The Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone is a phone that will continue to get updated to newer versions of Android at least for one more round, so it is not as though you will not find a few surprises naturally. That said, the surprises you will find on your operating system after rooting the phone will leave anything the stock Android gives you for dead. Many Google employees root their smartphone and tablets to get their mitts on some of the extra features that it brings, like being able to clock the internal system in such a way that it now officially suits your lifestyle instead of the hardware being clocked to be about average for everybody.
With rooting the Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone, the benefits come directly from installing apps. Sure there are other things rooting the operating system is useful for such as pairing it with a custom recovery and then checking out some custom ROMs like what the Paranoid Android team has just created, but that relies on a custom recovery to push it along. When talking about just root access alone to the Android system, your upside is with the apps.
So what are these apps we are talking about? There are two main types of apps that come to you by the way of the Google Play Store. The main way is the same way that everyone knows, and they are apps that with the click of the download button can be installed on your smartphone or tablet that is running a version of Android operating system that is compatible with the app. The other type of app you can install is a root app. These root apps are sitting there for you to see — you might have even encountered one before. If you have ever found an app that sounds like it would do an appealing job on your operating system, but it would not let you install it because it says this app needs root access to run, then you have come across an official root app. Both types of applications are there for everyone to see, but the latter variety will not install on your device until you have root access by following a guide like this that roots the Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone.
The root apps are often the apps that come with better functionality i.e. an app that can bring back photos that you deleted back to life or an app that allows you to change the way your central processing unit is clocked. As far as Samsung smartphones go, I always recommend for people to install the Titanium Backup app because nothing is as important as backing up. For just a few dollars, you can also get down and dirty in some geeky hardcore areas of your operating system and choose to freeze some system apps. By playing around and freezing the right system apps, you can create a longer lasting battery as well as give your device better-performing hardware. However, if you so not choose to pay for the pro version of the Titanium backup app, you can only decide to uninstall apps. Uninstalling them comes as a large risk. If you were to uninstall the wrong system apps, you can be left with a bricked device which is way you should always pay the few dollars and temporarily freeze the apps instead. That way you can always undo the work you did when you froze them if you accidentally froze something you should not. For anyone who thinks they know the Android operating system well enough, and they do not have a few dollars to spend, you can wiggle your way around the threats and still end up with a lot of the system apps removed if you choose wisely. I can give you some tips on that: anything that is a program to do with drawing, art or pictures that are obviously not critical for your operating system to run you can remove. Likewise, anything that is coming directly from your phone carrier network can be eliminated without any problem. As soon as you start seeing names of apps that you do not understand, that is when to pull the plug on guessing.
The CF-Auto-Root tool found in this guide that is made for the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S6 phone is based on the MMB29K.G920TUVU3EPD1 firmware build number. That means there was a software update made available for an area around the world, and it came with the MMB29K.G920TUVU3EPD1 build number. Furthermore, it is that build number that Chainfire used to root the smartphone we are talking about here today. However, you need to understand that you do not need to flash that same firmware build number on your smartphone for this guide to work. Chainfire only gives us the build number because some of the Samsung devices may not boot images when the yare old. By giving us the build number we can see a rough date regarding when the rooting app was made.
Files You Need
- Download the newer CF-Auto-Root tool that is made for the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S6 phone (zerofltetmo version) when it is running on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software updates from here.
- Download the Samsung USB Drivers for the Windows computer from here.
The following guide using the CF-Auto-Root tool and the Odin app is made to work with Windows computers only. Do not try to follow this guide using a Mac or Linux machine because the flashing app will not be able to run on your operating system unless it is running Windows.
You must have the SM-G920T model number of the Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone to be able to use this guide. Moreover, there are two unique versions of this device that come with unique hardware, and each of them has a unique version of the rooting app made available by Chainfire. Read more on that below.
There are two unique versions of the Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone from T-Mobile, and each version has it is own unique CF-Auto-Root file. The device name for this file is the zerofltetmo version. Do not flash the file in this guide on the other name (zeroflteue) using the file in this guide or else it will get bricked.
Chainfire, the developer of the CF-Auto-Root tool, admits that there will be times when Android software updates could roll out to devices that bring new bootloaders with them. Those new bootloaders are mostly found in the larger updates when they are updated to newer versions of Android. Nevertheless, if an update with a new bootloader is present, it can break the CF-Auto-Root tool and cause it to cause problems temporarily. These problems are usually identified by a device that does not boot after you have flashed the CF-Auto-Root tool or a device that refuses to flash. Chainfireneeds your help to fix these problems. People are to submit the new recovery image files found in the firmware files from the new software updates to the CF-Auto-Root tool thread found over at the XDA-Developers website. Once he sees your messages, he will then apply the necessary updates to the rooting files, and they will be ready to use again. This is the gray area with the CF-Auto-Root tool where you are required to take a small risk because there is no way of knowing if you are about to flash one of them that needs updating. However, we will say the chances are slim of you being one of the people who encounters the problem. Those of you without enough confidence to know how to get out of a boot loop should try waiting for to root after you know a new software update is in the middle of rolling out over the air because those are some of the more vulnerable times.
Rooting the Samsung Galaxy S6 SM-G920T (zerofltetmo) running on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software updates
- Unlock the Developer Options menu on the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S6 phone, so you can use its options when you get access to the menu
- Turn on the USB Debugging Mode from the Developer Options menu once you have it unlocked.
- Run the Samsung USB Drivers file on your computer so the drivers are already running before you start to open the flashing tool.
- Extract the rooting file to the desktop of the computer and you will get the flashing tool and the flashing app that you need as well as the rooting exploit file that is going to grant the rooting permissions to your apps by installing and enabling the SuperSU app.
- Double-click on the Odin executable file that is on the desktop, so the user interface of your flashing app is available from the desktop of the computer.
- Pick up the Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone and press the Power button located on the side of the phone.
- Once the Power menu is on your display, tap on the option that says it will shut the phone down completely.
- Reboot the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone from T-Mobile into the download mode and then connect the phone to the computer with the USB cable that you use to charge the device usually overnight when the battery is flat.
- Once the phone is attached to the computer, check the Odin user interface that is already open on the computer for a yellow or blue ID: COM port color as well as the added message showing up from the Odin app. (The added message and the ID: COM port color are there to let you know that the Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone and officially connected properly because the drivers are working and the handset is in the required download mode).
- Do not make any changes to the Odin app user interface and it is buttoned; leave everything on its default settings, just like it was when you opened it up for the first time. (Those of you who have had it open for awhile and have already clicked some buttons should just download a fresh copy of the Odin flashing tool and using that one instead).
- Click the AP button and then browse the desktop location and then upload the rooting file that is there ending in the tar.md5 file extension.
- Select the start button when you are ready for the flashing to take place and for the rooting to begin
- Pick up the smartphone while till keeping it connected with the USB cable and check that you can see some text on the display that says it is now installing the SuperSU, cleaning up the cache partition and then reflashing the stock recovery.
- Once you can see the text stating that it is flashing the stock recovery, look up at the computer and check that the Odin user interface says that it has passed by giving you a green box with a pass message written inside.
- In conclusion, that is everything you need to learn to get the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S6 rooted when you have it running on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software updates by using a newer version of the CF-Auto-Root app.
All of you can wait for the phone to reboot by itself now and then open the Google Play Store application where you will find an abundance of root checker applications available to install. Once you have the root checker installed, open it up and then check that your phone is rooted correctly. The message on your display will either be that it was successful or unsuccessful. Those of you with the success message can head back over to the Google Play Store and start installing your root requiring applications like the Titanium Back application. The Titanium backup app is the most popular backing up app once you have a rooted phone because it can back everything up at once—including all of your app data, pictures, music video and everything else you can think of that might be on your phone. The Titanium backup app is also accessible to remove the Samsung system apps. Those who are willing to pay just a few extra dollars can get a feature that will free system apps, so you do not take any chances with bricking your device.
Those of you who installed the root checker app and found out that your device is not rooted can check a few things instead to get it working. The first thing you want to check is that your T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone is getting into the recovery mode. Chainfire states that each device that is flashing the CF-Auto-Root tool needs to get into the recovery mode after the flashing completes before the device can be rooted. This usually happens by itself because the rooting tool is programmed to handle it. Nonetheless, there will sometimes be occasions when it does not happen. For all those times, people need to know the hardware button combination for the recovery mode and boot the Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone into the recovery mode manually once the flashing is complete. Whether you do it manually or automatically should both result in the same result of a rooted Android operating system.
Once you have established that your T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S6 phone is, in fact, getting into the required recovery mode but it is not rooted you can try downloading and installing one of the other versions of the Odin flashing tool on your Windows PC. As you know, Odin comes in a few versions that are popular, but only one of those is bundled in with our rooting file by Chainfire. For the most part. What Chainfire has done here is correct, and you can expect that Odin 3.10 version to root most devices. However, there will be the occasional time when that is incorrect, and it other times when it does not. For any of those times, you are to install one of the other versions from our Odin download page—try the Odin 3.09 first and see if that works. In it then work your way down the list by the numbers.
Moreover, those still in search or some answers can try unlocking the Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone and checking the Sam Mobile website for how many software updates there are available for your model number. Sometimes a device can share model numbers between multiple phone carrier networks depending on the handset. If that happens, you can install another phone carrier networks firmware if your device is unlocked. That is handy of your phone carrier network is not as popular as some of the others. The most popular versions of firmware will likely have a higher success rate of being rooted due to developers spending more time with them.