[1]Rooting the Android operating system is like giving yourself Sudo permissions from Linux, or administrator rights from Mac and Windows where you have full control over the system.
REQUIREMENTS
- The Build ID the CF-Auto-Root tool in this guide is based on is the LMY48B.J500HXXU1AOI1 firmware which is part of the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop update.
- The following guide is made for the Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone that has the SM-J500H model number. You can check out what the model number of your J5 device is by tapping on the Menu > Settings > About Device > Model Number. Attempting to flash the rooting file in this guide on any other model number of the J5 will likely brick down that device until you flash the stock ROM.
BEFORE WE BEGIN
- Be aware of the warranty and what it means when you root the Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone. You will void the warranty and you will trip any Knox security your device might have running. You can always flash the stock ROM back on the device and successfully unroot and remove SuperSU. However, any device with Knox will not get the warranty working again when it is unrooted. For everyone else, you can send it away for free repairs after unrooting with the stock ROM. You should find most stock ROMs for Samsung devices are available from the Sam Mobile website.
- You do not need to unlock the bootloader on your Samsung Galaxy J5 device before applying these steps. The CF-Auto-Root tool works with the Samsung bootloader the same way it is when you bought the device.
- Enable the USB Debugging Mode on the Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone by tapping on the Menu > Settings > Developer Options > USB Debugging Mode.
- Any J5 owner without the Developer Options menu available can unlock the same by tapping on the Menu > Settings > About Device > Build Number a minimum of 7 times. The OS will now let you know that you are using the device as a developer.
HOW TO ROOT SAMSUNG GALAXY J5 SM-J500H RUNNING ON THE ANDROID 5.1.1 LOLLIPOP SOFTWARE UPDATE
- Download the Samsung USB Drivers [2] and install them on your computer.
- Download the CF-Auto-Root tool for the J500H running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop from here [3].
- Download the Odin flashing tool for the J5 smartphone from here [4].
- Extract both files to the desktop of your computer by right-clicking the file > extract here from the menu.
- Double-click on the Odin executable file and wait until the Odin flashing tool opens on the desktop.
- Boot the Samsung Galaxy J5 in download mode [5] and then connect it to the computer with the USB cable.
- Click the PDA or AP button you can see from the Odin user-interface and then upload your rooting exploit file.
- Do not make any adjustments from the default settings available from the Odin flash tool’s user-interface.
- Click the Start button and wait for the flashing to complete.
The Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone will automatically boot itself to recovery mode because the CF-Auto-Root tool is scripted to make that happen; it’s a requirement to enable the SuperSU. On the odd occasion that your smartphone does not automatically reach the recovery mode, you should reboot and boot to recovery mode as soon as it boots up by using the hardware button combination for that mode.