No idea. Formatting the sdcard like that should not cause corruption. Does it still happen if you use a normally-formatted sdcard?
Also, what is the output of "sm list-disks " from an adb shell?
[Guide][SM-T500/T505] Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 - Unlock Bootloader & Root with Magisk
- Thread starter DJBhardwaj
- Start date
Also, what is the output of "sm list-disks " from an adb shell?
Im having the same issue, my Galaxy Tab A7 is now bricked.. so this guide didnt work me..
How can we fix this issue about "Only official released binaries are allowed to be flashed (vbmeta)"?
I also see now that Warranty Void says 0x1 instead of 0x0 as it did previously..
So I guess Knox fuse is tripped and the tab is bricked then.. 280 bucks out the window?
Never experienced an XDA-guide actually brick phones or tabs before...
Update:
Did this guide work for anyone at all?? Im rather pissed.. I redid everything, but now Odin wont even flash the custom firmware.. Red warning text on the download screen saying "Only official released binaries are allowed to be flashed (vbmeta)"
Last edited:
The warranty is void. KNOX is tripped the second you flash a custom binary (the patched AP firmware, in this case).I also see now that Warranty Void says 0x1 instead of 0x0 as it did previously..
So I guess Knox fuse is tripped and the tab is bricked then.. 280 bucks out the window?
Never experienced an XDA-guide actually brick phones or tabs before...
This is a soft-brick, and the tablet is not dead and your money isn't lost. You can easily recover the tablet by flashing the stock firmware via Odin.
The guide worked the last time I tried (in January). The method is nothing special, but the one that's offered by Magisk's creator John Wu. I just tried to make it more comprehensive, for those who are new to the scene.
The error you're seeing is caused (probably) because VBMeta (Verified Boot) wasn't properly patched, or at all.
Anyways, I am gonna restore my tab back to stock and re-attempt root with the latest version of Magisk.
Okay, so I found some spare time to verify that the method still works (using the latest FW and Magisk). I have attached an image for confirmation.
Here's a log of the things I have updated in the tutorial. It seems like a good idea to do this so that I can easily track the things I have changed and when. A copy of this log is also present in the tutorial for users who are new.
Log:
So, what do you do after that? It's quite simple actually. First off, restore the official FW via Odin. Then boot into the OS, connect to the internet, enable Developer Options, and verify that "OEM Unlocking" is present and greyed out in an ON state.
Then re-attempt the tutorial. Make sure that you do not deviate this time, I know you would believe that you didn't, but we all can make mistakes. So just cross-reference each step while attempting.
More importantly, after you have flashed the Magisk Patched TAR and performed the factory reset, make sure that you boot straight into the OS, connect the tab to the internet, and do the initial Magisk setup. DO NOT REBOOT the tab before doing this.
While I personally didn't face the issue, I believe this is where things might go sideways, because Magisk needs to run its code to complete the rooting process. If not, Samsung's ugly security features will kick in and show you the "Only official binaries are allowed to be flashed" error message.
If you still have doubts, drop in a comment. I am sure you'll get the help.
At last, I want to bring up something that I didn't wanted to. I received a PM from a reader of this thread expressing his frustration on why I was ignoring the thread and that this tutorial was "tricking" you guys into bricking your devices.
I have a personal life aside from XDA, and I do not get the time to visit the forums on a daily basis like I did until a few years ago. If it's important, I ask you to mention me in the comments so that I can receive a notification.
Next, the method is nothing new or special. It's the one provided by Magisk's creator John Wu himself (like I mentioned yesterday). It's being used by thousands of users in and outside the community.
If you have come across an unusual error message, please do not go on blaming others for your mistakes/errors without valid proof.
Going through the last few pages of this thread, you will find users who successfully rooted their Tab A7 using this guide.
I, or anyone in this community, does this voluntarily to help the users. We are not being paid for the effort or time we spend writing down guides or developing ROMs. This community works by supporting each other, by sharing our knowledge about the things/technology we so love.
If you face issues, I request you to be patient, read, and ask the fellow community members for help by providing some constructive information.
Thanks.
Here's a log of the things I have updated in the tutorial. It seems like a good idea to do this so that I can easily track the things I have changed and when. A copy of this log is also present in the tutorial for users who are new.
Log:
- Added more info about the warranty. It seems like some users are still not aware of how KNOX affects the warranty. If you're getting into software modifications such as rooting, I expect you to have some prior knowledge about such things.
- Redacted the part where you needed to change Magisk's update channel under Step #5. Not needed anymore as Magisk v21.x was released to the Stable channel in January 2021.
- Replaced all instances of "Magisk Manager" with "Magisk App". Starting with Magisk v22, Magisk Manager is gone and merged with the core Magisk. It's now called the "Magisk App".
So, what do you do after that? It's quite simple actually. First off, restore the official FW via Odin. Then boot into the OS, connect to the internet, enable Developer Options, and verify that "OEM Unlocking" is present and greyed out in an ON state.
Then re-attempt the tutorial. Make sure that you do not deviate this time, I know you would believe that you didn't, but we all can make mistakes. So just cross-reference each step while attempting.
More importantly, after you have flashed the Magisk Patched TAR and performed the factory reset, make sure that you boot straight into the OS, connect the tab to the internet, and do the initial Magisk setup. DO NOT REBOOT the tab before doing this.
While I personally didn't face the issue, I believe this is where things might go sideways, because Magisk needs to run its code to complete the rooting process. If not, Samsung's ugly security features will kick in and show you the "Only official binaries are allowed to be flashed" error message.
If you still have doubts, drop in a comment. I am sure you'll get the help.
At last, I want to bring up something that I didn't wanted to. I received a PM from a reader of this thread expressing his frustration on why I was ignoring the thread and that this tutorial was "tricking" you guys into bricking your devices.
I have a personal life aside from XDA, and I do not get the time to visit the forums on a daily basis like I did until a few years ago. If it's important, I ask you to mention me in the comments so that I can receive a notification.
Next, the method is nothing new or special. It's the one provided by Magisk's creator John Wu himself (like I mentioned yesterday). It's being used by thousands of users in and outside the community.
If you have come across an unusual error message, please do not go on blaming others for your mistakes/errors without valid proof.
Going through the last few pages of this thread, you will find users who successfully rooted their Tab A7 using this guide.
I, or anyone in this community, does this voluntarily to help the users. We are not being paid for the effort or time we spend writing down guides or developing ROMs. This community works by supporting each other, by sharing our knowledge about the things/technology we so love.
If you face issues, I request you to be patient, read, and ask the fellow community members for help by providing some constructive information.
Thanks.
Attachments
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Screenshot_20210302-182036_Settings.jpg
Thanks so much for this guide. It worked on my brand new Tab A7 SM-T500 flawlessly. I have one question about updates:
If we're preventing data from being wiped by using the HOME_CSC file, I'm assuming we can also skip the factory reset step?
If we're preventing data from being wiped by using the HOME_CSC file, I'm assuming we can also skip the factory reset step?
Good to know
Yes, the HOME_CSC will not wipe any data. But this only applies when updating the software after the tab is rooted.
The factory reset is only required when rooting the tablet.
Sorry, I'm still confused. Isn't Magisk patching (a.k.a. rooting) required for each update, too?
Yes, it is. But that's slightly different than rooting for the first time while you're running the unrooted stock FW.
Once rooted, Magisk runs the additional patches so you wouldn't need to re-perform the factory reset.
Man, I'm sorry that happened. A lot of good devs have quit here over the years for stuff like that. I haven't posted in a long time, nor have I been doing much rooting and tinkering for a few years. But I just picked up this tablet and thought I would have some fun with it. I'm glad to find your thread, and thanks for the effort putting together the tutorial. I hope you can ignore the thankless, entitled noobs and continue to contribute to the community.
Of course, I will continue. Things like these are expected to happen every now then, I just want it to have a constructive outcome.
And thank you for the kind words. I have never been much of a tablet person, but the Tab A7 is really good for the price, like amazing with sound, and screen by Samsung is always pleasing to glance upon
Hey man, I wanna take the time to apologize for that PM, that was uncalled for from my end. Ive been working with jailbreaking and rooting phones and tablets for 10+ years (2005-2015 mainly). I usually know what the hell Im doing XD
I did read your guide thoroughly, but I misunderstood the part about soft reboot and hard reboot. Im new to Samsung with OS10 and the latest Knox functions. I think where it went wrong for me was after the Factory Reset inside the Recovery menu. While rebooting, it got stuck somewhere. I waited for a long while, but I concluded with a hard restart. (volume down + power)
The mistake, as you wrote, probably happened during this hard restart, where Knox got tripped and it got stuck with "Only official released binaries are allowed to be flashed (vbmeta)" error.
The problem tho, is after this state (knox tripped, and warrantystatus 0x01) it seemed impossible to reflash with Odin. As no matter what I tried (Stock rom, magisk repeat) it still wouldnt let me flash the Patched AP again. Download mode stopped Odin with the same red line "Custom binary VBmeta". I might be mistaken, but it seems that after Knox is tripped, if Magisk doesnt get to do its thing, it winds up locked without possibility of reflashing patched AP.
Anyways, the end of the story for my Tab A7 was that I flashed stock rom, locked the bootloader and asked for a refund from the store. They didnt check Knox and I exchanged it for a Lenovo MT10+ instead. Better CPU and ram, and cheaper than the Samsung. So a happy ending anyways
A couple of things tho:
1) Odin 3.14.4 doesnt seem to exist, Ive roamed the forums and google for this version, and most sites have a bogus download where the CRC is all wrong. The correct latest version is 3.14.1. You might wanna change this in your guide, so people dont get lead down the wrong path.
2) I would highly recommend expressing the importance of not actually hard rebooting your device before Magisk does its finishing touches. Maybe big letters in red and "Warning warning"? Especially seeing as a couple of other members here did the same mistake.
Again, sorry for my noob-rage. I got kinda carried away. Thanks for all the effort youve put into this guide, @DJBhardwaj. Ill read your guide better next time
Greetings from Norway
That's completely alright. I can understand.Hey man, I wanna take the time to apologize for that PM, that was uncalled for from my end. Ive been working with jailbreaking and rooting phones and tablets for 10+ years (2005-2015 mainly). I usually know what the hell Im doing XD
I did read your guide thoroughly, but I misunderstood the part about soft reboot and hard reboot. Im new to Samsung with OS10 and the latest Knox functions. I think where it went wrong for me was after the Factory Reset inside the Recovery menu. While rebooting, it got stuck somewhere. I waited for a long while, but I concluded with a hard restart. (volume down + power)
The mistake, as you wrote, probably happened during this hard restart, where Knox got tripped and it got stuck with "Only official released binaries are allowed to be flashed (vbmeta)" error.
The problem tho, is after this state (knox tripped, and warrantystatus 0x01) it seemed impossible to reflash with Odin. As no matter what I tried (Stock rom, magisk repeat) it still wouldnt let me flash the Patched AP again. Download mode stopped Odin with the same red line "Custom binary VBmeta". I might be mistaken, but it seems that after Knox is tripped, if Magisk doesnt get to do its thing, it winds up locked without possibility of reflashing patched AP.
Anyways, the end of the story for my Tab A7 was that I flashed stock rom, locked the bootloader and asked for a refund from the store. They didnt check Knox and I exchanged it for a Lenovo MT10+ instead. Better CPU and ram, and cheaper than the Samsung. So a happy ending anyways
A couple of things tho:
1) Odin 3.14.4 doesnt seem to exist, Ive roamed the forums and google for this version, and most sites have a bogus download where the CRC is all wrong. The correct latest version is 3.14.1. You might wanna change this in your guide, so people dont get lead down the wrong path.
2) I would highly recommend expressing the importance of not actually hard rebooting your device before Magisk does its finishing touches. Maybe big letters in red and "Warning warning"? Especially seeing as a couple of other members here did the same mistake.
Again, sorry for my noob-rage. I got kinda carried away. Thanks for all the effort youve put into this guide, @DJBhardwaj. Ill read your guide better next time
Greetings from Norway
Just for the sake of experimenting, I deliberately rebooted the tablet before completing the additional setup by Magisk to land my Tab A7 to the "Only official binaries are allowed to be flashed (vbmeta)" error.
I will try and explain exactly what happened.
1) This isn't caused by KNOX being tripped or the warranty status string changing its value to 0x1. That will never affect flashing in any way.
2) As I mentioned in my comment, this is caused because Magisk didn't get the chance to patch and disable the important Samsung security features in the kernel. This, in turn, triggers the dreaded "Prenormal KG state". You can verify this from the Download Mode.
When KG state is triggered, it will prevent you from flashing any non-official binary (like the Magisk patched TAR in this case).
3) So, here's what I did to fix this. I force-booted the Tablet back into Download Mode and plugged it into the PC. Then:
- Launched Odin and flashed the official stock FW.
- Rebooted into the OS and skipped the initial setup.
- Connected the tab to WiFi.
- Enabled Developer Options and verified that OEM unlocking was present and greyed out in the ON position.
- Rebooted back into Download Mode.
- Launched Odin again and unchecked "Auto Reboot" within the Options tab.
- Flashed the Patched AP TAR, along with BL and CSC (no CP because I have the WiFi variant)
- Manually turn it off, and boot it straight into stock recovery mode
- Performed a factory reset via the stock recovery and finally rebooted into the OS.
- After the tab booted, I went ahead and did the initial setup (connecting to WiFi, logging into Google and Samsung accounts, and so on).
- Went to the app drawer and launched Magisk. It prompted to install the full Magisk app. So did that.
- Then re-launched Magisk and did the additional setup as prompted. Upon finishing the tab finally rebooted by itself.
As you said, I think it would be a very good idea to mention not rebooting the tablet before the additional Magisk setup is finished. I will do that later today.
v3.14.4 does exist. But I later came to know that it includes a phishy tracking DLL, thanks @realbbb for pointing in his thread.
So, it's best to use 3.14.1. I will mention this in the post as well with the apt download link.
At last, thank you for your message. It means a total win for us as a community.
Take care and enjoy your new Lenovo tab. Hope you find some exciting things to do with it as well. 
Definitely nice to have a guide like this. Haven't rooted my tablet yet as i got it a few days ago. Really hope that in the long term there will be a dedicated forum for the tab a7 bcs cramming all tab a series devices into a single forum just makes it all unclear and confusing to navigate properly. Even the sm-t580 (tab a6) should have gotten it by the amount of threads i found with various custom roms for it alone.
But enough about rambling about xda, thanks for this well written guide for the tab a7
But enough about rambling about xda, thanks for this well written guide for the tab a7
gd day, i am trying to patch my tab a7. No matter what version of Odin i use there is no device in the com ports identified...
Try installing these: https://developer.samsung.com/mobile/android-usb-driver.html
Then restart your computer and try again.
My pleasure.
And sure, I will forward this to the XDA team. I feel the exact same, and I believe the team might be able to do something about it. Thanks for the feedback.
were you waiting for a comment to appear? whow, thanks for the ultra speedy reply. trying it and reverting!
and now I am on this screen for a gd amount of time...should I still wait? Perhaps restart it?
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And my device is now bricked? An error has occurred while updating the device software...what should I do now?
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Hello acinfo64,
I encountered the same problem as you, i.e. the ”forced” reboot at step 3.
The solution that works for me is to get backward using the arrow displayed on the screen (2 times).
Then i clic on the symbol "accesibility", get back again, and then appears the screen with policy contrats to select.
And no need to restart this time. I hope this will help. I found this by chance.
@DJBhardwaj, thank a lot for this guide, very usefull for me
And sorry for my english, i’m a french guy with a low level of English. This is my 1st post.2It's really good to see the way this thread and more importantly Tab A7 is picking up!
To all the people here, I wouldn't be able to follow up much on the thread for a while due to some sudden family problems. Hope to be back soon!
And yes, I have edited the OP and replaced Odin v3.14.4 with v3.14.1.2The Universal SafetyNet Fix module from a few posts back fixed Magisk safety net for me.1
Thank you for your guide and sorry to hear about family problems. With anything in life family comes first! I've trawled the thread and I think for the most part we've all got this (thanks to your guide!) and helping each other out.1
AFAICT these instructions don't work, and there is no way to mount the sdcard as internal/adopted. Tho I would love for someone to prove me wrong. With screenshots and the output of the "mount" command. -
17I recently purchased the Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 (released in 2020) and couldn't help but notice that there's no dedicated thread in the forums for unlocking the bootloader or rooting (Although, the method should be very similar to what is followed for the Tab 10.1 (2019)).
It's been quite some time since I published a tutorial on XDA. So, I decided to put up this comprehensive tutorial, hope it helps everyone who's looking for it. We will take the direct approach of rooting the tab by patching the AP firmware and flashing the patched AP through Odin.
/* I will be using the same images I prepared for the tutorial to be posted on my blog. Sorry that they have been watermarked, that is to prevent scrapers from stealing. It took me enough time to capture them and do some post-processing. */
Before we start, here's the obligatory disclaimer and warning:
Update log
Requirements
- Your Galaxy Tab A7 with SM-T500 or SM-T505 model number
- A compatible USB-C cable
- A Windows computer. (Odin only works on Windows. If you're using Linux or Mac, you could try Heimdall)
Instructions
Step 1: Enable OEM Unlocking
In order to unlock the bootloader, you must first enable the 'OEM Unlocking' toggle. This toggle resides inside the 'Developer options' screen, which is hidden by default on most Android devices.
First, enable 'Developer options' by going to 'Settings' > 'About tablet' > 'Software Information' and repeatedly tap on the 'Build number' section five times. If you have a lock screen security set, you will need to input your PIN/Password/Pattern when prompted.
Once you do this, you should see a toast notification on the bottom of the screen saying that "Developer mode has been enabled".
Once that is out of the way, go to 'Settings' > 'Developer options' and turn ON the toggle next to "OEM unlocking". You will instantly be prompted to enter your PIN/Password/Pattern, so do it. Then select "Enable" to allow OEM unlocking.
- Note: If the OEM unlocking toggle is grayed out, make sure that you have connected the tablet to the internet first (via WiFi or mobile network, your choice).
Step 2: Unlock the Bootloader
Start by powering off your tablet completely. Then while holding the Volume Up and Volume Down keys together, connect it to your computer using the USB cable. This should take you to the bootloader screen (I call it that because logically that's what directs you to either Download Mode or Device Unlock Mode). Long-press the Volume Up key to enter the 'Device unlock mode'.
Your tab should now prompt you with a confirmation screen, so press the Volume Up key to confirm and unlock the bootloader.
Your Tab A7's bootloader is now unlocked and it should reboot automatically. You should also see a warning message right before the Samsung splash screen, just as shown in the picture below. Don't worry, it's completely normal. And no, there's no way to get rid of it (unless of course, you relock the bootloader).
The first boot after unlocking the bootloader could take some time (took around 3-4 minutes for me). So be patient.
Now that the bootloader is unlocked, let's verify it. Samsung introduced a new feature known as "VaultKeeper", which will automatically relock the bootloader if you do not perform this step.
After your tab boots, connect it to the internet. Then enable the Developer options as shown in step #1 and go to 'Settings' > 'Developer options'. The OEM unlocking toggle should be greyed out and say that the bootloader is already unlocked. Again, refer to the picture below.
Step 3: Download the firmware package
With the bootloader properly unlocked, you can begin with the rooting part. As I mentioned, we will be patching the AP firmware file via Magisk App, as instructed by John Wu in his installation guide on Github.
So, you will need to download the firmware package for the software version that's currently installed on your tab. This is very important, do not use an older firmware, as it will result in issues. You could of course use a newer firmware, which will update your tab at the same time as rooting it.
To verify your software version, you can go to 'Settings' > 'About tablet' > 'Software information' and check the "Build number". The latter half of the mentioned build number is your tab's software version, which in my case as shown in the picture below is: T500XXU1ATJ2. So, I will need to download the firmware package for "T500XXU1ATJ2" and in your case you should download the one corresponding to the info you see under 'Build number'.
Where to download? You could use online FW databases like SamMobile, Samfrew, etc. However, I would recommend using Frija or Samloader as they allow you to download the firmware directly from Samsung's Firmware Update Servers and without any speed caps. If you're operating on Windows, use Frija. On macOS/Linux, use Samloader.
Step 4: Extract the AP firmware and transfer it to your Tab A7
Once you have the ZIP package downloaded, you will need to extract it to get The extracted folder should contain the individual firmware files like BL, AP, CP (only for SM-T505 LTE variant), and CSC/HOME_CSC (in .tar.md5 file format).
The file you'll require is the AP firmware, which in my case is "AP_T500XXU1ATJ2_CL19362637_QB34980135_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT_meta_RKEY_OS10.tar.md5". Again, in your case, the filename would be a bit different, but it should follow the same structure.
After extracting the AP firmware, connect your tab to the computer, enable File Transfer (MTP) mode on it, and copy over the AP firmware to your tab's internal storage. Copy it to the root directory, that is, outside all the folders as shown below. The location of the file doesn't matter, you can copy it anywhere, but I prefer this for easier access.
Step 5: Patch the AP firmware using Magisk App
Now's the time to patch the AP firmware. To do this, download the latest version of the Magisk app from the official Github releases page to your Tab A7. This will be an APK file. Once downloaded, install the APK file using your choice of file manager.
You do not need to change Magisk's update channel to Beta anymore. Starting January 12, Magisk v21.x was pushed to the stable channel (default).
After installing, go to the app drawer and launch the Magisk Manager app. Before you start patching, you would want to change Magisk Manager's update channel to Public Beta. This is because Magisk's latest version (i.e. v21.0) is only available on the beta channel and hasn't been pushed to the stable channel yet (at least at the time of publishing this tutorial).
To do this, press the settings icon on the top-right, tap on "Update channel" and select "Beta". Then go back to the app's main screen. It should refresh and show you the latest version as v21.0.
Press the "Install" button and then "Select and Patch a File" from the list of available methods. This should open the file selector, so navigate to the internal storage and select the AP firmware you transferred during the previous step.
Once the file is selected, hit "LET'S GO" to start the patching process. This should take a minute or so because the AP firmware is quite a heavy file. Once it is done, the patched AP firmware with the filename "magisk_patched_xxxxx.tar" (where "xxxxx" is an arbitrary code) should be stored inside the "Download" folder of your tab's internal storage.
Step 6: Flash the Patched AP Firmware using Odin
The last step is to flash the patched AP firmware to your Galaxy Tab A7 and root it. For this, connect your tab to the computer over USB and copy the "magisk_patched.tar" file from the Download folder. Paste this patched AP firmware inside the firmware folder that was extracted during step #5, along with the rest of the firmware files (BL, CSC, etc). Disconnect it from the PC after transferring the file.
Now, boot your Tab A7 into Download Mode. Power it off, and connect it to the computer over USB while holding the Volume Up and Volume Down keys together. This should bring up the bootloader screen. Simply tap the Volume Up key once to enter Download Mode. Here's what the Download Mode on the Tab A7 looks like.
Next, download Odin v3.14.1 from this XDA thread (NOT the patched version, but the regular one) and extract the contents of the downloaded ZIP package. Then launch Odin on your computer by double-clicking the "Odin3 v3.14.1.exe" executable and click "Ok" when prompted. You should see the Odin interface on your computer screen now.
Odin should automatically recognize your tab in Download Mode and display the COM ID on the top-left.
Click the 'Options' tab and uncheck the 'Auto Reboot' option. This will prevent the tablet from being automatically restarted after the flash is complete.
Now, load the firmware files in the respective slots of Odin.
- The BL firmware file (BL_T500/5XXXXXXX_xxxxxxxxxxx.tar.md5) goes to the "BL" slot
- The CP firmware file (CP_T505XXXXXX_xxxxxxxxxxx.tar.md5) goes to the "CP" slot. Note that the CP firmware only applies to the Tab A7 LTE variant with the SM-T505 model number.
- The HOME_CSC firmware file (HOME_CSC_OMC_ODM_T500/5XXXXXXX_xxxxxxxxx.tar.md5) goes to the "CSC" slot. We will not be using the regular CSC, as it will erase all the data. If you want to do that, feel free to use it.
- And finally, the patched AP firmware file (magisk_patched.tar) goes to the "AP" slot.
- Note: While you could get away with just flashing the patched AP firmware alone, John recommends NOT doing it. Always flash the patched AP along with the rest of the firmware files like BL, CSC, etc.
Wait for the flash to finish. Once it is, you should see the 'PASS!' message in Odin. Like so:
You can now close the Odin window and disconnect your tab from the computer.
Step 7: Perform a Factory Reset
Once the flash is complete, you will need to manually boot your tablet into the stock recovery mode and do a factory reset. This is only mandatory during the initial rooting process, which is exactly what we are doing here.
To do this, hold the Volume Down and Power keys together for about 7 seconds. As soon as the screen turns off, release the Volume Down key and quickly hold the Volume Up key, while still holding the Power key. Keep holding the keys until you see the stock recovery screen.
You should now see the stock recovery screen with some device information in yellow color at the top. Like so:
Use the Volume keys to move the selector to 'Wipe data/factory reset' and hit the Power key to confirm the selection.
You will now see a confirmation prompt on the screen. Select 'Factory Data Reset' to confirm and finally perform a factory reset.
Once done, select the 'Reboot system now' option from the recovery's main menu. Your Tab A7 should now reboot may be more than once, so be patient.
We're not done yet. After booting, you will need to open the Magisk app from the app drawer and follow the on-screen instructions to replace the Magisk stub with the actual full application, and further complete the required setup when prompted by Magisk app.
Once this is done, your Tab A7 should reboot one last time and should be rooted thereafter.
Your Tab is Rooted!
You may now go ahead and start using root applications, install some modules, etc. Since v20.4, Magisk Hide has been disabled by default on new installations in light of the new hardware-backed SafetyNet attestation. So, to use banking/security, or any other sort of apps that may detect root, you will need to turn ON Magisk Hide from within the Magisk App settings.
That's all from my side. If you run into any issues, feel free to post. Don't forget to share details like the software version your tab is on, the firmware package you downloaded and used, and of course your tab's complete model number.3Okay, so I found some spare time to verify that the method still works (using the latest FW and Magisk). I have attached an image for confirmation.
Here's a log of the things I have updated in the tutorial. It seems like a good idea to do this so that I can easily track the things I have changed and when. A copy of this log is also present in the tutorial for users who are new.
Log:
- Added more info about the warranty. It seems like some users are still not aware of how KNOX affects the warranty. If you're getting into software modifications such as rooting, I expect you to have some prior knowledge about such things.
- Redacted the part where you needed to change Magisk's update channel under Step #5. Not needed anymore as Magisk v21.x was released to the Stable channel in January 2021.
- Replaced all instances of "Magisk Manager" with "Magisk App". Starting with Magisk v22, Magisk Manager is gone and merged with the core Magisk. It's now called the "Magisk App".
So, what do you do after that? It's quite simple actually. First off, restore the official FW via Odin. Then boot into the OS, connect to the internet, enable Developer Options, and verify that "OEM Unlocking" is present and greyed out in an ON state.
Then re-attempt the tutorial. Make sure that you do not deviate this time, I know you would believe that you didn't, but we all can make mistakes. So just cross-reference each step while attempting.
More importantly, after you have flashed the Magisk Patched TAR and performed the factory reset, make sure that you boot straight into the OS, connect the tab to the internet, and do the initial Magisk setup. DO NOT REBOOT the tab before doing this.
While I personally didn't face the issue, I believe this is where things might go sideways, because Magisk needs to run its code to complete the rooting process. If not, Samsung's ugly security features will kick in and show you the "Only official binaries are allowed to be flashed" error message.
If you still have doubts, drop in a comment. I am sure you'll get the help.
At last, I want to bring up something that I didn't wanted to. I received a PM from a reader of this thread expressing his frustration on why I was ignoring the thread and that this tutorial was "tricking" you guys into bricking your devices.
I have a personal life aside from XDA, and I do not get the time to visit the forums on a daily basis like I did until a few years ago. If it's important, I ask you to mention me in the comments so that I can receive a notification.
Next, the method is nothing new or special. It's the one provided by Magisk's creator John Wu himself (like I mentioned yesterday). It's being used by thousands of users in and outside the community.
If you have come across an unusual error message, please do not go on blaming others for your mistakes/errors without valid proof.
Going through the last few pages of this thread, you will find users who successfully rooted their Tab A7 using this guide.
I, or anyone in this community, does this voluntarily to help the users. We are not being paid for the effort or time we spend writing down guides or developing ROMs. This community works by supporting each other, by sharing our knowledge about the things/technology we so love.
If you face issues, I request you to be patient, read, and ask the fellow community members for help by providing some constructive information.
Thanks.22
Man, I'm sorry that happened. A lot of good devs have quit here over the years for stuff like that. I haven't posted in a long time, nor have I been doing much rooting and tinkering for a few years. But I just picked up this tablet and thought I would have some fun with it. I'm glad to find your thread, and thanks for the effort putting together the tutorial. I hope you can ignore the thankless, entitled noobs and continue to contribute to the community.
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