How to Fix Odin “MD5 hash value is invalid” Error

Trying to install a ROM using Odin and facing the error “md5 hash value is invalid”? Well, you’re not alone. A lot of users have been reporting this error which appears while flashing the .tar.md5 file. Odin is a real simple tool to use. So much so that some users even prefer it to Samsung Kies for flashing stock ROMs on their devices. However, in situations like these you are left scratching your head as there’s no helpful explanation of the error to be found. This error occurs may appear on any version of Odin:

• Odin3_v3.04
• Odin3_v3.07
• Odin 1.85

Fix Odin “MD5 hash value is invalid” Error

You encounter this error when Odin is unable to verify the hash value of the file. There can be different reasons for that:

1. The file that you are trying to flash is corrupt
2. File was not downloaded properly
3. File did not originally had the md5 hash and was just renamed from .tar to .tar.md5.

If the file is corrupt: You should try to get a different file and should not take the risk of flashing a corrupt file on your device. It’s recommended to download the files from reliable sources.

If file was not downloaded properly: Sometimes it happens that the download process gets interrupted before its complete. You should check the file size on source location and on your disk. Both should be the same. If file failed to download properly, download it again.

If the file was renamed from .tar to .tar.md5: This should raise the alarm bells. In this case, the file provider just renamed a .tar file to .tar.md5 file. That’s why the Odin threw the invalid md5 hash error. If you remove .md5 from the file and rename it back to .tar, it will work alright. However, you should not risk it with a suspicious file. We’d recommend you to get a different file instead.

For more information on Odin, head over to this post with details on Odin buttons and checkboxes and what functions they perform: Understanding Odin – A Beginner’s Guide.

We have also posted a detailed step by step guide on how to flash .tar.md5 file using Odin.