Related
I can't keep my mirror up due to increasing need for more space with all the projects I'm working on, sorry guys.
DOWNLOAD
You can find Odin at:
https://build.nethunter.com/samsung-tools
I am no longer hosting firmware for the Note 3. fw.updato.com provides an alternative, and allows wget/curl. (with --referer="link to the download page"))
Example:
N900W8VLU2DPG1 - MTA clicked on at http://updato.com/firmware-archive-select-model?q=N900W8
Code:
wget "http://fws01.updato.com/GALAXYNOTE3/SM-N900W8/BMC/SM-N900W8_1_20160729160241_v4dg1gvbce.zip" --referer="http://updato.com/firmware-archive-select-model?record=3C39D6E6701111E69B2DFA163EE8F90B"
READ INSTRUCTIONS BELOW, OR IT WON'T STICK AFTER FLASHING!
Each zip file contains a _HOME.tar.md5 containing each flashable partition of your device. You can flash the entire tar.md5 for a complete factory restore, or you can extract individual partitions and re-tar them to make individual flashable partition files. There's a tool for tarring them here:
https://build.nethunter.com/samsung-tools/img2tar.zip
GETTING YOUR FIRMWARE TO STICK
When flashing bootloaders (BL) and modems (CP), you must cold boot your phone for the flash to succeed.
To perform a cold boot into Odin, follow these instructions carefully:
Power down your phone
Unplug any cables from your phone
Pull the back cover off and remove the battery completely
Place the battery back in your phone (there is no need to wait)
Place 1 finger on volume down key, and 1 finger on home key
While holding those keys down, place another finger on the power key
Release the finger from the power key when you feel a vibrate
Release your other fingers once you see the Odin warning screen
You may plug your phone cable back into the phone now, or after the next step
Press volume up key to enter Download mode
SOME ODIN OPTIONS EXPLAINED
Auto Reboot - Once the firmware finishes flashing, the phone will attempt to reboot into your current ROM
Re-Partition - Used to flash a PIT file over the current one. See more information below.
F. Reset Time - Enabled by default. Not entirely sure what it does yet.
Nand Erase All - May have different effects on other devices. On the Note 3, it wipes the just the userdata partition to zeros. (your ROM settings, apps, and internal storage)
Phone Bootloader Update - Doesn't seem necessary to select when flashing bootloaders from cold boot, so unsure of purpose.
Phone EFS Clear - Reformats your EFS partition. This deletes calibration data and some small caches, you will want to flash full stock ROM when using this so it can properly restore itself. It's safe to use, and won't wipe your IMEI.
I advise not touching the other options!
When flashing firmware, you can and should leave the default options selected. Confirm that it is just Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time.
RE-PARTITIONING
Re-partitioning may be necessary in the rare scenario that updating to a newer firmware requires more storage than is available in the current layout.
It is possible to back up your PIT file (partition layout) for flashing in Odin later on or sharing with others that are having trouble flashing firmware that you were able to successfully flash.
PIT files are model specific!
Do not flash a PIT file for N9005 on an N900W8 for example. The partition layout will end up pointing to the wrong locations and you'll end up with a blank IMEI / EFS partition or worse.
If you want to back up your PIT file, you must have a rooted phone or be in TWRP which is an environment already running with root privileges.
Executing these commands will back up your PIT to a file (your-device-name.pit) on your internal storage:
su
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of="/sdcard/$(getprop ro.product.name).pit" bs=16 skip=1088 count=257
You can open the PIT file in a text editor and make sure it starts with v˜4 to be ensure validity.
Restoring a PIT file is as simple as using the PIT tab in Odin and putting it in the box there, then selecting the Re-Partition checkbox in Options tab. Re-Partitioning will not delete any data, however if your PIT file varies from your previous then partition locations may point to completely different places resulting in a no longer functioning modem or worse, a bricked phone.
WIPING YOUR DATA FOR RESALE
You can use the Nand Erase All option in Odin to make your Userdata partition unrecoverable. When the Userdata partition is nand secure erased, all data on it becomes zeros.
In order for Nand Erase option to work, you need to fill an Odin slot. Flashing your bootloader in the BL slot is usually a safe method.
Most ROMs (kernel boot images actually) can't recover from this and will not boot. In order to fix this you have to boot into a recovery.
In TWRP: Go to Wipe -> Format Data -> type "yes" -> Go
In stock recovery: Use the "factory data reset" option
Both of these perform identical procedures that restore a proper format and ext4 layout to your Userdata partition.
ROMs should now be able to boot.
You can confirm through TWRP that your userdata partition has indeed been secure erased by typing in adb or terminal:
hexdump /dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/userdata
It should display:
0000000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
*
After a few minutes it should complete. The asterisk means that hexdump found that same last row of data (0000...) repeating.
CHANGES
2016-02-26 - Add Nordic SM-N9005XX firmware N9005XXUGPOK2
2016-01-12 - Add SM-N9005XX firmware N9005XXUGBOL3 and N9005XXUGBOJ2 (modem)
2016-01-01 - Add Mexican SM-N900W8UB firmware N900W8UBU2DOL1 and N900W8UBU2DOK1 (modem)
2016-01-01 - Add T-Mobile SM-N900T firmware N900TUVUFOL1
2016-01-01 - Add Exynos SM-N900XX firmware N900XXUEBOL2
2015-12-18 - Add Exynos SM-N900UB firmware N900UBUEBOK1
2015-12-15 - Add Exynos SM-N900XX firmware N900XXUEBOK7 and N900XXUEBOK3 (modem)
2015-12-15 - Add Exynos SM-N900ZS firmware N900ZSUEBOK3 and N900XXUEBOK3 (modem)
2015-12-15 - Add SM-N9005DX firmware N9005DXUGBOK3
2015-12-15 - Add SM-N9005XX firmware N9005XXUGBOK9 and N9005XXUGBOD3 (modem)
2015-12-15 - Add SM-N9005ZS firmware N9005ZSUGOK2
2015-12-15 - Add KT Corporation SM-N900K firmware N900KKKU0GOK3 & N900KKKUGOJ4 (modem) (thanks to Freyelis)
2015-12-11 - Add SK Telecom SM-N900S firmware N900SKSU0GOK3 & N900SKSU0GOJ4 (modem)
2015-12-11 - Add LG Uplus SM-N900L firmware N900LKLU0GOK3
2015-12-02 - Add Sprint SM-N900P firmware N900PVPUEOK2
Why
fingerprinted said:
Why
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I just wanna fit in with everybody else!!!!!!!!11
It just seems like a better idea to make all the latest modems and bootloaders for every variant easily available for people who don't want to wipe their custom ROMs or in case of emergencies.
Everything seems to be spread out among multiple threads, and some variants don't even have firmware threads.
Also this post gives me somewhere to send people to when I need it, regardless of what Note 3 variant they have!
Your profile made me chuckle, interests :single females
fingerprinted said:
Your profile made me chuckle, interests :single females
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its kinda look cute and honest. Btw,Thanks for a great work.
You are a very organized man, amazing work. Thank you
+1 very neat thread and you can get the files easily. Oh almost forgot to mention that your guide is very detailed.
There are numerous threads regarding Bootloader and Modems, but none as good as this .
Thanks for the effort mate, while this is supposed to be for Note 3, some information inside has a lot of stuff inside worthy of forwarding people to, pretty much a lot of general Samsung stuff explained.
:good:
EDIT: just wanted to add one thing. Sammy tends to confuse us, and we tend to inherit that confusion to other users. I.e, CP and BL are not consistently the same, we have right now K6 as a BL, but the modem seems still to be K1.
We should have a way to identify the real internals through *OUR* naming conventions.
guys
I am facing very low gsm signals after installing a custom rom
I cleaned flashed it wiping al that was needed
Anyway to check if i am using a wrong modem where i am located?
Question
I am having SM-n900k. Can I flash bootloaders from another model? I am sick of korean language in the download mode.
5.1.1 BL and CP?
I using N900W8 (hltcan) on 5.1.1 and im facing some Camera issues, some memers suggested me to update my BL.
This is my BL and CP version; n900w8UBUCNH1
im trying to flash OK6 BL and CP but odin fails every time (FAILED! auth)
(Does OK6 is a newer version? maybe thats the problem)
I've already disabled Device manager, remote controls and reactivation lock.
This:
BL UBU2DOI2
CP UBU2DOE4
are a newer version than UBUCNH1? do they work on 5.1.1?
thanks in advance!
HazeMC said:
I using N900W8 (hltcan) on 5.1.1 and im facing some Camera issues, some memers suggested me to update my BL.
This is my BL and CP version; n900w8UBUCNH1
im trying to flash OK6 BL and CP but odin fails every time (FAILED! auth)
(Does OK6 is a newer version? maybe thats the problem)
I've already disabled Device manager, remote controls and reactivation lock.
This:
BL UBU2DOI2
CP UBU2DOE4
are a newer version than UBUCNH1? do they work on 5.1.1?
thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes those are the ones you should flash if you want to update. for N900W8, CNxx is KitKat (4.4), 2DOxx is Lollipop (5.0)
OK6 is for international/N9005XX models only, which is why it failed auth, and good thing it does or you'd have bricked your phone!
your camera issues are more likely related to incompatible kernel and proprietary .so files (they need to match up)
these are a few possible paths that commands can take to the hardware, sorted by most common to least common AFAIK:
1. android -> translation layer & extra functions libraries (proprietary .so files) -> kernel -> hardware
2. android -> kernel -> hardware
3. android -> translation layer & extra functions libraries (proprietary .so files) -> kernel -> firmware -> hardware
4. android -> kernel -> firmware -> hardware
see the firmware stage of communication. sometimes this firmware is included as part of the kernel, and the respective kernel drivers will flash the firmware for you if it needs updating. sometimes, very rarely, the firmware will be part of the modem or bootloader binaries instead of flashed from kernel. this is a situation where updating bootloader/modem could potentially help.
this is only from reading lots of samsung kernel sources, so some of it is only assumed. i can't know everything.
if anyone wants to share more accurate information than what i can provide, we would all be thankful!
Whats the lastest bootloader and modem for sm-n9005
im using cm13
now i have
CP_N9005XXUGPOF3.tar.md5
BL_N9005XXUGPOF3.tar.md5
sajmon1983 said:
Whats the lastest bootloader and modem for sm-n9005
im using cm13
now i have
CP_N9005XXUGPOF3.tar.md5
BL_N9005XXUGPOF3.tar.md5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For N9005XX, OK6 is the latest bootloader, OJ1 is the latest modem. XXUGP series is specific to Nordic regions like Finland, Sweden, etc. only as far as I can tell.
There's probably no difference in bootloader and modem code between the XXUGB and XXUGP series.
In any case, OI2 is the latest bootloader and modem for the N9005XXUGP Nordic firmware. I will add it to the mirror soon. (it's added now)
is there any reason to update to the latest bootloader/modem?
(I use XSP firmware. haven't been able to find or make my own BL or CP files)
jcadduono said:
For N9005XX, OK6 is the latest bootloader, OJ1 is the latest modem. XXUGP series is specific to Nordic regions like Finland, Sweden, etc. only as far as I can tell.
There's probably no difference in bootloader and modem code between the XXUGB and XXUGP series.
In any case, OI2 is the latest bootloader and modem for the N9005XXUGP Nordic firmware. I will add it to the mirror soon. (it's added now)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cant find the link for the differences, but apparently they do actually differ, if i'm not wrong, it has something to do with a different development tree. People have reported issues flashing non-nordic roms after the nordic ones itself, but only when the values change.
jcadduono said:
yes those are the ones you should flash if you want to update. for N900W8, CNxx is KitKat (4.4), 2DOxx is Lollipop (5.0)
OK6 is for international/N9005XX models only, which is why it failed auth, and good thing it does or you'd have bricked your phone!
your camera issues are more likely related to incompatible kernel and proprietary .so files (they need to match up)
these are a few possible paths that commands can take to the hardware, sorted by most common to least common AFAIK:
1. android -> translation layer & extra functions libraries (proprietary .so files) -> kernel -> hardware
2. android -> kernel -> hardware
3. android -> translation layer & extra functions libraries (proprietary .so files) -> kernel -> firmware -> hardware
4. android -> kernel -> firmware -> hardware
see the firmware stage of communication. sometimes this firmware is included as part of the kernel, and the respective kernel drivers will flash the firmware for you if it needs updating. sometimes, very rarely, the firmware will be part of the modem or bootloader binaries instead of flashed from kernel. this is a situation where updating bootloader/modem could potentially help.
this is only from reading lots of samsung kernel sources, so some of it is only assumed. i can't know everything.
if anyone wants to share more accurate information than what i can provide, we would all be thankful!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for a very complete response!
I've realised that the front camera has the same issue recording video, so as far i understand you response, i will try to update the kernel, or try a different rom.
Thanks mate.
I flashed AP_N900W8VLU2DOH1_KERNEL.tar.md5 using Odin, on my N900W8, and when it reboot it get stuck and wont boot into the ROM. What is wrong?
yes ok
jorioux said:
I flashed AP_N900W8VLU2DOH1_KERNEL.tar.md5 using Odin, on my N900W8, and when it reboot it get stuck and wont boot into the ROM. What is wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are on 5.0 LL you have to use DOI2
Enable VoLTE & Enhanced Messaging on Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Note 9 Exynos [solved]
If you have a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Note 9 International Version with the Exynos CPU, you might have an issue enabling VoLTE and Advanced Calling & Messaging. After weeks of searching, I figured out how to fix this.
In a nutshell, using Odin you can flash the Germany DTM firmware onto your device, this release contains Advanced Calling & Messaging.
How to do it:
Enable OEM Unlock on your phone in the developer menu.
Go to sammobile and find your firmware, Look for "Germany DTM (T-mobile)" I realized that t-mobile contains the system and modem settings we need. It doesn't matter if you have something else like At&t. we just need the t-mobile modem and system and bootloader.
Download Odin v3.13.1 from sammobile as well, unless you already have it.
Extract the firmware file you just downloaded. You should get 5 files:
AP (System &Recovery)
BL (Bootloader)
CP (Modem / Radio)
CSC_*** (Country / Region / Operator)
HOME_CSC_*** (Country / Region / Operator)
Add each file to it's respective field in Odin v3.13.1.
Use CSC_*** if you want to do a clean flash or HOME_CSC_*** if you want to keep your apps and data.
I used HOME_CSC, this preserved all my apps and settings. and did not install T-Mobile bloatware at all.
Reboot your phone in Download / Odin mode (make sure your device is off) with the following button combo: POWER + VOLUME DOWN + BIXBY
Other options in case first option did not work or isn't possible.
Option 2 VOLUME DOWN + VOLUME UP than USB cable
Option 3 POWER + VOLUME DOWN + VOLUME UP
Option 4 POWER + VOLUME DOWN + HOME BUTTON
Option 5 (Note9) USB cable + VOLUME DOWN + BIXBY
Once in download mode, connect your phone to the PC, preferably using the original USB cable you got with your phone. Odin should detect your device and a BLUE box will show up with the COM port number. (Be sure, the SAMSUNG-drivers are installed on your PC! - you can install Kies and it will install the drivers)
Do NOT tick any extra boxes. The only options to be ticked are F.Reset Time and Auto-Reboot.
Click the start button, wait for Odin to say 'PASS' in a GREEN box. Once the flash is complete, your phone will reboot, and you can disconnect your phone from the PC.
Your phone should reboot and configure itself, the next step is to open "More Connection Settings" and enable Advanced Calling & Messaging. This will enable LTE and you should see the new LTE icon in your status bar. You should be able to now browse the web at LTE speed while on a phone call. and you should be able to make video calls (although I don't have anyone to call, to test it)
If you need the "Wifi-Calling" you will need to t-mobile apps.
[UPDATE]
INS or the INDIA version firmware seems to support VOLTE as well, trying that next. Might have more luck with this one.
What about samsung pay and secure folder?
Since a lot of people will have their Galaxy S22 Ultra soon and I myself am thinking about either getting an S21 Ultra or S22 Ultra, I wanted to summarise a lot of information I found out during researching as Samsung devices are quite different from OnePlus or Google devices in that they don't support fastboot but only ODIN.
If you've enjoyed it or it has helped you, a thumbs or or thanks is always appreciated! Feel free to share and link to this thread for newbies to Samsung devices like I am
Which ODIN version to use?There are a lot of ODIN versions out there. Even reputable sources seem to copy & paste files without checking them first. The lastest version is v3.14.1. Any newer version as of now is a hoax as they simply renamed the version to v3.14.4 without any changes
How to check if you have a trustworthy version?
First of all: it should be version v3.14.1.
In the ZIP file there is a file called "odin.ini". The second line should be"Title=odin“. If not, some website has changed that.
In the same .ini file there should NOT be a:
[UIOption]
LED=0
(Someone apparently ticked that checkbox in ODIN, saved it and uploaded it. The default .ini file does not contain it unless you checked it yourself in ODIN.)
In the ZIP file there should NOT be a file called "cpprest141_2_10.dll“. This is a Microsoft file that is not malicious, but doesn't belong in there.
Since most ODIN files are copy and paste, it should be easy to identify whether you have the right version or not. (Source)
ODIN: AP, BL, CP, CSCPeople love to spread information without questioning it. So I came across thing like "BL" stands for bloatware etc. No, it does not.
BL (Bootloader)
This contains all bootloader relevant files (like the BIOS on your PC). This is quite essential as a broken bootloader can brick your device permanently.
AP (Application Processor or PDA)
This contains Android and all relevant files you might know from other device manufacturers. As of now, most devices use a "payload.bin" inside the firmware ZIP. This is exactly that but you can simply unzip the .tar file without needing any tool like Payload Dumper. Though, unzipping it does not help you at all since you can't flash the .img file separately.
CP (Core Processor)
CP contains modem files. On other devices it is included in the payload.bin as "modem.img". Here it is inside CP.tar
CSC (Consumer Software Customization)
CSC contains the country and carrier specific stuff like which apps are pre-installed, which bands are available, 4G/5G, VoWiFi, VoLTE etc. Nowadays it is a multi-CSC but more on that later.
PIT (Partition Information Table)
This contains the partitions if you ever need to re-partition your device. It can be used in the PIT section in ODIN but on newer devices it is contained within the CSC.tar file. So you probably never ever have to worry about it.
(Source)
What is the deal with CSC and Home_CSC?
CSC and Home_CSC are pretty similar. They mostly contain similar files and are flashed by selecting them in the CSC slot. You never ever have or can flash both simultaneously!
CSC
Flashes the CSC part including the PIT file, meaning it will wipe the device entirely and reformat the super partition containing everything from /boot, /system and /vendor
Home_CSC
Flashes the CSC but without the PIT file, meaning it will simply update the firmware but NOT wipe your device. This is what to use for an update. Use the other CSC for a full wipe
What about F. Reset Time, Auto Reboot and Userdata in ODIN?You should not have to check any boxes if you just want to root. Some people claim to disable "auto reboot". That is a relict from the past and is copy & pasted. Disabling auto reboot will prevent the device from rebooting automatically after an ODIN flash. For stock firmwares and rooting it is not necessary. If you do not want to reboot automatically (because of a custom recovery etc.) you may disable it. But you don't need to do it for rooting.
F. Reset Time is enabled automatically and resets the flashing counter. There is no reason to not do it afaik. So you don't need to deal with that.
Userdata is not used on newer devices as it is included in the AP file and used if you use the CSC file to wipe your device. It should be left empty on newer devices.
(Source)
Multi-CSC and why changing the CSC is mostly deprecatedA lot of questions are asked everyday about the CSC. There are different CSCs for different countries and carriers. Here in Austria we have ATO (Open Austria) for unbranded devices, MAX for T-Mobile devices (now called Magenta here) and so on. Nowadays, there are multi CSC firmware like OXM. They contain many CSC codes within it.
If you go into Settings > About phone > Software information > Service provider software revision you'll find different CSC codes: AAA/BBB/CCC/DDD
AAA is the current CSC
BBB is the best CSC for SIM card 1
CCC is the best CSC for SIM card 2 (if dual SIM is possible)
DDD is the factory CSC that cannot be changed
e.g. DBT/MAX/MOB/ATO meaning DBT (Open Germany) is the current CSC, MAX (Magenta Austria) is the CSC for SIM card 1, MOB (A1 Austria) for SIM card 2 and the device has a factory CSC for Open Austria.
(Source)
With Android 12 changing the CSC is afaik impossible.
If the multi CSC contains both CSC codes (like if I want to switch from MAX to ATO), flashing the same multi CSC firmware in ODIN will do nothing as it is the same firmware.
Very important: the multi CSC firmware is the same for every CSC included. If I were to download ATO and MAX firmwares, I will get the same OXM file with the same SHA256 hash (checked it myself). Flashing it would either update your phone (Home_CSC) or wipe it (CSC) and not change the CSC as it will find your current CSC in the multi CSC and leave it as-is.
A device with XEF (France) will always be XEF even with a different SIM card. Despite showing "XEF" it will use the appropriate settings for the carrier as long as the multi-CSC (e. g. OXM) contains the necessary files.
Some builds are released only for a certain amount of CSC codes or with a different minor revision (see down below under "Firmware" for an explanation). For example: MAX has minor revision 5, but ATO has 7 now. I could flash ATO revision 7 on my MAX device, but wouldn't receive any OTA updates until I have a firmware that exists for MAX (so either I have to flash minor revision 5 or wait until the next update). Multiple CSCs can be asynchronous despite having the same base firmware. MAX could have more minor updates (e. g. the carrier wanted something fixed) while others are fine at revision 1. That's why some CSC codes have more updates listed and some receive the update earlier.
DBT for example could be the first to get the new March security patch and other CSCs will follow. Though other CSC codes might have a higher minor revision as there were changes being made afterwards. In some cases DBT will receive another update with these changes, in other cases DBT revision 3 is the latest while other CSC codes are at revision 9. The changelogs are almost always equal though so there is no information to the public on what has changed.
Think of it like an upgrade path. Major steps are always synced, but minor ones can be CSC specific until a new update syncs them again.
More information can be read here: Source
Multi-CSC Release Cycle
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Multi-CSC firmwares are a "master" firmware that contains multiple CSCs. For the S21 Ultra it is called "OXM in Europe. Inside that firmware can be different regions like DBT, AUT, HUI and so on. An update usually isn't released at the same time for everyone. In this example graph above you can see how the release usually goes:
One or a few "open" CSCs for unlocked devices starts rolling out, usually DBT (Open Germany)
Other open CSCs and carrier CSCs (e. g. ATL for Vodafone Spain) start rolling out)
After that, sometimes specific carrier patches are released that increment the firmware version but is only available for a specific CSC code.
At the end of the month, sometimes minor bug fixes are also released to one or multiple CSC codes.
Next month we start that cycle again. All patches that have been released along the way are now integrated and released. (Example: HUI got an update at the end of the month, but that fix is not included in any other firmware. Next month that patch will be included along with the new security patch for every CSC).
Think of it like a GitHub project. You publish a stable release for everyone, fix a bug for a specific device, release that bug fix as a minor release only for those affected, then on the next stable release upstream that fix to the release. Doesn't make sense to include a minor hotfix immediately for a 2019 MacBook Pro if the fix is only for the 2022 MacBook Air, right?
In that regard: you can always flash any OXM firmware on a device using OXM. I could flash a DBT (Open Germany) firmware on an ATL (Vodafone Spain) device and it will work. I can even grab the security patch release at the beginning of the month before it is widely rolled out and flash it using ODIN.
People saying how happy they are because they get their updates early or others who complain about waiting weeks for it. The latters ones could fix it by manually flashing the released firmware. But keep in mind: if you still can receive software updates on your device (e. g. not rooted) then you need to be on an update path that is supported.
Say I update to the carrier fix release intended only for HUI on my DBT device. It'll work and I can update next month with ODIN as usual. BUT: Samsung's on-device software update won't show any update. Why? Because it checks DBT and if I'm on a minor release not intended for DBT, it won't give me an update path. It will search for an update from release A to release B but by flashing the carrier fix only for HUI, I'm between those. Something like A1. Since DBT doesn't have an update path from A1 to B, it won't show any updates until I'm back on B (and ready for B > C next month and so on).
Tripping KNOXIf you unlock your bootloader, KNOW will be tripped. I'm simply gonna quote another post here as it explains the impact very well (and I hereby explicitly state that I'm not affiliated in the service the source advertises. I do not vouch for or endorse the use of UNSAMLOCK).
- Knox will be tripped after a custom binary flash.
- Samsung Pass, Samsung Pay will never work after root. Safetynet, Samsung Health and Secure folder could be fixed.
(Source)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if you flash a signed Samsung firmware, it shouldn't trip KNOX. If you flash an unsigned firmware, it will trip it. But as a general rule of advice: signed firmware are flashable in ODIN with a locked bootloader. If you unlock the bootloader, you are at risk of tripping KNOX and you are responsible for that happening either way. No matter what I or someone else says on XDA or any other website. So never unlock the bootloader if you can't accept tripping KNOX.
People say it is a physical fuse that is blown. I can't confirm if this is true but it could also simply be a part of security key stored within the device and deleted when unlocked. Since there is no way of backing it up, it will be lost for good (much like the /persist partition on devices that contains sensor data and is unique and never deleted or else your device becomes messed up permanently). There is no way of knowing but keep that in mind.
Firmware
Firmware versions
The firmware numbers actually have meaning. Something like "G998BXXU4BVB1/G998BOXM4BVB1/G998BXXU4BVB1" means build version/CSC version/baseband version.
The first letters are the model version (G998B = S21 Ultra). The last letters (e. g. G998BXXU4BVB1) can be read as follows:
U4 B V B 1
↓ ↓ ↓
Boot loader version
Android version
Year
Month
Minor revision
For this example that means:
U4: bootloader version 4 (you can't use any firmware with a lower version than what you have)
B: Android version 2 (for the S21 Ultra that shipped with Android 11, B is Android 12)
V: 2022 (W = 2023, X = 2024, etc.)
B: February (A = January,..., L = December)
1: minor revision 1 (this is a hexadecimal that can be 1–F, with F being version 16)
The firmware information including the colour coding comes from the CheckFirm app (Source). The provided information and the colour coding is awesome so I took that information and condensed it even further.
How do I check for firmware updates?
There are websites out there listing/hosting the firmware files that are easy to find. Other methods are:
CheckFirm: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.illusion.checkfirm
You can try to scan for a new firmware. It uses other users to find a new firmware but according to the dev, it might be able to scan automatically in the future (though no ETA)
Use Samsung's own version.xml: https://fota-cloud-dn.ospserver.net/firmware/DBT/SM-G998B/version.xml
This is an example (replace DBT with the CSC code and SM-G998B with your model version. It will list all firmwares with the newest firmware number at the top.
Use Samsung's changelog: https://doc.samsungmobile.com/sm-g998b/dbt/doc.html
This is an example (replace DBT with the CSC code and SM-G998B with your model version.
Or ultimately use a firmware downloader like Frija on Windows, SamloaderKotlin on Windows, macOS, Linux or Android (thanks @alecxs) or something that requires a bit of setup though works on non-Windows devices aswell like samfirm.js (NodeJS) or Samloader (Python).
(Thanks to topjohnwu for listing those firmware downloading options: source)
Rooting, OTA updates while being rooted and what not to doThere is a lot of misunderstanding regarding rooting and OTA updates afterwards. I'm not explaining how to root your device. There are a lot of XDA threads out there. But I'm going to explain some important information that is not explained well very often.
When is your bootloader acutally unlocked?
Simply toggling "OEM unlock", going into download mode and unlocking the bootloader will not actually unlock it. There is a reason why after enabling the bootloader unlock in download mode, you should go to the developer settings and "confirm" it.
By opening up the developer settings and checking the "OEM unlock" toggle, the bootloader actually becomes unleashed and accepts non-signed images. Meaning an AP file modified by Magisk will now be accepted. If you do not do this, it will not.
If you flash in ODIN, always flash AP, CP, BL and CSC!
As explained by topjohnwu: if you just flash the modified AP file to root your device without selecting CP, BL or CSC, ODIN could shrink the /data partition. Always flash all of them (not like on other devices "fastboot boot boot.img" but everything!
OTA updates are gone...sort of
If you are rooted, you can't use Samsung's built in OTA updater anymore. That's why you should update your firmware before rooting. You can and may update it via ODIN though:
Patch the AP file in Magisk
Flash the modified AP, CP, BL and Home_CSC (HOME_CSC NOT and I repeat NOT the normal CSC)
Let it reboot and you're up-to-date
(Source)
Do not restore the stock boot image!
topjohnwu also states to not flash the stock boot image (stock AP) as it could brick your device. There should be no reason to unroot (you can leave Magisk and simply not use it). If you flash the stock AP, your device won't boot (probably because it fails to verify the unmodified system). I could flash the modified AP (with CP, BL and Home_CSC) back and it worked fine but YMMV. And what if you've installed some module and you're bootlooping now?
I'm in a bootloop!
Since TWRP never supported decryption on Samsung devices (thanks @alecxs) and you probably don't want to stay unencrypted, you can't use TWRP. There are two ways of fixing a bootloop caused by a Magisk module:
Via ADB debugging:
Use adb on your PC (lot of tutorials out there), and type in:
adb shell
magisk --remove-modules
However: that requires you to have adb debugging enabled and to have your PC already confirmed as a computer that is allowed to connect via adb. If you have not done this, do this:
Boot into safe mode:
Much like Cydia Substrate back on the iPhone, you may disable Magisk and its modules during boot:
If you use the device's hardware keys to boot into safe mode by pressing certain keys during booting (look it up, it varies from device to device. It can be volume up/down etc.), Magisk will disable all modules and you can remove them safely without every having to need TWRP, enable ADB debugging beforehand or needing to start from scratch. Everything is explained in the source link down below.
(Source)
Does my device have a ramdisk or not?
Most threads you find about this were at a time when some devices had it and other didn't. To stop you from searching hours about whether this is the case for the S21 or S22 series: they have a ramdisk and system-as-root. There is no need for hijacking the /recovery partition and always boot into recovery to boot into the system with root. You can just root your device with the patched AP file and you're good to go!
Just please stop wiping /cache in recovery!There is no use in wiping /cache in recovery. It is simply a cache partition for updates and is not used on a live system. There is no use in doing that and you're just wasting your time. But there is a cache that can be wiped and rebuilt: the dalvik-cache. (Source)
Dalvik cache/ARTThis is no Samsung specific but actually very good to know:
Android converts system apps in the background since Android 10 I believe. Meaning that the system apps are only really optimised, if the Dalvik cache has been built. This doesn't apply to user apps from the Play Store as they are re-compiled during installation. When does Android do this?
If your device is at 100%, plugged in and not in use. But if you're like me and not charging your device past 80%, it will not be built(!)
To force it, the easiest solution is to use Galaxy App Booster which does exactly that: https://galaxystore.samsung.com/pre...session_id=W_2323c8f409a1da0534d7dcad55e671fb
Or you can force it with root or via adb without root, you can use "adb shell" and then enter:
Code:
cmd package bg-dexopt-job
after an update and it will populate /data/dalvik-cache with arm and arm64 folders.
After an update, you can (but don't have to) delete the folders "arm" and "arm64" inside /data/dalvik-cache (DON'T DELETE the "dalvik-cache" folder itself), reboot and then execute the command above in a terminal with root access. This is the only relevant caching that Android does. It has nothing to do with /cache.
You may also check the folder: usually there are about 200+ files inside arm64. If you've only got a few dozens, the cache probably hasn't been built yet. Keep in mind that since Android 11 building the cache doesn't take a few minutes like Android 10 but sometimes half an hour or an hour as it uses few resources to not slow the device down during optimisation. That makes it quite user-transparent.
Fix Netflix, Amazon Prime,... playback issuesOn my OnePlus 7T Pro I had no issues using any of these services (if MagiskHide or now Zygisk is active). Though on my S21 Ultra it always failed to play whatever I did. Turns out that Widevine L1 is good as long as you're not rooted. It works with an unlocked bootloader but fails if you have installed Magisk no matter what you do.
Turns out there is a Magisk module called liboemcrypto disabler by @ianmacd which essentially removes the file and forces Widevine L3 for as long as the module is active. With this module I could get every streaming app to work again including my cable company's own TV app. You won't have anything higher than SD quality but I have to admit that Netflix and Amazon Prime look okay. It definitely is better than nothing and I just found this by coincidence.
So if you experience playback issues while being rooted, give this module a try
Note: Since the Magisk repo is obsolete, the only flashable ZIP I've found is from a fork found here: https://github.com/ScRuFFy7/liboemcryptodisabler. You can create the module yourself though, but for a flash-and-forget-ZIP this is the only ZIP I could find.
General InformationLast, but not least: Samsung devices aren't A/B devices. There is no mirrored partition or anything else. You just have your good old super partition and if it is messed up, you need to reflash it. No A/B stuff here.
I may update this thread in the future
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Macusercom said:
Reserved 2
Click to expand...
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Spoiler: Hey!!
Macusercom said:
Reserved 2
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Hi
Good info for new samsung usres!
Have you any report anyone have rooted Exynos as well SD with routine magisk patched methos? I have seen another thread how to root but I think no one yet confirmed (unless I have missed)
dr.ketan said:
Hi
Good info for new samsung usres!
Have you any report anyone have rooted Exynos as well SD with routine magisk patched methos? I have seen another thread how to root but I think no one yet confirmed (unless I have missed)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
I don't think so. We'll have to wait and see if a new Magisk update is needed but since Android 12 works fine on the S21 Ultra, I don't think the S22 Ultra wouldn't work. But as of now, I have not read anything about a successful root but also nothing about not being successful.
Macusercom said:
Thanks!
I don't think so. We'll have to wait and see if a new Magisk update is needed but since Android 12 works fine on the S21 Ultra, I don't think the S22 Ultra wouldn't work. But as of now, I have not read anything about a successful root but also nothing about not being successful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for info. Yes, I don't expect too that it won't work but we never know when samsung give us surprises!
One major thing I have noted on S22 is system partition is now having f2fs format instead of ext4 and as of now we can't extract stock firmware because of this. (I don't know if any available tool can do it)
dr.ketan said:
Thanks for info. Yes, I don't expect too that it won't work but we never know when samsung give us surprises!
One major thing I have noted on S22 is system partition is now having f2fs format instead of ext4 and as of now we can't extract stock firmware because of this. (I don't know if any available tool can do it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dr. ketan: Does f2fs format affect magisk root?
donkeyman1234 said:
Dr. ketan: Does f2fs format affect magisk root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it shouldn't.
Glad to hear that.
dr.ketan said:
No, it shouldn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dr.ketan said:
Thanks for info. Yes, I don't expect too that it won't work but we never know when samsung give us surprises!
One major thing I have noted on S22 is system partition is now having f2fs format instead of ext4 and as of now we can't extract stock firmware because of this. (I don't know if any available tool can do it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've just checked the AP file of the S22 Ultra firmware. Magisk is able to patch the boot.img and goes straight through.
Not(e) S22 Ultra specific, but good to know (sorry for the pun )
Magisk can patch the extracted boot.img without lz4
Magisk can't patch boot.img.lz4
Magisk can patch the AP.tar that included boot.img.lz4 and stores it without compressing in the modified AP.tar
Hasn't f2fs been adopted way earlier with the Note 10? I can't seem to extract the S21 Ultra or S22 Ultra firmware with EXT4 extractor in any case. I can just decompress lz4
Macusercom said:
I've just checked the AP file of the S22 Ultra firmware. Magisk is able to patch the boot.img and goes straight through.
Not(e) S22 Ultra specific, but good to know (sorry for the pun )
Magisk can patch the extracted boot.img without lz4
Magisk can't patch boot.img.lz4
Magisk can patch the AP.tar that included boot.img.lz4 and stores it without compressing in the modified AP.tar
Hasn't f2fs been adopted way earlier with the Note 10? I can't seem to extract the S21 Ultra or S22 Ultra firmware with EXT4 extractor in any case. I can just decompress lz4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, file can be patched with magisk, still we need to confirm if patched file working fine or not as no one yet confirm it (at least in my knowledge)
F2fs adopted earlier was for "data" this is first time for "system" (and also for "vendor")
Since oneui 4.0 recent update I have seen S21 also added support for system f2fs (fstab showing both) but yet still system is ext4 formatted and that's why no issue extracting S21 firmware (just two days ago I released rom with latest base VB1 Feb security patch)
dr.ketan said:
Yes, file can be patched with magisk, still we need to confirm if patched file working fine or not as no one yet confirm it (at least in my knowledge)
F2fs adopted earlier was for "data" this is first time for "system" (and also for "vendor")
Since oneui 4.0 recent update I have seen S21 also added support for system f2fs (fstab showing both) but yet still system is ext4 formatted and that's why no issue extracting S21 firmware (just two days ago I released rom with latest base VB1 Feb security patch)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, Samsung removed the system_ext folder and put it into its own img file. I mounted both system.img/system_ext.img, and copied both into an N20U system folder created by superr kitchen for my N20U. I was able to deodex framework-res.apk ans SystemUI.apk. I made mods to SystemUI, but cannot test as I do not have an S22U.
gcrutchr said:
Also, Samsung removed the system_ext folder and put it into its own img file. I mounted both system.img/system_ext.img, and copied both into an N20U system folder created by superr kitchen for my N20U. I was able to deodex framework-res.apk ans SystemUI.apk. I made mods to SystemUI, but cannot test as I do not have an S22U.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you have used to extract system.img of S22?
dr.ketan said:
What you have used to extract system.img of S22?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
superr kitchen. will extract .img files but will not extract contents
gcrutchr said:
superr kitchen. will extract .img files but will not extract contents
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I mean is how you have extracted SystemUI and Framework-res , as kitchen not able to extract it
dr.ketan said:
What I mean is how you have extracted SystemUI and Framework-res , as kitchen not able to extract it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used Fedora to mount both .img files.
After copy S22 system.img/system_ext contents into N20U folder, I used superr to deodex system folder. Then copy SystemUI.apk and framework-res.apk to my development folder
sudo mount -o loop system_ext.img tmp
sudo mount -o loop system.img tmp2
As a general information in case anyone was wondering. Root on the S22 Ultra GM-S908B variant has been confirmed: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...-firmware-noob-friendly.4404283/post-86473679
Just to update : Today have got hand on demo and I can confirm indian users will get S908E and also OEM unlock option already available in dev settings out of box.
Question: I'm looking to get a newer laptop and was looking at the Surface Pro 7 or 8. I know ODIN won't work on the Surface Pro X, but has anyone used it on a SP7/8? I can't see why it won't work. It uses the same i5 processor and 64-bit OS as a full size/normal laptop.
Recently I had to replace my Samsung Galaxy A32 5G under warranty (losing all my sdcard0 data) because my previous unrooted free T-Mobile A32-5G was frozen, so what I want to do for the future is document, in words, the exact steps to copy data off and to unfreeze & reload new firmware onto the unrooted T-Mobile SM6U I have, for me in the future (if needed) and for others (if they need it).
For the hardware modes below, I'm heavily borrowing from this YouTube video titled
Samsung a32 5g Hard Reboot - Download Mode
But I'm doing all the steps myself and writing them up step by step so they are extremely clear to anyone (and I'm adding information).
Wake
Click power button to wake the phone (assume this fails)
Shutdown or Restart
Hold both volume down & power button to shutdown/restart (assume this fails)
Fastboot Mode
Connect the A32-5G to the Windows PC via USB
C:\> adb devices
C:\> adb reboot-bootloader
In red, "fastboot mode... " shows up on the phone
You can now run fastboot commands, such as:
C:\> fastboot flashing unlock
Debug Mode (mandatory)
Settings > About phone > Software information > Build number (press 7 times)
This enables Developer mode (if you don't already have it enabled)
Settings > Developer options > USB debugging = on
Settings > Developer options > Disable adb authorization timeout = on (otherwise authorization is revoked in 1 to 7 days)
Settings > Developer options > Default USB configuration = Transferring files
Settings > Developer options > Stay awake = off (but know this exists to turn it on if your screen becomes cracked)
Debug Mode (optional)
Settings > Developer options > Wireless debugging = on
Settings > Developer options > Quick settings developer tiles > Wireless debugging = on (that adds a brand new tile to your pulldown area)
Permanently add that new "Wireless debugging" tile to the front of your swipe-down quick tiles since this button goes off whenever Wi-Fi is turned off
Android Recovery Mode
Hold both volume down & power until the screen cycles past the poweroff/restart screen to a black screen and then hold both volume up & power until the phone cycles past the "Secured by Knox" screen and keep holding until you see Android Recovery mode which has the following options, selectable by your volume button and executed when you press the power button with any selection below highlighted.
The screen will be black with orange writings saying "Android Recovery Mode" and the following options...
Reboot system now
Reboot to bootloader
Apply update from ADB
Apply update from SD card
Wipe data/factory reset
Wipe cache partition
Mount /system
View recovery logs
Run graphics test
Run locale test
Power off
Repair apps
Recovery mode (using the PC)
C:\> adb devices
C:\> adb reboot recovery
That will put your phone into recovery mode
Download mode (aka Odin mode)
With the phone turned off, press & hold the volume up & volume down & power buttons and plug in a USB cable from the PC at the same time as you're pressing the three buttons to put the phone into Download Mode (also known as Odin Mode).
The screen will turn light blue saying...
Warning A custom OS can cause critical problems in phone and installed applications.
If you want to download a custom OS, press the volume up key.
Otherwise press the volume down key to cancel
Volume up = Continue
Volume down = Cancel (reset phone)
Side key = Show Barcode {IMEI, SN, Device ID}
In summary, my last A32-5G was toast because I didn't know to access it from the computer with USB debugging on, nor did I know how to reload the firmware, so I don't want that ignorance to happen to me or to anyone else moving forward - which is why this thread is created so we can all pitch in.
What we need to add to this are the steps to access an A32-5G phone to mirror it over USB using FOSS scrcpy tools when the screen is unresponsive, or at least to copy the data off the sdcard0 but that will be only for those who already had the foresight to set USB debugging on permanently.
1. First let's outline all the ways to get the Galaxy A32-5G into debug mode, odin mode, download mode, factory reset mode, android recover mode, etc. - all of which I tried today.
2. Then let's run through a firmware recovery process using Odin & Samfw - which I have never done so I rely heavily on others.
Note the "official" ODIN is here for flashing stock firmware.
3. Then let's recover Samsung firmware again, this time using Odin & Frija - which I have never done but I will try soon.
4. Then let's cover how to mirror your screen over USB (and later, over Wi-Fi) - which I do all the time.
5. And then let's cover how to mount the Android file system
(both sd cards) over Wi-Fi as Windows drive letters using WebDAV - which I do all the time.
6. Then let's add a section on how to recover your old adb authentication keys if they have expired so that you can again trust the computer.
Linux = ~/.android/{adbkey,adbkey.pub,adb_known_hosts.pb}
Windows = C:\Users\you\.android\{adbkey,adbkey.pub,adb_known_hosts.pb}
macOS = ?
Android: /data/misc/adb/adb_keys
7. I don't know if the A32-5G SM6U can be rooted yet, but if it
can be rooted, I'll likely add a section on how to root it after that.
This is required reading to understand the terminology, all of which is new to me (and likely to those of you who read this).
And this is required reading for the OEM Unlock option.
--
If you've enjoyed it or it has helped you, a thumbs or or thanks is always appreciated! Feel free to share and link to this thread for newbies to messing with Android devices like I am.
Here is how to download firmware using SAMFW & how to flash with Odin. (make sure you get the right odin!)
The assumption is the first post was followed which is to proactively:
1. Turn USB debugging = on
2. Connect by USB cable once to a trusted PC & save the authentication
3. Turn off the automatic release of those authentication keys
4. Set the default USB mode = file transfer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WARNING: Everything below is a work in progress for the step-by-step tested procedure to download the firmware for the T-Mobile USA Samsung Galaxy A32 5G using Windows 10 as shown below.
Determine the name, model, and baseband version
Settings > About phone > Model name Galaxy A32 5G, Model number SM-A326U
Settings > About phone > Software information > Baseband version = A326USQS8BVJ1
With that information, get the latest Samsung firmware
Frija is one way to download the latest Samsung firmware
But my first test was with https://samfw.com/
In the SamFW web page on Windows 10, enter the device name or model code = SM-A326U / Galaxy A32 5G
That brings you to here which has hundreds of files, many with the designation "A326USQS8BVJ1" and some for Android 12.
https://samfw.com/firmware/SM-A326U
I'm not sure which "A326USQS8BVJ1" "Android 12" file to pick next (is there any way to intelligently choose from the many that do exist)?
Most (if not all) are USA files, so I arbitrarily selected one of the "AIO" CSC (whatever that means) files and that brings up three files that are for Android 12, the latest being:
Build Date = 20221012183750
Download the firmware flash for Samsung Galaxy A32 5G with the code is SM-A326U. This firmware for the region with CSC code is AIO (AIO - United States). Please make sure the code is correct. You can check model code in Setting - About, in Download mode or you can find it by flipping your phone or among the things you found in the box. This product PDA version is A326USQS8BVJ1 and Android version is S(Android 12). This firmware size is 5.83 GB.
This firmware is official from Samsung Cloud Server. Of course, we recommend you are using official Samsung tool like Samsung Smart Switch or Samsung Kies. Samfw.com will not responsible for any damage caused by using the files on this website
AP VERSION A326USQS8BVJ1
CSC VERSION A326UOYN8BVJ1
ANDROID VERSION S(Android 12)
BIT (BINARY/U/SW REV.) 8
SIZE 5.83 GB Full Files
MD5 9019690daf609d85d21bbf6eccebb9b8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That process of creating the firmware took me an hour and perhaps a bit more as it automatically generated a "A326U_AIO_A326USQS8BVJ1_fac.zip" file of 5.83GB size which I then had to manually download when it was finally 100% finished, creating.
Name: Samfw.com_SM-A326U_AIO_A326USQS8BVJ1_fac.zip
Size: 6259616116 bytes (5969 MiB)
SHA256: 89B5CF61033173BAFABBF7E7980F7FE1F8F43D88AD99C82729A4643884E5045B
Can someone advise me as to what's the next step?
OK. This seems to be the next set of steps.
1. Extract (unzip) that Samsung firmware zip archive.
Application Processor (or PDA)
AP_A326USQS8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT_meta_OS12.tar.md5 (6,331,637,961)
Bootloader
BL_A326USQS8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5 (2,959,548)
Core Processor
CP_A326USQS8BVJ1_CP23036338_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5 (41,666,760)
Consumer Software Customization
CSC_OYN_A326UOYN8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5 (86,405,314)
HOME_CSC_OYN_A326UOYN8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5 (86,384,839)
USERDATA_AIO_A326USQS8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5 (887,490,760)
_FirmwareInfo_Samfw.com.txt (719)
Note that nowadays, the CSC contains the Partition Information Table file (PIT) in most cases, but you might have a PIT file if not.
Also note the difference between the CSC and the HOME_CSC where you can only burn one, not both.
CSC = Updates the firmware using the PIT which means it wipes the device entirely and reformats the super partition containing everything from /boot, /system and /vendor
HOME CSC = updates the firmware but without the PIT file so that it does NOT wipe the device
2. Download the Windows Samsung Odin Tool 3.13.1
Name: Odin3_v3.13.1_3B_Patched_Samfw.com.rar
Size: 1080120 bytes (1054 KiB)
SHA256: 796DBCD0A2262228AF0492B69BCFF0555CDC9AFE422045BC295BB2ABF74FF107
3. Extract that Odin RAR file (I used 7zip).
Name: Odin3 v3.13.1_3B_Patched_Samfw.com.exe
Size: 3172864 bytes (3098 KiB)
SHA256: 1E84628BD5EF44EB6A00954A7DE5445375C953879F889EF82CB73DB0358CEEAF
4. Run that unpacked executable file on Windows with its associated ini file in the same directory to make sure it brings up the Odin GUI which makes no sense to a noob like me. (Need to add more here since this is a critical step in the process which has no good instructions yet). OK. I think I got it. See Odin file upload steps below.
5. Put the Samsung A32-5G into "Download Mode" by holding volume up, volume down, and power and then right away plug in the USB cable from the computer port such that all four are done simultaneously.
Immediately this puts the phone screen blue which is apparently Download Mode (aka Odin Mode) which will say...
Warning A custom OS can cause critical problems in phone and installed applications.
If you want to download a custom OS, press the volume up key.
Otherwise press the volume down key to cancel
Volume up = Continue
Volume down = Cancel (reset phone)
Side key = Show Barcode {IMEI, SN, Device ID}
6. In the Odin tool on Windows 10, you have two use models, the first of which is to add the five BL, AP, CP, CSC, and USERDATA files separately, or together as one HOME_CSC file.
I don't know where to load the HOME_CSC file so I'll load the five BL, AP, CP, CSC & USERDATA files separately into the Windows Odin GUI (the CSC and HOME_CSC being different in that the home version is said to not wipe user data).
In Windows Odin, click the BL button and navigate to the file named BL_A326USQS8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5 file.
In Windows Odin, click the AP button and navigate to the file named AP_A326USQS8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT_meta_OS12.tar.md5 (notice this will take a while as this is the largest file).
In Windows Odin, click the CP button and navigate to the file named CP_A326USQS8BVJ1_CP23036338_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5
In Windows Odin, click the CSC button and navigate to the file named HOME_CSC_OYN_A326UOYN8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5 or CSC_OYN_A326UOYN8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5 (the difference is said to be the HOME version doesn't wipe user data clean).
In Windows Odin, click the USERDATA button and navigate to the file named USERDATA_AIO_A326USQS8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5 where the "home_csc" is said to not wipe userdata but the "csc" will wipe user data.
7. Make sure re-partition is NOT ticked in the Windows 10 Odin GUI "Options" tab which has the following settings by default
[x] Auto Reboot
[_] Nand Erase
[_] Re-Partition
[x] F. Reset Time
[_] DeviceInfo (mine is grayed out)
[_] Flash Lock
8. In the Windows 10 Odin GUI, with the phone connected to the Windows 10 PC in blue Download Mode (aka Odin Mode), now click the Odin GUI START button to begin reflashing.
Please improve if/when you test this out as I only ran up to the last steps but I did not actually install the firmware.
Here (will be) how to download firmware using Frija & flash with Odin.
[Frija is the wife of Odin in Norse Mythology.]
WARNING: Everything below is a work in progress for the step-by-step tested procedure to download the firmware for the T-Mobile USA Samsung Galaxy A32 5G using Windows 10 as shown below.
This is a work in progress... to be updated as I test it and document the steps.
Please improve if/when you test this out as I only ran up to the last steps but I did not actually install the firmware.
Here is how to mirror the phone on the desktop over USB or over Wi-Fi using the FOSS scrcpy software.
1. Read the FOSS scrcpy readme explanatory file.
[https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy#readme]
The two fundamental steps are
C:\> adb devices
(That should report the adb-name-of-your-android-device.)
C:\> scrcpy -s adb-name-of-your-android-device
(That should mirror your phone onto the PC over USB or Wi-Fi.)
2. Download both the adb & scrcpy commands from this zip file.
[https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy]
Note that you can use any adb from anywhere so if you already have adb from Android Studio, then use that if you want to.
3. Turn on USB Debugging & default mode is file transfer.
4. Connect your Galaxy A32-5G to the PC over the USB cable.
The notifications should say "USB for file transfer".
5. For this test, I purposefully turned off Wi-Fi on the phone so that the connection would only be via USB cable.
6. If necessary install Windows drivers to ensure the phone shows up as "Galaxy A32 5G" on the Windows network.
6. Run the adb daemon and obtain your device name over USB.
C:\> adb devices
You should see something like:
ABCD##ABCDE device
x. Run scrcpy to mirror the device onto your Windows 10 PC.
C:\> scrcpy -s ABCD##ABCDE
Where the "1ABCD##ABCDE" is the unique name as reported by adb but if you only had one device connected to the adb daemon, you don't even need that '-s' option; yet it's a good habit to use it.
At this point all the following work seamlessly together
Your PC will show what's on your phone screen.
Your PC mouse will manipulate your phone screen.
Your PC keyboard will type into your phone screen.
Your PC & Android clipboards will be interchangeable.\
Here are some useful things you can do with scrcpy.
To take a movie of the entire session (on either USB or over Wi-Fi):
C:\> scrcpy --record foo.mp4
C:\> scrcpy -r bar.mkv
To perfectly screenshot just the phone window on demand in Windows:
C:\> Irfanview
Irfanview:Options/Capture Screenshot > (o)Foreground window - Client area
File name: capture_$U(%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)_###
(Or you can automatically capture every half second or whatever)
DETAILS:
1. Install adb on Windows as per instructions here.
<https://www.xda-developers.com/install-adb-windows-macos-linux/>
<https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools-latest-windows.zip>
<https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r31.0.3-windows.zip>
Note you do not need to be root on the phone nor admin on the Windows PC.
Note: You can skip this step if you ONLY want to run scrcpy as
scrcpy comes with its own adb which works fine for that purpose.
2. On the phone, check if you have Developer Mode turned on.
Settings > About phone > Software information > Build number
If you tap once & it says "Developer mode has already been turned on"
then you don't need to tap it 7 times to turn Developer Mode on.
3. On the phone, enable the USB Debugging mode option.
Settings > Developer options > USB debugging = on
4. Connect your phone via USB to the PC & run a quick test.
C:\> adb devices
On Windows you will see some debugging information:
* daemon not running; starting now at tcp:55555
* daemon started successfully
List of devices attached
ABCD##ABCDE unauthorized
On your phone’s screen, you should see a prompt to allow or deny USB Debugging access which you should grant permanently for this computer so that when the screen is broken, it will still connect!
Grant USB Debugging access when prompted (and tap the always-allow check box if you want).
Then run the command again:
C:\> adb devices
List of devices attached
ABCD##ABCDE device
5. From the PC you should now be able to access even the phone root filesystem.
Optional test:
C:\> adb pull /system/etc/hosts .\hosts.txt
[That should copy the Android hosts file over to your Windows machine.]
Find the number of packages you have which have "google" in the name.
C:\> adb shell pm list packages google | find /c /v ""
6. And from the PC, you should now be able to bring up Android Activities.
Optional teset:
Bring up the gms "Reset AD ID" Activity on Android from Windows:
C:\> adb shell am start -n com.google.android.gms/.ads.settings.AdsSettingsActivity
That should pop up the "Reset AD ID" settings page on your phone.
[GMS is a set of "google mobile services" products native on Android.]
You can close that page on Android from Windows by running this:
C:\> adb shell am force-stop com.google.android.gms
Which you can put into a "closegms.bat" one-line file for convenience.
7. Obtain the Windows "Screen Copy" code to mirror the Android screen.
<https://www.khalidalnajjar.com/take-screenshots-of-secure-conversations-on-android/>
<https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy>
Save to C:\installer\editor\android\scrcpy\scrcpy-win64-v1.23.zip
Name: scrcpy-win64-v1.23.zip
Size: 35446869 bytes (33 MiB)
SHA256: D2F601B1D0157FAF65153D8A093D827FD65AEC5D5842D677AC86FB2B5B7704CC
Extract to C:\app\editor\android\scrcpy
Note there is an adb.exe which comes with that zip file
You can now interact with your phone using the Windows kebyoard & mouse
11. To record a mirrored Android session as an MP4 video run this:
C:\> scrcpy --record file.mp4
C:\app\editor\android\scrcpy\scrcpy-server: 1 file pushed, 0 skipped. 1.4 MB/s (41123 bytes in 0.027s)
[server] INFO: Device: samsung SM-A326U (Android 11)
INFO: Renderer: direct3d
INFO: Initial texture: 720x1600
INFO: Recording started to mp4 file: file.mp4
Note you can press control+c to end the recording when desired.
14. If desired, use the TCP/IP Wi-Fi connection between Windows & Android which requires the USB connection first, and then you can disconnect after establishing the Wi-Fi connection.
C:\> adb connect 192.168.1.2:5555
Where 191.168.1.2 is the IP address of your phone on your LAN.
C:\> scrcpy
Or you can establish the Wi-Fi connection from the start but this always requires interacting with the screen first.
(WORK IN PROGRESS TO ADD THESE STEPS.)
I do this all the time so I just need to document it.
This is a placeholder work in progress to document the WebDAV solution which enables you to mount the entire Android file system onto Windows 10 as drive letters (one Windows drive letter for each sdcard).
I do this all the time so I just need to document it.
This is a placeholder for recovering old keys if you no longer have the computer trusted and you can no longer access the screen.
Accessing An Android Device With Broken Screen Via ADB and Unauthorized Machine in 2022
Just as a datapoint, while I use a variety of adb implementations, I looked for these stored keys and found the files, albeit they were rather old.
adb shell ls /data/misc/adb/adb_keys
Directory of C:\Users\username\.android
11/25/2022 03:39 PM <DIR> .
11/25/2022 03:39 PM <DIR> ..
12/14/2020 01:27 PM 1,732 adbkey
12/14/2020 01:27 PM 709 adbkey.pub
11/25/2022 03:39 PM 936 adb_known_hosts.pb
08/06/2022 08:16 AM 185 analytics.settings
12/16/2020 12:37 AM <DIR> avd
12/14/2020 04:57 PM <DIR> breakpad
08/06/2022 09:15 AM <DIR> cache
12/14/2020 01:26 PM 2,107 debug.keystore
12/14/2020 01:29 PM 0 debug.keystore.lock
12/16/2020 12:36 AM 4,640 emu-last-feature-flags.protobuf
12/16/2020 12:36 AM 67 emu-update-last-check.ini
12/16/2020 12:37 AM 119 maps.key
12/16/2020 12:36 AM 171 modem-nv-ram-5554
12/14/2020 12:59 PM <DIR> studio
10 File(s) 10,666 bytes
Note that I do not use the adb inside of Android Studio much, since any adb works for what I use it for, so this is probably a feature of AS perhaps?
Do you think _old_ keys would work in an emergency situation?
This is something we should flesh out for the general user.
TimmyP said:
If you have bootloader version 3 or lower (probably not anymore, 5th number from right in baseband version) look at this thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/recovery-unofficial-twrp-for-galaxy-a32-5g-mediatek.4286631/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really would like to try to root my T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy SM-A326U.
Unfortunately, my baseband is A326USQS8BVJ1 where the 5th character from the right is {8} (which is a lot bigger than 3).
In Android 12 Settings > About phone > Software information >
Service provider software version =
Current CSC = SAOMC_SM-A326U_OYN_TMB_12_0008TMB
Best CSC for SIM card 1 = TMB
Best CSC for SIM card 2 (if dual SIM is possible) = TMB
Factory CSC that cannot be changed = TMB
The CheckFirm Android app by Bluesion reports
SM-A326U (TMB)
Latest official firmware = A326USQS8BVJ1/A326UOYN8BVJ1/A326USQS8BVJ1
Likewise Windows Frija & BitFrost tools report similar information:
Model = SM A326U
CSC = TMB
Version = A326USQS8BVJ1/A326UOYN8BVJ1/A326USQS8BVJ1
Size = 5970 MB
OS = S(Android 12)
Filename = SM-A326U_2_20221020211950_3bw6oqi4sf_fac.zip.enc4
Windows Frija downloaded that firmware for me which resulted in:
Name: SM-A326U_2_20221020211950_3bw6oqi4sf_fac.zip
Size: 6260154041 bytes (5970 MiB)
SHA256: 04B3FE98BD303DA3F56DB166838E846C82BEC4D2659569C0BE9025764511464D
Unpacked, that resulted in the following set of SM A326U firmware.
Application Processor (or PDA)
Name: AP_A326USQS8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT_meta_OS12.tar.md5
Size: 6331637961 bytes (6038 MiB)
SHA256: DD2A0B508160644462C7717B8FBBB6AC0288CA64B71E524214855395E6AA9CBD
Bootloader
Name: BL_A326USQS8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5
Size: 2959548 bytes (2890 KiB)
SHA256: D21FEFE7A3C5F5883F0F74A9FCF05709A97CAFAAC129A255480A2BE4195A1C29
Core Processor
Name: CP_A326USQS8BVJ1_CP23036338_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5
Size: 41666760 bytes (39 MiB)
SHA256: D56AD0641F4CAE6E3488CD7842DCEAE91E941091A0E392397A83B8F9ABC92632
Consumer Software Customization (with PIT)
Name: CSC_OYN_A326UOYN8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5
Size: 86405314 bytes (82 MiB)
SHA256: 59EE866BC393D0B3E017712229BDA2F07EA17FB165609D53BE0724EB419291A7
Consumer Software Customization (w/o PIT)
Name: HOME_CSC_OYN_A326UOYN8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5
Size: 86384839 bytes (82 MiB)
SHA256: 865A0563845EA2AB9575C5BDD350A6F07B9B145004B8385DA922CDABAD86E001
User Data (supposedly not used on newer devices)
Name: USERDATA_TMB_A326USQS8BVJ1_CL24355525_QB57258298_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5
Size: 861655240 bytes (821 MiB)
SHA256: 7C03E8DA8784F14B6EEC924BF052E6EC30701B3F8FB539F344CD6106E4494FBC
I picked up Windows Frija here.
https://github.com/SlackingVeteran/frija/releases
https://github.com/SlackingVeteran/frija/releases/download/v1.4.4/Frija-v1.4.4.zip
Name: Frija-v1.4.4.zip
Size: 6533283 bytes (6380 KiB)
SHA256: 1067F48DE201E26596F473613CB2CEAC31F1A10550CE6AE352827CCE9FA23161
Unpacked:
Name: Frija.exe
Size: 3445248 bytes (3364 KiB)
SHA256: 76C6E277C9E2D167FCFCF4077D13481111C1750909CDAEFB195480609BC16516
I picked up the BitFrost from here, which does what Frija does.
https://www.ytechb.com/samsung-firmware-downloader/
https://github.com/zacharee/SamloaderKotlin/releases
https://github.com/zacharee/SamloaderKotlin/releases/download/1.0.11/Bifrost_Windows.zip
Name: Bifrost_Windows.zip
Size: 73379150 bytes (69 MiB)
SHA256: 6E8335FD91B0135F92421C54C55D1363D5B246720F492D4B120DB962E8113A40
Unpacked
Name: Bifrost.exe
Size: 462848 bytes (452 KiB)
SHA256: 9A71CF4A6F2C74F15C5C00D9BBB7BE2D68AF3E9A22111D0BAE35BD23713B66AC
Still, I'd love to be able to root this phone (if possible).
I tried the methods to root described here, the first test is
Go to OneClickRoot on any web browser
a. I clicked on "Samsung",
b. and typed the model "SM-A326U",
c. and selected "Galaxy A32 5G (SM-A326U)"
d. Then I selected "Android 12" as the Android version
e. And then pressed on "Verify Device Rootable"
f. It reported "We're Sorry"
"Your Samsung Galaxy A32 5G (SM-A326U) is not rootable."
Then I installed SuperSU on the SM-A326U but it failed.
https://download.chainfire.eu/696/supersu/
https://download.chainfire.eu/696/SuperSU/UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip
Name: UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip
Size: 4017098 bytes (3922 KiB)
SHA256: D44CDD09E99561132B2A4CD19D707F7126722A9C051DC23F065A948C7248DC4E
Name: Superuser.apk
Size: 5904943 bytes (5766 KiB)
SHA256: 624B7205B818F1A36877DA0E3575B5B671F4933DFD0FDDF31EE168583C6B2090
Then I installed KingoRoot on both the PC & the SM-A326U, but it too failed to root.
https://www.kingoapp.com/
https://d.kingoapp.com/android_root.exe
https://d.kingoapp.com/default/KingoRoot.apk
Name: android_root.exe
Size: 19128680 bytes (18 MiB)
SHA256: 2F400F0B2FE121B8E5B1415A99DFDA2F5502B7AA2E7002EF6E464F0D587DBA0F
Name: KingoRoot.apk
Size: 6615009 bytes (6459 KiB)
SHA256: E6B2EC7E8663229A0F8DD903D7704CCFDE81F7AE0B1881407E068E63A7F125B8
I've installed Magisk but I'm not sure what the next steps are.
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.topjohnwu.magisk/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magisk_(software)
https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk
Name: Magisk-v25.2.apk
Size: 11278270 bytes (10 MiB)
SHA256: 0BDC32918B6EA502DCA769B1C7089200DA51EA1DEF170824C2812925B426D509
Yet the referenced thread (TWRP for Galaxy A32 5G) implies that we CAN root the SM-A326U where the thread clearly says the SM-A326U US model is supported and the thread even points to a bootloader unlock thread for this USA model over here (Bootloader Unlock for Samsung US/Canada Devices) so this is extremely confusing conflicting information.
This is all very very very confusing.
Either we can root this Galaxy A32-5G SMA326U or we can not root it.
Which is it?
Has anyone been successful with that TWRP/Bootloader unlock process with a bootloader fifth-from-right digit of 8?
NO FOR THE BILLIONTH TIME
TimmyP said:
March 2021 is bootloader 5. The device was rootable though that update. Anything after that no known exploit im sure the people I paid to root mine here would be "advertising" their services if there was.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the confirmation that anything with a bootloader version of 6 or above (mine is 8) can't be rooted by anyone.
Settings > About phone > Software information > Baseband version = A326USQS8BVJ1
All the articles that say the Galaxy A32-5G can be rooted must have been done using the older bootloader (version 5 or lower).
How to ROOT A32 5G
I guess I finally hard-bricked my N920P trying to install Universal SafetyNet Fix. It was on stock (N920PVPS3DRH1) but I had TWRP and Magisk Canary installed. I was trying to get Zygisk working but couldn't get it properly turn on, even on the stable and canary builds. That's where I had tried to install the SafetyNet fix module. It said it doesn't fully support anything below Android 8.0, but it did finish installing and asked me to reboot. And it never turned back on.
I cannot get into the download mode, recovery or system. Tried all key combos and no life at all. I drained the battery all night long and tried plugging into the PC and now it detects it as an unknown "Exynos7420" device. That was something from the nothing I got before. I tried looking up on how to rebuild the corrupt bootloader but I couldn't wrap my head around on how the process works. There was material on getting a software called "USB_Downloader" and I got all the way to installing the drivers and getting that software recognise the device as a COM port. I did this in a Windows 7 32 bit VM on VirtualBox (VMWare kept crashing my entire USB Host Controller everytime I tried passing the phone's connection to the VM, which was weird).
Now I'm stuck with this software and am unable to understand what I need to do next. There was something about getting the sboot.bin file and creating 4 new files to push through the Exynos COM port to fix the bootloader. There was also something about getting a Hex editor to do this, but I cannot understand what's going on. Could someone please help me get around this?
Thanks in advance!!
Never mind I fixed it. Just posting it here to make sure no one else gets stuck like I did for a long while. So what I had done was I forgot I had a custom ROM installed. It had been based on the N920PVPU3DQC5 firmware. So I downloaded that firmware, extracted the sboot.bin file then went to work with a hex editor (HxD for Windows specifically).
Open sboot.bin in the hex editor and start making new files listed below. The sections are also listed below, you can ensure the size in the bottom of HxD.
Save them as novi1.bin, novi_2.bin, etc...
The offsets I used are:
BL1 or novi1.bin: 0 - 0x1FFF (size 0x2000)
BL2 or EL3 or novi_2.bin: 0x2000 - 0x31FFF (size 0x30000)
EL3 or BL2 or novi_3.bin: 0x32000 - 0x3dfff (size 0xC000)
S-BOOT or novi_4.bin: 0x3E000 - 0x18F100 or end of file (size 0x15110), this will include tzsw.
Next this is the cfg file I used:
Code:
; S Project
; must keep order of binary list
; BL1
DNW_STORE e5250 fwbl1 200 20 novi1.bin
;DNW_WAIT
; BL2
DNW_STORE e5250 el3_mon 2000 20 novi_2.bin
; u-boot
; Wait Re-Enumeration
DNW_WAIT
DNW_STORE e5250 bl2 2000 20 novi_3.bin
;DNW_WAIT
DNW_STORE e5250 bootloader 20000 20 novi4.bin
;DNW_WAIT
;DNW_STORE e5250 tzsw 20000 20 4pt.img
Copy this code and save it as SH-usb-booting.cfg in the same folder as your .bin files. Now you can launch the multidownloader and load the .cfg and select Auto Run. Now press and hold the power button on your phone and connect it to the PC. It should automatically go through the whole flashing process and end up in the download mode screen. You can now flash the firmware from there!
If you have any doubts hit me up!
LOL I'm stuck again. I got into Download mode but my VM was having trouble connecting to the Download mode USB modem and it crashed the USB controller on my PC. I had to reboot the phone and now I'm stuck again in Exynos USB mode. Trying to get back into Download mode using the files I created above but it's not working anymore. I can hear the USB getting disconnected on the host at the AP Re-enumeration step but it isn't disconnecting from the guest VM. I guess I'll have to find a physical PC to try this out on.
EDIT: I had used VirtualBox until this step. After the hanging on Re-enumeration issue, I figured it could be Virtualbox causing the issue so I tried using VMWare, and ta-da, it worked. Read posts below for updates.
So I somehow got myself to get into Download mode consistently. Turned out my VM's USB controller was acting up so I clean installed it and I'm able to send the sboot files and get into Odin mode. But new trouble. Everytime I flash the stock firmware it goes through the process, passes and resets. But it never boots!! Just goes back to the same Exynos mode. I can re-flash the sboot file to get back into Odin mode but I'm stuck like this. I have no idea what to do now...
Progress so far:
I can't remember what custom ROM I had originally. Radeonmaya S8+ N920P ROM was supposed to be based on the DQC5 deodexed stock ROM posted here in the N920P forum.
1. Tried creating new files from DQC5 - SPR sboot.bin: Booted into Download mode, tried flashing the 4 file firmware, no progress, resets back into Exynos mode.
2. Used the DQC5 - SPR sboot.bin to boot into download mode: Tried flashing thr 4 file firmware for the latest firmware that was installed in the phone which was DRH1. No progress, resets back into Exynos mode.
If I'm reading this correctly, the Radeommaya ROM makes changes to boot.img and system partitions. Everything else remains stock, therefore my original bootloader for firmware DRH1 should work. However, I'm not able to get into the system.
I must note that TWRP recovery was installed on the device. The best course of action would be to install the same custom ROM back together with TWRP, but I could not find an Odin flashable tarball for the Radeonmaya ROM. The forum's been dead for a couple of years and the Telegram group is also dead. Looking for ways to make my own tarball using handpicked files maybe.
Currently trying to create new .bin files to boot into Download mode via the Multidownloader from sboot.bin files I salvaged from the XAS (Sprint Unbranded) firmware packages DRH1 and DQE1 (Apparently this firmware has helped someone in the Radeonmaya ROM thread to boot back into the system from a similar hard bricked situation, however I speculate this would not fix my problem because the DQE1 firmware is newer than the DQC1 firmware, which the custom ROM was based upon)
Will post more findings later.
P.S. VMWare could be quite finicky to work with when trying to passthrough the Exynos USB Device to a Windows 7 guest. It caused my AMD Ryzen host to crash its entire USB controller and both my USB mouse and the phone wouldn't connect to the HOST, let alone the guest. It causes a never-ending loop in the code which also stops a proper system restart, hence needing you to force power-cycle the whole computer.
This is because of the unusual nature of the driver being 32-bit only and incompatibility with VMWare. However, it should work when you reinstall VMWare without the Enhanced Keyboard driver, and also reinstalling the Exynos USB driver on the host and the VMWare USB Device (found in the Universal Serial Bus controllers section when you have the USB connection passed through to the VM).