Last Updated on May 13, 2023 by Mathew Diekhake

Whether Android lovers have a smartphone or tablet, if it is from the Samsung range of devices then users probably get the chance to install CF-Auto-Root with the Odin flashing tool. The CF-Auto-Root tool is our favorite one-click rooting tool and it installs and enables the SuperSU on the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 tablet much the same way as it would if people were to install a custom recovery and then flash the SuperSU from the recovery partition. The CF-Auto-Root tool takes away much of the manual labor, and if we did not want to have a custom recovery installed in the first place, then it offers us a way to stay using the stock recovery and have root access to that internal system of our device at the same time.

Samsung devices are naturally a pleasure to root most of the time because we do not have to go to the trouble of getting the bootloader unlocked. The CF-Auto-Root tool can also play a role in unlocking it for us if we do have a device that needs it unlocked. All we have to do in those cases is make sure we have backed up the data because like with all unlocking the bootloader processes, it will perform a factory reset and wipe the data at the same time.

While the CF-Auto-Root tool looks like a breeze when it is operating, there is a good deal of craftsmanship that has gone into the tool. It will swap over your usuall recovery and install a temporary modified version that is capable of getting the SuperSU installed and enabled and then it removes that recovery and flashes the same stock recovery that was running on your device before you started, leaving you with the same device and the only difference being that you now have the SuperSU running.

Notes:

  • Chainfire was running on the LRX22G.T550XXU1AOJ1 firmware build number when he created the rooting package that is available in this guide. Nobody else needs to be running on that same firmware build number when they flash the rooting file. People just need to make sure that they are running on the Android 5.0.2 software updates and make sure that they have the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 tablet that comes with the SM-T550 model number.
  • Flashing Chainfire’s CF-Auto-Root tool always trips Knox security if people have a device that comes with Samsung’s Knox security. That means when people unroot the Samsung device with the Knox security; it does not restore the warranty conditions.
  • Users must have a computer that is running a version of the Windows operating system to flash the rooting package found in this guide using the Odin flashing tool. The Odin flashing tool is a great tool made by Samsung developers, but they only made it work on Windows PCs. People who do not have a Windows PC and need to running can try installing a Windows virtual machine on either Mac OS X or Linux computer and see if that helps.
  • Everyone needs to have the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 that has the SM-T550 model number to use this guide. We can find out the model number of our devices by tapping on the Menu > Settings > About Device > Model Number.
  • Chainfire’s CF-Auto-Root tool can sometimes work across multiple software updates,m but new versions of Android can also bring new bootloaders with them, and that is why we only write the guides based on what Android version we know that work. We only recommend following this guide on the Android 5.0.2 Lollipop software updates, and if you notice the file is not rooting the device, users need to leave a message with the new recovery image on the XDA-Developers forum page that is made for the CF-Auto-Root tool and Chainfire will see the message and use the recovery image file from the new firmware causing the problems to update the rooting tool so that it starts working again.

Download Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 SM-T550 CF-Auto-Root and Drivers

How to Root Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 SM-T550 on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop Using CF-Auto-Root

  1. Unlock the Developer Options menu on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 9.7 tablet so we can open up the new menu and use the options that are presented to us inside.
  2. Turn on the USB Debugging Mode on the Galaxy Tab 9.7 from the Developer Options menu that we just unlocked so when we connect the tablet to the computer we can make changes to the Android software.
  3. Extract the rooting package to the desktop of the computer and the rooting file and the flashing file is on the desktop.
  4. Double-click on the Odin flashing tool file and the Odin user interface opens so we can see all of the buttons available that help us flash the rooting file soon.
  5. Install the Samsung USB Drivers on the computer so when we connect the Galaxy Tab A 9.7 to the computer the device can be detected by the flashing tool which then allows for the Android rooting to work.
  6. Boot the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 into the download mode and then connect to the computer with the USB cable that we usually use to charge the battery.
  7. Look for a blue or yellow ID: COM port that is available on the Odin flashing tool user interface and it is there to let people know that the Samsung USB Drivers are working, and the device is added correctly.
  8. Do not make any changes from the default settings that Odin gives people from the buttons and user interface after first opening it up or else users might end up with data wiped.
  9. Click the AP button found on the Odin user interface and then browse through to the desktop location for the rooting file.
  10. Click the Start button found on the Odin app on the computer and the rooting begins its quest to making us the root user of the Android operating system.

In conclusion, that is how we root the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 tablets with the SM-T550 model number when we have them running on the Android 5.0.2 Lollipop software updates by using Chainfire’s automatic one-click rooting tool he called CF-Auto-Root. Users can tell when it is finished by looking at the display of the tablet and checking out the messages stating that it is getting the SuperSU flashed, cleaning up the cache partition and then reflashing the stock recovery. As soon as those messages are up on the screen the Odin flashing tool shows a green box with a pass message inside and that is when people know they can unplug from the computer.

As soon as the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 SM-T550 reboots back into the normal mode they can open up the Google Play Store account and start installing any of the root apps that they have in mind. Anyone who does not have any that they can think of can try looking at our best root applications that work on the Android operating systems article for some ideas. The list gives roughly 60 of some of the best root apps that people can install to help their devices in some unique ways.