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As far as I know the "root" of a device means that you have a /sistem with rw permissions.

Is the process of rooting related to the kind of CPU? Often I read that a device has changed processor (e.g. Intel or MediaTek or ARM...) so you have to wait to have a way to root the device. Why (technically) this process is related to CPU?

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  • Not really. I would advise a lot of research on what root is.
    – Dan Brown
    Commented Nov 29, 2016 at 21:29

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The process of rooting essentially installs a su binary and optionally a management tool (e.g. SuperSU) into your /system. Both need to be compiled against each CPU architecture (x86/arm/arm64/mips/etc.) individually - if you look inside a flashable SuperSU package, you will see the different architectures lined up in separate folders.

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But concerning the wait for different devices, it's not that related to the CPU/SoC. If you were to root using a custom recovery, then the bootloader is the hurdle - you usually need it unlocked to be able to flash the recovery and proceed, and the wait is either for unlocking it, or for someone to make a recovery image suitable for the device. If you were to use one-click rooters, how the manufacturer patches against the root exploits they use is the key, and this can be applied regardless of architectures (e.g. Android monthly security patch).

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This is because to gain the root access, you have to first get the bootloader unlocked, which is closely tied to chip powering the device, so every motherboard needs a native bootloader. So, all devices running different ROM's using different processors having different bootloader, which are highly processor specific.

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Yes and no. There are many ways to root a device, however all of them involve the installation of su, a native binary that will only run on the CPU architecture it is compiled for. That said, Most phones use one of 3 CPU architectures (arm, arm64 and x86), and it's trivial to compile Android su for any one of them, so that part is not really tied to a specific chip or even brand of CPU.

The process for getting said binary on the device can vary from dependence on the CPU and other phone hardware (unlocking bootloader and using a rooting image) to completely processor independent (using Android vulnerabilities).

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  • Yeah, and most of iT is Linux kernel vulnerabilities- just Google dirty cow exploit
    – Dan Brown
    Commented Nov 29, 2016 at 21:38
  • That does not make the use of such exploits dependent on a specific type of processor - the same kernel compiles for many different types of processors without altering the code.
    – 520
    Commented Nov 30, 2016 at 8:51

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