Some news on SuperSU issues
Posted on 2013-11-15, 46 comments, 125 +1's, imported from Google+/Chainfire

NOTICE: This content was originally posted to Google+, then imported here. Some formatting may be lost, links may be dead, and images may be missing.

Seems people have been having some issues with the latest update, and updating in combination with KitKat.

Crashes on opening SuperSU after update, SuperSU disappearing, not getting root, etc.

Something mostly new with KitKat it seems. Not quite sure what the cause is yet, but the following procedure seems to work for people:

(1) Install SuperSU from Play

(2) Disable Wi-Fi and mobile data (optional, but may help)

(3) Repeat:

(3-a) Go to Settings -> Apps -> SuperSU

(3-b) Use the uninstall updates button, if not availabe, exit this loop

(3-c) Reboot

(4) Enable data again

(5) If you now have an old SuperSU version, install latest from Play again

Note that using the fix permissions scripts from TWRP and CWM is always a bad idea, and can also cause issues like these.

Tabs not clickable on Android 2.x devices

This issue should be fixed again in the next update. In the meantime, you'll just have to swipe to change tabs. This is a very unfortunate bug causing a lot of internal problems ...

Language changing every boot on some firmwares

This issue is found and fixed in the next update. Took a few hours to locate this one ...

OTA survival breaking OTA update 4.3 --> 4.4

Also fixed in the next update

+1125
Matteo Panella commented on 2013-11-15 at 12:06:

Dumb question: how does SuperSU get around SELinux running in enforcing mode on 4.4? su daemon running in an unconstrained (i.e. init) context?

Chainfire commented on 2013-11-15 at 12:19:

+Matteo Panella pretty much right on the money, yes

Arthur Stingo commented on 2013-11-15 at 13:17:

Chainfire I have a really quick question for ya .. I had to use vroot to root .can you if u can tell me how to get rid of the Chinese su an use your super su ..Please ..

Arthur Stingo commented on 2013-11-15 at 13:17:

I've followed your work since DROID X purchased your apps so I know your work well

Fernando commented on 2013-11-15 at 13:20:

I flashed nexus 7 2013 factory images last night, rebooted, flashed twrp recovery, it asked if I wanted su, I said yes, rebooted, got the notification of su outdated, updated it, rebooted one last time, and everything is fine, with several apps using it without any problems. I've enabled art too and it fine (and fast)

Joe Philipps commented on 2013-11-15 at 13:24:

+Matteo Panella, enforcing SELinux had been introduced with 4.3, so it's not brand new to 4.4. You can read about it (fascinating read) if you look at Chainfire's post history (one of the "tabs" if you look at his G+ profile)

eric fonta commented on 2013-11-15 at 13:34:

Hello from me root slowed Nexus 5 while I have no application that requires root privileges

Mark Skarzynski commented on 2013-11-15 at 13:39:

Are there versions of cwm that still have Fix Permissions? They removed it, said it didn't actually help anything since Froyo -- placebo effect only.

Matteo Panella commented on 2013-11-15 at 13:40:

+Joe Philipps: on 4.3 SELinux is running in permissive mode (at least on my Nexus 4). The enforcing mode is publicized by Google as one of the major milestones of 4.4

Joe Philipps commented on 2013-11-15 at 13:50:

+Matteo Panella, all I can tell you is I compiled my own su-like SUID program with the NDK, deployed it to my Nex7, and it did not allow the operations I was trying to do. SuperSU running in daemon mode was working though (I guess it could not identify my process...I was trying to start ntpd from dhcp-hooks)

Matteo Panella commented on 2013-11-15 at 13:58:

That's the effect of Zygote running with a reduced set of POSIX capabilities (a "feature" introduced in 4.3), so suid programs invoked directly from apps would inherit the reduced set of capabs.

SELinux is there, but it's just logging violations (i.e. getenforce returns "Permissive"), from 4.4 onwards you have to deal both with a reduced set of capabilities and SELinux profiles. This makes deploying suid executables nigh to impossible.

Grady Duncan commented on 2013-11-15 at 14:02:

+Chainfire ask if they are on ARM or not. I work for Jrummy apps and there was some weird bugs with 4.4 but only if they were on ARM.

Arvin Atal commented on 2013-11-15 at 14:28:

That's interesting. I'm running 1.69 without any issues. I did however, did a super-clean install: completely wiping my Nexus 4 before flashing the factory images, then flashing the supersu zip. Must just be really lucky me. :)

Eric S commented on 2013-11-15 at 15:31:

No issues here as well on Nexus 5, clean install of 1.69, TWRP 2.6.3.2. Still stock though, haven't flashed any kernels or ROMs. 

Joe Philipps commented on 2013-11-15 at 15:54:

I wonder if this difficulty has anything to do with making it a /system/app.  Maybe the 4.4 update doesn't like anything it doesn't expect to be in that directory.

Joe Philipps commented on 2013-11-15 at 15:55:

Sure, and things like Connectbot or JackPal's Terminal would be a child of Zygote, so would inhert its capabilities.  Gotcha.

eric fonta commented on 2013-11-15 at 16:20:

+Eric S No slowdown including touch buttons that have a latency?

Eric S commented on 2013-11-15 at 16:32:

+eri fo nothing so far. running smooth and fast. 

eric fonta commented on 2013-11-15 at 17:17:

+Eric S I do not understand

Nico Lee commented on 2013-11-15 at 17:53:

Sir.how to unroot my n9005.because i can't contact galaxy gear and knox system.please help me fix!can you teach me fix.i use RootGenius rooted beform.

Matteo Panella commented on 2013-11-15 at 18:21:

Little report: I dirty-flashed my N4 after doing a full unroot.

After I reinstalled SuperSU 1.69 via TWRP I was hit hard by the "disappearing app" bug and various crashes and I had to uninstall all SuperSU updates from the app settings menu twice in a row.

Now it's running smoothly.

Kyle Laubscher commented on 2013-11-15 at 19:46:

+Chainfire you may have a look at this little change Google made in Kit Kat. It was specifically implemented to make it more difficult to root.

http://source.android.com/devices/tech/security/dm-verity.html

Horst-G. Thiel commented on 2013-11-15 at 20:10:

No Problems on S3 with Carbon ROM Nightly CM 10.2 - JB 4.3.1

Matteo Panella commented on 2013-11-15 at 20:51:

+Kyle Laubscher: this is very disturbing: transition to dm-verity hash trees and block-oriented OTAs will make /system virtually untouchable unless users are willing to modify the boot image to deactivate dm-verity and forego the OTA updates entirely. This move reeks of Google trying to close the root hole in their "blessed" images for the Nexus devices.

+Horst Georg Thiel: most issues described in this thread arise only on Android 4.4. SuperSU works fine on 4.3-based ROMs.

Horst-G. Thiel commented on 2013-11-15 at 20:54:

+Matteo Panella Uff :-)

Kyle Laubscher commented on 2013-11-15 at 21:22:

+Matteo Panella Yes, one would have to flash a new kernel immediately upon unlocking the bootloader to turn off that particular check before attempting to install a root application. Upon doing that, OTAs would no longer be an option. Each update would have to be flashed in recovery once a dev has the opportunity to remove or negate the offending code.

Cameron Schluchtner commented on 2013-11-15 at 21:54:

+Arthur Stingo just instasll supersu

Sunny Somyani commented on 2013-11-16 at 01:01:

Today only rooted my n4 without any toolkit done it manually feeling great after a success but don't know how to unroot

Mark Gillespie commented on 2013-11-16 at 08:16:

Uninstall updates cycles worked for me

Giuseppe Bastino commented on 2013-11-17 at 08:34:

BUG: After last update my S2 (4.1.2 stock) start in another system language. Can you fix it? Thank you. ps: ok it will be fixed in the next update, now I read your post.

Chainfire commented on 2013-11-17 at 15:12:
Kyle Moore commented on 2013-11-18 at 02:30:

The uninstall updates cycle (step 3) worked for me as well on my wifi 2012 Nexus 7. Two iterations of the loop were required and I kept the device in airplane mode the whole time.

Jonathan Anderson commented on 2013-11-20 at 03:35:

+Chainfire the latest update to KitKat also broke su ... Not going to KitKat but the patch their pushing out for those of us who side loaded or flashed...

Thomas Vav commented on 2013-11-20 at 20:19:

Just passed from here to say thank you for helping me dealing with stupid root problem after upgrading to 4.4 at my Nexus 4.

You are the man!

Lutz Huesch commented on 2013-11-22 at 02:15:

I was offered the 4.4 update at lunchtime today and said: go ahead...

Then TWRP went through some scripts, asked me various questions which I could'nt answer off the top of my head, so eventually I selected the option BOOT - and have been stuck in a boot loop ever since.

Nice looking at those four spheres gallivanting across the centre of the screen - but I can't seem to get rid of this screen, even pressing the power/volume buttons!

Any help anyone? ROOTED N4, latest SuperSU, Busybox etc - at least that was before the 'update' LOL

Jonathan Anderson commented on 2013-11-22 at 02:18:

Wug nexus toolkit will fix it easily so you don't have to mess around with much. Or at least I think it does nexus 4. or you could boot into twrp and perform wipe.

Lutz Huesch commented on 2013-11-22 at 02:26:

+Jonathan Anderson Most obliged! I eventually succeeded in pressing those damn keys long enough for the N4 to exit... Now connected to the PC and will go the WUG route, thanks a lot, mate!

Except we are having another wee thunderstorm and I may have to shut down everything LOL

Thomas Vav commented on 2013-11-22 at 05:44:

Wug is the way to go Lutz.

I am always using it in order to update to ask newer roms, without losing any applications or settings.

This of course when I keep using stock Rom with or without root/custom kernel.

Lutz Huesch commented on 2013-11-22 at 06:31:

+Thomas Vav Thanks, have now tried this but couldn't get my connected N4 to be recognised for eitehr fastboot or adb... In the end, I used TWRP to wipe the fone, reload an old backup from last August, and reinstall oodles 4.2, then upgrade to 4.3, and now 4.4 without further hassles.

Only thing is that I've no lowst access to my Avast-protected settings because the PIN from way back doesn't work anymore. Just composing an e-mail for help@avast.com...

If anything, the episode has shown me the need for REGULAR backups LOL

Kathy Rice commented on 2013-12-04 at 13:47:

Really dumb question. My S4 is rooted and I have the latest app from +Chainfire SuperSU. Love the app and the root. However i am havng a problem with an app and would like some help but really dont want to post on a public forum. Is there somewhere that i can send an email for assistance?

Angela Nelson commented on 2014-03-20 at 01:14:

Do you have any custom ROMs. Since I upgraded to Kitkat 4.4 my picture messaging doesn't work, do you know a fix for this or have an app for this? I have triangle away, SuperSU, and Mobile Odin. My S4 is a SCH-R970C and is not supported on Mobile Odin, will you please update it to support my phone. I also use your CF AutoRoot and I love your work. Its awesome!

Abdulhkeem Alhadhrami commented on 2014-05-01 at 14:40:

this one is really wierd i installed the cf-auto root on my note 3 SM-N9005 rom NC2 the Official one and if the supersu is intalled it wont grant permissions (the notification shows and i click grant) and titanium backup keep showing asking for root. i removed it and every app gets the root access without any super user or SU installed.

Abdulhkeem Alhadhrami commented on 2014-05-10 at 16:35:

xxuenc2

SeMy SeMy commented on 2015-06-12 at 15:35:

every time (when ) talking to someone on Facebook is giving restart and restart every morning is given ie if someone who knows how to solve the problem say I supersu almost 7 months

Hiazakite2406 commented on 2016-09-28 at 22:26:

SuperSU said it beeded to be updated so i updated it and it destroyed my phone and i had to do a factory reset and idk what the problem was

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