Samsung Galaxy S5 Tutorials, How Tos and Tips [Part 1]

Welcome to the first post of our planned tutorial series for Samsung Galaxy S5. We intend to give you as much relevant information, tips, tricks, solutions, and interesting tweaks as possible in this guide.

We will be adding more tutorials in the coming posts so stay tuned. This post covers the following topics for a Galaxy S5:

• How to boot in Safe Mode
• How to Install Xposed Framework
• How to do reset to factory settings
• How to wipe dalvik-cache
• How to perform recovery mode

How to enter Safe Mode in Samsung Galaxy S5

You may have heard of Safe Mode as a way to fix or diagnose an issue on your Galaxy S5 phone because you’re reading this page.

Safe mode is one of the most useful troubleshooting trick for an Android phone right now. This is a different state of your device wherein you can securely uninstall apps, remove bugs, and observe how your phone behaves for some time. Safe Mode is usually recommended when an S5 encounters problems like freezing, random reboots, connection difficulties, etc. It is more useful in troubleshooting which app is causing problems by forcing the S5 to run only the original apps provided by Samsung. Third party apps installed on the phone will not load, thus, it is very helpful in narrowing down the source of the problem. To enable Safe Mode, just follow the steps below:

1. Turn the device off.
2. Press and hold the Power key.
3. When ‘Samsung Galaxy S5′ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
7. Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.

How to install Xposed Framework on a Samsung Galaxy S5

Xposed Framework is an app that allows you select a particular feature of a custom ROM instead of getting all that are being offered. Created by XDA member Rovo89 a few years back, Xposed Framework is a very helpful app for users who wants to cherry pick certain modules to bring ROM customization to a new level.

This app is extremely easy to install once your phone has been rooted. As of this writing, only rooted device running Android 3.0 or later are being supported.

Just go over the steps below to see how it’s done.

1. Ensure that Enable Unknown Sources is ON. Xposed Framework is a third party app and is not available on Google Play Store so you have to make your phone open for its installation. Just go to Settings>Security, then put a check mark on Unknown Sources. Hit OK to confirm change.
2. Download the Xposed Installer. To get the necessary files, open your phone’s browser and click on this link. After downloading, just tap the pop up screen to start the installation process. Hit Install then tap Open.
3. Install Xposed Framework. Once you have the Xposed Framework opened, tap Framework to begin the actual installation. A pop up screen will show telling you to be careful so simply tick the box next to Don’t show this again and press OK.Afterwards, tap on Install/Update, Grant, and OK buttons. Your phone will reboot.
4. Modules installation. After the phone reboots, you can start choosing the modules you want on your phone. Open Xposed Installer app then go to Download section and pick the ones you like.

How to reset Samsung Galaxy S5 to factory default

Resetting an S5 to its factory settings is the fastest way to delete everything on the phone as well as a great troubleshooting step if you encounter an issue that may appear hard to resolve. It’s also a great way to get rid of annoying, rogue, or troublesome apps fast. Whatever your reason is, you’ve come to the right post as we give you options how to reset an S5 back to its original state.

As a precaution, please ensure that the battery has been fully charged and you have created a back-up copy of your data before you proceed.

There are two ways to reset an S5 to factory defaults–through the notification bar (assuming the phone’s touchscreen function is working), and by using the hardware keys.

Factory reset via Notifications bar

1. Pull down the notification bar and tap Settings
2. Tap Back and reset under User and Backup
3. Tap Factory data reset
4. Tap Reset device
5. Tap Delete all and wait
6. Reboot the phone

Factory reset via hardware buttons

1. Power down the Galaxy S5.
2. Press and hold the Volume up button, the Home button, and the Power button together until you see the Android on screen.
3. Use Volume down to highlight the wipe data/factory reset option and press the Power button to select it.
4. Use Volume down again to highlight Yes – delete all user data and press Power to select it.
5. Use the Power button to select Reboot system now.
6. When the S5 restarts it should be completely wiped and ready to set up again.

How to wipe dalvik-cache (fix Samsung Galaxy S5 Bootloop after flashing a new custom ROM)

Installing a new ROM on an already rooted S5 can create complications that often result to your phone becoming stuck in the Samsung logo screen or bootloop. To recover the phone, a user must perform a full Wipe dalvik-cache clean-up by following the steps below:

1. Reboot your Galaxy S5 phone in Custom Recovery. This means you have to know exactly what type of ROM you used before. You want to know if you installed the ROM like CWM, TWRP and or Philz Touch so you can choose the type of recovery software to use.
2. Turn the phone off by holding down the Volume Up, Home and Power button at the same time.
3. Tap Backup & Restore
4. Choose Backup first to keep your data files in safe place.
5. Go to Advanced options.
6. Choose Wipe dalvik-cache
7. Go to Mounts & Storage.
8. Choose Wipe /cache
9. Select Reboot the phone now.

Recovery Mode on Samsung Galaxy S5 (stock or rooted)

Whether or not your phone is rooted, there is a way to enter recovery mode in a Samsung Galaxy S5. But what exactly is recovery mode and what are the reasons why you want to perform it?

Basically, recovery mode is a bootable state of your phone used to delete files, perform system updates, or delete cache partition. Either of them can be a resolution to a problem like an annoying or rogue app, or to bring the phone to a more stable state after customizing a ROM. Doing a recovery mode can be the last resort, especially if the phone has stopped responding or if touchscreen is no longer working properly.

1. Turn off your S5.
2. In order to shut down your Galaxy S5 you can either press the power button and select “power off” or you can press and hold the power key for more than 10 seconds.
3. Wait a few seconds and then proceed to the steps below.
4. Press power, volume up and home buttons at the same time, simultaneously.
5. Keep pressing these keys until recovery mode is being displayed on your Galaxy S5.
6. In recovery mode, use volume up and down buttons in order to scroll up and down; also use power button in order to select your option.
7. You can then reboot into Android by selecting Reboot System Now.