[Galaxy S 5 General] iorya984:
Hello to you guys,

with this thread I wanna help people who get a Live Demo Unit of Galaxy S5 and wanna "unlock" it, removing Retail Mode and getting an official firmware on it. A Live Demo Unit is recognizable cause the phone has an "X" after the "SM-G900" signature.

Before start explain, I wanna remember to all that with a Live Demo Unit YOU CAN'T DO PHONE CALLS or TEXT MESSAGING due to its nature. So, this custom friwmare will transform your Live Demo Unit in a beautiful and complete Galaxy S5 "WiFi Version" ;).

Ok, lets do this!

What you need for a great job is:

Samsung USB Drivers on your PC

Odin, downloadable from here http://odindownload.com/ (vers. 3.09)

TWRP Recovery, .tar extension (here is the link for the download http://techerrata.com/browse/twrp2/klte)

Firwmare of your country. You can get it form sammobile.com. I've done this with the G900F version and I've tested only with it but I think this kind of guide works for all devices. Be sure to download the correct Firmware of your device!!

A program named "cgywin" for create your own firmware for the Live Demo Unit http://cygwin.com/setup.exe

Do this AT YOUR OWN RISK!! If you're not sure to have understand something, please do not go any further.

Ok, so let's start to explain what to do. If you'll follow step by step this procedure, you'll reach the goal for sure ;)

First, I think is better to do a good and complete backup of your actual firmware and system. To do that follow those steps:

Install Samsung USB driver in your PC (if you don't have it already). Be sure that the phone is visible by your PC.

Turn off the device and go into Download mode (pressing VolDown+Home+Power).

Open Odin and connect your device to the PC.

Now flash the TWRP Recovery (select "AP" voice on Odin and choose TWRP .tar file you have already downloaded)

Ok, now you can do a Nandroid backup of your entire phone, including system, with Recovery. So, turn off the device and go into Recovery, then choose "Backup" and flag ALL the voices (so you'll be sure to backup all). Save it in external MicroSD so you can get it simply if you need it.

After the complete backup, it's time to "prepare" the custom firmware:

Install cgywin (for a complete guide for How To Install this program, Google it)

Download the right firmware for your device

Once file is downloaded you will have something looking like this G900FXXU1ANCE_G900FITV1ANC7_ITV (this is the one I've used)

Extract the .zip file to get an .md5

Rename it with like ldu900x.tar

Go into the folder were you've install cgywin and put the ldu900x.tar here

Now, launch cgywin.exe and type those command

$ tar --delete --file=ldu900x.tar NON-HLOS.bin

$ tar --delete --file=ldu900x.tar modem.bin

After that, the ldu900x should have only those files on it:

- boot.img

- cache.img.ext4

- hidden.img.ext4

- recovery.img

- system.img.ext4

If there are other files that are not those I've checked above, please delete them using the command $ tar --delete --file=samrom.tar FileName on cgywin as explained. The final .tar file gotta have only those 5 files I've listed above.

Once the final ldu900x.tar is ready, you can flash it with Odin.

Before the flash, use TWRP for a TOTAL WIPE of the device (including system but

do not wipe

the extSDcard). This is for to be sure that the device will be ready for a good and clear flash.

After the flash with Odin, reflash the TWRP Recovery (following the steps above) so you can do other backup or restore the old firmware if you need it.

Hope this guide can help all the guys who need to use their LDU completely (excluding calls and SMS as said). Personally my LDU doesn't have Private Mode, Finger Scanner, S-Health, UltraPowerSavingMode and other stuff, but with this "custom" firmware made by myself, now works ALL! :victory:

Bugs:

The only thing that does not work here is the upgrading of SHealth Services that does not allow to upgrade it to SHealth 3.1 version. If anyone know how to solve this I appreciate :)

Thank you guys for your support and thanks to:

[MENTION=912474]Dees_Troy[/MENTION] for TWRP

[MENTION=4854585]Sirus2012[/MENTION] for have opened the way

[MENTION=4593484]jopa7[/MENTION] for suggestions

Fell free to offer me a beer (or a meat can for my 5 cats ;) )

Have a good flash to all! :D