Root Now possible-U.S. carrier S7 models have locked bootloaders and no rooting

[ironass]

The Galaxy S7 & Edge, U.S. carrier minority variants, on Qualcomm SnapDragon 820, have all chosen locked bootloaders on their carrier models and are therefore not able to be rooted at present, if indeed, ever.

This follows on from AT&T and Verizon, who issued their firmwares with locked bootloaders on the Galaxy S4, S5 and S6. It would appear that other U.S. carriers have decided to follow suit.

Make no mistake, this has nothing whatsoever to do with Samsung, whose Exynos Global and Canadian models do not have the locked bootloaders which means that 195 countries in the world are still free to root their phones, flash custom recoveries, kernels, mods and ROMs.

See, also...

Galaxy S7 Edge (Exynos) root

Galaxy S7 (Exynos) root

 

[Mikestony]

Phooey Due for an upgrade soon and was looking at this device and the ability (or rather, non-ability) for root. (Verizon).
hmmm, thanks for the info mate!

 

[ironass]

Phooey Due for an upgrade soon and was looking at this device and the ability (or rather, non-ability) for root. (Verizon).
hmmm, thanks for the info mate!

Oh, Mikestony!

You of all people should know that, "Verizon", and, "Rooting", do not usually belong in the same sentence. The only hope is that an exploit similar to the latest Verizon S5 one, can be found. Although we both know it will be closed on the next update.

To be honest, I could have almost guaranteed that AT&T and Verizon would make their models unrootable. What came as a shock was the other U.S. carriers doing the same.

 

[Brian706]

I really found the S6 & S7 to be tempting devices. The hardware seems really nice, though I would probably opt to run AOSP on one if it was an option. Crap like this is why I will continue to spend my money on Nexus devices. I will definitely never buy a carrier branded device again, unless something changes.

 

[ironass]

The Chinese Galaxy S7 model, G9308, with the Qualcomm SnapDragon 820 is apparently very quick and easy to root, using Odin, as this tutorial demonstrates...

Samsung G9308 root privileges (needs Google translate)

You just need an, "Odd Rabbit Brush"!!!

 

[mitch0115]

Samsung made this one so there isn't much of a need to .download the Package disabler . And Get Adguard . Then just throw a theme on an The phone is just like a rooted phone because surprisingly both these apps actually work !!!!

 

[ironass]

Samsung made this one so there isn't much of a need to .download the Package disabler . And Get Adguard . Then just throw a theme on an The phone is just like a rooted phone because surprisingly both these apps actually work !!!!

It would be nice for U.S. users to have the same freedom of choice as the rest of the world wouldn't you agree?

Just one of the nice things about rooting is that when Samsung or your carrier stop supporting your phone, you can root it and install up-to-date custom ROMs to extend its life and keep abreast of security updates. My neighbour has my old Galaxy S2 that I had in April 2011 and is running Marshmallow, Android 6.0.1, quite happily on it.

 

[jack58]

It would be nice for U.S. users to have the same freedom of choice as the rest of the world wouldn't you agree?

I bet the rest of the world have far more crashed, bricked phones too.

Never did see the point of rooting and have been happy with all my phones I've had over the years... never needed to root. Taking too many chances of bricking my phone. Why fix something that isn't broke...
{Previous Phones} Nokia 5110 (1998) - Motorola Razor - Sidekick - Samsung Blackjack II Red - Blackberry Curve 8310 - Blackberry Storm -Backflip - iPhone 4G - Sony Experia X10 - Samsung Captivate - Dell Streak 5 - Samsung Galaxy Note II, Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 {Current Phone} Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

 

[SirEagle]

This is the first phone I've had in a long time that I haven't rooted. Not sure the need is there anymore.

 

[ironass]

Over on the xda developers forums, thousands of U.S. Snapdragon users are realising that they have been singled out for the locked and un-rootable firmware and that it is not a global, "Samsung imposition", but rather, an, "American", carrier thing.

Some forums have become very heated and in some cases, threads have been closed down.

ROOT DISCUSSION - R.I.P. Sticky Root Guide SM-G935T -> SHOW YOUR TWEETS / E-MAIL / FB

Petition to unlock our phones

Bounty for ATT S7 Root exploit

... and the list goes on.

 

[smellydave]

I was thinking of getting the s7 until I read this thread. Some posters have said there is no reason to root anymore. I need root access to use wifi tether free. Sprint requires a paid subscription to use this feature and have blocked PDAnet wifi from working after android KitKat, so I am stuck using usb tether mode. I have tried using windows to create a wireless network while using usb mode to no avail. Unless something changed in marshmallow I will not be able to create a hotspot without root access. Any suggestions to get around this with the s7 without changing carriers? Since all carriers no longer subsidize phones with a 2 year contract could I buy a Canadian version of the s7 from the us and root it? Thanks for the advice.

 

[ironass]

I was thinking of getting the s7 until I read this thread. Some posters have said there is no reason to root anymore. I need root access to use wifi tether free. Sprint requires a paid subscription to use this feature and have blocked PDAnet wifi from working after android KitKat, so I am stuck using usb tether mode. I have tried using windows to create a wireless network while using usb mode to no avail. Unless something changed in marshmallow I will not be able to create a hotspot without root access. Any suggestions to get around this with the s7 without changing carriers? Since all carriers no longer subsidize phones with a 2 year contract could I buy a Canadian version of the s7 from the us and root it? Thanks for the advice.

Hello and welcome to Android Forums smellydave

The rootable Global and Canadian models of the S7 with the Exynos chipset are all GSM phones. Sprint is on the CDMA network. Therefore, you will have to abandon rooting or abandon your network for a U.S. GSM carrier such as, T-Mobile, AT&T, etc:

 

[ironass]

A possible temporary root exploit has been gained on the Sprint model, G935P. At the moment it is more a proof of concept and still requires work. However, if it can work on one Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 U.S. model, it should work on all unless the carriers close it off in a future update. Here is a video...

For more information, see the thread over on xda developers... World First Galaxy S7 Qualcomm Root

 

[ironass]

It would appear that the possible root exploit mentioned in the previous post is going nowhere and the thread on xda developers forum has now been closed.

Therefore, the situation is that the U.S. Snapdragon models are still not able to be rooted I am afraid. This does not affect the Exynos models or Chinese Snapdragon models.

 

[ironass]

Alternatively, you can now purchase the U.S. carrier free, unlocked, models of the Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge...

Samsung gives the U.S. the perfect Galaxy S7 — unlocked!

Welcome to the rest of the world U.S.A.

 

[Bg260]

Unfortunately, in Verizon's opinion, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. We being the few. If they just didn't have such a great network.

Spoiler

 

[AceDaMack]

T-Mobile s7 flat confirmed. Apb6
Root checker: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ub8ccnppjx...12322.png?dl=0

It's here and permanent but threw eng boot now with root we need to see if we can unlock bootloader threw flashfire somehow.

 

[ironass]

Is this by any chance the same root method as...

Root on ATT and VZW S7?

Perhaps you could post a link to the rooting method if it is different.

 

[AceDaMack]

Is this by any chance the same root method as...

Root on ATT and VZW S7?

Perhaps you could post a link to the rooting method if it is different.

Yes the eng boot works for all us variants you just have to have the right eng boot they have 1 for the edge variant and flat give me a sec I'll post all links.

 

[AceDaMack]

Use this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/tmob...-edge-t3410470

Eng boot: http://forum.xda-developers.com/tmob...-devs-t3408220
Make sure you download eng boot g930p not the g935 boot. When you go in the eng boot link it's the first post click on the link provided in that post and it will take you to a page with both eng boots download the boot for your variant it will say g930p or g935p don't mind the p for sprint it still works on all carriers.

 

[AceDaMack]

This is an answer to a fellow members on another site. This will be useful here also.

Ok here is the thing. If you are going to root, if you have used package disabler or any app like that to disable package on the stock firmware then you got to install the eng boot you have to factory rest after installing the eng boot if not it will soft brick. It's something about disabled package that will soft brick if u try to boot after installing eng boot.

So to avoid soft brick just enable the stuff you disabled then try. Or if you don't feel like disabling the packages first just install the right eng boot on ur phone when it hangs at the white screen try to turn off your phone or try to get in recovery and do a factory rest it should boot right up then. It might take about 10 min be patient.

 

[AceDaMack]

Being that it is an eng boot it will be lag idk why but it is so the temp. Solution is to download no frills or similar app and change governor to interactive. Still a work in progress. And also after you root disable securitylogagent, software update packages and knox packages so u won't lose root and have better performance with knox disable because knox tries to erase root binary.

 

[AceDaMack]

Is this by any chance the same root method as...

Root on ATT and VZW S7?

Perhaps you could post a link to the rooting method if it is different.

Links r up. Any help threw this site would be appreciated

 

[AceDaMack]

Is this by any chance the same root method as...

Root on ATT and VZW S7?

Perhaps you could post a link to the rooting method if it is different.

Looks like the tmobile-s7-edge edge variant is the first to have custom rom.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/tmo...ekx-dev-deodex-systemui-3minit-multi-t3411776

 

[Bg260]

Rooting is one thing. Having a locked bootloader is another. I spent a month trying to root my VZW S4. Only to discover that I was stuck with TW and LP.

Flashfire does not unlock the bootloader it merely subverts it.