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Root [Virgin Mobile] [VIRGINMOBILE][GUIDE][BASIC][WIP] Rooting for Newbies!

THIS METHOD INTENDED FOR VIRGIN MOBILE USERS

ROOTING FOR NEWBIES!

First off, thanks to xInterlopeRx who is a part of [OUDHS] (Official Unloved Devices Hit Squad) which brought us ports such as the TWRP and CWM recoveries which will be used to root this phone. Expect brilliant future development from this team! Be sure and give a thanks to them!

If you just bought the phone you are probably on Android OS 4.1.2
If you are still on Ice Cream Sandwich (Android OS 4.0) this guide will still work for you, but you might want to upgrade to Jellybean using the "Update Firmware" option in System Updates found in your settings menu before you root.

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. You will need to download that here: TWRP.2.4.3.0.tar

Now, you're gonna want to save these two files (you will flash them with your custom recovery after it's installed) and place them on your sd card:
busybox_v1.20.2-CWM+.zip
SuperSU-v1.80.zip

If you don't have Odin installed on your computer, do that now. You can find Odin here: [ tool ] Odin 3.04 - xda-developers

You have downloaded and installed Odin and Samsung USB drivers listed above? You've downloaded the TWRP .tar file to your computer and you've place the SuperSU and Busybox zip files on your SD card? Okay, great!

Now, let's flash the custom recovery, which will be TWRP, on your device! And let's root this thing!

  1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE
  2. On your PC, launch the ODIN.exe file you unzipped from the prerequisites.
  3. On ODIN, click the PDA section and select the TWRP .tar you downloaded from the link above. Uncheck Auto Reboot! Make sure NO partition options are checked!
  4. Place phone in download mode by pressing Volume Down + Power. Hold until confirmation screen appears. Confirm by pressing Volume +.
  5. Connect your phone to the PC via USB cable
  6. Check ODIN. A small box on the upper left should turn blue and the dialog box must display "Added!!"
  7. 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.
  8. Place the battery back in. While holding the VOLUME UP button, press the power and hold it until you see the green text that says "Booting into recovery". As soon as you see this green text let go of all the buttons!
  9. Click on Install in your custom recovery (TWRP) and navigate to where you placed the two files listed earlier which will be the Busybox and SuperSU zip. You will want to install both of those. Assuming it is successful, you will then want to select Reboot System from your TWRP menu.
  10. 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!
I Can't really seem to get this to work, but when boot into TWRP I don't see the "Advanced" option. Any help?
 
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Have tried this 3 times.... the first time twrp didnt flash. The second and third time everything flashed fine. I have custom recovery, su, and all busybox files are installed. But when I go to update the binaries it can't obtain root access. Same with terminal emulator and root explorer.

Any suggestions have followed directions to a "t".
On version 4.1

FIXED.. ... did a full wipe to return it to like "new" su was still installed and worked after wards
 
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hey im having trouble rooting i think i have it narrowed down to what the problem is...so my question is how do you get superSU on your sd card so that you can install it in twrp. is this what i need to install SuperSU-v90-language-test-3.apk... because if you go to google play to download SuperSU you cant put it on your sd card which is where it needs to be, and if you have the superuser.zip on your sd card and install it in twrp the root doesnt work. the only video iv seen using this method zoomed in on the busybox and SuperSU when in twrp and it was indeed SuperSU that he used, but how can you get the SuperSU zip if SuperSU is on google play?
 
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hey im having trouble rooting i think i have it narrowed down to what the problem is...so my question is how do you get superSU on your sd card so that you can install it in twrp. is this what i need to install SuperSU-v90-language-test-3.apk... because if you go to google play to download SuperSU you cant put it on your sd card which is where it needs to be, and if you have the superuser.zip on your sd card and install it in twrp the root doesnt work. the only video iv seen using this method zoomed in on the busybox and SuperSU when in twrp and it was indeed SuperSU that he used, but how can you get the SuperSU zip if SuperSU is on google play?

In the first post in this thread there are links to busybox zip and super su.zip. click on the super su.zip link and it takes you to the xda super su page, then scroll down to twrp, cwm installable zip. Super su update v1.93.zip is the file.
 
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ok i just flashed busybox and SuperSU in twrp but the root checker just loads and loads. so i installed romtoolbox so that i could try to see if i have root access by trying to delete a proprietary app and/or overclock but when i tried either of them romtoolbox just froze the second i clicked on anything to delete and when i tried to set cpu speed. so i figured why not see if i can flash a new rom figuring that if that works that must mean im rooted. so i flashed VaeVictus-mg5-og in twrp and i think that worked because it gave me a new boot animation before the regular virgin boot sequence. i went back to root checker and same thing it just loads and never gives me an answer and romtoolbox does the same thing... so i dont think i have root access but i think im somewhere in between, because before it just said i dont have root access an it only took like a second... am i rooted?
 
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that worked!!! thank you so much i woulda never thought to do that lol. i was able to access overclocking this time... im overclocked at 1.5 right now and it runs on 1.8 no prob so far. i cant express how much i appreciate your help, you guys at android forums are simply the best.
thanks again

Remember the only reason you have the ability to over clock is because you flashed vaevictus kernel. Rooting doesn't give you over clock, the custom kernel does. So if you revert back to stock kernel you won't have overclock but your still rooted. I say that because I noticed you said 1 of the symptoms you thought you were not rooted is that you could not over clock your CPU. Rooting alone doesn't let you do that. Glad you got it worked out. :cool: enjoy.
Also, if you didn't make a backup, how were you planning to return to stock kernel if the need arises? Try to remember to always make a backup before making any system changes or flashing anything. You'll be glad you did. If you notice, about 75 percent of problems ppl need help with here could have been prevented by having a backup. Just a tip to try to save you hours of headache in the future. :D
For example you'll notice now that you've flashed a custom kernel the stock video player doesn't work! Its kernel supported.
 
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  1. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE
  2. On your PC, launch the ODIN.exe file you unzipped from the prerequisites.
  3. On ODIN, click the PDA section and select the TWRP .tar you downloaded from the link above. Uncheck Auto Reboot! Make sure NO partition options are checked!
  4. Place phone in download mode by pressing Volume Down + Power. Hold until confirmation screen appears. Confirm by pressing Volume +.
  5. Connect your phone to the PC via USB cable
  6. Check ODIN. A small box on the upper left should turn blue and the dialog box must display "Added!!"
  7. 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.
  8. Place the battery back in. While holding the VOLUME UP button, press the power and hold it until you see the green text that says "Booting into recovery". As soon as you see this green text let go of all the buttons!
  9. Click on Install in your custom recovery (TWRP) and navigate to where you placed the two files listed earlier which will be the Busybox and SuperSU zip. You will want to install both of those. Assuming it is successful, you will then want to select Reboot System from your TWRP menu.
  10. 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!

Step 4 of these instructions are wrong for my Samsung Galaxy Victory. It took me half a day before I realized that this step is putting the phone in some other mode. To put the Victory in Download mode, you also have to press the Home button.

So step 4 should be:

4. Place phone in download mode by pressing Volume Down + HOME + Power. Hold until confirmation screen appears. Confirm by pressing Volume +.

At least that's the way it works on my Victory. Maybe other phone are different?

-Buck
 
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