Root Has anyone rooted a Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime G53P.02?

[mslisaj]

Well I haven't been around the forums for quite awhile as you all helped me root my HTC Hero many years ago and it was just a delight to own and use then. Well in January I had to get a new phone as the old Hero was getting really long in the tooth and I went back to Sprint and bought a Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime (hardware version G530P.02). It came with the usual "bloatware" but much to my surprise I was able to disable most of it and delete the other nonsense. The phone has a problem as it wants to cache everything and keep a lot of "data" but I have been able to stay ahead of it and keep the internal memory about 1.15 GB used. But apparently Sprint put two "viruses" on the phone with their name on it call "Sprint Zone" and "Sprint - Featured Apps" that have the uncanny ability to restart themselves and download updates at will. I thought I could live with this and would not have to root but this is getting tiresome having to keep uninstalling updates and "force stopping" these apps to get my memory back.

In my researching of the "root process" now, I find that the specific phone and software/hardware combinations take a very specific root file or method to do it successfully. So I thought I would ask around first and find others that may have rooted this specific phone. I know it was a helpful route to go as there were a lot of rooted Hero's around back in the day. But if anyone has any suggestions or thoughts on my questions here I would love the discussion and appreciate your time weighing in.

Thanks again.

Lisa

 

[Jfalls63]

I don't have your phone but looked a few things on XDA. Seems that this method requires a modified kernel to root then flashing the stock kernel after root.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/grand-prime/development/kernel-root-root-sm-g530p-5-1-1-t3255761
Few things I know that have been tripping people up rooting the Grand Prime is Factory Reset Protection, need to disable it in settings-security. The other is to allow OEM unlock in developer options if it's on your model.

Another option to disable pesky pre installed apps on Samsung devices is Package Disabler Pro. It's a paid app you can get from the Play Store to disable most bloat that you normally can't without root. Works on non rooted Samsung devices.

 

[mslisaj]

Thanks Jfalls63 for taking your time to research this and reply to my question. For a factory phone it's a lot better then my old one as far as disabling, force stopping and uninstalling the bloat ware. I am cautious as I approach this as disabling the wrong thing and then I have core apps that don't work. But I am down to the last two and there was a app or file call "Galaxy Apps" that I was able to disable with out any problems. Now I'm left with "Sprint Zone" app that I can clear all the data and memory and force stop it but it just turns itself back on and starts growing. The other seems to me an Android file called "com.facebook.appmanager" that keeps coming to life. I clear out the memory and cache and force stop it and a few hours later it's back running again. The crazy thing is it won't let me disable it. BTW I don't do facebook and don't have the app.

Just a note on the rooting. I successfully rooted my Hero years ago but it was a process. I would rather not root this phone as I don't fully know what I am doing and missing a step or not fully understanding it will lead to disaster. But I miss the benefits of a rooted phone when it came to a "nandroid backup". I wish I had a place I could take the phone and pay someone to do the root for me and be done with it but for now I have battled this device down the the last of the apps or files I mentioned here.

Thanks again for your time and help.

Regards,

Lisa