11-02-2020, 05:16 AM
I am very curious to learn whether there are experienced Android flashers here who do flashing of their Android devices on a regular basis, or have experiences to share or tips to give.
When I was researching how to flash my Samsung Tablet I learned to do this with great caution only, and preferably not at all if one is not very advanced, experienced or have taken every possible care to do it right. For starters, with a Samsung device the warranty will be immediately voided with flashing as it has something included in its firmware that would detect when flashing is used.
I found two tools for flasing a device - Google Developer SDK Tools and Samsung's Odin3. Which one are you using? Is the difference perhaps to do with SDK Google tools would only be used for Google devices like Nexxus, and Odin3 has specifically been created for use with Samsung? I learned that the Samsung developers are officially using Odin3, and have unofficially released it for use by Samsung users, but strictly at the users' own risk with loss of warranty.
From my research, this is my summary of steps to follow for flashing my Samsung Tablet. If experienced users notice a "not to do" step - please let me know:
1. Check the specific model of my Samsung Tablet - which is SM-T819. What I learned during my research was that the Android firmware is tablet model specific rather than tablet version specific. This means the Android firmware of one Samsung Galaxy S2 may not work on another Samsung Galaxy S2 with a different model number.
2. I had to search very deep to find a reliable source for downloading the exact Android firmware for my model Samsung tablet. The challenge was every possible tutorial directed one to Sammobile, the Web authority for Samsung mobile firmware, but then it looks like not only does this Website want you to register an account, but also to take a paid subscription - which it does in a sneaky way. So eventually I dropped this Website and thankfully if one searches deep enough there are reliable alternatives. After a very long search I found this source that looked reliable although I can't vouch for it as I haven't used the firmware yet. I judge it by how professional the firmware is presented and operates, and my MalwareBytes hasn't found any malware or viruses when I was downloading a copy of the firmware:
https://desktop.firmware.mobi/
You need to input your device model at the page that comes up, and then you are taken to this page to download the firmware. You then have to choose a .tar.MD5 boot image:
https://desktop.firmware.mobi/device:825/firmware:2139
If you are downloading the firmware it's best to go for the last date in the firmware before it changed to the next Android version. I was looking at the possibility of changing from Nougat (Android 7) back to Marshmallow (Android 6.01). The last available Marshmallow version was dated 6 December 2016. After which the firmware changed to Nougat (Android 7.0) in 2017.
3. Next is to set up the flashing tool on your computer, which seems to be Odin3 for Samsung. Again, during my research it felt as though I was wading through risky Websites that may have malware attached. So I first downloaded free Malwarebytes trial, as a way to check possible virus sites. I then found this download place for Odin3 script:
https://updato.com/how-to/how-to-install...sing-odin/
One then has to set the tool up.
While I was researching this step, I also checked the Google SDK tools route. It looked very complicated. Looks like a couple or more years ago one was able to download the SDK tools separately from Google but now one has to get it after downloading Android Studio first.
Here are a few good YouTube tutorials by Jamie Wagner on how to set up the SDK Tools for flashing Nexxus mobile phones:
1. How To Download & Install Android Studio On Windows PC
2. How To Fastboot OEM Unlock & Lock Bootloader Android Nexus 7
3. How To Install/Flash Android KitKat Nexus Factory Images
4. How To Install Google USB Driver Android ADB Debugging Windows PC
5. How To Downgrade Android Nougat To Android Marshmallow
4. You then also discover that you may need a USB driver for the device you are going to flash on your computer. Otherwise your computer won't be able to communicate with the device. How I checked it was to connect my Samsung Tablet to my computer with a USB cable and then navigated to devices in the Control Panel of my computer. My Samsung Tablet had a yellow exclamation mark next to it which indicated there was an issue with the computer finding a USB driver for the device. Then after finding the right driver (below), and I was able to install the driver by rightclicking the Yellow Exclamation mark, the yellow exclamation mark went away. The driver is a very important tool so your flashing tool in your computer can communicate with the device while you are flashing the firmware. You won't be able to do it otherwise.
https://developer.samsung.com/mobile/and...river.html
5. You then have to set up your Samsung device - unlock it. You do this by going into the settings of the device and getting to the Developer Tools. Samsung seems to like to hide the Developer Tools in the settings, as to get to it I had to tap 5-7 times on the "About Tablet" tablet details for it to open up. You then have to enable OEM Unlocking and USB Debugging.
6. Next very important preparation is to make a backup of the contents of your device. It is very important that you don't use the backup feature on the device itself. As this may create issues with the flashing. You do the backup to your computer by using a USB cable as you would do with uploading photos etc. There are many ways to do this - you may already have your preferred way, but for Samsung there is Samsung Smart Switch that can be downloaded from here:
https://www.samsung.com/za/support/smart-switch/
7. After all of the preparation one is ready to do the flashing. I haven't done this yet as I'm not quite convinced it is really necessary relative to the risk involved. You start the flashing process by first turning off the Samsung device. Following this you press at the same time the home, power and volume down buttons. You then use the volume up button to scroll down to download mode and use the power button to OK it. You then connect the device with a USB cable to the computer. When you click on Odin it should come up with the flash load page and there will be a green box indicating it is successfully communicating with the device. If it isn't, then the first issue to investigate would be the USB driver for the device. And then the settings. Great caution is needed to ensure that the partition box in the Odin page is unticked. One then drops the firmware .tar.mb5 file into Odin in the exact right place (refer tutorials below), and the flashing should ideally happen then.
Here are two tutorials to show you how it works - one is a YouTube tutorial and the other a Web page. The Web page tutorial gives much more information on the benefits of flashing, and also troubleshooting when things go wrong. It prepares you for typical issues and how to get out of them if they should happen to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOGpFJnLP3A
https://updato.com/how-to/how-to-install...sing-odin/
8. When one uses SDK Tools for Google devices the steps are slightly different and more complicated. Best to refer to the tutorials by Jamie Wagner above and don't miss any of them. From what I can understand the flashing tools are included in the firmware download, and you have to add the SDK Platform Tools (you get it from the Userapp folder) to the package. You need to navigate to the appdata/Android/ folder until you get to SDK_platform_tools and add the contents of this to your firmware folder. You then have to unlock the device, get the device in download mode, and you do that with the command CMD of your computer. The tutorials I listed under (3) above by Jamie Wagner explain how to do it. It's best to study very carefully through all of the tutorials and not giving any of them a miss.
Odin3 sounds easier to me, but maybe with more room for error - it's not fail safe. SDK Tools sound more controlled and detailed, but also with room for error, particularly in setting up the firmware and tool package. My choice for my Samsung device would be Odin3. But only if my need for doing any flashing outways the risks. I'm still hoping one day that Android will allow one to change firmware versions easier with no need for flashing, or at least more fail safe.
When I was researching how to flash my Samsung Tablet I learned to do this with great caution only, and preferably not at all if one is not very advanced, experienced or have taken every possible care to do it right. For starters, with a Samsung device the warranty will be immediately voided with flashing as it has something included in its firmware that would detect when flashing is used.
I found two tools for flasing a device - Google Developer SDK Tools and Samsung's Odin3. Which one are you using? Is the difference perhaps to do with SDK Google tools would only be used for Google devices like Nexxus, and Odin3 has specifically been created for use with Samsung? I learned that the Samsung developers are officially using Odin3, and have unofficially released it for use by Samsung users, but strictly at the users' own risk with loss of warranty.
From my research, this is my summary of steps to follow for flashing my Samsung Tablet. If experienced users notice a "not to do" step - please let me know:
1. Check the specific model of my Samsung Tablet - which is SM-T819. What I learned during my research was that the Android firmware is tablet model specific rather than tablet version specific. This means the Android firmware of one Samsung Galaxy S2 may not work on another Samsung Galaxy S2 with a different model number.
2. I had to search very deep to find a reliable source for downloading the exact Android firmware for my model Samsung tablet. The challenge was every possible tutorial directed one to Sammobile, the Web authority for Samsung mobile firmware, but then it looks like not only does this Website want you to register an account, but also to take a paid subscription - which it does in a sneaky way. So eventually I dropped this Website and thankfully if one searches deep enough there are reliable alternatives. After a very long search I found this source that looked reliable although I can't vouch for it as I haven't used the firmware yet. I judge it by how professional the firmware is presented and operates, and my MalwareBytes hasn't found any malware or viruses when I was downloading a copy of the firmware:
https://desktop.firmware.mobi/
You need to input your device model at the page that comes up, and then you are taken to this page to download the firmware. You then have to choose a .tar.MD5 boot image:
https://desktop.firmware.mobi/device:825/firmware:2139
If you are downloading the firmware it's best to go for the last date in the firmware before it changed to the next Android version. I was looking at the possibility of changing from Nougat (Android 7) back to Marshmallow (Android 6.01). The last available Marshmallow version was dated 6 December 2016. After which the firmware changed to Nougat (Android 7.0) in 2017.
3. Next is to set up the flashing tool on your computer, which seems to be Odin3 for Samsung. Again, during my research it felt as though I was wading through risky Websites that may have malware attached. So I first downloaded free Malwarebytes trial, as a way to check possible virus sites. I then found this download place for Odin3 script:
https://updato.com/how-to/how-to-install...sing-odin/
One then has to set the tool up.
While I was researching this step, I also checked the Google SDK tools route. It looked very complicated. Looks like a couple or more years ago one was able to download the SDK tools separately from Google but now one has to get it after downloading Android Studio first.
Here are a few good YouTube tutorials by Jamie Wagner on how to set up the SDK Tools for flashing Nexxus mobile phones:
1. How To Download & Install Android Studio On Windows PC
2. How To Fastboot OEM Unlock & Lock Bootloader Android Nexus 7
3. How To Install/Flash Android KitKat Nexus Factory Images
4. How To Install Google USB Driver Android ADB Debugging Windows PC
5. How To Downgrade Android Nougat To Android Marshmallow
4. You then also discover that you may need a USB driver for the device you are going to flash on your computer. Otherwise your computer won't be able to communicate with the device. How I checked it was to connect my Samsung Tablet to my computer with a USB cable and then navigated to devices in the Control Panel of my computer. My Samsung Tablet had a yellow exclamation mark next to it which indicated there was an issue with the computer finding a USB driver for the device. Then after finding the right driver (below), and I was able to install the driver by rightclicking the Yellow Exclamation mark, the yellow exclamation mark went away. The driver is a very important tool so your flashing tool in your computer can communicate with the device while you are flashing the firmware. You won't be able to do it otherwise.
https://developer.samsung.com/mobile/and...river.html
5. You then have to set up your Samsung device - unlock it. You do this by going into the settings of the device and getting to the Developer Tools. Samsung seems to like to hide the Developer Tools in the settings, as to get to it I had to tap 5-7 times on the "About Tablet" tablet details for it to open up. You then have to enable OEM Unlocking and USB Debugging.
6. Next very important preparation is to make a backup of the contents of your device. It is very important that you don't use the backup feature on the device itself. As this may create issues with the flashing. You do the backup to your computer by using a USB cable as you would do with uploading photos etc. There are many ways to do this - you may already have your preferred way, but for Samsung there is Samsung Smart Switch that can be downloaded from here:
https://www.samsung.com/za/support/smart-switch/
7. After all of the preparation one is ready to do the flashing. I haven't done this yet as I'm not quite convinced it is really necessary relative to the risk involved. You start the flashing process by first turning off the Samsung device. Following this you press at the same time the home, power and volume down buttons. You then use the volume up button to scroll down to download mode and use the power button to OK it. You then connect the device with a USB cable to the computer. When you click on Odin it should come up with the flash load page and there will be a green box indicating it is successfully communicating with the device. If it isn't, then the first issue to investigate would be the USB driver for the device. And then the settings. Great caution is needed to ensure that the partition box in the Odin page is unticked. One then drops the firmware .tar.mb5 file into Odin in the exact right place (refer tutorials below), and the flashing should ideally happen then.
Here are two tutorials to show you how it works - one is a YouTube tutorial and the other a Web page. The Web page tutorial gives much more information on the benefits of flashing, and also troubleshooting when things go wrong. It prepares you for typical issues and how to get out of them if they should happen to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOGpFJnLP3A
https://updato.com/how-to/how-to-install...sing-odin/
8. When one uses SDK Tools for Google devices the steps are slightly different and more complicated. Best to refer to the tutorials by Jamie Wagner above and don't miss any of them. From what I can understand the flashing tools are included in the firmware download, and you have to add the SDK Platform Tools (you get it from the Userapp folder) to the package. You need to navigate to the appdata/Android/ folder until you get to SDK_platform_tools and add the contents of this to your firmware folder. You then have to unlock the device, get the device in download mode, and you do that with the command CMD of your computer. The tutorials I listed under (3) above by Jamie Wagner explain how to do it. It's best to study very carefully through all of the tutorials and not giving any of them a miss.
Odin3 sounds easier to me, but maybe with more room for error - it's not fail safe. SDK Tools sound more controlled and detailed, but also with room for error, particularly in setting up the firmware and tool package. My choice for my Samsung device would be Odin3. But only if my need for doing any flashing outways the risks. I'm still hoping one day that Android will allow one to change firmware versions easier with no need for flashing, or at least more fail safe.