adb shell su works but adb root does not

Question

I rooted my unlocked Galaxy S3 (SGH-T999)

Now, I'm trying to run adb root from Windows Command Prompt, however, I'm getting adbd cannot run as root in production builds error. So, the very first thing I checked was whether my phone was really rooted?

So I tried the following:

Open Command prompt

$adb devices # lists my device
$adb shell # goes to shell
$su # opens a 'SuperSu' prompt on my phone and I 'Grant' permission
# // Before following the rooting instructions, I was getting 'no su command found' in the previous step. So, I believe my phone is ROOTED. **Correct me if I'm wrong.**

However, when I do adb root, I get adbd cannot run as root in production builds error. So, I thought, I might have to do some additional stuff beyond what I did above. I tried all the solutions in the following SO questions:

None of the above worked for me. All they do is give the ROOT access INSIDE of SHELL. I want adb root to work so that I can execute various adb commands WITHOUT going into shell.

I need to copy files from data using adb pull, but it ask Root. — Paul K., Jan 11 '23 at 11:04

Alex P. · Answer 1 · 2018-12-07T01:54:39.980

47

By design adb root command works in development builds only (i.e. eng and userdebug which have ro.debuggable=1 by default). So to enable the adb root command on your otherwise rooted device just add the ro.debuggable=1 line to one of the following files:

/system/build.prop
/system/default.prop
/data/local.prop

If you want adb shell to start as root by default - then add ro.secure=0 as well.

Alternatively you could use modified adbd binary (which does not check for ro.debuggable)

From https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/core/+/master/adb/daemon/main.cpp

#if defined(ALLOW_ADBD_ROOT)
// The properties that affect `adb root` and `adb unroot` are ro.secure and
// ro.debuggable. In this context the names don't make the expected behavior
// particularly obvious.
//
// ro.debuggable:
//   Allowed to become root, but not necessarily the default. Set to 1 on
//   eng and userdebug builds.
//
// ro.secure:
//   Drop privileges by default. Set to 1 on userdebug and user builds.

edited Dec 07 '18 at 01:54

answered Aug 25 '14 at 16:42

Alex P.

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Where can I get compiled executable of the above? – Syed Waqas Bukhary Oct 28 '18 at 09:45
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I add the new values for ro.debuggable and ro.secure to the files you've specified, but they still get overwritten on every reboot and the changes don't have any effect. – Pythagoras of Samos Mar 05 '19 at 14:13
1

My tablet doesn't have vi or edlin. How do I edit these .prop files? And the file itself doesn't give any write access to anyone including root. – JDOaktown Mar 17 '21 at 01:02
I was able to edit the build.prop file and it worked! Thanks. See my answer below crediting Alex P. – JDOaktown Mar 17 '21 at 01:52

score 36 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 05 '17 at 18:48

36

In some developer-friendly ROMs you could just enable Root Access in Settings > Developer option > Root access. After that adb root becomes available. Unfortunately it does not work for most stock ROMs on the market.

edited Jul 05 '17 at 18:48

Alex P.

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answered Dec 11 '14 at 15:50

NgaNguyenDuy

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I don't see a "Root access" option in dev options. – Alkanshel Oct 06 '16 at 04:18
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@Amalgovinus I think it depends on which room you are using. :) – NgaNguyenDuy Oct 07 '16 at 07:55
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@NgaNguyenDuy Can you please identify which rom you are using? – Lobster Fighter Mar 25 '19 at 07:21

score 31 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 10 '18 at 20:00

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I ran into this issue when trying to root the emulator, I found out it was because I was running the Nexus 5x emulator which had Google Play on it. Created a different emulator that didn't have google play and adb root will root the device for you. Hope this helps someone.

answered Mar 10 '18 at 20:00

Andrew Steinmetz

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how can we differentiate both emulator? – Sanjay Oct 30 '18 at 06:45
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@Sanjay when you open up the Android Virtual Device Manager, you should see a tab for Play Store and you want to make sure there is no play store icon present on the device you are trying to root. – Andrew Steinmetz Jan 15 '20 at 19:09
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2020, this helped me but I do need a way to do it on devices with play store enabled without a rooted phone but not sure if it is posible – trigster Jan 31 '20 at 15:15

score 10 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

I have a rooted Samsung Galaxy Trend Plus (GT-S7580).

Running 'adb root' gives me the same 'adbd cannot run as root in production builds' error.

For devices that have Developer Options -> Root access, choose "ADB only" to provide adb root access to the device (as suggested by NgaNguyenDuy).

Then try to run the command as per the solution at Launch a script as root through ADB. In my case, I just wanted to run the 'netcfg rndis0 dhcp' command, and I did it this way:

adb shell "su -c netcfg rndis0 dhcp"

Please check whether you are making any mistakes while running it this way.

If it still does not work, check whether you rooted the device correctly. If still no luck, try installing a custom ROM such as Cyanogen Mod in order for 'adb root' to work.

score 10 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 05 '16 at 00:54

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I use for enter su mode in abd shell

adb shell "su"

answered Oct 05 '16 at 00:54

Samuel Seda

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On Mac OS, I'm getting "/system/bin/sh: su: not found" error. Any suggestions please? – Sachin G May 03 '20 at 21:25
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@SachinG Maybe you used the wrong type of quotes? try running this `adb shell "su -c whoami"` – gkpln3 Jun 10 '20 at 15:36
@gkpln3 Still getting the same error. /system/bin/sh: su: not found – Sachin G Jun 10 '20 at 19:14

score 8 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 25 '14 at 00:58

You need to replace the adbd binary in the boot.img/sbin/ folder to one that is su capable. You will also have to make some default.prop edits too.

Samsung seems to make this more difficult than other vendors. I have some adbd binaries you can try but it will require the knowledge of de-compiling and re-compiling the boot.img with the new binary. Also, if you have a locked bootloader... this is not gonna happen.

Also Chainfire has an app that will grant adbd root permission in the play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.adbd&hl=en

Lastly, if you are trying to write a windows script with SU permissions you can do this buy using the following command style... However, you will at least need to grant (on the phone) SU permissions the frist time its ran...

adb shell "su -c ls" <-list working directory with su rights. adb shell "su -c echo anytext > /data/test.file"

These are just some examples. If you state specifically what you are trying to accomplish I may be able to give more specific advice

-scosler

cweiske · Answer 7 · 2020-11-13T05:20:33.047

adbd has a compilation flag/option to enable root access: ALLOW_ADBD_ROOT=1.

Up to Android 9: If adbd on your device is compiled without that flag, it will always drop privileges when starting up and thus "adb root" will not help at all. I had to patch the calls to setuid(), setgid(), setgroups() and the capability drops out of the binary myself to get a permanently rooted adbd on my ebook reader.

With Android 10 this changed; when the phone/tablet is unlocked (ro.boot.verifiedbootstate == "orange"), then adb root mode is possible in any case.

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered May 25 '17 at 08:01

If you really need to have ADB running as root, the quickest and easiest way is to install Android Custom ROMs and the most popular is CyanogenMod for it has the Root Access options in developer options menu where you can choose to give root access to apps and ADB. I used CM before but since it wasn't developed anymore, I tried looking for some solutions out there. Although CyanogenMod is still a good alternative because it does not have bloatware.

One alternative I found out from a friend is using adbd insecure app which you could try from here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1687590. In my case, it works perferct with an Android custom kernel, but not with the Android stock ROM (vanilla android only). You may try other alternatives too like modifying boot.img of the Android ROM.

Siwei · Answer 9 · 2021-03-16T10:05:19.230

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in my case, ( device is rooted )

linux$ adb shell      #  in linux shell
mobile$ su root       #=> notice the $ will become #
mobile# whoami        #=> root

if you installed "adb root" module in Magisk, you still have to manually switch to root by su root, otherwise, it just LOOKS LIKE you are root, but actually you are NOT root.

edited Mar 16 '21 at 10:05

answered Mar 15 '21 at 12:56

Siwei

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JDOaktown · Answer 10 · 2021-03-17T18:51:57.197

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 running Android 7.0. Here's how I rooted it today:

Root the device using Odin
Read Alex P.'s answer in this thread regarding editing system\build.prop file.
download onto your tablet: v1.3.9 System Tools Android: All-In-One toolbox
run the app; under "System Utilities" confirm your Odin root worked using "Root Check"
in the same app goto "Root Manager" and use the "Build.prop editor" to effect the changes in the system\build.prop (as specified by Alex P.).

Final Confirmation:

C:\Android\sdk\platform-tools>adb shell
gts28vewifi:/ $ whoami
shell
gts28vewifi:/ $ su
gts28vewifi:/ # su root
gts28vewifi:/ # whoami
root

Upvote Alex P.'s answer.

Further info and here and here too

score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Jul 26 '22 at 13:56

1

Root Access in Windows Command: adb shell su

Root Access in MacOS Command: ./adb shell su

answered Jul 26 '22 at 13:56

Tahmid Bin Rashid

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adb shell su works but adb root does not

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