Brief information about the terms that will be used in the article
- ROM : is an operating system version, here is an Android version, can be installed on your brother to run
- Stock ROM : the operating system built by the manufacturer itself, usually pre-installed on the machine, also has online distribution to when needed.
- ROM cook : is the operating system version made by the online programmers, not by the device manufacturer. ROM cook can be redone based on stock ROM
- Recovery : is a special operating mode that allows to restore the device. Recovery is available on any Android device
- Custom Recovery : is still the recovery mode mentioned above but is customized to be able to manipulate touch (no need to use hard buttons), backup, restore ROM, upload new ROM, upload mod … We will use This is mainly in the ROM upload process.
- Root : allows interference in the highest right to the system of Android, we will not talk much about root tromg this topic, but actually the ROM cook is usually rooted already, so do not worry.
- Up / Flash : is the action of installing ROM or mods to the computer, whatever you call. Android people often use flash words
Before starting the ROM, always do the following
- Backup your phone, if you have any problems, don’t lose your data. References this topic: [Handbook] Ways to backup Android phones, from basic to advanced
- Charging the battery at least 50%, because the flash is flashed and the battery runs out of battery is dead, many problems can occur, including the machine can turn into a brick
- [Only do it for the first time] Unlock bootloader: The bootloader is a part used to boot the computer, usually it is locked but luckily the manufacturers have support for unlocking. How to do different with each company, you can refer to the few links below:
- [Only first start] Turn on USB Debugging mode: go to Settings> About phone> touch Build Number 7 times. Press the back button to go back to Settings, find the Developer Options> turn on USB Debugging section
Step 1: install Custom Recovery (only do the first time)
This is the most popular way now to flash ROM on Android phones. With the touch interface, you can quickly select the ROM file and flash without having to type the command line or something complicated. You can even use Android to download the ROM file to your computer, then run recovery to flash it without needing a computer anymore.
There are two custom recovery versions that are preferred by Android users and selected: the ClockWork Mod (CWM) and the Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP). According to my observation, TWRP seems to be more popular lately and supports faster for new devices. I also spend TWRP on most flash ROMs for about 2 years. So in this topic, I will guide you to install TWRP.
Additional notes: I have not had the opportunity to play Samsung much, I need you to share the flash recovery method for Samsung device with Odin, then I will update this topic. English instructions for Samsung devices can be viewed here . The way below I tried with HTC, LG, Nexus, Motorola are all delicious, Samsung alone is a bit special.
Instructions for Windows
- Download the driver, ADB and Fastboot kit here . Remember to download the latest version of “Minimal ADB and Fastboot”
- After installation is complete, the Start Menu will see the software named Minimal ADB and Fastboot, run it
- A Command Prompt window will appear to start entering the command
- Download the latest version of TWRP compatible with your device , download it here, you can use the search box to search by mobile device name. After downloading, there will be a * .img file.
- Connect your phone to the computer with a USB cable
Enter the following commands in turn:
Code:
adb device adb reboot fastboot fastboot flash recovery <path to * .img file you downloaded> Wait for a moment for fastboot to finish running fastboot reboot
At this point, your device will reboot. The next thing you need to do is restart the computer into recovery mode by turning off the device completely, then holding down the power button + volume down (some machines can be source + volume upor source + volume up + volume down ). You will enter the interface of TWRP.
Instructions for Mac
- Download this zip file to Desktop , unzip it
- Turn on Terminal, type the following command: cd Desktop
- Type the ./ADB-Install-Mac.sh command to install
- Finished, so you have ADB and Fastboot, now is the recovery time.
- Download the latest version of TWRP compatible with your device , download it here, you can use the search box to search by mobile device name. After downloading, there will be a * .img file.
- Connect your phone to the computer with a USB cable
Enter the following commands in turn:
Code:
./adb devices ./adb reboot fastboot ./fastboot flash recovery <path to the * .img file you downloaded> Wait a while for fastboot to finish ./fastboot reboot
At this point, your device will reboot. The next thing you need to do is restart the computer into recovery mode by turning off the device completely, then holding down the power button + volume down (some machines can be source + volume up or source + volume up + volume down ). You will enter the interface of TWRP. If you use Android 5.0 and above, TWRP may ask for your lock password to have access to the encrypted partition.
If you have problems installing recovery, please see this TWRP custom recovery topic for Android: flash ROM, full backup, copy file, fix error … , otherwise search on Sophisticated or Google about your problem.
Make sure you can run into recovery, as well as get into Android as usual is successful.
Step 2: Download ROM file ROM
file is usually in * .zip format, and when downloaded, you will leave this zip file and copy it to the phone, not extract it. Not only ROMs but mods, special app installers can also be packaged into * .zip format available to you.
Where can the ROM file be downloaded?
- Search on Refinement : many good brothers share a lot of beautiful, beautiful ROM file download links for many different models, you can search
- Search on XDA : XDA is a forum specializing in ROM upload, custom ROM for Android . You can go up there, find the subforum for your device and search for the ROM version you want.
- CyanogenMod : CM is a group that makes ROM for Android for a long time, supports many models, many manufacturers. Their ROMs often target simplicity and proximity to the original Android as possible. Go to this link to find the device and ROM version for the device .
- Google Apps : many ROM cooks do not come with Google applications like Play Store, Google Services, Gmail, Google Maps … for copyright reasons. You will need to download and flash them separately. Download here http://opengapps.org .
- Google : this probably doesn’t need to be added
After you have the ROM file in hand, copy it to your phone. Should be copied to internal memory, read speed will be faster than memory card.
Now it’s time to go back to TWRP as described above. Again, you can go to TWRP by:
- Turn off the device, press the power key + volume down combinations (some machines can be power + volume up or source + volume up + volume down )
- Backup full to the current machine by selecting Backup button> select all partitions> drag the slider to start
- Go back to the main screen of TWRP after the backup is complete, this time select “Wipe” to delete all data on the device
- After deleting, go back to TWRP, this time choose “Install”
- Purple to the zip ROM file you copied earlier, select it
- Swipe the slider to start the installation
- Depending on ROM, if necessary, do the same steps 4-5 to flash zip file containing Google Apps
- When the flash is finished, press the Reboot button of TWRP to restart
Some note:
- The first boot of ROM may take a long time or very long, 5-10 minutes is normal, you just let the machine run and do not impatiently touch it will ruin the story
- If you find that 30 minutes has passed and the ROM is not running, hold down the power button to turn off the computer, then re-enter Recovery and flash again. Make sure you have Wipe the data before flashing . Logo hanging errors are most common for this reason.
- It is possible to charge and flash the ROM only if your battery is not much, do not turn off the device in the middle of the road
- The following ROM uploads do the same as this step 3
- If you have a new version of the old ROM, do not need to wipe the data unless you program the ROM to make the required ROM
- If changing to another ROM, force data wipe before flashing
Another easier way but need root: flash ROM with
the FlashFire app made by ChainFire programmer, it’s for machines that have rooted and can backup everything in your Android device without having to go On custom recovery, no command line, all are done as we use a very normal app. And yet, FlashFire also supports flash ZIP and ROM files right from the application too, even support update Over The Air for rooted machines anymore. You can view more in topic[Android, root] FlashFire: backup solution, flash ROM, unrecoverable OTA flash, and the video below briefly describes how to use FlashFire.
However, according to my experience, this FlashFire usage is not very stable, sometimes available, even with an easy-to-use device like Nexus. I still like it and still recommend that you use Custom Recovery to do anything related to ROM and ZIP file flash because of its high stability, doing it, and not harming its software (unless you flash some ZIP file not for your device).
Wishing you success. Remember to always backup the data before playing ROM, and there is a problem, post it here for you to share and help out
