How to Flash and Install Recovery on Android devices

April 7, 2017

Almost all of us use a Smart phone or will be using one in near future. Now, there are four major platforms on which our Smart phone work, like Android which occupies 70% of the market, iOS which has 17%, Windows 3-4%, Ubuntu and other custom platforms.

ROM is short-form of Read Only Memory. A custom ROM will replace your Android device’s default Operating System. The ROM stores data and information for your OS that runs your cell phone. Replacing ROM will open your phone to install custom Operations Systems or multiple systems giving you complete access to you phone.

Why should you install custom ROM on your Android phone or device?

Let me tell you, all smart phone providers are against installation of Custom ROMs and they usually void warranties in such cases. And more importantly, please ensure to BACK-UP all your data on a separate device or PC just in case you need to. As installations of Custom ROM don’t always go according to plans and you may lose all your vital data and we don’t want that to happen.Advantages of Installing Custom ROM
There are many advantages of installing a custom ROM on your phone that override its risks. Its benefits are:

Increased Performance by CPU Over clocking
RAM Optimization
Full ROM and Device Backup
Customize GUI Animations
SD Card Partitions
Change of Kernel software
Change of Boot Animation
New Fonts in the system
Change buffer size to boost speed of SD card
Root browsing
Get Ride on Application to faster switching
Kill application on back button
Limit enhancement to Faster loading of Apps in RAM
Disable Apps in the Background
Uninstall any system app
Change and Fix application permissions

Disadvantages of Custom ROM Installation

There are certain factors you should consider before installing a Custom ROM on your Android phone.

Warranty Void
Complete Data Loss
Risk Factor (Virus)

What is ClockWorkMode Recovery?

ClockworkMod Recovery also known as CWM is the custom recovery software for android tablet, phones and other android devices. To use CWM consider points given below:

Root your device before installing a CWM
ROM manager can be used to Install and Recover the ROM
Take Full Backup of ROM
ROM manager will auto-detect the CWM version of your device.

Point to remember : ROM manager does not support all Android devices. So, check if your device is supported by the Custom ROM.
Installing CWM on Android device using Odin.

Installing CWM recovery on any Android device is very straight forward process. Follow below steps:
1. Install android device driver in the computer

2. Download latest Odin Multi Downloader software and just extract it on desktop (It contains Odin_multi_downloader.exe + BENI_v1.0.ops, size nearby 5-8 MB)

3. Download CWM Recovery package (CWM_v6.0.2.7.tar, Size nearby 4-8 MB)

4. Make sure you have backed up your all data? (Contacts, Messages and other apps)

5. Make sure your battery should be charged more than 50% to avoid risk

6. If mobile is connected with pc then disconnect it first

7. Enable Developer Options by tapping on Build number 10 times from Settings

8. Enable USB debugging from Setting > Applications > Developer Options > USB Debugging

9. Switch off your device and start into downloading mode. Downloading mode can be started by holding home button + volume down key + power button until the download mode appears

10. Start the Odin_multi_downloader.exe file in PC

11. Connect your mobile to the pc

As soon as mobile connected to the pc, on Odin multi downloader the COM Port Mapping section will turn yellow and you will be able to see your device name appear on it. If you can’t see it, unplug the phone and reconnect it or install device driver once again overwriting the old one. (See the screen below for details)

12 . On the Odin multi downloader, click on the OPS button and select BENI_v1.0.ops file which you have downloaded earlier (Step 2)

13. Tick One Package option

14. Click on One Package button and select ClockWorkMode recovery file (Ex: CWM_v6.0.2.7.tar) which you have downloaded earlier (Step 3)

15. Click on the start button. (your phone automatically reboot itself while process is running)

16. Don’t remove cable. The process will take 5 to 10 minutes

17. When process completes, the COM Port Mapping section will be turned blue with the message “Pass”

Note: If your process fail or Odin get stuck or in case your device get into boot loops then don’t panic. Just close Odin window, remove battery from phone and reconnect it and follow same process again.

Now, boot your device into recovery mode by holding home button and power button simultaneously until recovery mode appears.

You will notice that clockwork mode recovery is installed on your device. It will look like this image.

Backup your official ROM from the “Recovery options > Backup and Restore” before installing CynogenMod & Gapps (Google Apps)

Backup ROM is stored into “clockworkmode” folder in the SD card. You can restore it from “recovery options > backup and restore”

How to Install CynogenMod (ROM) & Gapps on your device?

1. Download your mobile’s appropriate cynogenMod[version].zip and gapps.zip from web. Copy both file into root directory of SD Card

2. Boot your device into recovery mode by holding power + home button simultaneously until recovery mode appear

3. Select Wipe Data Reset > yes

4. Select Wipe Cache Partition > yes

5. Select Advance > Wipe Dalvik cache > yes

6. Press back and select “install zip from SD Card > downloaded_cynogenMod[version].zip > yes”. (Wait 15 minutes or until successful or error message doesn’t pass)

7. Press back and select “install zip from SD Card > downloaded_gapps[version].zip > yes”. (Wait 15 minutes or until successful or error message doesn’t pass)

8. [optional step] Repeat step 3,4 and 5 to clear temp data
Select Reboot System Now. That’s it.

First Boot takes some time to start mobile with new cynogenMod. Please be patient for 20-25 minutes as your device will take that much time to load new ROM.
In case of failure mobile will loop down the boot process. You should identify the problem and repeat above steps.

Still having problem? you can restore your backed-up ROM. Before restoring repeat the steps 3,4 and 5 as mentioned above.

As an android developer, I would request you to please follow these steps religiously to ensure a smooth custom ROM installation, as deviating from them or half installations will ruin your experience and you will have to again invest hours to get your phone data.

We at KNOWARTH Technologies provide full-cycle Android application development services and solutions. Our Android engineers are experts in development, design and maintenance of Android applications. Get in touch with us if you want to develop beautiful, responsive and scalable Android applications or free consultation on your Application ideas.

Written by: Mitul Varmora

I love investigating various new methods in mobile development. I always try to keep everything perfect in work or house. When i am not working, I create happiness by my own actions and perform comedy actions to stay fresh and have fun! That's my perfect life style.