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Help Rooting Question
- Thread starter Lana30
- Start date
The quick answer is ... probably. It really depends on the phone and the process it required to gain root access. A lot of times "unrooting" is simply uninstalling SuperSu, which leaves your phone in a modified state but does not give the user access to root (or more correctly, the root manager that allows apps to elevate privileges.) Sometimes the only way to truly unroot is to flash the factory firmware, especially if you are trying to apply an OTA update.
The way I would unroot a phone would be to flash a set of stock software (overwriting the rooted software). So as long as that stock software was still rootable then sure, of course you can root it again.
If you have an unlockable bootloader then there won't be a problem (you can just flash a custom recovery and then use that to root). If you rely on some "rooting app" there is always the possibility that if you flash a newer set of stock software to unroot then that might not be vulnerable to whatever exploit the rooting app uses, in which case that method would no longer work.
Another consideration (though not one you've asked about) is why you want to unroot? If it's because you want to send the phone back for a warranty repair and are not sure whether the warranty will be regarded as void if rooted (even if that's clearly nothing to do with the problem) then you need to think about whether it's possible to re-root without it being visible that it was once rooted. If, as glc suggests above, the reason is just to accept an OTA update then you don't care whether you can tell it was rooted or not, but the earlier points about some rooting methods perhaps not working with newer software might become relevant.
If you have an unlockable bootloader then there won't be a problem (you can just flash a custom recovery and then use that to root). If you rely on some "rooting app" there is always the possibility that if you flash a newer set of stock software to unroot then that might not be vulnerable to whatever exploit the rooting app uses, in which case that method would no longer work.
Another consideration (though not one you've asked about) is why you want to unroot? If it's because you want to send the phone back for a warranty repair and are not sure whether the warranty will be regarded as void if rooted (even if that's clearly nothing to do with the problem) then you need to think about whether it's possible to re-root without it being visible that it was once rooted. If, as glc suggests above, the reason is just to accept an OTA update then you don't care whether you can tell it was rooted or not, but the earlier points about some rooting methods perhaps not working with newer software might become relevant.
Lana30
Android Enthusiast
Really? wow, I just thought you could and saw no reason why you would have any problems. How would you fully reflash the factory firmware?
Lana30
Android Enthusiast
I´m asking for a friend who said she having problems with her WhatsApp app and that her phone number was not being recognized and then she found out that WhatsApp has issues with rooted devices and wanted to know if rooting the phone back as possible.
Depends on the phone and if the bootloader is unlocked. Each manufacturer has different tools. Pretty much what you do is download the firmware (large file ... up to 2 GB) then put your phone into a diagnostic mode for accepting the firmware ... download mode. Plug the phone into a PC and use the tool to push the stock firmware over the existing firmware.
I know that's pretty general. If you could let us know the phone model, we could be a little more specific.
Lana30
Android Enthusiast
Your answer was great thank you. I am just asking on general terms. I am not doing anything on my phone yet.
