Root on a new SM-G870A (6.0.1) possible? - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5

I've been running CM then LineageOS on my SM-900T for years so when it bit the dust, I was surprised to learn that the Galaxy S5 is still the right phone for me. I picked up a Galaxy S5 Active as it seemed like an upgrade, but did not expect to run into AT&T shenanigans preventing me from flashing TWRP so I could install LineageOS!
I've had no luck flashing TWRP through Heimdall nor Odin: Auth Failures. Towelroot doesn't work; CF Auto-Root won't flash. Downgrading to NE4 via Odin is also a no-go. I'm happy to share details if it's possible that I've done something wrong there. Are there any methods / exploits that may work that I've missed?
I'm an experienced software engineer with some hacking under my belt so I'm willing to put in some work if there's a viable path to me rooting a ruggedized version of my favorite phone. Should I cut my losses and stick with more friendly hardware or is there a way forward here?
Either way, thanks to everyone on here for being such valuable resources on this stuff!

No luck then?
I'm just getting started modifying my stock SM-870A running 4.4.2 (kitkat?).
It's a bit confusing sorting out what is and isn't possible with this phone.

No luck. I don't have much hope unless there's an exploit out there that I missed.
As far as I can tell, I'm locked out of the bootloader until there's something new out there.

I have that phone.
Mobilego wondershare rooted it.
Bootloader is totally locked, but you can safestrap it.

Could you possibly link to a guide? , I'm pretty new
dougunder said:
I have that phone.
Mobilego wondershare rooted it.
Bootloader is totally locked, but you can safestrap it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Related

Possible ways to achieve root?

So I actually don't have the S5, or any Samsung device for that matter, but a friend of mine does, and really wants to root their phone. I had no idea the AT&T S5 was so secure, but it's pretty interesting too. I've been researching for over 15 hours. I may not have been able to root his phone, but I think I have learned a couple things and maybe some possible root methods.
1.) Since using ODIN to downgrade would soft brick the phone, would it be possible to download the stock Lollipop update onto a computer, give the update super user access, replace the recovery with a custom one, or unlock the bootloader from the computer, then flash it through ODIN?
2.) Intercept any sort of OTA update, then alter it to flash a custom recovery or unlock bootloader? I don't know how you would go around this though.
3.) If someone hasn't taken the OTA update that patched the Stagefright exploit, could someone purposely use the exploit to allow installation of a custom recovery or even to unlock the bootloader since the Stagefright bug has super user access (or so I've heard).
Also, I'm sorry if these are stupid ideas. I know close to nothing about Samsung so everything I'm basing this off of is what I've read in the past 15 hours.
jsmithfms said:
So I actually don't have the S5, or any Samsung device for that matter, but a friend of mine does, and really wants to root their phone. I had no idea the AT&T S5 was so secure, but it's pretty interesting too. I've been researching for over 15 hours. I may not have been able to root his phone, but I think I have learned a couple things and maybe some possible root methods.
1.) Since using ODIN to downgrade would soft brick the phone, would it be possible to download the stock Lollipop update onto a computer, give the update super user access, replace the recovery with a custom one, or unlock the bootloader from the computer, then flash it through ODIN?
2.) Intercept any sort of OTA update, then alter it to flash a custom recovery or unlock bootloader? I don't know how you would go around this though.
3.) If someone hasn't taken the OTA update that patched the Stagefright exploit, could someone purposely use the exploit to allow installation of a custom recovery or even to unlock the bootloader since the Stagefright bug has super user access (or so I've heard).
Also, I'm sorry if these are stupid ideas. I know close to nothing about Samsung so everything I'm basing this off of is what I've read in the past 15 hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issue is that AT&T (and Verizon) use an encrypted signature key to verify they are the correct unaltered files as well as the means to unlock the bootloader to allow the OTA. Without that key, the tasks you mention are near impossible. They are not stupid ideas at all..just very difficult with all the security checks included.
KennyG123 said:
The issue is that AT&T (and Verizon) use an encrypted signature key to verify they are the correct unaltered files as well as the means to unlock the bootloader to allow the OTA. Without that key, the tasks you mention are near impossible. They are not stupid ideas at all..just very difficult with all the security checks included.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Crap... well does anyone know how that encyption key is generated? Like, could I theoretically get an algorithm from a ROM?
Honestly for the time being I wouldn't bother with ROMS for that Device and carrier at the moment. Especially being that its someone elses device. Towelroot should be a good start. If Im not mistaken I don't think its supposed to trip knox.
Sent from my HTCEVODesign4G using XDA Free mobile app
jsmithfms said:
Crap... well does anyone know how that encyption key is generated? Like, could I theoretically get an algorithm from a ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the riddle of the Sphinx my friend. I am sure the super devs have tried their best so far to crack it. It has been an ongoing effort to make phones more and more secure, not against the amateur developers and rooters, but against the hackers. These smartphones are now our personal computers, diaries, personal assistants, financial operator, and more. They basically are a person's (and business's) life. AT&T and Verizon have taken the big steps to appeal to the Exchange clients, corporate, government and military contracts. Even the general public want to know their phone is secure. This is what keeps me stuck on the Sprint network.
Have you tried Kingroot?
I successfully rooted my wife's AT&T S4 on OC3 lollipop (supposedly unrootable) with the desktop version. Mobile version didn't work but desktop did without a hiccup. Maybe it'll work on the S5.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/one-click-root-tool-android-2-x-5-0-t3107461
Rockin' a l337 with Goldeneye v49.1 + Wanam Xposed and loving life on AT&T's 4G LTE network
S5 on lollipop has a new nasty boot loader.... it was a miracle on its own that they ever came up with safestrap to duck the boot loader on earlier versions of android

i537 custom roms?

I was just given an old i537 5.0.1, to replace a broken S3. I can't stand Samsung's android, so can someone tell me if I can do anything?
I have looked around, and see that the i537's bootloader is locked. Does that mean I can't do any recovery/roms? Am I able to root and purge some of the crap? I have seen something about a program called safestrap, but the main thread of info I can find is "depreciated". Almost everything in this forum is either the I9295 or no exact info.
theredbaron1834 said:
I was just given an old i537 5.0.1, to replace a broken S3. I can't stand Samsung's android, so can someone tell me if I can do anything?
I have looked around, and see that the i537's bootloader is locked. Does that mean I can't do any recovery/roms? Am I able to root and purge some of the crap? I have seen something about a program called safestrap, but the main thread of info I can find is "depreciated". Almost everything in this forum is either the I9295 or no exact info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate Samsung's version of android (it's called touchwiz) also so it pains me to give you the answer I'm about to give. The locked bootloader means there is no way this phone can have a custom kernel or a custom recovery. Roms like cyanogenmod require a custom kernel to run, there's no way around that. Safestrap was our alternative for a custom recovery to flash stuff, but it only worked on KitKat. Now we have flashfire to flash things, but the fact remains that the only custom ROMs this phone can run are ROMs based off touchwiz, which you and I (and so many others) despise. It is still possible to root this phone and remove the bloatware, see my post here on how to root: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=63639949&postcount=2
Once you're rooted you can use titanium backup to uninstall any system app you want
So, I would use Odin to go to down to 4.4 and root. Then upgrade to 5.0.1 again, and install flashfire.
So that is the best we can hope for on the i537? Damn it man, that sucks quite a lot. Stuipd arse Touchwiz. I am so use to Cyanogenmod, and having to use Touchwiz is really killing me. Ugh.

Is root/flash possible?

Hi--
I've done some searching to see about this, but honestly I'm a little out of my league here.
I have an att gs6 that I haven't used in a while. It is currently on 5.1.1 and firmware version 3.10.61xxxx. Before I totally tried using it, I tried updating to marshmallow but was an idiot and let my computer go to sleep, so flashing the update failed and now dm-verity verification fails. Since this has happened, it wouldn't OTA update or allow anything at all. Now, I'm no longer on att and not currently using this device, but it would be great if I could revive it.
Basically, I'd love to root, install twrp, flash custom roms, etc. but I'm just not sure what I can do, and my situation is so out of date that I'm hesitant to try anything without some guidance.
I'd really appreciate any help you all can offer, and I hope that I'm posting this in the right place, etc. Thanks in advance!
dcrow0 said:
Hi--
I've done some searching to see about this, but honestly I'm a little out of my league here.
I have an att gs6 that I haven't used in a while. It is currently on 5.1.1 and firmware version 3.10.61xxxx. Before I totally tried using it, I tried updating to marshmallow but was an idiot and let my computer go to sleep, so flashing the update failed and now dm-verity verification fails. Since this has happened, it wouldn't OTA update or allow anything at all. Now, I'm no longer on att and not currently using this device, but it would be great if I could revive it.
Basically, I'd love to root, install twrp, flash custom roms, etc. but I'm just not sure what I can do, and my situation is so out of date that I'm hesitant to try anything without some guidance.
I'd really appreciate any help you all can offer, and I hope that I'm posting this in the right place, etc. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depending on which 5.1.1 build you are on, you may be able to do either ping pong or the tethered root. Ping pong only worked on the first couple official builds after the phone launched. Think the ping pong thread is in development, and tethered root thread is in general.
There is no way to unlock the bootloader for the ATT model, so no custom recovery or custom ROMs.
dandrumheller said:
Depending on which 5.1.1 build you are on, you may be able to do either ping pong or the tethered root. Ping pong only worked on the first couple official builds after the phone launched. Think the ping pong thread is in development, and tethered root thread is in general.
There is no way to unlock the bootloader for the ATT model, so no custom recovery or custom ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, thanks for your reply. I figured the custom rom thing would be the case, but it never hurts to ask.
If I do tethered root, will I be able to bypass the dm-verity check and upgrade to latest android version?
dcrow0 said:
Awesome, thanks for your reply. I figured the custom rom thing would be the case, but it never hurts to ask.
If I do tethered root, will I be able to bypass the dm-verity check and upgrade to latest android version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know about your DM verity issue. I never did the tethered root - couldn't risk being stuck in a boot loop with my daily driver.
dandrumheller said:
Depending on which 5.1.1 build you are on, you may be able to do either ping pong or the tethered root. Ping pong only worked on the first couple official builds after the phone launched. Think the ping pong thread is in development, and tethered root thread is in general.
There is no way to unlock the bootloader for the ATT model, so no custom recovery or custom ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if you have temproot, there actually may be a way to unlock the bootloader if you found an XDA developer with the unlocked Samsung willing to cooperate, you could have them extract Samsungs bootloader unlcoking tool, called CROM service, and the necessary libs and framework. It's risky, but may work.

Root n900a oc3?

I'm kinda a noob at this but I'm not completely clueless. .. I've tried a couple one click apps, watched a few videos, and read countless articles without any luck. .. can someone help me? If it's even possible....
From all I've read, no, you can't. You can root NC2 (Android 4.4.2 KitKat) or OC1. You might check this post out.
An old thread, but I just wanted to leave this for others.
There aren't any public tools to directly root the OC3, OC2, or OC1 Lollipop firmwares for the N900A.
However, it is possible to achieve root by wiping the phone, installing the NC2 (KitKat) firmware, and then upgrading the OCx, while preserving root access.
I had followed the threads (at the time back then) using SafeStrap methods, but I couldn't get SafeStrap to work with OC3, so I had to abandon SafeStrap and use FlashFire to install OC3 and maintain root.
After that, I deodexed OC3, install xposed, and was up and running happy.
I'm not sure exactly what Samsung fixed, but OC3 was released a full 18 months after OC2, so I think it's a more secure software release (only 2.5 years old, instead of 4+ years, heh). I recall that on OC2, some of the stagefright CVE's still showed as vulnerable, but I just ran the Zimperium app on OC3 and see it reports that it's not vulnerable to any of the CVEs.
@digitalcandy4me thanks for the helpful info. This is one of the few times I've read this solution. It's the only one I've seen that seems promising.
Like OP I'm newb. But I've never rooted a phone. I've done plenty of other tech but I hate coding. I just want to change the dumb stock rom on this phone. Bloatware haunts me simply on principal.
I have "unlocked" att 5.0 lollipop Samsung n900a 0c3 and info on this phone is crickets. I have no idea how to downgrade to 4.4, I'm not confident it will even work but I'll try it. I paid 70$ so no big deal + it seems like I couldn't even succeed in bricking this stupid vault.
ANYWAY could you possibly give some more detail on how to do this? I know people hate getting vague questions on this board but it seems like there's no where to find answers. I really have looked.
:crying:
FluppingCrud said:
@digitalcandy4me thanks for the helpful info. This is one of the few times I've read this solution. It's the only one I've seen that seems promising.
Like OP I'm newb. But I've never rooted a phone. I've done plenty of other tech but I hate coding. I just want to change the dumb stock rom on this phone. Bloatware haunts me simply on principal.
I have "unlocked" att 5.0 lollipop Samsung n900a 0c3 and info on this phone is crickets. I have no idea how to downgrade to 4.4, I'm not confident it will even work but I'll try it. I paid 70$ so no big deal + it seems like I couldn't even succeed in bricking this stupid vault.
ANYWAY could you possibly give some more detail on how to do this? I know people hate getting vague questions on this board but it seems like there's no where to find answers. I really have looked.
:crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash nc1 firmware, towel root....install busybox and safe strap and flash away.
FluppingCrud said:
@digitalcandy4me thanks for the helpful info. This is one of the few times I've read this solution. It's the only one I've seen that seems promising.
Like OP I'm newb. But I've never rooted a phone. I've done plenty of other tech but I hate coding. I just want to change the dumb stock rom on this phone. Bloatware haunts me simply on principal.
I have "unlocked" att 5.0 lollipop Samsung n900a 0c3 and info on this phone is crickets. I have no idea how to downgrade to 4.4, I'm not confident it will even work but I'll try it. I paid 70$ so no big deal + it seems like I couldn't even succeed in bricking this stupid vault.
ANYWAY could you possibly give some more detail on how to do this? I know people hate getting vague questions on this board but it seems like there's no where to find answers. I really have looked.
:crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read my answer!
chrisnice906 said:
Flash nc1 firmware, towel root....install busybox and safe strap and flash away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe u should not be modifying phones.

Possible/Not Possible to root the Note 8

Hey yall,
So I have a Galaxy Note 8 and of course it is SM-N950U VZW running Android Pie, and BL is N950USQS8DTJ1. Now all the crap I've dug through to research the process to root it I haven't found any way to do so. Now I'm curious as to wether it can be done considering Snapdragon wont allow the bootloader to be unlocked? Now I have read one forum that claims that we can now unlock the bootloader on Snapdragon but all i could seem to find was a bunch of bickering back and forth. Is it possible to do so now or is it just a fancy ruse? If someone can point me to the right path i would appreciate it. Please keep in mind that i am somewhat familiar with the process of rooting but I'm a better tech than I am on the software side so please be specific about your answer and forgive me for my lack of knowledge. I'm self taught over a couple years now so it's been a try and learn process. I'm also curious as to if cwm or twrp can be installed and used on it as well.
wacknhack said:
Hey yall,
So I have a Galaxy Note 8 and of course it is SM-N950U VZW running Android Pie, and BL is N950USQS8DTJ1. Now all the crap I've dug through to research the process to root it I haven't found any way to do so. Now I'm curious as to wether it can be done considering Snapdragon wont allow the bootloader to be unlocked? Now I have read one forum that claims that we can now unlock the bootloader on Snapdragon but all i could seem to find was a bunch of bickering back and forth. Is it possible to do so now or is it just a fancy ruse? If someone can point me to the right path i would appreciate it. Please keep in mind that i am somewhat familiar with the process of rooting but I'm a better tech than I am on the software side so please be specific about your answer and forgive me for my lack of knowledge. I'm self taught over a couple years now so it's been a try and learn process. I'm also curious as to if cwm or twrp can be installed and used on it as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exact same scenario... I see some ROOT possibilities with S7 bootloader, but appears ours is S8, so is ROOT possible with this BL version?
klt316 said:
Exact same scenario... I see some ROOT possibilities with S7 bootloader, but appears ours is S8, so is ROOT possible with this BL version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root Galaxy Note 8 Snapdragon using Extreme Syndicate Method (SM-N950U/U1)
A step-by-step guide on how to root Snapdragon Galaxy Note 8 (SM-N950U/U1) running V8 bootloader using the Extreme Syndicate root method.
www.thecustomdroid.com
Trying to use root method from Extreme Syndicate, in particular, XDA RD elliwigy, even though it says for BL S7 and I have S8. Not getting far... ODIN3 tool hangs in flash process... not sure this will work, but continuing to hack at it...
klt316 said:
Root Galaxy Note 8 Snapdragon using Extreme Syndicate Method (SM-N950U/U1)
A step-by-step guide on how to root Snapdragon Galaxy Note 8 (SM-N950U/U1) running V8 bootloader using the Extreme Syndicate root method.
www.thecustomdroid.com
Trying to use root method from Extreme Syndicate, in particular, XDA RD elliwigy, even though it says for BL S7 and I have S8. Not getting far... ODIN3 tool hangs in flash process... not sure this will work, but continuing to hack at it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did successfully root Note 8 with S8 and loaded Nougat. ODIN3 wasn't working, but after reading thru the thread, I used a different cable, directly into a USB port on the PC (was on a hub), then ODIN3 worked fine. Will live with the 80% battery issue for now. May buy a OnePlus 7T evidently best (easiest?) phone to root? The Note 8 is not my primary phone and was a phone I had laying around so it'll do for now. Thanks to this forum for providing a solution albeit not ideal. Like these small victories.
Does this work for N950USQS8DTJ1?
dpwm said:
Does this work for N950USQS8DTJ1?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that is the same version of mine... works but with caveats... for one, I couldn't get Life360 to work after rooting... Tried all versions, including old ones for Nougat, no worky. Some apps don't work, some are quirky, however, only affects few apps here and there. Overall, everything works just like on stock OS. And very thankful it is an available option for root. The biggest thing for me is the battery bug, max charge of 80% just doesn't cut it, doesn't last all day, so I'm forced to carry a portable charger, and it's only going to get worse over time. This alone is going to force me to get another phone, maybe a OnePlus 7T, I see those are supposedly easiest to root. But this root does work for yours (and my) version of Note 8!

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