In today’s tough economic times, when people are looking for something to invest in that isn’t real estate, I always tell them to look for the unbeatable software companies and think about putting some of their money in those areas.

Apple has a hardcore following that would seemingly continue to buy their products like a religious experience, but you also never know if the hardware we have now is the same hardware that will still be relevant in the future—and if it isn’t, would that mean another hardware company comes along? If we’re just looking at Apple, they have a solid foundation, not just because of the great hardware that they are renown for, but because they are creating their own software, found on the hardware that they create too, which is also pretty good to today’s standards.

But as we’ve seen with companies that purely focus on the software side of things—like Microsoft—limiting your own software to your own devices comes with its downsides as well, namely that the competition that allows its software to run on a large number of different devices from a bunch of different manufacturers is going to easily get the jump on market share advantage.

When focussing on the mobile devices only, it is now Android that is running on the most devices, even though most people consider the fruit company to be superior to Google. The Mountain View company is far more than just a company in the smartphone business though: they are the leading search engine in the world, and the number of people who use search engines shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s a big business, and in a world where most websites cater to Google’s requests, it’s nearly impossible to see them failing in the future for as long as there is internet around.

So not only does Android currently lead the way in software that is running on the most mobile devices, but it also has a solid foundation set up for the future, unless you’re someone who doesn’t see the internet lasting. Search engines won’t be around if there is no internet, and it would render smartphones pretty useless, too.

With all that knowledge it makes sense to spend some time getting to know your operating system of choice: if you’ve chosen to use Apple then stick with it and get to know it at a deeper level than most. If you are an Android user, then get to know it well too, because eventually, you’ll start to get the same type of software running on television sets, and other devices around the home. And learning several operating systems isn’t an easy thing to accomplish.

When you start to delve into the world of Android, you’ll soon find out that it is based on a Linux kernel and the Android Open Source Project. Google then creates the official stock ROMs which are just known as Google Android software updates. That coding can’t be changed. But if you’re a developer, you can grab that original AOSP code and start to create your own ROM. We see this happen all the time when third-party developers create custom ROMs. Most devices out there that run Android have at least a few custom ROMs available, and others can have tens of custom ROMs—it all depends how many people are using the devices and how much demand there is for these developers to get to work.

Swapping the Google Android stock ROM for some custom software is, of course, one of the main reasons for people wanting to get a custom recovery image installed. Not only does it allow for the flashing of the ROM zip files, which the stock recovery doesn’t, but it also offers all the tools one will need to get ROMs flashed without any issues. This includes the chance to backup and restore, as well as wipe the data and cache. What’s more, the backups within a custom recovery such as TWRP are NANDroid backups, indicating that you can backup single partitions at a time if you like, instead of the whole system image. NANDroid backups are a step up again from popular root applications like Titanium Backup.

Details of Note

  • The custom recovery images available in this guide are only to be installed on the Samsung Galaxy Core Prime (Qualcomm CDMA) smartphone. Most devices have a custom recovery image developed specifically for it, and you shouldn’t install one that is intended for another device unless advised it is okay by a professional.
  • The codename for the Samsung Galaxy Core Prime (Qualcomm CDMA) TWRP Recovery image is “cprimeltemtr.” You will see that codename in the TWRP image file path and also from your About Device menu so you know you are flashing the right file on the right device.
  • You can find the device tree files over at its GitHub page.
  • You can install the official TWRP Recovery application from the Google Play Store or from the TWRP website as an APK, if you have root access on the device already, and get the TWRP installed that way, no adb required. Once the app is installed, it will be in your Downloads folder. Navigate to the Downloads folder and select the TWRP application. When the application opens tap on the option for flashing the TWRP.

Files Required

How to Install TWRP Recovery on Samsung Galaxy Core Prime Qualcomm CDMA

Note: The Odin flashing tool is really easy to use, but it only works on the Windows operating system. You won’t get the flashing tool to load on a Mac or Linux computer. It doesn’t really matter what version of the Windows operating system that you’re using as long as it is something above Windows XP.

1. Download and install the Samsung USB drivers on the computer if you don’t have them already.

2. Download the firmware (.tar) file from the links above directly to the computer. Extract the file by right-clicking on it and choosing the option to extract. When you do, you’ll see the tar.md5 file inside. That’s the file you’ll be using to do the flashing.

3. Download the Odin flashing tool. It doesn’t really matter what version, but the latest is the most up to date so grab that one. Extract the Odin file and then double-click on the Odin executable file (.exe) that is found from within the Odin folder after extraction. You should now have the Odin interface open on the computer and waiting for you to connect to it.

4. Boot the Samsung mobile device into the Download Mode by first powering it down and then rebooting by holding the Volume Down + Home + Power keys at the same time.

5. A yellow warning triangle will come up on the device’s display. At this time you need to press the Volume Up button. You’ll then see the device getting into the Download Mode. It’s then ready for the flashing.

6. When in Download Mode, connect the Samsung mobile device to the computer with the USB cable.

7. If you have installed the USB drivers correctly, the Odin flashing tool should detect your device. You can tell this by observing the ID: COM port lighting up with a color, usually yellow or blue.

It doesn’t matter what color, it’s the lighting up that counts.

8. After the device is picked up by Odin, click on the PDA or AP button, depending on what button your version of the Odin flashing tool has.

9. Navigate to the stock ROM folder and upload the tar.md5 file to this location in Odin.

10. Without changing any of the default settings, click on the Start button in Odin, and the flashing then begins.

11. Wait until Odin shows a Pass message before disconnecting your device.

You can now close the Odin flashing tool and continue using your computer if you like.

TWRP App Installation Method (Root Required)

If you decided to download the TWRP application from the Google Play Store or the APK file from the official TWRP website, then after you open the application you will be given a few different options to choose from. But before even going that far, it’s important to note that you should only install the TWRP APK file from the official TWRP website. If you’re installing it from Git, or any other file hosting website, it might not be the official version, and thus, it won’t have been built or tested by the official TWRP developers and maintainers.

Once the application is open, you’ll need to agree to not hold anyone from TWRP responsible for any issues that your device may face while using the application. This is a standard disclaimer that Team Win puts on top of each of the recovery image files from the official website as well, so it’s nothing new. It just explains that it is your decision to put the custom recovery on your device, and while they work hard to provide a quality product, there are no guarantees that your device isn’t susceptible to damages relating to TWRP while the custom recovery is installed. You can grant the application root permissions now as well. Root access can be obtained by flashing SuperSU, or other appropriate rooting files, from the custom recovery itself. Without root, you won’t have access to some of the app’s features, such as image flashing. It’s here also where you can enable InsightCore (a feature to monitor and record the network performance of your device).

Once you’ve accepted the agreements, you’ll see the TWRP application’s home screen, where you can choose to flash TWRP or view the network statistics. When choosing to flash the custom recovery, you’ll need to scroll and select your device from the list to make sure you are flashing the correct file. When the device is chosen, the TWRP application automatically then searches for the latest version of the TWRP for that device and will continue doing so every day for as long as the app is installed. This interval can also be altered from the Settings in the top right-hand corner of the device’s display when the apps open.

If root access has been enabled, you’ll see the chance to select the custom recovery image and the buttons for flashing the images to boot or from recovery. You should choose to flash the images to recovery. Only use the boot image flashing when you are flashing full boot images, not just kernel zimages.

DD Installation Method

You can also get the custom recovery installed on the Samsung Galaxy J7 Exynos SM-J700 smartphone by using the DD install method. To do it this way, download the latest recovery image file for your device from its downloads page on the official TWRP website (Primary [Americas]| Primary [Europe]) and then place the file in the root of your /sdcard folder. Rename the image “twrp.img.”

You then need to run the following commands from the ADB shell or a Terminal Emulator application:

su

dd if=/sdcard/twrp.img of=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/recovery

Most Android users wouldn’t notice a difference between a device that has a stock recovery and a custom recovery, so it shouldn’t matter too much that you have one installed. The TWRP developers actually say that things can go sour if you try to get rid of it and have made changes to the system partition with it installed—including by getting root access with SuperSU, installing BusyBox, removing the stock applications, so forth—so that’s also something to think about before you swap it for the stock recovery again.

But if you did want to get the stock recovery back on your device, you can do that by flashing the stock recovery image, usually by using the same guide that you followed to flash the custom recovery. The stock recovery image files are usually located inside the stock ROM/firmware zip files. Or, if you wanted, you could also just flash the full stock ROM, and it too should result in the custom recovery image being overridden for the stock version.

That’s all.

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