Last Updated on May 13, 2023 by Mathew Diekhake

You might think that when you buy a device that runs on the Android operating system like the Samsung Galaxy Tab A series does that you will be in control of the operating system but, in fact, it is the operating system that is in control of you. It sounds unbelievable, but the operating system that runs on your Galaxy Tab A’s come to you with restrictions that are already preventing you from being able to do what you want to do. Moreover, despite the fact that it goes United States law again for companies to have a problem with rooting the Android operating system, many will not look at your device if it does have root access until you unroot it.

Rooting the Android operating system that runs on the Samsung Galaxy Tab A tablet puts you in charge of what is being installed and what is being taken off the tablet. If you just open up the device for the first time, you will see many applications put on it from Samsung. These are system apps, and none of them can be deleted without root access which means the non-rooted user needs to sacrifice all of that memory space that the system apps are using up whether they like it or not. Additionally, the non-rooted user has no say regarding the thousands of apps out there that currently cannot be installed on the device.

There is a good reason why these root apps cannot run on the tablet, and that is because rooting Android really means granting apps access to the root file system. The root file system is the lower levels of the operating system, and those same lower levels are required to have access to if you want to do anything that involves developing. There are no powerful apps that can run on your tablet without root access which is also why you find many of the root applications are the most appealing applications to install such as the Titanium Backup app. The Titanium Backup app can backup all of your apps—something that is thoroughly annoying to try doing without Titanium on your device. In fact, Titanium Backup can backup everything, and it has the additional option of removing the apps that are installed on the system partition. Those are the system apps I mentioned earlier that you cannot uninstall on a non-rooted device.

Does root access open you up to security risks like they say it does? The answer is kind of. When you root the Android operating system with the CF-Auto-Root tool what you are doing is installing the SuperSU application. The SuperSU stays on your device, and it blocks root access to everything automatically and that SuperSU blocking everything means you are just as secure as you were before. What happens next is it is then up to the individual to choose what they want to grant root access to. Here is where you need to be the experienced Android user because if you want to allow root access to a fake app or malware, then it has root access. The problem with malware having root access is that it is potentially not as trapped as it would be without root access, so it has the chance to do more damage.

Notes:

  • Chainfire had the MMB29M.T555XXU1BPE1 firmware build number running on the Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T555 tablet when the rooting file in this guide was developed. He gives you that information to see just like he does with every other device. By showing you the firmware that he was running, he is not suggesting you need to flash it on your device before starting the rooting guide. He is only giving it so you can use it as an indicator if the time comes when the indicator is relevant.
  • You can send Chainfire messages by getting in contact with him over at the XDA-Developers web forum where he has set up a CF-Auto-Root tool thread for the rooting tool. If you flash one of the rooting files and it causes your device not to boot it usually means the rooting file needs updating. You need to let him know about it by leaving a message that contains the recovery image file from the firmware that is running on your device. He uses that recovery image to update the rooting file so that it starts working again.
  • You need to have the Samsung Galaxy Tab A tablet that comes with the SM-T555 model number to use this guide. Any of the other model numbers get bricked if you use the rooting file in this guide because it—like all the other rooting file versions of the CF-Auto-Root tool—is only made for the one model number and flashing it on the wrong model number often means it gets bricked until you flash the right stock ROM on it again. If you get yourself in that situation, you can find the stock ROM over at the Sam Mobile website.
  • You can only follow this guide if you have the Windows operating system running on your computer that you are going to use with the Odin flashing application. The Odin flashing application is a reliable flashing tool, and many people’s favorite flashing tool in the world, but trying to run it on any operating system not named Windows will not work.

Download Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T555 CF-Auto-Root and Drivers

How to Root Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T555 on Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) Using CF-Auto-Root

  1. Unlock the Developer Options menu on the Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T555 tablet so you are then able to use the options that become available for developers.
  2. Enable the USB Debugging Mode from the Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T555’s Developer Options menu that you unlocked so you can then make changes to the Android software running on your device.
  3. Extract the rooting file to the Downloads folder on the Windows PC and then run the Odin flashing application that is available from the Downloads folder after the extraction.
  4. Install the Samsung USB Drivers on the computer, so you can then have the Odin flashing application detect your device when it is connected to the computer with the USB cable.
  5. Boot the Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T555 tablet into the Download Mode that the tablet has and then connect it to the computer with the USB cable.
  6. Check that you get a blue or yellow ID: COM port from the Odin user interface and the added message appearing as well, so you know that your Samsung USB Drivers are working and the tablet is connected and ready for the flashing.
  7. Do not make changes to the default settings that you get inside Odin.
  8. Click on the AP button and then browse through to the Download folder and then click on the rooting file that is there so that it uploads to the Odin.
  9. Click on the Start button from the Odin user interface and then read the information that starting to roll down the display of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T555 tablet.
  10. Wait until the text says that it is rebooting in ten seconds and the pass message to show up on the Odin user interface.

In conclusion, that is how to root Samsung Galaxy Tab A SM-T555 tablets running on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow software updates using the CF-Auto-Root tool by Chainfire. The rooting tool has just managed to install and enable the SuperSU on the tablet, and that is now seen as an application just like the rest of the apps that you have installed before. You can open up the SuperSU app if you want to take a look, but there is nothing in there that needs adjusting for you to become the root user and gran the root apps the root access they need before they can run. That is already for you as part of the installation process by the rooting tool. All you need to do is find the app that you wanted to install and then download them. Open them up after they finish downloading and then grant them the rooting permissions they need when the pop-up message from SuperSU appears on the tablet’s display.

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