ROOTING MK5 FOR NEWBIES
THIS IS FOR USA DEVICES ONLY!!
This Guide is designed for complete newcomers including those who have acquired new devices shipped with MK5. This Guide may seem reiterative to those familiar with the rooting world
WARNING: ROOTING MK5 WITH KNOX WILL TRIP THE KNOX FLAG!
Information about Knox:
[Q&A][i9505] Knox Q&A / Discussion Thread - ask questions here! - xda-developers
[FAQ] KNOX and you - xda-developers
https://www.samsungknox.com/en/overview/technical-details
THIS IS FOR USA DEVICES ONLY!!
This Guide is designed for complete newcomers including those who have acquired new devices shipped with MK5. This Guide may seem reiterative to those familiar with the rooting world
WARNING: ROOTING MK5 WITH KNOX WILL TRIP THE KNOX FLAG!
Information about Knox:
[Q&A][i9505] Knox Q&A / Discussion Thread - ask questions here! - xda-developers
[FAQ] KNOX and you - xda-developers
https://www.samsungknox.com/en/overview/technical-details
Known Facts About KNOX:
- Upgrading to newer Samsung firmware MK5 will upgrade the bootloader to KNOX bootloader. this will give an additional 2 lines in download mode about KNOX status.
- Not possible to downgrade to KNOX-disabled firmwares/bootloaders without tripping the KNOX flag (An attempt sets 0x1) (even though some people state, downgrade is possible when omitting the bootloader file in a firmware package: see http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2444671, not confirmed)
- Even if you flash a KNOX-enabled firmware via Odin (e.g. the latest fw) Knox will be set to 0x1
- Flashing unsigned or modified images via Odin will set KNOX to 0x1
- Once the KNOX flag gets set to 0x1 there is no way to set it back (that anyone has found yet anyway!) Samsung stated, resetting the flag is impossible
- KNOX is mandatory and can not be completely removed
- Warranty Void is no counter, it is a flag (0,1) it was never seen 0x2 or so
- Mirroring all partitions from a clean 0x0-Device to a 0x1-Device via JTAG produces an unfunctional device (reversible by restoring the 0x1 partitions on the phone)
- KNOX bootloader verifies signatures of kernels and recoveries. No custom ones possible without voiding the KNOX warranty
- If the KNOX warranty void line says 0x1 then you cannot use KNOX software as your device has been flagged as insecure. By this I mean that if your workplace / company supports bring your own device to work for corporate emails etc and they use KNOX to keep security your device will not allow this. You are still able to use future Samsung firmware releases with the KNOX flag 0x1.
- with the new KNOX bootloader root will work, however rooting will trip the KNOX flag
ROOTING MK5 4.3:
Make sure you have the Samsung USB drivers installed on your computer.
You may find those here: Samsung_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones_v1.5.14.0.exe
First thing you'll need to root this phone is a custom recovery. We will be using Philz Touch Recovery. It performs beautifully on this device and is packed with features. You will need to download to your computer the latest tar here: [SPH-L710][CWM ADV.] OFFICIAL PhilZ-Touch Recovery 6.0 [11.24.13]
If you don't have Odin installed on your computer, do that now. You can find Odin here: [ tool ] Odin 3.04 - xda-developers
Now you're going to want to download this file to your SD Card:
SuperSU (CWM installable zip) found here: [2014.02.06] SuperSU v1.93 - xda-developers
You have downloaded and installed Odin and Samsung USB drivers listed above? You've downloaded the Philz Recovery .tar file to your computer and you've place the SuperSU file on your SD card? Okay, great!
Now, let's flash the custom recovery, which will be Philz Recovery, on your device! And let's root this thing!
- Turn off your Boost Samsung Galaxy S3
- On your PC, launch the ODIN.exe file you unzipped from the prerequisites.
- On ODIN, click the PDA section and select the Philz Recovery .tar you downloaded from the link above. Uncheck Auto Reboot! Make sure NO partition options are checked!
- Place phone in download mode by holding Volume Down + Home while powering up. Hold until confirmation screen appears. Confirm by pressing Volume +.
- Connect your phone to the PC via USB cable
- Check ODIN. A small box on the upper left should turn blue and the dialog box must display "Added!!"
- Select "Start" and wait for it to finish. After it is complete, Odin will say PASS! After you see this, disconnect the USB cable from your phone and pull your battery out of your phone.
- Place the battery back in. While holding the VOLUME UP + Home button, while powering up and hold it until you see the blue text that says "Booting into recovery". As soon as you see this blue text let go of all the buttons!
- We will now install SuperSU with the custom recovery. Click on Install in your custom recovery (Philz) and navigate to where you placed the file listed earlier which will be the SuperSU zip. Assuming the installation is successful, you will then want to select Reboot System from your Philz Recovery menu.
- You should now be rooted! I assume you are familiar with what rooting does so there is no need to explain how SuperSU works. ENJOY YOUR ROOTED PHONE!
PLEASE NOTE: If you haven't updated to MK5 4.3 yet, you can do so by flashing jdsingle's Knox-Free MK5 ROM which does NOT contain Knox bootloader or apps found here: [ROM][MK5][STOCK][ODEXED/DEODEXED]- Virgin Mobile/Boost Mobile