• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Help Rooted? WTF rooted?

A

Android Question

Guest
My wife's samsung s5 started freezing up so we called our carrier Telus. They suggested bringing in the phone to send off for repair which we did. Samsung now says we "rooted" the phone and our warranty is voided. We never even heard of rooting a phone before this and certainly don't know how to do it. How do I prove it wasn't us and avoid a charge to replace the phone? Thanks.
 
scary alien said:
Did she perhaps at one point in time install an app called SuperSU or SuperUser?

Just installing that app--which in and of itself does not give you root--might cause them to think your device is rooted.
Click to expand...
We are not tech savy so she'd have no reason to install something like that.
 
Depending on the permissions of the app, some very naughty apps have a permission that allows it to install other apps. I can't imagine any mainstream app you may have installed that would do this, but then again: I have no idea what you have installed.
 
There's definitely stuff out there that could have attempted to have rooted it, usually from China, maybe done some damage, which will show up in the Samsung, device modified and warranty void indications. Have you just been using apps and games from Google or Amazon, or have been installing them from other app stores, e.g. 1Mobile or 9apps?
 
We've had a few other folks over the years report something similar Jeff...there's two things I can think of you can do at this point:

1. Temporarily install this app: Root Checker and run it to see what it says about your device being rooted. This won't tell you about all of the possible root remnants that might be installed or still left over, but it will tell you if the device does indeed have current root powers.

2. Ask the folks that said that your phone is rooted for proof and details about that. If the result of the Root Checker app says that you are not rooted, then tell them that as that's the only way for you to prove that it's not rooted. If Root Checker does say that you are rooted, well then the mystery has indeed deepened...
 
mikedt said:
There's definitely stuff out there that could have attempted to have rooted it, usually from China, maybe done some damage, which will show up in the Samsung, device modified and warranty void indications. Have you just been using apps and games from Google or Amazon, or have been installing them from other app stores, e.g. 1Mobile or 9apps?
Click to expand...
Only been using the Google play store.
 
scary alien said:
We've had a few other folks over the years report something similar Jeff...there's two things I can think of you can do at this point:

1. Temporarily install this app: Root Checker and run it to see what it says about your device being rooted. This won't tell you about all of the possible root remnants that might be installed or still left over, but it will tell you if the device does indeed have current root powers.

2. Ask the folks that said that your phone is rooted for proof and details about that. If the result of the Root Checker app says that you are not rooted, then tell them that as that's the only way for you to prove that it's not rooted. If Root Checker does say that you are rooted, well then the mystery has indeed deepened...
Click to expand...
Samsung still has the phone as of now. If I don't end up getting it fixed by them I'll definitely try the root checker app. As for "proof" Telus asked for the proof and then sent it to me. It consists of two jpegs: one is a pic of the phones IME (?) sticker and the other is a pic of a screen showing some letters and numbers. I've uploaded the one that they say proves it's rooted. Doesn't prove we rooted it though.
 

Attachments

  • 352308068521302-1.jpg
    352308068521302-1.jpg
    116.1 KB · Views: 277
Ah, I'm guessing the "WARRANTY VOID: 0x1 (1)" part is what they're seeing and thinking the phone has been modified.

(pretty sure that actually doesn't mean that the phone has been rooted but has been modified (or attempted to be modified))

I'll let any Samsung S5 experts chime-in to confirm (is that switch/flagged by trying to root or defeat Knox, etc.?).
 
Jeff King said:
Only been using the Google play store.
Click to expand...

Coincidentally,some of us in this thread were discussing/looking in on a thread regarding a news aggregate app in the GooglePlayStore that asked/has/had permissions to install other apps on your device (NOT COOL IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE FOR A NEWS AGGREGATE APP).
http://androidforums.com/threads/hotoday-forandroid.962234/

Even from the GooglePlay Store,before installing any apps,it's a good practice to check the permissions you're granting/app is requesting.
If it seems a bit much,don't walk,run from the app,or at minimum,contact the developer & request why on the permissions you may find inappropriate.

Judging from all the other info given to this point,w/a new out-of-the-box device,my money is on something akin to this is what happened to your device.

If you don't mind,just where exactly did you purchase this phone?
 
As far as "proof" goes, that's really all they need, if that is indeed your phone. You have a custom binary and custom status as well as a tripped knox counter :/
As far as that being from a root attempt or trying to flash custom firmware or maybe even a possibly malicious apps, something almost surely happened. Not blaming you of anything, but that definitely tells them that something happened at one point.
 
KOLIO said:
Coincidentally,some of us in this thread were discussing/looking in on a thread regarding a news aggregate app in the GooglePlayStore that asked/has/had permissions to install other apps on your device (NOT COOL IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE FOR A NEWS AGGREGATE APP).
http://androidforums.com/threads/hotoday-forandroid.962234/

Even from the GooglePlay Store,before installing any apps,it's a good practice to check the permissions you're granting/app is requesting.
If it seems a bit much,don't walk,run from the app,or at minimum,contact the developer & request why on the permissions you may find inappropriate.

Judging from all the other info given to this point,w/a new out-of-the-box device,my money is on something akin to this is what happened to your device.

If you don't mind,just where exactly did you purchase this phone?
Click to expand...
It was purchased from a Telus corporate store in st. John's NL Canada.
 
Blu8 said:
As far as "proof" goes, that's really all they need, if that is indeed your phone. You have a custom binary and custom status as well as a tripped knox counter :/
As far as that being from a root attempt or trying to flash custom firmware or maybe even a possibly malicious apps, something almost surely happened. Not blaming you of anything, but that definitely tells them that something happened at one point.
Click to expand...
I'd like to think samsungs service centre would not try and scam us. Sucks for us though if we have to pay $325 Canadian to fix it.
 
Then I have to wonder if this was a re-certified device that went back to the store for resale. Once the Knox counter is tripped, it can't be reset. No way, no how. If you didn't do it, and I have no reason to doubt you, then it's possible that a previous owner did attempt to get tricky with the phone, jacked it up, sent it back and it got re-sold to you. I'm getting into the weeds here, but that's my suspicion at the moment.

EDIT: a part of me wonders if there is a way to trace the IMEI and see if it has been previously activated. If so, that may be a compelling defense.
 
Interesting thought. Pretty dirty if the Corp store is passing off returned phones as new. That being said if I get them to send the phone back as is, can we get it back in useable condition? Ie not freezing up?
 
If you can somehow prove through an IMEI trace that the phone was previously used and then sold as new to you, I'd say you have Telus over a barrel and it's grounds for whatever phone you and your wife want. I would threaten to lawyer up so fast that they'd be THROWING Note 5s or S6 Edge+'s at me. I'd personally be very curious to know the outcome of such an investigation :)
 
This is why I asked earlier if it was a refurb. Clearly, this device was not brand new and unused if you did nothing to flash the phone with a custom recovery. There have been many accounts of refurbs showing a modified status so that part is not shocking. What would be shocking is that in this case, the device was being sold as NIB.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom