[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] jpcalhoun:
So you have decided, or maybe trying to decide, to invest a good chunk of money into a Developer Edition S5 instead of a retail version. Here are a few tips and general information that you need to know before you start to "tinker" with the Developer Edition S5:

1) The Developer Edition S5 can only be obtained from the Samsung online store (site). When you receive the S5 you should understand that it is going to look, feel and perform exactly like the retail version of the S5. The only way you can tell the difference is to pull the battery and look for the words "Developer Device" printed on the S5's board under the battery. You will have all the bloat etc that a retail version has. The only difference is that your bootloader, unlike the retail version, is unlocked. The phone will come with the latest version of Android that Samsung currently supports...the same version as the retail S5.

2) After your initial boot, and before you do anything else, go to settings>security and

disable

(uncheck) the Reactivation Lock. If you don't do that before "tinkering" with your phone you stand a very good chance of successfully bricking your phone while flashing a recovery or rooting your phone. Next go to About Phone>Build Number and tap it about 6-7 times and enable Developer Option and then enable USB Debugging.

3)A word of advice: Never, never take an OTA update. If you do, you stand a real good chance of locking your bootloader. Samsung has never released a OTA update specifically for their Developer Edition phones. Allowing a retail OTA update to download and install on you Developer Edition will most likely lock your bootloader for good. Sending it back to Samsung will not help you. They will not unlock your phone, and you cannot unlock your phone. You are stuck with a very expensive retail version of the S5. Keeping the Developer Edition up to date is not a problem. Our developer community does a great job taking the latest updates and creating ROMs that are safe to flash on our devices. It may take them a day or two, but it happens.

4) Installing a custom recovery...the first step: First, download and install the latest Samsung drivers on you PC. Then download and install on your PC the latest version of ODIN. Version 3.07 also works if that is what you already have. I recommend TWRP as the best custom recovery to use. Download the latest version of TWRP and place it on you PC. Start ODIN. Power off your phone and then holding down the volume down - button and the power button boot into Download Mode. Once in Download Mode connect your phone to your PC using the supplied USB/charging cable. Wait for ODIN to recognize your phone (phone info will appear in the ID:COM window in ODIN). In the Message window in ODIN find the TWRP .tar you downloaded and highlight it with your cursor. Select the PDA block in ODIN. Now select start. Allow ODIN to do its thing. Do not disconnect your phone until you get the Green Pass notification in ODIN. Disconnect your phone and reboot. You now have a custom recovery installed. NOW DO A BACKUP using your TWRP recovery. Do it right now!!

5)Rooting: After installing a custom recovery (TWRP), download the latest version of SuperSU and place it in your internal storage or external sdcard. Boot your phone into Recovery, wipe cache and delvek, you can also do a Factory Reset if you choose, then select install, find the SuperSU .zip, and flash it. Reboot. Now you are rooted. You can confirm (recommended) that you are rooted by installing Root Checker from the Play Store and running it.

6). OK, you have a custom recovery and rooted. You can now take advantage of the benefits of an unlocked bootloader. There are a number of good ROMs you can flash in the Android Development Section. Caution...Do not flash a ROM that says "Retail". Most developers will say whether it is safe for Developer Phones. There are also some AOSP ROMs that are "Works In Progress" in the Unified Section. You can flash those, but they are not quite ready for prime time yet.

7) Just a reminder: Do not take an OTA. Do not flash Retail Firmware.