The Galaxy Note 4 is currently being updated to Android 5.0.1 Lollipop but not everyone wants to use it. So today I will guide you through the step by step process on how to downgrade the Galaxy Note 4 from Android 5.0.1 Lollipop back to Android 4.4.4 KitKat.
There are a lot of reasons why someone might not want to run Android 5.0.1 Lollipop right now. It’s no secret that there are a handful of bugs that might tarnish your experience of the new version of Android. Some people do not like the fact that Google has removed various features in Android(silent mode, notification ticker in the status bar, etc). Then again, some people refuse to give up the ability to install Xposed. Even though Xposed has been released for the Galaxy Note 4, it’s currently having issues with TouchWiz and will bootloop your device unless you are running CM12 or any other custom ROM based on AOSP.
You might think to yourself, if the person doesn’t want Lollipop then they don’t have to accept the Lollipop update notification. Sadly, this doesn’t work for everyone. Some carriers will only let you refuse an update a certain amount of times before you are forced to hit that accept button. Other carriers will sneakily update your device, even after you have declined the update, in the middle of the night. Also, some people might experience bugs a decrease in battery life after they update. Whatever your reason is, today I will show you exactly how to downgrade the Galaxy Note 4 from Android Lollipop to Android 4.4.4 KitKat.
Downgrading is essentially like a factory reset so you will lose all of your data that you haven’t already backed up.
Downgrade the Galaxy Note 4
- Download, Extract, and Install the Samsung USB Drivers(then reboot)
- Download and Extract Odin v3.09
- Download the Android 4.4.4 KitKat Firmware for Your Galaxy Note 4
- Extract the .tar.md5 File from the Galaxy Note 4 KitKat Firmware
- Enable Developer Mode on the Galaxy Note 4
- Open Up the Developer Options and Enable USB Debugging
- Power Down the Galaxy Note 4
- Boot the Galaxy Note 4 into Recovery Mode
- Perform a Factory Reset on the Galaxy Note 4
- Power Down the Galaxy Note 4 Again
- Boot the Galaxy Note 4 into Download Mode
- Connect the Galaxy Note 4 to the Computer via the Micro USB Cable
- Launch Odin
- Click on the AP / PDA Button in Odin
- Browse to the .tar.md5 File You Extracted from the Galaxy Note 4 Firmware
- Make Sure Re-Partition is NOT Enabled
- When Ready, Click the Install Button
Note – One user reported that they ran into a bootloop from this tutorial but clearing the cache partition cleared up the issue perfectly. If this happens to you(and please leave a comment telling me if it does or doesn’t) then hopefully the cache partition will resolve it as well. Another user has reported that they needed to perform a factory reset on the Galaxy Note 4 in order to clear the bootloop. Both have reportedly work so one of them should definitely help you out if you come across the issue.
Explanation
The first things you need to do is to download some things ahead of time. You will need the Samsung USB drivers installed, you will need Odin v3.09(or another compatible one) and you will need the Android 4.4.4 KitKat firmware for your specific model of the Galaxy Note 4. To get this, simply visit the link in step 3 of the tutorial above. You will see a search box on SamMobile and you will need to type in the model number of your specific Galaxy Note 4. For example, if you have the SM-N910C variant of the Galaxy Note 4, then type that in and then press Enter.
Locate your Country/Carrier in the list on SamMobile and click on the Android 4.4.4 KitKat firmware listing. You’ll be taken to the download page where you can select Regular Download or Fast Download. Unless you are a premium member, go ahead and click on Regular Download and wait for it to complete. Once you have it downloaded, you can extract the file(s) inside it and you should see a .tar.md5 file in there. This is what you load into Odin to downgrade your Galaxy Note 4 back to Android 4.4.4 KitKat.
Once you have your files downloaded, go ahead and enable the Developer Mode on your Galaxy Note 4 and then make sure the USB Debugging option is enabled. When this option has been activated, you can power down your Galaxy Note 4 so you can boot up into Recovery Mode. It is advised that you go perform a factory reset on your Galaxy Note 4 so that everything is how it was when Android was just installed. This helps to revert any changes that you might have made that could prevent KitKat from being flashed onto your device. One this is done, you can power down the Galaxy Note 4 again so you can boot up into Download Mode.
Follow the link in tutorial above if you have any questions about how to get your Galaxy Note 4 booted into Download Mode. You must be in Download Mode in order for Odin to flash the KitKat firmware(or any firmware) onto your Galaxy Note 4. Once you are in Download Mode, you can connect the Galaxy Note 4 to your PC via the Micro USB cable and then click on the AP box/button in Odin to load up the KitKat firmware.
Following this tutorial should be very straight forward but if you run into any issues or have any questions, use the comments section below and don’t hesitate to ask.
If this worked or didn’t work for you, please leave a comment at the bottom of this article to let me know. This will help me to keep these tutorials up to date and it can also help to inspire confidence that it works for other readers.
