Hey all sorry for the newbness, I'm kinda totally new to android modding. I've been running a G800A for years now and love it to death, but it's just become a bit too outdated and limiting in stock form. I'm also under the understanding that the G800A is the most limiting version, as there is not even ROMs available to run anything about Android 5.1.1(?)
So I'm understanding if I wanted to go to LineageOS, my options are the G800F/M/Y. Anything I've found on these shows them all virtually identical other than the 4g bands. Would any one of these 3 be any better than the others to use in the USA? Does whatever carrier I would end up going with matter much?
Also, even more stupider questions- has anyone tried installing LineageOS on the G800A?
Last one- what about the G800R4 if I wanted to go with a CDMA carrier?
TIA for any help with this
you can only flash a rom built for your exact device...
only a 800f rom for a 800f device..
or you will brick..
( some roms are built for more then one device like the f/m/y variants)
sadly almost every samsung device sold in the usa after the s4 is bootloader locked.
so you cant flash anything.
you can get a s5 mini g800f from ebay for 60$ and start the flashing game is you love small phones.
That is what is did.
every samsung phone i get now is international or i dont buy it.
@nutpants thx for the reply. I'm still a bit confused tho- aren't US version G900s able to be flashed? Unless I misunderstood some of the stuff I've come across. I'm still on the fence as to whether I want to stay with something quite so small as the G800 (my eyeballs are getting old along with me). I think I might go with a G900 and see how it works out. But is this the same deal ie- I need to look for an international version of that?
Also, I've noticed that tons of international versions have limited to no compatible LTE bands with those used here in the states. I'm assuming there's no workaround for this as it's a hardware issue(?) How much does this affect real world usability?
first off i dont know everything, so you will have to research
https://www.kimovil.com/en/frequency-checker/US/samsung-galaxy-s5-mini
this is a good reference but i just found it so it could be very wrong also.
( it looks like it is not very good with all the variants so its not to be considered the last word)
while i have not looked at every rom posted here ( and there might be a usa at&t s5mini xda page someplace) i don't remember seeing any rom for the g800a variant of the s5mini if it does not say g800a it will very likely not work, and will brick your device if you try.
(https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/rooting-the-s5-mini-from-at-t-g800a.3124674/
its not looking good for your g800a device at all )
i have a g900w8 (Canadian variant) and i can flash anything that the international version uses, but it has all the bands that i usa uses for the most part. (best of both worlds) but i think the usa model (v, r4,p) has a locked boot loader so it is not easy to flash roms.
( i think there is a way to do it, but i never have as i dont but bootloader locked phones)
the s7 and older Canadian phones from samsung are all easily rootable , most can be flashed with international roms, but (dont quote me on this) they use mostly the north america popular bands for lte, hspa, etc.
if you are looking for a newer phone dont get the g900 s5
get the s7 g935w8 canadian phone its about the same size, must faster, better battery ( but you cant replace it, MUCH MUCH better camera (ive had nothing but problems with the s5 camera) and ive found them for about 150$ used in great shape.
if you use data a lot then you want lte to work if you are just going to talk, then the gsm bands are good enough. ive used Canadian phones in the usa plenty and have no serious issues.
but i just got the s5 mini g800f from ebay and im still setting it up so i dont know how well it works yet.
short answer, usa phones are much much harder to root if at all, fewer roms, international phones are much better for all that but may not work well in the usa, canadian phones might be what you want to look at
(my Canadian s5 g900w8 still have support for the latest lineage os 18 )
before you buy check if the phone is supported by lineage os
https://download.lineageos.org/
if it is, then you can root, flash roms and very likely have unofficial roms for years to come.
or you can search xda, but as you can see, the s5mini is all but dead here and developers are not working hard to improve the roms we do have. in another year this place will be a ghost town.
btw i have canadian s4, s5, s7, s4 mini, s7 , s7 edge, note 2, note 3, note 4, mega . and have been very happy with them all. i have a few usa devices (s5 active)but i cant do anything with them. so they sit on a shelf. ( not that any of them do much but the hobby of flashing the newest rom and trying it out.
Related
Hey,
if you take a quick look at the T-mobile forums you'll see that development flourish and is really amazing there- there are more ROMS/Kernels/and development in general then there is on 910F/G/U COMBINED.
Now i'll be referring specifically to the the International/910F veriant-because it has the exact same SoC as the T-mobile version.. and from my quick research it has the exact same hardware as well,fully.(including same supported frequencies, etc). For those of us that are not devs(which I can imagine are the absolut most of the users here/on these forums) - this is extremely annoying , as we all bought the phone and came to XDA to enjoy the amazing things people do with it. I'ts only numbers which doesn't necessarily mean anything but just for a quick comparison, just to see what I'm talking about- the T-mobile ''android development'' forums has as of right now 34 threads and 18,761 posts compared to 21 threads and 3,642 Posts on our ''International'' version.. which is insane bc this its the same phone just only under a carrier brand, and we can't enjoy any of it.
The thing is, what can we do about it? can't there be a way(for both sides- 910F/T-mobile) to flash one another ROMS/Mods? and why does Samsung make an insane amount of models for the same phone? if its modem related then it doesn't make sense as some models have the same frequencies supported.
as I said, I feel cheated, and annoyed. not only there was the annoyance of having two SoCs- exynos and SD and practically splitting the userbase, now there's even more verients under the same SoC and splitting the userbase even more.
I feel like it was a mistake buying a samsung phone.
I agree with you. It's annoying. Some roms from t-mobile note 4 are excellent
Just my opinion, but if it have same hardware, I'm sure you can use them..
My country got the the lowest variants, 910H. Do you able to see development thread for it ? Only 1 custom rom as far as I remember, and the devs already change his phone to other variants.
So we owner of 910H variants just experimenting with 910C based rom because they have identical hardware (same exynos SoC, in fact same modem hardware which samsung said have difference in that area), and it's work, and we also got LTE capabilities which is blocked with official 910H rom.
Once again, if it have 100% identical hardware, I'll say it will work
Trade you my 910w8 for the 910F
Hello everyone. First off, some back history. I have a Note5 N920T that I bought 4 months ago give or take in hopes to sell it and buy a Note7 later. Before that, I owned a Note 3 N900A that I managed, thanks to this page and their geniuses, to flash a few ROMs. I know they could've been many more ROMS but due the locked bootloader I was very limited by it. So I decided that the phone after the N900A should be bootloader unlocked. I knew that one of the main carriers in USA that doesn't have the habit to lock the bootloaders was T-Mobile and they have the same band compatibilities than here in my country, which is Peru,South America. But I want to customize the phone, and a few days ago I tried installing TWRP but I got stuck with a bootloop, even though I did everything that was said on the forum. I've been surfing all over the web and there are many pages saying it is posible, then others saying otherwise. My point here is to get a "One page Answer" where everyone who is interested in flashing a ROM on the N920T can find the best way without the risk of bricking the handset. I want to flash a ROM that is based on the N920I or N920G ROM cause they have more compatible bands with my home carrier "CLARO", basically I'm interested in the bands 7 (700 Mhz) and 28 (2600 Mhz) which here are used for LTE Advanced, T-Mobile ROM won't use them and it only connects to the Band 2 (1900 Mhz). So, it would be great that people post here pages where you can find procedures which can help you to flash ROMs on the N920T other than the T-Mobile's. I think everything I'm saying is possible cause there are no difference between models in the hardware matter, it is not that I'm trying to put a Qualcomm ROM on an Exynos phone as all Note5 are Exynos and hardware specs are the same among all models. I want to thank in advance for your kind help and sorry if I broke any rules from this page. Hopefully my intentions aren't misunderstood.
Ps.- Sorry for the long post also.
I'm looking into buying a new phone very soon, I haven't had a cell phone since like a year ago, that is why all my posts dropped off. Last Time I had my own phone I had the S6 Edge and Note 5. But I'm really kind of tired of not using an international version, since no has cracked the SnapDragon's bootloader locks yet.
I could get a 128GB Note 9 from Straight Talk decently priced right now, but realistically I don't want to buy it if it is only the Unbranded SnapDragon version. I really want a newer Exynos Processor. When I looked online I couldn't find the model number for the version sold from Straight Talk. Maybe I didn't look hard enough. Does any carrier in the US sell the F versions?
You made this a Q&A but didn't post it in the Q&A forum? I'm not an expert but I'm sure the N960F doesn't work in America, don't you use CDMA there? I don't thing the F is compatible with that. I may be wromg, but I'm sure I've read things to that effect.
An Exynos model doesn't have the right bands for Verizon, Sprint, or their MVNOs in America. Exynos models may work on T-Mobile or AT&T, but even then may lack the new bands that enhance 4G coverage.
I consider myself an optimist and I want to stay positive. Honestly the main reason I opted for the Galaxy S10 was due to root support and phone development vs LG G series. I really am loving the performance of my phone. I've been rooting since the 1st Galaxy came out with help from this forum. I just hate to give up hope because there had always been some brilliant mind or mind(s) to crack through the barriers.
Just sucks all the other versions get to enjoy making their phone a little more fabulous than my US Sprint version ?
Thanks!
dtowngs4g said:
I consider myself an optimist and I want to stay positive. Honestly the main reason I opted for the Galaxy S10 was due to root support and phone development vs LG G series. I really am loving the performance of my phone. I've been rooting since the 1st Galaxy came out with help from this forum. I just hate to give up hope because there had always been some brilliant mind or mind(s) to crack through the barriers.
Just sucks all the other versions get to enjoy making their phone a little more fabulous than my US Sprint version ?
Thanks!
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Click to collapse
It's been a given fact that the US Snapdragon wont get root and it's been a well known fact for quite a while now. You should have opted for another model if you wanted root.
Well some of that was also dependent on those engineering kernels that got leaked on the last two models the Galaxy 8 & 9. Some devs were able to build off of that.
Tel864 said:
It's been a given fact that the US Snapdragon wont get root and it's been a well known fact for quite a while now. You should have opted for another model if you wanted root.
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True. I will say I haven't had a Galaxy since S6 but I would always see support for Galaxy. I wasn't interested in the S9 as much so I wasn't aware of how restricted it had become. Over the years I've had Motorola X play, LG series and Axon. As I said I assumed someone would break they the barrier. I remember the 1st root breaking through Knox or finding a work around. Then the bounty collected to root other versions as they became more difficult. It's just weird how US would be so dogmatically restrictive. But it's not an end all for me. I love my phone and how it doesn't lag even with 20 apps open.
P personally don't think root is needed too much on the S10
Was there any hope in the first place?
North American Samsung are known to be locked, only a fool would waste time finding way to root it when 99% of the world use a different version that is already possible to root.
I came from S7 exynos rooted with Magisk, and was very reluctant to swtich out, but I needed modern radio so I took the leap with the S10e. Got the 256GB U1 version, flashed with Tmo U firmware, and I'm 99% set. Giving certain permissions via ADB to MacroDroid and other apps is so far enough (e. g. set lock timeout to forever when on home WiFi, effectively doing the same as some rooted solution, etc.)
The 1% that I still really wish I could have? Titanium Backup. Migrating phone with TiBu is so much easier, and it's more reliable too. I wish Android allows more flexibility to power users on this (Google or Samsung backup is still not good enough).
supergear said:
P personally don't think root is needed too much on the S10
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Click to collapse
It's not, but some people think they have to have it.
Just in case, what's people suggestion?
In case we still able to return the phone, should we do it?
Does it seems some option for Snapdragon version in future, or better to give up and stockpile a return to the company?
For me, unlocked bootloader is a must, in order to remove crapware (like Bixby), remove Google, or just to get future support after Samsung declares it an "outdated device"
Suggestions?
supergear said:
P personally don't think root is needed too much on the S10
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Swift support and REAL call recording is still needed by many users, including me. Sucks that they both now need root. I wish I could use Oreo on this S10, lol!
dtowngs4g said:
Just sucks all the other versions get to enjoy making their phone a little more fabulous than my US Sprint version
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Click to collapse
I feel you dude, sucks that North Americans can't enjoy the same freedoms on the S10 compared to literally anywhere else. Doesn't make sense. I've always assumed that it was the US variants that can be easily unlocked? Perhaps because it uses the snapdragon chip, which I assumed was more easy to 'manipulate' than on Exynos chips?
The U.S. S10 Sprint 5G version can be rooted. The U.S. S9's just got root not too long ago. As for the other U.S. variants of the S10, root will probably never come to fruition.
StoneyJSG said:
The U.S. S10 Sprint 5G version can be rooted. The U.S. S9's just got root not too long ago. As for the other U.S. variants of the S10, root will probably never come to fruition.
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That's why I ended up getting a exynos verison for cricket lol
Always research if a device has root before buying it. Also if you want them to stop locking the bootloaders for the US variants start buying international exynos models so you can have root and maybe they will notice not as many US units selling due to locked bootloaders and will stop locking them, I doubt it but you never know.
Just got the 10+, wondering is the Snapdragon chip-set a guarantee more or less that it won't be rooted or is it the kind of thing that someone has to figure it out first. And then also why would the HK Snapdragon be different from the US one (saying they're the same chip-set, which from what I've read they are). Really wish I knew the cpu difference before :/. Switched from ATT specifically because ATT (at least my s6) locks down their phones to the point that no one bothers trying.
arokace said:
Just got the 10+, wondering is the Snapdragon chip-set a guarantee more or less that it won't be rooted or is it the kind of thing that someone has to figure it out first. And then also why would the HK Snapdragon be different from the US one (saying they're the same chip-set, which from what I've read they are). Really wish I knew the cpu difference before :/. Switched from ATT specifically because ATT (at least my s6) locks down their phones to the point that no one bothers trying.
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To my knowledge. HK vs US Snapdragons are the same, it's just that the carriers (Verizon, T Mobile, ATT etc.) force Samsung to lock down the bootloaders heavily and people have kind of stopped trying since it's really hard to unlock it. Outside the U.S and Canada too I believe, no one cares, so Samsung unlocks them. Also people don't bother much with unlocking U.S Snap since we can just buy Exynos and HK Snap and they'll work just fine on U.S carriers.