Last Updated on September 20, 2024 by Mathew Diekhake

Samsung Galaxy J2 (SM-J200)

It’s popular to customize the Android smartphone so you can adjust the software to better suit your needs. Customizing software is an obvious thing to do. The problem for many people is the owner of their software doesn’t always allow it. Apple software is notoriously locked so it can’t be customized. Android is an operating system that started as open source which meant that anybody could literally change it. Google allowed plenty of customization after they bought Android, and now customization is one of the most popular reasons to buy an Android phone. One of the ways you can customize Android is with a custom recovery that allows for the installation of custom firmware.

Details of Note

  • The custom recovery images available in this guide are only to be installed on the Samsung Galaxy J2 (SM-J200) 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 J2 (SM-J200) TWRP Recovery image is “j2lte.” 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.

Files Required

How to Install TWRP Recovery on Samsung Galaxy J1 Ace (SM-J110)

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.

Custom recovery images do not support official over-the-air software updates.

One of the features that the Android operating system has is the system partition. It’s here where your manufacturer and carriers store their default applications, so you can never delete them. Some of these apps can be turned off, but you won’t be able to uninstall them completely. The reason being that you can’t get into the system partition to remove them unless you have access to the root user account.

The updates that you get from the manufacturer never run through the system partition. This is because they are just differential updates. These kinds of updates can be so straightforward that sometimes they don’t even replace the full files, instead opting just to patch bits and pieces. That will be a good thing if you are a data-conscious user who wants to save costs by not downloading too much. The drawback about it though is that users who modify the system partition by getting root access, removing stock applications or installing BusyBox, etc., will run the risk of unexpected behavior if they go back to using them again after having a custom recovery image installed.

There’s no real reason for you to notice that the custom recovery image is installed when you have one, so there’s no reason to panic about getting rid of it. The only time you would ever notice it is if you were to boot into the recovery mode and notice the different interface. But if you did want to go back to using the stock recovery, even after understanding the risks, then you could always flash the stock recovery image, typically found in the stock ROM zip package for your device. The stock recovery image will just wipe over the current custom recovery; there’s no reason to delete the custom one first, or even any real way to make that happen even if you wanted to. It’s also possible to just flash the entire stock ROM zip file by using a flashing tool that is made for your manufacturer, and the stock recovery image will get installed during its installation, too.

That’s all.