4.8.0 (latest version). I like having a rooted phone, but I don't like having Spyware running on it that chews up bandwidth. How do I get rid of this thing? Brute force delete of binaries?
UPDATE: I got rid of KingRoot via method 2 at https://www.droidmen.com/remove-replace-kingroot-kinguser-with-supersu/. Unfortunately although RootChecker claims the phone is rooted none of the apps that need root can find the su binary because the SuperSU installation failed. Effectively the phone is un-rooted since apps requiring root are inoperable. So back to square 1. It's a big steaming pile of you-know-what.
UPDATE: I retraced my steps and re-ran the shell script of method 2 above. This time it worked. Kingroot is gone, SuperSU 2.49 is installed, and the phone is rooted according to root checker. The phone seemed strangely unstable for a while, but seems to have settled into normal behavior. Don't know if that was a consequence of this procedure or is possibly a hardware problem (battery?). Will keep a close eye on it, but for now all the apps that need root have it. Contemplating the installation of TWRP via GooManager, but that's not a high priority right now.
If anyone reading this is a bloatware removal expert (especially with regard to LG & T-Mobile) I'd like to hear from you. Tools that I've seen mentioned in this regard are Titanium Backup, System App Remover, and Clean Master.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. Did method 1 not work for you though?

So I finally tried to root my phone. Tried the LG One Click Root first and as posted here it did not work right. I have now SuperSU on the phone but I can't grant root to anything. Rootchecker shows no root. Now I tried Kingoroot and SuperSU asks to grant access but I can't confirm it. Looks like I have to first get rid of SuperSU? Stuck here not sure what I need to do the get rid of the butchered SuperSU install. Any tips?

Can someone point me to where I can get the AutoRec version that works on D801 Lollipop?

dant3ch said:
I found a solution for rooting my D801 running Android 5.0.2. I used KingRoot to gain root access and then Super-Sume Pro to remove KingRoot and install SuperSU.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to do the same using KingRoot-4.1.0.249-release-nolog-201505211812_105241.apk and Super-Sume-v9.1.9.apk
If KingRoot tells you "Unable to get root strategy" or "Failed to acquire cloud issued Root strategy", try to reboot once or twice before trying anything else!

[ROOT][TUTORIAL] How to root your SM-T337A with SuperSU (Temporary root)

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.
Click to expand...
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?

Samsung Galaxy Express 3 j120a ud

hello i have a samsung galaxy express 3 j120a ud i have fallowed the instructions here to root my device and it worked up until i tried to install super su or super sume i tried super sume and it crashes and says it closed unexpectedly i have knox frozen btw with link2sd and i do have root from oden and king root so whatever but i found a recovery here but i dont understand how to flash this since i dont have a custom recovery i also found a "moded" recovery for the galaxy express 3 on a mexican website i cant find the website but i still have the moded recovery img and i flashed it but when i tryed to boot into recovery it told me to go to an AT&T store for help because software had been found that is not allowed etc... anyway is there twrp or cwm or a custom rom for this model phone specifically i have root heres a link to the exact phone i have thanks any help is appropriated thanks. NOTE: i cant post links cause noob status.
NOTE: i just got su binary updated and super su to install sucessfully so yea. thanks
I got viper4android working with samsung galaxy express 3 sm-j120a read more down.

Could you possibly share how you finally got SuperSU to install properly so other folks could know? I'm looking for the process myself.
Chuck

digitalchaos1980 said:
Could you possibly share how you finally got SuperSU to install properly so other folks could know? I'm looking for the process myself.
Chuck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok so i used this link to root my phone with king root http://techbeasts.com/root-galaxy-express-3-j120a/
Required downloads:
Download and install Samsung USB drivers
Download and extract Odin 3.11.1 on your computer’s desktop
Download boot image for your phone: ENG_BOOT_J120A_PG1
Download KingRoot and Super SUME APK files. Extract the folder and copy the APKs to your phone’s internal storage.
How to flash boot image to make the phone root-able
Open Odin.exe from the extracted Odin files you downloaded on your computer’s desktop.
In Odin, click the “AP” tab in Odin and select the ENG_BOOT_J120A_PC1.tar for your device that you just downloaded above.
The only options checked in Odin should be Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time. No other options should be ticked.
Now put your phone in download mode. Turn it off first. Now press and hold Volume Down + Home + Power buttons. As soon as it boots up, leave the keys. Once it shows warning, press Volume Up to continue.
Connect your phone to your PC while Odin is open.
Once your the ID:COM box turns blue in Odin after the successful connection, click the Start button.
It will flash the boot image file and reboot the phone now.
Install Kingroot
Now on your phone, go to settings > security > allow unknown sources.
Open a file manager and locate the copied Kingroot APK file.
Tap the Kingroot APK file and install it.
Once installed, open Kingroot from the app drawer.
Tap the Android Icon on the screen shown in Kingroot or if it’s already processing, let it do that.
Kingroot will start finding an exploit to root your device now. As soon as it finds an exploit, it will root and reboot your device.
Replace King User with SuperSU
Install Super SUME APK just the way you installed Kingroot.
Open Super SUME from the App Drawer now.
Follow the instructions on-screen to finish the Super SUME procedure.
Super SUME will begin to uninstall Kingroot in favour of SuperSU now.
After uninstalling KingRoot it will install SuperSU.
SuperSU will appear in app drawer after installion. That’s all.
NOTE: sometimes when u flash the ENG_BOOT_J120A_PG1 file to get root with king root it wont work try rebooting trying again or flashing file again with odin i had to flash 3 times in some cases.
READ ALL BEFORE TRYING ROOT IMPORTANT!
and after i got king root to root my phone through this method i had to downlaod a different copy of supersu me pro from i think this link https://apkpure.com/super-sume/darkslide.com.supersume if its not the right one then just google a pro copy apk but yea so once super user is done with king root and u have a copy of supersu me pro that works just run it u may have to do it a few times and it may act funny or seem to pause half way through the root process but if it dose (like it did on mine) just have supersu app installed and run it while supersu me pro is running and it should install sucessfully keep trying till it dose thats what i did oh btw when u get super user with king root download link to sd and freeze all these apps ok (scrole down)
bbcagent
com.sec.enterprise.knox.attestation
device protection manager
diagmonagent
easy setup
elm agent
galaxy apps
klms agent
knox
knox setup wizard client
knox apps update agent
knox folder container
lookout security
new registration
personal data managnmment
rcpcomponents
remote controles
rootpa
samsungdlp services
security policy updates
security log agent
setup & transfer
spftware update
usage manager
att adress book sync
at&t locker
at&t navigator
at&t protect plus
at&t smart wifi
at&t software update
callername id
and keep runing supersu me pro and supersu me untill it installes root succesfully that worked for me
also i JUST got viper4android to work with samsung galaxy express 3 btw fallow the guide in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFqbz8Ytjx0 and download the files from the mega link in description of video.
and now i have supersu and viper4android NOTE: be sure to have installed bussybox before trying to install viper its needed i got my bussybox from fdroid.
also if u want to get xposed modules working download an app called flashfire i think 0.53 is the latest once u have root with supersu and download and install xposed framework wanam 20161128 and flash the zip with flash fire and a side note the newest copy of gltools also works with driver support i havent had a single problem with gltools. if ur system ui crashes after boot eather keep rebooting untill it stops crashing or unsinstall an app u may think caused the issue or unfreeze an app that may be causeing it dont freeze apps unless u think its safe do it at ur own risk and freeze only apps i have found to be frozen with little to no problems. as far as xposed modules go lucky patcher installs but dosent work right due to not being on a custom rom and device id changer free works fine and xinternal sd works great and xprivacy works great and android n ify works great also gravity box for 6.0 marshmallow works fine but i only used it to make volume buttons switch tracks and for a battery bar i recomend not useing it for anything else as it has caused my phone to freeze and crash and bootloop so if u want a battery bar and to change tracks on lock screen use gravity box if u dont need those things then dont use it at all or at ur own risk.
so now u have viper and xposed and supersu enjoy it has been a pain in my ass for a long time so have fun. NOTE: there is no custom recovery for this phone sometimes when u flash these files the phone will bootloop but TRUST ME if it boot loops take the battery out and turn it back on untill it turns on sometimes doing this will force the phone to clear dalvic catch i think because it upgrades all the android apps again so keep removing the battery if it dosent work after about 20 tries the reflash ur stock rom with odin just download a stock rom from google for this device and flash all files ap=ap etc... hope this all helps

Thanks for the reply back! I had originally followed those directions from that site and it didn't work the first time. I kept trying different versions of Kingroot and Super SU ME with no luck, then I decided to try Kingroot 4.1 and a zip file that when extracted and ran from terminal is supposed to replace Kingroot with Super SU. It only partially worked that being when an app asked for root it was Super SU asking the permissions. I thought I was in the clear then so I tried to let the Super SU app update the binary, but it failed. So I downloaded Flashfire and flashed Super SU zip and it worked and I thought I was hot sh*t until it rebooted lol. When it rebooted it gave me the "Unauthorized software found on this device. Please take it to an ATT dealer blah blah blah". So I downloaded factory firmware and tried again only this time before I used Flashfire to flash the Super SU zip I went and deleted all the Knox crap and most of the other stuff in your list above and it worked that time lol. I already have Xposed and a bunch of other root apps on there working pretty well so far. It's a neat little phone for a cheapy. I have an S6 as a daily driver but I like toying with the Galaxy Express 3 when I can. My driving reason behind wanting to root it is because the Wi-Fi chip inside is a brcm43438 which supports monitor mode, sorta. The Raspberry Pi 3 has the same chip and can be used with pentesting tools and since it runs on android also, I hoped to find a way to port the patched firmware to this phone. But for now it gives me something else to tinker with lol. Thanks again for the long reply, I know someone out there can maybe use our methods or a combination thereof to get this phone rooted when it wants to be difficult!
Chuck
---------- Post added at 10:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:57 AM ----------
Oh and if anyone has to end up flashing factory firmware, don't get the firmware ending in PJ2, it didn't allow the special bootloader file to flash. I had to download the firmware ending in PC2 for it to work. Just an fyi!
Chuck

ur very welcom thanks for ur help as well

Yea man, no problem! God knows I've gotten enough help thru this site by either reading til my eyes bled or just asking a question lol. It's nice to give back every now and then
Chuck

digitalchaos1980 said:
Yea man, no problem! God knows I've gotten enough help thru this site by either reading til my eyes bled or just asking a question lol. It's nice to give back every now and then
Chuck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its nice to help but i think the thing that bothers me the most is when i ask for help on here and people eather complain that i havent googled it (even though i have) and even if i havent big deal, or they r rude and tell me im "crying" because i put to many Z's ont he word plzzzz its ridicules and its like look eather help me or not dont put me down for asking for help or make fun of me jeez ya know?

anubis2497 said:
its nice to help but i think the thing that bothers me the most is when i ask for help on here and people eather complain that i havent googled it (even though i have) and even if i havent big deal, or they r rude and tell me im "crying" because i put to many Z's ont he word plzzzz its ridicules and its like look eather help me or not dont put me down for asking for help or make fun of me jeez ya know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, you're going to find people like that anywhere you go. Don't let it discourage you from this place. Yes, searching first is one of the rules, but sometimes you just can't find what you are looking for! There are a lot of great and very knowledgeable folks on this site. It's where I come to look up pretty much anything I can't figure out on my own. And I come to contribute when I can.
Chuck

digitalchaos1980 said:
Yea, you're going to find people like that anywhere you go. Don't let it discourage you from this place. Yes, searching first is one of the rules, but sometimes you just can't find what you are looking for! There are a lot of great and very knowledgeable folks on this site. It's where I come to look up pretty much anything I can't figure out on my own. And I come to contribute when I can.
Chuck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea i compleatly agree with you and yea thanks i wont get discouraged its just kinda of a bother thats all but yea im just glad someone appricates my posts thanks :good:

digitalchaos1980 said:
Thanks for the reply back! I had originally followed those directions from that site and it didn't work the first time. I kept trying different versions of Kingroot and Super SU ME with no luck, then I decided to try Kingroot 4.1 and a zip file that when extracted and ran from terminal is supposed to replace Kingroot with Super SU. It only partially worked that being when an app asked for root it was Super SU asking the permissions. I thought I was in the clear then so I tried to let the Super SU app update the binary, but it failed. So I downloaded Flashfire and flashed Super SU zip and it worked and I thought I was hot sh*t until it rebooted lol. When it rebooted it gave me the "Unauthorized software found on this device. Please take it to an ATT dealer blah blah blah". So I downloaded factory firmware and tried again only this time before I used Flashfire to flash the Super SU zip I went and deleted all the Knox crap and most of the other stuff in your list above and it worked that time lol. I already have Xposed and a bunch of other root apps on there working pretty well so far. It's a neat little phone for a cheapy. I have an S6 as a daily driver but I like toying with the Galaxy Express 3 when I can. My driving reason behind wanting to root it is because the Wi-Fi chip inside is a brcm43438 which supports monitor mode, sorta. The Raspberry Pi 3 has the same chip and can be used with pentesting tools and since it runs on android also, I hoped to find a way to port the patched firmware to this phone. But for now it gives me something else to tinker with lol. Thanks again for the long reply, I know someone out there can maybe use our methods or a combination thereof to get this phone rooted when it wants to be difficult!
Chuck
---------- Post added at 10:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:57 AM ----------
Oh and if anyone has to end up flashing factory firmware, don't get the firmware ending in PJ2, it didn't allow the special bootloader file to flash. I had to download the firmware ending in PC2 for it to work. Just an fyi!
Chuck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
could you provide a link to the pc2 one, or maybe even email it to me? i cant find it anywhere. all i can find is ones ending in pj1 or pc1. id appreciate it very much

yea this is the files i used heres a link https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B62nWP8Yfdegck5wRnZyYkRqR0k or http://www.allphonefiles.com/2017/01/samsung-galaxy-express-3-sm-j120a-stock.html make sure to flash all files in .zip with odin ap file flashes to ap etc...

hope that helps

Firmware
digitalchaos1980 said:
Thanks for the reply back! I had originally followed those directions from that site and it didn't work the first time. I kept trying different versions of Kingroot and Super SU ME with no luck, then I decided to try Kingroot 4.1 and a zip file that when extracted and ran from terminal is supposed to replace Kingroot with Super SU. It only partially worked that being when an app asked for root it was Super SU asking the permissions. I thought I was in the clear then so I tried to let the Super SU app update the binary, but it failed. So I downloaded Flashfire and flashed Super SU zip and it worked and I thought I was hot sh*t until it rebooted lol. When it rebooted it gave me the "Unauthorized software found on this device. Please take it to an ATT dealer blah blah blah". So I downloaded factory firmware and tried again only this time before I used Flashfire to flash the Super SU zip I went and deleted all the Knox crap and most of the other stuff in your list above and it worked that time lol. I already have Xposed and a bunch of other root apps on there working pretty well so far. It's a neat little phone for a cheapy. I have an S6 as a daily driver but I like toying with the Galaxy Express 3 when I can. My driving reason behind wanting to root it is because the Wi-Fi chip inside is a brcm43438 which supports monitor mode, sorta. The Raspberry Pi 3 has the same chip and can be used with pentesting tools and since it runs on android also, I hoped to find a way to port the patched firmware to this phone. But for now it gives me something else to tinker with lol. Thanks again for the long reply, I know someone out there can maybe use our methods or a combination thereof to get this phone rooted when it wants to be difficult!
Chuck
---------- Post added at 10:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:57 AM ----------
Oh and if anyone has to end up flashing factory firmware, don't get the firmware ending in PJ2, it didn't allow the special bootloader file to flash. I had to download the firmware ending in PC2 for it to work. Just an fyi!
Chuck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Need link to PC2 can't find it at all and can't get. BL file to flash in Odin special boot loader file did flash but can't find PC2. OR HELP WHY BL WILL NOT FLASH

Have root kingroot v5.0
wmhaganjr1013 said:
Need link to PC2 can't find it at all and can't get. BL file to flash in Odin special boot loader file did flash but can't find PC2. OR HELP WHY BL WILL NOT FLASH
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok have root with kingroot but now can't seem to switch kinder to supersu Super Sume does not work gets stuck processing. Tried manual way and looks like everything is good til supersu goes to update binary and does not work so I need help please.
Ps flashed APJ2 IN ODIN BUT (BL) NEVER LOADED ALWAYS FAILED SO I DID THE REMAINING AND EVERYTHING WORKS .
NEED HELP WITH SUPERSU SWAP PLEASE

Ok kingroot swap to superuser
wmhaganjr1013 said:
Ok have root with kingroot but now can't seem to switch kinder to supersu Super Sume does not work gets stuck processing. Tried manual way and looks like everything is good til supersu goes to update binary and does not work so I need help please.
Ps flashed APJ2 IN ODIN BUT (BL) NEVER LOADED ALWAYS FAILED SO I DID THE REMAINING AND EVERYTHING WORKS .
NEED HELP WITH SUPERSU SWAP PLEASE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I followed link in above posts but after I ran terminal I let kingroot force close as was said above I used uninstaller pro (root) to freeze kingroot so now I have temporary root with super su now I flashed SuperSu v2
.82 -Sr3 from Chainfire with Flashfire and that updated binary re installed SuperSu app in app drawer then unfroze kingroot and uninstalled it . That's it root with SuperSu All the credit to XDA AND ITS MEMBERS POSTS AND CHAINFIRE. LOOKING AT RECOVERY NEXT???? HMMM .PS NEVER DID GET BL FILE TO FLASH WITH APJ2 all links to other firmware r broken .
---------- Post added at 01:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:24 AM ----------
anubis2497 said:
yea this is the files i used heres a link https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0B62nWP8Yfdegck5wRnZyYkRqR0k or http://www.allphonefiles.com/2017/01/samsung-galaxy-express-3-sm-j120a-stock.html make sure to flash all files in .zip with odin ap file flashes to ap etc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dead links

Great write up! dead links and a ? about J120AUCS3AQE1
Hi and thanks for the great write up, very clear. My device is a SM-J120A that sports the AT&T logo upon boot.
Have you or any one tried this method with the OTA update that [I think AT&T] pushed on May 1, '17 labeled J120AUCS3AQE1. I have soft bricked device several times trying to use PJ2 and cant find PC2 [above posted links do not work]. One other thing about the AQE1 update I was only able to get it to install by 25%, my Baseband version changed to J120AUCS3AQE1, but the security patch level has remained at Oct. 1 '16 anf the Build number is at MMB29K.J120AUCU2APJ2. Not sure what is up w/that! If any one has a link to the full "4 file" zip of J120AUCS3AQE1 I would greatly appreciate it.

Root successful...........but
I was able to root with firmware version J120AUCS3AQE1 but because mine is an AT&T phone the bootloader is "locked and signed" meaning it's never going to unlock........? I have the latest version of firmware that came out in may 2017 and it will be available to you as soon as I can post an outside web address............ Every Recovery image that I flashed caused everything to fail and a big triangle that said AT&T detected software on your device that is not allowed on our device so I guess this one is never really your own........ but you can Root with Kingroot and supersume pro to get rid of bloatware and such but other than that no custom stuff on this one.
If Kingroot keeps freezing just restart phone and keep trying it took me a long while to obtain root.

Thanks for the Rooting Guide. I found an img file online for a TWRP Recovery for Samsung Galaxy J1, but with the same Build Number (SM - J120A).
1. Should I trust it?
2. If not, is there an exploit for it already?
Really hope someone can help me. Also, Is anyone else loosing wifi connection constantly after rooting?
Cheers,
Express 3 user

Anybody can you please send stock TouchWiz here???
I really need this APK....

NEED HELP!! i made a lot of progress but simple mistakes have me stuck..
I need some help from youi guys, idk igf im just missing something or thinking too much but im stuck somewhere simple because of a silly mistake.... lol -- heres the bkgrnd story: after using the ENG_BOOT and kingroot, i was unable to get supersume to work. in my quest to do so, I ended up with xposed framework installed and working as well as some more apps n tools... well anyway==here's the curveball (#1 - lol) - i edited some fields in buildprop and applied some tweaks - i did an original backup but was unable to find it.. due to the words and windows on my screen being resized (smaller windows larger text, unable to see entire text field and unable to move within individual framed windows li(ke on microsofts launcher homescreen) - so i edited buildprop one more time.... i changed the density and it zoomed in further - double bad move. heres the next one lol - upon reboot into custom android recovery from eng boot - i accidentally wiped/reset phone instead of the dang cache partition. so - now - it reboots, to the WELCOME! ^(language select, accessibility select) START screeb for first time setup. i cannot for the life of me get it to move a window or hope to select AGREE since its "rendered offscreen" on the terms and conditions. unable to use adb, unable to update from ext storage per recovery's settings apparently..
i am however able to use serial com connection and terminal (on bbqlinux) to do a few things and even remotely open shell - idk what i did to buildprop to fubar my screen render, and even after mounting system in recovery i have not been able to push/pull buildprop or edit again, nor usual adb - im frustrated and stopped finally because i know im missing something simple as hell.. #2 ready for the knuckleball? i was able to get TWRP to flash successfully to my phone with ODIN by clicking AP and using nand erase all, repartition and f, reset time - rebooted phone into recovery and its still the eng_boot one. so i cleared cache part mounted system rebooted, then off and reboot to recovery --still no TWRP either.
i would love a copy of a good buildprop file compatible with the engboot and a little help with the buildprop replacement in the given situation lol, TWRP would be a plus - i greatly appreciate your time and help guys and i apologize if i have posted in the wrong thread or something else that is uncooth - its my very first post but im a long time reader and follower as well as an intermediate developer., thank you for your time everyone. this thread is regarding sansung sm-j120a ud with the engboot build. att go phone, no frp lock, secure download is enabled in download mode tho.. -- usb connection to win 8.1 with android studio poison kitchen etc etc - also have bbq linux