Root [Verizon] To root or not to root: that is the question.

[trparky]

Oh yeah, I was definitely going for a Shakespearean-like sound to the opening title of the thread.

So the question is... how many people are planning to root this device?

As of right now there are no custom recoveries to be able to get yourself out of a jam and we don't have any ROM dumps that we can Odin over to the device if we need to. So until we have those things, the risk in rooting the device is a bit too high for me.

Personally speaking, and this is coming from someone who has had a Galaxy Nexus and played with more ROMs and kernels than I can think of, the need for root access has drastically reduced thanks in part to many changes in the Android OS since 4.0 ICS. In years past, you had to have root to be able to disable much of the bloatware but starting with ICS you can disable a lot of the stuff easily using the Manage Apps screen. That and the fact that we no longer need root to restore apps, we have Carbon for that now.

 

[sntaylor]

I had been planning to root immediately, but like you, have decided to wait until we have a few more people using/developing for it..of course things could be different by the time I finally get my s4!

 

[rkkeller]

One of my main reasons for rooting is free wireless tether, ad block, apps to sd and being able to remove bloat apps.

The Sprint, Samsung and Google stuff is about 10% of my space I am guessing.

I am in no hurry though and can weeks/months for a stable build.

 

[rushmore]

Seems another reason to root this device will be for people to purge the junk and reclaim a few GB of storage. This is almost to scale with the G1 days and the quest there to gain more space. The average game now is the size of the G1 storage.

US carriers suck as far as S4 options.

 

[jhawkkw]

Should be simple as a 1-click method is already released unless Verizon patches it.

 

[Bizmaniz]

One of my main reasons for rooting is free wireless tether, ad block, apps to sd and being able to remove bloat apps.

Coming off a Motorola phone, I've used SQL Lite for the free tether when rooted, is that compatible with Samsung phones as well? Or do you use a 3rd party app?

 

[TheyCallMeBT]

I know that a lot of you are on unlimited plans, but for those of us on tiered family plans, tether is included, right?

 

[mills23]

Should be simple as a 1-click method is already released unless Verizon patches it.

Where is this method located please?

 

[jhawkkw]

Where is this method located please?

It seems Verizon patched the the simple 1-click motochopper method that the AT&T, Sprint, & T-Mobile version use, but a work around has been found. It seems that before you can run the root exploit, you need to flash a stock kernel in odin. Instructions can be found here: http://www.sxtpdevelopers.com/showthread.php?t=256

 

[birenregmi]

I am also trying to root for a long time ago..... Bt finally I decided to no root because I easily can disable app which I never used and it's start automatically and drain battery power...... Tq for community who refer me so..... Proud to be here with you all.....

 

[BzB]

It seems Verizon patched the the simple 1-click motochopper method that the AT&T, Sprint, & T-Mobile version use, but a work around has been found. It seems that before you can run the root exploit, you need to flash a stock kernel in odin. Instructions can be found here: [ROOT] Root Method for Verizon GS4

confirmed this method works. it's not completely clear cut, especially the process of updating su prior to flashing back to the stock kernel, but it works and you are able to retain root.

the one click root methods have spoiled people when compared to intimidating root methods from 'back in the day', but until one click root is available this method gets the job done.

 

[prerunnerseth]

Root method works, but having an issue where 4G stays on with Wifi.

 

[prerunnerseth]

Root method works, but having an issue where 4G stays on with Wifi.

Just had to freeze some VZ apps and it went away.

 

[mills23]

Do i have to do the flash to do the root? All i want is root. No ROMs or anything, just wanna run a few apps that require root.

 

[jhawkkw]

Yes, you have to do the kernel flash in Odin to downgrade the kernel to one that hasn't been patched to block the exploit. Once you are rooted and update the su binary, it is actually recommended that you flash back to the kernel that came with the phone to ensure that everything continues to work right. Doing so shouldn't affect your root unless you fail to update the su binary.

 

[mills23]

Ok tooooo complicated for my little brain!! I guess i will have to wait for the one click!

 

[jhawkkw]

Another one will probably come along sooner or later. The device has only been out for a day (a little more if you preordered), so the developers will need a little bit of time to find a new exploit or update the current one.

 

[CWSchrad83]

I figure I will eventually,mostly for the wireless tether. I figure bloatware aside I can hold out longer than the Spectrum,that was a unbearable.

 

[Janth]

It seems Verizon patched the the simple 1-click motochopper method that the AT&T, Sprint, & T-Mobile version use, but a work around has been found. It seems that before you can run the root exploit, you need to flash a stock kernel in odin. Instructions can be found here: http://www.sxtpdevelopers.com/showthread.php?t=256

Man some of that is pretty intimidating, especially when you're talking about potentially bricking a $600 piece of hardware

Someone should make a YouTube video going through step by step how to complete this process so we can see it for ourselves

 

[mills23]

Do you guys think that there will be a fix for the shutter speed in root somewhere?

 

[markdmac]

I rooted mine and also installed CWM so I could do Nandroid Backups. Although there are a lot of little steps, they are all rather simple to follow, so anyone waiting for a one click is waiting for little reason.

Here are the steps I followed to root and to install CWM.

Root
Step 1 - Preparation

Download and Install Samsung Official USB Drivers - Link (http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/c...ng_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones_v1.5.14.0.exe)
Download and extract ODIN v3.07 - Link (http://samsung-updates.com/Odin307.zip)
Download the VRUAMD2 Prerelease Kernel - Link (http://open1your1eyes0.cnlson.com/SCH-I545_MD2_423399_Kernel.tar.md5)
Download the VRUAMDK Stock Kernel - Link (http://open1your1eyes0.cnlson.com/SCH-I545_MDK_562219_Kernel.tar.md5)
Download and extract the Motochopper Root Exploit Tool - Link (http://open1your1eyes0.cnlson.com/motochopper-supersu.zip)

Step 2 - Flashing VRUAMD2 Prerelease Kernel to remove Root block

Boot phone into ODIN mode (power down, hold in down volume, home & power)
Flash the VRUAMD2 Prerelease Kernel using ODIN v3.07 ***in PDA section only*** (See here for guide on flashing)
Boot back to Android and verifying everything is still working and kernel has flashed successfully

Step 3 - Rooting Your Device

Verify in Security on your device that you have "Unknown sources" checked
Verify in Developer options setting on your device that you have "USB debugging" checked
Verify in Developer options setting on your device that you have "Verify apps via USB" unchecked
Connect your phone to your computer and open "Run.bat" file from the location you have extracted motochopper to
If successful, after your phone reboots, open SuperSU app and let the binary update itself to the latest ***IMPORTANT*** - You will loose root on the next step if you do not do this.
Once complete, just open a root application and verify that is able to access root properly

Step 4 - Restoring VRUAMDK Stock Kernel

Boot phone into ODIN mode (power down, hold in down volume, home & power)
Flash the VRUAMDK Stock Kernel using ODIN v3.07 ***in PDA section only*** (See here for guide on flashing)
Boot back to Android and verifying everything is still working and kernel has flashed successfully
After your phone boots back to Android, you should now be fully rooted and on the fully original stock firmware as the device came

CWM

First download Loki files from here:
Rwilco12's Android Repository - Downloads

Unzip files, then push to phone with ADB (you have ADB in the motochopper-supersu directory from rooting, just open a command prompt int hat directory and type these commands):

adb push loki_flash /data/local/tmp
adb push recovery.lok /data/local/tmp

Install Android Terminal Emulator from play store on phone

In terminal emulator:
su
Allow SuperSU Access
cd /data/local/tmp
chmod 755 *
./lok_flash recovery recovery.lok
reboot recovery

 

[markdmac]

Rooting only voids the software warranty and does not void hardware warranty if the hardware is defective. VZW tries to scare people about rooting, but as long as you can reflash back to stock then they can't even get you on the software side.

 

[jhawkkw]

Rooting only voids the software warranty and does not void hardware warranty if the hardware is defective. VZW tries to scare people about rooting, but as long as you can reflash back to stock then they can't even get you on the software side.

The thing to be careful about is that you can damage the hardware by rooting. Things such as overclocking can fry your motherboard, fast charge could fry your charging port, etc. If they can prove that rooting is the cause of hardware failure, they/the oem have the right to deny the warranty.

 

[3ricG]

How easy is it to unroot the s4 if something happens to it? I was going to root mine right away; but I don't like doing it if there isn't a clear path back to stock.

Also, will I still be able to receive/install OTA updates when rooted? When I download/install OTAs for my Nexus 7, it removes root; and there were always warnings about installing OTAs on the Thunderbolt (my last phone). I don't really have a problem with this, but I might not root my device until some more updates come out (since this phone is still relatively new).

 

[markdmac]

The thing to be careful about is that you can damage the hardware by rooting. Things such as overclocking can fry your motherboard, fast charge could fry your charging port, etc. If they can prove that rooting is the cause of hardware failure, they/the oem have the right to deny the warranty.

Agreed, but as I stated, if there is a hardware defect, then they can't deny you. I root so I can mod my phone and remove bloatware, I don't overclock. Replacing images for my battery status isn't going to damage my phone.