Basic questions rs rooting an S5

[Shadow_10]

Complete newbie to S5 & to rooting here, so some basic questions.

I'm guessing that when I root I'm also installing a replacement OS....? Is that a hacked version of the Samsung OS, or something different?

Will I need to replace all the standard apps by finding & d.loading others manually or what? If so would this be from the play store or where?

Will security apps like Bitdefender Mobile with on a rooted phone?

Answers to these &/or links to a beginner's FAQ would be really appreciated.... Thanks!

btw, the main reasons I'm thinking of rooting: I was setting up my new (to me) unlocked S5 SM-G900F & had a couple of problems...

the Contacts app kept crashing - I just got the "unfortunately, contacts has stopped" message & clearing the cache &/or data, disabling/re-enabling the app, or factory reset didn't work & one of the options suggested online was to root

the other reason is that I'd just got the setup beginning to be how i wanted when whizz home & whizz easy home (or something like that) appeared & took over & I couldn't get rid of them (which ***** thought they'd be a good idea!?!)....I don't even know why they suddenly kicked in when I'd just had the normal home screen for an hour or so...?

 

[ironass]

Hello and welcome to Android Central Shadow!

Complete newbie to S5 & to rooting here, so some basic questions.

I'm guessing that when I root I'm also installing a replacement OS....? Is that a hacked version of the Samsung OS, or something different?

No. To root the international model you just replace the kernel. See, [SM-G900*] CF-Auto-Root

Will I need to replace all the standard apps by finding & d.loading others manually or what? If so would this be from the play store or where?

Will security apps like Bitdefender Mobile with on a rooted phone?

Answers to these &/or links to a beginner's FAQ would be really appreciated.... Thanks!

You appear to be confusing rooting with flashing a custom ROM, (customised firmware). Custom ROMs require you to be rooted first and have a custom recovery installed, such as TWRP before flashing one of the numerous custom ROMs that are available for the G900F.

Before embarking on rooting it pays to get to know your phone and its stock Samsung firmware first. Make a note of your model, Version details and Product code as per #1.3 & #1.8 of 42 Galaxy S5 models - Dummies Guide in case you ever need to revert to stock. Also, you should be familiar with making a nandroid, (mirror image), backup of your phone in case of problems.

btw, the main reasons I'm thinking of rooting: I was setting up my new (to me) unlocked S5 SM-G900F & had a couple of problems...

the Contacts app kept crashing - I just got the "unfortunately, contacts has stopped" message & clearing the cache &/or data, disabling/re-enabling the app, or factory reset didn't work & one of the options suggested online was to root

the other reason is that I'd just got the setup beginning to be how i wanted when whizz home & whizz easy home (or something like that) appeared & took over & I couldn't get rid of them (which ***** thought they'd be a good idea!?!)....I don't even know why they suddenly kicked in when I'd just had the normal home screen for an hour or so...?

You should not need to root your phone to solve these issues. You can try wiping the phones cache partition as per #1.3 of S5 Update Problems - Dummies Guide to see if that helps. If not, then perform a FULL WIPE+FACTORY DATA RESET and check out your phone as per post #2 of the aforementioned guide.

 

[Shadow_10]

Wow thanks, that's a very comprehensive response!

You're right, I was mixing rooting & flashing the ROM together. To be honest, i'd rather resolve theses problems without rooting/flashing, as least for now, but when I did a factory reset there didn't seem to be options for different variations of the reset & it didn't work. Does a factory reset not wipe everything from the phone or do I needed to do something else as well?

Thanks!

 

[ironass]

No. A Factory Data Reset does not wipe the phone's user memory or SD card. These have to be done as per #2.4 of the guide. Hence the FULL WIPE as it is user apps, data and settings than can cause ongoing issues.

 

[Shadow_10]

Re: Basic questions re rooting an S5

unfortunately it didn't work...

I did a factory reset of the phone, I formatted my SD card (after backing up my data)....there didn't seem to be any obvious way to format the internal storage, so I deleted everything I was able to.....after rebooting I still got the problem with the contacts app & the whizz home thing reapeared too.

I then tried a hard reset, rebooted, skipped setting up accounts etc until I got to the default home screen, tried to open Contacts....same problem, so it doesn't seem like I'm doing anything wrong, it's something to do with the device itself

I've also attached screenshots of the device details in case this helps at all

Any further suggestions?

Thanks!

btw, is this the right forum for this issue as we've moved away from rooting/flashing?

 

[ironass]

Right. In your shoes I would now do what a Samsung Service Point would do and that is to download the stock Samsung firmware for your model of phone and Product Code and flash it to your phone via Odin by carefully following the instructions and video contained in the links of #1.11 of 42 Galaxy S5 models - Dummies Guide. N.B. This is not rooting and does not invalidate any warranty.

 

[Shadow_10]

...download the stock Samsung firmware for your model of phone and Product Code and flash it to your phone via Odin...

ok, so I've found where to do this & I'm assuming it's the first UK one as all the the other UK files seem to be for specific carriers/providers, none of which are Virgin, who I'm with.

A couple of questions about this:
1) does the PDA code given there (G900FXXS1CPGZ) have to match any of my phone's AP, CP, or CSC codes (see image below), or is it different because it's different firmware? btw, does knowing these codes change any of the advice you've already given me? Sorry if those are daft questions, but I try not to take too much for granted!

2) possibly another daft question, but could you clarify what you mean by Product Code?

3) will it matter which version of Odin I use? I'm guessing not, but on the download page for that firmware it says to use Odin 3.11.1 & in the "42 Galaxy S5 models...." it says 3.10.7

...42 Galaxy S5 models - Dummies Guide...

I read the section on the etiquette of posting questions - while I guess mine wasn't the worst, it could have provided more/clearer info, though I didn't know about the *#1234# trick before. I'll bear all that in mind in future!

Thanks

 

[ironass]

It is your phone's Product Code as detailed in post #6, above, that determines which firmware your phone is eligible for. As per the warning in the Dummies guide...

"Warning: This is for competent users and could void your warranty by flashing any firmware other than that intended for your original CSC and Product codes, see #1.8 above, as well as preventing future updates through Kies/Smart Switch or Over The Air, (OTA)."

How to obtain your Product Code is detailed in #1.8 of the Dummies Guide. The last 3 digits are the code.

 

[Shadow_10]

A quick update - I discovered that the 'recent apps' button also wasn't working (at all) & decided this was too much for a phone I'd only just bought, so I've sent it back without flashing the firmware, & bought one from a local shop.

Thanks anyway for all your help & patience.