Last Updated on May 13, 2023 by Mathew Diekhake

Samsung smartphones often have two ways to get root access but not always. If you ever get the chance to choose between the two methods that are sometimes available, you will be deciding between installing a one-click rooting tool like the CF-Auto-Root tool that we have here or installing a custom recovery image such as the work from Team Win and then flashing the SuperSU from the custom recovery partition.

When you choose to install a custom recovery, it swaps over the stock version of the custom version so you can never have both of them on a device ta the same time. A custom recovery helps people get root access, but it is also useful for individuals who wanted to install custom kernels and custom ROMs.

Rooting with a one-click rooting tool, on the other hand, such as CF-Auto-Root does not require a custom recovery and does not keep a custom recovery installed on the device. It did end up with the same SuperSU installed and enabled, but there are no other benefits of being able to install a custom ROM and so forth.

Many people like to root by flashing a custom recovery and then get root access by flashing the SuperSU because it is said to be the proper way to get access, but in fact, there is nothing wrong with either way. If you don’t want to have a custom recovery image installed on the Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone then you don’t have to; just install the CF-Auto-Root tool instead.

Another advantage of the CF-Auto-Root tool is that it is incredibly easy to use and doesn’t require much effort. To many people that are a bonus and to others it is not.

Notes:

  • Chainfire makes it known that he was running on the MMB29M.J500FXXU1BPG5 firmware build number on the Samsung Galaxy J5 SM-J500F smartphone when he came up with the working rooting file. You don’t need to be running the same build number that Chainfire had running, though. You can run any of the firmware build numbers. The main thing is that we only recommend following this guide for the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow updates and you need to have the right model number.
  • The CF-Auto-Root tool thread on the XDA-Developers web forum is where you can leave any messages when the CF-Auto-Root tool is not working. Sometimes new versions of Android stop the rooting files from working until Chainfire updates the files, but before he can do that, he relies on you guys to leave a message with the new recovery images that from the newer firmware with the issues. He then uses them to help update the rooting files, so they begin to work again.
  • You need to have the Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphones that were given the SM-J500F model number to use the CF-Auto-Root tool file that is available in this guide. The CF-Auto-Root tool files are only available for a model number each and flashing the wrong can means it will get bricked. You need to flash the stock ROM if that happens to you, and the most common place to download those to your PC is currently the Sam Mobile website.
  • You need to have a computer that is running any of the Windows operating systems from Windows XP service pack three and up. The Odin flashing tool is the only way to flash the CF-Auto-Root tool and the Odin app only runs if the computer is running on the Windows operating system.

Download Samsung Galaxy J5 SM-J500F CF-Auto-Root and Drivers

How to Root Samsung Galaxy J5 SM-J500F on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow Using CF-Auto-Root

  1. Unlock the Developer Options menu on the Samsung Galaxy J5 SM-J500F smartphone so you can use the options that are available inside of it.
  2. Turn on the USB Debugging Mode from that same Developer Options menu that you just unlocked and then the Android operating system allows you to make the develops, so it that are required for the rooting to work.
  3. Run the Samsung USB Drivers on the computer so that the Odin flashing app is then able to detect your smartphone for the flashing to work.
  4. Extract the rooting file to the Downloads folder, and then you can see the flashing app executable called Odin as well as the rooting file which is identifiable by the MD5 extension.
  5. Boot the Samsung Galaxy J5 SM-J500F smartphone into the Download Mode and then connect it to the computer with the USB cable that you can use to charge the battery.
  6. Open up the Odin flashing app executable file that is available in the Downloads folder and checks that it shows a blue or yellow color coming from the ID: COM which is there to let you know that your device is connected and ready for the flashing because the Samsung USB Drivers are working.
  7. Don’t make any changes to the Odin Options tab.
  8. Click on the AP button and then navigate to the Downloads folder where you extracted the rooting file earlier and then select the MD5 rooting file to upload to the Odin app.
  9. Click on the Start button from the Odin user interface and the Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone rooting begins.
  10. Read the information rolling down the display now all the way until it says the smartphone is going to reboot so you know everything that is happening and what to expect.
  11. Wait for the Odin user interface to show a pass message inside a green box before unplugging from the computer.

In conclusion, that is how to root Samsung Galaxy J5 SM-J500F smartphones running on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software updates by flashing the systemless root version of the CF-Auto-Root tool from the Odin app on a computer. The smartphone reboots back into the normal mode, and you now see the SuperSU app available from the app drawer. It is possible to open up the SuperSU app and take a look around, but no changes are required before it grants rooting permissions to the root apps you wanted to install. All you need to do is download them from the source and then tap to open the app like you would any other, and the SuperSU prompts you with a message asking whether you would like to grant it root access or not. Always say yes to the apps you know you want to use and always deny all of the others that you think might be malware.

It’s certainly not uncommon to overhear people who think they know a great deal about rooting the Android operating system suggest that rooting is all about installing custom ROM or at leats is a requirement for installing custom ROM. However, in reality, rooting is not a requirement for installing custom ROM or even custom kernels for that matter. Rooting the Android operating system is all about what you can do on the ROM that is running on your device now—whether that is a custom ROM or a stock ROM doesn’t matter. If you want to learn about what is possible to do with root access, you can read our post that goes into a lot of more detail about what things can be done with a rooted Android device.

Once you have flicked through the paragraphs and understand the types of things that you want to achieve when you have rooted yours, you can then start finding out what apps help you with that. As you would have learned already rooting is about installing root apps and then it is those root apps that help you add more features or even take away from the existing features by doing things like removing the system apps that are firmly embedded into the system partition, so you can’t touch them, typically speaking, when unrooted.

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