yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] evildeaddc:
Here is hoping to answer the downgrade question to people on marshmellow version PE3 and probably later revisions.

This is for the inevitable questions that will arise regarding downgrade. Do know that there is a thread with this information already do search and thank the author.

1. download odin mine downgraded fine with odin 3.09 this version has the PIT option on the main screen, the latest one has the option with a button label PIT click it and it should ask you for the PIT file. NOTE you must use it for the downgrade

2. Click and load all relevant files, BL AP CP and CSC and PIT ( they are on post 2 from the first page)

3. Put phone on download mode and click on start, DO NOT touch phone let ODIN restart phone and wait for it to say PASS

4. Done!

PS first bootup will take longer
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
Post 3 has been updated with instructions. Note that there is no PIT file included with the zip. The PIT file is only used for partition mapping and is not usually required. If someone proves otherwise and gives me the PIT file I will update the instructions accordingly.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
After a couple softbricks due to me not removing the Kingo Superuser before attempting to use Kingo ROOT again, I managed to get rooted with SuperSU thanks to your instructions!! WE HAVE ROOT AGAIN, BOIS!

OP will be updated in the next day or two, working on a new (possible MM) ROM now.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
Flashfire problem:

So I've got a ~1.6gb ZIP file with an experimental ROM on it, ready to flash. But when I put it in FlashFire and hit "Flash", it wipes the system fine, then says "opening '[redacted].zip'", and then immediately reboots. Am I doing something wrong? I've never had this happen to me up until now.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] DejaVuAgain:
softbrick recovery tip ...

I'm not having any luck yet getting Kingroot 4.81 to run after getting root with Kingo ... I'm sure I'll figure it out but ...

Given all these softbricks, I don't know how many people know that you don't have to start from scratch every time.

You only need to re-flash the system partition after a softbrick ... that will retain your data & settings.

Using 7zip (or whatever), simply extract the system.img.ext4 file from AP_G900AUCU4COI5_CL5869384_QB6398515_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5 (or whatever AP you're using), & recompress it as a .tar archive(any name will do).

Pop that into Odin & you're back up & running in a couple of minutes.

Maybe this is well known, but I hope it saves some people a little time ...

PS ... if you don't have 7zip, get the portable version from portableapps.com
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] TheMadScientist:
you sir is the man followed ure steps and flashed prerooted of3 few hicups but worked great

---------- Post added at 12:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:29 AM ----------

i used 4.80 instead

---------- Post added at 12:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:30 AM ----------

so we got root what roms can i flash in flashfire?????

and im asuming from my gs6 i have to flash wanams xposed version cause standard framework bricks rite????
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] oriax123:
Are aosp roms only for unlocked bootloaders? Would love a cm14 but don't see it coming for our device
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] ChikhaiBardo:
Kingo is getting to 100% and then phone reboots on OF3 but no root afterwards. Should I try 5.1.1 or stay on 5.0 OF3. I thought that was the last working root for SM-G870A... just don't want to update then miss out on someone getting it to work with 5.0. Any tips for a newbie please?
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] UsandThem:
Once Kingo ROOT actually roots the phone (when confirmed with Root Checking app AND after uninstalling Kingo's SuperUser) all you do is open KingRoot and it should look like you did root using KingRoot. Then replace KingRoot with SuperSU using Super-Sume.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] johnkirchner:
I will try this here in a bit, I still have a full backup from flashfire on my phone. All I should need is root and then use flashfire to run my backup to get back to where I was! I like the MM features, but not enough to not have root! I will downgrade and post my results.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] TheMadScientist:
oi5 firmware

---------- Post added at 08:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 AM ----------

stickin good too flashed twsted lolipop last nite and is working great
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] lordmorphous:
Anyone get this to work on the 870A? I'm on a fresh OJ3 and Kingo root either reboots at 90% or ends with a try again option. I've tried several times and no dice.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AlanMaciiasz:
Thanks i can confirm that this work correctly i try it on pa2 and dosn't work i need to downgrade to 0i5 and it works fine now i have root i hope this works on MM
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] johnkirchner:
Something weird happened to me. After I downgraded back to 0I5, I lost use of my back and recent apps functions. I did achieve root with KingOroot and verified with a root checker. I ran KingRoot but it wanted me to try rooting with it. My phone rebooted on its own to a boot loop. I will try from scratch again...

EDIT:

I had to end up flashing the BL file as well. Makes sense since I downgraded from MM. All my buttons work now, lol. Now to try the root process again.

EDIT 2:

Successfully did the rollback to OIC and followed the root instructions and it stuck. Then flashed the pre rooted OF3 and now have permanent root. Now (fingers crossed) using FlashFire to flash my full backup I had prior, to doing stupid things, to losing root!

If you are attempting this from MM and notice the back and recent buttons are not working, this is what I did:

1. Follow the downgrade guide here: https://xdaforums.com/att-galaxy-s5/general/guide-downgrade-firmware-sm-g900a-t3398934

---> Do NOT flash the BL file as stated in that post, read and follow it!

2. Get the file from the top link here: https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=53454972&postcount=1

---> Use Odin to flash only the BL file.

3. Follow the root directions from here: https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=70762414&postcount=775 . This is what worked for me downgrading from MM.

I do not know if flashing the BL file from step 1 above will cause problems or not...I did not try, nor want to as that post was very explicit on not doing it! Again, I had to do this because I lost the ability to use my back and recent apps buttons, could not turn on wifi and could not turn on NFC for some reason. I think the root process for me originally failed because I could not back out of apps. I had to use the home button and when I reopened an app, it was still on the same screen for the app since it never actually closed. Dunno???
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] samccfl99:
While this is all well and good, aren't King(O)root (whatever that is now) and KingRoot still getting their "coding" from a server? I would not trust any of these companies since it has been proven that they could care less about the ATT S5/S5a users.

I am glad people got root. If you got it, keep it...and go to a custom rom. Stock is such crap, in my opinion of course. You can't get wifi calling/sms with ANY stupid LP version anyway.

Still HATE you ATT.......Again, wake me up when we get root on MM and still have the ability to downgrade at will....WITHOUT WORRYING THAT IT WON'T WORK...
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
Thanks everyone for 200 thanks!

If you can build an AOSP ROM with a AT&T S5 kernel we'd have one, but that's highly unlikely because the kernels for AOSP and TouchWiz are different.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] wforider:
Let's stop doubting people's abilities and start encouraging them yesterday find isn't the only possible thing going on here and surely not the only route to root.

Just saying

mIRC
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] NavSad:
Maybe we can modify the kernel in CM with the stock OF2/OC4 kernel.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] mrredcon:
Sorry to bother you guys, but I can't get KingoRoot to work on my g870a on OJ3 (5.1.1), gets stuck at 90% then does nothing. Any ideas?
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] DejaVuAgain:
How long are you waiting at 90% ?

Mine sometimes takes a couple of minutes depending on my data connection.

Kingo seems to stop at 90% to download additional "data" which I think is a couple of their (link & battery?) apps.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] mrredcon:
Oh jeez, I only waited a couple minutes, but I only had 1 bar for LTE, lemme try again, I'll just let it go

EDIT: Now I keep getting 'Root Failed', guess I'm SOL

EDIT 2: After like 4 tries, the phone rebooted but, Root Checker said 'No root detected'
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] sixxkilur:
Root failed happens a lot took me a few tries after the auto reboot.

Question; using this method and finally getting root and flashing rooted OF3 and or other custom Rom are we still stuck on locked boot loader? I ask because I keep running into signature verification failed in the current recovery with

some flash able zips signed with tools or unsigned and would like a custom recovery like CWM or others.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] DejaVuAgain:
Make sure you clean up before trying to root again ...

In the Application Manager, clear data & uninstall SuperUser, & then clear data for KingoRoot.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] mrredcon:
Alright, thanks for the advice, I had only been spam clicking the root button. One thing I'm worried about though is after I get it to root right, I don't know if there's a pre-rooted OJ3 release for the Active.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] carbo:
It's working for me. Thank you so much.

I can't find King ROOT v4.1.9 so I use Kingo ROOT v4.1.7 instead.

In step 3 King ROOT v4.1.7 can't work without wifi so I left it on.

After unroot by King ROOT v4.1.7 fix it with KingRoot v4.8.1 offline

Then do the rest of step as description.

Some suggestion, before start everything,

Put the "G900A_OF3 pre-rooted stock ROM.zip" in external SD card.

It's needed in FlashFire flash step. :)
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] mrredcon:
Alright, I've literally retried the root over 10 times, starting to think it doesn't work on the active...
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] sixxkilur:
I have done it 4 times now with success. I would recommend turning off BT,NFC,Sync,WiFi clear all recent apps from memory then run Kingo
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] l0gandroid:
Help - bootloop

guys, every single time I run KingoRoot, my phone gets into a bootloop after restart.

It doesn't pass the first samsung logo screen.

First time I root OI5, everything went fine.

Then, I updated to PH4 (6.0.1), and after that, I downgrade to OI5 again.

Once again I try to root using KingRoot Pro, but it doesn't works any more.

Then I read this tutorial and I try to root using this guide.

Almost ever I get my phone root , but, after restart, the phone deads.

any suggestions?
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
Don't reboot.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] mrredcon:
done it 4 times with the active? also what firmware are you on if you did it on the active
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] sixxkilur:
not on active on G900A

FW was OI5 root with above methods, then flash OF3 then OF3 rooted then Alliance or what ever custom rom you choose.

I keep running into issues with getting Xposed framework installed. I am using the one for Samsung S5's but Xposed Installer says installed but not active.

NM got Xposed installed and working in Alliance.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] l0gandroid:
fine... but I can't use my phone without never reboot again.

And some times, if I run KingRoot Pro after running Kingo Root, the phone restart by it self.

Because of that, "don't restart" isn't a solution.

Any other idea?
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
[MENTION=7958871]DejaVuAgain[/MENTION] do you see any way in which we can somehow flash a modified kernel image without the device throwing a fit? I'm thinking modifying the aboot might work but I don't know for sure...

EDIT: I just realized that the G900A has been running the Linux Kernel version 3.4.0 since 4.2.2..... which gives me an idea, stay tuned.

EDIT 2: Never mind.. I was trying to see if we could run Marshmallow on an OF3 kernel.. the next step would be to try it with 5.1.1 but nobody is looking for that so I'll just skip over it and get back to building the next release of X

Another edit: I'm thinking of renaming XtreStoLite to X (for our devices at least), I mean it sounds way cooler, don't ya think? lol
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
Well by "don't reboot" I meant more along the lines of "don't reboot until you've flashed the prerooted OF3", after then you'll have no issues.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] oriax123:
If you root using the guide and flash the prerooted stock OF3 you will be able to reboot without loop soft brick.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] johnkirchner:
I had issues with a boot loop as well after down grading from MM. See my post from http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=70771723
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] DejaVuAgain:
Are you talkin' with or without root?

With root it should be possible because it seems that Loke only checks the signature at the end of an Odin flash.

(That's why I was looking for a hole at the end of the process to get a modified system partition to mount.)

Easy enough to do a test by hex-editing a character into some alpha string in the file ... that wouldn't break anything except a signature check.

Use Flashfire backup & restore to do a test.

Without root it's the same old problem ... signature checks ...
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
I'm thinking with root, mainly what I want to do is see if we can hack enough of the Kernel or boot image to get some form of a bootloader unlock. I know its unlikely, but worth a try...

I don't think its that simple, because it seems that the Kernel is checked at boot, and a check failure results in a brick (that's what I've got so far).

HOWEVER: there is a write-protected partition on the device named "MD5". After I re-root my phone (within an hour) I can try using FF to back it up and we can take a look at it. I'm thinking if we can somehow write to it then we *could* do something.

(If all I typed is gibberish please tell me so I can take a look and correct anything, I'm tired and focusing on three things at once)
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] JagXK8:
Are you guys getting prompted to install Super-Sume Prep after opening Super-Sume Pro?

Edit. I installed the regular version and didn't have this problem
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] NavSad:
If we can bypass kernel module signing we could try kexec.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] DejaVuAgain:
Ya fer shure ... "if we can bypass kernel module signing". or if we had an unlocked bootloader, or if we had G900F's or all kinds of other wonderful things that we don't have ...

If you've been following this (& many other threads), you understand that this is a "hard" problem.

But perhaps you have a suggestion? ...
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
Okay let's be nice, guys....
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] NavSad:
I thought maybe we could use something like this: https://xdaforums.com/galaxy-note-3/devs-only/kernel-kernel-execution-loading-custom-t2812650. Its made for the Galaxy Note 3 on Verizon but the method should still work.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] inspired55:
Supersu me now has this thing called supersu me prep and it gets installed when trying to remove king root and it does nothing. anyone else experiencing this.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] Cruci-:
Really glad that you guys have found a way to root this cra*** phone. I'm so amazed right now hahahah *insert shining eyes*

Really looking forward for 6.0.1 MM root. I know that some or most of you hate TouchWiz, but for me I like the new UI of Sammy specially the S7/S7 Edge. Would like to try that "NO APP DRAWER"

Edit: Now that I have root, I can remove AT&T's bloats?
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] lordmorphous:
I can't get it to work on my Active either. I'm on OJ3. I mistakenly referred to it as OI5 in an earlier post.

Edit: Just downgraded to OF3...doesn't seem to work on it either.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] JagXK8:
I had this same problem with the paid version of the app yesterday. Try googling super-sume apk and it should be the first result. I used that and it worked. No super sume prep.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] TheMadScientist:
why do you say this dosnt persist throught reboot???

nm i read another post u made about not rebooting til prerooted of3

---------- Post added at 09:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:18 AM ----------

im surer everyone already knows

i flash twisted lolipop and it runs killer

now the s5 is boss

any one know of a good ir blaster app??

i cant stand peel. im so used to lgs quikremote i dont want the guides just a simple quik remote

---------- Post added at 09:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:22 AM ----------

yes remove to your hearts content i debloated loads of crap
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] mrredcon:
Welp, since this doesn't work on the active, I wonder if I could just flash oi5 on my g870a, I don't give a crap about the active features
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
You can try, but you may or may not lose access to the back button and the app list button
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] mrredcon:
I don't think I'll mind having on screen buttons, if I can get then once I root
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
Okay, go ahead and try it then. If it doesn't work out you can just ODIN back
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] DejaVuAgain:
Ya maybe ... but there's probably a pretty good reason that thread has been dormant for a couple of years.

While some low-level exploit may be discovered for our "antique" phones, what we're exploring right now is pretty good.

The fact that we can now (fairly) reliably get root means that we can make our phones do whatever suits us ... in my case, I really needed to be able to boost volumes a little (on account of playing in too many loud bands for too long).

Yes, it's not as satisfying as having an unlocked bootloader or custom recovery or being able to run the latest/greatest Android, but I now have exactly what I need (in a phone) using my rom & it has incredible battery life as a bonus.

So sure, let's keep exploring all the possibilities ...

Given what we now have in hand, I personally think a very useful thing to do would be to reverse the Kingo root.

There's a pretty good chance we can get it to run offline & prevent it from installing it's nasty stuff (since the data connection seems to be used for ads & additional apps, ie the exploit is in the APK).

I've pulled a .dex out of the .apk & am about to try to decomplie it into a .jar.

If there are any Java guys out there, I'd be very happy to turn this over to you (since I'm not) ...

---------- Post added at 04:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:36 PM ----------

Yup, lots of options ...

You can use Titanium to delete or freeze (safer) apps.

You can use EZ Disabler to disable m.ost of the bloat.

You can flash a custom rom
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] lordmorphous:
Will Odin or Heimdall even allow this? If so, I'll give it a shot. I'm a linux user, so Heimdall for me.

Downloading now to try......

Edit: Heimdall won't allow the flashing of the OI5 package, or even just the system image.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
Guys I was wondering if you could suggest tweaks that you would want in the X ROM and AptOS. So far I've got the Adreno driver upgrade and Viper4Android + Dolby ATMOS.

Anything else that should go in there?
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] mrredcon:
Odin won't even start either...

EDIT: hold on wait, my phone was plugged into the charger lmao

EDIT 2: FAIL! just system and the whole image
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] DejaVuAgain:
Now that I have root back, I'll continue developing the X rom, stripping out & updating as required.

The concept is zero bloat ... themes & apps can be added by end-users.

I'll add anything that needs to be part of the system partition, but will make it a flash-time option (via Aroma).

Looking for feedback ...
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] lordmorphous:
If we can ever get this root process to work with the Active, I would like to see an aroma option to use the extra hardware key. And along with that, the removal of fingerprint related stuff in settings, since the active doesn't have it.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
Okay I'll be shifting X over to Github within the next couple days so people can start working off of it.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] DejaVuAgain:
Hang on, don't rush it ... it's still beta.

While it works 100%, it still has a bunch of crap in it.

Also, I need to make a couple of my "standard" apps into Aroma options, not to mention any other requests.

I'll post a link when it's ready ...

PS ... (You'll still be able to use XtreStoLite_LP_Aroma_Add-on_Package_XXU1BOD3_v2.2.zip for a whole bunch of Aroma options).
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] mrredcon:
well, I guess us Active users have two options

1) trick Kingo into thinking we have the g900a

or 2) figure out what Kingo is doing

I don't really know how to do either of those things, but hopefully some talented people do
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] AptLogic:
Well if you want to "trick" kingo you'd have to change the build.prop, which would require root anyways so that defeats the point.

If we could do a self man-in-the-middle attack while running the Kingo desktop app we would probably be able to grab whatever binaries Kingo uses and then use that without getting the Kingo app
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] 719c6:
I can not get Kingo not to show the checkbox and Install Rec App. I have enabled and disabled everything and even uninstalled and re-installed everything. Any ideas?
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] DejaVuAgain:
For me, I had to disable WIFI but leave Mobile Data on ...
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] mrredcon:
Okay well, if anyone with a g900a would play around with process Explorer for a little bit, maybe we could find the commands and processes it issues.

EDIT: I'll play with it later with sandboxie
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 5] DejaVuAgain:
I've converted the .dex file in the Kingo .akp to a .jar & had a look at the text strings in it.

Based on the nature of the strings & the fact that there's no sign of any binaries in the .apk, I think the Kingo app figures out what the phone & software configuration is, & then downloads the appropriate files to install.

My next step is to try to disassemble the .jar file (& with any luck get some insight into what it's actually doing).

I have no idea at this point if the disassembled code can be recompiled to run or not.

Again, any Java guys out there?

I don't really want to learn yet another language ... on the other hand, how hard can it be? :)

---------- Post added at 08:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:12 PM ----------

I don't know how much useful info Process Explorer might yield ...

What will help is a USB sniffer/logger (like USB Analyser .3.0.210).

With it you can monitor the back & forth traffic, as well as capture the data stream (files).

Unfortunately USB Analyser .3.0.210 won't run in SandBoxie (& I haven't tried it in a virtual machine yet).

The errr, uhmmm "extended demos" don't seem to work, so you're stuck with a 30 day fully functional demo.

(I installed it & figured that I would "reset" the demo if I ever needed to.)

I'm looking at the Android app& have my hands full, so I hope someone has the time & inclination to look at the desktop app ..