Last Updated on May 13, 2023 by Mathew Diekhake
As long as you do not mind using the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus smartphone with weaker security, you can root the Android operating system and start adding tweaks to your UI so the device is customized in a way in which you would prefer. It is incredibly difficult for Android to give people an operating system that suits everybody which is why custom ROMs and simple UI tweaks that can change the layout, features and design are so popular and welcomed by Android. There is the occasional downside for some people. Manufacturers and phone carrier networks would often prefer you were stuck within the environment they had created for you so they could continue making money from you when you use their services. However, we are also seeing companies like Apple stepping away from that behavior if the rumors about iOS 10 coming with an unlocked bootloader are to be believed.
One of the apps rooting the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus allows you to start using is the Host Editor app. While there are some newer techniques to block advertisements out there if you feel you must, the Host Editor is still a great app for its ability to edit host files which can also be useful for blocking access to websites. There are plenty of other reasons out there for people to use the Host Editor app, and we can tell you that it is in the conversation of being one of the most popular root apps out there for people to try.
Anyone looking for the more practical idea should look no further than the Titanium Backup app. Once you install Titanium on your phone, you immediately start reaping the rewards of the rooted Android operating system and notice how much cooler things are with the Titanium user interface. Titanium Backup is a powerful app which can completely uninstall any apps from the phone of your choice, including the system apps. It can also freeze them instead of uninstalling them so if you find your operating system is bricked you then able to unfreeze them instead. Unfreezing comes at a cost, though, and the developer of Titanium backups means you pay for the pro version of the app to unlock that feature. In addition to uninstalling and freezing, Titanium is, of course, an excellent app for backing up–hence the name. In fact, Titanium Backup is so good that you do not find a better way to backup your phone. The only other alternative that comes close to giving users a backup option that rivals Titanium is by taking the NANDroid backup option either from within a custom recovery partition or by finding the feature embedded into some apps. You get a few root apps out there that allow you to take NANDroid backups.
Chainfire has rooted the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus with the SM-G9280 model number when running on the MMB29K.G9280ZCU2BPC3 firmware build number. That is what he means when he says the rooting method is based on the MMB29K.G9280ZCU2BPC3 firmware. However, he also says that we do not need to be running on the same MMB29K.G9280ZCU2BPC3 firmware build number before we flash the CF-Auto-Root tool in this guide. He just gives that information in case we can make use of it in the future because he says that sometimes a Samsung device fails to boot an old image.
Files You Need
- Download the CF-Auto-Root tool for the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus SM-G9280 smartphone when it is running on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software updates from here.
- Download the Samsung USB Drivers on the computer from here.
Notes:
- You must have a computer that is running a version of the Windows OS before you can use this guide because the Odin flashing application only works on Windows. It does that because the Samsung developers made it that way and there is nothing we can do about it. Those who are stuck with MacOS or Linux can try running a virtual machine and run Odin from the virtual machine that way.
- You must have the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus Smartphone that has the SM-G928 model number before you can use this guide. The model number is easily found out: tap on the Menu > Settings > About Device > Model Number. Those who have a different model number cannot flash the same CF-Auto-Root file that is found in this guide, or it ends up in a bricked device.
- There will likely be some more Android software updates that roll out for the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus SM-G9280 smartphone over the air that is based on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software updates. This firmware should all work with the rooting file found in this guide. Sometimes when devices find Android Updates that update it to newer versions of Android can find that they bring new bootloaders with them, and those new bootloaders are what can create problems. It is rare for a new bootloader to come in the middle of Android update that is the same version i.e., Android 6.0.1 but they can happen. When a CF-Auto-Root tool file needs updating you knows because the rooting will not have worked and you might have a device that does not boot or does not flash. People finding that happening can leave the new recovery image files on the official CF-Auto-Root tool thread made at the XDA-Developers website for Chainfire to see and he will use that information that you left to update the file on his server so that they start working again. Those updates that Chainfire does are always going to real time on our articles because we link directly to him, so you can always use our guides knowing that you are using the latest version of the files available.
Rooting the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus SM-G9280 smartphone when it is running on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software updates
- Unlock the Developer Options menu on the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus SM-G9280 smartphone so you can use the options available within the menu.
- Enable the USB Debugging Mode from the Developer Options that you just unlocked so that your software is ready to have some developmental work done.
- Extract the rooting file to the desktop of the computer so you can see the Odin flashing applications and the rooting file on the desktop.
- Run the Samsung USB Drivers on the computer so that you can connect the S6 Edge Plus smartphone to the computer and it can be detected by the flashing application.
- Boot the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus handset into the download mode and then connect it to the computer with the USB cable.
- Double-click and run the Odin flashing application executable file that is on the desktop and the flashing application we are using to flash the rooting package opens, and you can see all of its default settings and buttons.
- Do not make any changes from the default settings that you get from the Odin user interface.
- Check that you can see a yellow or blue ID: COM port coming from the Odin user interface which is letting you know that the drivers are working.
- Click the AP button from the Odin flashing app and then browse through to the desktop location and upload the rooting file that you extracted to the desktop earlier.
- Once you can see that the rooting file is uploaded with the file extension in the AP area, click the Start button from the Odin user interface and the rooting begins.
- You get a lot of text rolling down the display of the smartphone this time since it is the systemless root versions which essentially means you can do all the same things, but it will not be running through the /system partition this time. Note the messages you get including the important notices which tell you not to interrupt the process and you can expect it to take a few minutes and even boot loop a few times before it completes.
- Wait until you get the message on the display of the smartphone letting you know that it is about to reboot in 10 seconds and then look up at the computer and make sure you get a pass message available inside a green box.
In conclusion, that is how to root the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus SM-G9280 smartphone when you have it running on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software updates. As mentioned, the version of the rooting package for the Marshmallow updates is the systemless root version which no longer needs to change any of the /system partitions. You can expect a better rooting experience and the device will unroot now just by applying a factory reset from the recovery mode.
As soon as your Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus smartphone reboots back into the normal mode (like it says it will on the display), you can open the Google Play Store and install the root checker application to check the root status. Once the root status is verified, feel free to check out all the things you can do with a rooted Android operating system. A rooted Android is another way of saying that you are officially the root user which is the equivalent of being the master. There are no limits to what you can install, including any of the apps like the Titanium backup app that you wanted to install before but you could not because it was locked.
Furthermore, those who did not have luck with the root checker application can try finding out why that was by checking that it gets into the recovery mode and also try installing another version of the Odin flashing application. The Odin app comes in many versions for you to test out, and the recovery mode should happen automatically during the rooting process, but it does not always happen. You can boot manually into the recovery mode as soon as the device reboots for the last time, and it will result in the SuperSU being installed and enabled correctly.
In addition to using the recovery mode and other versions of the flashing application, people can try heading to the Sam Mobile website and click on the firmware tab to browse for other firmware. Note that everyone can install firmware for the same mobile number and their phone carrier networks. However, only the people who are SIM unlocked can install firmware for the same mobile number and different phone carrier networks. Everyone must always install firmware for the same model number.