[SUPPORT THREAD] The Galaxy ~S5~ All in one support thread!**NOOB FRIENDLY**

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aamir2day

Senior Member
May 19, 2013
345
34
Mumbai
K and what about custom roms? Can i flash roms meant for g900f on g900s? Am planning to buy a g900s n a bit confused after knowing that there are hardly any custom roms available for it..
 

acentonz

Member
Nov 18, 2013
19
2
Any idea if safestrap will also be available for G900F? I have tested the one built for Verizon kltevzw-ncg-3.75-b03.apk and it works fine. Therefore when I am on a rom slot and switch off my phone in order to go back to stock rom it gets stuck and need to pull out the battery. Once I have done so I get the option to choose recovery mode or continue. All works fine when I am on stock rom and switch off my phone or reboot to choose the rom slot one. Phone rooted with toowelroot and knox 0x0 by installing safestrap ad well.

Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


Sent from my SM-G900F using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 
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fffft

Senior Member
Jul 16, 2013
1,973
802
can the 900w8 work on att in usa?

Yes, it should work fine. Samsung says that the Canadian model has all of the ATT frequencies (plus two bands that ATT doesn't use i.e. 3G: B4 (AWS) & 4G LTE: B8)

SM-G900W8
2G GSM B8 (GSM 850 MHz), B10 (E-GSM 900 MHz), B13 (DCS 1800 MHz), B14 (PCS 1900 MHz)
3G UMTS B1 (IMT 2100 MHz), B2 (PCS 1900 MHz), B4 (AWS), B5 (US 850 MHz Cellular)
4G LTE B1 (2100), B2 (1900), B3 (1800), B4 (AWS), B5 (850), B7 (2600), B8 (900), B17 (700)
http://www.samsung.com/ca/support/model/SM-G900WZKABMC-techspecs

SM-G900A
LTE: Bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/17; HSPA+/UMTS: 850/1900/2100MHz; GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz;
http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones/SM-G900AZWAATT-specs

.

---------- Post added at 05:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:41 AM ----------

Will you ever be able to use custom roms on the G900A? or will the bootloader forever be locked?


A method of rooting the G900A was recently developed. So you could add a custom ROM now. Normally the baseband or bootloader would remain unchanged, the custom ROM will surplant everything else. Note that if you change the kernel or install a custom recovery it will trip a security mechanism known as Knox, which will invalidate the official warranty. Although ATT would probably still honour the warranty anyway. And a lot of custom ROMs won't touch either of these two things anyway.

---------- Post added at 05:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 AM ----------

I have seen two other related posts with no such help on the matter of Boot Animations on the S5. It is almost impossible to search for such a thing too as everyone is loading S5 stock animations on their S3/4 (bloating search results).
The real problem is that the older ways of changing the animation don't seem to work.

There are different versions of the S5 phone. The Qualcomm versions e.g. SM-G900T, SM-G900A, etc use the files below for the bootanimations. The Exynos versions probably use the same files too, but I haven't confirmed that.

You can change these files with a root aware file manager. Or look for a flashable .zip file in the XDA forums. If you have a bootanimation.zip file that you want to use, there are two ways to do so. Either modify the Samsung phone to use a bootanimation.zip file instead of a qmg. Or convert the .zip file to the qmg format. You can find forum threads explaining both methods.

/system/media/bootsamsung.qmg
/system/media/bootsamsungloop.qmg
/system/media/audio/ui//PowerOn.wav

/system/media/shutdown.qmg
/system/media/audio/ui/shutdown.ogg

The bootsamsungloop.qmg is only present if the boot animation loops more than once. The wav and ogg files are audio files.

.
 
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carrd

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2012
249
50
SM-G900S (Korean) in UK

HI, really sorry if this is a noob question but would someone be able to answer this asap. I live in the UK and purchased an S5 off ebay it stated it was the SM-G900F (UK varient I believe) but upon delivery I checked and its the SM-G900S which is the Korean vairent.
So I put my sim in and it displays that im roaming which is obviously wrong. Can I just flash a UK rom and will everything work like uk varient or is the radio bands or anything else different. Please answer asap as I will need to contact ebay.

Also is this 4G version and will it work in UK?
 
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Kjc99

Senior Member
Dec 22, 2012
1,178
252
Anchorage
I'm sorry I have double posted this in another thread but I really need some help
Is this phone running firmware for 900M.. The model is G900T, I really want to update and flash latest stock rom to have the latest modem/kernel before I start flashing custom roms but I can't seem to find an answer. My carrier here in Alaska sells the phone with this firmware and I'm just wondering if they somehow flashed G900M firmware on it. If anyone has any input at all it would be appreciated... Also I live in Alaska and we do not have T-Mobile here if I flashed a T-Mobile firmware would my phone then become locked to their network?... I am used to international/and Canadian model phone and not carrier branded phones.. When I use csc checker apps it says mine is TTT which is Trinidad!


Sent from my SM-G900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 

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Hyperioum

New member
Jun 26, 2014
3
1
Hmm

There are different versions of the S5 phone. The Qualcomm versions e.g. SM-G900T, SM-G900A, etc use the files below for the bootanimations. The Exynos versions probably use the same files too, but I haven't confirmed that.

You can change these files with a root aware file manager. Or look for a flashable .zip file in the XDA forums. If you have a bootanimation.zip file that you want to use, there are two ways to do so. Either modify the Samsung phone to use a bootanimation.zip file instead of a qmg. Or convert the .zip file to the qmg format. You can find forum threads explaining both methods.

/system/media/bootsamsung.qmg
/system/media/bootsamsungloop.qmg
/system/media/audio/ui//PowerOn.wav

/system/media/shutdown.qmg
/system/media/audio/ui/shutdown.ogg

The bootsamsungloop.qmg is only present if the boot animation loops more than once. The wav and ogg files are audio files.

.

I have modified to support flashing zips, but the shutdown animation is absent. I have a shutdown.qmg in system/media and data/local. I have tried zips in these locations, but not such a thing as "shutdown.zip" (as I think boot and shutdown animations are inclusive of the bootanimations.zip file). I have tried flashing and not flashing too. My model is the G900F. I shall try converting zip to qmg next.
 

fffft

Senior Member
Jul 16, 2013
1,973
802
(as I think boot and shutdown animations are inclusive of the bootanimations.zip file). I have tried flashing and not flashing too. My model is the G900F

The 900F uses/system/media/shutdown.qmg

I can tell you first hand that it works as expected. Just replace the shutdown.qmg file and confirm that it has the correct permissions (0644).

The 900F cannot use a bootanimation.zip file unless you have modified your phone to use that instead of .qmg

.
 
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Hyperioum

New member
Jun 26, 2014
3
1
Got it

The 900F uses/system/media/shutdown.qmg

I can tell you first hand that it works as expected. Just replace the shutdown.qmg file and confirm that it has the correct permissions (0644).

The 900F cannot use a bootanimation.zip file unless you have modified your phone to use that instead of .qmg

.

I have it working now. With the modification to use bootanimation.zip, the shutdown.qmg in system/media becomes void, and thus nulls the sequence to a mere still screen. Putting a bootanimation.zip (without flashing) in system/media, and moving shutdown.qmg to system/media/video/shutdown worked for me. I now have custom animations for both the boot and shutdown :)
I have now moved on and have successfully changed the lock sounds with no problems too. Thank you for all the advice and for clearing up info for me.

Hyperioum.
 
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fffft

Senior Member
Jul 16, 2013
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I'm sorry I have double posted this in another thread but I really need some help
Is this phone running firmware for 900M.

Double posting is bad form and you should remove your duplicate posts.

To answer your questions, you have a SM-G900T (TMobile) phone. And apparently have installed an international 900M ROM based on Trinidad firmware. Your screen shot also shows your phone branded (nicknamed) "KJC". That may be you or Google suggests that it may be a Singapore based phone dealer.

Stock firmware for this phone would be TMobile releases. You could also put a 900F based, unbranded "stock" ROM on it. Or simply proceed directly to a custom ROM. Many custom ROMs are based on unbranded European firmware e.g. 900F. For instance I have a 900T phone as well, with the Phoenix custom ROM based on 900F source and it would work fine in Alaska, Canada, the lower 50 states or European GSM carriers. It is not meant to work with CDMA carriers like Sprint or Verizon. The main reason for the CSC is to facilitate automatic carrier firmware updates. But if you have a custom ROM, you won't want automatic updates and the CSC is largely irrelevant. If you want to update a custom ROM, you should be doing a manual update.

You could put a 100% stock TMobile firmware on your phone, then decide what custom ROM you want. Or proceed directly to a custom ROM such as Phoenix, Alliance or XtreStoLite. There is a list of ROMs here.

.
 
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Kjc99

Senior Member
Dec 22, 2012
1,178
252
Anchorage
Double posting is bad form and you should remove your duplicate posts.

To answer your questions, you have a SM-G900T (TMobile) phone. And apparently have installed an international 900M ROM based on Trinidad firmware. Your screen shot also shows your phone branded (nicknamed) "KJC". That may be you or Google suggests that it may be a Singapore based phone dealer.

Stock firmware for this phone would be TMobile releases. You could also put a 900F based, unbranded "stock" ROM on it. Or simply proceed directly to a custom ROM. Many custom ROMs are based on unbranded European firmware e.g. 900F. For instance I have a 900T phone as well, with the Phoenix custom ROM based on 900F source and it would work fine in Alaska, Canada, the lower 50 states or European GSM carriers. It is not meant to work with CDMA carriers like Sprint or Verizon. The main reason for the CSC is to facilitate automatic carrier firmware updates. But if you have a custom ROM, you won't want automatic updates and the CSC is largely irrelevant. If you want to update a custom ROM, you should be doing a manual update.

You could put a 100% stock TMobile firmware on your phone, then decide what custom ROM you want. Or proceed directly to a custom ROM such as Phoenix, Alliance or XtreStoLite. There is a list of ROMs here.

.

So the carrier used Odin to flash a 900m firmware? I always put custom roms on my phones but I wanted to be on the latest baseband/modem first so if I flash the T-Mobile firmware there should be no problems with signal or anything? Or I could update with the latest TTT 900M firmware through Odin? KJC is just a nickname for the phone.... Thanks for your help.... I will remove other posts

1. So I can flash 900m latest through Odin? Is that safe?

2. If I play it safe and flash T-Mobile firmware through Odin.. Will I lose anything or be locked down in some way? (I know they removed mobile data toggle).. Does tmo still have same lte bands?

Sent from my SM-G900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 
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Aiden_7

Member
Jun 22, 2014
34
2
i want to root for clean rom,killing or deleting apps or process that i don't need...it's possible?
a list of process that work in background that a user can delete or kill?
before to kill,freeze and delete i would like to know more about it...there's a sort of guide about?
i ask because i think the galaxy s5 is sometimes a little bit laggy and maybe if i freeze dcc certainly background process not very useful ..the phone would be more faster or less laggy..or not?
because rom samsung is not very fast compared to a stock pure google rom or htc sense,ecc...
i want only root galaxy and work on original rom because i don't won't to risk the knox..
 

fffft

Senior Member
Jul 16, 2013
1,973
802
So the carrier used Odin to flash a 900m firmware? I always put custom roms on my phones but I wanted to be on the latest baseband/modem first so if I flash the T-Mobile firmware there should be no problems with signal or anything? Or I could update with the latest TTT 900M firmware through Odin? KJC is just a nickname for the phone.... Thanks for your help.... I will remove other posts

1. So I can flash 900m latest through Odin? Is that safe?

2. If I play it safe and flash T-Mobile firmware through Odin.. Will I lose anything or be locked down in some way? (I know they removed mobile data toggle).. Does tmo still have same lte bands?

The S5 was just released a month ago, so all S5 firmware is very recent. The S5 shipped with 4.4.2 firmware and we are just seeing 4.4.3 /4.4.4 in the last week or so. It would be prudent to stay with 4.4.2 though as new firmware often contains unpleasant and sometimes irreversible changes. Better IMO to wait a while until the very latest firmware is fully understood. I don't see any disadvantage to you having 4.4.2, which is hardly an out of date firmware. But whether you choose 4.4.2 or 4.4.4, your stock firmware is 900T, not 900M. You can use Odin 3.x (or Chainfire's Mobile Odin Pro) to flash a 100% stock TMO 4.4.2 or newer firmware.

Do not try to flash a firmware older than 4.4.2, a custom kernel or custom recovery unless you are aware and understand that it will brick or trip the Knox security flag (invalidate your warranty). But you should be fine flashing a 100% stock TMO 4.4.2 or newer firmware via Odin 3.x. Be sure to read how to use Odin properly and ensure that the partition /PIT windows are not filled in.

You could flash a custom ROM based on 900M, although something 900F based would make a lot more sense for this phone. Your baseband will remain 900T in any case since it is a TMO phone.

We can't answer your question about LTE bands since you forgot to say who you were comparing TMO to - or who your actual carrier is. Assuming that your carrier is GSM based, it's not likely to be an issue.

.
 
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Kjc99

Senior Member
Dec 22, 2012
1,178
252
Anchorage
It's an unlocked GSM network named GCI.... Assuming there selling 900T the bands are probably similar... I'm just trying to get to NE6... So maybe I'll unroot by flashing tmo Anch and then do OTA.. From there that way if something goes wrong I could still root and use my backup of 900M firmware Thanks for taking the time to help I really appreciate it

Sent from my SM-G900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 
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fffft

Senior Member
Jul 16, 2013
1,973
802
i want to root for clean rom,killing or deleting apps or process that i don't need...it's possible?
a list of process that work in background that a user can delete or kill?
before to kill,freeze and delete i would like to know more about it...there's a sort of guide about?
i ask because i think the galaxy s5 is sometimes a little bit laggy and maybe if i freeze dcc certainly background process not very useful ..the phone would be more faster or less laggy..or not?
because rom samsung is not very fast compared to a stock pure google rom or htc sense,ecc...
i want only root galaxy and work on original rom because i don't won't to risk the knox..

The reason for the lag is because Samsung installs an excessive number of trivial applications. This is referred to as "bloatware". If you disable or remove some of the bloat, your phone will be a lot more responsive and not lag any more. Using a recent root e.g. towel root should not affect the Knox bit. Note that changing the kernel or a custom recovery would trip Knox.

After you root, you can freeze bloatware apps that you don't need via Greenify pro or Titanium pro type programs. Or simply remove them. You will be able to find threads discussing which apps are safe to freeze or remove. Alternately you could install a custom ROM that is already debloated.

.
 

Aiden_7

Member
Jun 22, 2014
34
2
The reason for the lag is because Samsung installs an excessive number of trivial applications. This is referred to as "bloatware". If you disable or remove some of the bloat, your phone will be a lot more responsive and not lag any more. Using a recent root e.g. towel root should not affect the Knox bit. Note that changing the kernel or a custom recovery would trip Knox.

After you root, you can freeze bloatware apps that you don't need via Greenify pro or Titanium pro type programs. Or simply remove them. You will be able to find threads discussing which apps are safe to freeze or remove. Alternately you could install a custom ROM that is already debloated.

.

which is the best,greenify or titanium?
custom rom i can't install because i want to maintain knox to 0x0..
so the only way is to freeze or unistall apps.
can you help me to find threads discussing which apps are safe to freeze or remove?
thanks..
 

fffft

Senior Member
Jul 16, 2013
1,973
802
It's an unlocked GSM network named GCI.... Assuming there selling 900T the bands are probably similar... I'm just trying to get to NE6... So maybe I'll unroot by flashing tmo Anch and then do OTA.. From there that way if something goes wrong I could still root and use my backup of 900M firmware Thanks for taking the time to help I really appreciate it.


Didn't you said that you don't have a TMO signal in your area? So you won't be able to do an OTA update then. Instead you can update to NE6 by downloading the TMO NE6 firmware and flashing it with Odin 3.x By all means do a backup first.. backups are always good.

I don't know anything about CGI's coverage in Alaska. But a quick Google suggests that they use LTE 700 /1900 /2100 + GSM 850 aka LTE bands B17, B2, B1 and GSM B8. Your TMO phone should be fine as it has all those frequencies. But you should confirm that with your carrier.

.
 

Kjc99

Senior Member
Dec 22, 2012
1,178
252
Anchorage
Didn't you said that you don't have a TMO signal in your area? So you won't be able to do an OTA update then. Instead you can update to NE6 by downloading the TMO NE6 firmware and flashing it with Odin 3.x By all means do a backup first.. backups are always good.

I don't know anything about CGI's coverage in Alaska. But a quick Google suggests that they use LTE 700 /1900 /2100 + GSM 850 aka LTE bands B17, B2, B1 and GSM B8. Your TMO phone should be fine as it has all those frequencies. But you should confirm that with your carrier.

.

Ok all my other Galaxy phones have been unbranded unlocked phones and this one is upsetting me.... Because it is the T-Mobile version but not running tmo firmware.... Will my Sim card still work after flashing NE6 tmo stock firmware..... I thought Ota go by your csc region code? I just want to have latest baseband/modem/kernel then flash Omega... The reason I was gonna flash ANCH is because if I do NE6 I won't be able to downgrade if it doesn't work... Sorry I'm so hesitant but there must be a reason it came with the 900M firmware and not TMO

Sent from my SM-G900T using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 
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fffft

Senior Member
Jul 16, 2013
1,973
802
which is the best,greenify or titanium?
custom rom i can't install because i want to maintain knox to 0x0..
so the only way is to freeze or unistall apps.
can you help me to find threads discussing which apps are safe to freeze or remove?
thanks..

I prefer Greenify, but Titanium is also popular.

You could use a custom ROM and maintain Knox @ 0x0 as long as you choose a ROM that does not change the stock kernel or recovery. But there is nothing wrong with keeping stock firmware if you prefer that.

There are a lot of XDA threads about bloatware removal. You didn't say what carrier you use, here is a (Sprint) S5 bloatware thread. The apps are pretty much the same for all carriers, so if it's safe to remove for one carrier it is for other ones as well. Or you could get a bloatware removal app in the Google play store.

.

---------- Post added at 03:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:47 PM ----------

Ok all my other Galaxy phones have been unbranded unlocked phones and this one is upsetting me.... Because it is the T-Mobile version but not running tmo firmware.... Will my Sim card still work after flashing NE6 tmo stock firmware..... I thought Ota go by your csc region code? I just want to have latest baseband/modem/kernel then flash Omega... The reason I was gonna flash ANCH is because if I do NE6 I won't be able to downgrade if it doesn't work... Sorry I'm so hesitant but there must be a reason it came with the 900M firmware and not TMO

The mismatch is caused by someone modifying the phone's firmware after it left the factory. Either you did that or you must have bought the phone used or refurbished. There is no way that a brand new phone would have a 900T (TMO) baseband and 900M ROM. Some one has changed one or the other and it is very hard to change the baseband. So I feel confident saying that someone has changed the ROM.The baseband is the key part which suggests that the phone was manufactured as a TMO phone. You can confirm that by looking at the label under the battery.

Your SIM card is not directly affected by the firmware, provided that you install a firmware that is compatible with the phone's baseband and hardware. To return it to stock you would need to use a TMO image, not the 900M International one. I am just trying to be helpful but it's your phone of course and you can make whatever changes you think best if you disagree.

..
 
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Aiden_7

Member
Jun 22, 2014
34
2
I prefer Greenify, but Titanium is also popular.

You could use a custom ROM and maintain Knox @ 0x0 as long as you choose a ROM that does not change the stock kernel or recovery. But there is nothing wrong with keeping stock firmware if you prefer that.

There are a lot of XDA threads about bloatware removal. You didn't say what carrier you use, here is a (Sprint) S5 bloatware thread. The apps are pretty much the same for all carriers, so if it's safe to remove for one carrier it is for other ones as well. Or you could get a bloatware removal app in the Google play store.

.

---------- Post added at 03:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:47 PM ----------



The mismatch is caused by someone modifying the phone's firmware after it left the factory. Either you did that or you must have bought the phone used or refurbished. There is no way that a brand new phone would have a 900T (TMO) baseband and 900M ROM. Some one has changed one or the other and it is very hard to change the baseband. So I feel confident saying that someone has changed the ROM.The baseband is the key part which suggests that the phone was manufactured as a TMO phone. You can confirm that by looking at the label under the battery.

Your SIM card is not directly affected by the firmware, provided that you install a firmware that is compatible with the phone's baseband and hardware. To return it to stock you would need to use a TMO image, not the 900M International one. As simple as that. You seem to ignore the parts that you don't like, but that doesn't make them any less factual. I am just trying to help you but it's your phone, you can make whatever changes you like if you don't agree with me

.

i have an european galaxy s5 no brand.so are you sure that is possible to install custom rom with knox still on 0X0? i think the only way is to install a custom rom that not has a different kernel.exist a cyanogen mod11 firwmare on s5 with the same kernel of stock rom samsung??(that not alterate knox counter)
 

fffft

Senior Member
Jul 16, 2013
1,973
802
i have an european galaxy s5 no brand.so are you sure that is possible to install custom rom with knox still on 0X0? i think the only way is to install a custom rom that not has a different kernel.exist a cyanogen mod11 firwmare on s5 with the same kernel of stock rom samsung??(that not alterate knox counter)


It would have helped if you had mentioned which S5 model and base band you have. 900M? 900H? 900F? Anyway, you can certainly possible to install a custom ROM on a Qualcomm S5 and not trip the Knox counter. And it's probably possible for whatever variant you have as well.

I don't disagree that your choice of custom ROMs is constrained if you aren't willing to trip Knox. C'est la vie. Either way, it's up to you to decide which path to take. There is no right answer - do what you think is best and enjoy the results!

.
 

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