yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] btonetbone:
This x 100. Restoring data from a Kitkat ROM onto a Lollipop ROM is begging for issues. Especially since Lollipop is clearly causing some additional issues as reported by many, users should do everything in their power to minimize user-caused problems. The max backup/restore that is worth exploring would be some selected user apps (no data) from Titanium Backup and even that is best used sparingly.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
The change to a nandroid restore process was not due to complaints on this thread. The ROM process has been performed a couple thousand times and the number of issues reported that I can attribute to the data backup/restore are minimal if any. Those experiencing problems like rotation issues have been caused by people deleting apps and how they are doing it. Other issues can be attributed to the 5.0 update itself.

Anyway, I will remove the User Data backup/restore steps from the OP.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] kprice8:
For what it's worth, I followed the OP from like day 2. I had screen rotation just fine, up until I started debloating via TiBu.. While I may not be as UP on everything as others around here, I think it's fair to say it's user error, not the backup since it all went swimmingly for me, until I started debloating by TiBu. I re-flashed the whole thing to fix it, and debloated manually by Fx, and have had 0 issues.

Yes, I agree it's not VMS, but something that TiBu is causing.

Also, TiBu and SuperSU had updates over the weekend. May be something folks will want to update before they try debloating with TiBu again.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] elliwigy:
i wasnt implying your instructions are wrong just that a disclaimer should be added since restoring anything from an older android build to a new one can potentially cause issues with the rom/apks restored.

the file structure is different in L so its even more relevant now than before.. it could be the debloat process or it could be tibu in general so i do agree its user error but also potentially tibu in the way it restores data or removes the data.

the reason i think a disclaimer would be nice is bcuz a lot of ppl are having some issues whether it be L in general or user error and are posting in every rom thread for L when theres nothing at all wrong with your rom or any others outside of normal L bugs. Just trying to make it less degrading on the roms you and i and others are putting out since its not us or our roms lol
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] maw230:
Can you explain what debloating via Fx is?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
Thanks, no offense taken. I just removed the User Data backup/restore steps completely so I don't have to deal with it any further.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] suprtommyman:
I did everything by the guide but it wouldn't boot after flashing OA8.

So I just updated to Lollipop with flashing.

However I can't refresh NK2 anymore, causes a brick.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] kprice8:
Fx is a File Viewer that can also have Root Privs with the ability to remove files from the phone by deletion.

See here.

Flashing the NK2 Kernel causes a brick? That's because you're trying to boot to phone, and not to SS.. SS should be the first thing to come up after the Samsung screen if you do it right.

If you did not have SS prior, you will need to use Odin to Flash NK2 and ADD SS, and then reflash forward per the instructions.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] suprtommyman:
How can I get to NK2 if it bricks my phone.

Roots been lost so I can't exactly access it.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] elliwigy:
you updated to L using the odin tar so you do not have ss installed.. you need to odin back to a 4.4.x full odin tar, root (using ncg kernel), install busybox and ss then install ss recovery then boot into it and flash a 5.0 rom.zip and then boot straight into download mode and flash the oa8 kernel

---------- Post added at 10:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:53 AM ----------

i also wanted to add that if you followed the guide it wouldnt have caused a "brick" so you are missing something
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] suprtommyman:
I think my OA8 bootloader prevents downgrading.

Any build of kitkat bricks the phone.

---------- Post added at 10:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:55 AM ----------

And I assure you I followed the steps exactly.

I KNOW I did.

I gave up on the guide because that Stock Rooted Rom flashed by SS keeps bricking my phone, so I just went ahead and installed OA8 and said "**** it"
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
it's apparent based on these posts and previous posts that he doesn't know what he is doing so it's best he stay away from attempting to modify his phone.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] damnhao:
are there any step by step instructions to downgrading back to 4.4.4?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] kprice8:
Follow....

CLICK HERE
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] ahmadveg:
Thanks

Thanks for your help. After reading your response sort of gave me the push to go ahead and do it. had to wait till I had access to a windows pc (thankfully I work on holidays lol). rotation is back. now to start debloat lol. or should i just hide all my apps. TB has me nervous, time to go back into the threads Thanks again from the cold cold state of new York
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] XNO:
Agree, my phone was crashing on restarts and some programs did not see root. Went back to KK and problems are gone.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] elliwigy:
agreed lol. dont want to end up with a real hard brick lol
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Alex Feldmeier:
So after this process for upgrading and rooting, can we remove safestrap from the installer app since it is no longer usable in 5.0?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] :
I would keep it in case you need to downgrade, its easier or for future root methods possibly
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
It is usable by downgrading the kernel. But you can remove it manually. Here's how: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=58646770
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Alex Feldmeier:
Thanks both of you, that helps. I think I'll just keep it for now then.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] wareju:
I also downgraded back to KK, still can't figure out why updating with root kills my ability to send sms. Ah well, hopefully a root method for L comes about soon, anyone know if someone is working on it?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] :
Probably not since it is already achieved. Try a fresh install and not restoring data from past... I would try a fresh update
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] wareju:
Yeah I'll give it another shot when I get a chance. So if I'm already on nk2 rooted, should I just wipe, flash rom, flash kernel?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] :
Believe so, but double check for sure
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] elliwigy:
thats what i did lol thats essentially what you need to do.. go in ss, wipe, flash rom then straight to odin mode and flash oa8 kernel
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] kenjoma:
On number 3, when I go into Restore, it's empty. I have put the rar file in there, I have put the extracted folder in there and also the contents of the extracted folder. It is still blank. And yes, I put it in my sd card/ twrp / backups / c312b879 folder.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] damnhao:
i accidentally did a reboot after doing a wipe from safestrap. now the phone is stuck on the boot screen. how do i fix this?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
Is your backup folder on your extsdcard or internal sdcard? Make sure you select the appropriate card to use in Safestrap.

And do not place the .rar file onto your device. As stated in the OP you extract the file/folder from the .rar and place that extracted file into your device.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
You just completely wiped your OS. You need to Odin back to NC2 and start over.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] damnhao:
did you mean ncg? or ni2? or nk2?

i'm looking here http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2784880 or if you could point me in the right direction for download
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] kenjoma:
I put it on my external sd card / I only have the folder in that location now and it still wont show. Can anyone give me a screen shot of what step 3 looks like. Should I see a folder, or what?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Rapunzl:
I found my phone was using a different directory under backups, so I moved the file there and found it.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
Yes, NK2 sorry hard to keep it all straight.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] kenjoma:
What directory was yours under and how did you find that out?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] damnhao:
i have tried flashed the nk2 kernal but it is still stuck in the samsung galaxy s5 boot screen.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
You need to flash the entire firmware not just kernel. I suggest that you spend some time reading after resolving this issue and before modifying your phone any further.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Rapunzl:
I looked under the Backup directory with SS and found my backups were under 3531962a.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
Interesting. Which version of Safestrap are you using? I based my instructions on this version: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=56708194
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
In the Safestrap Restore screen you should see the following at the top: "Storage: Micro SDcard"
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] kenjoma:
Good looking out. I had to make a backup first so it would show me the name of the folder I needed. Thanks again.

---------- Post added at 02:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------

I got it. I think that a lot of peoples last folder in backups is different. May want to put that in the tut that it is probably user specific.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
I didn't realize that. Can you give me the name of your folder?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] kenjoma:
mine was - c6b296d7
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
Ok, thanks. I have added a note to the OP.

Let me know how the backup works. Not hearing much on it yet so I am assuming that it's working well.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] kenjoma:
Working great. Thanks.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Rapunzl:
You're right... I was using 3.7 instead of 3.75. I got it from this thread when I originally rooted. I had re-downloaded the pack and got 3.75, but I don't think I ever re-rooted like I was going to.

:D
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] mikey2487:
so when placing the safestrap backup on the sd card to unzip the .rar file or just copy and paste the entire file on the sd card?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
You need to extract the backup file from the .rar archive and then place the extracted backup file/folder onto your sdcard.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] ymDroid:
How's everyone's battery life now after this method?

I'd say mine is worse than, kitkat. Not dramatically worse, but not great anymore.

I used to have about 20-25% after a 12 hour day, by the time I got home from work. Now my phone is dead at 12 hours. I come home and place it on the charger.

Might this have something to do with the safestrap restore process from KK and not keeping the install fresh after the flash?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] :
You should allow you ROM at least a few days to "warm up" and give everything a chance to break in. Most people like the battery on the new rom
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
For safety reasons safestrap does not flash kernels. You have to use Odin with a pc.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] boothroyd917:
So do you have to do a clean install to make sure that the Baseband and Build match? Or can I just flash back to NK2, use the NCG kernel to get root and all back, then follow the instructions?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] yu42hit:
when i odined back to nk2 from lollipop it wont boot
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Wynnded:
Odin the NK2 kernel?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Jeff Speake:
I think the mismatch that I got was anomalous.

This is what I did:

Started with a complete clean wipe in Safestrap, including everything..haha, I even wiped the sdcard. I then used the Format data option as well. Completely wiped clean. :p

Then I booted into download mode and loaded a fresh full stock version of N12, booted and took only the Nk2 update.

After that I used Odin to flash the NCG in order to load towelroot, busy box and safestrap as per usual.

Back to Odin to flash the NK2 kernel.

Then I just followed muniz's instructions from here.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] mygraine:
I followed the directions exactly and it worked brilliantly. Thank you.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] zimgir124:
Or are you stuck at the VZW logo? Pull the battery a couple times, that what got it to work for me.

Also please include a little info so we can help....
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Jeff Speake:
Why did you do that? This will only cause problems. You are going to need to do a battery pull now and wait at least 2 minutes then start all over in Odin with a fresh stock N12. Read through all the Lollipop threads. I bricked my device earlier when I flashed the NK2 kernel over Lollipop when I was testing something for muniz.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] boothroyd917:
Perfect, that's exactly what I was wondering. My other question is whether there's a way to do a backup of my phone now (I'm on OA8 w/o root) so that once I do flash all this, I won't have to wait a few hours, like last night, to download all my apps from the Play Store. I saw something called Holo Backup, not sure if that'd work, it's supposed to work over ADB and not require root. I'll be trying this as soon as I get off work and I'll report back then. Thanks for the info.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] zimgir124:
I was able to Odin from Lollipop to NK2 not to long ago and able to properly boot, not sure if I am misunderstanding him though, also I bricked mine testing last night too, download mode showed me on OA8 but after the SS splash it stayed black and would not boot.

So I had to ODIN to nk2 and reroot.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Jeff Speake:
When you get to the point where you are ready to follow muniz's instructions use his method of backing up data in safestrap. Follow each step in his instructions exactly.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] boothroyd917:
Wow, I totally overlooked that part, haha. Thanks for saving me a load of work.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] DopeShow:
sorry delete this post, i figured it out.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] zimgir124:
Make sure you install the ROM OVER the stock slot.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Jeff Speake:
Click on 'install' and find the rom, then install it. It will default to the stock slot. Dont mess around with rom slots or partitions..no..no
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] yu42hit:
yah, im stuck at the VZW Logo, i did a battery pull a couple times and flashed to nk2 kernel as well. not sure whats causing this. i wont mind completely reseting my deivce, i dont know how though.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] DopeShow:
just let it sit on the verizon logo screen mine was on here for a few minutes and now mine is doing the android upgrading apps and opttimizing, then i assume lollipop will load up
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] zimgir124:
Here's this. http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2784880

If you want better instructions I can type some up
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Jeff Speake:
Follow these steps exactly, even though it might be overkill.

Pull battery and leave it out for at least 2 minutes.

Insert battery and Enter download mode by holding volume down+home key+power button all together. (with power off) You have to get into download mode somehow, either this way or through safestrap. If you can get into safestrap you can click 'reboot' and then select 'download'. Press up once you get into download mode.

1- Once you are in download mode load this https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23622183712474060 through Odin.

Reboot system and take the NK2 update, and only the NK2 update. Refuse any updates after this one.

2- Now flash the NCG kernel, kernel only, in Odin. http://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23610159112652200 Reboot system install towel root, busy box then safestrap in this order.

Go back to download mode and load the NK2 Kernel, kernel only. https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=95864024717068462

Now you are back to the starting point you need to be at to follow muniz's instructions. But I would do a clean wipe first.

Now that you have safestrap working, or should, enter safestrap and do advanced wipe of everything except sdcard.

Now you have to do steps 1 and 2 all over again, it sucks yes, but better safe than sorry.

After you have done steps 1 and 2 again you can proceed to follow muniz's instructions EXACTLY. Take your time.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] mikey2487:
keep getting a download unsuccessful when trying to dl the file. anybody else getting it?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] btonetbone:
I noticed major drops in battery life from health monitoring apps (S-Health and Google Fit) as well as Facebook. I wrote a little about it here. Also, I'm dubious of restoring apps and data, so a factory reset is also worth attempting.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
Read the OP. Severe battery drain is a known issue.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] powerlifter1855:
I followed the instructions from 4.4.2 and the restore failed when I tried to restore from the OA8_Stock file. I'm going to try to flash back to 4.4.2 now.

EDIT: I have since Odin flashed back to NCG, then NK2, rooted, and will attempt to run Extreme Syndicate v2 Deodexed. If I don't like that, I'll try stock rooted Lollipop. I'm glad I did this because my phone wouldn't update before. Now I know how to do it manually.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
Without additional detail not much we can do to assist. Good luck!
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] GSBJackson:
Due to unstable operations (faster battery drain, contacts crashing, slow response), I decided to factory reset and selectively restore app "data only" from titanium backup.

After factory reset, the phone is running fast, battery holds, and all is well.

And yes, I still have root!
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] ymDroid:
Are you saying that doing a factory reset, returned you to a rooted stock 5.0 S5?

Its my understanding that if I factory reset, the phone would go back to stock, unrooted and bloated.

Am I wrong?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] elliwigy:
you are wrong. it will take you back to whatever the rom you are on is set at.. basically wipes any changes you made, system settings etc.. it will not put bloat back on if it wasnt installed on the actual clean install.. nor do i think it can add something back that you physically removed but if you were on say my debloated rom, it will take you back to when you first flashed my rom, it will not add bloat and unroot or anything like that
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] GSBJackson:
If you installed the pre-rooted rom, as instructed, a factory reset will retain root. Google backup will reinstall your apps, including SU, root checker, etc.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] ymDroid:
This is great news. I may do a factory reset and let the apps install off the play store. Hopefully it will fix this battery drain issue that some of us are having.

Do you know if the TeatherAdd on will remain or will I have to refresh that again after the factory reset?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] GSBJackson:
I didn't install that app. If it is linked to the play store it should reinstall. If not, you may have to handle manually.

---------- Post added at 02:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:34 PM ----------

Factory reset resolved my battery drain issue big time.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] gerland:
Ok guys a little lost here! Where do I find the entire NK2 firmware so I can start this process, sorry if it's been answered 100 times! I just couldn't find it.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] kprice8:
In the Library
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] gerland:
First thanks Kprice8! But that NCG didn't allow towel to root? Will the NCG one work? I am using a lot of data trying to get this thing rooted! Thanks in advance guys!
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] gerland:
This is where iam
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] :
FYI, your baseband version and build number don't match. Idk if that is important but they should be together I think
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] SomeGuy2008:
My device is currently running this ROM/Lollipop. Ever since flashing this ROM I have noticed a few random things that are No Bueno..at least on my particular Verizon (non-developer) S5 here in the states.

1.) Random FC on random apps (some stock some not stock)

2.) S5 charges VERY VERY SLOW when booted up but plugged into STOCK cable and USB Block/AC. If powered off but plugged in it charges much faster.

3.) Lost access to SAFESTRAP (can only get into STOCK Recovery/How do I get SAFESTRAP back so I can try other ROMS?)

I did a factory reset before and after flashing ROM via SAFESTRAP/KK. I am OK with starting over "again" if the devices is clean and runs smooth (not including and ROOT only things I do to it).

Any suggestions?

~SG
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] KitchMD:
Has anyone had any problems with your phone soft rebooting. Randomly, my phone will boot back to the Samsung then Verizon screens. It will then return to the lock screen and all my previous apps will still be running. I originally updated with Safestrap as directed. Since, I have done a factory reset twice. Both times I let Google restore my apps. I restored data from TiBu and frozen some factory apps. I have over 1.3 Gb of space on my main storage. Anyone have any ideas or does someone have a good way to find an error log that would show what might be happening. I've tried alogcat but haven't gotten any useful information. Thanks for any help...
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] muniz_ri:
As stated in the OP TiBu compatibility issues with 5.0 are a known issue. Suggest you wipe and reinstall the backup and forgo using TiBu.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Rapunzl:
1) Are you on the right kernel for AO8?

2) Not sure, but it may be the USB Block. I've had trouble with them at times, especially with USB 3.0 devices.

3) It's all in the OP (first post).
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] paul1701:
safestrap error with G900V_OA8_Stock_Rooted_Safestrap_Backup

Hi -

OOPS -= Never mind - I am unzipping content of rar archive with winzip. - Paul

I followed the OP, and placed the G900V_OA8_Stock_Rooted_Safestrap_Backup [.rar] file in a TWRP backup sub-folder on the external/removable micro sd. The file appeared in the TWRP Recovery panel and I was able to select it. I did advance wipe or all items except the micro sd per the OP. Recovery fails with error that no partitions were specified. Where is this done? Safestrap/ TWRP Settings indicate Stock Rom is the active partition.

[Prior to the wipe I had performed a TWRP backup of system and data and I was able to use Safestrap /TWRP Recovery with this backup directory path. So I am back up under NK2 4.4.4 but want to move on to 5.0]

Thank you.

Paul

Verizon S5

G900VVRU1ANK7 with NK2 kernel

Rooted and sucessfully installed Safestrap, SuperSU, Busybox, Titanium Backup, SDFix
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Rapunzl:
You missed step 4 and didn't read the notes... all from the OP.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] rotzy:
*deleted*
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] KitchMD:
I did not restore any apps nor did I freeze any apps using TiBu. I restored data for a few programs, that's it. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was randomly rebooting before I restored any data from TiBu. I guess I'll try disabling S-Health and see if that works. So far, nothing has seemed to work including reactivating some programs I've deactivated.
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] smeekteek:
Llama not working in Lollipop 5.0

I've noticed that Llama has lost all functionality since upgrading to Lollipop. Any recommendations for a replacement app?
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] SomeGuy2008:
Thanks for the reply. I checked the OP and for some reason it looks a bit different than what I remember about a week ago or so. I can start over however I no longer have safestrap. I flashed stock kernel after I got root working. How can I get back SafeStrap?

Thanks

SG
[Verizon Galaxy S 5 General] Rapunzl:
Locale works for me.