I had a very similar post over in the Rooting section of the S6 forums but it didn't look like it was reaching some of the people that could really benefit from this. I hope this will serve many people good and make things a little easier to find.
Hard Reset (Simulated Battery Pull)
Hold volume down and power button together for about 10 seconds.
Recovery Mode
Power device off. Hold volume up, home, and power buttons together till device boots.
Here you can:
-wipe data/factory reset
-wipe cache partition
Download Mode (Odin Mode)
Power device off. Hold volume down, home, and power button.
Hit volume up at blue screen to go into download mode.
Here it will tell you your phones:
-Current Binary Status
-System Status
-Reactivation Lock Status
-KNOX Warranty Void Status
Home button will give you
-IMEI #
-Production Date
-Sku
-Serial Numbers.
Use the Vol down + Power combo to reboot device out of download mode.
Safe Mode
Power device off. Hold power to turn on phone then hold volume down until the phone boots. You will see "safe mode" in the lower left hand corner of the screen.
Settings>System>About Device
Here you will find your phone's :
Model Number
Android Verison
Baseband Verison
Build Number
And few other things.
Enabling Developer Options
Click on Build Number tab 7 times in the About Device setting.
Prerequsite
-If you are just now setting up your device, after you have taken your carrier's OTA, it is recommended that you do a factory reset via Recovery Mode. and wipe cache partition.
-If you have already setup your phone, then only wipe the cache partiton via Recovery Mode.
-If you have already setup your phone, but you are having very bad battery performance, it
would be highly recommended to do a Factory Reset and Clear Cache partition.
Apps
First off, lets start by uninstalling/disabling all Samsung/google/carrier bloatware you do not use.
If you see excessive battery drains soon after downloading an app(s), trying deleting the app(s) to see if it gets better. If it does, try a similar app if possible.
Always check the settings in any app you download. Particularly looking for any sync'ing settings. Turn off if it is not needed.
Settings
Next, lets begin on changing some settings.
1) Turn off Wifi calling if your device supports it. Change it to Cellular Network Preferred. Sprint and T-Mobile Only(I think)
2) Turn off VoLTE / Enhanced 4G LTE services (Settings>connections>mobile networks>mobile data)*Sprint and Verizon users see below
3) Turn off Smart Network Switch (Settings>wifi>menu>smart network switch)
4) Turn off Always Allow Scanning (Settings>wifi>menu>advance)
5) Turn off Google Location History (Settings>personal>privacy and saftey>location) This will slightly affect Google Now's functionality.
6) Check all of your Sync'ing accounts. Only sync what you need, turn off anything you don't need or something you can manually sync just when you need it. (Settings>personal>accounts)
7) Set your screen brightness lowest as you comfortably can for your eyes. Use auto for when you are outside.
*Turning off VoLTE on Sprint and Verizon will leave you unable to talk and use data at the same time.
Extras
Some extra things you can do to help extend your battery.
- Use the quick toggles to your benefit. Keep things off like wifi, location, and etc until you need them.
- Using a black background. Amoled screens turn off pixels when not being used. So setting a black/dark background will boost battery preformance.
- Using a dark theme on the OS and any apps that has one available. Same logic as above to save battery life.
- Turn off the Hot Word Detection Always On in the Google Settigns App.
- Disable S-Voice if you don't plan on using it. (Settings>device>applications>application manager>all tab> find S Voice and disable it)
- Users with high standby drain, disabling ANT+ Plugins service and ANT Radio Service has shown to help a lot.
- Turning off Report disgnostic info to google has been suspected to help keep wakelocks from happening.
Full Device Backup with Android SDK
Repair Universe Parts
Witrigs Parts
Ifixit Repair Guides
Disassembly Video
Samsung's Smart Switch is a utility program that will transfer contacts, photos, music, videos, messages, notes, calendars and more to your new GS6 or other Samsung phones. It does work also if you are coming from an iOS device. You can do this by installing the app on both of the phones -OR- download
Smart Switch for PC
Smart Switch for Mac
Tutorial Video
Not only does it transfer all of your data to your new phone, you can also backup your current Samsung device with it. You can later restore your phone with the created saved file. (PC app function only)
You can also use it to keep your phone up to date with the most current android version that is out for your phone/carrier. (PC app function only)
Mac Users Click Here!
Download Samsung Drivers
Download Odin
XDA Thread Here
Download Stock Firmware From Below (You will need to know your model number)
XDA Download Thread (Has At&t firmware listed, other two links does not.)
SamMobile Firmware Downloads
GS6Root.HighOnAndroid Downloads
From WonderHowTo
Step 1: Boot Your Phone into Download Mode
To begin, you'll need to boot your phone into Download Mode so that Odin can access your system partitions. From a powered-off state, press and hold the volume down, home, and power buttons simultaneously. At this point, you'll see a warning message—but like it says, just press the volume up button to enter Download Mode. At this point, just connect your phone to your PC with a USB data cable, then the rest of the work will be done on the Windows side of things.
Step 2: Install the Samsung USB Drivers on Your Computer
From your Windows computer, start by downloading the Samsung USB Drivers. Once the file is saved to your PC, simply launch it, then follow the prompts for installation.
Step 3: Install Odin on Your Computer
Next, you'll need to download Odin itself. The latest version can be found at this link, and all you need to do here is extract the contents of the ZIP into a folder you can access easily.
Step 4: Download Your Stock Firmware File
Finally, you'll need to grab a copy of the stock firmware for your particular variant of the Galaxy S6. Start by heading to one of the links above to download your firmware. If you're unsure of your exact model number, refer to the user manual that came with your device, or look under the "About device" menu in Settings.
Step 5: Open Up Odin on Your Computer
At this point, you're ready to flash the stock firmware on your Galaxy S6. To begin, right-click the Odin3-v3.10.6.exe file, then choose "Run as administrator."
Step 6: Select Your Firmware File
From here, leave all of the options selected exactly as they are, then click the "AP" button near the center of the window. At this point, a file browser menu will pop up, so use this to select the firmware file that you extracted from the ZIP in Step 4.
Step 7: Flash the Factory Firmware
After selecting the firmware file, keep an eye out on the "Log" tab near the bottom-left corner of Odin. When it says "Leave CS," you're ready to flash the firmware. Click the "Start" button at the bottom of the screen to begin.
At this point, Odin will get to work on flashing the stock firmware. The process will take around 10 minutes, but when it's done, the box in the top-left corner of Odin will read "Pass," and your phone should automatically reboot. If it doesn't reboot, press and hold the volume down and power buttons on your phone to manually restart the device. At this point, you can disconnect your phone from your PC.
This first boot will take a lot longer than it normally does, even as much as 10 minutes. But when you get back up, your phone will be 100% stock from a software standpoint—but keep in mind that nothing can reset a tripped KNOX counter, so you may still see a "Custom" status if that's the case. If you experience any minor glitches after restoring the stock firmware, simply reboot into recovery mode and perform a factory reset.
Basic Info
Hard Reset (Simulated Battery Pull)
Hold volume down and power button together for about 10 seconds.
Recovery Mode
Power device off. Hold volume up, home, and power buttons together till device boots.
Here you can:
-wipe data/factory reset
-wipe cache partition
Download Mode (Odin Mode)
Power device off. Hold volume down, home, and power button.
Hit volume up at blue screen to go into download mode.
Here it will tell you your phones:
-Current Binary Status
-System Status
-Reactivation Lock Status
-KNOX Warranty Void Status
Home button will give you
-IMEI #
-Production Date
-Sku
-Serial Numbers.
Use the Vol down + Power combo to reboot device out of download mode.
Safe Mode
Power device off. Hold power to turn on phone then hold volume down until the phone boots. You will see "safe mode" in the lower left hand corner of the screen.
Settings>System>About Device
Here you will find your phone's :
Model Number
Android Verison
Baseband Verison
Build Number
And few other things.
Enabling Developer Options
Click on Build Number tab 7 times in the About Device setting.
Let's Extend That Battery
Prerequsite
-If you are just now setting up your device, after you have taken your carrier's OTA, it is recommended that you do a factory reset via Recovery Mode. and wipe cache partition.
-If you have already setup your phone, then only wipe the cache partiton via Recovery Mode.
-If you have already setup your phone, but you are having very bad battery performance, it
would be highly recommended to do a Factory Reset and Clear Cache partition.
Apps
First off, lets start by uninstalling/disabling all Samsung/google/carrier bloatware you do not use.
If you see excessive battery drains soon after downloading an app(s), trying deleting the app(s) to see if it gets better. If it does, try a similar app if possible.
Always check the settings in any app you download. Particularly looking for any sync'ing settings. Turn off if it is not needed.
Settings
Next, lets begin on changing some settings.
1) Turn off Wifi calling if your device supports it. Change it to Cellular Network Preferred. Sprint and T-Mobile Only(I think)
2) Turn off VoLTE / Enhanced 4G LTE services (Settings>connections>mobile networks>mobile data)*Sprint and Verizon users see below
3) Turn off Smart Network Switch (Settings>wifi>menu>smart network switch)
4) Turn off Always Allow Scanning (Settings>wifi>menu>advance)
5) Turn off Google Location History (Settings>personal>privacy and saftey>location) This will slightly affect Google Now's functionality.
6) Check all of your Sync'ing accounts. Only sync what you need, turn off anything you don't need or something you can manually sync just when you need it. (Settings>personal>accounts)
7) Set your screen brightness lowest as you comfortably can for your eyes. Use auto for when you are outside.
*Turning off VoLTE on Sprint and Verizon will leave you unable to talk and use data at the same time.
Extras
Some extra things you can do to help extend your battery.
- Use the quick toggles to your benefit. Keep things off like wifi, location, and etc until you need them.
- Using a black background. Amoled screens turn off pixels when not being used. So setting a black/dark background will boost battery preformance.
- Using a dark theme on the OS and any apps that has one available. Same logic as above to save battery life.
- Turn off the Hot Word Detection Always On in the Google Settigns App.
- Disable S-Voice if you don't plan on using it. (Settings>device>applications>application manager>all tab> find S Voice and disable it)
- Users with high standby drain, disabling ANT+ Plugins service and ANT Radio Service has shown to help a lot.
- Turning off Report disgnostic info to google has been suspected to help keep wakelocks from happening.
Helpful Threads and Links
Maximize Battery Life Discussion ThreadFull Device Backup with Android SDK
Hardware Replacement Parts and Guides
Repair Universe Parts
Witrigs Parts
Ifixit Repair Guides
Disassembly Video
Smart Switch
Samsung's Smart Switch is a utility program that will transfer contacts, photos, music, videos, messages, notes, calendars and more to your new GS6 or other Samsung phones. It does work also if you are coming from an iOS device. You can do this by installing the app on both of the phones -OR- download
Smart Switch for PC
Smart Switch for Mac
Tutorial Video
Not only does it transfer all of your data to your new phone, you can also backup your current Samsung device with it. You can later restore your phone with the created saved file. (PC app function only)
You can also use it to keep your phone up to date with the most current android version that is out for your phone/carrier. (PC app function only)
Stock Reflash Using ODIN
Mac Users Click Here!
Download Samsung Drivers
Download Odin
XDA Thread Here
Download Stock Firmware From Below (You will need to know your model number)
XDA Download Thread (Has At&t firmware listed, other two links does not.)
SamMobile Firmware Downloads
GS6Root.HighOnAndroid Downloads
From WonderHowTo
Step 1: Boot Your Phone into Download Mode
To begin, you'll need to boot your phone into Download Mode so that Odin can access your system partitions. From a powered-off state, press and hold the volume down, home, and power buttons simultaneously. At this point, you'll see a warning message—but like it says, just press the volume up button to enter Download Mode. At this point, just connect your phone to your PC with a USB data cable, then the rest of the work will be done on the Windows side of things.
Step 2: Install the Samsung USB Drivers on Your Computer
From your Windows computer, start by downloading the Samsung USB Drivers. Once the file is saved to your PC, simply launch it, then follow the prompts for installation.
Step 3: Install Odin on Your Computer
Next, you'll need to download Odin itself. The latest version can be found at this link, and all you need to do here is extract the contents of the ZIP into a folder you can access easily.
Step 4: Download Your Stock Firmware File
Finally, you'll need to grab a copy of the stock firmware for your particular variant of the Galaxy S6. Start by heading to one of the links above to download your firmware. If you're unsure of your exact model number, refer to the user manual that came with your device, or look under the "About device" menu in Settings.
Step 5: Open Up Odin on Your Computer
At this point, you're ready to flash the stock firmware on your Galaxy S6. To begin, right-click the Odin3-v3.10.6.exe file, then choose "Run as administrator."
Step 6: Select Your Firmware File
From here, leave all of the options selected exactly as they are, then click the "AP" button near the center of the window. At this point, a file browser menu will pop up, so use this to select the firmware file that you extracted from the ZIP in Step 4.
Step 7: Flash the Factory Firmware
After selecting the firmware file, keep an eye out on the "Log" tab near the bottom-left corner of Odin. When it says "Leave CS," you're ready to flash the firmware. Click the "Start" button at the bottom of the screen to begin.
At this point, Odin will get to work on flashing the stock firmware. The process will take around 10 minutes, but when it's done, the box in the top-left corner of Odin will read "Pass," and your phone should automatically reboot. If it doesn't reboot, press and hold the volume down and power buttons on your phone to manually restart the device. At this point, you can disconnect your phone from your PC.
This first boot will take a lot longer than it normally does, even as much as 10 minutes. But when you get back up, your phone will be 100% stock from a software standpoint—but keep in mind that nothing can reset a tripped KNOX counter, so you may still see a "Custom" status if that's the case. If you experience any minor glitches after restoring the stock firmware, simply reboot into recovery mode and perform a factory reset.
Last edited:
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