The Android TV offers nearly as many reasons to root as a standard smartphone or tablet. Some people prefer having root access on a TV environment over that of a smartphone display when it comes to installing new apps that require those same root permissions to run. Rooting the Shield Android TV will give you access to the root file system permissions so you have full control over the internal system, unlike when you are not rooted.

There are some distinct advantages to using apps from your Android TV over apps on a smartphone.  Those advantages I’m talking about come from watching programs from certain applications that can run on the Android TV environment that you wouldn’t otherwise bother with from a smartphone display. There are some ISP’s out there blocking access to sites, and you can use VPN’s to get around those blocks with root access should you wish to watch programs from those apps.

These are the instructions to root Nvidia Shield Android TV on Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating systems.

REQUIREMENTS

• According to reports, the 500 GB variant of the TV is “having issues” with the mounting partition using this guide. The steps are working well for the 16 GB version.
• You must have a Windows computer along with your Android TV to complete this guide.

BEFORE WE BEGIN

• Download the SuperSU by Chainfire from this link.
• Download the TWRP Recovery from this link.
• Set up adb on your computer using our detailed how-to guide.

HOW TO ROOT NVIDIA SHIELD ANDROID TV RUNNING ANDROID 6.0 MARSHMALLOW

1. Transfer the SuperSU to the internal storage SD card and make sure you have it on the root of that SD card — not hidden in one of the sub-folders.
2. Transfer the TWRP file over to the same folder as your adb from when you set up adb and fastoot on the computer.
3. Change the name of the custom recovery file to twrp.img.
4. From within that same folder as your ADB and TWRP, hold the Shift key and right-click an empty space and choose to “open a new command prompt window here” from that menu.
5. Reboot the Nvidia Shield Android TV to the bootloader screen by using the “adb reboot bootloader” command from the command line.
6. Make sure the mouse is connected to both the Nvidia Shield and the Android TV.
7. Type the command: fastboot boot twrp.img
8. The custom recovery will now boot on the Nvidia Shield.
9. Choose the ‘Install’ option from the recovery menu and browse the SD card for the SuperSU that will grant the root access to your device.
10. Swipe the bottom of the display to confirm you do want to install the SuperSU file on your Nvidia Shield.
11. Choose the ‘reboot System’ from the main recovery menu.

That’s all you need to root Nvidia Shield Android TV running on the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow software update. You should find plenty of awesome new apps to start using from your app stores that allow you to do many of the same things as your smartphones and tablets.