How to root Glanzix Tab GL-7TA

[greensugartea]

I have no clue how to root my Glanzix Tab GL-7TA. It's running ics android 4.0.4 with rockchip rk29sdk. I've tried z4root that didn't didn't work. Any suggestions on how to root this tablet.

 

[bigdavekaty]

Newbie here...what will rooting do? I'm new to Android but many years in tech. Can anyone describe a simple cookbook for rooting this tablet using a PC? There is a lot of jargon on this site, not that there is anything wrong with that, but it makes it hard to get up to speed. Thanks, BigDaveKaty.

 

[EighthPieceOfNine]

Most RK2918 tablets can be rooted through a series of simple adb commands.

WORD OF WARNING:
- No guarantee it will work with your particular device. I know it should work with most RK2918 devices (shipping with ICS).
- You perform the rooting attempt entirely on your own risk.
- Think twice before doing anything. If you mess up and brick your device your only way to out is to re-flash the Stock ROM with RKFlashTool. If you DO NOT have the flash image of the genuine ROM it's up to you to go ahead and try.
- READ FIRST; take your time to try and understand what each step does!

That being out of the way...


The first thing you have to do is to get yourself...

- On Windows:
adb.exe / AdbWinApi.dll / AdbWinUsbApi.dll

- On Linux:
adb

The files are part of the Platform Tools.
At the time of writing you would download...

http://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r14-linux.zip
http://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r14-windows.zip

...and simply grab the files mentioned above out of the ZIP.

To keep things simple I assume you simply collect all files in your "Downloads" directory (no matter if you're on Linux or Windows).

NOTE: On Linux you need to make "adb" executable!!!
Either right-click and select "Allow executing as a program" in the properties tab, or simply issue "chmod 0755 ~/Downloads/adb"

Next thing you need to prepare is the actual "root" application. I suggest you simply get yourself SuperSU...
Go here: [29.08.2012] SuperSU v0.96 - xda-developers

Scroll down and download the "CWM installable ZIP:"

Extract the "Superuser.apk" and "su" binary into your Downloads directory.

That pretty much concludes the requisites.

Next you head into the system settings on your device and enable USB-Debugging.

Take your USB cable and connect the tablet to your computer.

On Windows you may have to install the device drivers if you're connecting the tablet for the first time. Get that done, then carry on.

Open the "Command Prompt" (Windows -> select "Run as Administrator") or "Terminal" (Linux)

Change into your "Downloads" directory.
- On Windows:
cd Downloads

- On Linux:
cd ~/Downloads

Now type:
adb devices

If you get the device listed you can continue... if it does not find a connected device...

- On Linux:
mkdir ~/.android
gedit ~/.android/adb_usb.ini
(Or use whatever texteditor you like)

Insert this one line:

0x2207

Save the file, exit gedit, return to the Terminal.

Type:
adb kill-server
adb devices

Your device should now be listed (if not your PCI VendorID may differ)!

- On Windows:
mkdir %USERPROFILE%\.android
notepad %USERPROFILE%\.android\adb_usb.ini

Insert this one line:

0x2207

Save the file, exit Notepad, return to the Command Prompt.

Type:
adb kill-server
adb devices

Your device should now be listed (if not your PCI VendorID may differ)!

NOTE: The 0x2207 value you put into adb_usb.ini is the PCI VENDOR ID of your device. In case it happens to differ you need to put the correct Hex-Value after the 0x!

Carrying on with rooting...

adb shell mv /data/local/tmp /data/local/tmp.bak
adb shell ln -s /data /data/local/tmp
adb reboot

Your device will reboot now... once it has booted up to the lock screen and you saw the "USB Debugging Connected" message...

adb shell rm /data/local.prop
adb shell "echo \"ro.kernel.qemu=1\" > /data/local.prop"
adb reboot

Your device will reboot again... and you will most likely see NO OUTPUT ON THE DEVICE SCREEN! DO NOT PANIC!

adb shell id

If the command returns you "uid=0(root) gid=0(root)" we're where we wanted to be. If you don't get the message then you either made a mistake OR your device does not work with this little "backdoor".

If it didn't work then undo the changes...
adb shell rm /data/local.prop
adb shell rm /data/local/tmp
adb shell mv /data/local/tmp.bak /data/local/tmp
adb reboot

...and know that the only way to root the device is to modify the RKFlashtool image to pre-root the ROM and then "shoehorn" it into the device by flashing.

If it worked it's time to inject root...

adb remount
adb push Superuser.apk /system/app/Superuser.apk
adb push su /system/xbin/su
adb shell chown 0.0 /system/xbin/su
adb shell chmod 06755 /system/xbin/su
adb shell rm /data/local.prop
adb shell rm /data/local/tmp
adb shell mv /data/local/tmp.bak /data/local/tmp
adb reboot

And that's already about it... once your device has booted up you will find "SuperSU" listed in the app drawer.

Now install ES File Explorer from the Play Store and make sure you set...

Settings -> Root settings...

Check "Root Explorer"
Check "Up to Root"
Check "Mount File System" (as read/write)

Once you set that option you will get a prompt from SuperSU to allow root access for ES File Explorer. Confirm it.

Happy de-crapifying your ROM, though be careful NOT to delete IMPORTANT system files! If you mess up and brick your device your only way is to re-flash the Stock ROM with RKFlashtool in Recovery Mode (assuming you have a firmware image for your device).