How to Root SM-N950U/U1 – Galaxy Note 8 Snapdragon

You can now root Galaxy Note 8 Snapdragon variant on all US carriers in the US, using the new Extreme Syndicate root method. The instructions in this guide are compatible with any Snapdragon Note 8 with SM-N950U/SM-N950U1 model number and V7 bootloader revision. In this article, we are going to talk about How to Root SM-N950U/U1 – Galaxy Note 8 Snapdragon. Let’s begin!

Samsung has been readily processing its flagship devices in two different variants – Exynos and Snapdragon. It has been the same when the company launched the S7 and for the Galaxy Note 8 as well in this case. There are many situations where Exynos under-powers the Snapdragon variant in the case of Samsung. But the one we will be talking about today is – rooting the Snapdragon variant of the Galaxy Note 8.

If your phone is on BL V1, V2, or V3, then you can visit an old archived copy of this page for the required files and instructions.

Rooting the Galaxy Note 8 Snapdragon Variant

Things are actually very different, and difficult at the same time when it comes to the Snapdragon variant of the phone. That’s actually because, unlike the Exynos variants, the bootloader on the Snapdragon variants is not unlock-able. And hence, the generic method of flashing TWRP through ODIN and then rooting through Magisk is bound to fail.

This latest method to root the Snapdragon Galaxy Note 8 has been developed and brought to us by the Extreme Syndicate team. This is the same group that recently developed the rooting solution for the Snapdragon Galaxy S9, S9+, and Note 9. Team member and XDA RD elliwigy is the one who actually found the exploit that is being used for rooting the phone.

And XDA RC and developer jrkruse is the one who is handling the development front for the Snapdragon Galaxy Note 8. He’s the same person who initially brought a rooting method for the Snapdragon Galaxy S8, S8+, and Note 8, that we have been using in this guide previously. However, that method was limited to V5 and V6 bootloaders only. With the latest bootloader revision, that is V7, the old method did not work.

So, jrkruse modified the Extreme Syndicate root method to work on the Note 8. This means you can now easily root your Snapdragon Galaxy Note 8 running the V7 bootloader using it.

Then

Now before you go ahead and follow the instructions, take a look at some important information below to debrief yourself with the method that will follow.

• This guide and the included instructions are only for the Galaxy Note 8 Snapdragon variant with SM-N950U and N950U1 model numbers, which are the US models.
• This method will only work if your phone is using version V7 bootloader.
  • To find out your phone’s bootloader version, go to Settings → About phone → Software information and check the information under the ‘Baseband version‘ section. Such as, if it says “N950USQS7DTA5”. The “S7” here denotes the bootloader version, which is V7.
• This will not unlock your phone’s bootloader. It will still be locked.
• The KNOX counter will not be tripped at all.
• Root on Android Pie or Oree is not possible. In simpler words, you will not have root permissions on Android Pie or Oreo. So, you have these following two choices:
  • Either stick with the pre-rooted Android Nougat OS, if you really want root.
  • Or, install the Android Pie ROM with Safestrap recovery. Once that is installed, you can use Safestrap to apply modifications to your phone by flashing zips or making modifications to the system partition.
    This has some additional benefits as well like the ROM is debloated of any useless apps, has features like a native hotspot and multi-user support enabled, and also has Samsung Pay, Secure Folder, Samsung Pass working.

Prerequisites | root sm-n950u

• Your device’s internal storage and all data will be wiped (Possibly more than a few times) during this process. So make sure that you take a complete backup of all your data stored on the phone. We suggest you follow our guide on how to backup Android phones.
• Charge your Note 8 to a sufficient battery level. This will prevent any breakage during the process.
• Install the latest Samsung Mobile USB drivers and Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader USB Drivers on your PC.
• Also, download the latest Android Platform-tools package, extract it, and add it to your Windows PC PATH (Environment Variable). Alternatively, you can also use Minimal ADB and Fastboot that automates the whole process for you.
• Download Modded Odin v3.13.1 by Raymond from here and extracted the downloaded ZIP file to an easily accessible location on your PC.

When you have everything set up, you can easily root Galaxy Note 8 Snapdragon. If you’re new to the whole rooting scene, make sure to take your time and understand each and every step before you execute.

How to Root Galaxy Note 8 Snapdragon?

For your convenience and better understanding, we have split the complete instructions into 5 different steps. Make sure that you follow them in the mentioned order and also do not skip any of the steps.

Perform Factory Reset and Enter Download Mode on Galaxy Note 8 | root sm-n950u

The first step in order to root is to perform a factory reset through the stock recovery and then boot your Snapdragon Note 8 into Download Mode. To do so:

• Power off your phone completely.
• Then hold the Volume Up, Bixby, and Power buttons simultaneously to boot your phone into the stock recovery mode.
• In recovery mode, use the Volume buttons to select the ‘Wipe data or factory reset’ and press the power button to confirm the selection.
• When prompted, select ‘Factory data reset’ to confirm.
• Now, select the ‘Reboot to Bootloader’ option in the stock recovery to enter Download Mode on your Galaxy Note 8.

Flash Combination Firmware using Odin Flash Tool | root sm-n950u

The first thing you have to do is download the combination firmware package (COMBINATION_FA70_N950USQU7ASK1.tar.7z) for your Snapdragon Note 8 from the ‘Downloads’ section above. Once downloaded, extract the file (using 7Zip, or any other archive utility) to a suitable location on your PC. You should now have the combination firmware file for your phone in .tar.md5 format. This is the file that needs to be flashed.

So now, connect your phone to the PC while it’s in Download Mode using a USB cable. Then launch the modded Odin tool by double-clicking the ‘Modded Odin v3.13.1 Raymonf.exe‘ file. The Odin tool GUI should now be shown on your PC’s screen and it should display the COM port to which your Note 8 is connected. Click on the ‘AP‘ button and select the combination firmware file (i.e. COMBINATION_FA70_N950USQU7ASK1.tar.md5) that you extracted earlier.

Now, you’re ready to flash your phone. Just make sure that the ‘F.Reset Time‘ and ‘Auto Reboot‘ options are checked in the Odin tool. Finally, hit the ‘Start‘ button in Odin to flash the combination firmware on your Snapdragon Note 8.

when the process finishes, you should see a ‘PASS!‘ message in the Odin tool and your phone will reboot automatically into the combination OS. Since this is a low-level testing firmware used by Samsung internally, the UI will differ. It should look similar to the one shown in the image below.

Run ‘APPS_INSTALLER.bat’ and Reboot the Phone | root sm-n950u

Now, in this step, you have to run a batch file on your PC which will sideload some apps that need to go ahead with the rooting procedure.

So, with your Galaxy Note 8 now in the combination OS, connect it to the PC through a USB cable. Then download the ‘N8_ROOT.7z’ file from the ‘Downloads’ section and extract the file on your PC. The extract files should contain the ADB binaries, a bunch of APK files, and two Windows batch files namely ‘APPS_INSTALLER.bat’ and ‘ROOT_INSTALLER.bat’.

Simply double-click the ‘APPS_INSTALLER.bat’ file to run it. It will then install the required APK files on your Note 8. Once finished, reboot your phone.