Rooting my Android Phone

In this post I am documenting the process of rooting my Samsung Galaxy Note 4. It should work on the majority of Android phones out there.

1. Go to Settings -> System -> Security and make sure that Reactivation lock is unchecked.  Mine was unchecked and disabled, I have no idea what this means.

2. Find CF-Auto-Root for your exact model. Mine is the SM-N910F, (and I have a Windows PC,) so I got CF-Auto-Root-trlte-trltexx-smn910f.zip.  No, I am not providing the zip file, and if I did, you should not trust me.  Just go to xda-developers.com and locate it yourself.

3. Extract the contents of the CF-Auto-Root archive in a folder.
    You should end up with the following files:

        CF-Auto-Root-trlte-trltexx-smn910f.tar.md5

        Odin3.ini

        Odin3-v3.10.6.exe

        tmax.dll

        zlib.dll

    If not, there is something wrong, abandon the procedure, seek advice elsewhere.

4. Make sure your phone is not connected via USB to your computer.

5. Start Odin3 and do not touch anything except what the instructions below say.
    Odin looks like this:

6. Under Files [Download] click the AP button and select the CF-Auto-Root-....tar.md5 file. The check mark to the left of the AP button should become checked by itself.

7. Power down your phone.

8. Hold Volume-Down + Home + Power-Button for a whole second or so, until your phone gives a little vibration.  This will start up your phone in download mode. If asked, answer that you are sure.

9. Connect the phone to your PC via USB.  In Odin you should now see something like the following:

 

10. In the Options tab, make sure Repartition is not checked.

11. Click the Start button.

12. Wait while Odin is doing its thing.  When it is done, you will be rooted and you will be able to find SuperSU in your applications tray.  Its default settings should be fine.

Further steps:

Install AdAway from xda-developers:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2190753

Install File Explorer Root Browser from the Play store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrummy.root.browserfree

Install System app remover (ROOT) by Jumobile (also known as "System App Safe Remover" or just "Uninstall") from the Play store:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jumobile.manager.systemapp

I somehow also ended up with BusyBox Free, I do not know whether it is necessary:

Most things worked fine, but some apps (for example, No-frills CPU Control) would fail to start with a message saying that my phone needs to be rooted.  To fix this, I had to use Root Browser to copy the su executable from /su/bin to /system/xbin.

Then, I used System app remover (ROOT) to uninstall a whole bunch of apps. When I restarted my phone, I kept receiving the following message:

I must have clicked that OK button about a hundred times, but it seemed like there was no end to it.  So, I restarted my phone.  Luckily, on the 2nd boot the message did not show up again.

Next step:

Install No-frills CPU Control from the Play store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.sineo.android.noFrillsCPU