How can I root my Android device?

Rooting Android devices using packages from F-Droid

There are several ways of rooting Android devices and there is no universal method, but if there are no measures taken by the manufacturer, chances are not that bad to get root by following the instructions below. Following this guideline, only packages from F-Droid will be pushed to your device. Keep in mind that we can't provide assistance for specific devices.

Everything is on YOUR OWN RISK! We are not responsible, if your device doesn't work or has some malfunctions. Also read "Should I root my device?".

Before you go on, enable Unknown Sources and USB debugging on your device:

1. Menu -> System settings -> Security -> Unknown Sources -> Enabled
2. Menu -> System settings -> Developer options -> USB debugging -> Enabled

Download and install 7-zip, download and install Android SDK, download OEM USB Drivers, download Google USB Driver, download Superuser and Terminal Emulator App.

Depending on your phone OEM USB Drivers or Google USB Driver may work. Often you have to install device specific drivers, provided by the manufacturer of your device. Install the appropriate driver to get ADB access over USB.

Rename org.fdroid.superuser*.apk to org.fdroid.superuser*.zip .

Extract org.fdroid.superuser*.zip with 7-zip or a similar program.

Copy "su" from org.fdroid.superuser_*\assets\armeabi to the folder from where you execute your ADB, on Microsoft Windows likely C:\WINDOWS\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools, depending on the path selected while installation. In case you can't find it, search for "adb.exe".

Open your shell (CMD.exe on Windows, e.g. Bash on Linux) and change directory to your ADB folder and type:

1. adb kill-server
2. adb root
3. adb remount
4. adb push su /system/xbin/su
5. adb shell
6. chown 0:0 /system/xbin/su
7. chmod 6755 /system/xbin/su
8. ln -s /system/xbin/su /system/bin/su
9. adb reboot

Copy org.fdroid.superuser*.apk to the SD-card of your Android device and install it.

Copy jackpal.androidterm_53.apk to the SD-card of your Android device and install it.

Open "Terminal Emulator" on your Android device and type "su", then permanently allow root if a # appears in the beginning of the line, you now have root.

Note: Busybox is not in the F-Droid repository so far, thus we provide no link. You can try whether Busybox is already on the device by typing "busybox" in Terminal Emulator. It should give you a long list of commands, if it is installed.