Timeline for How can I tell if I have root?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 29, 2015 at 1:31 | comment | added | Leo | I see, @Lie Ryan. So, perhaps, in my case a possibility is that the Play Store app has the setuid bit set (or what it is called on Android)? Is there any way to check this? | |
| Oct 29, 2015 at 1:29 | comment | added | Lie Ryan | @Leo: in short, being rooted is actually a property of a running process, not the system/device. If a process runs with elevated privilege, they're running as root, this is irrespective of whether su is installed. What "rooted device" in common Android parlance means is that the device is set up so that the user can elevate privilege of arbitrary programs, which is achieved by installing su as a suid program. | |
| Oct 29, 2015 at 1:27 | comment | added | Leo | Thanks @Lie Ryan, that was what I thought. But I am trying to understand what the trouble is with my phone (if any, how could Gmail be uninstalled?). As I understand it Gmail can be uninstalled on a rooted Android, but I do not understand exactly why - or should I say "how"? I mean can I on rooted device just uninstall Gmail from the Play Store app, or? | |
| Oct 29, 2015 at 1:23 | comment | added | Lie Ryan | @Leo: to be precise, there isn't exactly a different state between rooted and unrooted devices in the underlying Linux system. All Linuxes, including unrooted Android, have setuid system call, which is the primary mechanisms used by Linux programs to acquire elevated privilege. Setting up a suid binary itself requires elevated privilege. Many Android system applications on a unrooted device runs with elevated privilege (e.g. adbd, system updater), but they only escalate for very specific purposes. su is a privileged program that allows you to invoke other programs with elevated privileged. | |
| Oct 29, 2015 at 1:00 | comment | added | Leo | Please see this thread for the reason I am asking: android.stackexchange.com/questions/127347/… | |
| Oct 29, 2015 at 0:57 | comment | added | Leo | Thanks @Lie Ryan, but from some other comments it looks like the phone can still be rooted even if there is no su binary. Is that not correct? | |
| Oct 29, 2015 at 0:54 | comment | added | Lie Ryan | That is exactly what it means to be "rooted", is to have su binary installed properly with suid bit set. The su binary commonly comes with an accompaniment program to manage permissions, Superuser app, but this is just for conveniences and ease of use. | |
| Oct 29, 2015 at 0:26 | comment | added | Leo | Does not that just check for the su binary? | |
| S Sep 11, 2011 at 14:22 | history | suggested | remmy | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
improved and extended answer
|
| Sep 11, 2011 at 12:54 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Sep 11, 2011 at 14:22 | |||||
| Sep 11, 2011 at 11:23 | history | answered | Lie Ryan | CC BY-SA 3.0 |