TUTORIAL: Downgrade Samsung Galaxy S5 from 5.0 to 4.4 KitKat

[ironass]

I bought the phone on ebay and it was not used for very long and im not sure if it was in use over the last 4 months. I know for sure it was on oc4 because it checked prior to attempting to revert back to kitkat. Also, when I installed kies and plugged in my phone, it informed me of an upgrade which i did not perform. Now im not sure what to do because i should be able to downgrade but im getting stuck in odin at "system.img.ext4".

If you are absolutely sure that you have never had Verizon OE1 or OG5 firmware on your phone, then I suggest trying different ports on your PC, (not a USB hub), different cables, (stock Samsung OEM S5 cable is best), to see if that solves your firmware flashing problem.

 

[flyers21]

yes, i remember baseband and duild version ended in OC4. And like i said, keis informed me of an update which i didnt perform. I will try again and see what happens. Could it be i downloaded the wrong firmware? I got it off sam mobile and the title of it is : G900VVRU1ANK2_G900VVZW1ANK2_VZW.zip

 

[ironass]

yes, i remember baseband and duild version ended in OC4. And like i said, keis informed me of an update which i didnt perform. I will try again and see what happens. Could it be i downloaded the wrong firmware? I got it off sam mobile and the title of it is : G900VVRU1ANK2_G900VVZW1ANK2_VZW.zip

The NK2 firmware is just fine, although you could try re-downloading in case you had a bad download. You can read and follow the instructions and downloads in post #1 of Verizon downgrade to KitKat - Dummies Guide which is a very detailed tutorial for your model of phone.

 

[flyers21]

Yes, i changed the usb cord and changed the port that was used and it worked!

The phone rebooted and now the phone is stuck on the red verizon screen...

 

[flyers21]

I wiped cache partition and reset factory data and it worked. Phone is on and im on kitkat 4.4.4! Thanks for your help, you guys are great. If you could point me in the direction of how to root now i would really appreciate it. I looked around, but it seems a little confusing and if there was a "dummy guide" that would be helpful.

new baseband version:
G900VVRU1ANK2

 

[ironass]

Yes, i changed the usb cord and changed the port that was used and it worked!

The phone rebooted and now the phone is stuck on the red verizon screen...

Wipe cache partition as per #1.12 of the Dummies Guide I linked you to

I wiped cache partition and reset factory data and it worked. Phone is on and im on kitkat 4.4.4! Thanks for your help, you guys are great. If you could point me in the direction of how to root now i would really appreciate it. I looked around, but it seems a little confusing and if there was a "dummy guide" that would be helpful.

new baseband version:
G900VVRU1ANK2

Congratulations flyers21!

All the links you'll ever need to rooting the Verizon Galaxy S5 are in post #38 of the aforementioned Dummies Guide.

Be aware, that by downgrading you are not covered for the latest security updates for things such as Stagefright, among others.

 

[flyers21]

checked out all the links and doesnt seem like any of them are specifically for NK2 build...

found one, but it wont let me post a link to for someone to check put and make sure its ok to use...

https:// blog.plip.com /2015/01/12/ root-on-verizon-galaxy-s5-on-nk2-firmware/

 

[ironass]

checked out all the links and doesnt seem like any of them are specifically for NK2 build...

found one, but it wont let me post a link to for someone to check put and make sure its ok to use...

https:// blog.plip.com /2015/01/12/ root-on-verizon-galaxy-s5-on-nk2-firmware/

That is because if, apart from downgrading, you now also wish to root your Verizon phone, you will need to downgrade even further to Verizon's Android 4.4.2 firmware, NCG, or flash the rootable kernel from the NCG firmware, as per your link, as Verizon made rooting impossible after Android 4.4.2 and then followed this up a year later by making downgrading impossible with their Lollipop, OE1, release for Android 5.0 when they found that their customers were downgrading, in their thousands, back to Android 4.4.2 to root so they could refuse Verizon's updates and remove the not inconsiderable, Verizon bloatware.

Once you have successfully rooted, you may be interested in the following thread as it details how to move up to Android 5.0 release OG5 which contains the latest security updates, and retain root...

[How-To] Update to G900V_OG5 - 5.0 and KeepRoot

More help on rooting can be found in the section of the forum devoted to it... Samsung Galaxy S5 Rooting, ROMs & Hacks

 

[Char Resendiz]

Hey bro, i just have the same problem, i was trying to go back from lollipop to kit kat but i got now a bricked phone, could you please help me to get my phone ready again, no matter if it is lollipop.

 

[ironass]

Hey bro, i just have the same problem, i was trying to go back from lollipop to kit kat but i got now a bricked phone, could you please help me to get my phone ready again, no matter if it is lollipop.

Hello and welcome to Android Forums Char Resendiz!

First and foremost, which of the 41 models of Samsung Galaxy S5 do you have?

Secondly, which firmware were you on prior to your downgrade attempt?

Thirdly, have you tried wiping the cache partition as per post #286?

 

[andy alarcon]

Hello so i am currently trying to downgrade my SM-G900A back to kit kat so i can root and i was wondering if it was still ok to downgrade considering the situation with Verizon? my carrier is AT&T though

 

[ironass]

Hello so i am currently trying to downgrade my SM-G900A back to kit kat so i can root and i was wondering if it was still ok to downgrade considering the situation with Verizon? my carrier is AT&T though

Hello and welcome to Android Central andy alarcon!

If you are currently on the latest Lollipop firmware from AT&T, like Verizon, downgrading and rooting is no longer possible. See #1.6 of 41 Galaxy S5 models - Dummies Guide

 

[andy alarcon]

I was going to try downgrading back to kit kat and then using towel root.
How come others have been successful in downgrading ?

 

[ironass]

I was going to try downgrading back to kit kat and then using towel root.
How come others have been successful in downgrading ?

The key word in my earlier reply, is, "latest". Others were on earlier releases of Lollipop that allowed downgrading. If you are on OF3 firmware from AT&T, then I am afraid that rooting is now history for you.

 

[flyers21]

yes, my baseband and build number ended in OC4 which was not the latest lollipop so I was able to revert back to kitkat.

 

[flyers21]

Nevermind, i got flashfire installed... On the website you sent me to for upgrading to lollipop while keeping root ([How-To] Update to G900V_OG5 - 5.0 and KeepRoot) the stock rooted rom is G900V_OG5, but the bootloader you have to flash is G900V_OD5.

Does that make a difference?

 

[ironass]

That Flashfire v19 download link is working fine for me.

 

[flyers21]

I downloaded flashfire v0.24 rrom the play store, but I updated my post above yours with a question from the website you sent me. thanks

 

[ironass]

I downloaded flashfire v0.24 rrom the play store, but I updated my post above yours with a question from the website you sent me. thanks

Yes, it does as they changed the bootloader on OE1 and OG5 to the mega locked down version which you do NOT want. You may do better asking in either the xda forum thread that I linked you to or starting a thread in Samsung Galaxy S5 Rooting, ROMs & Hacks

 

[Abu Saleh Sumon]

Thanks a lot! It did work for me and fixed the poor network signal and voice quality problem!