Last Updated on April 9, 2017 by Mathew Diekhake
The Samsung Galaxy S5 G900S is finding a new G900SKSU1BNL2 firmware arriving over the air as a system notification. The new firmware is boosting the OS to Android 5.0 Lollipop in Korea. By now I’m sure you know all the features inside of 5.0 Lollipop such as the new material design UI, material Design app drawer, smart notifications, new Android runtime (ART), device sharing capabilities and more, so we won’t spend much time on what’s inside.
You should wait for the official OTA notification and download automatically unless you want to skip the waiting process or you have root access. Those of you with the smartphone unlocked away from the factory restrictions should not flash official firmware files over the air. Of course, if you are a regular Galaxy S5 user and don’t customize the operating system, none of that applies for you. Those with stock Android and haven’t tinkered with the device can update the OS manually or automatically.
Before starting the steps we like to run through the essentials so you know what you are doing. Advanced Android users can skip ahead after skimming over the finer details just in case you don’t remember.
The following is only for the G900S variant of the Galaxy S5. That model number works for Korea. You can anytime check your device model number by turning on the phone and stopping over at the Settings, followed by About Device.
Flashing the firmware file on a different model number can cause damage. The same rule applies even if it is still a different version of the flagship for Samsung in 2014. Each phone carrier network is issued a unique model number. The files are always made individually for each version. You can’t mix and match the firmware.
You are obliged to backed the data. Those of you running with root access and a custom ROM will lose both unless you try using the OTA Root Keeper app from Google Play. However, the app doesn’t work for all devices. Generally if you have root access with SuperSU or Superuser access, there’s a great chance. Therefore, those of you with root access want to back up using Titanium or taking a Nandroid backup. Those of you running stock Android already and wishing to update the software to the Lollipop want to try using Helium for Android.
There are other methods for backing up. You can use the steps you usually take for making copies of the data or take our advice. The only wrong answer is doing it incorrectly, so it’s best to back up a way you feel comfortable with. You can use Google Drive for extra storage space if you are running low. Samsung Kies syncs the device and doubles as a great way for obtaining the USB drivers. You do need the USB drivers for following the steps below.
Some of you have the up to date USB drivers already. If you are connecting the phone with the computer and accessing the phone pictures on the computer, you don’t need to install the drivers again. However, those that can’t may want to look at updating them from third-party links, the official Samsung website or through Kies. Remember to disable Kies after installing the drivers if you go in that direction. Kies and the Odin application do not work well together.
You must enable USB Debugging Mode from the Developer Options menu. The Developer Options menu is available directly from the Settings menu. Of course, you must turn on your device before you find either menus.
You can rely on the USB charging feature to operating for your battery levels. However, make sure the computer, notebook or laptop is plugged into a power source so the USB charging is working. If you don’t want to reply on USB charging, you can charge the battery to at least 50% before starting the steps. You can check what level it’s at now by looking at the battery icon from the status bar. Similarly to the Developer Options, you can’t view the battery icon unless the device is on already.
How to update the Samsung Galaxy S5 G900S with KSU1BNL2 Android 5.0 Lollipop
- Download the official G900SKSU1BNL2 firmware here.
- Download a suitable version of Odin here.
- Use the desktop for extracting both folders.
- Start the Odin application.
- Boot the S5 in download mode.
– press Volume Down + Power + Home keys. - Connect the S5 to the computer using the USB cable.
- Click the PDA button and upload the KSU1BNL2 zip file.
- Don’t touch the default settings
– leave on Auto reboot
– leave on F reset Time
– leave off re-partition - Click the start button when you are ready for the flashing.
- Wait for the ID: COM port to change color.
- A new message saying “pass” or “fail” comes on the screen.
- All failed attempts must try again
– try installing new USB drivers - All passes can disconnect safely using “safely remove hardware” feature.
If your device keeps getting stuck during the process you must enter the recovery mode and perform a factory reset. Remember you lose the data by resetting the phone back to its factory state. You can try wiping the caches from recovery first to see if that helps.