Last Updated on January 5, 2023 by Mathew Diekhake
Rooting the Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900I smartphone running on the latest Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software update will give you those Sudo permissions over your Linux operating system that you have been waiting for now for a long time. Without full administrator access to the operating system, you cannot do things like install apps like Triangle Away, Titanium Backup, Xposed Framework, Viper4Android, Greenify, Tasker, NANDroid Manager or the Quick Boot application. The Quick Boot app is the app that allows you to boot your smartphone in the many unique modes like download mode or recovery mode before flashing.
Out of all the root apps listed above, the NANDroid Manager is the one to own if you plan on installing a custom recovery after this guide. There are a few ways one can take an NANDroid backup — using the ROM Toolbox and other apps or directly from the custom recovery images like ClockworkMod and TWRP — but those of you who are wanting to install a custom recovery anyhow should go with the NANDroid option from your new recovery. The reason we suggest using the NANDroid option instead is because it’s the most efficient. Your custom recovery gives you an option to backup and restore. The backup will backup everything, and the restore button will restore everything. Where the NANDroid Manager shines is with restoring your data. With it, we can restore partitions at a time instead of the entire data that was saved. That means if you just want to restore the apps and leave everything else the same, you can do that with the NANDroid Manager.
The rooting exploit in this guide is based on the MMB29M.G900IDDU1CPD2 firmware which was part of an Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update that rolled out for some regions. You do not need to install the same firmware on your Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone so don’t worry about what region that update rolled out. The developer of the rooting tool gives us the firmware build ID the root exploit is based off so we can use it as an indicator only. Sometimes a Samsung smartphone will not want to boot an image that is too old.
Files You Need
- Download the Galaxy S5 SM-G900I rooting file for the 6.0.1 Marshmallow update from here.
- Download the Samsung Galaxy S5’s USB Drivers for the Windows computer from here.
You must have a computer that is running a version of Windows operating system to use this guide or else you will not get the rooting file to flash, and it will not work.
You must have the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone with the SM-G900I model number to use this guide or else it will get bricked using one of the other model numbers in the S5’s range. You can find out the smartphone model number of your S5 by tapping on the Settings > About Device > Model Number.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone will be subject to certain software updates in the future. Some of those updates could potentially update the Android operating system of yours with a new bootloader. When that happens, the CF-Auto-Root tool will need to be updated. The way in which that works is Chainfire — the developer of the CF-Auto-Root tool — relies on people like you to submit the new recovery image to the official XDA-Developers forum page so he can then use it to update the files. These changes should happen relatively quickly, so if you are here using the guide and haven’t just updated to a new version of Android the files should be in perfect working order. Furthermore, the changes Chainfire makes will be automatically reflected in our guides, so you do not have to worry about relying on us to update the files.
Rooting the Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900I smartphone running on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow updates
- Enable the USB Debugging Mode for the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone first.
- Extract the rooting package to the desktop of the computer so you can use the rooting file and the Odin executable file.
- Install the Samsung USB Driver on the Windows computer so the smartphone can be detected by the flashing tool.
- Boot the Samsung Galaxy S5 device into the download mode and then connect it to the computer with the USB cable.
- Wait for about five to ten seconds for the ID: COM port color to change to a yellow or blue color from the Odin user interface letting you know that the drivers are working, and the device is connected securely.
- Do not change any of the default settings you get from the Odin flashing tool user interface.
- Click the AP button from Odin and then browse the desktop for the rooting file ending in the tar.md5 file extension that will root your S5 smartphone.
- Click the Start button from the Odin user interface and wait until you can see some text appearing on the display of the smartphone.
- Wait until you can see the text say that it is installing the SuperSU on the device, cleaning up the cache partition for a smoother experience, and then reflashing the stock recovery.
- Look up at the computer display once again and then check that the Odin flashing application gives you a green light box with the pass text message inside letting you know that your Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone is now rooted and ready to disconnect from the computer.
In conclusion, that is how to root the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone with the SM-G900I model number running on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow updates. You will find the smartphone reboots by itself, and the SuperSU will appear in your app drawer for the first time if you haven’t done this before. That SuperSU app is what is acting as your Samsung Galaxy S5’s gatekeeper and will not let any app through without your permission. Now once you install an app from the Google Play Store the SuperSU will notify you and ask whether you want that app to be granted root access or not. This part is important, and you should only say yes to the message if you can see the app that is requesting the permission. Do not allow access to anything that you do not trust or feel should not have access to your system. For example, if you get a request from the Navy to get access to your messaging applications, you probably do not want to allow that.