# [Q] Samsung Galaxy XCover 3 (SM-G388F)



## mcsdoode (May 24, 2015)

This is the first phone I've purchased without it's own seperate section on XDA. As I'm no developer, I've always simply jumped on XDA, found the appropriate root/custom boot recovery/ROM development threads, but it doesn't seem like there's any info our there for this phone. Google searches only returned spam/malware/fake root methods.

 I understand not being a developer, I have no right to expect others to create roms/develop anything for this phone.... but is there a general way to at least attain root access for Android phones?

 Thanks for any help you guys can offer


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## Rockel (May 25, 2015)

I'm also looking for a way to root my g388f. Also find only a lot of junk when I google for this.
Yesterday I came across this info, annyone who can verrify if this works or not?

http://axeetech.com/2015/05/23/how-...388f-running-android-4-4-kitkat/#.VWL7ltzCQtR

With kind regards!


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## ep09043 (May 25, 2015)

It seems to me that this will not work ..

Why?




There is no support for our device


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## switcher (May 25, 2015)

ep09043 said:


> It seems to me that this will not work ..
> 
> Why?
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



its just a spammy link to a packed SU archive, not the promised files needed for cf autoroot
most probably chainfire method will work, i already asked for it

need some patience here


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## Fox1Lead (Jun 18, 2015)

for me the same, i Need the root for changing the non working sap Profile ....
sap Profile out of the box was the Point why i purchased the phone ...
I already spoke to the Samsung Support, they tell ist the fault of vw ... 
but it testet the sap with another android phone (S2) works fine out of the box


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## schand99 (Jun 25, 2015)

Even I am looking for root method for XCover 3. towelroot, Kingo IRoot are not working


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## mcsdoode (Jun 26, 2015)

Even with a large amount of requests in the cfroot thread, it seems that no one is interested in making any form of auto root for this phone.

 Anyone know of a universal, manual method that can root our phones?


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## Phantom3D (Aug 1, 2015)

I am also looking for root access, or lolipop, I need to write to my SDcard..


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## tero999 (Aug 25, 2015)

Any news? I am trying to root my phone but after extensive googling I can't find it.  I tried "everything" but it does not work.


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## polpot (Sep 22, 2015)

*Working root*

Hi
I used this guide and it worked for me. Used the Odin method. 
The guide for Odin is not that accurate, amoungst other things it tells you to use the "AP" to load the image you downloaded. In my Odin i used the "PDA". Also the setup guide for disabling "Re-partition" and "PIT table" is not correct.
But if you are used to using Odin, you will figure it out. Anyway, it worked for me. 
Follow the link at the bottom and download the Super SU, before rooting. This saves you a reboot.

http://www.theandroidsoul.com/samsung-galaxy-xcover-3-root-twrp-recovery-84011/?PageSpeed=noscript



tero999 said:


> Any news? I am trying to root my phone but after extensive googling I can't find it.  I tried "everything" but it does not work.

Click to collapse


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## osowiecki (Oct 5, 2015)

This worked. Thank you.


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## Andro-Man (Oct 23, 2015)

Get the Root file for SM-G388F at this post


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## Darkergothic (Oct 29, 2015)

Found a good guide for TWRP install here, gonna give it a go later..
http://www.theandroidsoul.com/samsung-galaxy-xcover-3-root-twrp-recovery-84011/?PageSpeed=noscript

Then it's just a matter of flashing BETA-SuperSU-v2.49.zip to gain root!
https://download.chainfire.eu/740/supersu/

-----
Edit:
-----
Seems someone got in ahead of me here with the same info 
Anyway, when your rooted go get a PRO version of 3C Toolbox.
And take full control of your phone, it's the one must have app in my book!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ccc71.at&hl=en


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## guy hiver (Nov 9, 2015)

Yes, it worked for me too. Thank you!


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## jiguan (Nov 27, 2015)

Hi guys... Is someone know where to get network or sim unlock script?.


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## drummie1978 (Nov 28, 2015)

*Root Galaxy X Cover 3*

Recently I got my X Cover rooted !!
It costed me sometime, but it works !
I've got a package of 11 MB with all the tools !
Now the phone says it's rooted  
How can I post the package here, ive got it on Filedropper, but I cant post urls here......
its fildropper dot com slash samsungxcover3rootpackage


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## mag0r (Dec 23, 2015)

*Not working with Lollipop?*

Hi guys,

I successfully used the method above to root the phone when it was on Android 4.4.
Now I updated to 5.1.1 and the method doesn't seem to be working anymore. 

After I flash TWRP with Odin and (immediatly) try to boot into recovery I get the message: "recovery is not seandroid enforcing", and nothing else happens.

Any ideas? I didn't find anything with google or here on xda and there doesn't seem to be any newer version of TWRP than 2.8.7.0-xcover3ltexx.img.

I'd be grateful for any help!


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## maurensen (Dec 27, 2015)

So if I'll update to lp I'll loose rooting & twrp.. Bad indeed... I'm very tempted to buy this phone after my xcover 2 breaks down but with zero roms I think I'll wait some other time... Thanks for any info!

Sent from my GT-I8190 using XDA Free mobile app


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## Deleted member 6819182 (Jan 5, 2016)

Hi, I have huge problem with my xcover3, I tried to flash a rom from sammobile, but it was wrong region I suppose, and the odin procedure failed and ended up messing with the bootloader, the device doesn't start at all, no logo no recovery, no download mode, nothing, it only just vibrates when I press any key combination, which means it's not completely dead.
What should I do? I think the only way to fix this is to boot somehow from microSD card, is there any way to do that, or anything else I can do, I even tried the usb jig and same result.


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## Mr.Mefisto (Jan 8, 2016)

*Xcover 3 root with LOLLIPOP*

Somebody knows a way to root Samsung Xcover 3 with LOLLIPOP 5.1.1 ?


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## mcsdoode (May 24, 2015)

This is the first phone I've purchased without it's own seperate section on XDA. As I'm no developer, I've always simply jumped on XDA, found the appropriate root/custom boot recovery/ROM development threads, but it doesn't seem like there's any info our there for this phone. Google searches only returned spam/malware/fake root methods.

 I understand not being a developer, I have no right to expect others to create roms/develop anything for this phone.... but is there a general way to at least attain root access for Android phones?

 Thanks for any help you guys can offer


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## BHH95 (Jan 10, 2016)

Can anyone help me with my deleted efs???


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## R0yke (Feb 19, 2016)

Mr.Mefisto said:


> Somebody knows a way to root Samsung Xcover 3 with LOLLIPOP 5.1.1 ?

Click to collapse



I'll follow your posts. I also like to know how to root Lollipop on my Xcover 3


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## maurensen (Apr 4, 2016)

Tried new twrp 3.0.1 build but no luck with lp￼ any developer wish to explain what's preventing LP to boot with twrp? Thanx

Sent from my SM-G388F using XDA Free mobile app

Sent from my SM-G388F using XDA Free mobile app


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## budgies (Apr 12, 2016)

BHH95 said:


> Can anyone help me with my deleted efs???

Click to collapse



If the problem still exists - Did you already try to flash the Firmware again?


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## Zobat (Apr 16, 2016)

anyone succesfully rooted the xcover3 with lollipop?


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## conanecu (Apr 24, 2016)

Hello, I've put 5.1.1 with Odin, and I am very interested for a way to root it. Subscribed to this thread.


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## maurensen (Apr 24, 2016)

Yea but seems this phone it's with less devs then its predecessor. No one has afaik gained root with LP on this phone. We'll have to wait until a skilled dev will join this camp

Sent from my SM-G388F using XDA Free mobile app


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## Wimz3n (May 2, 2016)

Root for Marshmallow 6.0? 
I've been trying to flas'n'hack but all is deadend. Would like to bypass file verification.


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## lefti696 (May 5, 2016)

Wimz3n said:


> Root for Marshmallow 6.0?
> I've been trying to flas'n'hack but all is deadend. Would like to bypass file verification.

Click to collapse



Do you have xcover 3 with marshmallow? How come? Is it xcover 3 value edition? 


Darkergothic said:


> Found a good guide for TWRP install here, gonna give it a go later..
> http://www.theandroidsoul.com/samsung-galaxy-xcover-3-root-twrp-recovery-84011/?PageSpeed=noscript
> 
> Then it's just a matter of flashing BETA-SuperSU-v2.49.zip to gain root!
> ...

Click to collapse




Wysłane z mojego HTC One_M8 przy użyciu Tapatalka


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## Wimz3n (May 12, 2016)

lefti696 said:


> Do you have xcover 3 with marshmallow? How come? Is it xcover 3 value edition?
> 
> 
> 
> Wysłane z mojego HTC One_M8 przy użyciu Tapatalka

Click to collapse



Pfft... Beats me it's an SM-G389F so something weird is it with it.


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## nuubstyle (May 16, 2016)

Wimz3n said:


> Pfft... Beats me it's an SM-G389F so something weird is it with it.

Click to collapse



Can you post some screenshots please?


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## Wimz3n (May 17, 2016)

nuubstyle said:


> Can you post some screenshots please?

Click to collapse



Like this?


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## nuubstyle (May 23, 2016)

Wimz3n said:


> Like this?

Click to collapse



You are lucky . I hope that someone can port the rom as it seems that they have the same hardware. Maybe you'll find a rooting method too.


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## [email protected] (Jun 7, 2016)

I suggested xda to create a thread for our device... lets see...
I also want to contact chainfire to create a cf-auto-root for xcover 3 on Lollipop.
Anyone would be interested in?


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## [email protected] (Jun 8, 2016)

Wimz3n said:


> Like this?

Click to collapse



Actually I tried to flash the G389F Android 6 (marshmallow) ROM to my G388F via Odin... 
It does not work... 
The flash process stops right at the beginning, so no changes where made to the phone.

---------- Post added at 06:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:17 AM ----------




[email protected] said:


> I suggested xda to create a thread for our device... lets see...
> I also want to contact chainfire to create a cf-auto-root for xcover 3 on Lollipop.
> Anyone would be interested in?

Click to collapse


 @O_G created a ET for our device :good:

Samsung Xcover 3

It's still not listed in "My Device" ... waiting for it


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## yy1 (Jun 9, 2016)

[email protected] said:


> I suggested xda to create a thread for our device... lets see...
> I also want to contact chainfire to create a cf-auto-root for xcover 3 on Lollipop.
> Anyone would be interested in?

Click to collapse



YES, YES, YES Thanks for this!:good:


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## praun (Jun 11, 2016)

[email protected] said:


> I suggested xda to create a thread for our device... lets see...
> I also want to contact chainfire to create a cf-auto-root for xcover 3 on Lollipop.
> Anyone would be interested in?

Click to collapse



Yes that would be awesome!!

---------- Post added at 10:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:53 PM ----------




Wimz3n said:


> Like this?

Click to collapse



I also have this model number. It is the value edition. Runs really smooth with mm.

But I can't seem to get the flashlight working with the blue button??


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## budgies (Jun 11, 2016)

*sure*



[email protected] said:


> I also want to contact chainfire to create a cf-auto-root for xcover 3 on Lollipop.
> Anyone would be interested in?

Click to collapse



Absolutely. But from what I read about chainfires auto-root I guess it won't work, because the Xcover 3's Marvell Armada PXA 1908 is a very rarely used SoC. But anyway, I would have posted the 2 files myself in the auto-root thread if If could. I just don't have the 10 posts full yet


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## Ystrem (Jun 13, 2016)

That would be great to have 6.0 on this device.
http://samsung-updates.ru/SM-G389F.html


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## [email protected] (Jun 14, 2016)

budgies said:


> Absolutely. But from what I read about chainfires auto-root I guess it won't work, because the Xcover 3's Marvell Armada PXA 1908 is a very rarely used SoC. But anyway, I would have posted the 2 files myself in the auto-root thread if If could. I just don't have the 10 posts full yet

Click to collapse



You are right, this chipset is not supported by autoroot and maybe will never be...
Actually I did not need to have 10 posts... as you can see this is my 5th post and I could post to the autoroot thread.
I think you need at least one post and one "thanks!"...


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## mcsdoode (May 24, 2015)

This is the first phone I've purchased without it's own seperate section on XDA. As I'm no developer, I've always simply jumped on XDA, found the appropriate root/custom boot recovery/ROM development threads, but it doesn't seem like there's any info our there for this phone. Google searches only returned spam/malware/fake root methods.

 I understand not being a developer, I have no right to expect others to create roms/develop anything for this phone.... but is there a general way to at least attain root access for Android phones?

 Thanks for any help you guys can offer


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## DelTh35 (Aug 5, 2016)

budgies said:


> Absolutely. But from what I read about chainfires auto-root I guess it won't work, because the Xcover 3's Marvell Armada PXA 1908 is a very rarely used SoC. But anyway, I would have posted the 2 files myself in the auto-root thread if If could. I just don't have the 10 posts full yet

Click to collapse



Yes I would be,  as I need To root my Xcover3 running android 5.1, which is still boy possible yet!


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## todomade (Aug 5, 2016)

praun said:


> Yes that would be awesome!!
> 
> ---------- Post added at 10:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:53 PM ----------
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Nice trick i read about:
Just install any app and link the blue button to it. Then delete the app and the button will be doing nothing


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## Zobat (Aug 19, 2016)

so, still no root for MM on this device?


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## zaxx68 (Aug 30, 2016)

Hi, since TWRP does not work with XCover 3 Value Edition SM-G389F (Android 6.01), is there some hope for this phone to be rooted soon ?


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## Matt07211 (Sep 15, 2016)

For Anyone interested I am implementing Chainfires Systemless root by hand for the Lollipop Version of this device (and for the For Anyone interested I am implementing Chainfires Systemless root by hand for the Lollipop Version of this device (and for the people wanting it to work on MM link me to the MM firmware so I can grab the boot.img) , and will create a little script  (push su.img to the device and other miscellaneous things) to get root functioning on the device once the modded boot.img is flashed.

 I almost have everything ready for testing by you guys, the only roadblock I am hitting is patching the sepolicy file. If anyone here has a 4.4+ device with selinux and has at least SuperSu 2.5+ installed, can you please PM me as this is the only thing I don't have and as such causing this to be delayed. Once I have a modded Sepolicy file, the systemless root should then be ready for testing.


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## endbored (Sep 16, 2016)

Im also very interested in a solution for this, my new device is still on its way tho, if i can assist in any way just let me know..


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## Matt07211 (Sep 17, 2016)

endbored said:


> Im also very interested in a solution for this, my new device is still on its way tho, if i can assist in any way just let me know..

Click to collapse



All I am doing is just implementing chainfires system-less root by hand, for 2 reasons, the first being twrp is currently not working on lollipop and thus not able to flash SuperSu, and secondly it seems like the boot.img wouldn't be extracted properly by script ( I had to resort to using a hex editor to extract the files) and thus corrupt boot.img

Now if you want to help with achiving root, you can help modify the sepolicy file (I will guide you through the steps I you will help) of you have both a 4.4+ device with at least SuperSu 2.50+ or newer flashed on the device. Once I have everything setvup then anyone is welcome to test and see if my effort has paid off.


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## k3wlar (Sep 17, 2016)

Please can anyone tell me what I have to do To decrease the android 5.1.1 to 4.4.4? we fail to flash ..Thank you


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## EzChillzz (Sep 17, 2016)

Hey Guys I know a root method. First flash the twrp for xcover 3 with odin. Then download this program that i uploaded:  http://www.mediafire.com/download/s1abx86u18azq5h/romflash_7482_20160726_V1.3.0.exe     install the program and go to one of the tabs click on recovery, it will boot into twrp,then just flash super su, done enjoy root. (remember to have usb debugging on)


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## Matt07211 (Sep 18, 2016)

EzChillzz said:


> Hey Guys I know a root method. First flash the twrp for xcover 3 with odin. Then download this program that i uploaded: http://www.mediafire.com/download/s1abx86u18azq5h/romflash_7482_20160726_V1.3.0.exe install the program and go to one of the tabs click on recovery, it will boot into twrp,then just flash super su, done enjoy root. (remember to have usb debugging on)

Click to collapse



Dude that is for gaining root on KitKat roms, except for that dodgy exe file (which I urge no-one downloads). This won't work on lollipop as the recovery won't boot up (currently looking into it) but if anyone wants to try this dodgy looking exe, I won't stop you.


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## Matt07211 (Sep 20, 2016)

For anyone wanting to root their xCover 3, KitKat or Lollipop (EXPERIMENTAL) please go over to my thread at: http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/development/4-4-4-5-1-1-6-0-1-samsung-xcover3-t3465132


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## rrmTV (Jun 21, 2018)

So for people who still dont understand.
I will make a video on this topic soon.


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## longgo (Jul 25, 2018)

It`s really old topic but will ask here in case someone have some clue and will to help me. 
My phone was rooted, and I used on it twrp-2.8.7.0. All was perfect and even manage to pull all my rom data with TWRP and upload it into my second Xcover 3. It`s by the way SM-G388 version. Then it worked well for 2 months until yesterday. I try to remove and change the broken glass (digitizer). I open it, and before to remove the glue stickers of the new glass I try my phone. It boot nice, and work well, so I turn it off and fit all on place as should be. Then when power it up, it get stuck on: Xcover 3 - boot by android white logo... and that`s it. 
It was possible to go into TWRP recovery, so I didnt back up again.. (stupid me...   ) but instead I give wipe cache.. It reboot and come again into that White "powered by android" .. No further.
And was not able to go any more into TWRP. I try "download mode" and it work every time. I push with odin the full OEM 4.x.x firmware - still no boot. Try 5.1 firmware - no boot. 
Again 4.xxx one - no boot.
So now the only one it work well is "download mode". I lost even the OEM recovery mode. Pushing Vol UP+ HOME+POWER do absolute nothing.. 
Odin flash the firmware with flying colors and no errors. So perhaps the EPROM chip itself is ok, and if I can go into "donwload mode" so not everything is lost.. 
Any suggestion?


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