OEM unlocking in Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini phone

Hi, everyone,

A bit of a long shot, but maybe someone on here will be able to help me, please.

I'm trying to install Lineage on a Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini phone with Android 6.0.1. Someone gave it to me about four years ago but I have never used it. The person who gave it to me had done a factory reset (if that's relevant) but it's never been updated or upgraded since (ditto).

I tried to install Lineage on it when I got it, but, apparently, it wasn't possible at the time. (Full disclosure: I did ask on here for suggestions for alternatives to Lineage, but none of the options suggested were viable either, as far as I could find out.) However, this week I've looked into Lineage again, and I've found a couple of websites that give instructions for installing Lineage on an S5 Mini, including one called rootmygalaxy (not sure whether I'd be allowed to post a link).

However, before I can install anything, I must unlock the OEM. Some S5 Minis (apparently) have a toggle to make this simple. Mine, however, doesn't. So I've followed the instructions (from websites other than rootmygalaxy) for unlocking it. I've had to download and install drivers to do something called adb and fastboot.

I've done this, and then opened a command window, and typed in "fastboot devices" (without the quotation marks). According to rootmygalaxy, and other sites, I should then get a string of stuff that shows the phone is connected to the PC. Only I don't, I just get a message that it's "waiting for any device". I've just tried it again after installing a Samsung USB driver, and that's made no difference at all. I've been doing all this in Windows, by the way.

Does anyone have any idea where I'm going wrong, please? I should add I'm as un-techie as it's possible to be, and I'm not used to using a smartphone at all - my usual phone is an old skool 'dumb' phone (which I think is anything by dumb). Also, I'm prepared to take risks with the phone to install Lineage (or an alternative, if anyone has one); I haven't used it since I got it, so if I did brick it, I've not lost anything (although, obviously, I would rather I didn't brick it.)

thanks to anyone for any thoughts/advice they can give me.

Hi, everyone,

 

A bit of a long shot, but maybe someone on here will be able to help me, please.

 

I'm trying to install Lineage on a Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini phone with Android 6.0.1. Someone gave it to me about four years ago but I have never used it. The person who gave it to me had done a factory reset (if that's relevant) but it's never been updated or upgraded since (ditto).

 

I tried to install Lineage on it when I got it, but, apparently, it wasn't possible at the time. (Full disclosure: I did ask on here for suggestions for alternatives to Lineage, but none of the options suggested were viable either, as far as I could find out.) However, this week I've looked into Lineage again, and I've found a couple of websites that give instructions for installing Lineage on an S5 Mini, including one called rootmygalaxy (not sure whether I'd be allowed to post a link).

 

However, before I can install anything, I must unlock the OEM. Some S5 Minis (apparently) have a toggle to make this simple. Mine, however, doesn't. So I've followed the instructions (from websites other than rootmygalaxy) for unlocking it. I've had to download and install drivers to do something called adb and fastboot.

 

I've done this, and then opened a command window, and typed in "fastboot devices" (without the quotation marks). According to rootmygalaxy, and other sites, I should then get a string of stuff that shows the phone is connected to the PC. Only I don't, I just get a message that it's "waiting for any device". I've just tried it again after installing a Samsung USB driver, and that's made no difference at all. I've been doing all this in Windows, by the way.

 

Does anyone have any idea where I'm going wrong, please? I should add I'm as un-techie as it's possible to be, and I'm not used to using a smartphone at all - my usual phone is an old skool 'dumb' phone (which I think is anything by dumb). Also, I'm prepared to take risks with the phone to install Lineage (or an alternative, if anyone has one); I haven't used it since I got it, so if I did brick it, I've not lost anything (although, obviously, I would rather I didn't brick it.)

 

thanks to anyone for any thoughts/advice they can give me.

By default most of our Android smartphones are initially set to lock the bootloader, it's just that some are relatively simpler to unlock and some are for the most part impossible to unlock. Just offhand it sounds like you've been trying to flash the LineageOS firmware with the bootloader lock still enabled.

Did you previously unlock it or not? Otherwise try seeing if your model will let you.

-- Start up your S5 mini like normal, go into the Settings menu, and enable the Developers Option menu. The Developers Option menu is a part of the base Android OS, it's just hidden by default and needs to be specifically enabled by the user. Anyway, there should be a OEM unlocking option for you to enable/disable.

https://www.xda-developers.com/android-developer-options/

-- Try to flash the LineageOS firmware again, be sure to read through any instructions they post on their site. You might need to finagle with some other CLI options regarding a finicky bootloader so be patient.

https://source.android.com/docs/core/architecture/bootloader/locking_unlocking

-- Be sure to reboot both your S5 mini and your Win PC so they're both 'working off a clean slate'. And try to just a USB cable and avoid anything like a USB hub for this task, plug the phone directly into an open USB port on your PC.

Best of luck to you on this endeavor!

Hello, @greg18, cryptodan & svim,

First up, thanks for your replies, and I'm sorry for not responding earlier; I was struck down by the lurgy over Easter and I'm only just starting to catch up with things. I actually found that xda-developers site myself, Cryptodan, after posting on here, and I did ask for help there too, and (when I find my log-in details *sigh*) I'll be checking out any responses on there too (I thought I'd reply to the responses here first as a lot of the stuff on the xda site seems scarily technical so I'm not sure what state my brain will be in after I've read all that!). Thanks for the android link, svim. I honestly can't remember whether or not I tried anything like that before posting here - I lost track of all the things I tried - but I've copied it all out and if some kind soul hasn't posted An Idiot's Guide to Installing Lineage on an S5 Mini on the XDA-developers website, I'll give it a whirl when my brain's feeling fresher.

When I've found out what works - or not - I will post an update back here, I promise.

Thanks, again, for the advice and suggestions.