Related
ok, so i tried to get help in the actual froyo 2.2.13 install thread but i'm not getting an answer.
i downloaded, installed, and it said it was successful.. i rebooted, went into the settings to see if it changed, and it still said 2.2.9. i tried to do it again and now my phone will not reboot into recovery using droid x bootstrap or rom manager... won't even go into it if i do it manually... i tried to uninstall bootstrap and rom manager and reinstalling, no luck. please help.
brandon2x said:
ok, so i tried to get help in the actual froyo 2.2.13 install thread but i'm not getting an answer.
i downloaded, installed, and it said it was successful.. i rebooted, went into the settings to see if it changed, and it still said 2.2.9. i tried to do it again and now my phone will not reboot into recovery using droid x bootstrap or rom manager... won't even go into it if i do it manually... i tried to uninstall bootstrap and rom manager and reinstalling, no luck. please help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try these comands from :
AllDroid Public Board»Motorola»Droid X Forums»Droid X Rooting»How to get 2.2, Rooted, on your Droid X
under:
If you have /system/xbin/su and /system/app/Superuser.apk, but cannot use "Superuser" (no prompts from Superuser app, "permission denied" when you try to run "su"), just do the following:
Run "adb shell"
Run "/system/xbin/su"
Watch your screen for Superuser app to prompt for permission and click "allow"
Run "mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/system /system"
Run "cp /system/xbin/su /system/bin/su"
Run "chmod 4755 /system/bin/su"
Open the SuperUser application on the phone (app launcher) and make sure that "superuser" isn't listed and denied. If so, "forget it" and return to step 2. If you can't find SuperUser, it's not installed and you should download from this posts attachments and "adb install Superuser.apk"
[optional] Run "mount -o remount,ro /dev/block/system /system"
This should help you get your su working again.
not sure on your process so if you still do not have the .13 I would go back to your process and see what you are missing. I rebooted into recovery from bootstrap when I installed mine. Then I had to do the above commands to get my su back.
If you still don't have it, try the FULL instructions from here:
MDW Presents: Droid X 2.3.13 - The Froyo Upgrade
read through it and see if #5 from step 2 pertains to you.
The biggest thing to remember is to mount before you select the file to load on your sd card.
This thread:
Motorola Droid 2Droid 2 Android DevelopmentHow to root the Droid 2
will also be helpful regarding root if you have further questions.
Hope this helps.
My su is working fine. Nothing is being denied when I open it. Just cannot get to recovery with any option... im lost...
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Maybe just double check through adb shell even if you are not having su issues?
Run "adb shell"
Run "/system/xbin/su"
Watch your screen for Superuser app to prompt for permission and click "allow" (I never saw any request)
Run "mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/system /system"
Run "cp /system/xbin/su /system/bin/su"
Run "chmod 4755 /system/bin/su"
I had similar issues of nothing being denied after a successful install and had to do the su commands. It helped me to reboot into recovery afterwards.
Sent from my DROIDX, Froyo FTW. Obsidian?
Ok im still learning.... how do I "run adb shell" and do these commands you're telling me...
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
brandon2x said:
Ok im still learning.... how do I "run adb shell" and do these commands you're telling me...
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw your post in the other thread. The best thing you can do is go through the links I gave you. Start with the root thread and click the more directions link in it. read through the processes and make sure you download all files and also understand what sbf is. Once you have all of the tools to do root and load whatever leak or rom you want you should be set. Understanding what is going on is key. This is a decision you are making to alter your phone for your benefit. Take the time to download SDK and whatever else is needed for your computer. Become familiar with what shell is and how to get there as well as explore within it. If you can get shell down and how to access your su and run commands, you should know enough to start. There are many things you need to research in order to be confident in what you are doing. I am sure you will not have a problem, just putting the time in to figure out everything is key. This is what I had to do.
I think that this is the best advice I can give you. None of us can know exactly what you are doing so you need to know the processes and choose which one is going to work for your circumstance. Good luck and if you have anymore problems I am sure all of us on xda can figure out a solution for you.
ok, finally, with a little help i got my phone rerooted and back to normal. learned a lot in the process too. thanks to all...
One click root after update: "We have root, but couldn't push busybox. Not sure why!"
I just updated .890 which seemed to go fine with no errors (unfroze all bloat, but did not unroot), but I lost root, as expected.. but when I use Pete's one-click root tool (latest version), it gets to step 3 and gives me the error about not being able to push busybox...!? It says I "have root", but none of my apps recognize it.. I've pulled the battery, rebooted and retried like 10 times... still can't get it to re-root. I've made sure Debugging and Unknown Sources is enabled and tried in Charge Mode and Mass Storage mode... Am I going to have to stock flash this thing and re-update & re-root?
I THINK I have some type of root.. maybe... because Root Explorer will let me mount the System directory as R/W and I can TRY to manipulate files, but if I delete something (like su), it appears to delete successfully, but the file comes back if I refresh the directory.. but I also noticed when I go into the System directory, Root Explorer claims I only have 1MB of free space out of 318.00MB... how did that happen? If I try to run Superuser.apk, it force closes on me.
Any help or ideas are greatly appreciated...
there's an app on the android market that will push busybox if you have root. I'd look into that
edit: have you attempted to run the one-click root again? and if that doesn't work you can try to use the adb method if you're comfortable with it. And make sure that all of your drivers and everything are up-to-date
I have done battery pulls and like a dozen+ re-tries at the 1-click root, always get the same error.. I have been into the ADB shell to try and figure this out and I see the ADB Shell starts out by giving me a # prompt... that means writable/root, right? Any instructions on what I have to do from there?
I will look into that push busybox app, thanks.
http://wiki.rootzwiki.com/index.php/Motorola_Droid_3
This is where all the info about the adb and one-click stuff. The tough part about the adb method is manually pushing su to the (i think) system/xbin folder. Then i just used the app on the marketplace to push busybox. But there's a download link for both of those on the website
Thanks for the links. I think a problem with my ADB is when I reboot it (step 3), I no longer have a # prompt.. it goes back to the $ prompt... the only way I can seem to get the # prompt in ADB is when I use Pete's temporary ADB root... but once I reboot, that goes away. When I try to do step 4, rm /data/local/12m, it says it's a directory and it's not empty and it won't remove it. :\
How do I normally make ADB give me that # prompt so I can write/edit? or am I totally off-base here?..
*edit* I am going to try and do Pete's temp ADB root again and just try steps 18+ and see if that gets me anywhere...
Kraxis said:
Thanks for the links. I think a problem with my ADB is when I reboot it (step 3), I no longer have a # prompt.. it goes back to the $ prompt... the only way I can seem to get the # prompt in ADB is when I use Pete's temporary ADB root... but once I reboot, that goes away. When I try to do step 4, rm /data/local/12m, it says it's a directory and it's not empty and it won't remove it. :\
How do I normally make ADB give me that # prompt so I can write/edit? or am I totally off-base here?..
*edit* I am going to try and do Pete's temp ADB root again and just try steps 18+ and see if that gets me anywhere...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After temp ADB root, steps 18 and beyond should do it. You may want to check /system/bin and /system/xbin to remove the old su binaries before pushing the new one. Some folks have one in each location for some reason. Put it in xbin, but if it doesn't work, /system/bin will. Superuser wouldn't recognize xbin for me so I moved it to /system/bin and i'm good since.
Anyone have a thought on the xbin not always working? I think this is the 3rd topic i've seen with this issue, not including myself.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
OK, I got root back! I used steps 18+ for "ADB Method" (after using Pete's temp ADB root) and essentially replaced SU and Superuser.apk, CHMOD'd it rebooted and I had root! Thanks guys!!
I've followed EVERY GAWDAMN suggestion/guide/direction listed, and ZV8 refused to root/CWM for me.
Here's what the AIO says:
Root and Recovery for ZV8
Press any key to continue . . .
* daemon not running. starting it now *
* daemon started successfully *
Device found
Mounting Device
remount failed: Operation not permitted
Pushing Root Permissions
Unable to chmod /system/bin/su: No such file or directory
3720 KB/s (5345280 bytes in 1.403s)
Unable to chmod /system/xbin/busybox: Read-only file system
--install: applet not found
Installing CWM Recovery
/dev/block/mmcblk0p14: cannot open for write: Permission denied
Remove Trash
rm failed for /system/etc/install-recovery.sh, Read-only file system
rm failed for /system/recovery-from-boot.p, Read-only file system
rm failed for /data/local.prop, No such file or directory
CWM Recovery!!!
Just a note for MT. I wish the process were a bit more visible, as I've had to manually push things with adb before on rooting attempts.
I've spent 3 days trying to get this piece of sh!t rooted, and I'm tired of it.
I've followed EVERY DIRECTION/GUIDE/INSTRUCTION to the T, and still nothing, so a hearty STFU if all you can offer is a "Did you follow the directions?"
On the "Regain Root after update" post there is talk of using a terminal emulator to make the root stick on V8. The only thing that worked for me is the post at the top of page 7 (or 8?) that has about 8 steps. If you haven't already tried it.
Sent from my BROKEN OUT VS910
antiwesley said:
I've followed EVERY GAWDAMN suggestion/guide/direction listed, and ZV8 refused to root/CWM for me.
Here's what the AIO says:
Root and Recovery for ZV8
Press any key to continue . . .
* daemon not running. starting it now *
* daemon started successfully *
Device found
Mounting Device
remount failed: Operation not permitted
Pushing Root Permissions
Unable to chmod /system/bin/su: No such file or directory
3720 KB/s (5345280 bytes in 1.403s)
Unable to chmod /system/xbin/busybox: Read-only file system
--install: applet not found
Installing CWM Recovery
/dev/block/mmcblk0p14: cannot open for write: Permission denied
Remove Trash
rm failed for /system/etc/install-recovery.sh, Read-only file system
rm failed for /system/recovery-from-boot.p, Read-only file system
rm failed for /data/local.prop, No such file or directory
CWM Recovery!!!
Just a note for MT. I wish the process were a bit more visible, as I've had to manually push things with adb before on rooting attempts.
I've spent 3 days trying to get this piece of sh!t rooted, and I'm tired of it.
I've followed EVERY DIRECTION/GUIDE/INSTRUCTION to the T, and still nothing, so a hearty STFU if all you can offer is a "Did you follow the directions?"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try booting into CWM the old-fashioned way (hold down button and power). When I went through all the steps, everything looked liked it failed and all I had was an unrooted ZV8. Even Root Checker said I was unrooted. But then I tried to manually boot into CWM, and it worked! I flashed the new rom, and superuser came with it! Might as well give it a try. There's the possibility that you end up wiping data if you don't actually have CWM, but it sounds like you don't really care at this point...
I went through 2 days of hell to get root. There are so many things to try but I think the one thing that worked for me was that after you root the stock V7 is to run titanium backup. When I ran it it said it had to change su access or something and then I rebooted and did this in a terminal program
su<enter>
echo 'ro.kernel.qemu=1' > /data/local.prop<enter>
but also made sure by then doing this:
cat /data/local.prop
if you don't see exactly the ro.kernel.qemu=1 redo it. I was surprised that I had it wrong but for some reason the terminal app missed characters sometimes.
-Keith
What a maroon.
Sent from my VS910 4G using Tapatalk
$ su
su
su: permission denied
$ echo 'ro.kernel.qemu=1' > /data/local.prop
echo 'ro.kernel.qemu=1' > /data/local.prop
cannot create /data/local.prop: permission denied
$
If you are able to have cwm breakout is rooted.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Thanks!
Thanks Antiwesley!
I had tried a few different times to get this working, your post below finally got it for me:
"LGNPST to ZV7.
Using AIO 1 LG Revo AIO, Root ZV7 ONLY.
Install "Rom Manager" (thanks to slimzim for this one)
Manually create local.prop as seen elsewhere in a few other versions of this kind of thing.
LGNPST to ZV8.
In a command prompt, 'adb remount'
'adb push su /system/bin/su'
'adb push superuser.apk /system/bin/superuser.apk'
'adb push busybox /system/bin/busybox'
Use AIO 2 to install CWM. It will error on a couple of things, don't panic. (one is an applet failure in the rooting process and the other are rm failures.) DO NOT USE OPTION #1! Only use Option #2!
Reboot.
Use Rom Manager's "Reboot Recovery" option and it boots straight into CWM.
(I had zero success using the hardware (power/down button) to boot into CWM.
Apply Broken Out 1.1
Back up while you're in CWM.
Reboot.
Enjoy ZV8."
The only thing I did differently was OTA to ZV8 rather than LGNPST. Also when I ran option two of AIO 2 I didn't get any errors.
The whole process took right around an hour.
Thanks again!
FYI I would have posted this in the dev section in the Regain Root thread but am lacking the posts to do so.
stinkyjak said:
$ su
su
su: permission denied
$ echo 'ro.kernel.qemu=1' > /data/local.prop
echo 'ro.kernel.qemu=1' > /data/local.prop
cannot create /data/local.prop: permission denied
$
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
koda1789 said:
Thanks Antiwesley!
I had tried a few different times to get this working, your post below finally got it for me:
"LGNPST to ZV7.
Using AIO 1 LG Revo AIO, Root ZV7 ONLY.
Install "Rom Manager" (thanks to slimzim for this one)
Manually create local.prop as seen elsewhere in a few other versions of this kind of thing.
LGNPST to ZV8.
In a command prompt, 'adb remount'
'adb push su /system/bin/su'
'adb push superuser.apk /system/bin/superuser.apk'
'adb push busybox /system/bin/busybox'
Use AIO 2 to install CWM. It will error on a couple of things, don't panic. (one is an applet failure in the rooting process and the other are rm failures.) DO NOT USE OPTION #1! Only use Option #2!
Reboot.
Use Rom Manager's "Reboot Recovery" option and it boots straight into CWM.
(I had zero success using the hardware (power/down button) to boot into CWM.
Apply Broken Out 1.1
Back up while you're in CWM.
Reboot.
Enjoy ZV8."
The only thing I did differently was OTA to ZV8 rather than LGNPST. Also when I ran option two of AIO 2 I didn't get any errors.
The whole process took right around an hour.
Thanks again!
FYI I would have posted this in the dev section in the Regain Root thread but am lacking the posts to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am having the problem Stinkjak is having. No matter how I try and copy the .prop into the /data folder. I get a message that says java.io.filenotfoundexception:/data/local.prop (permission denied). Can anyone crack this error?
Plumbert said:
I am having the problem Stinkjak is having. No matter how I try and copy the .prop into the /data folder. I get a message that says java.io.filenotfoundexception:/data/local.prop (permission denied). Can anyone crack this error?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you already on stock ZV7 and rooted? Use Root Explorer and go to /data and create new file, name it local.prop. Open in text editor, enter ro.kernel.qemu=1 then save it. If you can't do that in Root Explorer then you aren't rooted.
Ok so here it is almost day 2 trying to install CWM on zv8 after using "mt's easiest way to keep root thru zv8'. (Oh and by the way MT your the MAN). Now getting to zv8 was easy, But getting the recovery installed is another issue all together. First started with the AIO bat. file which installs cwm (kudos to MT and djrbliss). And it reads
"system cannot find the path specified'.
SO ok well apparently the computer isnt reading the phone found out the driver has issue shows the error message(on both my laptops).
ok lets try the terminal emulator with
brad6360 said:
1) Download the cwmrecovery.img to your SD. ( I downloaded MT's zip file and then extracted all with root explorer, but you only need the cwmrecovery.img file.)
2) Use root explorer to copy or move it to the /data/local/tmp directory (make sure permissions are set to r/w/exe).
3) Launch terminal emulator and type these commands:
su
mount -orw,remount /dev/block/system /system
mount -orw,remount /dev/block/data /data
dd if=/data/local/tmp/cwmrecovery.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p14 bs=4096
rm /data/local/tmp/* 2>/dev/null
4) exit terminal emulator and then reboot.
You can then try the vol down+power button combo upon boot to enter CWM.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
didn't work and I the local.prop file in the data folder.
Someone PLEASE HELP!!!
(not a noob or expert but I can read and follow directions lol)
Are you sure you still have root level access?
Does adb detect your phone at all?
Still have root access I used root explorer to add the local.prop.
Adb recognizes my phone it shows a serial number under adb devices
Is there a way I can flash cwm in adb?
Sent from my VS910 4G using XDA
Use the newest aio from Mt. It worked for me. The simplest way is to flash the v7.tot then 'JUST' root, create the local.prop file, then ota to v8. Then continue on with Mt's aio to install cwm. Don't worry about having complete root access (cuz I didn't, but had cwm). Flashed broken out and haven't looked back.
--My REVO is Broken, tweaked, SC'd, and TB'd. Just awesome!
Thats where I'm stuck. I'm on zv8, using mt's easiest AIO to update from zv7. The AIO for cwm isn't installing nor through the terminal emulator. Any other suggestions?
Sent from my VS910 4G using XDA
What happens when you go into recovery? Is it the stock recovery? Stock v8 didn't have the option to boot into recovery. Just a thought. When I did it I got a lot of errors, but it took.
--My REVO is Broken, tweaked, SC'd, and TB'd. Just awesome!
mrand1 said:
Thats where I'm stuck. I'm on zv8, using mt's easiest AIO to update from zv7. The AIO for cwm isn't installing nor through the terminal emulator. Any other suggestions?
Sent from my VS910 4G using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem, Even when i Flash zv7 tot and try old AIO it says
Cannot find specified path
and i am not a noob and have broken out an old revo with mt's help but this new one with pre loaded zv8...No luck yet
had to manually push
I'm glad that I'm not the only one having this issue
Can you use Root Explorer to check and make sure adb is pushing the image file to your phone? Look in this directory: /data/local/tmp/cwmrecovery.img
You could always do this manually using adb. Here's how.
1. Open the ZV8CWMRecovery folder on your PC.
2. Double click the 'Files' folder to go into that directory.
3. Highlight/select and copy the address of your current folder location on your PC. It will look something like this:
Code:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\Downloads\ZV8CWMRecovery\Files
4. Click Start>Run>type 'cmd' and hit enter/return to open your command prompt.
5. Type 'cd', hit your spacebar, then paste your address which you copied in step 3 into your command prompt, hit enter/return.
6. You should now be positioned in the folder containing the adb and CWMRecovery files.
7. Type the following to copy the CWMRecovery image to your phone:
Code:
adb devices
adb remount
adb push cwmrecovery.img /data/local/tmp/cwmrecovery.img
adb shell dd if=/data/local/tmp/cwmrecovery.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p14 bs=4096
adb shell "rm /data/local/tmp/* 2>/dev/null"
adb shell rm /system/etc/install-recovery.sh
adb shell rm /system/recovery-from-boot.p
adb shell rm /data/local.prop
adb reboot
Phone should reboot. Try and boot into CWMRecovery after it reboots.
idk if I'm not doing something right or wrong. I have usb debugging and internet connection, and I'm getting "remount failed: operation not permitted".
I had the same issue but following these instructions helped me, what finally helped me was typing a wrong command wich gave me a help menu with all the commands, the important one being "adb reboot [Recovery:Bootlaoder]"
adb reboot recovery did the trick, then wiped flashed broken out and sooo happy to be done with it.
after pushing CWM in command prompt of course
I'm also getting "remount failed: operation not permitted" when trying adb remount in the command prompt just as mrand1 apparently did.
I (perhaps noobishly) skipped that step and did adb push cwmrecovery.img /data/local/tmp/cwmrecovery.img but after trying the next step got cannot open for write: Permission denied.
I'm trying to get back to Broken Out 1.1 - when it first came out I successfully downgraded to zv7 by flashing the .tot and then doing the OTA update, but now when I try to do that I can't seem to get the OTA to start downloading. I flashed zv8 tot in order to test the latest root method (which works) I just can't get CWM on there now - I don't seem to have any recovery at all actually. Any help would be appreciated.
slimzim said:
I'm also getting "remount failed: operation not permitted" when trying adb remount in the command prompt just as mrand1 apparently did.
I (perhaps noobishly) skipped that step and did adb push cwmrecovery.img /data/local/tmp/cwmrecovery.img but after trying the next step got cannot open for write: Permission denied.
I'm trying to get back to Broken Out 1.1 - when it first came out I successfully downgraded to zv7 by flashing the .tot and then doing the OTA update, but now when I try to do that I can't seem to get the OTA to start downloading. I flashed zv8 tot in order to test the latest root method (which works) I just can't get CWM on there now - I don't seem to have any recovery at all actually. Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did the same thing, flashed to zv8 tot, was able to root but was unable to flash cwm recovery. I tried manually doing it and running MT's AIO. It's telling me permission denied on all of the steps except the push cwmrecovery.img. It appears I do not have any recovery either. Trying to get to Broken Out! Any help is appreciated, thanks guys!
asauber said:
I tried ... running MT's AIO. It's telling me permission denied on all of the steps except the push cwmrecovery.img.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For what it's worth I also tried that with the same results.
I finally got this to work much more easily thanks to a quick talk with mtmichaelson. Here's the method:
1) Get to ZV8 (I got there via LGNPST)
2) Root using the tool found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1621625
3) Open a Terminal Emulator
4) Type: su
5) Hit enter
6) Type: echo 'ro.kernel.qemu=1' > /data/local.prop
7) Press enter
8) Reboot
9) Use the ZV8CWMRecovery.bat found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1583023
Good luck!
slimzim said:
I finally got this to work much more easily thanks to a quick talk with mtmichaelson. Here's the method:
1) Get to ZV8 (I got there via LGNPST)
2) Root using the tool found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1621625
3) Open a Terminal Emulator
4) Type: su
5) Hit enter
6) Type: echo 'ro.kernel.qemu=1' > /data/local.prop
7) Press enter
8) Reboot
9) Use the ZV8CWMRecovery.bat found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1583023
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, that was too easy!
Thanks for posting this slimzim. This worked straight away for me, I'm installing Broken Out as I type! I'm actually a little glad this happened because now I'm a little more familiar with terminal emulator and what local.prop does. Never had to use it in the past. This is exactly the second phone I've ever rooted and am usually able to just use AIOs.
And of course, thanks to mtmichaelson for chatting with you about it and doing all the hard work in the first place!
slimzim said:
I finally got this to work much more easily thanks to a quick talk with mtmichaelson. Here's the method:
1) Get to ZV8 (I got there via LGNPST)
2) Root using the tool found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1621625
3) Open a Terminal Emulator
4) Type: su
5) Hit enter
6) Type: echo 'ro.kernel.qemu=1' > /data/local.prop
7) Press enter
8) Reboot
9) Use the ZV8CWMRecovery.bat found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1583023
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far not working...repeating process now...
da_morales said:
So far not working...repeating process now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you've done all steps exactly it should work. I went through a ton of other "fixes" that didn't work, I believe the key here is when you use the terminal emulator directly on the phone to create local.prop. I was trying to create local.prop in every way but that, and until I did it directly on the phone did I have success.
Good luck!
local.prop missing
I used the Easy ZV8 All in One Rooting Tool, and have no sound at all like a couple of other users. One of the suggestions was to rename the local.prop file in the /data folder to local.prop.bak.
I assume this is the /data folder in the internal folder? When I did the steps for the all in one rooting tool (coming from rooted zv7), there is no local.prop file in my /data folder to rename, yet I still have no audio for ringtones, phone calls, etc. except for the boot up sound on the splash page.
Any ideas why my local.prop file isn't even there? I even tried copying the one from the mtmichelson zip file into there, still no avail. Thanks!
I have the same issue. I used the echo command in term emulator and the local.prop file was there. rebooted and the file is gone. I have root but cannot install cw recovery. I have tried AIO, adb, and terminal emulator but nothing makes it stick. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Rob
Problem: I have an Aishon A19 tablet, which it is very hard to find information about. It is an RK3288 tablet running Android 5.1.1.
It is not really rooted in the normal sense. However, "adb root" works; I can get a root shell and mount /system as writeable, I can push any app I want to the device, etc.
Things that will not work:
-- I tried to put on a /system/xbin/su (from SuperSU 2.76), with mode 6755 (rwsr-sr-x) and it didn't work. I also made symbolic links to /system/bin/su and /system/xbin/daemonsu. Running it from a non-root shell in adb prints a 1 and doesn't give me root. Running it from a non-root shell on the tablet does the same thing. Running it from a root shell gives me no error, but that obviously isn't much use.
-- Running SuperSU as an app gives me the error message about "There is no SU binary installed, and SuperSU cannot install it. This is a problem! If you just upgraded to Android 5....." I have no idea if it actually can't see the ./system/xbin/su or if the error message just isn't that good.
-- Trying to use "adb reboot bootloader" or getting into the bootloader using buttons doesn't work. It reboots the tablet into a blank screen, with the same vendor ID and a new product ID; however, "fastboot devices" shows nothing. This happens both under Windows and Linux, and even when run as root under Linux (thus not having to worry about udev rules). This means that I cannot install TWRP unless someone can explain to me how to install TWRP without using the bootloader.
I *can* use "adb reboot recovery" and get into the recovery menu. And as I mentioned, I can get root access to the tablet and a root shell using "adb root", and push any file I want to it.
Is it possible to use this root shell and/or recovery to install SuperSU somehow, even if I have to just copy files one at a time?
Edit: Moderators., you can lock this. Someone had the same problem in http://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/supersu/how-to-manually-update-su-supersu-file-t3238991 and I was able to folloow that, manually running the commands in update-binary.