Last Updated on July 17, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake
The Android operating system is lightweight and based on the Linux kernel which is known as one of the more secure operating systems in the world. Many of the largest companies in the world use Linux servers because they are so safe. Most people are not aware of that and think that naturally Linux being open source comes with inadequate security, and that is why Google needed to patch it up, so it is no longer a free operating system, but that;s not entirely accurate.
The Android operating system differs from Linux in general in that it is made for smartphones and people install masses of apps on smartphones from apps stores such as the Google Play Store. Apps give malware the perfect place to hide and by locking the operating system, you are making Android safe for everyone no matter if you download malware or not because the malware cannot jump anywhere else apart from the small app space that it has at the moment.
For Android to be able to isolate the malware in such a way it must come with a locked operating system and sacrifice anything that needs full system access to run. The people who prefer using a device that has full system access can choose to root the device and then they will have that full privilege control. The downside is that your malware apps are no longer isolated, and you need to make sure you do not download malware because they can have a field day in your system should you install any without knowing. It is for that reason the rooting the Android operating system is always reserved for the experienced Android users only.
Chainfire, who is the developer of the one-click rooting tool that he named CF-Auto-Root always bases his work off of a particular firmware build number. In this particular instance that firmware build number is the MMB29K.G925PVPU3CPB6 for this device which was firmware that was part of an Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update that rolled out to some regions around the world. You cannot just flash any firmware on your smartphone because you need to flash the firmware that was made for your phone carrier network if there is more than one phone carrier network which is assigned to the same model number. Moreover, these model numbers can be across multiple languages depending on what part of the world you hail from these days. Knowing everything that I just mentioned, it would be difficult to flash any firmware on your smartphone when doing a guide like this. You do not need to wonder about any of those problems because Chainfire does not say you need to be running the same MMB29K.G925PVPU3CPB6 build number on your phone before flashing the rooting exploit in this guide. In fact, we know for sure that you do not have to be running that same firmware build number. All you need to be doing is running a firmware that is based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and has the SM-G925P model numbered version of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone.
Files You Need
- Download the newer CF-Auto-Root tool for the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge SM-G925P when it is running on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow updates from here.
- Download the Samsung USB Drivers from here.
The following guide is made for the Sprint Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone with the SM-G925P when it is running on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software updates.
You can only flash the version of the CF-Auto-Root tool found in this guide on the Sprint Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge phone. The Sprint versions come with the SM-G925P model number. You can find out the model number of your Sprint S6 Edge smartphone by tapping on the Menu > Settings > About Device > Model Number.
You must have a computer that is running a version of the Windows operating system to use this guide. The Odin flashing tool does not work on any other operating system including the likes of the Linux and MacOS operating systems.
You can probably expect some more software updates to arrive over the air for the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone shortly, and some of those will be larger updates like the one that eventually updates this device to the Android N software version. The new software updates can bring new bootloaders wit them, and Chainfire needs to update the files when that happens. That means there could be some brief periods where the rooting tool will not work even though your device is running on the software update that it says it works for in the article title. Chainfire relies on people submitting the new recovery image files to the CF-Auto-Root thread he has made on the XDA-Developers website, and he will see your messages when you leave them there. He will use the recovery image file that comes with the new firmware to update the rooting packages on his end so that they start working again. As soon as Chainfire applies the updates to the servers on his end, they are automatically reflected in our guides because we link back directly to the CF-Auto-Root repository.
Rooting the Sprint Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge SM-G925P smartphone running on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software updates
- Unlock the Developer Options menu on your Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone so you can use the settings that are available inside.
- Enable the USB Debugging Mode from the Developer Options menu that you just unlocked.
- Run the Samsung USB Drivers on the computer before you attempt to use the flashing tool or else your smartphone will not detect or connected properly.
- Extract the CF-Auto-Rooting package to the desktop of the computer the same way you would usually extract a file.
- Pick up the Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone and press the Power button, followed by the option on the display that says it will turn off the smartphone completely.
- Once the phone is off, press and hold the hardware key combination that boots the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge phone into the download mode and the connect it to the computer with the USB cable that you would usually use to charge the battery.
- Double-click on the Odin executable file and the flashing tool user interface will open on the computer.
- Wait for a few seconds and check that you have a yellow or blue ID: COM port coming from the Odin user interface.
- Do not change any of the default settings that are available from the Odin user interface.
- Click the AP button and the browse through to the desktop location and upload the CF-Auto-Root package that is waiting there on the desktop.
- Once uploaded, click the Start button from the Odin user interface and then check out the smartphone display.
- Confirm that you can see the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone says that is getting the SuperSU flashed, the cache cleaned, and then the stock recovery flashed again.
- Focus on the computer screen and check that a green box appears from the Odin user interface with a pass message available inside.
In conclusion, that is how to root the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone that comes with the SM-G925P model number which is the Sprint phone carrier networks version of the phone. The guide should work for all versions of the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow updates, but you should not assume it works if you are running a newer version of the Android operating system such as the Android N that is going to be coming out soon.
The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone will now reboot by itself once it has completed the above steps and then you can head to the Google Play Store and star checking out the root apps that are available. There are at least a hundred root apps that are worth checking out. Moreover, of course, that list is too long to mention here, but one app I always recommend Samsung device owners see is the Titanium Backup app which gives users the ability to delete system apps from the phone carrier networks as well as a backup just about everything you could dream of backing up. The only drawback with the Titanium backup app is that it makes you pay to freeze apps and will allow you to uninstall them completely for free. Freezing them is, of course, the safest way to go about this since you can unfreeze them if the move you made turns out to brick your device whereas a complete deletion will mean you may have bricked your device–at least until you flash the full firmware files to get them working again.
Anyone who is wanting other ideas might prefer just installing one of the root checker apps that are available from the Play Store. You will find plenty of free versions out there that can check whether your Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone is in fact rooted or not and some pro versions that cost you a few dollars for some additional features such as getting BusyBox up and running on your device. The root checker app is just as handy for checking whether or not your phone is unrooted as it is rooted so anyone contemplating unrooting it again in the future might want to keep the app running on the phone for later.
People who have used the root checker app and seen the root checker is telling them the phone is not rooted even after flashing the CF-Auto-Root tool and getting a message saying that it has passed might want to check the following options. Firstly, we suggest checking that your smartphone did, in fact, get into the recovery mode which is a must if your phone is going to be rooted with the CF-Auto-Root tool–we know this because Chainfire has said it on his website. He also says that anyone can boot the phone into the recovery mode manually instead and that wild result in rooting the device just the same as if it were not have booted into the recovery mode automatically.
If all else fails, try downloading one of the other versions of the Odin flashing application to your computer that you are using and see if your phone flashed the rooting exploit now. Chainfire includes the latest version of the Odin application (Odin 3.10) in his rooting package for you to use but we know that some people have to try a few versions of the Odin app before one of them works. It could be just that the version of Odin you are wanting to use it is not wanting to work well with your phone and using another version could solve the problem. The Odin versions are easily identifiable because they come with a unique number. Check out the Odin 3.07 or the Odin 3.09.