[GUIDE] How to root a Sprint Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7" (SM-T217S)

[kate cody]

no root option

This worked flawlessly. I wasnt shown option to root. So I side loaded su file. Still no root amI missing something?
Thanks for the help.

 

[kate cody]

GOT ROOT!

This worked flawlessly. I wasnt shown option to root. So I side loaded su file. Still no root amI missing something?
Thanks for the help.

So. ..I reread this forum and the answer was here. I used the updated supersu and it wroked! Thankyou for sharing. The tablet is rooted. Samsung galaxy sm-t217s.
Well done!

 

[xcoryedgex]

Odin won't show me that my tablet is even connected. Like it's not even there

 

[bob23bk]

Odin won't show me that my tablet is even connected. Like it's not even there

Try a different usb port (back of computer is preferred), try a different cable (oem is preferred), make sure usb debugging is enabled

 

[kate cody]

Should work using the new TWRP flash:
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=12892

Yes it worked!! Very well with udated supersu! Thankyou!

 

[geminithebest2222]

i m using sm-t217s in pakistan. which only supports lte band 3 means 1800MHZ lte

can i change or ulocked other lte frequencies for use data network on this tab?

coz when i put local network lte sim it says invalid sim.. itz locked or unlocked by default ? please guide sir.....

 

[Willsp282012]

Hey guys i have this exact model

So its it safe to assume these files will work on my device, also after i get the twrp installed im gonna need a good rom that supports otg

---------- Post added at 06:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:49 PM ----------

i m using sm-t217s in pakistan. which only supports lte band 3 means 1800MHZ lte

can i change or ulocked other lte frequencies for use data network on this tab?

coz when i put local network lte sim it says invalid sim.. itz locked or unlocked by default ? please guide sir.....

--- do u have otg on ur sm-t217s?

 

[bob23bk]

So its it safe to assume these files will work on my device, also after i get the twrp installed im gonna need a good rom that supports otg

---------- Post added at 06:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:49 PM ----------


--- do u have otg on ur sm-t217s?

The files work for the device listed, but it does not support USB OTG. This is a hardware restriction, so changing ROM, kernel, etc will NOT make USB OTG work! I returned this device for this reason, the 8 and 10 inch versions do have OTG support but not the 7 inch..

 

[Willsp282012]

otg?

Ok i actually have several apps saying otg is enabled, one is usb host check which has a fix option for root users, so i rooted and hit fix, then it only shows 2 things both have a grron check mark, one is the harware file, also there is a host diagnostics app that sais kernal supports but os not not support, so i thought i was othe righ track, if this is a hardware limitation im not gonna try anything else, if so i wonder if someone will buy a rooted tablet at a decent price so i can get a sony tablet so ittl connect to my ps3 controller easily, i did get my ps3 controller going on this tablet but it will only charge on pc and ps3, i just gotta make sure if i get a new tablet that it has otg, also i looked into the system files and it has two files there for otg, one is the hardware file, when i open it, it has a message saying this is to show that otg is supported, very confliting, i even wrote samsung and they said its not supported on my device, do u know if this tablet can run bt mouse and keyboard at the same time, i already have the keyboard and considering getting a bt mouse, but i heard some devices doesent support multiple bt devices at the same time, i reallly wish otg support was in the specs on the devices that supports it, can u tell me what steps u took to try to get otg to work, wow knowing that i almost took a big risk trying to flash a costom rom for nothing, i have a feeling as soon as i try i, im gonna brick it, i want to get the ps3 controller mouse and keyboard all running at the same time, and have the device charge and use otg at the same time, am i asking for too much? Also r u 100% sure the hardware doesnt support it? If thats the case those otg checker apps ae so misleading

 

[bob23bk]

@Willsp282012

I had read that the Tab 3 series supported OTG and snagged one up when Sprint started their special (T217S free with 2 yr $10/mo contract) and downloaded the apps that verify OTG like you're talking about. I got the same results and thought the same thing, that OS not supported meant that root would fix the issue. I purchased an OTG cable and rooted as described here. The tablet would not recognize any OTG devices, though the same cable works fine on other devices! The 8 and 10 inch Tab 3 DO support OTG (I've tested 8"), but Sprint does not offer the 8" and wants too much for the 10" version. I did all of this stuff within my return policy and flashed back to stock before returning because what's the point if it doesn't have OTG? I was happy it worked out because I had tripped KNOX if I remember correctly

 

[Willsp282012]

Otg?

I wonder if its normal to get false positives on otg checker apps, and yes i totally agree whats the point in having a tablet if it cant do otg, i made a whole set up, a stand for the tablet and a case that holds the keyboad and a place for the mouse all in one case the only thing missing is the mouse, im currently using a bt keyboard , will this tablet run a bt mouse and keyboard together, if so ill just get a bt mouse and be done with it, looks like its gonna be too expensive to get a new tablet, also weve hadtablet for quite some time so no warenty anyways, but maybe someone in my area will pay extra for a rooted tablet i dont really know, for someone who doesnt know how to root might actully want want to buy a already rooted tablet, lol just hope they dont need otg, why dont devs just make all newer devices support it, its crazy it should be a standard feature

 

[bob23bk]

I'm not sure on the Bluetooth stuff, give it a try and let us know if it works! :thumbup: I agree about the OTG and this is why I had to part with the device. Maybe I'm missing part of the story, but it seems unethical to remove this functionality in the smallest (and thus cheapest) device in the series. The sad part is that the pieces are there, but not connected IIRC.. Somewhere here on xda someone explained that there's an extra jumper or connection or something that enables OTG. The hardware is the same as in the larger variants but it is not connected, causing false positive. Theoretically you could get OTG working if you solder the connection yourself (far beyond my capabilities )

 

[Willsp282012]

Same here, im not attempting that, thanks to everyone who contributed,

Always open for more ideas

 

[Willsp282012]

Thaks for all the input

I have looked all over the web and cant find anything saying hardware isnt supported, is it possable u guys got bad information? I really hope that is the case, has anyone ever tryd upgrading os and then seeing if it supports otg? I could try it if i had somone who is there t help me and assure that im getting the right files and programs for my specific tablet, also if u upgrade the os and then do a factory reset it will still be the upgraded os, right? I believe it actually overwrites the rcovery and replaces it with the new recovery, and thats why u need to backup current os, if im not mistaken, baisically since no has ever actually ran a os that has otg support i may have to try it, if it still doesnt then maybe u guys can help me write a article and say even after rooting and upgrading os this tablet will not do otg, that would be the ultimate test, if someone can help me upgrade the os let me know how i can get ahold of u, are we allowed to share fb email etc. On here or do i need to add that to my profile, im guessing its be a bit before u guys get mback to me so ill go ahead and look into that

---------- Post added at 11:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:31 AM ----------

Ok guys i added all my contact info i welcome all to msg me

 

[Willsp282012]

Thanks guys

Im gonna do the same thing u guys did, get rid of this crippled device, and get a asus i have a freind with one from wal-mart and otg actually works on that device, heres a message to all phone companies stop making tablets without otg, for ppl who want to get the most out of our devices, it has to have otg, we want to hook up keyboards mice and controllers, maybe even external hard drives or jump drives, whatever we want, i understand this not being a standard feture on phones, but all tablets should have this, ok on another topic where on the xda forums could i ask about button mapping for controllers and mice?

 

[X-weApon-X]

Thanks a lot Justin, I'm able to boot to the recovery image, but there is no reboot option in the Advanced tab, this is my first droid tablet. When I first got it it was in Odin mode and I had to do a recovery out of that. It appears that Knox had been tripped previously. It's got 4.4.2 on it, not quite sure what to do when I am in Recovery. No worries, I'll figure this out I only found this thread yesterday and I have yet to go through all of the posts. Thanks.

Sent from my SM-T217S

 

[X-weApon-X]

Wills, so are these tablets impossible to root with 4.4.2 on them? I feel I was lucky to get it working, I was actually given two of these, this one was stuck in Odin mode and the other one has a burned out battery. It's a nice tablet, the cake would be to be able to root it too.

Sent from my SM-T217S

 

[bob23bk]

@X-weApon-X no problems with rooting 4.4.2, device doesn't work with USB OTG though.. Congrats on the tablets

 

[X-weApon-X]

Ok im dumb when it comes to this stuff: "usb otg"? Not sure what that means. Thanks!

I like this tablet, it plays video well. Wish it had an HDMI out. Its sprint, im on sprint, so it should be nk problem to add it to my service, I want to root it so I can get rid of the crappy default apps that came with the thing.

Sent from my SM-T217S

 

[Willsp282012]

How i rooted mine

ADDED MORE TO THIS MESSAGE I used kingo root, which is pretty much a 1 click root, it is fast and easy, i will now be rooting all my devices with this, now for mine i actually had to get the super su apk, because it was able to disable the knox and update the binaries very nice , also the app icon looks similar to a superman symbol with a s in the middle very nice app, the other super su or super user apps could not accomplish this on my SM-T217S
ADDED -A few awesome things u can after rooting this device, u can bypass the write restrictions from 3rd party apps to the sd card, so now it runs just like other os'es without this crappy restriction, also this device has multi window but only a few apps are able to run in split screen, well there is a mwmanager app for root users, its multi window manager, it lets u add any app to the mw side panel very nice, i have mine set up with all of these things, if u guys want to know about what u can do as far as costimizing or adding featues like adding any app icons to stay in the notificatin panel, so u can launch any app without having to go back to home, or enabling the status bar to stay on in full screen mode,,, so u can always see the battery info and time, i can show u how, also in this mode the notifications dont work, so i fixed that with a notiocation pop up, i am pretty good at getting things to work like i want, so add me up annd ask me stuff i just may be able to help, for instance my mom wanted a app , but in the play store it sais not compatable so i just got the apk installled it, then t worked, lol just gotta know some tricks

---------- Post added at 12:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 PM ----------

otg stands for on the go, it baisically lets u plug in any standard usb device, so if u have a otg supported device and a usb mouse and keyboard u can use ur tablet like a laptop with the mouse on the the screen, very nice, but from what ive heard its impossable for the these tablets to do otg, and from my research its mostly high end devices that has it, for the tab 3s it goes by screen size , 7 inch is the one that doesnt have it, 8 9 and 10 inch tablets do, wich is crazy cause i have the 7 inch, and i can barly hold on to it, thats y i think all tablets should have otg not everyone has huge hands that can hold a tablet easily

---------- Post added at 12:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:47 PM ----------

If u dont want or need otg that is