How to Restore Galaxy Camera to stock firmware

The Galaxy Camera has been launched recently, and the Android development community has already been able to root it, and will no doubt be coming up with custom ROMs and other hacks for the device, extending its functionality and maybe camera capabilities further.

But in all the time one spends tinkering around on the device, there is often a necessity to restore back to stock firmware if something messes up the device, or if someone simply wants to go back to stock in order to claim warranty or get rid of any hacks they may have applied, which is why we’ve made a simple guide that will help you flash back to a stock firmware on your Galaxy Camera if the need arises.

There’s a firmware for every country and region, so just follow the guide below and you’ll have a fully restored and working Galaxy Camera in no time.

Compatibility

The procedure described below is only for the Samsung Galaxy Camera, model number EK-GC100. Do not try it on any other device, not even on another model of the same device.

Warning!

The methods and procedures discussed here are considered risky, so try them out at your own risk, and make sure to read each step carefully before attempting anything. We will not be held responsible if anything goes wrong.

How to Restore Galaxy Camera to Stock Firmware

[Important] You might need to wipe the data on the device to make the firmware boot up properly. Hence, to be sure you do not lose any data, backup your Apps and important data — bookmarks, contacts, SMS, APNs (internet settings), etc. This Android backup guide would help you. The SD card contents are always safe, so there is no need to back up those. Only backup apps and personal data.
NOTE: Don’t forget to at least note down your network’s APN settings, which are required to make mobile data work. Go into Settings » More » Mobile Networks, click on the APN that is in use, then note down the setting for each field. While APN settings should be automatically restored from network, you can enter them manually if needed to make mobile data work. You can also find your APN details → here.
You need to have the drivers for the camera installed on your computer. You can download Samsung’s Kies software and install it, which will install the drivers as well (skip this step if Kies is already installed on your computer).
Download Kies
You can also download the drivers directly — download from here: 32 bit (x86) Windows | 64-bit (x64) Windows
Download the firmware for your country from the source page.
Extract the file downloaded in step 3 on the computer to obtain a file with a .tar.md5 extension. The file name may also end at .tar, which is normal. This is the actual firmware file that we need to flash on the camera.
Download Odin. Odin is Samsung’s PC tool for flashing firmware, and we’ll use it to flash the firmware file obtained in step 4.
Download Odin3 v3.04 | Filename: Odin3_v3.04.zip
Extract the contents of the Odin3_v3.04.zip file to a folder on your computer.
Turn off the camera and wait for it to shut down completely.
Then, hold down the Volume Down + Camera + Power buttons together till the screen turns on to boot into download mode. If you get a Warning! screen instead, press theVolume Up button to boot into download mode.
Open Odin by double-clicking on the Odin3 v3.04.exe file obtained in step 6 after extracting Odin3_v3.04.zip.
Connect the camera to PC now. You should get the message “Added !!” under Odin’s message box in the bottom left.
- If you don’t get this message, make sure you installed drivers correctly (using Kies or directly) as given in step 2. If it still doesn’t work, try changing to another USB port on the computer and also use the USB ports on the back if you have a desktop PC.
Click on the PDA button in Odin, then browse to and select the .tar/.tar.md5 file obtained in step 4 above.
Important! Do not make any other changes in Odin except selecting the required files as given in step 11. Leave all other options as they are. Make sure Re-Partition check box is not selected.
Now, make sure you took a backup as explained in step 1 before continuing, then click the Start button in Odin to start flashing the firmware on the camera. When the flashing is complete and is successful, you’ll get a PASS message (with green background) in the left-most box at the very top of the Odin, and the camera will automatically reboot. When you see the Samsung logo, you can safely unplug the cable.
- What do if Odin gets stuck or doesn’t do anything: If ODIN gets stuck on setup connection or at any stage of this process after you’ve hit the Start button, and doesn’t seem to be doing anything, or if upon completion of the process you get a FAIL message (with red background) in ODIN, do this: disconnect the camera from the PC, close ODIN, remove battery for 4-5 seconds, re-insert it, turn camera on in Download mode again, and do the procedure again from Step 9.
[Important] What to do if the camera doesn’t boot: After you get the PASS message and the camera reboots, the camera might get stuck at the booting animation. If that happens, perform the following steps to make it boot. Remember that these steps will wipe your personal data like contacts, apps, messages, etc. If your canera has already booted, you can stop reading the guide here, your camera has been restored successfully:
1. Boot to recovery mode — for which, first power off camera (by removing battery and reinserting it), wait for 5-6 seconds, and then press and hold Volume Up + Camera + Power keys together till the screen turns on, then let them go to boot into recovery. Once you are in recovery mode, use volume keys to move the selection up and down and camera key to select the option.
2. Go to Wipe data/Factory Reset and select it. Select Yes on next screen.
3. Then, select reboot system now to reboot the camera, which will now boot properly.
If you run into any roadblocks while flashing the firmware, let us know and we’ll help you out.