[Q] Do I need to unlock to use BTU firmware? - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I recently purchased a Galaxy S4 i9505 on EE from Carphone Warehouse, and flashed the 5.0.1 BTU firmware. After I did that I then read I'd need to be carrier unlocked, but I tried calling and receiving calls and messages and using 4g and it worked fine. I also saw some posts about flashing modems. Anyway I'm really confused about what I need to do; should I try and unlock or not. Thanks everyone for your help.

The BTU firmware has no carrier branding, which means it has no carrier logos or bloatware included in it. Other than the lack of carrier doodads, it's the same firmware. You shouldn't need to flash a modem as you already have the latest, from when you installed the BTU ROM. However, the S4 would need to be unlocked for use on any carrier if your SIM isn't an EE SIM. But, you either have an EE SIM, in which case you don't need to worry about it, or the S4 was unlocked by the store that sold it, in which case you don't need to worry about it.
TL;DR: Don't touch the ROM. Don't worry too much about the SIM because you can make calls and use data. You don't need to flash a modem.

Related

network unlock or modem swap i337m on 5.0.1

Hey people, I have an issue going on here.
I was going to unlock, but decided to reflash firmware and change the csc from rogers over to bell.
Kies recognizes the phone now as being a 'bell' phone, and have done an update just to confirm it but it still will not accept a bell sim. Every time I have inserted a bell sim it requests the 4 digit unlock code. The sim works just fine in my S3 and another bell S4, so that is not the problem.
All settings in the phone also show it to be 'bell', home screen and all, so the csc did take.
All the modems/firmware on sammobile are multi-csc, as i have tried to just flash the modem alone after I extracted it.
I could care less about being truly carrier free, as I am locked into a bell agreement through work.
Any suggestions on this, or do i have to purchase a code? I assume its locked now so I cannot downgrade to my understanding to a lower modem to use the service menu to unlock.
Thanks for the input.
I've flashed from a Bell 4.4.2 to Telus 5.01 without issue and the phone will remain sim-locked. The only difference I have seen between the Bell, Telus, and Rogers ROM are the carrier apps included with each ROM.
The sim unlock code is 8 digits long.
You should be able to downgrade the i337m's 5.01 stock ROM to a i337m 4.4.2 stock ROM. Then install the 4.2.2 modem, root the phone, run region unlock app, re-flash stock 5.01, and the phone will be sim unlocked. Doing this will trip the knox counter to 1 and void any remaining warranty.
I tried to downgrade, but it didnt take. I will try again. I know there was a discussion on booting the phone and not signing into google then reflash again. Is this needed?
Thanks for the reply.
Well, I got it to work this time. Much appreciated
You tried to flash a stock 4.4.2 rom from sammobile.com? Were there errors in Odin?

S4 i9507 Flashing + CSC

So my S6 had an unfortunate trip in the lake, and I'm going to resort to my sisters old S4 (I owned one too, but I totalled it).
Mine was rooted and had GPE loaded on it.
My old model was an i9505 and noticed that my sisters is a i9507 which is a strange variant (assuming its 4G+).
Anyway, when she had it, the phone constantly overheated and would constantly reboot. We returned for repair many times, each time showing no signs of issue.
What I would like to know is;
Would i9505 roms suit this phone? Or would I have to make do with stock.
And secondly, I am with telstra and the S4 is with virgin (OPS). Is it as simple as flashing a i9507 ROM from telsra on it, or do I have to do something else? This is for the CSC of course.
Is the phone sim unlocked? I recommend sim unlocking the phone before flashing any ROMs, especially custom ROMs as the unlock code needs to be entered using a stock Samsung dialler.
CSC doesn't really matter if the phone is sim unlocked.
Stock firmware is here: http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/database/GT-I9507/
audit13 said:
Is the phone sim unlocked? I recommend sim unlocking the phone before flashing any ROMs, especially custom ROMs as the unlock code needs to be entered using a stock Samsung dialler.
CSC doesn't really matter if the phone is sim unlocked.
Stock firmware is here: http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/database/GT-I9507/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm stock firmware is only 5.0.1 and not for the carrier that I want. It's been so long since I've modded (since I've had stock S6 since I bought it). Can I change the CSC on that rom, or would it be locked to Optus.
Anyway I've put in my Telstra sim and it seems to work for the moment, picking up the telstra network and changing the APN's to telstras (maybe there is a CSC in the phone for TEL too?).
Just would like to know now if I'm able to use a GEL or AOSP rom for the i9505.
Thanks for the response.
The firmware should not matter. The CSC files are a customization of app for a particular carrier. There are 3 carriers in Canada (Rogers, Bell, Telus) for the s4 and I can cross-flash the firmware with no problems. I would be surprised if the phone can't work with Telstra if it is unlocked.
According to these specs, the 9507 uses a snapdragon 600 chip which is the chip used in the i337m and 9505: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9507_galaxy_s4_with_s600_spotted_in_glbench-news-6571.php

AT&T Branded Note 4 (Unlocked) on T-Mobile -- firmware flash?

I recently activated my SM-N910A on my new T-Mobile account. The phone was out of contract, so I asked AT&T to unlock it, and they did. The phone is working properly with my T-Mobile SIM card, albeit on the AT&T firmware.
Is it possible to replace the AT&T firmware with a stock Samsung Firmware, or, at the very least, with the T-Mobile branded firmware (for SM-N910T)? I understand that the bootloader is locked on these AT&T devices. Is it possible to unlock the bootloader and load a different firmware onto the device?
AT&T firmware has SO much bloatware, and I've not had any luck finding a way to root the phone on this firmware, so I'm stuck with all that bloat. What are my options here? Thanks!
EDIT: The phone was updated OTA to Marshmallow (6.0.1) when it was on the AT&T network. Build number is MMB29M.N910AUCS2EPH7

Switched carrier, wanting to switch to their firmware also.

I have a Verizon branded note 3 that I am now using on Tmobile. It works fine but it still has verizons firmware and I want to get rid of it... so either Tmobiles firmware or an unbranded one. Ideally an unbranded one.
Please direct me to the correct thread with directions. I am a noob and I don't know exactly what I am doing.
Regardless of whether the bootloader is or is not locked, you cannot flash stock Tmobile firmware on the Verizon phone.
If the bootloader is unlocked, you may be able to flash a custom rom based on the stock T-Mobile firmware.
There is no unbranded firmware for the Verizon note 3 as that model is exlusive to Verizon.
Verizon forum .
https://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-galaxy-note-3

Obtaining ATT Specific Functions On An Unlocked Phone

Hey Everybody,
So I've come to realize that my unlocked US S10+ on AT&T didn't have VOLTE or Wifi calling as options in the communication/call settings menus. this is pretty disappointing as it seems that using the unlocked phone with Verizon you get these features, and they make a decent impact on my use of the phone.
My understanding is if I flash the ATT firmware to the phone I would get the functions, so being an amateur I followed some simple guides to SamFirm AND ODIN, and downloaded the ATT CSC firmware for my model number. However after going through the Odin process and resetting my phone it is still showing the same Software information as prior to my installation, and I do not have the features.
I saw a thread on the board stating that the ATT firmware isn't available yet, so I'm not sure if what I downloaded was actually any different than what is on my phone,and my phones "Service Provider Software Version" did already have ATT in the description, which is a bit confusing to me.
Am I correct in understanding the only way to get the features would be through a firmware flash? And would anyone know if I had flashed the right firmware, and what the original firmware CSC would be for my model if I needed to revert?
My information is:
Model Number:
SM-G975U1 (S10+ ceramic white 512GB - Unlocked US)
Service Provider SW ver.:
SOAMC_SM-G975U1_OYM_ATT_PP_0018
R38M205LY2B
ATT/ATT/XAA
Firmware file obtained from SamFirm:
SM-G975U1_1_20190225093814_9wyh9qbuyg_fac
AP file name for reference:
AP_G975U1UEU1ASBA_CL15445662_QB22243196_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT_meta_OS9.tar
If it's anything like the S9 was, you can't just ODIN the firmware/CSC. You'll just get the bloat with none of the features you want.
Goronok said:
If it's anything like the S9 was, you can't just ODIN the firmware/CSC. You'll just get the bloat with none of the features you want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard this as well. If you want those features on a Samsung phone, it has to be at&t branded. I ordered an at&t phone from Samsung since I make good use of wifi calling. It works fine on my unlocked P3XL but no dice on the Samsungs.
I have the same phone and service and when I went to update my imei they told me it could not find the phone. So I was without lte/4g for a day until I gave them a imei to a s8 active. Now I have data at least
Darthshadow666 said:
Hey Everybody,
So I've come to realize that my unlocked US S10+ on AT&T didn't have VOLTE or Wifi calling as options in the communication/call settings menus. this is pretty disappointing as it seems that using the unlocked phone with Verizon you get these features, and they make a decent impact on my use of the phone.
My understanding is if I flash the ATT firmware to the phone I would get the functions, so being an amateur I followed some simple guides to SamFirm AND ODIN, and downloaded the ATT CSC firmware for my model number. However after going through the Odin process and resetting my phone it is still showing the same Software information as prior to my installation, and I do not have the features.
I saw a thread on the board stating that the ATT firmware isn't available yet, so I'm not sure if what I downloaded was actually any different than what is on my phone,and my phones "Service Provider Software Version" did already have ATT in the description, which is a bit confusing to me.
Am I correct in understanding the only way to get the features would be through a firmware flash? And would anyone know if I had flashed the right firmware, and what the original firmware CSC would be for my model if I needed to revert?
My information is:
Model Number:
SM-G975U1 (S10+ ceramic white 512GB - Unlocked US)
Service Provider SW ver.:
SOAMC_SM-G975U1_OYM_ATT_PP_0018
R38M205LY2B
ATT/ATT/XAA
Firmware file obtained from SamFirm:
SM-G975U1_1_20190225093814_9wyh9qbuyg_fac
AP file name for reference:
AP_G975U1UEU1ASBA_CL15445662_QB22243196_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT_meta_OS9.tar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Service Provider SW ver.:
SOAMC_SM-G975U1_OYM_ATT_PP_0018
R38M205LY2B
ATT/ATT/XAA
So I have the same service provider software, on my unlocked s10+, however when I went into an ATT store and looked at a branded S10+
I noticed the service provider software version to be : SOAMC_SM-G975U1_OYM_ATT_PP_0033( thirty three at end),
so anyway to update the service provider version? does that come from the SIM ??
I have an unlocked S10 plus and I flashed the AT&T Firmware. I now have VoLTE and WiFi calling unlocked on my phone using AT&T. You need to make sure you flash the U version of the firmware, not the U1 one. Unlocked S10 is using the U1 firmware already so flashing that one again changes nothing.
beethoven1854 said:
I have an unlocked S10 plus and I flashed the AT&T Firmware. I now have VoLTE and WiFi calling unlocked on my phone using AT&T. You need to make sure you flash the U version of the firmware, not the U1 one. Unlocked S10 is using the U1 firmware already so flashing that one again changes nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you get the att firmware?
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
I kinda doubt it but did any of you with unlocked phones that flashed the AT&T firmware get any better service? I've been considering it to get VOLTE but just wondered
jamgam said:
I kinda doubt it but did any of you with unlocked phones that flashed the AT&T firmware get any better service? I've been considering it to get VOLTE but just wondered
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I followed this thread https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s10/how-to/att-ota-ota-updates-t3909697
At first like you I downloaded the wrong version and nothing changed. I finally flashed G975USQU1ASBA and now have VOLTE/WIFI Calling and of course all of the bloat. But at least those two functions are working. Make sure that you complete a clean flash when I did a dirty flash I had problems sticking on the loading screen.
I believe you just need to call in ATT to take care those carrier specific features .
Which firmware can I flash with Odin to my S10+ Xfinity Mobile unlocked to get AT&T OTA updates? Currently have ASF7 flashed from the latest unknown firmware uploaded to Sammobile. I flashed w/o USERDATA. I just want to be able to get future OTA updates as I just switched my carrier from Metro by T-Mobile to AT&T. I was using U1 US unlocked firmwares on my Note9 & S10+ but want to use carrier perks now with AT&T.
What's with AT&T being the only ones to not release update files? You would think they all would be required to release them. More AT&T customers need kick up a fuss about it.

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