Root How To Root Your Samsung Avant

[Masterchief87]

Here is a link to a web page with download links for the files needed and instructions for how to root your T-Mobile or MetroPCS Galaxy Avant.
http://androidxda.com/root-samsung-galaxy-avant-sm-g386t
This method works for both the T-Mobile Avant(SM-G386T) and the MetroPCS Avant(SM-G386T1). This guide is a few months old but the method they show still works on the newest T-MOBILE G386TUVU1ANK3 and METROPCS G386T1UVU1ANK3 firmwares.
If you use this first method to root, I strongly suggest that you install Teamwin or Clockworkmod recovery and make a full nandroid backup in case you mess something up after rooting your phone.

@dfuse06 has made an app that makes installing either of these recoveries and switching between them easier than ever. First you will need to install busybox. I reccomend using JRummy Busybox Installer. Once you have installed busybox you can then use the Avant Exploded app to install CWM or TWRP recovery.

For those of you who are already familiar with using Odin and would rather Install a custom recovery first, then root, you can simply flash TWRP recovery by @Shabbypenguin then boot into TWRP and flash the newest SuperSU zip. IF YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING I SUGGEST THAT YOU FOLLOW THE GUIDE IN THE FIRST LINK. You can find TWRP herehttp://androidforums.com/index.php?threads/887861/ and you can get the newest SuperSU zip from herehttp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1538053

I am not responsible for Thermonuclear war, the death of your pet, or anything that may go wrong with your phone. If you choose to root your Avant, you do so at your own risk.
Rooting your avant and or flashing a custom recovery will permanently trigger Knox and void your warranty. If you are at all unsure of what you are doing it is best to do some research.
Make sure your battery is at least 30% charged and that you are using an undamaged, quality USB cable, preferably the one that came with the phone.

If I have helped you please hit the like button. It's free, I promise.

 

[asheehanjr]

I can tell it it works on metro PCs avant no problem. I have root no problem. The firmware for the T-Mobile one can that be used on metro too?

 

[Masterchief87]

Ive already Flashed the T-Mobile firmware on my phone once and I have the MetroPCS Avant too. I am using the T-Mobile firmware now and everything works the same. It's the same software with a couple minor differences like the bootup and shutdown animations and poweron and poweroff sounds, and carrier specific apps like My Metro or T-Mobile Visual Voicemail. If you are going to be re rooting it you can easily uninstall The T-Mobile apps And re install the MetroPCS apps and change The Boot animation and startup/shutdown sounds back if you want.

 

[asheehanjr]

I'm just glad we at least have some way to recover till Sammy releases the metro firmware. I do have the recovery and boot IMG backed up to my dropbox , is that something needed for cwm?

 

[Masterchief87]

I believe that it is but im not sure. Ive watched a couple videos on building cwm but it seems to require a linux machine and knowlege of how to write code which are two things I dont have.

 

[Masterchief87]

Btw titanium backup doesnt seem to work properly for restoring the system apps on this phone. So far any system apps Ive uninstalled had to be re-Installed with a root file manager. I made a backup of the system/app, system/priv-app, system/media, and build.prop for both firmware versions. It came in handy for when I deleted something then decided I wanted to put it back.

 

[asheehanjr]

I believe that it is but im not sure. Ive watched a couple videos on building cwm but it seems to require a linux machine and knowlege of how to write code which are two things I dont have.

There is a a cwm builder that will allow you to upload the files and make one that way.

 

[Masterchief87]

I did a Google search and found this. Go to builder.clockworkmod.com and you will find the tool you're talking about. If you're able to dump the recovery.img then maybe you can find the other files that the site asks for.

 

[asheehanjr]

I did a Google search and found this. Go to builder.clockworkmod.com and you will find the tool you're talking about. If you're able to dump the recovery.img then maybe you can find the other files that the site asks for.

Yea, I tried using it with he recovery img I backed up with flashify and it didnt work for me. Kept getting a 404 error. Aw well. Hopefully we can figure something out.

 

[rob19875]

Here is a link to a web page with download links for the files needed and complete instructions for how to root your T-Mobile or MetroPCS Galaxy Avant.
http://androidxda.com/root-samsung-galaxy-avant-sm-g386t

It has been reported as working by multiple owners of the T-Mobile Avant(SM-G386T) and I have used it myself to successfully Root my MetroPCS Avant(SM-G386T1).
MAKE SURE YOU CAN UNBRICK YOUR DEVICE IF NEED BE. I assume no responsibility if anything goes wrong. Also make sure your battery is well charged and that you use a good usb cable with no defects. You do not want the flashing process to be interrupted.

I recently got the avant through metro and i was wondering what it would do when i rooted it with this method for t-mobile phones? will it remove my service through metro or anything like that?

 

[rob19875]

Here is a link to a web page with download links for the files needed and complete instructions for how to root your T-Mobile or MetroPCS Galaxy Avant.
http://androidxda.com/root-samsung-galaxy-avant-sm-g386t

It has been reported as working by multiple owners of the T-Mobile Avant(SM-G386T) and I have used it myself to successfully Root my MetroPCS Avant(SM-G386T1).
MAKE SURE YOU CAN UNBRICK YOUR DEVICE IF NEED BE. I assume no responsibility if anything goes wrong. Also make sure your battery is well charged and that you use a good usb cable with no defects. You do not want the flashing process to be interrupted.

I recently got the avant through metro and i was wondering what it would do when i rooted it with this method for t-mobile phones? will it remove my service through metro or anything like that?

 

[Masterchief87]

No it won't affect your metropcs service. Both phones are the same. The only difference between the two is that the metropcs version has metropcs apps and different boot and shutdown animations.

 

[Masterchief87]

All it does is root your phone by installing the su binary and supersu.
Note that rooting with this method permanently voids your warranty because it trips the flash counter.

 

[rob19875]

Here is a link to a web page with download links for the files needed and complete instructions for how to root your T-Mobile or MetroPCS Galaxy Avant.
http://androidxda.com/root-samsung-galaxy-avant-sm-g386t

It has been reported as working by multiple owners of the T-Mobile Avant(SM-G386T) and I have used it myself to successfully Root my MetroPCS Avant(SM-G386T1).
MAKE SURE YOU CAN UNBRICK YOUR DEVICE IF NEED BE. I assume no responsibility if anything goes wrong. Also make sure your battery is well charged and that you use a good usb cable with no defects. You do not want the flashing process to be interrupted.

I recently got the avant through metro and i was wondering what it would do when i rooted it with this method for t-mobile phones? will it remove my service through metro or anything like that?

All it does is root your phone by installing the su binary and supersu.
Note that rooting with this method permanently voids your warranty because it trips the flash counter.

Thanks i didnt think it would but i wanted to make sure.

 

[ygb]

Masterchief,
I'm looking to get this phone. Do you know if there is a free tethering solution post rooting the phone. I've seen methods for the regular galaxy S's.

 

[Masterchief87]

Masterchief,
I'm looking to get this phone. Do you know if there is a free tethering solution post rooting the phone. I've seen methods for the regular galaxy S's.

As far as tethering goes rooting does not make any difference. Nobody has found a workaround yet. You can tether via USB or Bluetooth with 3rd party apps like foxfi and pdanet and probably clockworkmod tether using a custom user agent on your pc, but there is no way to use the WiFi hotspot without a tethering plan as of right now.

 

[ygb]

As far as tethering goes rooting does not make any difference. Nobody has found a workaround yet. You can tether via USB or Bluetooth with 3rd party apps like foxfi and pdanet and probably clockworkmod tether using a custom user agent on your pc, but there is no way to use the WiFi hotspot without a tethering plan as of right now.

Thanks for the prompt reply. I was wondering how close this phone is to the S5. There is a method at XDA here

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=52929981&postcount=21

for Tmobile S5 that sounds promising.

 

[bhmm]

How do I flash tmobile firmware on this? Where do find the firmware? I use tmobile so but I'm buying metropcs because it
is cheaper even with unlock fee. Anybody was able to unlock metropcs version thru online services?

 

[Masterchief87]

How do I flash tmobile firmware on this? Where do find the firmware? I use tmobile so but I'm buying metropcs because it
is cheaper even with unlock fee. Anybody was able to unlock metropcs version thru online services?

I don't know anything about unlocking the device. If you want to flash the T-Mobile firmware to your Avant you can go to the thread I started here:http://androidforums.com/index.php?threads/880436/ and follow the link in the op. Know that flashing this firmware may or may not trigger the Knox flash counter and void your warranty. I cannot say for sure because I already triggered the Knox counter on my device by rooting before I flashed the T-Mobile firmware. If you want to root your device and or install twrp recovery then it won't matter if Knox gets tripped. Either way, if you do flash the T-Mobile firmware and you haven't already rooted or installed twrp please let me know if it triggers Knox. If you need to know how to check this send me a pm.

 

[bhmm]

I don't know anything about unlocking the device. If you want to flash the T-Mobile firmware to your Avant you can go to the thread I started here:http://androidforums.com/index.php?threads/880436/ and follow the link in the op. Know that flashing this firmware may or may not trigger the Knox flash counter and void your warranty. I cannot say for sure because I already triggered the Knox counter on my device by rooting before I flashed the T-Mobile firmware. If you want to root your device and or install twrp recovery then it won't matter if Knox gets tripped. Either way, if you do flash the T-Mobile firmware and you haven't already rooted or installed twrp please let me know if it triggers Knox. If you need to know how to check this send me a pm.

Thank you much. Glad to report that I successfully flashed my metropcs bought for 129 from best buy to tmobile. Also glad to report that after the flash of tmobile firmware there's no need to unlock the device in order to use on tmobile. While before the flash a tmobile SIM was requiring the SIM unlock code. I had already requested one from the online service but it's not here yet. Would have I known I would not have paid the #$20 since for now I want just to use it on tmobile. it's still locked but it's locked now for tmobile. (tmobile locked devices can be used on metropcs but not the opposite).
Hopefully this post help others avoid the unlock fee if they intend only to use it on tmobile. Currently you can get the Avant for 100 plus a new line activation on metro. For me I need unlimited service with hotspot so metro use was no good. The tmobilie version is selling for $200. So the $129 Best buy price with no activation is a good deal for those intending to use this on tmobile. To avoid the SIM lock just flash the tmobile firmware.

 

[Masterchief87]

Just curious have you rooted or installed twrp? If you haven't, does the flash counter in download mode say 0 × 0 ?

 

[ygb]

Also glad to report that after the flash of tmobile firmware there's no need to unlock the device in order to use on tmobile.

Wow, that's a great find!

 

[bhmm]

Yes. No changes. Same as before the flash. I think it does detect that this an official firmware. It's still saying "official binary" there or something similar.
I did not root. For work apps like e-mail and remote connection token they do not accept rooted devices. I know to you can hide it with xposed and other things but those do not always work. I will live with that.

 

[bhmm]

Wow, that's a great find!

Something else: Secret codes below let you in service menu: *#0011# there you will see which band you're connecting to....interesting to find out which Wide Band is in your locations. I missed this on other phones (other than Samsung & iphone)

NOW something big. *#2263# gives you the Band Selection.......it seems our cheap galaxy avant has hardware for all of these
bands: 1 2 3 4 5 7 12 17. I was chocked to see 12. Not even iphone 6 has it. nexus 6 does though.

 

[glitchbit]

Wonder if that is a tmobile thing, because mine on MetroPCS rom does not allow for those codes to work!