How can I update my S20 FE 5G on mobile data only? - Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Questions & Answers

Hi everyone,
Finally got my brand new S20 FE 5G (SM-G781U single-SIM is what it says on the box) from Rakuten (a 6/128 for a little under 350 euros, for those who are interested), and it came with Android 11. It's now in the process of installing all the security updates, but I can't for the life of me find out how to update/upgrade on mobile data only.
Sure, I can do it over WiFi, but sometimes it's more convenient to do it over mobile data, especially considering that I'm not always home and that I have a generous data allowance on this SIM.
I've looked everywhere, I think, but I couldn't find how to do that. Help please?

mobile networks timeout more frequently and an update can be massive. I wouldn't even consider it but if I did the chance of tiny bits worth of data corruption would be higher.
the store you mentioned sounds kinda Scandinavian and you paid in euros but the model number you've given is American.
you're the 2nd person I've seen say that they bought a U model. you should confirm what you have.

3mel said:
mobile networks timeout more frequently and an update can be massive. I wouldn't even consider it but if I did the chance of tiny bits worth of data corruption would be higher.
the store you mentioned sounds kinda Scandinavian and you paid in euros but the model number you've given is American.
you're the 2nd person I've seen say that they bought a U model. you should confirm what you have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, and thanks for taking the time!
It is indeed a US model I bought online from Rakuten. It works flawlessly on all the French bands (I live in France) and I'm very happy with it so far.
Before that, I've had three Xiaomis (well, technically, two of them were in fact Pocos) and I always used mobile data to update or upgrade them; never failed me, so I would really like to be able to do that with my Sammy.
As for Rakuten, it's Japanese, and they've been an online vendor for like forever.

UglyStuff said:
Hi, and thanks for taking the time!
It is indeed a US model I bought online from Rakuten. It works flawlessly on all the French bands (I live in France) and I'm very happy with it so far.
Before that, I've had three Xiaomis (well, technically, two of them were in fact Pocos) and I always used mobile data to update or upgrade them; never failed me, so I would really like to be able to do that with my Sammy.
As for Rakuten, it's Japanese, and they've been an online vendor for like forever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the chances of being able to update a phone intended for use in America are low and that's via wifi. once you add a non American sim card and cellular data into the equation I put your chances squarely at zero.
you can update it manually, downloading and then flashing the firmware yourself via Odin. it's extremely easy once you know what you're doing and you can even keep all your user data intact if you wish.
in settings > about phone > software info... near the bottom you'll find 'service provider software version' and you should see a combo of 3 letters that gets repeated 3 times.
I'm assuming it should say XAA 3 times there but whatever it does say is your CSC code. memorise that code as you'll need it to download the correct firmware. there are various sites and PC apps to download firmware from. if wanna know more I'll try to point you in the right direction.

Related

Using American Nexus One in Germany

Hello,
I live on a US Military base in Germany, and know that the only carrier of the Nexus One here is Vodafone, and without a contract it costs €489,99, which is like $610, a lot more than the $529 you pay in America. But since I can get free/cheaper shipping to my APO address, I am wondering if I can buy a $529 Nexus One from a carrier in America like AT&T and just use my own sim card in it. Thanks.
Stevv said:
Hello,
I live on a US Military base in Germany, and know that the only carrier of the Nexus One here is Vodafone, and without a contract it costs €489,99, which is like $610, a lot more than the $529 you pay in America. But since I can get free/cheaper shipping to my APO address, I am wondering if I can buy a $529 Nexus One from a carrier in America like AT&T and just use my own sim card in it. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The $529 Nexus One you get in the US would come directly from Google, not from a carrier. Both variants of the phone will get you 3G on all carriers in Germany and most in the majority of Europe since they both have UMTS 2100. If you have any preference for which carrier to use it on when you're back in the US, you could make a decision based on that.
cmstlist said:
The $529 Nexus One you get in the US would come directly from Google, not from a carrier. Both variants of the phone will get you 3G on all carriers in Germany and most in the majority of Europe since they both have UMTS 2100. If you have any preference for which carrier to use it on when you're back in the US, you could make a decision based on that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tl; dr; -> Yes.
so, basically, yes, I can get the $529 one from Google and use it in Europe, using the SIM card I already have?
Correct. It's better to do that as you don't have to wait for Voda to **** about with the firmware.
Stevv said:
so, basically, yes, I can get the $529 one from Google and use it in Europe, using the SIM card I already have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and as cmstlist said, the decision of T-Mo vs ATnT would mainly depend on your preference of carrier back in the US, if at all.
Rusty! said:
Correct. It's better to do that as you don't have to wait for Voda to **** about with the firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AFAIK, Voda does not "**** about" with firmwares. Google rolls updates. Google has voluntarily decided to delay the European updates, to customise the stuff I guess.
rohandhruva said:
AFAIK, Voda does not "**** about" with firmwares. Google rolls updates. Google has voluntarily decided to delay the European updates, to customise the stuff I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well. Vodafone wants to charge for tethering, so I guess they need some "add ons".
I thought the whole point of Nexus One was to make updates carrier-independent. Even now, the N1 sold by Vodafone is not branded anywhere right?
Well maybe it's not Voda dicking about, but for no apparent reason, someone somewhere is.
My US TMo handset needed exactly nothing doing to it to run refectly on Vodafone UK, yet apparently 2.2 (which of course runs fine) needs changes to work. Hmmmm.
Rusty! said:
Well maybe it's not Voda dicking about, but for no apparent reason, someone somewhere is.
My US TMo handset needed exactly nothing doing to it to run refectly on Vodafone UK, yet apparently 2.2 (which of course runs fine) needs changes to work. Hmmmm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no "need" for changes, emergency calls and APNs are the official reason. But that's a load since everything works fine on Kang-o-rama for me.
Translated source on heise.de
My handset originally came with EPF21B. The changes are not in the way the phone or the hardware works, they are cosmetic changes which are Europe-specific. For example the spellings, the date format etc. Customising those is probably what's causing the delay.
T-MO USA version has the frequencies you are looking for to use it in Europe.
Well mine has the correct UK spellings, correct date and time format. Probably something to do with setting the language to English (UK) more than any customistion being done.
rohandhruva said:
My handset originally came with EPF21B. The changes are not in the way the phone or the hardware works, they are cosmetic changes which are Europe-specific. For example the spellings, the date format etc. Customising those is probably what's causing the delay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's not. It's about adding an accounting technique for the sharing of mobile internet. The locale didn't change and things like voice search or turn by turn navigation are added in application updates.
There's no reason to delay the OTA other than adding provider crap ware.
N1 in Europe
I'm in the Navy stationed in Greece and I bought my N1 in Jan. before moving here. I use a local sim with a 3G data plan and have no issues. The only thing is You won't be able to purchase apps unless you have an American sim. It's annoying to have to switch sims to update paid apps but that is the only problem I ran into. If you bought one on a plan from T Mobile the you'll be responsible for that bill. I would go the unlocked route or see if there are any for sale used.
You can use MarketAccess to install/update the protected apps without changing sims - http://amip.tools-for.net/wiki/android/marketaccess
glwinkler said:
I'm in the Navy stationed in Greece and I bought my N1 in Jan. before moving here. I use a local sim with a 3G data plan and have no issues. The only thing is You won't be able to purchase apps unless you have an American sim. It's annoying to have to switch sims to update paid apps but that is the only problem I ran into. If you bought one on a plan from T Mobile the you'll be responsible for that bill. I would go the unlocked route or see if there are any for sale used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, do you have to pay a lot for internet access while you are buying apps using your American sim?
Or can you not use Wi-fi to download apps?
Yes, you can use WiFi but afaik you still need that US SIM card inserted.
Also, check your PM

[Q] Stock, unbranded, UK firmware

I have a I9305 purchased from Hong Kong which came loaded with HK firmware, whilst it would have worked, for various reasons I want to install UK firmware, specifically official/stock versions. (I have run custom ROMs on other handsets in the past, just going to stay official for a while with this one)
I don't want any carrier-specific stuff on there, nor so I want to be held back (in the future) waiting for carrier-specific upgrades etc.
I have a few, hopefully yes/no questions:
1. I've search and as far as I tell you there is no unbranded, UK, stock firmware available, is that correct? (guess this is because nobody's selling it unbranded in the UK yet)
2. Is the best thing to do to monitor sammobile and samsung-updates until I see what I want?
3. When I finally do get my hands on the firmware I'll flash it with Odin - will I automatically get subsequent updates via Kies/OTA?
I'm current running I9305XXALK3 for region DNF...which I thought might be international/country-agnostic but since the default language it offered me on first boot was Suomi I guess it's actually for Finland!
The phone works fine, but it's only Android 4.1.1 and obviously I'd like to get on 4.1.2, I suppose another country (e.g. Germany) but unbranded is ok...but not perfect
Apologies for the long, first, post, hope it's not too annoying...I'm just excited about retiring my Hero and enjoying this new beast!
1 Yes , here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1942150
2 Why wait
3 You will with the above
Enjoy your new beast
Raistlin1158 said:
1 Yes , here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1942150
2 Why wait
3 You will with the above
Enjoy your new beast
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response...but those are all EE branded, will that:
1. mean I have to wait for EE to approve future updates? (I'm thinking once we have unbranded/unlocked handsets in the UK they will receive upgrades first)
2. have any effect on the network e.g. performance, connectivity etc.? (I'm currently on 3, not EE/Orange)
Thanks for any additional info
No and there is no EE branding or bloatware just pure stock.
Raistlin1158 said:
No and there is no EE branding or bloatware just pure stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously!? - OK, that's great news - thank you for your help
hmmmmm...
OK, I've installed the latest i.e.
PDA: XXBMA6
PHONE: XXBLL5
CSC: EVRBLL1
A couple of observations:
1. As others have noted, the mobile network modes are limited to just 2 (2G/3G/4G auto connect & 3G only) whereas the previous firmware I was using had 4.
2. With the previous firmware it seemed to hold an H+ connection much better, with this firmware it seems to drop back to 3G+ most of the time.
Any thoughts? It would seem that this firmware, despite being official, is more limited than some others.
I'm not overly concerned with #1 (although does 3G only really mean just 3G or will it also use GPRS if that's all it can find?) but #2 (and I realise I haven't done any structured testing!) does worry me - I want the fastest speeds I can get as often as I can!
My gut feeling is that EE's firmware might not be optimal for those who want to operate on non-4G networks. (what does the Vodafone or O2 firmware have?)
Does anyone know for sure what's different and why?
Over active imagination?
Have flashed 3 different firmwares today
big-nose said:
1. As others have noted, the mobile network modes are limited to just 2 (2G/3G/4G auto connect & 3G only) whereas the previous firmware I was using had 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^ this is true...but doesn't really bother me.
big-nose said:
2. With the previous firmware it seemed to hold an H+ connection much better, with this firmware it seems to drop back to 3G+ most of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^this I think is a mistake on my part, I've played around a bit more and it looks like (but could be my imagination of course!) that the phone jumps up to H+ on demand e.g. refreshing a web page causes it to switch up from 3G+ to H+ once the page is loaded it reverts to 3G+.
Am I going nuts?
big-nose said:
Have flashed 3 different firmwares today
^ this is true...but doesn't really bother me.
^this I think is a mistake on my part, I've played around a bit more and it looks like (but could be my imagination of course!) that the phone jumps up to H+ on demand e.g. refreshing a web page causes it to switch up from 3G+ to H+ once the page is loaded it reverts to 3G+.
Am I going nuts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you are seeing is called fast dormancy. Its kind of a battery saving feature hence why H+ is not always on. Most networks support this nowadays.
Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 2
lyriquidperfection said:
What you are seeing is called fast dormancy. Its kind of a battery saving feature hence why H+ is not always on. Most networks support this nowadays.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, ok, that makes sense, did wonder whether it backed-off to save power
Thanks for the education
@big-nose.
Can I ask, did you get the phone from Simply Electronics? Im currently waiting on mine arriving and since I ordered it have found out that their main warehouse is in HK, so I think I will be getting the same phone as you.
Im on Orange just now and when my contract is up will switch over to EE for the 4G, so will probably just flash the EE Firmware whenever the phone arrives.
Cheers
johnnyblaze1977 said:
@big-nose.
Can I ask, did you get the phone from Simply Electronics? Im currently waiting on mine arriving and since I ordered it have found out that their main warehouse is in HK, so I think I will be getting the same phone as you.
Im on Orange just now and when my contract is up will switch over to EE for the 4G, so will probably just flash the EE Firmware whenever the phone arrives.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got mine for simply electronics and its called Dual carrier having the HK rom, which by the way it is still the 4.1.1
Sent from my GT-I9305 using xda app-developers app
johnnyblaze1977 said:
@big-nose.
Can I ask, did you get the phone from Simply Electronics? Im currently waiting on mine arriving and since I ordered it have found out that their main warehouse is in HK, so I think I will be getting the same phone as you.
Im on Orange just now and when my contract is up will switch over to EE for the 4G, so will probably just flash the EE Firmware whenever the phone arrives.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got mine from Panamoz...but all the Hong Kong dealers probably obtain the phones via the same routes.
Have to say I'm impressed with Panamoz so far, ordered at 2130hrs on Sunday evening and delivered to me in the UK on Wednesday. The real test will be if I have to use the warranty...but obviously I'm hoping that day never comes anyway!
My only comments are:
1. Mine was packaged for the French market e.g. the mains charger is for French sockets, the instructions are in French etc. (Panamoz did put a free mains adaptor in the package to deal with the charger) Wonder if any other options besides French were available, would have been nice to know this up-front.
2. The initial screens were in Chinese and if you're not familiar with Android you might not know that the first thing it asks on initial boot is what language you want to work in...I think it'd be handy if Panamoz provided a piece of paper with brief instructions and a screenshot explaining how to switch the language, otherwise some people might panic!
Thanks for the feedback.
I have actually just cancelled my order. 2 Weeks after placing the order it still hadnt been dispatched, and I was wanting it for this weekend. I'll just pop down to the local Orange shop and buy it there, its only £50 dearer so i can handle that ok.
Still using my trusty S1 just now but looking forward to the upgrade.
Cheers

Latest firmware for 817V? WiFi model better for updates than LTE model?

I just purchased a used 817V and it has Marshmallow PE1 firmware on it with the May 2016 Security Update, is this the latest firmware for this tablet?
Also, I got it from Amazon Warehouse and it was supposed to be the 810 WiFi model but they shipped the Verizon LTE model. I'm an AT&T customer and wouldn't mind using this once in a while on LTE, will it work?
I expect Amazon will exchange it for the wifi model if I ask but I can't decide whether or not I got a deal or should exchange. Am I right to believe the WiFi version will be updated more often than the Verizon version? Thanks.
By any chance did you get this from Deal Road (they sell on Amazon)? They did a similar thing to me. I bought an 810 and they shipped me an 817V. They offered to exchange it for an 813 which is tempting, but I'm thinking that having the LTE might be nice when I'm on the road.
Yes the LTE does work. You have to install a SIM card of course, free to get but $10/month to use and the downloads go against whatever data plan you have. Test it yourself - turn off WiFI and turn on Mobile data. You'll still have internet access.
As for your question about frequency of updates, I don't know. I doubt there will be any significant function updates either way so I wouldn't make that criteria a basis for a decision.
thornev said:
By any chance did you get this from Deal Road (they sell on Amazon)? They did a similar thing to me. I bought an 810 and they shipped me an 817V. They offered to exchange it for an 813 which is tempting, but I'm thinking that having the LTE might be nice when I'm on the road.
Yes the LTE does work. You have to install a SIM card of course, free to get but $10/month to use and the downloads go against whatever data plan you have. Test it yourself - turn off WiFI and turn on Mobile data. You'll still have internet access.
As for your question about frequency of updates, I don't know. I doubt there will be any significant function updates either way so I wouldn't make that criteria a basis for a decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine was actually sold by Amazon Warehouse Deals and described as "Good Condition", to be fair it came in nearly flawless. I wish it was sold by Deal Road as I wouldn't have had to pay tax
All my experience with anything Verizon has been less than stellar with tons of bloat and sparse (if any) updates. The wifi version is tempting as it's unbranded and 'should' get updates directly from Samsung (right?). Reading online a bit shows that some units are getting updated with later security patches (and who know what other bug fixes). I always just like having the latest/great firmware available.
Thanks for the info on the LTE, I'll pop my sim card out of my phone, put it in the tablet and test it out. That may be reason alone to keep it, just to have the 'option'.
Is your firmware version PE1 also?
Yes, PE1. You can always get firmware at http://updato.com/firmware-archive-select-model
thornev said:
Yes, PE1. You can always get firmware at http://updato.com/firmware-archive-select-model
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is that I've never heard of Updato?? Thanks for the heads up, appreciated.

How do I get Android 10 on LG V40 ThinQ USA unlocked model (LM-V405QA)

Hello,
Apologies in advance if this is discussed already. I tried but couldn't find this specific question discussed.
I bought this USA unlocked, carrier-agnostic version of LG V40 ThinQ (LM-V405QA) from a reputed warehouse club in US. Has been working fine with AT&T since January 2020. I had to get it because previous Samsung phone would not get Android 9. But I had used it for 4 years.
Now I must have Android 10 for my company apps to work. AT&T tried but could not push Android 10 to my phone. Probably because their version of this phone is different by a letter or digit.
Am I at the mercy of LG and must wait until they release Android 10 to USA unlocked version?
Thanks
You are right, it has been discussed many many times already, and unfortunately, you are not going to find a specific question because people tend to use their own way of asking.
There is no easy and fast way, if you want to wait for LG to update it may take a long time or
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v40/how-to/sprint-crossflash-to-unlocked-pie-t3989149
I suggest you use the Verizon rom, that's the one that gets the fastest updates ...
There are, as mentioned, other options than waiting for LG (I do wish they would make that available soon). Another options besides vzw would be the Korean Open V409N (android 10), that's what I'm using, in the states. It does have a few more idiosyncrasies compared to say vzw, but it's an 'Open' version, thus not tied to any carrier, so only LG's bloatware.
I'm using the V409n myself now and the only thing I've not got to work is vowifi, but volte does work. Everything else seems to function normally. A major consideration when crossflashing is 'which rom supports the bands I need'? For at&t I think the vzw rom has all those bands, but if u want b71 for t-mo, then you'd need the us OP (a10 not out yet) OR, amazingly, the Korean v409n has b71.
keep in mind, crossflashing can lead to issues. I'd suggest backing up vital partitions **before** u do any crossflashing, just having the kdz **will not** restore it to factory.
cheers
AsItLies said:
There are, as mentioned, other options than waiting for LG (I do wish they would make that available soon). Another options besides vzw would be the Korean Open V409N (android 10), that's what I'm using, in the states. It does have a few more idiosyncrasies compared to say vzw, but it's an 'Open' version, thus not tied to any carrier, so only LG's bloatware.
I'm using the V409n myself now and the only thing I've not got to work is vowifi, but volte does work. Everything else seems to function normally. A major consideration when crossflashing is 'which rom supports the bands I need'? For at&t I think the vzw rom has all those bands, but if u want b71 for t-mo, then you'd need the us OP (a10 not out yet) OR, amazingly, the Korean v409n has b71.
keep in mind, crossflashing can lead to issues. I'd suggest backing up vital partitions **before** u do any crossflashing, just having the kdz **will not** restore it to factory.
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Question, you have an actual V409N or some other 405 crossflashed like one.
Asking cause I have a UA (Sprint) crossflashed to QA that I use on T-Mobile. Okay without VoWifi, need VoLTE. I saw this V409NO30d_00_OPEN_KR_OP_0716.kdz. Wondering if it will work well with T-Mo in the US on a V405. That jump from 5 to 9 makes me doubtful.
Omizuke said:
Question, you have an actual V409N or some other 405 crossflashed like one.
Asking cause I have a UA (Sprint) crossflashed to QA that I use on T-Mobile. Okay without VoWifi, need VoLTE. I saw this V409NO30d_00_OPEN_KR_OP_0716.kdz. Wondering if it will work well with T-Mo in the US on a V405. That jump from 5 to 9 makes me doubtful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine was (is) originally an UA at&t, not the korean. I'm in the states also, so no way I'd buy an oem Korean phone. The thing about volte and vowifi on t-mo, they allow it even with byo phones, but your sim (mvno types) have to be capable of it. I use Mint Mobile and had vowifi and volte - when I was using the US Open (QA) Pie rom. But I had to add (free) that feature (vowifi) on my mint mobile account.
Since you have qa, I would think volte would be working, what sim (t-mo) do u have? Not an mvno? As far as the korean rom goes, the 405 vs 409 isn't due to some incremental aspect, so there's no issue there. It's just an identifying Korea type number. But, I'd say if you don't have volte with QA Pie, then it's questionable you would get it working with korean rom.
do you know why volte isn't working for you now? Have you been given some 'official' explanation for that?
AsItLies said:
Mine was (is) originally an UA at&t, not the korean. I'm in the states also, so no way I'd buy an oem Korean phone. The thing about volte and vowifi on t-mo, they allow it even with byo phones, but your sim (mvno types) have to be capable of it. I use Mint Mobile and had vowifi and volte - when I was using the US Open (QA) Pie rom. But I had to add (free) that feature (vowifi) on my mint mobile account.
Since you have qa, I would think volte would be working, what sim (t-mo) do u have? Not an mvno? As far as the korean rom goes, the 405 vs 409 isn't due to some incremental aspect, so there's no issue there. It's just an identifying Korea type number. But, I'd say if you don't have volte with QA Pie, then it's questionable you would get it working with korean rom.
do you know why volte isn't working for you now? Have you been given some 'official' explanation for that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh no, my VoLTE is currently working fine. Just pointing out that is something I can't lose. Where I am I have amazing LTE coverage. The 2/3G is not so great so phones that don't support it suffer on the calls. And I'm on a official T-mo Sim. Although coincidently I was recently looking at Mint, I came across this $90 all unlimited for 3 months. But it said it would reduce to 128 Kbps after 35GB and might further reduce it. And I use way over that. This last 2 months I went over 80GB... Wish carriers would start releasing plans base on speed not amount. I wouldn't mind 3-8 Mbps capped speed if it was cheap. I digress....
Phone, yeah, so to summarize. You got a UA, that you crossflashed to QA at some point (like me). But then to get Android 10 you cf to a 9N Open Kr and everything works fine except for the VoWiFi.
I did come across a reddit post of someone that also has a working 409N OS working on a UA it seems it does gets the 71. Was skeptical since it's not written on its specs on any site.
I know have 2 other questions. Did you went straight from QA Pie to 9N 10?
Thing is I am currently testing HavocOS. (Frankly, not impressed. Not Havoc, Android 10 in general. I think I like Android less and less with every update) Anyway. Not sure if jump directly to latest Kr kdz. The last Open is only 1 GB, which is about 1/4 of the last Pie. Wondering if something is missing. So thinking of going to last Pie kdz first and then update to the V409NO30d_00_OPEN_KR_OP_0716.kdz.
My second question would be: Are you experience any particular noticeable bug? I read that for some people the ATT/VZ update brought some problems. But unclear if its just an update problem from the carriers, a problem that don't happen if you factory reset. Or problems involving Android 10 on the V40, potentially affecting all V40. Although latest Kor Open been from August, they had enough time to fix any issues.
Omizuke said:
Oh no, my VoLTE is currently working fine. Just pointing out that is something I can't lose. Where I am I have amazing LTE coverage. The 2/3G is not so great so phones that don't support it suffer on the calls. And I'm on a official T-mo Sim. Although coincidently I was recently looking at Mint, I came across this $90 all unlimited for 3 months. But it said it would reduce to 128 Kbps after 35GB and might further reduce it. And I use way over that. This last 2 months I went over 80GB... Wish carriers would start releasing plans base on speed not amount. I wouldn't mind 3-8 Mbps capped speed if it was cheap. I digress....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well then, the thing to know about getting volte on 409N is that it's a kind of a hack. It's not officially supported. So, because this isn't my daily driver phone, I've messed around with it trying to get vowifi and now volte isn't working, for some reason. Thus, I hesitate to recommend it if you depend on volte working consistently.
Omizuke said:
Phone, yeah, so to summarize. You got a UA, that you crossflashed to QA at some point (like me). But then to get Android 10 you cf to a 9N Open Kr and everything works fine except for the VoWiFi.
I did come across a reddit post of someone that also has a working 409N OS working on a UA it seems it does gets the 71. Was skeptical since it's not written on its specs on any site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's what I did. 71 does def work, surprisingly (saw the specs it would not also). I used LTE discovery and in the SVC / Field Test menu selected ONLY band71, it connected to a nearby 71 tower. So the 409N does support it, although it's not available in Korea :-|
Omizuke said:
I know have 2 other questions. Did you went straight from QA Pie to 9N 10?
Thing is I am currently testing HavocOS. (Frankly, not impressed. Not Havoc, Android 10 in general. I think I like Android less and less with every update) Anyway. Not sure if jump directly to latest Kr kdz. The last Open is only 1 GB, which is about 1/4 of the last Pie. Wondering if something is missing. So thinking of going to last Pie kdz first and then update to the V409NO30d_00_OPEN_KR_OP_0716.kdz.
My second question would be: Are you experience any particular noticeable bug? I read that for some people the ATT/VZ update brought some problems. But unclear if its just an update problem from the carriers, a problem that don't happen if you factory reset. Or problems involving Android 10 on the V40, potentially affecting all V40. Although latest Kor Open been from August, they had enough time to fix any issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Havoc is lineage based right? Thus it doesn't have vowifi or volte? Not sure how that would meet your needs? And that 1GB indication on the firmware site is wrong, it will be about 4GB when downloaded. It's the full rom. CF does seem to cause issues, but I found with the 409N anyway, if initially did a partition DL, then, before changing anything in the phone, do a refurbish with the same kdz, and it didn't have any problems with nt-code, but I did have to enter the S/N in the ftm partition, for that to show up in the 'about' menu.
It seems though, if you want to be on 10 and have reliable volte, it's either wait for the NA OP to become available, or get a carrier specific device and use their network. I think I'm going back to NA OP 9, as everything works no issues at all.
cheers
Well, I should add, I did a bit of a refurbish this morning, actually a Part DL of everything I might have changed, inadvertently, trying to get vowifi to work. And now, volte is working just fine again.
So, it isn't 'officially' working, as mentioned. That may not be the way some want to go if they depend on it to always work...
cheers
AsItLies said:
Well then, the thing to know about getting volte on 409N is that it's a kind of a hack. It's not officially supported. So, because this isn't my daily driver phone, I've messed around with it trying to get vowifi and now volte isn't working, for some reason. Thus, I hesitate to recommend it if you depend on volte working consistently.
Yes, that's what I did. 71 does def work, surprisingly (saw the specs it would not also). I used LTE discovery and in the SVC / Field Test menu selected ONLY band71, it connected to a nearby 71 tower. So the 409N does support it, although it's not available in Korea :-|
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Click to collapse
Oh yeah, I'm constantly messing with the Bands to force it to connect to specific towers. Sometime it will keep connecting to some nearby that are constantly congested. So I just turn those off. But when I go to the next town I have to re-enable them. I use Lte Discovery and Network Cell Info Lite.
AsItLies said:
Havoc is lineage based right? Thus it doesn't have vowifi or volte? Not sure how that would meet your needs? And that 1GB indication on the firmware site is wrong, it will be about 4GB when downloaded. It's the full rom. CF does seem to cause issues, but I found with the 409N anyway, if initially did a partition DL, then, before changing anything in the phone, do a refurbish with the same kdz, and it didn't have any problems with nt-code, but I did have to enter the S/N in the ftm partition, for that to show up in the 'about' menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe so, and as far as I know there are no AOSP with VoLTE. But it doesn't affect me, I'm just playing with it while I decide what to do since I had to format it. Taking advantage before I refill it. My SIM is on my V20. Still going strong, on it's third battery thou. So glad is replaceable. It lacks some bands that the V40 has, particularly the new towers in my area. But otherwise I like it better. The actual second screen for notifications and shortcuts, the IR for the TV and a removable battery. Latest V phones are just too similar to the rest. But I'll stick with them for the Quad-DAC and Amp.
And thanks for the info. I'll keep it in mind.
AsItLies said:
It seems though, if you want to be on 10 and have reliable volte, it's either wait for the NA OP to become available, or get a carrier specific device and use their network. I think I'm going back to NA OP 9, as everything works no issues at all.
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly don't think there will be an NA OP 10. And I wasn't sure you could downgrade from 10 to 9 without tripping something. Didn't looked it up. Got too used that some of my other new devices all have anti-rollback. Limiting how high you can go before locking you up. And as stated before the newer the Android the less I like it. It has turn me off of the modding, seems more restrictive every generation. Had I know I would've just test it myself. lol Hence why I was asking so many questions, I was looking at it as a permanent step up. And the custom ROM for the v40, or well LG in general, is lack luster. Once 10 I'd be stuck between stock or LineageOS. Think I'll just give it a go. If you downgrade let me know how it turned out.
Omizuke said:
Oh yeah, I
brevity...
d out.
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Click to collapse
Hey! thought I should let you know as you're interested in exactly this also. I just tried something I thought would simply not boot and would have to re-flash all over again. But no! I copied over the OPEN_US partition from us open Pie, into the V409N korean open directory. There was one cfg file I had to change to point to it rather than the old OPEN_KR directory (renamed it to OPEN_KR_ori).
Boom! Now I have vowifi and volte and they work exactly as they do on us open Pie! Get the HD and wifi indication icons on the little dialer phone symbol as well!!
pretty damn awesome, so it can be made to work wooohooo hahahaha
AsItLies said:
Hey! thought I should let you know as you're interested in exactly this also. I just tried something I thought would simply not boot and would have to re-flash all over again. But no! I copied over the OPEN_US partition from us open Pie, into the V409N korean open directory. There was one cfg file I had to change to point to it rather than the old OPEN_KR directory (renamed it to OPEN_KR_ori).
Boom! Now I have vowifi and volte and they work exactly as they do on us open Pie! Get the HD and wifi indication icons on the little dialer phone symbol as well!!
pretty damn awesome, so it can be made to work wooohooo hahahaha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for letting me know. I had just noticed your post on the [Crossflash] AT&T tread and was trying it. When I did whoever build the android for the US devices decided to violated my device, uninstall the LG Messaging app and install the google messaging app. Without my consent, and make it so that the LG one wouldn't work even if you tried installing it. Along with other apps like LGPay and LGUpdateCenter. That pissed me off.
Something I hated from the V40 vs the V20 was the googlefing everything. For one, the SMS app on the V20 is many times better, including the customization and independent sizing. You can have you system with one font size but on the sms app you can pinch to soom and increase everything if you need. The one on OpenKR Android 10 also has this feature. Google messenger doesn't. And second, really hate google forcing their everything down your throat. If i wanted a closed ecosystem I'd used iOS. My main reason for rooting is to get rid of bloatware, including most of what google now add on phones. Google folder has more crap than the carriers one lol.
BUT it was an easy fix and I ended up learning something. So I'll call it a win.
In the config folder, the featureset xml files there's a line with "set_default_sms_app_to_googlemessenger" it'll allow for the LG/Android Messaging to work. I had already backed up the apk because I had tried to use in on other the other kdz, didn't worked then, now I know why. But apkpure has it. AND the phone still do. On that same config folder there is the custom_apk_list.cfg file. It shows the apps it removed and the one it install. And you can fallow the path on that cfg file to the apk. (/system/product/priv-app/LGMessage) for the SMS app. Gotta delete the "featureset" line and reboot to get it to run. Oh, and the line on the cfg line file. Tho I just deleted the whole file altogether. With this new found info if I go back to 9 I'll know what to look for to get the stock Android sms app to work. There's more info among those xml. And the boot and power off sounds. So yay for custom sounds.
That said, tried the T-Mo sim and I'm not getting VoLTE. I did the FTM and everything. I'm gonna try one more time. But using Kor refurbish and see how it goes from there. If it doesn't work I'll just go back to Open US Pie and leave it be. I really did like the look on it. Native dark theme work so much better than the themes I had.
AsItLies said:
Deleted
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Click to collapse

SM-G973F/DS in USA? Waste of time?

Long time lurker, first time poster here. First of all, a massive THANK YOU to everyone here. You guys and gals are Awesome! <3
So, I bought a Samsung S10 (SM-G973F/DS) on Ebay recently and flashed it to Lineage OS 19.1. All was fine until I tried to activate it. We did everything...manually changing the ASP settings, and a bunch of other stuff to try and get this thing to connect to the mobile network. Even placed the SIM card in another phone just to confirm the SIM card was fine, which it was.
Long story short, I think the device was perhaps locked even though the seller claimed it was unlocked. Whatever, I'm over it. I flashed stock back on it and re-locked the boot loader, sent it back. Not worth the aggravation. However, I am questioning if there wasn't something else I could have done?
I was trying to activate the S10 on Mint Mobile USA (a T-Mobile reseller, so GSM) it should have been fine. The default language on the device was German. I don't think that should matter, but maybe it does? Do European phones have problems activating in North America?
My question is: If I decide to get another S10 (SM-G973F/DS) from the secondary market (if its even worth it at this point, since the SM-G973F/DS is really hard to find), is there anything I can find out from the seller first so I don't end up having to send it back?
Or, should I just give up my dream of having an S10 installed with Lineage OS and it's glorious headphone jack and expandable storage forever? If so, are there any worthy alternatives to the S10 worth considering, given my affinity for headphone jacks and expandable storage?
Hello PhonePerfection, all a novel why you speak S10 G973F / DS in the United States.
Already your model S10 G973F/DS exynos 5G or the first 4G model so if these this Europe chip model, if now installed Samsung phone info look at who is scoring at worst take screenshots.
I don't understand your question United States, locked unlocked the seller.
You buy in the back market refurbished and unlocked telephone all operator therefore for sim card, the concern these the chip to install network either US or ASIA controls your model if these good SM-G973F/DS and not SM-G973U or G973U1.
Don't forget to say hello
I think what @meric57 is trying to say is that your phone doesn't have the right chips to communicate on the frequencies in the USA. It's made for other markets and other frequencies... so it won't work here.
If you use FrequencyCheck you can see what carriers support what frequencies on your specific model: https://www.frequencycheck.com/comp...m-td-lte-512gb-samsung-beyond-1/united-states
Scroll down to the "United States" area and you'll see it doesn't support the frequencies used in the USA (except for GSM 2.5, which is old and dead here in the USA). The US is primarily on LTE... and you can see that phone model doesn't support ANY of the available frequencies.
Bottom line "GSM" doesn't tell you enough. You have an incomatible phone model for the USA market. No SIM card will fix that.
Note, in SOME cases, you can activate other frequencies by loading different ROMs into the phone. My old LG V30 did this, for example. I have heard that you can run some Exynos phones here in the USA, but I don't know the details to help. FrequencyCheck may help you figure that out. Be sure the look for the complete model number, not just "Galaxy S10" or something... the naming is worthless for figuring this out.
schwinn8 said:
I think what @meric57 is trying to say is that your phone doesn't have the right chips to communicate on the frequencies in the USA. It's made for other markets and other frequencies... so it won't work here.
If you use FrequencyCheck you can see what carriers support what frequencies on your specific model: https://www.frequencycheck.com/compsomethingatibility/RdEkS7k/samsung-sm-g973f-ds-galaxy-s10-global-dual-sim-td-lte-512gb-samsung-beyond-1/united-states
Scroll down to the "United States" area and you'll see it doesn't support the frequencies used in the USA (except for GSM 2.5, which is old and dead here in the USA). The US is primarily on LTE... and you can see that phone model doesn't support ANY of the available frequencies.
Bottom line "GSM" doesn't tell you enough. You have an incomatible phone model for the USA market. No SIM card will fix that.
Note, in SOME cases, you can activate other frequencies by loading different ROMs into the phone. My old LG V30 did this, for example. I have heard that you can run some Exynos phones here in the USA, but I don't know the details to help. FrequencyCheck may help you figure that out. Be sure the look for the complete model number, not just "Galaxy S10" or something... the naming is worthless for figuring this out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
schwinn8 said:
I think what @meric57 is trying to say is that your phone doesn't have the right chips to communicate on the frequencies in the USA. It's made for other markets and other frequencies... so it won't work here.
If you use FrequencyCheck you can see what carriers support what frequencies on your specific model: https://www.frequencycheck.com/comp...m-td-lte-512gb-samsung-beyond-1/united-states
Scroll down to the "United States" area and you'll see it doesn't support the frequencies used in the USA (except for GSM 2.5, which is old and dead here in the USA). The US is primarily on LTE... and you can see that phone model doesn't support ANY of the available frequencies.
Bottom line "GSM" doesn't tell you enough. You have an incomatible phone model for the USA market. No SIM card will fix that.
Note, in SOME cases, you can activate other frequencies by loading different ROMs into the phone. My old LG V30 did this, for example. I have heard that you can run some Exynos phones here in the USA, but I don't know the details to help. FrequencyCheck may help you figure that out. Be sure the look for the complete model number, not just "Galaxy S10" or something... the naming is worthless for figuring this out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, this is great info. Good to know. It looks like that S10 could only communicate on 1 of 8 bands used by Mint/T-Mobile. That 1 usable band appears to have been deprecated by T-Mobile as it is. I think that explains it perfectly. Thank You!
You're welcome.
Yeah, frequencies/bands are very important to watch, particularly if you're buying out of market devices. You have to know model numbers and carriers to be sure of anything, and unfortunately this info is relatively hidden.
schwinn8 said:
You're welcome.
Yeah, frequencies/bands are very important to watch, particularly if you're buying out of market devices. You have to know model numbers and carriers to be sure of anything, and unfortunately this info is relatively hidden.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The CSC on that device was DBT (Germany). I had to find that out in order to put the correct stock OS back on there.
Makes me wonder if the ebay seller even knows this. They appear to specialize in mobile phones with tens of thousands of transactions, so I would hope they've encountered this situation before. They were more than happy to accept a return on the device. Sent me a prepaid shipping label immediately.
Back to the CSC... Let's say I look for another S10 (SM-G973F/DS) but I ask what the CSC is for that device. Are there any regions outside the lower 48 states with reasonably good chances of it working? I suppose I would need to study the mobile frequency website for the answer to that.
I did some quick searching, and supposedly there are websites that say the 973F/DS will work on MM (mint mobile)... but they don't detail how. For example: https://de-googled.com/blogs/news/a-word-on-network-compatibility-of-our-degoogled-phones
and https://www.ebay.com/p/15030406771 (in the description).
So, maybe it is possible? I don't know, so maybe someone else can chime in.
Personally, I stuck with U-version phones and gave up rooting/romming. It's just getting too hard to find phones that offer this, so I figured I'd just adapt back to a stock ROM, since choices are limited. I had done a bunch of that in the past, but I found that stock roms (today) are pretty good... and allow enough customization that made root/rom unnecessary... for me. My current is an SM-G975U1 (unlocked, USA, Snapdragon S10+) on Total Wireless (VZ MVNO)... it works great and I don't miss root/rom at all.
Rumor is that the Galaxy S23 will only be offered as Snapdragon, so maybe that will open up more options... but I doubt it. Samsung loves it's Knox system, and will likely lock down the phone even more with every generation.
schwinn8 said:
I did some quick searching, and supposedly there are websites that say the 973F/DS will work on MM (mint mobile)... but they don't detail how. For example: https://de-googled.com/blogs/news/a-word-on-network-compatibility-of-our-degoogled-phones
and https://www.ebay.com/p/15030406771 (in the description).
So, maybe it is possible? I don't know, so maybe someone else can chime in.
Personally, I stuck with U-version phones and gave up rooting/romming. It's just getting too hard to find phones that offer this, so I figured I'd just adapt back to a stock ROM, since choices are limited. I had done a bunch of that in the past, but I found that stock roms (today) are pretty good... and allow enough customization that made root/rom unnecessary... for me. My current is an SM-G975U1 (unlocked, USA, Snapdragon S10+) on Total Wireless (VZ MVNO)... it works great and I don't miss root/rom at all.
Rumor is that the Galaxy S23 will only be offered as Snapdragon, so maybe that will open up more options... but I doubt it. Samsung loves it's Knox system, and will likely lock down the phone even more with every generation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link. I think I may try for an S10 again if the seller can tell me what the CSC is. That page on De-googled.com affirms that American devices are more restrictive than their European counterparts.
It just doesn't make any sense to me personally to use a device with an open source OS that has loads of telemetry, spyware, bloat, etc. Which is a contradiction that I am not comfortable with. It's like installing a Linux distro that comes bundled with Facebook.
To me, being proactive about privacy is the equivalent to standing up for yourself in the real world. Sure, you can use a stock ROM and there is nothing wrong with that. It's having the freedom to choose which is most important. So long as that choice is available, I will happily go that route.
I like the added bonus of an Android device that seems faster with a longer lasting battery as well. I mean, I paid for this device. I should have the right to decide what apps are running on it.
No argument there... I agree with why we should be allowed to root/rom. Unfortunately, the carriers pull the strings in the USA (business over people) so we are losing options. Frankly, it pisses me off that they can still prevent phones from connecting to their network just because the IMEI doesn't match (even if the software is correct). In the end, if the device CAN work on the network, the carrier should have no say in allowing/disallowing it on the network. They like to claim that a "bad" device could "hurt" the network, but if that happens, they can lock out that phone and figure it out. I doubt that's even ever happened, but whatever. (They prevented me from using my already-working V30 US998 phone on the network, even though it ran as VS996 with no issues for years... they only later saw the IMEI wasn't "theirs" (original SIM card failed) so they prevented me from re-registering it. So stupid.)
Good luck, and let us know if you figure it out... I'm always curious to learn!
yes, most japan and europe phones do not have the correct radios channels in them for 4g and 5g. i ran into this same problem with my xperia phones that i bought overseas. this is a common problem that can happen.
The S10 and all it's variants is a world compatible GSM phone. So yes, the F variant should work with most GSM carriers and resellers in N. America.
There are various websites that will tell you what frequencies and carriers any particular model will work with if you do a search. Like this one.
WillMyPhoneWork.net - Check if your phone works on a network
Check 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE Network Frequency Compatibility for a Smartphone, Tablet, and Mobile Device in any Country and Mobile Network Carrier
willmyphonework.net
According to that site the SM-G973F/DS supports all 2G, 3G, and 4G frequencies used by Mint.

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