Database Users

[Q] Just bought an S4 and did the 4.3 OTA and have Knox, should I return the phone?

Hi everyone, I have about 7 days left on my "14 day return policy" from the Sprint store. I love XDA and it's been a HUGE help to me in the last few years. I like the phone, it's pretty snappy, and the camera is great. But I can't use a phone without root (who can??) and eventually Samsung will stop pushing updates to this phone so I'm going to need to flash custom ROMs (cyanogenmod did wonders on my last phone, the Galaxy S1). I also know that I can't mount SMB or CFS shares without flashing a kernel that supports it and I'm not sure if the S4's official firmware supports the ability to do so (which I believe requires root anyway, so I guess I answered my own question.
I have a couple of questions about the S4 that I'm hoping someone who has experience can tell me about this.
1) Can I root using VRoot and NOT trip the Knox warranty bit?
2) After rooting, can I install a recovery (I've read that Philz CWM recovery works but can't find definitive answers on this).
3) Should I even care about the Knox software?
I don't need to use the phone in an enterprise environment, but I also don't want the phone's bootloader locked to Samsung firmwares if it means I won't be able to install custom FW's or kernels.
Should I return the phone? I'll pay the $35 restocking fee just to save myself from having to deal with Samsung's (and this my opinion) bonehead move of abandoning its developer userbase.
Any and all responses would be appreciated. Thanks for reading and helping!

epi4gtn said:
Hi everyone, I have about 7 days left on my "14 day return policy" from the Sprint store. I love XDA and it's been a HUGE help to me in the last few years. I like the phone, it's pretty snappy, and the camera is great. But I can't use a phone without root (who can??) and eventually Samsung will stop pushing updates to this phone so I'm going to need to flash custom ROMs (cyanogenmod did wonders on my last phone, the Galaxy S1). I also know that I can't mount SMB or CFS shares without flashing a kernel that supports it and I'm not sure if the S4's official firmware supports the ability to do so (which I believe requires root anyway, so I guess I answered my own question.
I have a couple of questions about the S4 that I'm hoping someone who has experience can tell me about this.
1) Can I root using VRoot and NOT trip the Knox warranty bit?
2) After rooting, can I install a recovery (I've read that Philz CWM recovery works but can't find definitive answers on this).
3) Should I even care about the Knox software?
I don't need to use the phone in an enterprise environment, but I also don't want the phone's bootloader locked to Samsung firmwares if it means I won't be able to install custom FW's or kernels.
Should I return the phone? I'll pay the $35 restocking fee just to save myself from having to deal with Samsung's (and this my opinion) bonehead move of abandoning its developer userbase.
Any and all responses would be appreciated. Thanks for reading and helping!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not worried about the Knox bit. Mine is tripped and it's not preventing anything, AFAIK. I can still install Sammy firmwares, ROM's that are at the correct version/level, mods, apps, etc. It seems it's really only a flag for enterprise users. I agree it kind of sucks, and I'm not a fan of it, but it doesn't seem to be causing any real harm at this point warranty or service wise. Some say it may prevent Samsung from honoring the warranty, but I'm not sure that's true, based on reading the forums.
As far as Samsung stopping pushing firmwares to this phone, that should be a long way off since this is their flagship smartphone at this point. It's a great phone and I've been very happy with mine, which I got the weekend they were released. Rooted, stock rom, hotspot mod. So much better phone than my old HTC Androids!

jejb said:
I am not worried about the Knox bit. Mine is tripped and it's not preventing anything, AFAIK. I can still install Sammy firmwares, ROM's that are at the correct version/level, mods, apps, etc. It seems it's really only a flag for enterprise users. I agree it kind of sucks, and I'm not a fan of it, but it doesn't seem to be causing any real harm at this point warranty or service wise. Some say it may prevent Samsung from honoring the warranty, but I'm not sure that's true, based on reading the forums.
As far as Samsung stopping pushing firmwares to this phone, that should be a long way off since this is their flagship smartphone at this point. It's a great phone and I've been very happy with mine, which I got the weekend they were released. Rooted, stock rom, hotspot mod. So much better phone than my old HTC Androids!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is just a thought... but... check your phone, when I got mine not too long back it still came with 4.2 on it. If yours still has 4.2 you wouldn't have to worry about knox as long as you didn't take the OTA. You could root it and rom it all you wanted.

Yes you should return the phone. That way you **** all the people who return their phones for legitimate warranty/insurance reasons with higher costs.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

frostedunit said:
Yes you should return the phone. That way you **** all the people who return their phones for legitimate warranty/insurance reasons with higher costs.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't done any type of rooting or modification to the phone yet. That's the reason I'm asking, I haven't tripped the counter. I'm just aggravated by not having root and being able to remove this crapware. I wouldn't be ****ing anyone. Please don't be a ****.
jejb said:
I am not worried about the Knox bit. Mine is tripped and it's not preventing anything, AFAIK. I can still install Sammy firmwares, ROM's that are at the correct version/level, mods, apps, etc. It seems it's really only a flag for enterprise users. I agree it kind of sucks, and I'm not a fan of it, but it doesn't seem to be causing any real harm at this point warranty or service wise. Some say it may prevent Samsung from honoring the warranty, but I'm not sure that's true, based on reading the forums.
As far as Samsung stopping pushing firmwares to this phone, that should be a long way off since this is their flagship smartphone at this point. It's a great phone and I've been very happy with mine, which I got the weekend they were released. Rooted, stock rom, hotspot mod. So much better phone than my old HTC Androids!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is great news, can you point me to the tool you used to root the phone? I've read the Chinese VRoot method doesn't trip the counter, but installs "Superuser" which can subsequently be removed and replaced with SuperSU. I think using SuperSU and something like DroidWall to monitor the device to make sure nothing fishy is going on will help us determine whether or not VRoot is really malware (I've read comments saying that it's some kind of spyware but I'm not sure of the technical prowess of those commenters).
What recovery are you using to flash custom ROMs?
And as asked in a previous post-- Did you root before taking the OTA? Or did you take the OTA and do you see the Knox Warranty Bit marked as 0x1 in the stock recovery?
Thanks for the replies, appreciate all the info guys!

epi4gtn said:
I haven't done any type of rooting or modification to the phone yet. That's the reason I'm asking, I haven't tripped the counter. I'm just aggravated by not having root and being able to remove this crapware. I wouldn't be ****ing anyone. Please don't be a ****.
This is great news, can you point me to the tool you used to root the phone? I've read the Chinese VRoot method doesn't trip the counter, but installs "Superuser" which can subsequently be removed and replaced with SuperSU. I think using SuperSU and something like DroidWall to monitor the device to make sure nothing fishy is going on will help us determine whether or not VRoot is really malware (I've read comments saying that it's some kind of spyware but I'm not sure of the technical prowess of those commenters).
What recovery are you using to flash custom ROMs?
And as asked in a previous post-- Did you root before taking the OTA? Or did you take the OTA and do you see the Knox Warranty Bit marked as 0x1 in the stock recovery?
Thanks for the replies, appreciate all the info guys![/QUOTE
I used an app from thePlayStore called Triangle Away to reset the counter. You have to be rooted, but it works perfectly. Just an FYI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

epi4gtn said:
I haven't done any type of rooting or modification to the phone yet. That's the reason I'm asking, I haven't tripped the counter. I'm just aggravated by not having root and being able to remove this crapware. I wouldn't be ****ing anyone. Please don't be a ****.
This is great news, can you point me to the tool you used to root the phone? I've read the Chinese VRoot method doesn't trip the counter, but installs "Superuser" which can subsequently be removed and replaced with SuperSU. I think using SuperSU and something like DroidWall to monitor the device to make sure nothing fishy is going on will help us determine whether or not VRoot is really malware (I've read comments saying that it's some kind of spyware but I'm not sure of the technical prowess of those commenters).
What recovery are you using to flash custom ROMs?
And as asked in a previous post-- Did you root before taking the OTA? Or did you take the OTA and do you see the Knox Warranty Bit marked as 0x1 in the stock recovery?
Thanks for the replies, appreciate all the info guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont use vroot. Until some dev can pin point what the chinese root method actually does. And if your on 4.2.2 your ok but once ota to 4.3 then you have knox bootloader meaning you cant downgrade firmwares. It wont stop you from changing kernels and roms. Knox flag just voids your warranty with samsung but if you have insurance with sprint they can care less about it tripped. I updated to 4.3 and tripped the knox amd I havent seen no problems really. Btw please make research this has been talked about lately too much.
SoFaKiNgStOkeD said:
epi4gtn said:
I haven't done any type of rooting or modification to the phone yet. That's the reason I'm asking, I haven't tripped the counter. I'm just aggravated by not having root and being able to remove this crapware. I wouldn't be ****ing anyone. Please don't be a ****.
This is great news, can you point me to the tool you used to root the phone? I've read the Chinese VRoot method doesn't trip the counter, but installs "Superuser" which can subsequently be removed and replaced with SuperSU. I think using SuperSU and something like DroidWall to monitor the device to make sure nothing fishy is going on will help us determine whether or not VRoot is really malware (I've read comments saying that it's some kind of spyware but I'm not sure of the technical prowess of those commenters).
What recovery are you using to flash custom ROMs?
And as asked in a previous post-- Did you root before taking the OTA? Or did you take the OTA and do you see the Knox Warranty Bit marked as 0x1 in the stock recovery?
Thanks for the replies, appreciate all the info guys![/QUOTE
I used an app from thePlayStore called Triangle Away to reset the counter. You have to be rooted, but it works perfectly. Just an FYI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That only works if your on 4.2. It wont reset the knox bootloader counter.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

epi4gtn said:
This is great news, can you point me to the tool you used to root the phone? I've read the Chinese VRoot method doesn't trip the counter, but installs "Superuser" which can subsequently be removed and replaced with SuperSU. I think using SuperSU and something like DroidWall to monitor the device to make sure nothing fishy is going on will help us determine whether or not VRoot is really malware (I've read comments saying that it's some kind of spyware but I'm not sure of the technical prowess of those commenters).
What recovery are you using to flash custom ROMs?
And as asked in a previous post-- Did you root before taking the OTA? Or did you take the OTA and do you see the Knox Warranty Bit marked as 0x1 in the stock recovery?
Thanks for the replies, appreciate all the info guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, my Knox bit it tripped/set. It is 0x1 on the download screen. Can't view it in recovery. I just used CF Auto Root after going to 4.3. Should be easy to search and find that thread. I'm on the stock rom with tweaks.
Using TWRP recovery, but I've tried several, including Philz and OUDHS. It seems Philz is the flavor of the month, so you might want to go with that just to be safe.
I did not root before taking the OTA. I don't think I'd try it that way. I was rooted, but went back to stock to take the update. If you get back to stock, reset the custom bits on your download screen (triangle away and RTN's seem to do that, but might have to do more than one), recover your apps/data and then take the OTA, it should be the most sure fire method. Then root, custom recovery, nandroid backup and play from there.

jejb said:
Yes, my Knox bit it tripped/set. It is 0x1 on the download screen. Can't view it in recovery. I just used CF Auto Root after going to 4.3. Should be easy to search and find that thread. I'm on the stock rom with tweaks.
Using TWRP recovery, but I've tried several, including Philz and OUDHS. It seems Philz is the flavor of the month, so you might want to go with that just to be safe.
I did not root before taking the OTA. I don't think I'd try it that way. I was rooted, but went back to stock to take the update. If you get back to stock, reset the custom bits on your download screen (triangle away and RTN's seem to do that, but might have to do more than one), recover your apps/data and then take the OTA, it should be the most sure fire method. Then root, custom recovery, nandroid backup and play from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, I plan to just use CF-Auto-Root to root the phone. I'm starting to care less about the Knox bit getting tripped.
I came across this post by rawintellect that seems to have everything I'd need out of the phone, rooted/deodexed MK2 with all the bloat removed, BUT it says in the description that the Knox Bootloader is removed *EDIT: After thinking about the statement some more, I think he means the Knox bootloader is NOT included in the rom, but this raises another question, can I install it on a phone WITH the knox bootloader?), so I'm afraid of attempting to flash it because as I understand it, it's impossible to replace the knox bootloader.
Here's the post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48516106
This individual seems to have gotten everything working: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48516106&postcount=88
Do you know if anyone is able to flash Philz through Odin successfully on the MJA/knox bootloader?

I took mine back after I took the OTA. I was honest about why I was returning it, that the firmware introduces restrictions and annoying features (I cited the multiple WiFi security warnings in particular) I was not willing to accept, and the independent store I was dealing with gave me an exchange to a new phone with 4.2. I first asked if they could downgrade the phone to 4.2, including the bootloader, they researched that option, finding it impossible.
If they had not given me the exchange, I would have picked a different color and done it that way.

Try this Guide
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2572000
MrTasselhof

To root or not to root the s5?

Hey guys I'm pondering whether or not to root my s5 and I have yet to find THE reason. I'd appreciate it if you took a second to write down if you rooted or not. The pros and cons pertaining the the s5. So far there's only a handfull of roms available, a far cry from the previous, galaxy s forums.
IMO Xposed framework would be the only valid reason but then again is it worth tripping the knox counter and voiding our warranty?
What do you think?

I'm curious to know this also, unless some way is ever discovered to root without tripping Knox, or somehow reset Knox.
The one thing I'd love to do is enable more apps in multi-window. Does anyone know an easy way to do that without root?
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

Hi,
I had my device rooted a couple days ago and I could'n be happier. I flashed a custom light ROM and IO have an amazing battery life now. I could last up to 24 hours with 7 hours screen on.
On more thing, you could experience more Android OS when you have your device rooted.
So what is the reason for not rooting your device?

Void warranty, that's really all.
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

I'm still unsure if knox is tripped on rooting or if it's when a kernel/rom is flashed. I'd be happy to run a rooted stock rom for adblock and a few other apps that need root.
Very hesitant to lose the warranty on this even though I've beta tested and flashed hundreds of times in the past with other phones and never really worried about warranty as they were pretty much all used handsets.
sent from my Samsung Galaxy S5

Prof Peach said:
I'm still unsure if knox is tripped on rooting or if it's when a kernel/rom is flashed. I'd be happy to run a rooted stock rom for adblock and a few other apps that need root.
Very hesitant to lose the warranty on this even though I've beta tested and flashed hundreds of times in the past with other phones and never really worried about warranty as they were pretty much all used handsets.
sent from my Samsung Galaxy S5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know that's a good question because I remember being asked a question when I rooted my first s5 about knox. Maybe someone else could answer that one.
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

mrnovanova said:
You know that's a good question because I remember being asked a question when I rooted my first s5 about knox. Maybe someone else could answer that one.
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best way to root, is to remove knox completely if possible, its a stupid POS spyware app, that eats battery and has no purpose for the end user on the Galaxy S5. There is an app called Triangle away or something of the similar sort that can "trick" the phone into appearing that it has not been tampered with if you need to do a warranty.
I am not sure about your specific model, but if the bootloader is unlocked, why dont you flash AllianceROM, or one of the others which by default has knox removed, and root.

solrazr said:
The best way to root, is to remove knox completely if possible, its a stupid POS spyware app, that eats battery and has no purpose for the end user on the Galaxy S5. There is an app called Triangle away or something of the similar sort that can "trick" the phone into appearing that it has not been tampered with if you need to do a warranty.
I am not sure about your specific model, but if the bootloader is unlocked, why dont you flash AllianceROM, or one of the others which by default has knox removed, and root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, good point. Triangle away doesn't reset the knox counter not yet anyway. The thing is I have nothing against knox I appreciate the extra level of security I like the private mode and I like the fact that I can stop the phone from being rooted or reset should it fall into the wrong hands. That's a plus in my book. Furthermore none of the ROMs out that this moment make me wanna root I find that samsung has come a long way since my s2 customization wise. The phone is awesome out of the box IMHO.
Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

mrnovanova said:
Hey guys I'm pondering whether or not to root my s5 and I have yet to find THE reason. I'd appreciate it if you took a second to write down if you rooted or not. The pros and cons pertaining the the s5. So far there's only a handfull of roms available, a far cry from the previous, galaxy s forums.
IMO Xposed framework would be the only valid reason but then again is it worth tripping the knox counter and voiding our warranty?
What do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi! Some other opinions can be found in his thread (also my answer): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2724257
Cheers!
Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

zeldavn said:
Hi,
I had my device rooted a couple days ago and I could'n be happier. I flashed a custom light ROM and IO have an amazing battery life now. I could last up to 24 hours with 7 hours screen on.
On more thing, you could experience more Android OS when you have your device rooted.
So what is the reason for not rooting your device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting the device might prevent some native apps from functioning such as allshare, screen cast etc...

Root is so good! believe me.:laugh:

hfs1314 said:
Root is so good! believe me.:laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol. I know. I'm actually convinced now. Screw the warranty LOL...:silly:

As long as you know what you're doing and you're voiding the phone's 1 year waranty with it. Think before you do it because it could never be undone (KNOX 0x1).
I'm leaving my S5 unrooted.

Root! No root, no fun!
Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I think as of right now there is no good reason to root the S5....none of the current ROMs are worth breaking the warranty for and we aren't lagging behind the android OS versions that we want urgently catch up to. My advice would be to wait until more advanced rooting methods come around that bypass the knox tripping or until CM, AOKP, AOSP etc ROMS start rolling out or if we get a couple of Android OS versions behind, whichever comes first

mrnovanova said:
Hey guys I'm pondering whether or not to root my s5 and I have yet to find THE reason. I'd appreciate it if you took a second to write down if you rooted or not. The pros and cons pertaining the the s5. So far there's only a handfull of roms available, a far cry from the previous, galaxy s forums.
IMO Xposed framework would be the only valid reason but then again is it worth tripping the knox counter and voiding our warranty?
What do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
today i ended up rooting because i was going criminally insane not having root, but i ran into a problem where the play store got deleted so i had to go a bit further and flash a new rom. ive had root on every android i have had besides the htc my touch. the features you get with root are so wonderful apps like adaway (most useful app in the history of apps), xposed installer, root browser, and many more that i cant think of yet are so useful that i couldnt live without them any longer. plus you can flash different roms if you love the s5 but hate touchwiz there is a rom for that. you have cm11 aokp crdroid paranoid and aosp to give you a stock experience. true at the moment you can not reset knox and if that is an issue for you then dont root. or.... dunk your phone in water without the cover on lol just kidding i do not recommend doing that. the choice is yours though i know others and i love having root and cant live without it. but there are just as many people who love root but dont want to trip knox. for me i ended up rooting because i found out my carrier does not check if the device is modified or not when you trade in so i just said screw it.take all counts into consideration is root something you need or do you not need some of the features you get with root. simple question is are you a hardcore user or basic user?

IMO, if not rooted, ROMed etc, why come to XDA Developers website, you know what I mean?
I do it first day on all devices, have'nt bricked one yet :silly: not!
I love to tweak the hell out of the device, rid it of bloat, block adds, not to mention the advantages of more regular updates and fixes.
Also if using custom ROM you're getting a ROM that has had many man/team hours spent on it rather than a ROM developed for a commercial mass production, theres a comment above that states "no ROM is worthy of flashing on S5 yet" well I'd like to ask you, how the hell do you know if you have'nt flashed anything yet?

I root my S5 first day and I didn't face any problem with Knox Can someone explain to me why Knox is problem ?
Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Free mobile app

Mohannad-K said:
I root my S5 first day and I didn't face any problem with Knox Can someone explain to me why Knox is problem ?
Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Triggering knox will void your warranty without possibility to undo it.
Skickat från min SM-G900F via Tapatalk

There are also certain features that may not function after tripping Knox. Additionally most companies won't let you BYOD after Knox trips. Unless they "forget" to check
Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

Want to root but scared

Ok, i just got my samsung galaxy s5 a week ago. And yesterday i checked for an update and there was one and i downloaded it and installed it. The update said it improved software stability on the s5. I have the t-mobile version and after i intstalled the update i found out that geohot released a root for the device :| . what im afraid of is that this update fixed the exploit the root is using or, this update will detect whether i root the device or now and knox will be tripped. does anyone else know anything about this update that was sent out by t-mobile yesterday?
KERNAL version
3.4.0-1616466
Fri May 23 20:25:39 KST 2014
Build Number
KOT49H.G900TUVU1ANE6
SE for Android Status
Enforcing
SEPF_SM-G900T_4.4.2_0016
Fri May 23 20:25:18 2014
Security software version
MDF v1.0 release 3
VPN v1.4 Release 1

nightlyshade said:
Ok, i just got my samsung galaxy s5 a week ago. And yesterday i checked for an update and there was one and i downloaded it and installed it. The update said it improved software stability on the s5. I have the t-mobile version and after i intstalled the update i found out that geohot released a root for the device :| . what im afraid of is that this update fixed the exploit the root is using or, this update will detect whether i root the device or now and knox will be tripped. does anyone else know anything about this update that was sent out by t-mobile yesterday?
KERNAL version
3.4.0-1616466
Fri May 23 20:25:39 KST 2014
Build Number
KOT49H.G900TUVU1ANE6
SE for Android Status
Enforcing
SEPF_SM-G900T_4.4.2_0016
Fri May 23 20:25:18 2014
Security software version
MDF v1.0 release 3
VPN v1.4 Release 1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Towelroot, it is confirmed working on the S5 and it doesn`t trip KNOX. Link http://towelroot.com/ and click the Lambda from the phones browser and follow instructions.

+1 on towelroot. Works fast and nothing negative can happen if you mess up. I'm talking about the rooting process that is. Hit one button and done. If it's not compatible it just won't root
Sent to you from my slimmed down S5

your KNOX will trigger only if you install CUSTOM RECOVERY or CUSTOM KERNEL. and the safest method that I KNOW to root without triggering KNOX is TOWEL ROOT as described by our 2 good member in your thread.

rooting makes private mode useless

Towel Root is your best bet, like Chaintanyapatel8880 said the only time Knox will trigger is flashing a custom recovery or rom. I think the only rom you can flash that won't trigger it is the alliance rom in the tmobile section since there is an option to flash it through Odin.
Sent from my SM-G900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

nightlyshade said:
Ok, i just got my samsung galaxy s5 a week ago. And yesterday i checked for an update and there was one and i downloaded it and installed it. The update said it improved software stability on the s5. I have the t-mobile version and after i intstalled the update i found out that geohot released a root for the device :| . what im afraid of is that this update fixed the exploit the root is using or, this update will detect whether i root the device or now and knox will be tripped. does anyone else know anything about this update that was sent out by t-mobile yesterday?
KERNAL version
3.4.0-1616466
Fri May 23 20:25:39 KST 2014
Build Number
KOT49H.G900TUVU1ANE6
SE for Android Status
Enforcing
SEPF_SM-G900T_4.4.2_0016
Fri May 23 20:25:18 2014
Security software version
MDF v1.0 release 3
VPN v1.4 Release 1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reiterating from my personal experience. T-Mo G900t KOT49H.G900TUVU1ANE6
I recently sent back a knox tripped back for battery issues, the battery life was horrid. Freaking Android system. (No problemas)
After trying towelroot i'm rooted with stock rom, Make sure to do these things when you do root, Disable ServiceIQ (Find in search) and start looking into making modifications via system tuner but don't do the one click partition stuff that improves stuff for you, that will earn you a factory reset and a whole lot of force closes. =)
Since i've rooted i've had no issues with installing Xposed, BusyBox and all the other goodies that rooting comes with but remember, if you do install a new rom which usually requires a new recovery you WILL trip knox :cyclops: (Correct me if i'm wrong)
I can't tell you how many times i've factory reset and rentered in my credentials but i'm loving titanium backup now.
Stay stock and modify, but don't touch bootloader or recovery
I'd love to get back to Alliance rom or Omega, but I want the radio updates until stuff is ironed out or knox is beaten. I made the mistake of rooting the first day and was stuck with the ANCH baseband and couldn't do anything about it and when you trip your knox you say byebye to radio and modem updates until the higher ups figure things out.

I'm not new to flashing ROMs, but I am new to flashing them for the S5. What is it with this KNOX thing that everyone keeps talking about? Why is it so dangerous? Is that the reason modding for the S5 seems to be at a standstill?

Luuthian said:
I'm not new to flashing ROMs, but I am new to flashing them for the S5. What is it with this KNOX thing that everyone keeps talking about? Why is it so dangerous? Is that the reason modding for the S5 seems to be at a standstill?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
KNOX is advanced security. Before if the binary counter goes custom we can use triangle away and reset the counter which will set the phone for the warranty but in case of KNOX, there is no way we can reset once it becomes 0x1. and the warranty is gone... there is no way as of yet to reset it... it can become 0x1 if you flash custom recovery and or custom kernel but if you use TOWEL ROOT by GEOHOT, knox will not change. I have tried personally...

Ah, okay. So you can actually easily flash the S5 (well, as much as any other locked phone) but people don't want to lose their warranty...
Doesn't seem like the worst trade-off to me though. If a Google Play edition of the device hits, I would gladly flash my device to a stock Android 5.0 ROM on the S5.

Luuthian said:
Ah, okay. So you can actually easily flash the S5 (well, as much as any other locked phone) but people don't want to lose their warranty...
Doesn't seem like the worst trade-off to me though. If a Google Play edition of the device hits, I would gladly flash my device to a stock Android 5.0 ROM on the S5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually It is a golden deal even if we loose warranty. rooting and custom recovery unlocks tons of features. It's like heaven for smartphone...

Luuthian said:
Is that the reason modding for the S5 seems to be at a standstill?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Urghhh if I read another statement like that I'm gonna scream! Modding is NOT at a standstill!! Why do so many people use these sweeping statements just because they can't have a fully working non Samsung based Rom. Modding is very much on the move for Samsung based roms. If you are waiting for fully working non Samsung you may as well have bought a N5 as by not using Samsung software you lose a hell of a lot of what makes an s5 and s5! Buy a nexus... Save some money and be happy
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

towerlroot worked here without messing up knox.
this is my first smartphone I was worried too -- ecspecially because I have insurance on the phone lol
I have not put in custom rom there yet because I need to get a SD card and would rather move my apps there before doing so, but no issues and the thing could not be easier to do with his program.

That's great...
Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

The question is, can a rooted (but older) firmware be as secure as a non-rooted (up-to-date) firmware?
Sure you install apps or modify certain files/settings to improve security, but what if there's a serious security flaw in the kernel?
Installing a newer kernel would render towelroot useless (the reason i don't mention CF-Auto-Root is because of KNOX, but you can't always have the best of both worlds)

Goldie said:
Urghhh if I read another statement like that I'm gonna scream! Modding is NOT at a standstill!! Why do so many people use these sweeping statements just because they can't have a fully working non Samsung based Rom. Modding is very much on the move for Samsung based roms. If you are waiting for fully working non Samsung you may as well have bought a N5 as by not using Samsung software you lose a hell of a lot of what makes an s5 and s5! Buy a nexus... Save some money and be happy
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't mean it like that. I assume people simply aren't working on it much because the bootloader hasn't been unlocked. POintless to build ROMs that can't be used yet. That's all. I'm actually quite happy with my S5, and would be even if we never saw a big ROM community for it. It's a good phone, and Touch Wiz is far less intrusive than it used to be. Even knowing an F device is in the works I'm still happy with my purchase.

A heads up - TowelRoot did not work on my Sprint S5 (but I got it rooted using Odin)

I'm not sure why, the .apk file for towelroot refused to run/launch and was complaining about some kind of parsing error. Since it's a binary a generic parse error was not all that useful in attempting to debug what was happening. I tried downloading it a couple separate time and transferring it over to the phone again, but same problem. And same problem running it from either the internal phone storage or my external microSD card.
So ... I then used the odin and CF-Auto-Root (instructions at http://www.ibtimes.com/how-root-sam...42-kitkat-using-cf-auto-root-tutorial-1577576) and got it working first try, perfect!
The only issue I find is that when I launch Super SU it ALWAYS asks about whether it should try to suppress Samsung Knox every time I open the app, and I always say cancel, and it's successful. Apps don't encounter this problem once you set Super SU to have a default action of "Grant" superuser permission.

Hmm... strange, I was able to use TowelRoot on my Sprint GS5. On both nd8 and ne5 firmwares with no issues

Might as well take it all the way with cf root anyway. Only reason not to really would be if its a company supplied phone where they check on knox status. Towel root is awesome, but msde for people who have a reason to worry about knox, or for those with a locked bootloader. Sprint is wide open so why not take advantage.
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Free mobile app

miked63017 said:
Might as well take it all the way with cf root anyway. Only reason not to really would be if its a company supplied phone where they check on knox status. Towel root is awesome, but msde for people who have a reason to worry about knox, or for those with a locked bootloader. Sprint is wide open so why not take advantage.
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The other reason is if you'd like to keep your warranty intact.
Knox trip = no longer covered by warranty, only insurance claim with deductible.
That said, for those with ERP it's hit or miss if the sprint store will check the knox flag if doing swap, but Samsung direct warranty generally does.
It also might be that users don't care to run another rom.
I'm fine on the stock rom, I rooted, and removed all the bloat and can basically do all the same tweaks.
I have custom PRL, icons etc. and my piece of mind for warranty

bryanu said:
The other reason is if you'd like to keep your warranty intact.
Knox trip = no longer covered by warranty, only insurance claim with deductible.
That said, for those with ERP it's hit or miss if the sprint store will check the knox flag if doing swap, but Samsung direct warranty generally does.
It also might be that users don't care to run another rom.
I'm fine on the stock rom, I rooted, and removed all the bloat and can basically do all the same tweaks.
I have custom PRL, icons etc. and my piece of mind for warranty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Warrenty is a reason to worry about knox, I have been pretty lucky in regards to turning in phones on warrenty. The one main drawback I would see with towel root is that there would be extra hoops to jump through to install things since you cant do a custom recovery. Not a problem for those with experience, but can trip up people who are not used to linux/android cli tasks. Look at the questions asked in these forums about issues with flashing zips, imagine supporting people with no tech background to do tasks from the cli or a file explorer. It would be cool if someone made a recovery apk for flashing zips from inside android, it might even already exist but I wouldnt know since I alwsys fully root and use custom recovery. I dont use roms so much, but flashable zips is a huge convenience IMO.
Sent from my SM-G900P using XDA Free mobile app

bryanu said:
The other reason is if you'd like to keep your warranty intact.
Knox trip = no longer covered by warranty, only insurance claim with deductible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong.
Hardware is still covered with Knox tripped if it's for hardware. At least at my local store(s) and from what I have read on xda it seems to be the same all over.

The legend of the Knox warranty lives on. I've seen posts were people had knox tripped and their devices were still covered for "hardware" issues so I'm not concerned. I was talking to a Samsung rep today about rooting my s5!!!
Sent from my Galaxy Tab S

I am trying to root my Sprint S5, without success. I have tried pretty much every free route, apk included, to no avail. I use mac and linux, so Odin is out. Anyone know something that works? I apologize if this is answered in another thread, but I have not seen it anywhere here, so far.

Just got an AT&T Android 5.0 warranty replacement for my rooted 4.4.2; options?

So I just got a 5.0 Lollipop SM-G900A, Baseband G900AUCU4B0F3 warranty replacement for my old rooted 4.4.2 SM-G900A AT&T S5.
I want to get root back. I don't care about warranty since I'm technically out of warranty now and they replaced my phone past warranty (I was really nice to the friendly female CSR I got on the phone). I believe my options are:
Live without root
downgrade to 4.4.2 and root with towelroot without tripping knox
root 5.0 but trip knox
I'd like to do number 3, but I don't know what the best method is at this point. I haven't kept up on any developments in root area since I rooted my 4.4.2 and was supremely happy with it ever since. I know that flashing an already rooted ROM is one of the options but honestly I've gone down the custom ROMs road before on previous phones and I know if I start that again I'll be going through tons of ROMs looking for the one I like best and I've been so happy with rooted vanilla stock that I don't want to take the time to go down that path right now if I can help it. Is there a way to root 5.0 directly if you don't care about Knox/warranty?
I fully realize that I could RTFF and figure out what my answer is but I'm hoping someone who is current will take pity on me and point me in the right direction and cut my RTFF down from hours to minutes. TIA for any help.

https://twitter.com/srsroot/status/634952981960597504
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using XDA Free mobile app

I don't believe it's possible to root 0F3 at this time. Sorry bro...
If root is achieved once again, I would highly recommend sticking to Muniz_ri's rooted stock roms which can be found in the "General" section of each carrier-specific S5 Thread, then running his debloat script (and installing google now launcher) to have a very clean android.

Has there been any updates on this? the "SRSroot" site seems sketchy. Google is not showing me results that I want to hear.

Frankbot said:
Has there been any updates on this? the "SRSroot" site seems sketchy. Google is not showing me results that I want to hear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No update, still unrootable.
Sent from my Galaxy S5 using XDA Labs