[Q] Galaxy S4 Rooting Help - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi,
This is my first android device and i wanted to root it.
I know that rooting means getting admin access to device so you can do stuff which you may not be able to normally. (a bit like jailbreaking iOS?)
I wanted to know if there is any risk in rooting as some people have told me that you can brick your device if you don't root properly and stuff.
Also can you explain what a kernel and ROM's are?
Thanks in Advance.

aniqpirzada said:
Hi,
This is my first android device and i wanted to root it.
I know that rooting means getting admin access to device so you can do stuff which you may not be able to normally. (a bit like jailbreaking iOS?)
I wanted to know if there is any risk in rooting as some people have told me that you can brick your device if you don't root properly and stuff.
Also can you explain what a kernel and ROM's are?
Thanks in Advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is always risk with rooting. Instructions not followed correctly is usually how a device is bricked. But if you follow instrucitons very carefully and to the detail.. then you are 99% safe.
Kernel: Its the bridge between applications and the actual data processing by the hardware. The kernel manages the system's communication between hardware and software components.
ROMs:
A stock ROM is the version of the phone's operating system that comes with your phone when you buy it.
A custom ROM is a fully standalone version of the OS, including the kernel, apps, services, etc - everything you need to operate the device, except it's customized by someone in some way.

Related

[Q] Complete Android Noobie...

Hey Guys!
I just got my first android device (switched over from iPhone 3g) and I LOVE IT!
With that said, now to business! I read a lot about rooting the Evo, and other android devices, and I must say, I am quite lost in the lingo. I looked through a bunch of threads, and there are a bunch of tutorials about rooting the device in many different ways. And, after reading a lot of them, I found out about unrevoked, but I am not quite sure what it does. I gather it is a one step rooting program, but if that is the case, what is PC36IMG.zip needed for if unrevoked already roots the device in one click?
Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.
Arm0 said:
Hey Guys!
I just got my first android device (switched over from iPhone 3g) and I LOVE IT!
With that said, now to business! I read a lot about rooting the Evo, and other android devices, and I must say, I am quite lost in the lingo. I looked through a bunch of threads, and there are a bunch of tutorials about rooting the device in many different ways. And, after reading a lot of them, I found out about unrevoked, but I am not quite sure what it does. I gather it is a one step rooting program, but if that is the case, what is PC36IMG.zip needed for if unrevoked already roots the device in one click?
Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok so rooting removes the protected recovery on the phone. a recovery lets you restore/factory reset and install updates manually. with the non protected recovery, you can make the phone think it is being manually updated, but really you are modifying it to your hearts content. read up on roms. i reccomend flashing the ava froyo v7. very good. have fun with your newly rooted device!!!! just tell me if you need more info.
btw, this should be in questions and answers
Sorry if I posted this in the wrong place, and thanks for the respond. Figured, can't go wrong with General!
So, if i just root it without running a custom recovery, can I still run tethering apps and the screen shot app?
Basically the root gets you access deeper in the phones files than you previously had. You also gain a new set of permissions (superuser permissions) with the process so that your phone allows you to do more, similar to the iphone jailbreak.
You will need a custom recovery. The updates that sprint/htc usually send out over the air (OTA) can't be used anymore because you will lose your root, so you have to apply them manually through recovery instead. This is just one reason, but the custom recovery is a necessity. It can look complicated, especially the way it reads on the forums, but it is very simple once you have it in your hands.
After rereading your post, you may be referring to a custom rom, not recovery. You do not have to use a custom rom, you can just use stock with root access and superuser permissions and be good to go for wifi tether & screen shots
So, from what I gather, we use unrevoked to unlock the phone and get more privileges, and the custom recovery is used to not lose root privileges after Sprint or HTC puts out new updates to the devices?
essentially, you got it. The recovery is used for lots of different things, like adding themes, changing kernels, custom roms, backups, ect.
There are also methods besides unrevoked to gain root. It all depends on the type of person you are, if you want root and don't want to think about it, use one of the one click methods. If you want to learn a little check out regaw_leinad's root thread and the videos that are in the OP and you will get root and you will know how it happened when your done.
My recommendation is to choose your method of root and do it and stick with the stock rooted rom for a bit. Read the forums, mostly the OPs on the different custom roms and the kernel threads and you will start to get an idea of what you want from your rooted phone. After a week or two of hanging out on the forums, you will know what you want and you will have enough grasp to go for it. Read OPs thoroughly and follow directions to the T and you will not have any problems.

[Q] advice what to do on new tab?

considering this is my 1st android, what should i do with the tab? step by step
lurking in this forum, i definitely want to root and be able upgrade firmware or to do anything in my tab
but what should i prepare? in the noob root for beginner, there's only explanation about rooting
can i save the original rom? what app to use? do i need to back up 1st? using what?
and can i upgrade the stock firmware to the jk1 without flashing it 1st to jj4? (since from what i read jj4 is full flash and jk1 is not, logically the stock firmware must be full flash also)
many thanks to those who can explain it in beginner's language
or maybe a couple of links would help
i already got the tutorial for the rooting process, so basically, what i need to do before rooting is what i need so i wont lose anything precious
I'd just start using it. Get some apps installed, see what you need/want/like to do with it, and if something you need/want/like to do is prevented by not having root access, then root it.
I'd say for the majority of Android users, there really is not much need to root, since Android lets you do so much right out of the box, unlike the competition that requires "jailbreaking" (God I hate that term) just to do simple **** like customizing.
Same goes with firmware. Unless you really enjoy the process of flashing and all that's associated with it, there's not always a clear need to do so. The only time I recommend somebody flash custom/leaked firmware for more than the fun-factor is if there's a problem in the current firmware that can only be fixed by flashing.
That said, this is XDA, which is all about custom ROMs and rooting and extracting more from a device than what the manufacturer shipped it with. Have at it.
jailbreaking lol, yeah, hate that
well something that bugs me is about the mobile browser view that some ppl actually advising rooting to be able to do that
hmm, what about what to do 1st if i actually want to root? any advice what to do and what app to use?
rooting on the Galaxy Tab is extremely simple:
1) Open the Market
2) Install and run 'z4root'
3) Hit the 'root' button' and wait
That's it.
Once you're done with that, one of the first things I'd suggest is to get AdFree installed and updated. It'll quite successfully block all those annoying ads.
i know about z4root, what i need to know is what i should do before rooting, like backing up the stock OS or data or app or anything like that, so i wouldnt regret having rooted my tab in case i flashed it with newest firmware like jk1
Rooting doesn't prevent flashing, or do any harm by itself, and when you flash, you wipe/reset the root.
oh, i see
so basically it just void my warranty and give me administator authorities like in windows?
thanks then
If you have to return your tab for any reason just reflash stock rom from whatever cell provider you got it from and the root is gone thus no breaking of the warranty
Yep, I rooted with z4root the other day. Was a piece of cake, although 1st attempt required a restart before it got going. 1st thing to install after that is Adblock.
Perfect.
Oh yeah, after that I installed titanium backup to get rid of the crappy gallery and replace it with the modded gallery 3rd form hi res zooming.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
What modded gallery are you talking about? I'd like to change the gallery because I hate the stock one!

[Q] A few questions on rooting

Hello,
It's been a long time since I rooted a device.So please be patient.
I want to root the tablet because I need open vpn connectivity and I don't need a custom ROM because I am mainly using it as a media consumption device.
Does rooting automatically mean flashing a custom recovery(CWM) Is it possible to root without flashing one(I feel stupid asking this I remember flashing CWM every time I root a Android device.)
I have heard that there are some bugs in CWM for Nexus 10.
Thanks
siddardhab said:
Hello,
It's been a long time since I rooted a device.So please be patient.
I want to root the tablet because I need open vpn connectivity and I don't need a custom ROM because I am mainly using it as a media consumption device.
Does rooting automatically mean flashing a custom recovery(CWM) Is it possible to root without flashing one(I feel stupid asking this I remember flashing CWM every time I root a Android device.)
I have heard that there are some bugs in CWM for Nexus 10.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I like to think Android is Linux; which it basically is. It gives you access to system files and delve deeper than what you can normally access. superuser access more or less. You can install custom ROMs AFTER you are rooted. That's pretty much it. Also, no rooting doesn't automatically flashing a custom recovery.
A custom recovery is just a custom recovery that you can flash through fastboot..for a plethora of different functions which cannot be done easily with the stock recovery. Which is..another method of customizing and accessing your phone...since this can go on for a long time I'm just going to stop and add that you're better off reading and learning stuff before trying to do any of it though.
Good luck!
I've never quite got an answer to this: does rooting automatically ends warranty? What is Samsung's official take? Does unrooting work and can I cover traces? I only want rooting for adblocking and USB OTG, but now risking warranty.
I don't think rooting a device voids any warranty. You can always lock the bootloader and reflash the stock image and it's as if nothing ever happened.
If it were to void the warranty, Google wouldn't have made it easy to unlock the bootloader and root. If you tamper with with hardware in the device then yes it will void your warranty.
So basically, what is the point of rooting the device?
realyweely said:
So basically, what is the point of rooting the device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally I'd do that fro adblocking and external storage mounting, if it doesn't require messing with the ROM which I'd prefer not to.
what kind of adblocking just out of interest? is it possible to get something like adfender for portable devices?
AdAway is a popular app, dunno of compatible with the N10 just yet.
Rooting allows you to freeze apps that you don't want to keep them form wasting resources, freeze & hide apps you do not want the kids to use, back up apps & data plus entire system just in case you accidentally do something stupid. Then there is AdFree to block ads. Plus, if you get bored in the future you can jump into ROM flashing.
siddardhab said:
I want to root the tablet because I need open vpn connectivity and I don't need a custom ROM because I am mainly using it as a media consumption device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
'OpenVPN for Android' (by Arne Schwabe) does not need root (btw I do not own a nexus 10 to check if it works on it)

[Q] Terminology Explained

HI, I have an LG G2 that I want to root, mainly so that I can get rid of some of the stock apps that are running in the back ground and using system resources however before I even venture down the rooting road I need some of the basics explaining to me. I am computer literate in the windows environment so am quite happy to have a go at rooting my device however I would like to get a better understanding of the terminology etc first, I also have a number of rooting specific questions if anyone can answer them. Ok here goes:-
1) ROM - What is it, my understanding is that this is basically the operating system shipped with the phone and therefore it follows that a custom ROM is one made by a third party that can be installed on the phone instead of the standard one. Am I correct on this.
2) Recovery - I have no idea what this is but am guessing that it is some way of recovering the device / re-setting it to its default factory settings if the phone goes completely wrong, I would therefore guess that a custom recovery is a third party recovery that does different things to the one provided by the manufacturer. Again am I correct in this or not.
3) Is it possible to gain root access on the device and keep the standard ROM. As I said before I want root access so that I can control the default apps and get rid of the ones that I don't use or run in the background, at this stage I don't want to install a custom ROM until I have had a go at just rooting the device (I suspect this will change as I love tinkering)
4) I am aware of the issue around warranty being void if a device is rooted, is there anyway to restore the device so that it is un-rooted and the repair centre etc will never know that it has been rooted. I understand that this is something to do with a counter needing re-setting but have no idea how to do this.
5) What software do I need to root the device.
I appreciate I have a lot of questions, most on the very basic side of things but I would be very grateful any help offered.
Thanks
Ben
Monkeyhands said:
HI, I have an LG G2 that I want to root, mainly so that I can get rid of some of the stock apps that are running in the back ground and using system resources however before I even venture down the rooting road I need some of the basics explaining to me. I am computer literate in the windows environment so am quite happy to have a go at rooting my device however I would like to get a better understanding of the terminology etc first, I also have a number of rooting specific questions if anyone can answer them. Ok here goes:-
1) ROM - What is it, my understanding is that this is basically the operating system shipped with the phone and therefore it follows that a custom ROM is one made by a third party that can be installed on the phone instead of the standard one. Am I correct on this.
2) Recovery - I have no idea what this is but am guessing that it is some way of recovering the device / re-setting it to its default factory settings if the phone goes completely wrong, I would therefore guess that a custom recovery is a third party recovery that does different things to the one provided by the manufacturer. Again am I correct in this or not.
3) Is it possible to gain root access on the device and keep the standard ROM. As I said before I want root access so that I can control the default apps and get rid of the ones that I don't use or run in the background, at this stage I don't want to install a custom ROM until I have had a go at just rooting the device (I suspect this will change as I love tinkering)
4) I am aware of the issue around warranty being void if a device is rooted, is there anyway to restore the device so that it is un-rooted and the repair centre etc will never know that it has been rooted. I understand that this is something to do with a counter needing re-setting but have no idea how to do this.
5) What software do I need to root the device.
I appreciate I have a lot of questions, most on the very basic side of things but I would be very grateful any help offered.
Thanks
Ben
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1 Yes it is the operating system, AOSP means its full on custom. While STOCK based roms are the basic OS the phone came with but with multiple tweaks to improve performance and the system in general but keeping features that are not released publicly and drivers. For example camera performance etc.
2 Yes. The manufacturer recovery only resets the RoM to factory default. Custom Recoveries let you Backup your entire System (except files) to exactly the way it was before so if you do something wrong you can go exactly to the way it was before down to apps installed and messages.
so Stock is a Restore partition. Custom needs you to backup system first unless you store a Rom on Memory or external to *flash*
Custom actually gives you more options to recover a broken phone than stock.
3. Yes you can. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45692679#post45692679
4. The samsung Galaxys had counters to check root and flashes etc i believe LG G2 Doesnt you can remove root and also flash back to complete STOCK firmware for returning to manufacters.
5. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45692679#post45692679 GL read into it
squee666 said:
1 Yes it is the operating system, AOSP means its full on custom. While STOCK based roms are the basic OS the phone came with but with multiple tweaks to improve performance and the system in general but keeping features that are not released publicly and drivers. For example camera performance etc.
2 Yes. The manufacturer recovery only resets the RoM to factory default. Custom Recoveries let you Backup your entire System (except files) to exactly the way it was before so if you do something wrong you can go exactly to the way it was before down to apps installed and messages.
so Stock is a Restore partition. Custom needs you to backup system first unless you store a Rom on Memory or external to *flash*
Custom actually gives you more options to recover a broken phone than stock.
3. Yes you can. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45692679#post45692679
4. The samsung Galaxys had counters to check root and flashes etc i believe LG G2 Doesnt you can remove root and also flash back to complete STOCK firmware for returning to manufacters.
5. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45692679#post45692679 GL read into it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HI,
Thanks for the info, I have now rooted my phone and as anticipated now have a whole load of new questions. Firstly I installed an app Root Checker Basic by joeykrim, just to make sure the phone was rooted and the app reported back that it was not rooted despite the fact that esfileexplorer now has root access and I have been able to install SuperSU by Chainfire so whats going on, is my phone rooted, not rooted or partialy rooted (if that's possible). Also I am not exactly sure why I need to use the SuperSU app, it doesn't appear to have any options for uninstalling system apps or changing previously restricted settings etc which I was expecting once I got root access, the stock ROM hasn't given me access to this stuff either so the question is how do I now get access to it, from other apps I presume. One thing that I do need SuperSU for is to use it in combination with hidemyroot so that SKYGO will still work as this app will not work on rooted devices, if there is another way to get SKYGO to work on rooted apps then I will happily give it a go as it means I wont need SuperSU then.
Thanks
Ben
Be careful wich apps from system you want to uninstall, you can brick your device.
Do not remove anything from /system, ever. Use Settings->Disable on the apps that allow that, anything else you absolutely thing you need to disable use (as root) pm disable com.package.name.
Google it for more details.

Curious about non blackbox root process for Nexus devices

I have been a Linux based software developer for over 10 years but recently started looking into Android development and just purchased a Nexus 6 phone from Motorola to start hacking on. The first thing obviously is to unlock the bootloader (which seems really straight forward) and then root the phone. But this leads me to a question.
I have been searching the internet for root techniques for the Nexus device and I keep finding tutorials that point me to downloading premade files from others that root the phone in a blackbox fashion. I would rather understand the actual root process than just follow a cookie cutter process designed to make it easier for people who don't want to learn how to do it. So my question is this, does anybody know of any information anywhere that details and explains the rooting process without using others downloaded files or actually explains what those downloaded files are doing? I am a curious guy and don't really like blackboxes if I have an alternative. I would much rather learn the process so I can start figuring out how to hack on this phone more effectively.
Thanks for any information you can provide!
Adrian
aew_78 said:
I have been a Linux based software developer for over 10 years but recently started looking into Android development and just purchased a Nexus 6 phone from Motorola to start hacking on. The first thing obviously is to unlock the bootloader (which seems really straight forward) and then root the phone. But this leads me to a question.
I have been searching the internet for root techniques for the Nexus device and I keep finding tutorials that point me to downloading premade files from others that root the phone in a blackbox fashion. I would rather understand the actual root process than just follow a cookie cutter process designed to make it easier for people who don't want to learn how to do it. So my question is this, does anybody know of any information anywhere that details and explains the rooting process without using others downloaded files or actually explains what those downloaded files are doing? I am a curious guy and don't really like blackboxes if I have an alternative. I would much rather learn the process so I can start figuring out how to hack on this phone more effectively.
Thanks for any information you can provide!
Adrian
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlock the bootloader, flash TWRP recovery. Flash the SuperSU zip in TWRP.
Profit.
Thanks for the reply
Evolution_Tech said:
Unlock the bootloader, flash TWRP recovery. Flash the SuperSU zip in TWRP.
Profit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! This seems like the general process I have seen in the tutorials. What I would really like to understand is the nature of the process though. Previously in all my other Android devices I blindly downloaded files and followed instructions to run them and it all just seemed to work. Now I'm trying to figure out the process and why it worked. You could say I am trying to understand how the people that create these downloadable files do it. I'm not looking for a quick root process, but a more thorough approach that actually teaches me what's going on.
For instance, I don't know why I need to flash the TWRP recovery (or even what it is doing in the process) and I don't understand what the SuperSU is doing? Consider me a very curious novice who would like to get to the point to where I could be a valuable contributor to a project like TWRP.
aew_78 said:
Thanks for the reply! This seems like the general process I have seen in the tutorials. What I would really like to understand is the nature of the process though. Previously in all my other Android devices I blindly downloaded files and followed instructions to run them and it all just seemed to work. Now I'm trying to figure out the process and why it worked. You could say I am trying to understand how the people that create these downloadable files do it. I'm not looking for a quick root process, but a more thorough approach that actually teaches me what's going on.
For instance, I don't know why I need to flash the TWRP recovery (or even what it is doing in the process) and I don't understand what the SuperSU is doing? Consider me a very curious novice who would like to get to the point to where I could be a valuable contributor to a project like TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe start here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2948481
aew_78 said:
I have been a Linux based software developer for over 10 years but recently started looking into Android development and just purchased a Nexus 6 phone from Motorola to start hacking on. The first thing obviously is to unlock the bootloader (which seems really straight forward) and then root the phone. But this leads me to a question.
I have been searching the internet for root techniques for the Nexus device and I keep finding tutorials that point me to downloading premade files from others that root the phone in a blackbox fashion. I would rather understand the actual root process than just follow a cookie cutter process designed to make it easier for people who don't want to learn how to do it. So my question is this, does anybody know of any information anywhere that details and explains the rooting process without using others downloaded files or actually explains what those downloaded files are doing? I am a curious guy and don't really like blackboxes if I have an alternative. I would much rather learn the process so I can start figuring out how to hack on this phone more effectively.
Thanks for any information you can provide!
Adrian
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Find stuff from chainfire, for example: THIS.
You could check sources from superuser written by Koush. Although it is old, you will get the basic idea of what is going on with root.
Basically the entire idea is to get the linux su binary installed on the system.
The problem is that the user that you are using doesn't have permission to create or execute the su binary.
The root process is the process of making both of those true.
Sometimes a root kit needs to utilize an exploit for this to happen, or can simply be flashed (written to the system) before the system is booted (typically in recovery mode).
Picture twrp as your recovery tool for your comp. Basically same functions. SuperSU does the same thing as root on your Linux
Benefits if running Linux you only download 2 files. Twrp and SuperSU. Process is done in terminal so you can see everything that is happening. Also if you open a rom zip you can access the notes that tell it what to do and sorta see what's going on in there as well.

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