ATTENTION: Heimdall 1.3.2 broke compatibility for several devices. In most case it is recommended that you use version 1.3.1 instead.

If you own a Galaxy Player 5 or similar device, then version 1.3.2 will still be required. Please use version 1.3.1 for all other devices until 1.3.3 is released.

What is Heimdall?
Heimdall is a cross-platform open-source tool suite used to flash firmware (aka ROMs) onto Samsung Galaxy S devices.

How does it work?
Heimdall uses the same protocol as Odin to interact with a device in download mode. USB communication in Heimdall is handled by the popular open-source USB library, libusb-1.0.

Why “Heimdall”?
The flashing software Odin is named after the king of gods in Norse mythology. Loke, the software component on the Galaxy S that provides functionality to flash, may also to be named after an important character in Norse mythology, often translated as Loki. As such I have named my flashing software Heimdall, after the Norse god, and guardian of the Bifrost Bridge.

What platforms does Heimdall run on?
Linux, OS X and Windows (XP, Vista, 7 etc.)

Why use Heimdall when we can use Odin?
Odin is generally unreliable and only runs on Windows systems. Furthermore, Odin is leaked Samsung software that is not freely available or well understood by the community.

Is Heimdall safe?
No matter what method you chose, flashing firmware onto your device has a lot of potential for disaster. We have tested Heimdall with a variety of devices, flashing several different firmware versions with a 100% success rate. As such we believe that Heimdall is generally reliable. However keep in mind, just like any firmware flashing software, Heimdall has the potential to brick your device if not used correctly.

How do Galaxy S devices get bricked when flashing?
Besides the inherent risks like power outs, accidental removal of the USB cable etc. Galaxy S devices appear to be running somewhat unreliable USB control software.

A failure to flash does not automatically equate to a fully bricked device. However if you’re extremely unlucky and the flash fails whilst transferring the primary boot-loader, secondary boot-loader or params.lfs (all quite small) than you’ve got yourself a paper weight until you can get it repaired via Samsung.

Please be extremely careful mixing files from different firmware releases. Don’t do so unless you’re certain it will work!

What Galaxy S devices has Heimdall been tested with?
We’ve tested Heimdall with a Galaxy S GT-I9000 (8 GB) from the United Kingdom and Galaxy S GT-I9000 (16 GB) from Australia. We personally don’t have access to any other devices to test with, however users have confirmed Heimdall functions correctly with the all rebranded variants of the Captivate, Vibrant, Fascinate, Mesmerize, Epic 4G, Galaxy S 4G, Infuse 4G, GT-I9000T, Galaxy Tab (7 and 10.1 inches), Galaxy S II, and of course the international GT-I9000.

If you can verify Heimdall works with other devices we’d love to hear about it. You can contact us by the Contact link at the top of this page.

Enough talk, where can we get it?
The latest release can be downloaded below. Instructions to install and run Heimdall on Windows are included in the README.txt, or simply README for OS X and Linux releases. Please read it! We distribute Windows, OS X and Linux (Debian) binaries for 32-bit and 64-bit platforms. Users of other platforms will need to compile from source or get a hold of third-party binary distribution. Keep in mind we can’t verify the integrity of third-party distributions, so only download from trusted sources.

I love you, man. Will you have my baby?
No, but we will very gladly accept donations. If you appreciate our work and would like to support future development please make a donation here. If you don’t use PayPal or would prefer to support us in a different way then you could purchase one of our android apps (i.e. Anti-Squish). If you think you have something else to offer, then feel free to contact us via the contact link at the top of this page.