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How to flash updated T-Mobile firmware on very un-updated AT&T S7 Edge?

I'm new to XDA and not very expert at Android. I used to use a T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S6 with T-Mobile as the carrier. I recently bought a used AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, and have succeeded so far in getting it unlocked so it recognizes my SIM card. So my phone is up and running. However, it is still an AT&T phone. I don't know all of the ways it is undesirable to use an AT&T phone on the T-Mobile network. I do know that updating software is problematic. I want to make this phone into a T-Mobile phone, so that when software updates are available it asks me if I want to install them and so on.
Now I'm getting into unfamiliar territory. I believe my CSC is G935AUCU1APB4. (This is called my 'baseband version' in the settings menu.) From 'PB4' I get that this firmware is from February 2016, version 4. My model is G935-A and what's in between tells me something about my country and original Android version, maybe. So when I go looking for a late version of T-Mobile's firmware for my phone, would it still start with G935A, or would it perhaps look like G935T (for T-mobile)? Or perhaps G935U (for unlocked?) Anyway, my first big question is what firmware package should I look for and how do I know that is the right one?
After that, well, I have never manually flashed firmware into a phone. I see references to Odin and SmartSwitch and sammobile. Well, shoot. I figure I can learn any of these packages. Which should I use and why?
That's enough for now, thanks for reading!
metalmagpie

metalmagpie said:
I'm new to XDA and not very expert at Android. I used to use a T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S6 with T-Mobile as the carrier. I recently bought a used AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, and have succeeded so far in getting it unlocked so it recognizes my SIM card. So my phone is up and running. However, it is still an AT&T phone. I don't know all of the ways it is undesirable to use an AT&T phone on the T-Mobile network. I do know that updating software is problematic. I want to make this phone into a T-Mobile phone, so that when software updates are available it asks me if I want to install them and so on.
Now I'm getting into unfamiliar territory. I believe my CSC is G935AUCU1APB4. (This is called my 'baseband version' in the settings menu.) From 'PB4' I get that this firmware is from February 2016, version 4. My model is G935-A and what's in between tells me something about my country and original Android version, maybe. So when I go looking for a late version of T-Mobile's firmware for my phone, would it still start with G935A, or would it perhaps look like G935T (for T-mobile)? Or perhaps G935U (for unlocked?) Anyway, my first big question is what firmware package should I look for and how do I know that is the right one?
After that, well, I have never manually flashed firmware into a phone. I see references to Odin and SmartSwitch and sammobile. Well, shoot. I figure I can learn any of these packages. Which should I use and why?
That's enough for now, thanks for reading!
metalmagpie
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I have learned a ton in the last couple of days. Bottom line is the easiest way to update OS on an AT&T Samsung is to take it to Best Buy and ask the person at the Samsung counter to do it. I see no reason to believe that it is possible in software to make an AT&T phone look like a T-Mobile phone. And as far as flashing with Odin? What a totally buggy tool! I was NEVER able to make it get past "analyzing files" or maybe "file analysis". When you get down to switching cords from one USB port to another I figure you might just as well change your socks. Finally, there is a TON of crap advice out on the Web.
metalmagpie

Bought Fake G930F - What now?

The phone was supposed to be new but when it arrived the seal was broken.
It shows G930F on the sticker and the ROM installed is 7.0: NRD90M.G930FXXS4BQC1. Phone Info and CPU-Z both show a Snapdragon 820 installed and the bootloader G930TUVS4BQC1. Both of which indicate to me it is a SM-G930T in reality. Am I correct? There are no OTA updates available.
Is there anything I can do to make the phone usable here in Europe and get the latest security patches or a newer ROM? Phone service is unusable atm.
I still don't have my money back from Paypal, but the Ebay seller already told me that they decided in my favor and how I scammed him (funny, he?). How it looks I can keep the phone, but I would like to know if I can make it usable some how.

solisar said:
The phone was supposed to be new but when it arrived the seal was broken.
It shows G930F on the sticker and the ROM installed is 7.0: NRD90M.G930FXXS4BQC1. Phone Info and CPU-Z both show a Snapdragon 820 installed and the bootloader G930TUVS4BQC1. Both of which indicate to me it is a SM-G930T in reality. Am I correct? There are no OTA updates available.
Is there anything I can do to make the phone usable here in Europe and get the latest security patches or a newer ROM? Phone service is unusable atm.
I still don't have my money back from Paypal, but the Ebay seller already told me that they decided in my favor and how I scammed him (funny, he?). How it looks I can keep the phone, but I would like to know if I can make it usable some how.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nightmare! Anyway if it's a T Mobile snapdragon (it definitely looks like it) you'll need to install T Mobile firmware from Sammobile of use SamFirm Tool. Flash with Odin obviously and make sure OEM is unlocked.
**This is important** so pay attention. Your boot loader version is an old one (U4) which is good because it means there's more you can do with it and the phone should be fairly easy to root. If you just type "G930T" into Sammobile firmware search you'll see there are lots of firmware updates after the one installed on your device. Once you upgrade a boot loader you cannot go back.
There's quite a few threads here about USA devices working in Europe, for the most part the phone will work but sometimes people have issues with 4G or LTE due to the radio band differences in the USA and Europe (regional difference).
So flash official firmware (stick with nougat 7.0 if you want for now) and see how the phone works, then basically go from there.

Thank you very much, for the answer!
cooltt said:
Nightmare! Anyway if it's a T Mobile snapdragon (it definitely looks like it) you'll need to install T Mobile firmware from Sammobile of use SamFirm Tool. Flash with Odin obviously and make sure OEM is unlocked. .
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Click to collapse
Why do I exactly need the T-firmware? I can disable OEM lock on the F-firmware and I can factory restore without issues. Afaik I still don't get updates, if I'm not in the US with the T-firmware. The problem I have is bad connection and no security updates. If I read correctly in other threads there might be no way to fix the connection problems. I think people flash the U-firmware over 930T and 930A. I'm not sure which one would be best.
**This is important** so pay attention. Your boot loader version is an old one (U4) which is good because it means there's more you can do with it and the phone should be fairly easy to root. If you just type "G930T" into Sammobile firmware search you'll see there are lots of firmware updates after the one installed on your device. Once you upgrade a boot loader you cannot go back.
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Click to collapse
Is there any danger this happens automatically if I flash another ROM?
There's quite a few threads here about USA devices working in Europe, for the most part the phone will work but sometimes people have issues with 4G or LTE due to the radio band differences in the USA and Europe (regional difference).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I kinda need band 20 here for 4G to work without problems.
Edit: According to Frequencycheck there shouldn't even be a incompatibility (in theory).

I was able to flash the G930U firmware and bootloader (v4)* and OTA updates are working. Reception is still very flaky. Sometimes I get full bars, mostly it's at 1 bar. According to several websites the frequencies and bands are fully compatible to my country and provider. Strange. (My older phones all worked better.)
So now I wonder if there really is any reason to stay on v4 bootloader. Since this is the Snapdragon version I can't install Lineage and root seems to work even in the latest bootloader according to this thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-s7-edge/how-to/root-s7-s7edge-oreo-nougat-t3819616.
*Howto: https://forum.xda-developers.com/at...to-install-g930u-firmware-sm-g930a-t-t3609300

solisar said:
I was able to flash the G930U firmware and bootloader (v4)* and OTA updates are working. Reception is still very flaky. Sometimes I get full bars, mostly it's at 1 bar. According to several websites the frequencies and bands are fully compatible to my country and provider. Strange. (My older phones all worked better.)
So now I wonder if there really is any reason to stay on v4 bootloader. Since this is the Snapdragon version I can't install Lineage and root seems to work even in the latest bootloader according to this thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-s7-edge/how-to/root-s7-s7edge-oreo-nougat-t3819616.
*Howto: https://forum.xda-developers.com/at...to-install-g930u-firmware-sm-g930a-t-t3609300
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Click to collapse
OK good T or U is good on that device.
Changing the bootloader won't make any difference to the reception, the phone is built to work in a different region its as simple as that. It will never be 100% functional in another region as the bands are hardware and firmware specific. As you've found out the firmware is the easy part but you'll need to change the motherboard to resolve the incompatible hardware issue, it's simply not worth it.
Also, all these other threads saying it is possible to get it 100% working are talking rubbish. If it were that easy everyone would be buying Sammys from South Korea where they cost peanuts and then just flash your region firmware. There are commercial reasons (like all smart phones) the same device is built for different regional markets.
Its so annoying that people post such crap on these forums, very difficult for newbies to follow advice.

cooltt said:
OK good T or U is good on that device.
Changing the bootloader won't make any difference to the reception, the phone is built to work in a different region its as simple as that. It will never be 100% functional in another region as the bands are hardware and firmware specific. As you've found out the firmware is the easy part but you'll need to change the motherboard to resolve the incompatible hardware issue, it's simply not worth it.
Also, all these other threads saying it is possible to get it 100% working are talking rubbish. If it were that easy everyone would be buying Sammys from South Korea where they cost peanuts and then just flash your region firmware. There are commercial reasons (like all smart phones) the same device is built for different regional markets.
Its so annoying that people post such crap on these forums, very difficult for newbies to follow advice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feared as much. At least I got my money back now except shipping fees. I can still use it as a mobile computer for browsing and some applications. For a useful phone and navigation device I'll have to buy another one.

Can I root my Samsung S7 and gert rid of "all things ATT"..?

So, I'll apologize if this has already been dealt with previously, but I just need to verify what I've been told by a friend who knows Android systems (and Samsung S7 phones) a LOT more than I will ever attempt to understand..
About a year ago, I bought a Samsung Galaxy S7 from a 'rebuilder' (my term) who mentioned at the time "... it was ATT phone..", and, yes, when I turn it on it does the ATT circle jerk logo and has an ATT logo on the back of the phone. This was of no real concern to me, because my service purveyor uses the ATT system (Consumer Cellular), so it's worked well enough. But unfortunately, it also has a boatload of 'semi-proprietary' ATT trash in the phone which I'd like to get rid of. To confuse the matter even more, it appears that I cannot 'unlock' the phone because it has not been associated with an actual active ATT account for close to two years, and it APPEARS that now they refuse to accommodate an unlock code for this phone.
So... according to my friend (Mr. Android Phone), I can 'root' this phone to 'factory original firmware' and make it (in essence) just a plain-old-vanilla Samsung S7 without this rather bogus ATT firmware and the myriad of craplets I'd like to get rid of..
So, I'm here looking for "expertise" in such things because I certainly don't want to 'brick' this pretty nice phone, but I also want to get this to a point where there is no association with ATT in any manner. So my question sorta comes down to: "can I root this and be rid of all things ATT?", and "will this allow me to achieve an 'unlock' without having to play ATT's games? (I had QUITE the discussion with an ATT 'support' dude a couple of hours ago when he flatly refused to give me an unlock code so I could simply ATTEMPT to see if Consumer Cellular's T-Mobile service might work better at my home, since CC tells me I'm right in the center of a brand new rebuilt 4G service area).
Does any of this make any sense to anyone? Pardon my ignorance, but if the IMEI # is somehow 'tethered' to ATT and they won't "release" it, how does rooting help with this? - or is this something more like an 'association' of the IMEI # AND the ATT firmware...? GAH!! I'd just like to be totally rid of all this ATT junk and have the freedom to choose whichever service I want.

CentennialMan said:
So, I'll apologize if this has already been dealt with previously, but I just need to verify what I've been told by a friend who knows Android systems (and Samsung S7 phones) a LOT more than I will ever attempt to understand..
I'd just like to be totally rid of all this ATT junk and have the freedom to choose whichever service I want.
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Hi There that's a lot of words partner! I'll try make the answer easy to understand and I've cut out much of the post so my reply isn't huge.
1. Yes you can install vanilla firmware which will remove all branding from AT&T and you don't need to root the phone to do this. here is the firmware for your device >>here<< You can also use XAS or XAA. You will see the guide and the Odin you need to flash this firmware.
2. This is another version of Odin on this website if you have any issues with the one on Sammobile. >>here<<
3. Unfortunately you cannot unlock the phone unless the original cell phone provider gives you their half of the unlock key as a code to input to the phone. In the UK once a phone is out of the initial contract period it is illegal for the provider to refuse to give you this code whether your still with them or not. I know in the USA you guys gets ****ed over. The original account holder of the phone can ask for the unlock code but not you.
4. Changing the firmware and unlocking the phone to any network are two different things, flashing unbranded firmware will not unlock the phone the network is tied to. They don't make it that easy!
5. As far as i know T Mobile (USA) has also moved to G930U firmware so you could be lucky with a T Mobile SIM working once the phone is flashed with this firmware but don't hold your breath. Check Sammobile for the T Mobile firmware too.
6. IMEI number is tied to the phone so in theory it can be changed after the phone is rooted and you are able to modify the EFS partition but it is extremely difficult even for veterans like me and it causes lots of problems with cell network registration. Leave well alone if you don't want a completely useless device.
Things to make flashing go easier
1. Turn off FRP lock or sign out of the Google account on the phone or delete it before you do anything, you can put that account back on the phone after flashing.
2. If you enable Developer options make sure " usb debugging" is enabled and OEM unlock, not essential but can help when things go wrong.
3. Anything you want to keep, pics media etc back up or move to SD card, the SD card won't be touched when flashing firmware.
4. Please follow the guides on how to flash correctly.
Any other questions please ask.

It should be noted that if it's an ATT phone it's Snapdragon therefore permanently bootloader locked, OEM Unlock won't actually do anything, that setting only works on Exynos.
The only root method for Snapdragon is to use a leaked engineering bootloader to gain system access, and you can only install the leaked bootloader if your phone is already running old firmware. For up to date phones there is no root method.

Beanvee7 said:
It should be noted that if it's an ATT phone it's Snapdragon therefore permanently bootloader locked, OEM Unlock won't actually do anything, that setting only works on Exynos.
The only root method for Snapdragon is to use a leaked engineering bootloader to gain system access, and you can only install the leaked bootloader if your phone is already running old firmware. For up to date phones there is no root method.
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Click to collapse
Hello mate i'm not sure if your aware but AT&T were initially Qual comm but they've also been using Exynos for a while.

cooltt said:
Hello mate i'm not sure if your aware but AT&T were initially Qual comm but they've also been using Exynos for a while.
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Click to collapse
Source?

Beanvee7 said:
Source?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't be smart you know how to use Google?

I did google it, I wouldn't have asked for a source if I found something. But it doesn't matter, you're the one making unsubstantiated claims, the burden is on you to prove it. But since you asked for it:
AT&T's website says Snapdragon
https://i.imgur.com/TdV62Mq.jpg
https://www.att.com/buy/phones/samsung-galaxy-s7-32gb-black-onyx.html
GSM Arena says Snapdragon
https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s7_(usa)-7960.php
Wikipedia says Snapdragon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S7#Qualcomm_Snapdragon_820_Models
There isn't a single page when googling AT&T S7 Exynos that backs your claim up. The USA also uses completely different network technology than internationally, using the S7 Exynos in the USA is already known to cause issues with LTE, VoWiFi etc. They'd have to do a hardware refresh of the Exynos SoC if they wanted to support it in the USA, which they ain't going to do a for a 3 gen old phone.

Beanvee7 said:
I did google it, I wouldn't have asked for a source if I found something. But it doesn't matter, you're the one making unsubstantiated claims, the burden is on you to prove it. But since you asked for it:
AT&T's website says Snapdragon
https://i.imgur.com/TdV62Mq.jpg
https://www.att.com/buy/phones/samsung-galaxy-s7-32gb-black-onyx.html
GSM Arena says Snapdragon
https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s7_(usa)-7960.php
Wikipedia says Snapdragon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S7#Qualcomm_Snapdragon_820_Models
There isn't a single page when googling AT&T S7 Exynos that backs your claim up. The USA also uses completely different network technology than internationally, using the S7 Exynos in the USA is already known to cause issues with LTE, VoWiFi etc. They'd have to do a hardware refresh of the Exynos SoC if they wanted to support it in the USA, which they ain't going to do a for a 3 gen old phone.
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Click to collapse
lol ok.

Help understanding the S7 that I am holding

I purchased an S7 from a friend of a friend that was 'Google Locked' for $10 figuring that I could get the lock off pretty easy and that it was worth the price. This S7 was of the AT&T variant. I tried to use the Combination File to get the lock of the phone and I bricked it. I guess its considered a brick, it had the SBL Error that I have read about in the forum. It looks like some users have been able to recover from it but I couldn't. I purchased 2 EDL cables from online and no luck. At this point, I feel like I was in way too far to give up. I am pretty good with phones and computers and I always accept a challenge. The next thing that I did was purchased a new motherboard for the phone from ebay. i paid $15 and it was guaranteed to have a clean IMEI or my money back. Now its installed, the phone is running, with my Google account. The phone has T-Mobile bloatware on it. In about device, the model is SM-G930T. When I lookup the IMEI it says its an SM-G930F. What happend?

As far as I understand it, the G930T is a US snapdragon based model, whilst the G930F is the international model based on the exynos chip.
I think this means that either:
the motherboard you have is actually a G930F board, and it's had G930T firmware flashed to it. I'm not sure if it's actually possible to do that and have a working phone, as they're essentially different devices.
or it's a G930T motherboard, which had a blocked IMEI number, and has had the IMEI overwritten with a clean one taken from a dead G930F board.

I used the Samsung Info app and it said that it's a Snapdragon. I'm curious though because on one hand, I might have a rootable device. On the other hand, I am scared to start flashing random stuff because this whole situation started because I tried to downgrade the firmware and got a brick.

I think it's likely that it is the snapdragon version if the info app says that. what does cpu-z say about it?
another thing you could do is go to imei.info and enter the IMEI number. once it's checked the IMEI and given you the basic info, select CHECK SN / WARRANTY / CARRIER.
that might take a little while, but it is free. have a look at the serial number that comes up. if the serial number associated with that IMEI number is different from the one reported in the about section of your settings menu, then it has had the IMEI number modified.
you can also see info like what country it was intended to be sold in, and what network it was locked to. if these are anything other than US T mobile, then that's pretty strong evidence that it's been given the IMEI of another device.
in which case you can probably go ahead and treat it like it's what it says it is, a snapdragon model.

Making this Galaxy S7 useful

I have a teenage son who has taken initiative to figure out how to replace a motherboard in what was his sister's broken Galaxy S7 (model: SM-G930U). All seemed to work successfully until he tried to activate the phone on the network our family uses (US Mobile). The company rep said that the phone is not voLTE compatible and cannot be used. The rep also said that the phone appeared to be an AT&T phone, which must be due to the motherboard my son installed into the phone because I have always tried to buy phones for my kids that will work universally across all networks. Researching a bit, I'm seeing that many Galaxy S7s are voLTE compatible (even my wife's older phone--an S5--is voLTE compatible). It seems strange to me that this phone is not voLTE compatible and now appears to be quite useless to connect to a carrier. My guess is that this must be a software/firmware configuration issue, and I would like to help my son be successful in his endeavor to have a working phone.
Can anyone guide us through the process of making this phone voLTE compatible? Some high-level background information about how cell phones are structured and what might be causing this problem (hardware vs. software/firmware) might also be useful to help us get the technological lay of the land. I have a lot of desktop/laptop tech knowledge from back in the day (e.g., CompTIA A+/Network +; MCSE; Novell CNE), but not so much when it comes to cell phones (so analogies might be helpful). I have installed Phone Info and can provide other information as requested.

Hey, my first guess would be, that the csc file flashed on this mainboard does not match your country or region or carrier. Download an official firmware with the carrier-free csc variant from your country and clean flash it with ODIN (aswell as every other partition) this will wipe your phones data so be caucious!

Setings>About Phone as well as Phone INFO say that the model # is "SM-G930U". However, when I enter the IMEI number at IMEI.info, it tells me that the model number is "G930F Galaxy S7 (SM-G930A)". So, what model number should I use when searching for the correct firmware to download? Before my son replaced the motherboard, I'm sure the model of the phone was SM-G930U.

Try running this
Update/Flash/Unbrick your device via Odin
Hello everyone! I made a tutorial regarding flashing the latest update when not available in your region: Video tutorial: Steps: 1. Download and extract both Frija and Odin. 2. Launch Frija. 3. Check the "Auto" button. Write your device's...
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