Cases Do NOT under any circumstances root the RCA tablet, and here's why.

[Usalabs]

After buying the RCA Viking Pro (around 2 years a go), I noticed it was really quick, even though it had a stock firmware and Android 5, but I wanted to root it so I used a custom ROM (Surf1001), and installed the new ROM along with the new loader, so now when I check up the stats, it shows (at boot time) 'Accent, mobility for all' instead of the usual RCA logo, then it takes (from that logo) around 15 to 20 minutes to properly boot into Android,and everything is now so slow, a snail could outrun the signals running around inside the processor. start an app, and wait 10 minutes, so after failing to find an original loader and firmware to re-flash, I put the tablet under a sledge hammer and bought another one, this time I'm NOT going to root it, and it's still running as fast as it was when I bought it a few months ago.

So my advice to anyone that wants to root a device or even replace stock firmware, is DON'T, it will ruin the device, and it's drag the device down to a snails pace.

I now have 3 Android devices and I'n NOT going to root any of them.

 

[svim]

This sounds more like this is either an issue involving an incorrect ROM or a problem where the flashing process failed in some way, neither one being a very good reason to advise others to avoid doing the same. Also, just to clarify, when applicable one can root their device but opt to either install a custom ROM (also, only when applicable), or just have a rooted device running the stock ROM as is -- the point being it's not definitive that the problem is with the rooting process you used (i.e. a custom Recovery that was for a different model) or the custom ROM you used (i.e. using a ROM that's not specific to your exact model will often be problematic).

But whatever the cause, unless you've hard-bricked a device it's typically just a matter of re-flashing it with stock firmware to return back into working condition. Apparently you did not do this, opting instead to just buy another one.

 

[ocnbrze]

i disagree about rooting. rooting can have many benefits. you just need to do your homework first. not understanding the process or how rooting works can have dire consequences. i have flashed many devices, since android was first developed never had really many issues.

and as always i agree with @svim it does sound like you flashed something that was not made for your device. rooting is very device specific so you need to be careful on what you flash. and always remember that as long as you have a custom recovery all is good. you can restore a nandroid backup or just flash another rom.

 

[Usalabs]

i disagree about rooting. rooting can have many benefits. you just need to do your homework first. not understanding the process or how rooting works can have dire consequences. i have flashed many devices, since android was first developed never had really many issues.

and as always i agree with @svim it does sound like you flashed something that was not made for your device. rooting is very device specific so you need to be careful on what you flash. and always remember that as long as you have a custom recovery all is good. you can restore a android backup or just flash another rom.

I did do a lot of home work from making sure I had specifically mentioned the exact model and make, as well as serial number, etc etc etc, and was told about the Surf1001 ROM for that and other RCA tablets, and precise instructions on first installing a custom loader, then using the PC and installing adb, to connecting the device to the computer and enabling blah blah blah, I forgot now, as it's been so long, but using adb to upload the custom ROM and something else to flash it. and after it was done, and rebooted, the screen showed 'Accent, mobility for everyone' instead of the default RCA logo, and the model was changed to Surf1001 instead of Viking Pro, and the build number as 'SURF1001-ANDROID5.0-V11-V715.0', and kernel version as '3.10.54', I wrote it all down to make sure it matched what the ROM devs said, so when it was all verified I tried to use it, and WHAM! was hit with an extremely slow device, and because TWRP recovery is not available for the RCA Viking Pro, there was no way of backing up and restoring the stock ROM, so I posted a thread on the XDA forums about the flash causing the device to drastically slow down, and all I was told was, "there's nothing we can do". Hence the reason I now advise people that want to flash their ROM's or root their devices to never do it, unless of course the 'custom' ROM was created by ripping the stock ROM, modding it, then re-flashing it, so that it only works on that particular device, and that's another problem too, is that the custom ROM devs try to make ROM's generic, for all makes of the same device, IE Samsung, RCA, LG, etc etc, but even though the manufacturer is the same, the devices are not, why do you think there are different models, each model has a feature that a previous model doesn't have, and thus using a "generic" custom ROM will not work, the ROM has to be modified for only a particular model. EG a custom ROM for a Samsung S5 may not work as expected when flashed on an S8 and may cause horrendous, unexpected results.

So now, if I want to check something out that requires root access, I open up Bluestacks on the PC or use Nox, which is rooted, and install the apk, and check it out that way.

 

[ocnbrze]

well for me i will never root a device that does not have a custom recovery. no custom recovery=no root for me......saves me the trouble and headache if something was to go wrong.

 

[Usalabs]

well for me i will never root a device that does not have a custom recovery. no custom recovery=no root for me......saves me the trouble and headache if something was to go wrong.

Well even with a custom recovery such as TWRP, or CWM, I have read on other forums, not just XDA, that other people even said that using such custom recovery is no guarantee that a stock ROM can be successfully backed up, and if the backup failed, there is no way of knowing what the original stock ROM version was before the flash, or what the model number was too, so that the right stock ROM can be re-downloaded and flashed to get it back to original, factory state. A custom ROM like the one I did for the Viking Pro, actually changed the model name and number.

It's OK for those that have the money to treat Android devices like disposable diapers (use, throw away and get another one), I don't have that luxury to throw away money.

 

[mikedt]

Well even with a custom recovery such as TWRP, or CWM, I have read on other forums, not just XDA, that other people even said that using such custom recovery is no guarantee that a stock ROM can be successfully backed up, and if the backup failed, there is no way of knowing what the original stock ROM version was before the flash, or what the model number was too, so that the right stock ROM can be re-downloaded and flashed to get it back to original, factory state. A custom ROM like the one I did for the Viking Pro, actually changed the model name and number.

Yup, that's very possible. Because the device designation is contained within the firmware, and NOT hardware in the device itself. And in a custom ROM, it can be whatever the dev has decided when he/she built the ROM.

It's OK for those that have the money to treat Android devices like disposable diapers (use, throw away and get another one), I don't have that luxury to throw away money.

I have to ask, why did you want to root the tablet in the first place, what reasons?

Back in the early days of Android, up until Android 5 or 6, I used to root and install custom ROMs on just about every device I had. But now, not so, because rooting would make a smart-phone useless for the apps I need to use.

 

[LineageOSdev]

I have three different models of RCA tablets: the Viking Pro running Android 6.0; a Galileo Pro running Android 7.0; and a Viking Pro Plus running Android 10 Go Edition. All three are rooted using the latest stable Magisk systemless root solution. I have never experienced a single bug or instability caused by rooting. It is imperative to first unlock your bootloader prior to attempting root on any RCA tablet. Next, your stock boot image must be decompiled, the fstab patched to disable dm-verity, and the ramdisk patched with root binaries. The rootfs, inits and some other boot image files are likewise patched to enable superuser access. (The Magisk app can perform this entire boot patching process from the app GUI.) Next, the boot image is recompiled and the patched image is flashed to the /boot partition using the fastboot protocol. Upon first boot into the Android OS, the Magisk root management app will run an additional root environment setup and reboot the device when finished. The device is now fully and correctly rooted. Note: in order to flash the /boot partition with the Magisk patched boot image, an unlocked bootloader is required. Otherwise, fastboot flashing /boot will fail and return with a permission denied error instead. If you have one of the more recent RCA tablets with an Android OS that implements force-encrypt to the /userdata partition, and you don't want encryption, the /vendor fstab can be edited, with root permission, to set the force-encrypt flag from 1 to 0, effectively enabling opt-encrypt (opt encrypt does not force encryption but rather gives the user the option to encrypt from device settings).
It's never cool to advise somebody to never root a certain device just because you obviously rooted yours incorrectly and corrupted your OS in the process. Rooting an Android-based device correctly is NEVER detrimental to the operability of the device or the integrity of the OS. Problems only occur when a device is incorrectly rooted or modified.

 

[svim]

.... Hence the reason I now advise people that want to flash their ROM's or root their devices to never do it, unless of course the 'custom' ROM was created by ripping the stock ROM, modding it, .....

But in this matter the problem you ran into is very anecdotal. Simply because this happened to you does not mean it also applies to everyone else, so spreading gospel to 'never try' is misleading advice. The fact is, there are countless instances where people have successfully rooted and/or use custom ROMs. At least provide some context to your 'advice', blanket statements rarely have substance.