How to Flash Stock/Custom ROM on Samsung Smartphones with Odin Software using a Computer

Hello guys. Welcome again to Technology sage. A website which offers solutions to all technological issues, be it software problems, usage, smartphones and computer issues and other technological tweaks and tricks. Today, we are going to look at how to flash Stock/Custom ROM on Samsung Smartphones using Odin. Now, you should understand that smartphones operate on different chipsets. If you are planning to flash your Smartphone’s ROM, then you have to be very certain which chipset your Smartphone uses. On my previous articles, I have done articles about flashing ROMs on MTK and SPD chipsets. You can read those articles here on our website. Iam sure it will really guide you exactly on how to go about it. Read also: How to flash SPD smartphones using UpgradeDownload tool

Samsung smartphones use snapdragon chipsets. Most of them, if am not wrong. You have to bear that in mind first. For knowing which chipset your phone runs on is very fundamental for it will guide you on which software to use. Each and every chipset has got its own independent software to use. For example, you cannot flash an MTK chipset using software that flashes SPD or Qualcomm chipsets. In our case, we shall use Odin software.

Reasons why you may need to flash your Samsung smartphone.

As I reiterated earlier in similar articles, there are various reasons why you may want to flash a new ROM on your Samsung Smartphone. These reasons are just the same across all platforms. They include:

  1. Hanging problems.
  2. Phone stuck on boot logo, mostly known as bootloop.
  3. Internal storage is corrupted
  4. Other software issues.

If your Samsung phone is having the above issues, then there is need to flash your Stock ROM. But sometimes you might want to flash a custom ROM too. It is fine even though custom ROMS are not stable and have issues and there are chances that your phone might not perform or work properly.

Procedure on How to Flash a Stock/Custom ROM on Samsung Smartphones using a computer.

Download your Stock or Custom Rom

First, you must download your stock or custom ROM depending on the kind of ROM you want to flash. There are various websites offering those stock ROMs on the internet. You can search and download your ROM. It is usually in zip or compressed format. They are usually large files so make sure you have enough bandwidth that can accommodate that or do it over WIFI network. Keep in mind that you MUST download a ROM that matches your exact Samsung model. If you don’t know your phone model, remove the battery(if your battery is removable) and check underneath the battery. If your battery is not removable, just open the cover and check your model number. Make sure that the websites you visit are safe and secure to prevent downloading malware files.

Download Odin Software

This should be easy to find. Most websites have it and it is easy to download. Just search in your browser’s search bar for Odin and you will get sites that have it. It is also in zip or compressed format. It is a small file so don’t worry about the size.

Download Samsung Drivers.

This is very important. Many people take it to be less important and sweep it under the carpet. On my earlier articles, I wrote about Drivers and what drivers do. You can read it if you want it is available. You need to download and install Samsung drivers. These drivers are the messengers between your computer and your Samsung phone. Without them, there will be no communication between your computer and the phone. You can find and download Samsung Drivers online. It is just a small file which is compressed. After you download, unzip and run. Restart your computer to enable them. Check this article on How to Install drivers on windows 10 PC/Laptop for more information

Flashing process

The flashing process requires that you have the above files. Together with them, you must have a computer. Weather PC or laptop. You also need to have a properly working USB data cable. After that being done, extract your downloaded firmware or a custom ROM in a folder you can easily be able to locate.

Secondly, Go the folder you downloaded your flashing tool and extract it to a folder of your choice. You can start by copying the odin zip file and paste it to a folder then extract it from there

C:\Users\Mr. Priest\Pictures\Odin extracted.PNG

After you extract odin zip, you should get files like the one above. Mine is version 3. Don’t worry if you get you have a different version. Both should just work properly. At this point, you should have downloaded the drivers, extracted them and ran them and finally rebooted your PC.

Now, back to your firmware, exact it in the folder you have saved it. You can even extract it in the one you want. You are not limited to one specific folder. It is always disappointing to download such a big file only to find that during extraction, it is encrypted. But in case you find one which is encrypted, check the website you downloaded for extraction key. Most of the time these keys are included as txt documents within the firmware. If it is nowhere, then find another site to download free firmware for your model.

C:\Users\Mr. Priest\Pictures\Samsung firmware.PNG

Depending on your Samsung model, you might find several files in your firmware files after you have extracted it. In my case above, Iam flashing Samsung Galaxy S5 G900F. My firmware contains just one file as you can see in the screenshot above. But in many other models, you might find 4 or 5 files. That is, BL, AP, CP, CSC and USERDATA though you can leave this one if it is not included.

Now, go back to where you extracted your odin flashing software. Run odin exe file by double clicking on the blue file. You can also right click on it to run as Admin.

C:\Users\Mr. Priest\Pictures\Odin.PNG

After you open your Odin flashing tool, it should look like the one above. Now, insert your USB data cable in your computer. Switch off your Samsung phone and put it in recovery mode. Remember it MUST be in recovery mode to accept a new ROM. Press the keys in the following order. Volume down+home key+power key at the same time until the phone vibrates then release them.

C:\Users\Mr. Priest\Downloads\samsung download mode 2.jpg

It will display some information on the screen asking you to press the volume up key to enter the ROM download menu or continue to boot by pressing the volume down. Now, to enter the download mode, press the volume up key.

C:\Users\Mr. Priest\Downloads\samsung download mode.jpg

Connect your phone to the USB data cable. Now in the odin interface under logs, you will see “Added” meaning your Samsung smartphone is successfully connected to your computer and is detected by odin. If you don’t see that, then check if you installed the Samsung drivers.

At this point, you are on the right track. Now it is time to add your firmware files to odin. Depending on the firmware for your specific model, you will get either 1 MD5 file or several files as mentioned above. If it is 1 MD5 file as in the case of Samsung Galaxy S5, click on AP and load the file from your firmware. Click on the file and click “open” as shown below.

C:\Users\Mr. Priest\Pictures\Samsung MD5.PNG

You will realize that your MD5 file doesn’t just load almost immediately. It takes some time to load the file because the file is a bit heavy. At some point you will see “not responding.” Do not panic. Just let the file load without interruption don’t close odin. If your firmware contains the other files, load each one of them at a time. Click on BL and navigate to your firmware folder to load BL file. Do the same for AP, CP,CSC and USERDATA if it is included. If you wish, you can even leave that but I will prefer you load it if it is included. In my case, I will only load one file in AP since the firmware for Samsung Galaxy S5 G900F which we are using as an example only contains one file.

C:\Users\Mr. Priest\Pictures\Samsung MD5.PNG

After you have loaded your file(s), click the start button. The flashing process will begin straight away. You will see the green progress bar start just at the top left section above the word ID;COM. Dont interrupt or touch the phone or USB cable in the process.

C:\Users\Mr. Priest\Pictures\Capture.PNG

At this moment, on your Samsung smartphone screen, you should be able to see a progress bar also at the bottom of the Android robot. After the flashing process is done, you will see the word “PASS.” This indicates that your Samsung smartphone has been flashed successfully.

C:\Users\Mr. Priest\Pictures\capt 2.PNG

Your Samsung phone will automatically boot back to life! This will take quite some time for the system to integrate into the phone. After it finishes, your phone will take you to initial phone set up which should be easy for you to finish and start using your Samsung smartphone again! If it takes so long that you find it unusual, then remove the battery, place it back again, reboot the phone and wait. That is it! You have flashed your Samsung smartphone with a new ROM!

Things you need to remember:

  • Always remember to use USB data cable. Other cables don’t have capabilities to share data but are only meant for charging.
  • Before you start flashing your phone, make sure your battery is changed not less than 50%. This is to prevent the phone from going off in the middle of flashing for your phone can be bricked.
  • Flashing another ROM will void your Smartphone warranty.

Thank you all and watch out for more other interesting articles to come. Also remember to subscribe to get our new content as soon as they are posted.

I am a tech enthusiast with a passion for all things mobile phones, computers, software, games, and general technology tricks, tweaks & Mods. I pride in sharing this knowledge through blogging.