The Samsung Galaxy S5 has been included by the Korean tech giant in the list of devices that are confirmed to receive the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update which it officially announced in November last year, days after Google’s latest mobile operating system was rolled out.
But since the device is almost two years old by the turn of the New Year, the Samsung Galaxy S5 is expected to officially receive the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update in February this year, one month after Samsung’s latest devices get it.
However, since there are already millions of Galaxy S5 users waiting for the update on their handsets, developer CyanogenMod has released an Android 6.0 Marshmallow based on its CM13 Nightly ROMs.
The update is now available for the G900F LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy S5. It is important for users to ensure that their Galaxy S5 units have the same version before they take on the Android 6.0 Marshmallow-based CM13 Nightly ROM because if not, there is a risk of having their handsets being bricked if they take on the update just like that, reports WCCF Tech.
Prerequisites for Samsung Galaxy S5 update
Galaxy S5 users should also bear in mind that they might lose all their existing installed apps and personal settings on the device. So it is important for them to follow the installation guide and create a backup.
As part of the prerequisites to updating the G900F LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy S5 to Android 6.0 Marshmallow using CM 13 Nightly ROM, users should download and install USB drivers for the device.
They should also enable USB debugging mode from the developer menu. There must also be a custom recovery tool like TWRP or CWM installed on the device. As has been said time and again, it is imperative that they back up any important data before going forward for the tutorial.
And then there is the requirement of having at least 70% battery life during the installation process so that there will be no interruption whatsoever.
A relatively big update
The Android 6.0 Marshmallow-based CM13 Nightly ROM update is a relatively big one with a file size of about 286MB. It brings the usual Marshmallow OS features including the Doze power saving boot system, support for more dialects, and a new contextual assistance feature, details the International Business Times of India.
As for the procedure in downloading and installing the update, the first step is to reboot the Galaxy S5 into recovery mode by pressing and holding down the volume up, home, and power keys until the screen flashes. After a few seconds, the phone will enter recovery mode.
Once in the recovery mode, take a Nandroid backup of the existing ROM. This is necessary to enable the user to recover the current ROM if he does not like the new ROM. In order to perform a backup, select Backup and Restore > Backup again. Go back to main recovery menu after backup is complete.
Once done, select wipe data/factory reset > Yes to confirm the action. Wait for a few minutes until the phone wipes the data. Once complete, go back to CWM recovery menu and Wipe Cache Partition and then Wipe Dalvik Cache too.
The next step is to select install zip from SD card > choose a zip from SD card. Locate the CM13 Android 6.0 custom ROM and select it by pressing the Power button. Confirm installation by selecting Yes. The ROM installation will now begin.
Once the phone finishes installing the ROM, the user needs to repeat the above step to install GApps on his Samsung Galaxy S5.
When done, he needs to go back to the main recovery menu and select reboot system now to reboot the phone. The Galaxy S5 now has an Android 6.0 Marshmallow-based CM13 Nightly ROM.