How to Root Amlogic S802 Android TV Boxes

I’ve received a Tronsmart Vega S89 Elite, and after publishing some pictures, I’m now testing the device. The firmware does not come rooted however, which can be a problem for screenshots, bluetooth gamepads, and a few other apps requiring root access. Geekbuying has published a guide to root the Vega S89, which should also work with other Amlogic S802 Android TV boxes, and devices. The instructions below require a PC or Virtual Machine running Windows XP/7/8.

We need to make sure sure USB debugging is enabled in your Android device, and the developer options were not enabled in my firmware (with a Windows Metro like UI), so here are the first steps to follows:

1. Go to Settings->Other->More Settings to access the default Android settings
2. Go to “About Media” and click 7 times on “Build number” to enable the “Developer Options”
3. Go to the “Developer Options” and make sure “USB Debugging” is ticked as shown below.

Once this is done you need to connect a micro USB to USB cable between your S802 device and a Windows PC, and follow the instructions below:

1. Upon USB connection to your pc, the drivers should automatically install. If they don’t simply download and install the latest version of Moborobo, then disconnect and reconnect the USB cable if needed.
2. Download and install VRoot, a rooting tool in Chinese. The exact name of the installer I used was VRoot_1.7.3.4863_english_cid1005_7337ba1e_89.exe.
3. Start VRoot, and it should automatically detect your Android device. A message pop-up on my device asking to allow a connection with an RSA key, then another window in Chinese appeared but you don’t need to select either of the two buttons. VirtualBox users need to select Devices->USB Devices->MBX Vega S89 [FFFF], or whatever correspond to their device to enable the USB interface in their Windows guest OS.
   
4. After the connection and an APK installation is complete, you’ll be able to click on “Get root” in VRoot. This will root your device, and reboot it to complete the rooting process.
5. Done

VRoot should be able to confirm your device is rooted after reboot, but it did not work for me. However, I could confirm my Vega S89 Elite was indeed rooted with Root Checker. Now each time, you’ll run an app requiring root access, and a Superuser pop-up will show up with a mix of English and Chinese, but at least it’s working.

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