[HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment Without Official CL14 Update
 

WARNING! I HAVE POSTED THIS TUTORIAL IN HOPES OF HELPING PEOPLE TO ACHIEVE PERMANENT ROOT. NEITHER PPCGEEKS NOR I WILL BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED TO YOUR PHONE.

A big thanks goes out to Zeife for making the custom kernels and making this all possible and to CarlaDarla for holding my hand when I first flashed the custom kernel. Without these two individuals this tutorial would have never have happened.

If you have a new Moment or one that Sprint has already updated with the CL14 Maintenance update, you would be better off reading elephant007's How To Guide here.

There are a couple of ways to root your Moment. One is done via a connection to a PC and is temporary, which means when you restart your Moment, you will lose root access. The second method, and the one that is outlined below, is the one that I recommend. That is because with the method below, once you are rooted, you will remain rooted even after restarting your phone. If done correctly, you should not lose any personal information or need to reinstall any apps.

The custom kernel is also faster than what is currently on your Moment. I have seen a drastic increase in speed when opening apps and switching home screens within Open Home 4.4. Below is a link to the latest version of the custom kernel, for users who have not yet had their Moment updated with the official CL14 update.

To see if you already have the CL14 update installed, go to Settings -> About phone and look under "Baseband version." If "CL14" is listed anywhere in the line, and you did not install the CL14 customized update from Zeife, download the Patched version of the kernel listed. I have posted below the latest versions of the kernels, as of 02/25/2010, mirrored on my personal web server. If you would like to check to see if Zeife has released a new version, here is the forum that he posts his releases at and here is a link to his MegaUpload directory.

SPH-M900_ZE12.1_KERN.tar.7z - ONLY FOR MOMENT USERS WITHOUT THE OFFICIAL CL14 UPDATE!!





Currently you must use a Windows PC to flash the Moment. It is recommended that you do it on a Windows XP system if you have one available. Windows Vista and Windows 7 can be used (I made this tutorial on Windows Business) but you may have issues and could be required to restart the process from the beginning, if it fails. Software that you will need to flash the custom kernel are listed below. Install them in the order that they appear to ensure that you do not get errors when flashing.

1. Samsung PC Studio - Get it here (free)
2. Odin (2.93) - get it here (free)
3. Moment OPs - Included in Odin package (free)

If you are not using a Windows XP system, you should set Samsung PC Studio to run in "compatibility mode SP3." To do that:

1. Open the Start Menu, All Programs, Samsung New PC Studio and right click on the shortcut for "Samsung New PC Studio"
2. In the Properties dialog click on the "Compatibility" tab and under "Compatibility mode" check the box
3. Then from the drop down menu choose "Windows XP (Service Pack 3)" or "Windows XP (Service Pack 2)"
4. Click OK and you have setup Samsung New PC Studio to function in compatibility mode

http://rainfreak.com/droid/samsung-comp.gif


Unzip Odin.7z and the custom kernel to your desktop using either 7Zip (free) or WinRar (trial). Now get ready because you are almost there!

• Place your Moment in "Download Mode" (hold down "volume Down" and the "Camera" button and then press and hold the "End/Power" button and the phone will turn on and enter "Download Mode")
• Make sure that the Samsung PC Studio is NOT running in the systray (by the clock) on your PC
• Plug your phone into USB cable attached to your PC and let the drivers install
• Double click "Odin Multi Downloader v3.98.exe" on your desktop
• On the main screen, in the top and bottom left, it should show that it has detected your phone
• Check the box for "One Package" and ensure that "Reboot" and "Protect OPS" are also both checked
• Click the "OPS" button in ODIN and navigate to the "Moment.ops" file on your desktop. Highlight the file and click the "Open" button
• Click the "One Package" button in ODIN and navigate to the custom kernel (SPH-M900_ZE12.1_KERN.tar). Highlight the file and click the "Open" button

http://rainfreak.com/droid/samsung-odin.gif

• Click the "Start" button in ODIN to begin flashing the custom kernel. The whole process should only take a minute or two at the most. If ODIN gets stuck at "<1> setup connection..." in the status window in the bottom left, close ODIN and try again. If after closing and reopening ODIN you are still getting stuck at "<1>setup connection..." then please see the FAQ in post #2.
• When the custom kernel flash is completed your phone will automatically restart
• After your phone begins to reboot, unplug the USB sync cable and let your phone boot completely

Your phone is now permanently rooted. To begin removing some of the stock Sprint apps (like the Voice Control that will never stop running) you will need to download Better Terminal Emulator or another terminal emulator from the Android Market.



Once you have downloaded and installed the terminal emulator (from here out I will refer to it as TE) you can start the app. Then type the following commands, without the apostrophes ('), if you so choose to rid yourself of Sprint's bloatware:

• Type 'su' and the "$" prompt will change to a "#"
• Type 'mount -oremount,rw /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system'
• Type 'cd system'
• Type 'cd app'

* Note: Each command is typed one line at a time. Use the return button on your keyboard to enter each command.



You are now in read/write mode in the apps directory, which means that you can get rid of the Sprint apps and clean up your phone. To backup a file before you remove it, you can type the following (again without the apostrophes):

• Type 'cat VSuiteApp.apk > /sdcard/VSuiteApp.apk'

The command above tells the system to copy the VSuiteApp.apk file to the root of the SD card, in case we want to install it again later. Then, to remove an app and completely unistall it, type the following (again without the apostrophes):

• Type 'rm VSuiteApp.apk'

In the two examples above, we copied the VSuiteApp.apk app to the SD card and then removed it from the phone's main memory. VSuiteApp.apk is the app "Voice Control" which is always running. I personally didn't like it, never used it, and hated that it always ran, so it was the first that I removed.



When you are done removing apps that you no longer want, you must type the following, (again without the apostrophes):

• Type 'mount -oremount,ro /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system'

The command above resets the system to read-only and stops you from making bad mistakes.

* Note: You should always remount the system to read-only when you are done.



To make all changes permanent you must reboot your phone. You can also do that from with BTE by typing the following (again without the apostrophes):

• Type 'reboot'

Here is a complete list of apps that have been removed and do not cause adverse side effects to your phone:

amazonmp3_1.4_standard_signed.apk - Amazon store to buy music (I removed it)
Bejeweled.apk - Bejeweled demo (I removed it so that I could install the full version)
com.handson.h2o.nfl.apk - Sprint NFL (I didn't have it)
Email.apk - email client (I left it)
nascar09_prod.apk - Sprint Nascar (I removed it)
SprintTVWidget.apk - Sprint TV Widget (I removed it)
Sprint_App_Updater.apk - Sprint's updater for their apps and who knows what else (I removed it)
VSuiteApp.apk - Voice Control (I removed it)
Weather.apk - Weather Channel (I removed it)

You can also type 'ls' (without the apostrophes) in the TE when you are in the /system/apps directory and get a list of all apps there. I actually ran into a slightly different name for Sprint TV and after listing the contents of the directory I knew the name so that I could go ahead and remove it.

For a complete list of root commands, the steps to hard reset your phone and more, check the FAQ in post #2.

Good luck and happy rooting!

Re: [TUTORIAL] How to Root the Samsung Moment
 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. I keep getting stuck at "<1>setup connection..." in ODIN, what should I do?


A. There are a number of things that you can try. Many people report different results, so keep going down the list of one doesn't work.

• Close ODIN and reopen ODIN
• Close any Firefox Browser windows that you may have open then close ODIN and reopen ODIN
• Close ODIN, disconnect the phone from the USB cable, reconnect the phone to the USB cable and reopen ODIN
• Close ODIN, disconnect the phone from the USB cable, remove the battery and after waiting a few seconds replace the battery, enter "Download Mode" again, reconnect the phone to the USB cable and reopen ODIN
• Close ODIN, move the USB cable to a different USB port on your PC and reopen ODIN

------------

Q. My PC didn't automatically install the correct drivers for my Moment and I can not see it in ODIN, what now?

A. You can manually add the drivers to the generic device that Windows found by going to device drivers and manually pointing to the "\Program Files\Samsung\Samsung New PC Studio\USB Drivers\3\" directory.

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Q. My phone won't boot at all now and other than buying a bus ticket to go kick rainfreak's ass, what can I do?


A. First, save yourself a long journey for a bad ending. Next, simply perform a hard reset and it will make your phone go back to the way it was the day it rolled off the line at Samsung. To do a hard reset, do the following (Note: all data, apps, text messages, contacts, etc will be lost so you should only do this if you have no choice!):

• Volume Down+Send+Cancel then follow the prompts

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Q. So Mr. smart guy, what are some more commands that I can use with BTE and my new cool rooted Moment?


A. Hey, thanks for noticing how damn smart I am! As for commands that you can use in BTE, check out this list:

• su - enter super user/root priviledges
• remount rw - remount the file system with read/write capabilities
• remount ro - remount the file system with read-only capabilities
• pwd - stands for print working directory and shows current directory
• cat (filename) > /(destination)/(filename) - copy the file from current directory to the destination directory
• rm (filename).apk - delete or remove (filename).apk from current directory
• busybox sh - replaces the default android shell with the busybox shell, which gives you tab completion and command history, amoungst other things.

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Q. WTH? How come you listed Zeife's 12.1 version of the custom kernel and he has a newer version out?

A. When I created this How To I did it with version 12.1 of the Zeife kernel, which was the most recent stable version. If you want the latest and greatest, you can check on his releases here.

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Q. Why did you take out the information on how to get permanent root on the Moment for users with the official CL14 update already installed?

A. Another member of PPCG, Elephant007, created a great How To guide for users with the CL14 update. I just didn't see the point in having two of the same thing, with different approaches.

Re: [TUTORIAL] How to Root the Samsung Moment
 

STICKY!

Say it before even seeing it!

Re: [TUTORIAL] How to Root the Samsung Moment
 

I agree sticky!

Re: [TUTORIAL] How to Gain Permanant Root on the Samsung Moment
 

perfect tutorial. i see on alot of other forums to root your moment you need to format the sd card in a particular way do you have to when doing it this way?

Re: [TUTORIAL] How to Gain Permanant Root on the Samsung Moment
 

Thanks, it was a lot of work. As for the SD card, absolutely not. The method above won't even touch your SD card.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Sweet Freak!
When's the video tutorial going to be posted? HA HA

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

cool. This will be useful for a few of my friends.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Yeah, I feel like I did enough. Besides, I do not do video as a public service.

That's what it was intended for, so I am glad to hear it!

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

man i have tried this and keeps getting stuck. i have tried everything in the faq and still nothing any ideas? i am running vista

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Does "for Moment users WITH the official CL14 update" include if you bought the phone brand new and it had CL14 straight out the box?

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

I am assuming it does.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Looks great Rain :) Thanks for the props!

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Yes it does, you would need patchoob Kernels.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Some people are successful with Vista and 7, some aren't. Where are you getting stuck. I was able to Flash once, only once, on a 7 machine, after that I had to dig out an old XP Tower simply to flash when I had the Moment. Make sure you have PC Studio CLOSED when you are doing this or you will get hung up. Like I said though, where are you getting stuck? Is it "detecting" your phone?

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Thanks Carla, I appreciate all your help and your kind words. And how could I do a tutorial on this without giving you props?

thm... Carla hit it on the head... Vista and Win 7 are a little picky, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. If you have the Professional or Ultimate version of Win 7 you get one free license for a virtual host, so you could actually run Win XP virtually for flashing with ODIN. That is what I am doing on my laptop and it works very well.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Not that I need it at the moment, since I am momentless, but that is good info Rain! Thanks :)

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Thanks a lot Freak. Now I dont have to spend a lot of time this weekend googling and reading on rooting this.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Ok carla and rain thanks for the help.... I got it past where it was locking up but now it locks up at "check download enviroment" any ideas?

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

What about us losers who got roped into running XP x64? And, have we found out how we are going to go about the 2.1 update when it comes out? Mostly I'm just rooting because I'm done with my exploration phase of my phone and now bored. Will probably go back to "official" 2.1 when it comes out to bask in it's glory for about 3 hours then move on.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Sounds like you need to reinstall the drivers for the phone. What OS are you using?

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Actually, I have to admit that I am not sure about what you can do. Have you tried installing the software to see if it is compatible with XP x64? I know most of the apps that I use daily don't claim to be compatible with Win 7 x64 but still work just fine.

As for Android 2.1... I will wait for a few weeks after it is released for the Moment and I am confident that Zeife will rip it apart and build a rom with all the good stuff and none of the bad (aka Sprint apps and rollout SNAFUs).

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

ok guys after searching all morning (and restoring my vista laptop to factory new) I found out whats wrong. If you have the sprint c14 update (which my phone since it is new did have) you need to downgrade it to the cj05. and use odin 4.03 to do the downgrade. i found out how here http://www.sdx-developers.com/index.php?topic=142.0 and after doing that was able to use rains process.
thank you rain and carla for trying to help.

And rain thank you for setting up this post. Now off to try and find out how to root my wifes hero.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Sorry that you had so much trouble but my OP explained how to check if you already had the CL14 update, and if so, I said to use the patchoob kernel. Sorry for the confusion... I guess I need to reword my OP a little better.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

i tried it that way. but kept locking up. so when i search it said to use it you had to down grade. anyway. not trying to say your work isn't appreciated because, with out it i would still have stock! One other thing i could not find the free BTE in the market. I found a pro (like $3). i found one that is free called ConnectBot. anyways once again thank you for all your hard work Rain!

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

I didn't think that you were not appreciative, I was just saying that I thought I could have worded it better, which I am planning to change this weekend. But I am glad that you were able to get it done and I hope that you enjoy the root access on your Moment. BTW, there are a lot of apps that require you to be rooted that are pretty cool. Use Google and I think you will find some goodies ;)

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

FYI...BTE is just a suggestion, I use the Pro version, but you can use whatever Terminal Emulator you are comfy with :)

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Yeah, what she said.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Let me see if I can sum this up

If you have CL14 out the box you will need to downgrade first
Then after downgrading to CJ05 you will use the root process that RainFreak wrote up to gain root?

This definitely pertains to my situation as my phone had CL14 straight out the box. So I'd like some clarification on this matter. Perhaps writing a second how to with something like "For phones that have CL14 out the box"

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

The way Rain wrote up to achieve root and flash a custom Kernel is what you need to do if you want to use any of the Ziefe Kernels PRIOR to 13, so 12.1 etc...To do that, you use Odin, and follow the instructions from the first post. To flash the custom CL14, that has CJ05 SBL and all the other CL14 files (Modem, etc..) use my directions (hope you don't mind Rain). If you are on CL14, from Sprint, then yes, you need to downgrade to CJ05 then go back to CL14 Fixed...something, I forget the file name, IF you want to use one of the earlier Kernels. This is the CL14 that will let you use those Kernels, gain root, but it still uses the CJ05 SBL.

If you want to use the most recent ZE13 then you need to upgrade to the official CL14, as in the one from Sprint and Samsung. Very simple, then I did a partial flash, to install Ziefe 13, which will ONLY work if you use the CL14 SBL. To attain partial flash, you basically flash your phone with the Sprint Utility, once that is done, datatool backup, go into the Sprint Utility, backup (copy) the stock .tar in the system file, replace it with the ZE13 Kernel, and you are good to go.

Sounds like a lot, but it actually isn't hard. Even if you have CL14 straight from Sprint, you will still need the Sprint Utitlty to use any of the ZE13 and on Kernels.

http://midnightchannel.net/kernelrom...#39;s-kernels/

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Just when I thought it was safe to go into the water!

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

I tried yesterday to install 12.1 and it failed, so i factory reset. Is there any reason i should still have to use datatool backup? theres nothing really to backup

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Wow this is frustrating. The SamsungPST gets stuck on SetupConnection just like ODIN did. Tried uninstalling everything. Deleting and re-installing drivers. Same outcome.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Sounds like your phone is haunted. I recommend an exorcism.


On a more helpful note, are you on xp?

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

I'm in the process of installing XP on my external hard drive. Hopefully all works after that

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

yeah, that probably the issue. good luck!

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

XP was always the issue for me. When I do ANYTHING to the Moment on my XP machine it works flawlessly and fast.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Kept getting stuck in the same place on XP. Then i closed the PCStudio monitor and it started immediately with no issue.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

Yeah, you shouldn't have the Samsung PC Studio open when using ODIN. That's why I said it had to be installed but never said to open it. You are really only installign it for the correct USB drivers for your Moment and ODIN to play nicely.

Re: [HOW TO] Gain Permanent Root on Samsung Moment
 

from Zefie's wiki
Current Release: ZE13.3
Notes: If you have 13.1 or 13.2, please upgrade to ZE13.3. The overclocking is unstable and may be dangerous if used for a prolonged period.