What is Knox an why do I care? - Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2, 10.1, 8.4 Q&A, Help & Trouble

Please forgive the catchy title as well as my ignorance as while I have been around computing stuff for a long time, am kinda new to the Android stuff.
For me, I picked up a Samsung Strat II this summer, an have gotten a bit used to that, so just grabbed a 8.4 for Xmas as I have more uses for that, an would like to get that running as best as possible.
For the Strat II, I did root it with Towelroot an with no noticeable side effects, so understand the hows an why's of this.
But in reading the forums for the 8.4, have been seeing this thing about tripping the Knox from messing with the OS in anyways in regard to rooting.
From the little bit I have read, it seems to be some kind of root tripper, an would assume that voids any warranties too, but was wondering if some could explain it a bit more to me, an perhaps answer the following questions.
1: Does it in fact trip from a root an does this void the warranty?
2: This does not seem to be part of my Strat II OS, so is this something newer?
3: If indeed it is just a warranty thing, do I care once it's out of warranty? Which I think is one year?
4: Is it just a OS recording thing, or does it mess up the tab in anyway, software or hardware wise?
5: From what I have read, once tripped, its permanent an there is no way to reverse that even from a complete system reset, so is that true?
So those are just a few at the moment an again, please forgive my ignorance, but hey, if you don't ask, you don't learn.
Thanks for any help

if you used towelroot then you probably didn't trip knox, knox will trip if you use other root methods like cf-auto-root or flash custom firmwares like CM.
knox is a hardware fuse (at least on the snapdragon cpu) that once tripped cannot be undone as it actually modifies hardware kind-of like burning out a circuit and Samsung checks the flag to see if the device was tampered with and it will void warranty (though they may or may not make an exception depending on the issue like if something was hardware related they might still honor it).
TowelRoot uses a kernel exploit and doesn't mess with bootloaders ..etc , thus keeping knox happy

Thanks for the reply otyg, so can I use towelroot on my 8.4, or does this not work with something like this, or with this OS?

WBFAir said:
Thanks for the reply otyg, so can I use towelroot on my 8.4, or does this not work with something like this, or with this OS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Towelroot only worked on ND1~ND3 Firmware on the tab pro 8.4 then the kernel was patched on newer firmwares--- so if your tab has a newer firmware it won't work anymore without some headaches.
Basically you need to flash the Kernel (not the full firmware) from ND3 root the tab with towelroot then swap the kernel back to the current firmware, and knox should stay at 0x0 .

One of the things that puzzles me is why did they even do this?
Seems that the customization that rooting is needed to be done for, is such a big part of why many buy these things?
Guess there is some that damage things by over clocking or something else, an then rest everything an try to claim warranty, but still gotta be a small amount as apposed to those who buy them as they can do all the software stuff to them.
Seems like they are trying to lock out a good amount of their customer base.

WBFAir said:
One of the things that puzzles me is why did they even do this?
Seems that the customization that rooting is needed to be done for, is such a big part of why many buy these things?
Guess there is some that damage things by over clocking or something else, an then rest everything an try to claim warranty, but still gotta be a small amount as apposed to those who buy them as they can do all the software stuff to them.
Seems like they are trying to lock out a good amount of their customer base.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could be worse, the efuse(s) can be used for all kinds of things like completely locking the bootloader, luckily Samsung didn't go to that extreme

Yeah, I understand.
So by any chance otyg, do you know if regarding my question on anything else it might do, does tripping the knox do anything other then the hardfuse, an the reporting of it?
Does it effect the device in any other way?
Basically I tried the unit I have for just a little bit as I wanted to setup the basics before Xmas an make sure it would work with my WiFi, but all in all the unit ran pretty nice with just the way it was.
So I really even wonder if I want to root it, an then with this Knox thing, its deterring me even more.
But then too, I know some apps just really require it.
So kinda torn.
But if it does something else negative to the device other then what we have already discussed, might just leave it alone for the time being.
Btw, thanks for all the help so far.

There are benefits to rooting like being able to use your sdcard properly , I rooted mine, never tripped knox,
As with all rooting It's a risk if you do trip it it will probably void warranty, it could also brick your device if something goes wrong.
Another common problem I have been seeing is random reboots for people who have a tripped knox flag (this is due to software on the tablet that checks knox and somehow causes reboots, you can disable the software but still troublesome and doesn't work for everyone).
If you really want to root I would go with towelroot method, its the safest and less risk for triggering any knox problems.
you basically update your firmware to the latest version first, extract the kernel from the tar file, download the ND3 firmware extract the kernel, tar the kernel's , flash the nd3 kernel with odin, boot-up , towelroot, install supersu , reboot - switch back to download mode and re-flash the latest kernel)
Read through this thread too, some people have prepared standalone kernels to use if you don't want to do it yourself. you probably need ND3 (or ND1 will work) and K1 if your tablet is the XAR model.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2786800
^ND1 kernel
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...320xar1ank1-extracted-stock-firmware-t2954549
^K1 kernel

Thanks greatly otyg, will have to look into this more after the holidays, an thanks so much for the info

WBFAir said:
One of the things that puzzles me is why did they even do this?
Seems that the customization that rooting is needed to be done for, is such a big part of why many buy these things?
Guess there is some that damage things by over clocking or something else, an then rest everything an try to claim warranty, but still gotta be a small amount as apposed to those who buy them as they can do all the software stuff to them.
Seems like they are trying to lock out a good amount of their customer base.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because people mostly don't care and don't know.
If you don't like what they do, then don't support them. Stop buying their products, or buy used if you have to.
Personally, Samsung is the #1 company on my **** list, with Apple being a close 2nd, due to their policies towards their customers.
I only bought my 12.2 Note Pro because nobody else make anything in this class.
I already have Nexus 4 & 7. Xperia. And if I was shopping for a small tablet, I'd get the new Nexus (despite the HTC crappy quality lottery).
I also bought it used/refurbished, not new.

WBFAir said:
Yeah, I understand.
So by any chance otyg, do you know if regarding my question on anything else it might do, does tripping the knox do anything other then the hardfuse, an the reporting of it?
Does it effect the device in any other way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For this device, once you trip Knox you can no longer update firmware through the traditional methods, you have to do it manually through something like Odin or a custom recovery, as far as I can tell. Samsung recognizes that you've "modified" your device and will not let you update through official channels.

gidal said:
Because people mostly don't care and don't know.
If you don't like what they do, then don't support them. Stop buying their products, or buy used if you have to.
Personally, Samsung is the #1 company on my **** list, with Apple being a close 2nd, due to their policies towards their customers.
I only bought my 12.2 Note Pro because nobody else make anything in this class.
I already have Nexus 4 & 7. Xperia. And if I was shopping for a small tablet, I'd get the new Nexus (despite the HTC crappy quality lottery).
I also bought it used/refurbished, not new.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suspect it's to honor their high level contracts (like the govs, and fortune 500 company's) who need to keep the devices secure, knox is a good way to tell the customer their device could have been compromised, unfortunately it does effect normal users like us who like to tweak the devices a little .

otyg said:
I suspect it's to honor their high level contracts (like the govs, and fortune 500 company's) who need to keep the devices secure, knox is a good way to tell the customer their device could have been compromised
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is pretty much true, in my understanding. KNOX is aimed at enterprise users (company provided devices) as a means of ensuring the devices are kept in an "approved" or "compliant" configuration. Once a device is rooted, root can be hidden (as well as any number of changes made to the system) so it makes sense for IT departments to want a non-reversible hardware fuse to detect the device has been tampered (mainly by the employees).
Android hasn't had the widest adoption for enterprise use, mainly due to the open nature of the OS. So such security measures are an attempt at changing that perception.
Folks on here have argued that KNOX counter does not void the warranty, and its only purpose if for use along with the KNOX security software. Whether that is 100% true or not, I can't personally say.

Knox allows a device to be setup as two completely separate devices in one. One secured for business use the other for personal use. I tripped Knox immediately on mine when I rooted it.

Can i towelroot and install cm without knockig trox?

Related

[Q] What does tripping Knox break?

I thought I had seen a thread about this but I can't find it anywhere (so it was probably on another device's forums somewhere)..
So the question is: What does tripping knox break other then voiding warranty?
I thought I read somewhere that it stopped the IR or HDMI stuff from working? (or was it just the WatchOn app?)
I have also read somewhere that it breaks the Samsung Hub and/or Play Movies? (but I believe that was solved?)
not that i'm too worried about these apps not working.. but it would be handy to have list of things no longer working with the bit set to 0x1
Is there any truth to these things? Or am I worried about nothing?
(I'm seriously thinking about a P600, if rooting/flashing (even stock FW) doesnt break "major" functionality)
Krobz said:
So the question is: What does tripping knox break other then voiding warranty?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1, I have the same question.
Together with the question that every other change can be revoke by flashing a stock ROM. I need answers to both before I start building a custom ROM
PS. Normally this should only break KNOX self and nothing else (see here for more infos). But who knows...
Elim said:
+1, I have the same question.
Together with the question that every other change can be revoke by flashing a stock ROM. I need answers to both before I start building a custom ROM
PS. Normally this should only break KNOX self and nothing else (see here for more infos). But who knows...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The question is a really fundamental great one as needs an answer so that users can make an inform choice to do some custom work on their tablet or just stay stock. Or maybe start developing work arounds for the problems. I have already tripped the KNOX on my note and now wondering have I really messed up. Although Samsung enjoys the profit benefits of selling phones and tablets that can be modified with no downside to them as it voids your warranty. Now I am suspicious if with the new Note 10.1 Samsung may have changed the game rules now that they are popular and selling products like gangbusters. I had the old Note 10.1 and rooted it without any problems, so I went ahead and rooted this one ASAP assuming the rules where the same, are they the same? Well having second thoughts despite I have a pretty heavy history of programming and electronic hardware experience. So I am all in for this thread!
Except your warranty, nothing.

10.1.2014 rooting

I can't find a straight answer on this. Can the tablet be rooted to run custom Roms? I'm assuming the answer would be yes, but then I see comments about Knox 0x0. What is that? People also say that no one is working on development for this model. How can that be a drawback for a device that was only just released. I'm and intermediate Android user, and this message is in fact being sent from a rooted Nook.
Just trying to get all my ducks in a row before pulling $550 trigger. If it can't be easily rooted and there are no custom Roms, I may switch to my alternate selection (Xperia Tablet Z). Thanks!
Sent from my NookTablet using Tapatalk
Knox is the Samsung MDM software that ships preinstalled and active on the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014. It monitors system integrity and, in the event that the system is altered, trips an internal electronic fuse (status bit that supposedly can't be changed back). This doesn't change the usability of the device, but it does act as an indicator to Samsung that the device firmware has been tampered with. That said, Samsung has taken the position that devices on which the firmware has been altered will not be supported under warranty.
After all that, yes the tools exist to root the tablet, but they do not do so without tripping this "fuse". Upon rooting the device, you forfeit your warranty. I don't know if anyone can speak to how aggressively Samsung is going to hold that position, but nobody really wants to test it if they don't have to. If your home button experiences a hardware failure, I don't know if Samsung would have the fortitude to tell you that you're out of luck or not.
The ongoing search is for a way to root the device without voiding a warranty by tripping the Knox electronic fuse.
Outstanding clarification. Thank you! Any idea what commenters mean when they say "no one is working on development for device"? How would they know that anyway? Surely some guru or group of gurus out there will play with that thing. Seems like it has too much horsepower under the hood to ignore . . . . . a programmer's dream.
Sent from my NookTablet using Tapatalk
Vol4Ever said:
when they say "no one is working on development for device"? How would they know that anyway?
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Click to collapse
Yes, how would they know. Already that answer is incorrect because we already know that 'developers' work on it and for all, we already have custom ROMS. Okay, they are in a early state but that seems to be normal.
When I find some answers, will also start with it.
Vol4Ever said:
Outstanding clarification. Thank you! Any idea what commenters mean when they say "no one is working on development for device"? How would they know that anyway? Surely some guru or group of gurus out there will play with that thing. Seems like it has too much horsepower under the hood to ignore . . . . . a programmer's dream.
Sent from my NookTablet using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, usually you hear something. I think we'll get a decent developer community but so far we're off to a slow start. The whole knox warranty thing has likely slowed the community.

[Q] Best start for a newbie

Hi guys looking for abit of help on ROM and Kernels
Bought my tabpro 10.1 yesterday as it was very cheap.
Im coming from nexus devices so need stock as possible and fast etc. Any recommendations? Thanks
While ROM recommendations (comparisons, etc.) are technically allowed now, due to relatively recent rule changes, I'm still not a fan of them for good reason. Which is the best ROM (recommended ROM, fastest, etc) is completely subjective. And such discussions just devolve into a popularity contest.
ROM choices are very limited for the 10.1, anyway. Just pick one or a couple that look good, and flash away.
redpoint73 said:
While ROM recommendations (comparisons, etc.) are technically allowed now, due to relatively recent rule changes, I'm still not a fan of them for good reason. Which is the best ROM (recommended ROM, fastest, etc) is completely subjective. And such discussions just devolve into a popularity contest.
ROM choices are very limited for the 10.1, anyway. Just pick one or a couple that look good, and flash away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does samsung still have the Knox counter which voids warranty the second i flash anything like the S3's ?
Unicornzz said:
Does samsung still have the Knox counter which voids warranty the second i flash anything like the S3's ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The KNOX flag will be tripped, but folks on here claim it doesn't have anything to do with warranty.
Personally, I've always considered the warranty on any of these devices to be somewhat of a possible sacrifice to be able to use the device how I want, flash ROMs, etc.
redpoint73 said:
The KNOX flag will be tripped, but folks on here claim it doesn't have anything to do with warranty.
Personally, I've always considered the warranty on any of these devices to be somewhat of a possible sacrifice to be able to use the device how I want, flash ROMs, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well i voided both my nexus warranty's within 5 mins via flashing but i could set them back if i so wished to.
I may run it normally for a month to make sure of no hardware issue's and then mess with it
I picked it up for £200 so not too much anyhow with my nexus 7 being sold to fund it too
Unicornzz said:
I may run it normally for a month to make sure of no hardware issue's and then mess with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its a good idea to do so. Although I don't always get anywhere close to a month. I unlocked the bootloader on my HTC M8 the day after I go it, since I couldn't stand the carrier bloatware!
But I actually lasted pretty long with my Samsung tablets before rooting (WiFi only, so no carrier bloat).
Unicornzz said:
Hi guys looking for abit of help on ROM and Kernels
Bought my tabpro 10.1 yesterday as it was very cheap.
Im coming from nexus devices so need stock as possible and fast etc. Any recommendations? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend CM11. It works great on my 8.4" model, and looks supported on yours, too: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Picassowifi_Info
(Assuming you have the Wifi-only. I don't believe the cellular ones are supported)
Unicornzz said:
Does samsung still have the Knox counter which voids warranty the second i flash anything like the S3's ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Investigate Towelroot. I put CM11 on my tab pro 8.4 a long time ago and have never looked back, but many Samsung devices can be rooted with Towelroot without tripping the Knox flag.
I do not know if TR supports your device.
Installing a ROM will trip it, but with rooted stock you retain your warranty and you can get rid of things you don't like about the stock OS more effectively than without, plus make backups of apps with Titanium.
roustabout said:
Investigate Towelroot. I put CM11 on my tab pro 8.4 a long time ago and have never looked back, but many Samsung devices can be rooted with Towelroot without tripping the Knox flag.
I do not know if TR supports your device.
Installing a ROM will trip it, but with rooted stock you retain your warranty and you can get rid of things you don't like about the stock OS more effectively than without, plus make backups of apps with Titanium.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Towelroot only work with Qualcomm Snapdragon, and I also believe Framaroot is a dead end. The 10.2 and 12.2 wifi are both Exynos 5420, why your only root option, currently, is CF-Auto-Root. Yes, you will definitely trip Knox. However, there's a possibility that [root] Triangle Away can undo it, but it might only work with Snap and/or earlier Exynos as well.
Anyone tried Lollipop on these yet? I picked up an 8.4 yesterday and am curious to try the latest and greatest.
Are they even getting lollipop?
Think they are slated to get it. No reason it shouldn't work on them.

Rooting versus not Rooting

Hey guys, is rooting really worth it on this phone. I mean just look at all the threads of this issue and that issue after somebody roots. I mean for me the phone is awesome as it is with exception to it's poor SPARK speeds. But that can't be fixed by rooting. I have yet to see any real gain posted by anyone other than removal of Sprint bloatware which is much less than any other carrier. So really is the gain worth the hardship and potential issues this phone seems to have after rooting?
All I see is this phone has X issue and then next line is always the same I rooted or I installed Y ROM. It seems to me that Samsung has done something to make this phone unreliable/unstable once the Factory integrity has been compromised either through rooting or ROM replacement. I did root mine using CF auto root before seeing all these issue posted. I can say now after rooting that I as well am seeing little bugs with touch screen response, as well as other little bugs it did not have before rooting. So this just strengthens my hunch about Samsung somehow making this device less stable once it is compromised.
I don't think I am going to fool with it any further. I don't want to become one of the many help I rooted and my phone won't boot post popping up around here lately.
You dont have to install ROMs to better your device, you can root stock odexed and it will be fine.
It unlocks more capabilities the phone cant do when its pure stock, such as Freezing wake locking apps that drain battery, or enabling etc mods that make the device better under certain circumstances.
You will run into issues whether rooted or not.
Is it worth it? Depends on user opinions. Does it have more problems than usual, Sure from time to time.
The peoples reviews of custom roms are there for a reason. There are things that are fixable and others that cant be fixed or modified upon.
Its more about exploring the full capabilities your device can do when it is rooted.
How far this device has come is massively huge because of the help brought from the community and devs.
You will typically find best performance and reliability with stock android with very few modifications. I use to flash a lot of roms/kernels on my Epic 4G and 4G touch and wouldn't call either of them reliable. I stay with mostly stock roms with my GS4, just Knox removed and everything is real stable.
Solarenemy68 said:
Hey guys, is rooting really worth it on this phone. I mean just look at all the threads of this issue and that issue after somebody roots. I mean for me the phone is awesome as it is with exception to it's poor SPARK speeds. But that can't be fixed by rooting. I have yet to see any real gain posted by anyone other than removal of Sprint bloatware which is much less than any other carrier. So really is the gain worth the hardship and potential issues this phone seems to have after rooting?
All I see is this phone has X issue and then next line is always the same I rooted or I installed Y ROM. It seems to me that Samsung has done something to make this phone unreliable/unstable once the Factory integrity has been compromised either through rooting or ROM replacement. I did root mine using CF auto root before seeing all these issue posted. I can say now after rooting that I as well am seeing little bugs with touch screen response, as well as other little bugs it did not have before rooting. So this just strengthens my hunch about Samsung somehow making this device less stable once it is compromised.
I don't think I am going to fool with it any further. I don't want to become one of the many help I rooted and my phone won't boot post popping up around here lately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both rooted and unrooted, stock roms and custom roms on a few devices at home. Does JUST ROOTING cause any additional problems? No. Its essentially like installing any other apk. Where majority of the bugs and problems come in is user error and custom roms. Don't get those confused as they typically are. Most "I rooted any my phone isn't booting" posts are from people that do things improperly. Or sometimes things just don't stick and you have to try again. CF Autoroot didn't work the very first time I flashed it on my wifes device (last night) after I had used it more times than I can count on my own since 1 week after device launch. I flashed it again, worked great. She didn't like stock, so I flashed my own custom rom on her device.
Custom Roms come with their own bugs if they aren't just simply stripped stock. Want less chances of bugs? Use the completely debloated and no-knoxed ones. They just make things simple by removing both carrier bloat and added items (can also be buggy themselves). Also keep in mind that the software shipped isn't always bug free . We saw some big changes to the actual code from NIE to NK2, we aren't 100% sure why they changed things in some places but I'm not an expert there at all. Ever wonder why Tmobile or verizon may have a feature thats actually turn off or locked on our device? It could be buggy for a specific carrier and the carrier just decided they wouldn't include it for their customers.
Samsung perposely sabatoging our devices because they are rooted...... eh they did have nexus devices at one point in time. So I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say this isn't the case. You may have just experienced bad results. I don't go a device without rooting, if not only to remove carrier bloat. MY last 3 devices I did not even let sprint reps boot before I took it home and rooted (literal first boot is rooted stock) I have been to the sprint techs LESS than when I had stock devices. This also allows certain users to fix their own problems themselves, and not leave device issues in the hands of carrier techs who by default will generally do a software reset and send you out the door.
Pros vs cons of rooting? Completely down to each specific user.
Yes rooting is absolutely worth it. For hotspot tethering, and Xposed. But you do need to add a fix to Xposed if you do decide to install it on this device.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
beezar said:
Yes rooting is absolutely worth it. For hotspot tethering, and Xposed. But you do need to add a fix to Xposed if you do decide to install it on this device.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have hotspot tethering included in your plan like I do why would you need to root to have it? Unless you are trying to get it for free?
Solarenemy68 said:
If you have hotspot tethering included in your plan like I do why would you need to root to have it? Unless you are trying to get it for free?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
reguardless if you pay for it or not, it limits the amount of devices you can connect/tether to. Who's to say I only want to tether 4-5 devices? What If I'm traveling and have 6 devices?
If you don't like rooting, this certainly isn't the place to try and shun it. If you are looking to be convinced to root again? Still the wrong place. You root because you want to, or you want to do something that you can't without root. Plain and simple. Rooting is essentially controlling your own device while you OWN IT. Not owning a device someone else has complete control over.
millerboy3 said:
reguardless if you pay for it or not, it limits the amount of devices you can connect/tether to. Who's to say I only want to tether 4-5 devices? What If I'm traveling and have 6 devices?
If you don't like rooting, this certainly isn't the place to try and shun it. If you are looking to be convinced to root again? Still the wrong place. You root because you want to, or you want to do something that you can't without root. Plain and simple. Rooting is essentially controlling your own device while you OWN IT. Not owning a device someone else has complete control over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
Solarenemy68 said:
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems you aren't running the right rom. I haven't had any major instabilities.
It's not the rooting that causes the problems, its what they do after they root.
Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk
Solarenemy68 said:
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As we all have said before, its user opinionated and what they do regarding with root in general.
I go with rooting because of extra battery saving features such as Greenify + Xposed, Underclocking GPU and CPU. To top that off, force lower dpi resolution and tablet mode on specific apps to see more on the screen. Modifying files such as build.prop and user key controls for enhanced performance, and like everyone, changing Sounds and boot anims, moving apps from user to system to help with stability etc.
If its unstable doing certain things well thats the bummer downside to the Apps or devices capabilities. But as long as you can get more out of the device ( which you can! ) with all the freedom of not being locked to user specific controls. It makes it better!
Thats how i feel.
I mean you can root the device and just install twrp and just keep it like that just until something catches your eye. I personally say if you rooted your previous devices. You should root the note 4. I am rooted and I am just plain stock cause I almost bricked my device. So I am going to wait until 5.0 gets to our phones before I flash anymore roms but until then I'm going to be completely stock.
Root your phone immediately.
Root your phone immediately. My god, what are you thinking going around unrooted?
Oh, you want details?
Open the hidden stuff if you want details.
Just kidding. I too suffered from doubts and waited several months before popping my phones warranty cherry.
Root is nice, even on the Note 4. But:
If you don't need root for anything special and you are perfectly happy with stock without root, DON'T ROOT!
If you need superuser authority (titanium backup?), if you want to disable Exchange Security so you can have work email but still use the fingerprint scanner, or you just like having better/different looks than stock in some way not achievable without root, ROOT. ​
That advice is general and applies to all phones. If you don't need/want it, why ask?
I can vouch that rooting the Note 4, installing custom Recovery and operating the custom ROMs is the similar to any other Samsung phone of recent vintage both in manner and difficultly (e.g. S3, S4, S5). (not the same though so do your research)
I have nothing against any ROM but, from personal experience, the ROMs from Pongoface and co work extremely well and look really nice. Make sure to wipe data and let them have 10 minutes or so to settle after first boot.
Those are:
[PORT] BoBCaTROM
and
[Port] Sprint Xnote (The time to settle was important on this one for me. Else, I got forced closes, not sure
Everything is stable on my phone after rooting and a LOT of Xposed mods. It just makes my phone much better.
If you have rooted all your other phones, then really why are you asking this question? You already know the benefits and risks of rooting so there is no need for us to tell you what to do.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
Solarenemy68 said:
I root everything I own that can be rooted. My question has about the N4 as it seems like I said it has more issues after a root then it did before and that seems fishy. The way Sprint and Samsung are handling the poor data speeds is already a screw job when they are both aware it is a real problem. Add to that the more mods you do to the phone the more unstable it gets that just seems shady. I was not asking to root or not to root so much as I was asking is THIS device worth the trouble?
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Click to collapse
False. False. False. What's shady is the lack of knowledge on behalf of a user which these issues are caused by. There is no "shady" business going on that would cause instability issues upon rooting your device. Instead of a carrier or Samsung playing shenanigans with it's customers by introducing bugs and instability issues if a user roots their device, it would be more logical for Sprint and Samsung to simply lock down the bootloader and take measures to prevent root in the first place... such as all the Verizon and AT&T customers who are still crying about not having root. If you want to believe otherwise that's up to you.
As already mentioned by millerboy3, rooting doesn't cause the instability issues you or anybody else might be having. The more mods you do the more unstable the rom??? That's just plain and simple ignorance my friend. Yes it could be true that a rom might be "buggy" but if a rom is well planned and time taken to ensure everything is right, then there will not be stability issues. There are roms out there with tons of mods that are 10 times more stable and faster than the stock rom. I happen to have a rom that fits that criteria along with a few other people. With that said, I do agree with you on the fact that the Note 4 is perfectly awesome straight out of the box without the need to root it. This is the first phone I've owned that I really don't feel the need to change anything because everything works great stock. There are a few mods that I find are well worth the effort and definitely worth rooting the phone for.
tx_dbs_tx said:
False. False. False. What's shady is the lack of knowledge on behalf of a user which these issues are caused by. There is no "shady" business going on that would cause instability issues upon rooting your device. Instead of a carrier or Samsung playing shenanigans with it's customers by introducing bugs and instability issues if a user roots their device, it would be more logical for Sprint and Samsung to simply lock down the bootloader and take measures to prevent root in the first place... such as all the Verizon and AT&T customers who are still crying about not having root. If you want to believe otherwise that's up to you.
As already mentioned by millerboy3, rooting doesn't cause the instability issues you or anybody else might be having. The more mods you do the more unstable the rom??? That's just plain and simple ignorance my friend. Yes it could be true that a rom might be "buggy" but if a rom is well planned and time taken to ensure everything is right, then there will not be stability issues. There are roms out there with tons of mods that are 10 times more stable and faster than the stock rom. I happen to have a rom that fits that criteria along with a few other people. With that said, I do agree with you on the fact that the Note 4 is perfectly awesome straight out of the box without the need to root it. This is the first phone I've owned that I really don't feel the need to change anything because everything works great stock. There are a few mods that I find are well worth the effort and definitely worth rooting the phone for.
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He said it much better than I.
i'll also throw a vote in for rooting. i've come to consider AdAway & Xposed as must-haves, which both require root.
The N4 was the first phone I considered not rooting, it was that good straight away. However, then I remembered why I rooted, besides custom ROM's, and it was 2 (now 3) main reasons.
1- AdFree: After seeing ads all over a bunch of my favorite apps, I remembered I didn't have AdFree installed, which requires root. This is my biggest quality of use reason, if you've ever went to tap something in an app only to have a ninja ad come out of nowhere right as your finger hit the screen and redirect you to a website or the app store, you know what I mean.
2- TWRP + Titanium Backup - The ability to backup ALL my apps and settings to a separate SD card was huge, plus all the other features of TB.
3 - Lastly, I found Xposed: I'd never used before, but now, I couldn't imagine not having it. It's allowed me to tweak things that irritated me, like color schemes on the contacts and dialer screens, without the worry of installing custom ROM's or RW editing mods.
Just my feedback, your requirements may differ.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app
Newbie, who wants to have better use of ExtsdCard
I am looking into rooting, for the first time. After an update to my, prior, S4, I couldn't edit my ebooks, about 700, delete photos, several thousand, or remove duplicates, on my extsdcard. I just got a new Note 4, and a 128G extsdcard. If there is anyway to restore my control of the sdcard that I paid for, other than rooting, please tell me. Otherwise, Android and Samsung are forcing me to root. Am I wrong??
Thank you very much,
Randy "Pugmeister"
Pugmeister said:
I am looking into rooting, for the first time. After an update to my, prior, S4, I couldn't edit my ebooks, about 700, delete photos, several thousand, or remove duplicates, on my extsdcard. I just got a new Note 4, and a 128G extsdcard. If there is anyway to restore my control of the sdcard that I paid for, other than rooting, please tell me. Otherwise, Android and Samsung are forcing me to root. Am I wrong??
Thank you very much,
Randy "Pugmeister"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a little fuzzy on what your saying. Are you saying that you can't edit or delete the contents of your external SD card in the note 4? If so, that's not a problem root could solve, as you should have full control over everything on the external card. Rooting would allow you access to edit the main android system files on the internal storage.
Sent from my SM-N910P using XDA Free mobile app

Official Recoveries and Kernels that trips you up called KNOX.

Everywhere I read about how people are afraid to trip KNOX, will flashing this trip it.. YES what I understand is that FLASHING anything that is an Unofficial Recovery or Kernel is what will trip this security feature, TRIPPING KNOX will DISABLE SAMSUNG PAY
Samsung Pay relies on the security features of KNOX. Once KNOX is tripped you can't go back.
1st question is how can we make an Official Kernel with ROOT...???
2nd question is what makes it Official to begin with..???????,
no where have I seen any forum discuss how these companies make Official Firmware and kernels, Seems like every phone company can alter Official Firmware and kernels to suit the needs and its still an Official update and does not trip KNOX.
Just curious as to the inner workings on being Official. Would be nice to see a Official Rooted Kernel kind of like the leaked T-Mobile Engineering Kernel but even it was limited in ways.
Anyway about KNOX... trip it.
If you are just using your phone for personal and like custom roms tripping KNOX means nothing and its OKAY.
If your going to use Samsung Pay then step away from ROOT and don't look back. Tripping Knox is not for you.
As far as I can tell the only people who can't root are the people who work for big business and have work related files on their phones, KNOX is going to make a partition and keep all this stuff secret for them so if you rooted your phone and work for lets say the "Department of Defense" chances of you getting fired and your phone destroyed are like 100% so if your the sole owner of your phone and like to tinker with custom roms TRIP KNOX its okay, I just wish we had a way to make Official Firmware and Kernels but I can see problems for big business if we did.
Not to be mean, but you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. I am only saying that so that anyone else reading this knows that.
"Official Kernel With Root" is not going to happen.
If you trip Knox, you will not be able to use Samsung features such as Samsung Pay. This is important to a number of people.
You really should do some research before posting.
Your not being mean at all but you did not answer either, why is it not going to happen? I would like to know what makes it official and why can't it be done?
I get Samsung pay users, but for those who Root usually are going to flash custom roms and don't care about that feature, if your using Samsung pay then you need KNOX to keep your data secure. I will edit the OP and state the facts for those who don't already know about this.
It it was that easy to work around knox, i guess it wouldnt be that great of a security feature huh? Samsung didnt waste all that time for nothing, theyre protecting your data, and rooting your device makes it vulnerable. Im amazed there was ever a way around it before 5.1.1
lootbooper said:
It it was that easy to work around knox, i guess it wouldnt be that great of a security feature huh? Samsung didnt waste all that time for nothing, theyre protecting your data, and rooting your device makes it vulnerable. Im amazed there was ever a way around it before 5.1.1
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Click to collapse
So true, but I been looking at this 2 ways, as what I read and heard from Samsung about KNOX is you have software which is what the security Suite of apps is all about, it handles all the security features, the KNOX (EFUSE) when rooted or phone is set to custom trips the KNOX Counter which Samsung told me in an email its not connected to the Software Suite for Security, its in place to tell them (Samsung) that the phone has been altered, which VOIDS the WARRANTY and Samsung can refuse to fix your phone. I am trying to get more answers from Samsung about why Samsung Pay stops working if this (Efuse) KNOX Counter is tripped, so far they say the Counter is not related to the software suite. I get no direct answer about it. They don't claim is stops Samsung Pay from working but they really don't tell me why it does stop it either.
UPDATE: " just got an email back from a tech at Samsung, tells me if phone is rooted or custom or if the knox counter is 0x1 you can not install samsung pay, told me the counter is part of the security being used in the Knox Suite." So I guess they are linked then.
Well i see what your getting at i think, but seems like no one has had an issue getting a replacement device with knox tripped. And samsung pay does not even open after tripping when it previously worked. So someone is lying.
Look at all the problems with apple pay. If you dont want your bank account tapped or credit cards maxxed dont break knox. On my opinion its not even that great of a feature, most banks dont support it, and many card terminals wont either until they get updated.
I was just thinking about this myself. I liked having a rooted phone before, but the advantages of having a sandbox on my phone for extra security is nice. You can even use it to have 2 of apps. Like ig or snapchat where u have more than 1 account. Besides some of the little things i miss like xposed, there is no real reason to root the phone, besides maybe tethering. You even can do themes if you want it to look different or a launcher. but can't totally reset your phone after that damn counter.
stldelsol said:
I was just thinking about this myself. I liked having a rooted phone before, but the advantages of having a sandbox on my phone for extra security is nice. You can even use it to have 2 of apps. Like ig or snapchat where u have more than 1 account. Besides some of the little things i miss like xposed, there is no real reason to root the phone, besides maybe tethering. You even can do themes if you want it to look different or a launcher. but can't totally reset your phone after that damn counter.
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Click to collapse
I am still a newbie at this , I rooted my moto razor when I first got it, best damn phone at the time, then I got into Samsung because the camera was better, first Samsung was the S4, what an upgrade from moto... I rooted and tweaked it and never left Android 4.2.2, its still that way, but I wanted a better camera and thought everyone was all happy about lollipop so I got a S6, which it has KNOX, my old s4 has no knox not even in the bootloader, I used triangle away to reset the binary counter but with this S6 I am torn between root or no root, am I going to custom it out or stick around to see if Samsung Pay will actually work out. Rooting does have a purpose but if manufacturers would just let us get rid of bloat maybe the phones could be ours. I also wondered about if rooting would leave your phone open to security risks, I thought you had to grant root access to get into the sandbox.???
I disabled everything i dont use so almost feels like no bloat lol. If you open knox you can set it to be a launcher and have a different set of apps, background and so on. Its nice to keep work separate from regular life. But with root you can achieve a lot of cool things. But after years of rooting and custom roms i am happy with a vanilla phone........ for know haha

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