[Verizon Galaxy S 5 Android Development] FestiveFloralPond:
First timer failed at installing optimalRom

First, I would like to say that I have never done any of this custom rom stuff, but have wanted to for a while. So, I am pretty much a total noob at this stuff.

Here is a description of my first failed attempt:

I have a G900V with stock android 4.4.4. My first goal was to get rooted with safestrap. So I did this:

I used Odin to go back to stock 4.4.2 (NCG)

I used towlroot

I installed supersu and updated binaries

I installed busybox

I installed safestrap (NCG)

I installed recovery in safestrap

I rebooted to safestrap recovery

I created a backup to microsd in safestrap

I wiped in safestrap.

Now, I had a goal to install optimalrom. So I went to follow the instructions for “RETAIL - If coming from KitKat firmware (4.4):”

I transferred OptimalROM_*_BigBot96.zip to microsd

I selected install in safestrap

I flashed OptimalROM_*_BigBot96.zip and rebooted to download mode.

I used Odin to Flash *_fw_bigbot96.tar.md5 via ODIN in AP slot but when it rebooted, it was stuck in Samsung Galaxy S5 splash screen. No option to go into safestrap came up.

I rebooted to download mode.

I used odin to Flash G900V_OD5_Bootloader.tar.md5 via ODIN in AP slot

When it rebooted, it was stuck in Samsung Galaxy S5 splash screen. No option to go into safestrap came up.

Since at this point I felt I followed the instructions to the best of my knowledge my thought was to get into downloading mode and use odin to flash back to stock 4.4.2, At first, I couldn’t figure out how to get to downloading mode from being stuck on the Galaxy S5 splash screen, so i pulled the battery, then was able to get to downloading mode. I flashed back to 4.4.2 (NCG). At least I can use my phone again.

I would like to be able to get OptimalROm installed. Any suggestions on what I did wrong? I would like to learn.

Thanks,

Jonathan

After my first failed attempt, I thought I figured out what went wrong, and tried again.

I used "OptimalROM-15-5_DEODEX_Upgrade_BigBot96.zip" instead of "OptimalROM_15-5_DEODEX_BigBot96.zip". Just not reading filenames fully I guess. I'll try again using the full 15-5 big bot zip later today.

So, I tried again using "OptimalROM_15-5_DEODEX_BigBot96.zip", but i still got the same thing, where it would get stuck at the galaxy s5 logo during boot. I'm back on stock NCG. I will say that the optimalrom seemed to take too short of a time to install for a >1GB file. When installing with safestrap, it said something about could not mount E:\data and E:\ss, but it said installation was successful anyway, so I went ahead.

Any suggestions? I'm stuck at this point.

But now finally I do have OptimalROM installed. I had to wait for 20 minutes on the boot screen after flashing the firmware via Odin, then I pulled the battery and flashed the bootloader via Odin and waited another 20 minutes via Odin. Nothing happened, so I entered maintenance mode and did a factory reset. After that I waited 5 minutes on the boot screen, and the phone finally booted. I read through about 100 pages of this thread to get the "wait 20 minutes" and "enter maintenance mode and do factory reset" ideas. As I said, this was my first time, so I'm not sure if it's normal to wait 20 minutes on a screen that normally takes about 3 seconds like that and have to pull the battery and do a factory reset and all this stuff. Maybe it's normal and this is just a learning experience for me.

Anyway, now that the ROM is installed, it's really awesome, except for apps randomly crashing, but I think this is a known lolipop issue and I have read about how to get that fixed.