Last Updated on July 17, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake

If you are anything like me, you will already be scouring the internet to find out what devices can be rooted before making your final decision on what to buy. I prefer using Samsung these days because I fell in love with the CF-Auto-Root tool by Chainfire. The CF-Auto-Root tool is the successor to Chainfire first work: CF-Root, and it works by flashing a modified recovery image, a modified cache image, installing and enabling the SuperSU, removing the modified things that it initially installed and then reflashing the stock recovery back over the top to conceal everything in the ultimate patch job. It means that it leaves you with a device that has no custom recovery installed and you do have the SuperSU installed and enabled from the app drawer. As soon as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 tablet reboots back into the normal mode, you are then able to tap on the Google Play Store application and begin downloading all your apps that you could not run on the device before because you were not using the root user account.

Some of the modern root applications that people are installing today include the Viper4Android app, Titanium Backup, ROM Toolbox, ROM Manager, NANDRoid Manager, Dumpster, Greenify, Flashify, Tasker, Servicely and about fifty or so others. Some of these root applications cost you a few bucks, but they are also money well spent with developers who have put in much work. One of the apps from the list that I cannot talk fondly enough about Samsung device owners is the Titanium Backup app. Samsung makes great smartphones and tablets, but one thing people criticize them for is they don’t run close to stock versions of Android.

Motorola gives you a device that comes pretty close to stock, but a company like Samsung enjoys to change it a lot by adding the TouchWiz and a million system apps that give you personalized Samsung experience. All of those extras have nothing to do with Android itself and to make matters worse, those system apps are called system applications because they are installed onto the system partition which means you cannot uninstall them unless you root the device. There are ways to freeze many of the system apps from the settings that come stock on the Android operating system, but that does not help in cleaning up memory space. To get the most out of the battery and hardware, you actually should completely uninstall the system apps that you do not want. The Titanium Backup application is an excellent way to do that, and it is the app that I use to do the job of system app removing. A word of warning, though: the system apps can play a significant role in keeping your device stable, so you should only uninstall the apps you know can be uninstalled. Anyone with any doubt should not take the risk. Instead, try freezing the app with the paid versions of the Titanium Backup app and then wait for a few days to make sure the apps you froze haven’t bricked your phone. Anyone who is noticing things not working the way they should need to get into the Titanium Backup app and unfreeze the apps to fix the problem.

The developer of the CF-Auto-Root package available to download in this guide was running on the LRX22G.T715CZCU2AOJ9 firmware build number when he created this working rooting method. That firmware build number has rolled out for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 SM-T715C when it is running on the Android 5.0.2 Lollipop software updates somewhere in the world. It does not matter if it has rolled out to the same country as you or a different country. You do not need to be running on the same firmware build number. The CF-Auto-Root package that is found in this guide works well for all firmware build numbers. The only thing you need is to make sure that you have the SM-T715C model number, and it is running on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop. You can check these bits of information by tapping on the Menu > Settings > About Device and looking at the model number and the Android version that the tablet is running.

Notes:

  • Note that by flashing the CF-Auto-Root tool you are always going to trip Knox security. Knox does not come on every Samsung smartphone and tablet so you can check the Knox website to see what category yours falls under if you do not already know.
  • You need to have the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 tablet with the SM-T715C model number that is running on the Android 5.0.2 Lollipop updates to use this guide. The model number is a must, or else you brick the device. Also, we do not guarantee that this file works if you are running on anything above Android 5.0.2 Lollipop. You can check those details about your Android tablet by tapping on the Menu > Settings > About Device > Model Number and Android Version.
  • You must have a computer that is running on Microsoft’s Windows operating system for this guide ti work because it relies on the Odin flashing tool since the tablet is a Samsung device. The CF-Auto-Root tool is always flashed via Odin for Samsung devices. Though it is not always the case for smartphone and tablets from other manufacturers, you need to have a Windows computer for Samsung.
  • There could still be some Android software updates that roll out over the air for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 SM-T715C tablet. Although not likely, it is possible that some of those break the current version of the CF-Auto-Root tool. Chainfire relies on people posting the new recovery image files found in the new software updates that are creating the problems to the official CF-Auto-Root tool made over at the XDA-Developers web forum. He sees your messages and then applies what he needs to apply to the rooting files, so the start working again. Those changes are always going to be automatically reflected in our guides because we link directly to the CF-Auto-Root page that Chainfire has set up.

Files Required

How to Root Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 SM-T715C on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop Using CF-Auto-Root

  1. Log into the Windows computer you plan on using for the rooting guide using an administrators account so the flahsing tool can detect the tablet.
  2. Unlock the Developer Options menu on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 so you can use the options available to you inside the Developer Options menu.
  3. Enable the USB Debugging Mode on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 tablet by getting into the Developer Options menu so that when you connect to the computer and use the flashing tool it can make developmental changes to the software and operating system.
  4. Extract the rooting file to the desktop of the computer and you see the flashing application and the rooting file.
  5. Install the Samsung USB Drivers on the computer if you have not already so that your Samsung tablet can be detected by the Odin flashing application and it will allow for the rooting file ot the flashed.
  6. Double-click on the flashing application’s executable file and the flashing tool user interface opens on the computer.
  7. Boot the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 SM-T715C tablet into the download mode and then connect it to the computer with the USB cable that you usually user to charge up the battery.
  8. Check that the Odin app on the computer shows you a blue or yellow ID: COM port and the added message which are both there to let you now that your tablet has connected to the computer properly and that the USB Drivers are working.
  9. Do not make any changes from the default settings that you get from the Odin flashing application on the computer.
  10. Click the AP button if you are using one of the most recent versions of Odin and the PDA button if yours is one of the older versions and then upload the rooting file ending in the tar.md5 file extension that you extracted to the desktop earlier.
  11. Click the Start button from the Odin app user interface and the rooting begins.
  12. Look at the display of the tablet now and have a read of all the information that the rooting exploit shows you on the screen. It runs through everything that it is doing for you and then finishes by saying it is going to reboot in ten seconds.
  13. Check the computer screen for a green box that is giving you the pass message from the Odin user interface and that is when you know it is complete, and you can unplug from the PC now.

In conclusion, that is how to root the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 SM-T715C tablet when it is running on the Android 5.0.2 Lollipop software updates by using the most traditional versions of Chainfire’s CF-Auto-Root tool. The older version we have here for earlier versions of Lollipop needs to modify the system partition, but the results are the same and allow you to install the same root applications as the systemless root version that Chainfire uses now.

Open the Google Play Store application and install the root checker basic app to check the root status of the tablet once the device does reboot. As soon as you are done with the root checker app, you can continue browsing the Google Play Store for more apps that you could not have installed before you were rooted. Alternatively, you may check out our list that shows all the things you can do with a rooted Android operating system and learn what else is on the offer.

Moreover, anyone who has a root checker app that says SuperSU has not been successfully installed and enabled can find out why that is by trying one of the following options. The first thing most do is check that the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 is getting into the recovery mode as it should be. Normally it happens by itself and as part of the rooting process. One way to check if that did not occur to boot it into the recovery mode manually instead and see if it is rooted in doing that. Wait until it says the device is going to reboot in ten seconds after you flash the rooting file. Then hold the recovery mode hardware button combination until it gets into the recovery mode when you see it beginning to reboot in the regular mode. That should result in getting into the recovery mode, and it installs and enables the SuperSU just like it would if it were to get into the recovery mode automatically.

Furthermore, try installing one of the other versions of the Odin flashing application. Odin comes in at least five flashable versions from our Odin downloader page, and all of them flash the rooting package one the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 SM-T715C tablet so there is no way you can flash the wrong version. Chainfire just gives us one version to be polite, but he does not pretend that it always works very time as it should. There are many documented cases of people having to flash the rooting file using at least a couple of versions before one of them flashed properly. You can try the same thing as see if that fixes your problem.

Interestingly, a website called Sam Mobile is a great resource for your firmware files if you own a Samsung tablet. You can click on the firmware tab and type in the model number of the device that you use, and it lists all the available firmware files that you can install. Installing the firmware is done the same way as the rooting package that you followed above using the Odin flashing application. About the hardest part about flashing firmware updates is knowing what you can and cannot flash. As long as you have the same model number as the firmware and the same phone carrier network in your download, then it will be safe to flash. You can only flash other phone carrier networks on the same model number if you are SIM unlocked. Note that everyone, whether you are SIM unlocked or not, needs to flash firmware for the right model number. You can never install firmware for another model number, or it bricks the device and the only way to fix it is to flash the right firmware over the top. Anyhow, by flashing another firmware that is not the same version as your Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 is running now, you might be that one to get rooted if it was not happening with your current firmware version.

CF-Auto-Root on XDA-Developers

Chainfire, the developer of the CF-Auto-Root tool available in this guide, has created a CF-Auto-Root tool thread on the XDA-Develoeprs website. You can use the CF-Auto-Root thread on the XDA-Developers site for requesting new root methods for devices that are not currently available.

Encryption

Note that flashing a CF-Auto-Root file (regardless of the device) wipes the data if the device storage is encrypted. For everyone else, there should be no data loss when rooting with the CF-Auto-Root tool.

Samsung’s Knox security

Some smartphones and tablets in the Samsung range come with Samsung’s Knox security. The CF-Auto-Root tool trips Knox which prevents you from unrooting and using the warranty again.

Flash Counters

Any device with a target flash counter is triggered when using the CF-Auto-Root tool. Chainfire’s Triangle Away supports many devices for this problem.