Hello,
I have got my phone and I managed to successfully install /e/OS on it. It was not exactly straightforward and took a couple of hours, but I have it now. So I thought I share my experience if someone is trying with the same device. And to be clear, it is only my experience; I am no expert in any way so take that into consideration.
Phone: Galaxy S10 dual sim, Model nr: SM-G973F/DS
Other software used: Windows 11, Odin v.3.13, TWRP 3.7.0
Since I use a Windows PC I decided to follow this tutorial instead of using Heimdall, which does not seem to work well on Windows: [HOWTO] Install /e/ on a Samsung smartphone with Windows easily
The short description that worked in the end for me is as follows:
- upgrade the stock OS to Android 12
- enable wifi (I wanted to keep the phone offline but it seems that certain follow up steps do not work this way)
- enable developer options and USB debugging (I am not sure if it is necessary for this tutorial but didn´t hurt)
- did not get the option for OEM unlock so I followed step 3.5 in the tutorial
- downloaded and installed ODIN
- phone was not recognized by ODIN so followed point 7 to install drivers
- restarted Phone into Download mode (Vol down and Bixby and connecting USB cable)
- downloaded TWRP and moved it to the phone as described
- now this may be interesting for others: Here I came across a problem that was not described in the tutorial. Odin said it was successful in installing TWRP; but my phone was stuck in Download mode with an error message “recovery error validating footer”. Restarting the phone and any of the possible button combinations did nothing but throw it back to Download mode with the same error message. After I while I found the solution here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/recovery-official-3-6-1-x-twrp-for-galaxy-s10-e-5g-exynos.4180287/ , more specifically point 10 and 11: A file called vbmeta.tar must also be downloaded and moved into the CP tab of Odin - started ODIN again and this time I could boot into TWRP
- rest easy as described - wipe, move the e-os file, install, restart
I might have skipped steps but I really mostly followed the tutorial except the additional file for TWRP that was necessary.
I have not tested the functions of the phone yet; but will do that over the next days/weeks.
Cheers,
h