yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] nujackk:
to give you a clear answer, NO. only give you root access no way to get a custom recovery with out bootloader unlock or safestrap. which i hope is coming soon.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] svantine:
I appreciate you and everyone else that replied. My assumption is that since I didn't pay for the SuperSU pro version that this is why I do not see it in TB. As for xxxtncxxx, I asked that because I am new here and am clearly not familiar with developers aliases. Also, it was a reasonable question considering the fact that 4.4 will be out soon (with more bloatware and more problems to work around) so I did not assume someone would be developing any of these tools given that fact that it may be a waste of time. I froze my auto update service btw.

On to other matters. Is there a thread that I am not currently aware of that is documenting or logging the process of such an update? I would like to be part of the discussion and share my input and feedback so we can all have a tool that is working, reliable, and free of glitches for the better of the community. (over time of course, nothing happens overnight)

I would also like to give thanks to lilprincess for the dev of a script that simplifies this whole process. I am sure if I was not so impatient (or was a being from the future) that it would have saved me loads of time, trial and error, and temporarily softbricked devices. Fantastic work. You are the reason I respect and promote these forums... Innovation and the like is key to overcoming obstacles, and you proved that anything can be achieved.

Cheers.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] grkgeek:
Well done. Together we will all fight the non sense big money crams down our throats. We the people demand control of our devices and the unity of people like you, me, developers and others that believe in these efforts will move forward despite the other agendas that exist in this world. I concur with what you said. Thanks to all that help us move forward! !! P.S. I am not running for President :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Sczar:
Is this thread dead? What happened am I missing a root action? :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] grkgeek:
You are not missing any root Acton. I have accepted the fact that I am stuck with a stock VRUEMJ7 with a locked bootloader. No bootloader unlock means no ROMS for me. I monitor several threads and there has been Zero progress. Not complaining ... Just stating a fact based on my observation of many threads on various forums.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Surge1223:
Im trying to use the same vuln they used to get root, I can build the program with the correct addresses etc. with ndk but the output wont get all the way through the root process...anyone who has done deep analysis into vroot or kingo....is their anything else specific to our s4 they extract (besides imei and all controversial stuff) I mean I know it gets the kernel size and start address but is there anything else?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] k1mu:
I have the MJ7 kernel symbol table - let me know if it would be of use.

I think I've already built the program that you're using, but couldn't figure out how to get it to execute at all due to missing SELinux context.

Do you have to put it on a ext4 formatted sdcard or something?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Surge1223:
Well I found a root tool made for a different device that was using the same vulnerability that vroot apparently uses, I modified it and rebuilt it with ndk it runs from adb but it gets half way through, what I mean by that is it pushes the files and sets permissions correctly then runs 1/2 of the exploit before giving errors I think I might have to edit the script more because ive tried using two different kernel addresess', 0x80200000 and 0x80200800 and it progresses further depending on the one I use ( 0x80200800 goes a tad further)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] k1mu:
OK. PM Sent. Sounds like we may have two halves of the puzzle.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Surge1223:
After I posted what I saw in the log I recieved, I though it might be a good idea to begin reverse engineering this thing as well. Doesnt that log look sketchy to anyone else? It was enough to give me the green light on starting ida lol.

P.S.

Can someone run this command below in terminal then immediatley proceed to attempt to update the su binaries (while keeping terminal running) Then after it fails, go in back to terminal, hold vol down and press the letter "d" to end the terminal process if its still going, and finally save the output then post/pm it to me?

busybox cat /system/bin/*
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] k1mu:
Yes. That means that there's no open listeners.

With the ESTABLISHED search, we would be able to say that there's no outbound connections *at the time you checked*.

---------- Post added at 08:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:10 PM ----------

So, you claim to have root with this.

What happens if you try to remount /system read/write? You should always be able to do that then delete the "SuperSU" replacement apk.

That won't remove the "su" binary that gives you root.

What I would try is to put a known good SuperSU.apk onto the sdcard. Then, mount /system read/write, remove the current .apk, then install the new one.

If you can't remount /system, then the supplied SuperSU isn't working right - you're still SELinux constrained. The original SuperSU runs a daemon that is supposed to work around those constraints on 4.3. (Unfortunately, I'm not rooted so can't tell.. but the half-a$$ root that I got after the upgrade definitely could not remount /system.)

If you can remount /system read/write but can't remove the installed SuperSU apk, then there's two possibilities: the APT's SuperSU replacement is protecting itself for some reason, or the SELinux protections aren't completely bypassed.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Ythan:
This worked for me. After installing vroot I got a copy of SuperSU's su binary. Then from an ADB console:

$ su

# mount -o rw,remount /system

# cp -f /path/to/supersu/su /system/bin/

Reboot, uninstall vroot's "Superuser" app with Titanium Backup, install SuperSU. Seems to be working great so far!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] k1mu:
Thanks - that's positive news.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Andrew149:
Awesome anyone have exposed working?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Menardo:
Any confirmation of this working?!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] gsi30:
I have a Samsung galaxy s 4 with Verizon. the root worked fine but cant get supersu to update. I have try a few things that have been posted here and nothing. Is there any thing wrong with just using the Chinese super su. don't know that much about this rooting stuff.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] stuckintheskull:
Could you do this from terminal on phone?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Ythan:
I'm honestly not sure but I think you have to use ADB. I know Linux but I'm pretty new to Android. I wish I could give a more authoritative answer. :o

Xposed is working fine, you just have to make sure to get the latest version, otherwise Knox won't let you enable or disable modules. The Tweakbox module is a little weird (like the options for the long-press home button option don't actually correspond to the real settings anymore), but overall I haven't had any problems.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] gsi30:
I tried and couldnt get it to work.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Seanbest:
I got su copied, uninstalled superuser, installed SuperSU, but SuperSU wont update binary
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] LilTechPrincess:
I know her and helped her root hers and did my own as well. System is definitely R/W. Ill try a few things when Im not mobile.

Ill give this a try in a bit, too. Will report back.

---------- Post added at 09:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:25 PM ----------

Ill write up a how to on this.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Ythan:
Hrm, I don't think I left anything out of my instructions, I wonder if there's something different about our phones..? Do you still have root after rebooting? It sounds like you may need to run vroot again and give it another try. Maybe for good measure, also put a copy of the SuperSU su binary in /system/xbin in addition to /system/bin, and make sure the binaries are -rwsr-sr-x root root. Other than that I'm kind of at a loss... hopefully someone else with more expertise will chime in. If I can help in any way please let me know.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Tada10:
Looks like the 1.7.2 of Vroot worked for me. :) Just got done disabling all of Knox crap...
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] thekantorfour:
Kingo Root Didn't work for me

i have the MJ7 build stock, and it says it's not supported. Did anyone do anything special to get it to work? Also, any details anyone did besides just let it run?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Tada10:
Try this and let it update itself then run. I think it has to have the latest version to work for some like mine.

MOD EDIT: Vroot is currently being investigated so links are not allowed at this time

This is a link to Vroot.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Tada10:
I actually like their Superuser has other features like boot speed and cache cleaner. :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] open1your1eyes0:
Are you able to successfully install Safestrap after disabling all the Knox related files? If my guess is correct, SELinux is set to force Enforcing in the kernel and should not allow you anyways. Also you may not be able to access settings.db (Settings Storage) with SQL Editor either.

This is of course beyond the scope of root here but just curious.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] open1your1eyes0:
There's actually an even later version straight from VRoot source

As we are still unsure about the safety of these root methods (though no hard evidence of malicious activity yet) use to your discretion.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Tada10:
I didn't try Safestrap yet but just tested SQL and no go.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] LilTechPrincess:
Xposed.

I was just able to verify that Xposed Modules work just fine with this root method. Just in case anyone wants to know.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Andrew149:
Just wanted to say I rooted with this method on my att MJ6 success.

Exposed works

Titanium works

Root explorer works

Wanan exposed app works

:)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] keith843:
I used a script made from mattlgroff back in the day to get root back on my razr after the JB update. Is there anyway we could possibly come up with another script of sorts to accomplish this? If any devs want i can provide the link via pm.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] stuckintheskull:
Where can I download latest SU binaries?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
Current SU

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1538053 - Download the update.zip version and extract it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] jpolzner:
What are extracting it with? Z-Zip says it's using an unsupported compression method.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
Meow

Use Windows zip. I had the same issue. Right click > Open with > Windows
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] stuckintheskull:
So if I extract the binaries could I move them to system/bin or do I have to use adb. I only ask because I suck at adb. Thanks in advance.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
SU Update

I can't get them to update no matter what I do. Ive done it with ADB and the current SU seems to overwrite it with its own again. I have been messaging w/ DroidHaxxor and he thinks that it has 2 do w/ 4.3 running the su as a daemon instead of a standalone? He said he would take a look @ it later when hes off work, but Im trying to figure it out myself between now and then. :laugh:

Does anyone have any ideas how to update the su with shell?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] -Lawless:
Sitting back and drooling at the prospect of being able to root again.

I can live without ROMing but rooting would be nice. Can't record my phone calls anymore without it lol.

Thanks to those that are still working on it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rolltide78:
Yeah much appreciative here as well. I really want to try Google Edition on the S4 and wish I didn't update to 4.3.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] open1your1eyes0:
We finally have some details on these root methods:

https://twitter.com/TeamAndIRC/status/397767301811802112

TLDR: Uses "Romaster" root method
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] foopy:
I suspect these extra binaries are what is allowing the phone to be rooted and that it circumvents the SELinux security, but that is just a guess. I don't know enough about coding to be able to analyze it. I don't see any additional open ports that are connecting to any suspicious urls. I only have either 1 or 2 established connections at times and both of them are to Google IPs. I think Google steals more of our data than anyone.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
Google

Google doesn't steal it, you agree to let them have it! haha
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] k1mu:
Google search for romaster android point back to vroot - com.mgyun.romaster - (with side roads to rootmaster, root 3000+, repair master, and others). This thing has lots of different names, which seems suspicious. However, I'm a professional paranoid about this stuff so I may be reading too much out of slim information.

I can't find any useful information on what that does or how it exploits. Unfortunate. However, a statement that it uses the "romaster root method" is content free: it means that vroot uses the vroot method since romaster and vroot are apparently at best minor variants of the same thing.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] boogeeman69:
I got tired of fighting with the Supersu binary update, so I got creative. I froze out the Superuser app from Vroot then I opened an adb shell and I manually deleted the su binary from both /system/bin and the system/xbin. The binary update was being blocked by the vroot program, so I figured why not just delete them myself. I then followed the Root_de_la_vega instructions for file placement, then I manually ran each command from the root_de_la_vega.sh file, then rebooted. Supersu is working great now.

I tried installing CWM Touch via Rom Manager and I still can only boot into Stock recovery. I have tried installing recovery 8 ways from zero, but have had no success there yet.

Don't even know if I did this all right, but it's working and I definitely have full root access and no more binaries getting blocked. Now if anyone can just tell me how to get a recovery working.... :good:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
Where do I find the door de la vega instructions .sh file? Ill give this a try too!!

Thx!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Menardo:
Could you give details of your process?! commands typed in adb, etc?! thanks and im about to give this a shot
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SellswordShev:
You can't flash custom recoveries on anything past ME7 baseband, the bootloader is still locked, in fact its even more heavily jailed after MI1 updates. Don't mess with kernels / recoveries or you are going to trip your Knox flag. You can try installing the safestrap pseudo-recovery but considering there are no 4.3 TW roms available its pointless.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Surge1223:
Just as a check, someone may want to run these commands in terminal and make sure theres no traces of anything suspicious in the output. Not all of the output will be bad files, but atleast this might help you find the last traces of vroot.

su
busybox find / -name *su
busybox find / -name *suv*
busybox find / -name *mgyun*
busybox find / -name *shua*
busybox find / -name *daemon
busybox find / -name *mksh*
busybox find / -name *com.mgyun.shua.su.daemon
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Menardo:
You figure this out?!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] klick37:
The first two dozen posts of this thread really scream 'fake/scam' like no other.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Naddict:
Be aware that as of this moment XDA has deemed the Kingo root method and Vroot method are not allowed on XDA. There are concerns with the information which is collected during the root method by the exploit. It is not about a continuous malware which may affect your device but about important information shared about your device, serial numbers etc during the root process which could be huge securities issues. You have all been warned.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] boogeeman69:
Sure. I first must say that I was purely winging it here and this was all because I am an idiot and forgot to turn on survival mode after the reboot....

I already had gained root with Vroot, but could not update su binaries, they were being blocked by com.mgyun.shua.su.

So I proceeded this way.

1. Forced stop and froze all Knox processes

2. Forced stop and froze Superuser (Vroot version)

3. Unzipped Root De La Vega to the root of the phone, so I had a folder called root_files and a .sh file in the root, but don't worry about that one because I ran the script manually anyways just to be safe.

4. In ADB shell I changed /system to rw and deleted both instances of the su binary. (/system/bin, system/xbin)

5. Then thanks to both Designgears & Chainfire, I issued the following commands from the root_de_la_vega.sh script manually, I am leaving the comments so you can see what these are doing:

# Mount system writable

mount -o rw,remount /system

# Copy over files

/system/bin/cp /data/media/0/root_files/su /system/xbin/VZW_SUCKS

/system/bin/cp /data/media/0/root_files/su /system/xbin/daemonsu

/system/bin/cp /data/media/0/root_files/su /system/xbin/su

/system/bin/cp /data/media/0/root_files/install-recovery.sh /system/etc/install-recovery.sh

/system/bin/cp /data/media/0/root_files/busybox /system/xbin/busybox

/system/bin/cp /data/media/0/root_files/SuperUser.apk /system/app/SuperUser.apk

touch /system/VEGA

# Install Busybox

chown 0.1000 /system/xbin/busybox

chmod 0755 /system/xbin/busybox

/system/xbin/busybox --install -s /system/xbin

# Set perms

chown 0.0 /system/app/SuperUser.apk

chmod 0644 /system/app/SuperUser.apk

chown 0.0 /system/xbin/su

chmod 6755 /system/xbin/su

chown 0.0 /system/xbin/VZW_SUCKS

chmod 6755 /system/xbin/VZW_SUCKS

chown 0.0 /system/etc/install-recovery.sh

chmod 6755 /system/etc/install-recovery.sh

chown 0.0 /system/xbin/daemonsu

chmod 06755 /system/xbin/daemonsu

6. I then rebooted and left the applications from steps 1 and 2 frozen.

I was thinking that, but I think what threw me off is that on my boot up, it shows unlocked and custom. Is this normal? I thought it would show locked.

Do you want screen shots of my phone?

Thanks Naddict! Normally, I don't go down this road, I just got bored. I agree with you, I shouldn't have. Nobody should until we have a proven safer method.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] k1mu:
That icon doesn't mean that you're bootloader unlocked. It's just part of the "Custom" message that shows up if the phone decides it's been modified.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] boogeeman69:
Thanks for clarifying!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
Where can I download the files that you used? I need the files you used to fix SU... Can you send those?

Thanks!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] aquintesce:
they're in the MI1 root instructions

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2487142
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
That download is like 1.6 GB. I was hoping someone could just post the root.zip file?

Thx
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Trak-X:
Thank you so much.

I followed the instruction and i now have SuperSu and got rid of VRoot Superuser.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] PetrichorXFi:
agreed... those methods do sound sketchy and using them should not be encouraged.

That being said, I do believe discussing how Kingo and Vroot technically work and how to modify them to be safer shouldn't be a problem. Thoughts?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
OK, I just did this on my phone, and it worked perfectly! Thx :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] blkhrt13:
Vroot did not work for me. Tried it 3 or 4 times.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Menardo:
did you have to update SuperSU?! or did you already have an updated one that you pushed

Nevermind found it... I can also cofirm it worked... Thanks
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
For anyone that needs the root without having to download the 1.6 GB file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9CdcJpmmZxOX3AzTU5JcmtUWW8/edit?usp=sharing
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] thevance1:
You guys are awesome
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] stuckintheskull:
Yes worked perfect for me too!! So nice to have SuperSU back!! Thank you boogeeman69.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] HK91_G3:
No love for Superuser?

Just don't like Superuser, or don't trust it? I'm using Superuser right now, I kind of like it. Any reason to get rid of it for SuperSU?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
For me I was OK with it too for the most part. I used the chinese superuser for a few days, but ultimately I changed over because I didn't trust it. lol

Specificially, I tried and tried to update to SuperSU and it was kinda scary how hard it worked to make sure no one replaced it. I just know I can trust SuperSU.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] stuckintheskull:
This
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
No, you're awesome! :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] 23bobbyg:
I have read the thread and see that it is up in the air as far as the rooting method goes because of the "sketchy" binary code. I was wondering if anyone would suggest or advise rooting using VRoot? I am using Simple Mobile and did not have the option to OTA update so I followed the instructions to keep my root but instead of OTA updating I used Kies to update and lost my root.

Thanks
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] reybie:
I am an idjit and lost root in the process. I thoguht I already had MI1 and was updating to MJ7, turns out I had ME7 going to MI1. Ran the update twice and the second time (going to MJ7) I lost root! Waaaaa
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] DemonSoul1996:
I would not recommend anyone use Vroot, but then again I used it 2-3 times in the process to get root working with SuperSu. In the end I'm rooted, no more Chinese superuser and wiped my pc. Disconnected internet and airplane airplane mode as I rooted to avoid person information being sent out. Just be patient and wait it out, I'm sure devs are working on a safe method to rooting :)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] boogeeman69:
I agree, at this point I would just wait for a confirmed safe way to root.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] 23bobbyg:
Question

How do you "In ADB shell delete both instances of the su binary. (/system/bin, system/xbin)?"

what command to you type in?

Thanks
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] stuckintheskull:
I just used root explorer and manually deleted those files.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] jwendt79:
Just wondering...Once I root...is deleting all the Knox apps from system/apps safe? Will it trip the Knox counter?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] :
Make sure that the system partition is read write, and then type rm /system/bin/su and rm /system/xbin/su

---------- Post added at 06:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:21 PM ----------

It should be safe, however I will check later tonight when I can. I have already deleted all the files for Knox.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] douger1957:
Maybe a mod can retitle this thread to "does anyone want to stick their junk in a vice?" :cowboy: