How to install stock firmware on Samsung Galaxy S3 using Odin
If you want to upgrade your Samsung Galaxy devices like Samsung Galaxy S2, Galaxy S3, Note 2, Tab 2 etc. software ( android OS) there are two options either you can upgrade using Kies (Samsung PC suite) or you also upgrade/downgrade using Odin. Odin is a windows based software that allows you to install stock firmware using your laptop or PC. You can also root your Samsung Galaxy devices easily using Odin.
For installing/upgrading stock firmware you will need following-
1. Your device,
2. USB cable of your device,
3. Laptop/PC
4. Odin Software
5. Your device firmware copy that is in zip mode when you extract this zip file you will get .tar file format , further do not extract this file.
You can download your requisite firmware from Sammobile.com.
6. Your device windows drivers, or you can install samsung kies , it will also install your device drivers inside your PC.
Download latest Odin software for windows here
Download Kies for windows here
After downloading and installing Samsung kies inside your PC/Laptop connect your samsung device with USB cable and wait to install all required drivers. When Samsung kies shows your device it means your device drivers has been installed.
For installing Samsung Galaxy S3 , Galaxy S2, Galaxy Tab 2 firmware you first need to download your device’s latest firmware from Sammobile.com click on this link to download your device, region, firmware version – Sammobile Download link.
You have to register on Sammobile to get access to download link.
Now learn about download (Odin) mode and recovery mode of your mobile/device. Every Samsung galaxy device have two modes one is download mode using that you can install firmwares, other one is recovery mode using that one can do factory reset their devices and can also made backup for restoring back the system with all data and settings.
- How to reach in download mode – Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S3 , Note 2, Tab 2 etc. and remove usb cable if plugged. Now turn on your device by keep pressing, Volume down key, home key and power button. Right procedure is first press Vol down and home key by two fingers of one hand and in the keep pressing condition press power key to restart your phone. You will see the warning on the screen and a triangle now press up volume key to reach in the download Odin mode. If you want to restart your device in Download mode keep pressing power key up to 8-10 seconds and your device will restart without any change to original condition. In some devices where home key is not available like Galaxy Tab 2 use combination of Vol down key and power key to restart your Tab in download mode.
- How to reach in stock recovery mode – To reach in recovery mode repeat the above procedure by choosing volume up key in place of down key and restart your device and you will reach into recovery mode, from there you can factory reset your device, can take a backup and restore your device. For scrolling between the option use volume up & down keys and to choose your option press power key.
How to install firmware using Odin –
Charge your device upto 70-80% for safe side so that battery will not die between the process and software will not corrupt. Now keep take a backup of your data if you are upgrading from lower version of firmware to higher version this will not delete your data but for security it is better to take a backup. Sync your contacts to google, take backup of your apps, call logs ams using mybackup, or go backup app, you can also take back up of your sms using sms backup & restore app. And can also backup your apps using Androzip.
Open Odin software by double click on the .exe file , if it is in zip format first unzip the folder and launch Odin, now reach inside download mode as described earlier, now connect your device to computer using usb cable. The first square block in the top left side should shown as blue and with some com port like port 4,5 etc. it means your device is ready to upgrade. If this is not shown blue it means some drivers are missing. Keep trying by removing and inserting data cable so this com port will show as blue. Now in Odin only auto reboot and F. reset time should be checked , do not check in any condition re-partition or any other option otherwise you may brick you device or lose system partition.
Now check the pda tab in right side and browse the location of your firmware that is in .tar format as described above. Now just click on start to start the upgrading process. If process not start after 4-5 minutes, remove usb cable and again insert and click on start.
After upgradation your device will automatically reboot, when Oding shows as pass or succeed than remove usb cable and congrats you have successfully installed new firmware on your galaxy device.
Using the above process you can upgrade and even downgrade, If you choose upgrade firmware you will not loose you data, If you have chosen downgrade, you have to factory reset your device using recovery mode to work efficiently your mobile unless you will get forced close and auto reboot bugs.
The detailed procedure can be found here- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1671969