Help Unroot Galaxy S8

[PSaLeao]

Good Afternoon,

I rooted my galaxy S8 (SM-G950FD) bought in the United Arab Emirates few years ago. Turns out, nowadays a lot of apps won't work because of it including some pretty important ones.

Can someone guide me through the unrooting process? Careful with the jargon, I am a noob.

thanks a lot

 

[Hadron]

1) Back up any important data

2) Download the official firmware for your phone. You can find this at sammobile.com, where you will also find instructions for installing it (you'll need a computer). Follow those instructions and flash the phone with new firmware.

3) If the reflashing wiped the phone restore your data from the backup you took at the start (I've never reflashed a Samsung but with many manufacturers this process also resets the phone, so best to back up first).

Reflashing the phone will overwrite the rooted operating system, and hence unroot the phone. This is the cleanest and most reliable way, and will work however you rooted it.

 

[PSaLeao]

2) Download the official firmware for your phone. You can find this at sammobile.com, where you will also find instructions for installing it (you'll need a computer). Follow those instructions and flash the phone with new firmware.

First of all, thank you so much.

I looked for the firmware at sammobile.com and found out two country codes for United Arab Emirates (LYS and XSG), how do I know which belongs to my phone?

Thank you

 

[svim]

Try looking at the Settings >> About Device >> Software menu on your phone, in the CSC category. Be sure to only download the LYS or XSG firmware that corresponds to your particular model.

 

[PSaLeao]

Good Afternoon,

I followed all the steps, found that my version is XSG, flashed it using odin, successfully. Started the phone as a brand new, had to config everything but still some apps won't run claiming I have root access.

Any other ideas?

Regards

 

[svim]

Just to confirm, if you go into the Settings >> About phone menu, it's a 'clean' install yes? (.... as in no indications it's still rooted)

Are there a sizable number of apps that still indicate your phone is rooted, or just two or three or whatever?
Did you use the Google Restore from backup feature when setting your phone up after flashing it? That might be part of the problem -- the last backup being when your phone was rooted so it used some of those apps/services and their config data during the restore process. If this is the cause, you might have to just re-do everything (flash the ROM again) but this time don't use Google's Restore feature.
An important point to consider is just how did you flash the Samsung stock ROM? Did you use the suggested Odin utility? A lot of other manufacturers use different methods to flash stock ROMs, but with Samsung ROMs when you do use the Odin utility it typically does not wipe the user data partition so saved data is often left as is. That might be part of your problem, the config files from those particular apps are from back when your phone was rooted. (The internal storage media in your S8 is divided into several partitions with most of them being dedicated to the operating system and being set aside as the user data partition. Odin just rewrites operating system data into only those system partitions, the user data partition is left as is.) Anyway if you used the Odin utility, you might need to go into the Settings >> Apps menu, use the 'Clear storage button, then Uninstall. (using Clear storage should remove that app's previous config files and settings). Now install the app again from the Play Store and hopefully it's also now a 'clean' install.

 

[PSaLeao]

Hi!

I did use odin, flashed the correct country region firmware (According to "About Phone" section). Tried that solution, used the clear storage feature and still the same, worked with one app though.

Run into another problem, now my phone says its 16Gb capacity instead of the 64GB.

Came to my mind that perhaps even though I bought my phone in the UAE, the original software could be from a different region, if so is there a way to find out the original one?

Regards

 

[svim]

It might be time to just start over from scratch. Backup saved files and data (and confirm the data is safely archived and restorable), re-flash with the appropriate ROM, and do a Factory Reset -- the flashing replaces the operating system, the Reset wipes the user data partition. This returns the phone back to its original, first-time used state. And then it involves the arduous process of restoring your entire user account back to the way it was. But its current state sounds like there's a possible problem of a mismatch of firmware, along with a probable problem with 'root' status config files from miscellaneous apps you were using when the phone was rooted.