Does SuperUser app necessarily mean Root?

[waspsfan]

Hi,

I have an Android TV stick, which appears to be an unbranded chinese device.

I've only had it a little while and not used it heavily.
Up until today, I'd assumed it was rooted... mainly because the SuperUser app existed in the App tray.
However, after a root only app failed to work, I downloaded Check Root app which stated that the device isn't rooted.


As the Superuser app exists, would that suggest that the device has potentially been rooted at some point and then had the root removed?
Is there any other use of the superuser app?
I've rooted a number of devices in the past, but I've always known the make / model so have been able to find nice and simple guides to help me.
I'm going to have a look around tomorrow for generic rooting guides that may not be device specific.
Is there anything in particular that I should be looking for?


Thanks for any help and guidance

 

[SpookDroid]

The SuperUser app is usually loaded when using a rooting tool, so maybe the app can act like a switch? Or the method for 'looking' for the root of the apps your using are not really designed to work on such generic devices?

When you open the SuperUser app, what does it do? Which options does it give you?

 

[waspsfan]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.

When I open SuperUser, it shows me a list of all apps that have tried (and failed) to get root access
It also has a pane for apps that have root access, which is empty.
I don't seem to have any way from within SuperUser to manually add an application.

Within the Settings option, there is a setting to 'temporarily hide root'
That was unchecked, and I've tried checking / unchecking it to see if anything different would happen, but with no joy.


I think i'm going to look around for general rooting guides to see if I can find something that will determine how easy it will be to root it again

 

[gollum18]

Superuser us dependent in the android version su binary to be installed in order to work. All of the superuser apps (supersu, superuser, and the other one) tell you if you have the binary installed or not in their settings menu.

As was mentioned earlier, superuser and its binary are usually installed by use of a third party rooting application. Although its generally a rule of thumb, that if you have a custom recovery, you are usually rooted. As the majority of the rooting applications will install a custom recovery, then install some form of superuser.

As for granting su permissions to applications. You cannot add applications to the list manually. When you first open a root capable app, a menu should pop up asking you to grant or deny permissions for root access. If this doesn't happen, it is because you don't have root access and it will automatically deny root permissions (hence why all of your apps list denied).

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Golfdriver97]

Having the app doesn't mean it is rooted. A new device out of the box can download, say, Titanium and have it in the app drawer but is unable to use it.

 

[srkmagnus]

Yes, the app won't function without root access - you'll get a notification from the app saying could not gain root access.

 

[waspsfan]

No need to worry about this any more.
I'd found some 'generic' rooting guides and was plucking up the courage to give that a go.

Then I managed to find a model number and in turn have found a number of guides already online.

 

[Golfdriver97]

No need to worry about this any more.
I'd found some 'generic' rooting guides and was plucking up the courage to give that a go.

Then I managed to find a model number and in turn have found a number of guides already online.

Cool. Best of luck.

- - - Updated - - -

I just noticed: Welcome to the forums!!!!

 

[gollum18]

No need to worry about this any more.
I'd found some 'generic' rooting guides and was plucking up the courage to give that a go.

Then I managed to find a model number and in turn have found a number of guides already online.

Good luck, if you need any help, as you already know we have a very large and helpful support community. Just let us know if any problems pop back up.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[srkmagnus]

Yup, Welcome. Give us a shout if you have further questions.