First Time Basic Root

[7plymaple]

Hi everyone,

I would like to try rooting for the first time on my Galaxy S3 SGH-i747m. I have never rooted anything before. And I recently did the update to 4.3. After asking on another forum here GSDer suggested I check out this link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2565758


And it seems like a really good option to me. But I have also found a few other methods searchinging around on the xda forums that seem promising for my phone as well. But I am a noob and would like to get some opinions on what would suit me best. All I want is the option to do some debloating right now.

This one looks like it's worth a try too. I saw someone link it in another thread on the xda forums saying it has been updated with latest 4.3 firmware.
[SGH-I747/M] CF-Auto-Root - xda-developers

I am leaning towards the first one as it seems pretty safe and the how to vids in it seem very simple. I have the files and keys set to go on my laptop. Just thought I would ask for any advice before I go ahead.

Any suggestions and advice are much appreciated!

Thanks.

Edit: I noticed in the thread in the first link on the list of phones that root method has been successful for it does not list the SGH-i747m but it does list the SGH-i747. I read in a thread somewhere recently where people were saying a root that works for one of those should work for both. Can anyone confirm that?

 

[Rukbat]

Many of us have used (and had success with) Root Android phone, flash custom ROM and manage your Android devices, Rooting Freeware Download - Kingo The difficult part is downloading it - the server is slow. After that you press the Root button, plug your phone in and wait. I guess it could be made simpler, but we'd need self-aware computers to do it. And, if after you've rooted, you decide that you don't really need to be rooted, you do the same thing (so don't delete Kingo after you've used it) - except that the button will say Unroot.

 

[UJ95x]

I used CF Auto root on my S4. I haven't tried others, but this seemed like it would be the easiest. All I did was flash the file via Odin with the phone in download mode

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[7plymaple]

Many of us have used (and had success with) Root Android phone, flash custom ROM and manage your Android devices, Rooting Freeware Download - Kingo The difficult part is downloading it - the server is slow. After that you press the Root button, plug your phone in and wait. I guess it could be made simpler, but we'd need self-aware computers to do it. And, if after you've rooted, you decide that you don't really need to be rooted, you do the same thing (so don't delete Kingo after you've used it) - except that the button will say Unroot.

Ah ya i saw a video about kingo. Looks very interesting.

Thanks for the replies guys. So is the end result of the three different roots mentioned so far in this thread pretty much the same? I noticed in one video for the root in the first link I posted the fuy got the option to disable knox. I want that! I dont like the fact that it showed up with the 4.3 update.

 

[UJ95x]

Ah ya i saw a video about kingo. Looks very interesting.

Thanks for the replies guys. So is the end result of the three different roots mentioned so far in this thread pretty much the same? I noticed in one video for the root in the first link I posted the fuy got the option to disable knox. I want that! I dont like the fact that it showed up with the 4.3 update.

Knox will still be in the bootloader regardless of what method you use. But yes, they will all give you the super SU app and root access

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[7plymaple]

Knox will still be in the bootloader regardless of what method you use. But yes, they will all give you the super SU app and root access

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

Does knox being in the boot loader mean it will still be active in some way?

 

[UJ95x]

Does knox being in the boot loader mean it will still be active in some way?

Yes. You still can't flash custom ROMs or recoveries

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[7plymaple]

Yes. You still can't flash custom ROMs or recoveries

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

Oh i see. Is there a way to get rid of knox while running 4.3? Does rooting allow us to do something that can remove knox?

So it looks like rooting really just lets you remove some of the apps we can only disable.. what do you really get out of being rooted? Im on the edge right now.

 

[UJ95x]

Oh i see. Is there a way to get rid of knox while running 4.3? Does rooting allow us to do something that can remove knox?

So it looks like rooting really just lets you remove some of the apps we can only disable.. what do you really get out of being rooted? Im on the edge right now.

You can still use Safe strap to flash custom ROMs, but only TouchWiz based ROMs.
Normally you can do a lot more, but Knox blocks most of those things

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[7plymaple]

You can still use Safe strap to flash custom ROMs, but only TouchWiz based ROMs.
Normally you can do a lot more, but Knox blocks most of those things

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

Damn.. I am really kicking myself for allowing the 4.3 update without reading up on what came with it. I knew knox was going to be trouble as soon as i saw it in the application manager!

 

[UJ95x]

Damn.. I am really kicking myself for allowing the 4.3 update without reading up on what came with it. I knew knox was going to be trouble as soon as i saw it in the application manager!

Hopefully there will be a way around that sometime soon. I was lucky to have done it a few weeks before the 4.3 update

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[7plymaple]

Hopefully there will be a way around that sometime soon. I was lucky to have done it a few weeks before the 4.3 update

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

Yes hopefully!

Thanks.

 

[UJ95x]

Yes hopefully!

Thanks.

Anyway, just go ahead and root before they patch that or in case there is a workaround soon
You can still take advantage of apps to backup your current data and delete bloatware apps.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[Rukbat]

Actually, it's not Knox that's the problem. If you root, you can remove the Knox apps. (In fact, the MJ5 reflash on XDA removes Knox as part of the rooting script) I don't think anyone's activated them yet (you have to download software to activate Knox), and once the fact that Swiss cheese has fewer holes than Knox becomes common knowledge, I don't think any company will be using it. (Watch some mailroom clerk promoted to network admin make me wrong.)

The problem is the bootloader. It's locked down so tight that you can brick the phone by thinking of a hard brown substance used to build houses.

Howsumever ...

With the amount of space in internal storage, and 64GB available for data storage (128GB if you want to make a cheap hardware mod to the phone), and no ability to install a custom recovery, I can't see much reason to root the phone. Removing the bloat is a thumb in Samsung's eye, but all their bloat together (and AT&T's) still leaves plenty of space. We can't do a nandroid. We can still back up everything important. TiB is about the only thing I can see rooting for. (And that just makes backups easier, not more possible,) As far as ROMs go. I haven't seen one yet that made me go "oh", let alone "ahh". Samsung wouldn't recognize my phone (what species thought up TouchWiz?) but it's all just apps and themes. And it's not to be pretty or flashy or "better", it's to make my work easier. When I need to do something, it's right there. What I don't need to do idn't there - because I see no reason to have it on my phone.

I know everyone uses a phone differently, so the kid who talks, texts and uploads videos has no need for rooting, I have enough need to he thinking about it half-seriously on my daily driver and some people may need to run apps that need root and for which there are no non-rooted alternatives. But if this phone has to go back (it would be the 3rd one, and it's had problems from day 1 that may or not be indicative of something that will require replacement), Samsung is going to examine it sub-atomic particle by sub-atomic particle to prove that I'm doing something to break it, (Not that they're taking broken returns, reflashing them and calling them refurbs. You don't fix storage with hardware problems by reflashing it.)

 

[7plymaple]

Actually, it's not Knox that's the problem. If you root, you can remove the Knox apps. (In fact, the MJ5 reflash on XDA removes Knox as part of the rooting script) I don't think anyone's activated them yet (you have to download software to activate Knox), and once the fact that Swiss cheese has fewer holes than Knox becomes common knowledge, I don't think any company will be using it. (Watch some mailroom clerk promoted to network admin make me wrong.)

The problem is the bootloader. It's locked down so tight that you can brick the phone by thinking of a hard brown substance used to build houses.

Howsumever ...

With the amount of space in internal storage, and 64GB available for data storage (128GB if you want to make a cheap hardware mod to the phone), and no ability to install a custom recovery, I can't see much reason to root the phone. Removing the bloat is a thumb in Samsung's eye, but all their bloat together (and AT&T's) still leaves plenty of space. We can't do a nandroid. We can still back up everything important. TiB is about the only thing I can see rooting for. (And that just makes backups easier, not more possible,) As far as ROMs go. I haven't seen one yet that made me go "oh", let alone "ahh". Samsung wouldn't recognize my phone (what species thought up TouchWiz?) but it's all just apps and themes. And it's not to be pretty or flashy or "better", it's to make my work easier. When I need to do something, it's right there. What I don't need to do idn't there - because I see no reason to have it on my phone.

I know everyone uses a phone differently, so the kid who talks, texts and uploads videos has no need for rooting, I have enough need to he thinking about it half-seriously on my daily driver and some people may need to run apps that need root and for which there are no non-rooted alternatives. But if this phone has to go back (it would be the 3rd one, and it's had problems from day 1 that may or not be indicative of something that will require replacement), Samsung is going to examine it sub-atomic particle by sub-atomic particle to prove that I'm doing something to break it, (Not that they're taking broken returns, reflashing them and calling them refurbs. You don't fix storage with hardware problems by reflashing it.)

Ah I am starting to understand a bit more I think. So this boot loader that is so locked down makes sure certain apps get loaded and no one has got around it yet, but we can disable some of the things it puts on the phone with root? I know so little about this it bugs me. I'm just starting to figure out what is up by cruising forums right now. Did this boot loader come with the 4.3 update? Or is it something that was there from before?

You make a very good point about there not being much point to rooting for a lot of people. I don't see it really being a benefit for the way I use my phone. So far for me my motivation has been the frustration of seeing apps in that application manager that just have no business being on a device of mine. But I am still not sure if I will be able to uninstall them by rooting.

My girlfriend thinks I am crazy for wanting to void the warranty when my phone won't really be more useful to me. But if it gets me the ability to uninstall some of my carriers apps it feels like its giving me the ability to give them the finger. I like the sound of that.

 

[7plymaple]

Anyway, just go ahead and root before they patch that or in case there is a workaround soon
You can still take advantage of apps to backup your current data and delete bloatware apps.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

So rooting alone will not give me the ability to delete the bloatware apps?

 

[UJ95x]

So rooting alone will not give me the ability to delete the bloatware apps?

Yes, but you need an app like Titanium Backup or Greenify to freeze/delete apps. Just make sure you don't delete anything important

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[7plymaple]

Yes, but you need an app like Titanium Backup or Greenify to freeze/delete apps. Just make sure you don't delete anything important

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

Ah and where is a good place to get titanium backup? And is freezing different from disableing?

 

[UJ95x]

Ah and where is a good place to get titanium backup? And is freezing different from disableing?

Google Play Store
Freezing and disabling is basically the same. Deleting it is different. If you're not sure you should delete something, freeze it first to see if it doesn't mess anything up

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

 

[7plymaple]

Google Play Store
Freezing and disabling is basically the same. Deleting it is different. If you're not sure you should delete something, freeze it first to see if it doesn't mess anything up

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.2

Ah I see. But I'm guessing rooting then getting titanium backup will let me freeze apps that could not be disabled without root? Can you freeze any app on your application manager "All" apps list? I do understand that disabling certain apps could screw things up and maybe brick the phone. But I'm just wondering about the level of control titanium backup would give me.