Installing on a Galaxy S8 (SM-G950F): OEM unlock not shown

[atratr]

I have got a ‘new’ Samsung Galaxy S8 (SM-G950F), and I am trying to install /e/ on it.
The current OS is stock version 9 and it is updated up to December 2019.
Still at the beginning: I enabled developer mode, but the “OEM unlock” option is missing.
I have read many solutions: changing the date, waiting 7 days without rebooting, downgrading the bootloader…
For a start, what I want to know is the current working solution to enable this option.

[Anonyme]

Try to update it to the last update (if it doesn’t bring you to Android 10) and check if it appears.

[archje]

@atratr

I enabled developer mode, but the “OEM unlock” option is missing.

The option OEM Unlock is available on my S8 SM-G950F “dreamlte” with stockROM Android 9.

https://ecloud.global/s/4P9AKfk4cQyxXQX

In your place I would try the following:

1. Factory Reset
2. Set date 01.01.2020 after the start.
3. Activate Development mode
4. Check if the option OEM-Unlock is at least roughened visible.

Please give a short feedback against it. Then we can continue.

By the way: The “trick - reset date” worked for me.

[atratr]

Thanks!
Things improved.
I did the 4 steps and nothing changed.
But after connecting it to a wifi network, the option appeared and I selected it!

Some questions remain:

• Is it recommended to update the stock rom to the latest version before flashing?

• Some sites warn that if one reboots into the old system after flashing something (e.g. heimdall or twrp), the device locks again, so care has to be taken not to reboot into stock while not flashed all pieces of software. How can this (installing everything without booting the old rom) be done?

• Is it needed to install the “vendors” or some other .zip before the main system?

[Anonyme]

@atratr

Is it recommended to update the stock rom to the latest version before flashing

I think it is because it could bring security updates to closed source éléments of your phone. But don’t do this if it brings you to Android 10.

@atratr

How can this (installing everything without booting the old rom) be done

While the phone reboots after the installation of TWRP is done, go directly in recovery mode (be fast

@atratr

Is it needed to install the “vendors” or some other .zip before the main system

I don’t think so, everything should be up to date enough with your device.

Here is a HOWTO you can use or look at :

[HOWTO] Install /e/ on a Samsung smartphone with Windows easily

Version française disponible ici. Hi everyone ! I have just installed /e/ on my smartphone (Samsung Galaxy J5 2015 / SM-J500FN / j5nlte) and I would like to offer a better tutorial for Samsung smartphones. Indeed the method currently proposed by /e/ here is really not simple, I didn’t understand what I was doing, and I didn’t succeed in the end. Instead of downloading a lot of complicated stuff, here we will download simple tools, and… without a command line ! I will illustrat…

[archje]

@Anonyme

But don’t do this if it brings you to Android 10.

There is no official stockROM Aandroid 10 for the S8 SM-G950F.

@atratr

But after connecting it to a wifi network, the option appeared and I selected it!

That would have been the next step. ;-/

@atratr

Is it recommended to update the stock rom to the latest version before flashing?

In your case I don’t see any need. Whether stockROM Android 9 G950FXXS6DSL2 with December 2019 Security Update or stockROM Android 9 with March 2020 Security Update is not important here.

@atratr

Is it needed to install the “vendors” or some other .zip before the main system?

With my S8, that wasn’t necessary.

[atratr]

Thanks!
Finally, I installed /e/ today.
I did not install the “vendors”, and it worked anyway.
I did not update the stock system before installing, because I did not know whether that would imply stricter OEM unlocking conditions.
After installing TWRP, I did the trick of rebooting to TWRP with VolUp+VolDown+Bixby+Power and when the screen went black, release VolDown (keeping VolUp+Bixby+Power).
One thing that failed was “adb sideload”. I had to copy the .zip to the phone with the file manager (I tried with a usb flash memory + usb-otg and it worked too).

[archje]

Bravo @atratr! Welcome to the /e/ club.