yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] mcholly7:
Hi, I was wondering about two things that I feel might help other people on here.

1st. Is it possible to use titanium backup to freeze the files (also which files would they be) that are responsible for the phone trying to download and update future OTA upgrades?

2nd. This one requires a little bit of back story. I rooted my s7 edge and installed xposed. Afterwards I applied the module Xtether which allowed me to use my Hotspot. A week later all of my apps crashed and I restarted my phone which led to a bootloop. I learned later that blocking the security policies from updating supposedly fixes that 7-day soft brick. I have since then rooted and optimized my phone through the v15 fix. I am holding off on putting xposed/Xtether back on until someone can help me identify whether or not that combo is what caused my phone to crash or if it was the security policy updates. If it was simply the security policies then I may have found an easy way to get the hotspot enabled on this device.

Please help me so that I can help the community figure this out.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] 06SilveradoZ71:
how did you get this fixed i have tried everything and its annoying i cant get it to work i have a message center number that is correct but still fails to send a message
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
AT&T fixed it because I messed up my 'message center ' phone number. But if that doesn't fix it since you have the correct number then use FlashFire to wipe just the cache. Alternatively you can do 'power button and volume up' at the same time to get menu where you can wipe cache.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] fiercescout:
I was just wondering. i have the G930A and have unlimited data but they turned off my tethering capabilities. would i be able to use them again if i rooted my phone?
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] mcholly7:
Hi, I was wondering about two things that I feel might help other people on here. <br />

<br />

1st. Is it possible to use titanium backup to freeze the files (also which files would they be) that are responsible for the phone trying to download and update future OTA upgrades?<br />

<br />

2nd. This one requires a little bit of back story. I rooted my s7 edge and installed xposed. Afterwards I applied the module Xtether which allowed me to use my Hotspot. A week later all of my apps crashed and I restarted my phone which led to a bootloop. I learned later that blocking the security policies from updating supposedly fixes that 7-day soft brick. I have since then rooted and optimized my phone through the v15 fix. I am holding off on putting xposed/Xtether back on until someone can help me identify whether or not that combo is what caused my phone to crash or if it was the security policy updates. If it was simply the security policies then I may have found an easy way to get the hotspot enabled on this device.<br />

<br />

Please help me so that I can help the community figure this out.<br />

<br />
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
Yes use Titanium Backup to freeze apps. I doubt Xposed had anything to do with your phone soft bricking and the problem was probably more of something updating that shouldn't have.

I personally turn off auto updates in the Play Store. I also Titanium freeze security policy updates and I turn off security policy updates from settings menu; lock screen and security/ other security settings/ security policy updates....overkill but effective.

the -v15 fix does the rest I think. Good to go. I'm on latest update APH1 running fine no problems but no xposed.

How did you fix the bootloop?
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] mcholly7:
Do you know what the specific files to freeze are labeled to keep the phone from updating the firmware?

Thank you for the feedback. I don't think that it was the culprit either. But to fix it I tried to clear the cache, which didn't work, and then I hit factory reset, and it still didn't fix it so I force shut down my phone and took it to the AT&T store(about a 15 minutes drive), and when I showed them that it wasn't turning on it came on and went through the new phone setup process.

Once I get a little bit more information together about if anyone else had this issue I will probably give it another shot.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
In Titanium Backup I freeze just two:

AT&T Software Update

SecurityLogAgent
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] popmeeye:
I had a G930A with tethering off. I went to the http://xdaforums.com/att-galaxy-s7/how-to/xda-community-love-g930u-t3415875 forum to install the G930U ROM then rooted per the instructions from the G930A forum. Boom now have tethering capabilities. (Tip, make sure you do the OTA update on the 930U ROM before you root since the one provided isn't the latest.)
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
What update version did you root then? Did you do psouza4's-v15fix or debloat after root? How is everything working besides tether? What about wifi calling? Video calling? Heat? Battery life? Sorry for all the questions but the more info the better informed the community will be.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] popmeeye:
Short answer EVERYTHING is better on 930U software. Been using it rooted as a daily since the week it came out. You'll find the answer to all those questions and more in the other forum. Pzousa4 is a lifesaver so yes used both his fix and deep debloat. Warning, Better be willing to read up and learn phone if you use the deep debloat.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] drift08:
I used this eng root on my G930U and had major battery drain and lag issues even i applied S7 Fixes V15 and installed xposed but it soft breaked my device once I installed the xposed apk from http://xdaforums.com/verizon-galaxy-s7/how-to/how-to-notes-root-install-xposed-unroot-t3411039. So, I was using my S7 930U rooted w/ no xposed, battery drain and lag issues. On top of that, it means no write permission on SD card, which was I really wanted. I ended up flashing original firmware and proceed with update. If anyone found a better way to root 930U w/o any of the issues I experienced above, I would happy to test it out.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] popmeeye:
I did a factory reset between each step in the process; Also never installed xposed. I have no problems with SD card permissions, no battery issues, never soft bricked. Love my 930a runningt 930u rooted with V15 fixes and deep debloat. Its been my daily phone for months now.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] drift08:
When I said SD card write permission, I'm referring to SD card write permission on all 3rd party apps. All Samsung built-in apps have read and write permission on SD card. As far as I know, Marshmallow does not allow 3rd party apps to write on SD card. There is a Marshmallow SD Fix module for Xposed but not 100% sure if it works on stock rom. It was originally designed for CM13 and it has mixed reviews on various devices. Some said it works, while other said it doesn't.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] stew1411:
Marshmallow has SD write permission. I'm not rooted and use it. You have to grant third party apps access. This is usually done by browsing to the root of your SD in the app, and then there should be a button to select folder.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] popmeeye:
FYI, I'm running an unofficial version of Pandora off SD card. Settings > applications > application manager > Pandora > Storage > Change > SD Card. Several weeks later seems to be working verified "Storage used External storage". I had to go into permissions and turn on Storage too.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
I think there are some third party apps that won't write to external sd. I think my utorrent won't write for sure and one or two more I can't remember right now.

I know what your talking about with the permissions thing.....when the app first tries to access external SD it will popup a dialog to go in and choose root folder of SD card. After that it remembers for that app.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] snovvman:
Not an accurate statement. Not "EVERYTHING" is better.. On U, you do not get:

1) VoLTE

2) WiFi Calling

3) HD Voice

4) Carrier video calling

5) Advanced Messaging

Further, if your line was not first properly provisioned with LTE using a native AT&T phone (or manually done by an agent), some have reported data speed issues.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] popmeeye:
I guess every user is different. I never used those 5 things when on 930a (though I've seen in the forums how to turn on the permissions if I wanted these items on 930u). However; I bought my phone at target without a plan, never had it provisioned for LTE, and regularly have speedtest down speeds 25 Mbps in Miami (only pulled 17 Mbps as I'm writing) using Straight talk AT&T SIM. Also, I've put a striaght talk T-mobile SIM card in the phone and noticed a few extra options. I can't recall which of those 5 again because I never use them and it was a while ago. Again, every person is different, I prefer 13-16 hours of battery life with heavy facebook, pandora, snapchat, instagram, and gmail use...others may need the other options. All my daily use was better (faster response, less bloat, more battery, tether capability, etc)....for others, the 5 mentioned items may be a deal breaker. Whichever the case, the root method described in this forum is what I used for both.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] SooHooStuff:
I followed all these steps and i'm stuck at the AT&T boot logo. I know how to recover, but is it supposed to take a while at the boot logo? Or is it supposed to boot up normally? Thank you!
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] FilthyFord:
It isn't out of the ordinary for it to take up to 15 min. God you not into recovery and wipe data / factory reset?
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] SooHooStuff:
Thank you so much
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] Fadelight:
I'm having an issue I haven't seen mentioned. I can install the kernel and everything looks good.. shows "custom" at startup. Then I follow the directions for rooting, and that appears to have worked... but it shows that I don't have root access, and within 10m I get a message that says something about an unauthorized app or process being detected and it wants to reboot to resolve the issue. I've tried 3 times now with the same result every time.

I have the 930A.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
Wipe cache in flashfire or phones recovery should fix root problem if you installed everything correctly from the beginning. You may just need to reinstall the supersu if not. Rebooting helps but you said you already did that.

For the unauthorized app thing you need titanium back up pro to freeze 'securitylogagent'.

I believe that should fix things up for you. Post back if not.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] Fadelight:
Thank you. I will try again at some point soon.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] drfsupercenter:
So... is this 100% guaranteed to not trip Knox and blow my phone's warranty eFuse?
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] FilthyFord:
I did a simple search and just typed in "knox", and found numerous results concerning your answer. Gave you tried searching for the answer yet?
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
No trip Knox on at&t variant g930a with ph1 update. So 'NO' it won't trip Knox. I don't know about efuse though but probably not on that either. Search around for more info.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] drfsupercenter:
OK, so I went ahead and did it, and confirm it didn't trip the efuse. Phone Info shows the warranty void as 0x0, which is what it's been since I bought the phone. :D

however, something odd is happening... might be because I have a Verizon S7 and this method uses a custom AT&T kernel.

After the phone's on for about 2 minutes I get this alert in a /!\

http://i.imgur.com/2Ijfks9.png

Right before the exclamation mark, the two icons I've pointed to with red arrows appear. Normally there's just the Bluetooth icon, then 4G to the right of it. If I have Wi-Fi connected, that icon is in the middle.

I also note that doing this hack also reset my Wi-Fi settings... not sure why or if that's related.

If I reboot like it asks, it just takes me to recovery which gives me the "dm-verity failed" - searching this thread, I know that's not a big deal, but nothing actually happens and I have to reboot it manually anyway.

If I don't reboot, the 4G disconnects and turns into 3G or 1X. I checked my APNs and it's still set to VZWINTERNET like it should be, so your guess is as good as mine. I'm on Wi-Fi for now, but obviously this is a problem if I can't use the 4G with this root exploit installed.

Any ideas? Is there a likelihood that the Verizon kernel will be leaked/modified?

Edit: I tried turning mobile data off entirely and the foreign 4G thing still shows up. It's as if this custom kernel tries to use AT&T's 4G whether or not I tell it to.

And every reboot or even turning Wi-Fi on/off keeps wiping my settings and forgetting my router's password...
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] kuduku:
read this guide http://xdaforums.com/verizon-galaxy-s7/how-to/how-to-notes-root-install-xposed-unroot-t3411039

has solutions to all your problems including the WIFI not saving password and hiding VOLTE icon
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] drfsupercenter:
Hmm, interesting.

I'm downloading the Verizon S7 ODIN file now just so I can go back to stock, make sure the issue is fixed, and redo this. I prematurely used SuperSU's "permanent unroot" feature to see what would happen.

Is everything in that guide safe to do in the sense that it won't void my warranty? Installing Xposed seems super risky... what I know about Xposed is that it modifies system files, which iirc is exactly what causes Knox to trip. Unless this custom AP image just makes it so the phone ignores that stuff?

I know it might be annoying that I'm asking the same question over an d over but I want to be absolutely 100% sure I don't void my warranty on a $700 phone before it ends on its own anyway... still have over 6 months left of coverage!

(By the way, I'm pretty sure I would need to install Xposed anyway, since the newest Pokémon Go blocks root users, and the solution involves an Xposed module iirc)
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
Warranty is pretty much a non issue especially if you have already had it for 6 mos. Between all my friends and family members I've been around dozens of Samsung s6's and s7's and never once anyone ever had a warranty issue. So you really don't have to worry about that.

Between this guide/forum and psouza4's fix, debloat, root/unroot, xposed guide forum you should be okay with no problems. Just read.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] Pseudomimic:
booted into download modeand after placing the file in odin and starting my device is now on the att logo making a repeting vibration pattern. pretty new to the rooting world so i hope i didnt just ruin my phone. anyone help please!
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] FilthyFord:
Boot into recovery and wipe data/ factory reset. That should fix it.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] drfsupercenter:
Well, I did need to use the warranty on my old Motorola phone, the speaker randomly stopped working after 9 months, luckily it was still covered and Verizon sent me a refurbished model right away. It's more the concept than anything, especially now that they aren't doing subsidized prices on phones anymore (if I only paid $200 I'd be a lot less hesitant, but I paid $700 for this thing)

Problem with "just reading" is this thread is over 100 pages and I don't feel like spending an entire day reading lots of irrelevant-to-me posts.

It's just a yes/no question!

But just so I have some understanding... can someone correct if I'm wrong about this assumption?

I ASSUME the way the "warranty void" eFuse works is:

-Upon bootup, the system integrity is checked using [some copyrighted/encrypted/digitally signed hash that we can't mess with, but it's Samsung's own code so factory updates that do modify /system don't affect the results]

-If it detects you've tampered with it (e.g. the integrity check fails), it then blows the eFuse

-Given what I've observed (booting into recovery mode and seeing the "dm-verity failed" in red text), we aren't bypassing the actual "is system modified?" checks

-However, the custom code we flash to the phone instead just makes it so the "blow the eFuse" step doesn't execute instead

Is that close to what's actually happening with the root method in this thread? I'd just like to know for my own comfort, whether or not you guys think the warranty is worth keeping or not.

With my previous Motorola phone, we never did unlock the bootloader either, but instead used kexec to launch "SafeStrap" which just booted a side-loaded image. The bootloader itself remained stock and therefore you could always flash it back to stock without voiding your warranty, since we never really did any permanent tweaking anyway! But Motorola also didn't do the integrity checks, as long as you don't bootloop from stupidly deleting essential system files you were golden.

Edit: Given my assumption about the integrity checks happening at bootup, I also assume that if there was, theoretically, some way to root the phone without rebooting (every Android device I've ever used requires reboot before the root actually works, but I digress...), then you could do it, and unroot, then reboot and still not void your warranty. In theory.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] Pseudomimic:
Phone wouldn't go into recovery mode I could only get it back to download mode. I kept searching around on the forums here and actually found some that had the stock firmware so I flashed all of those files using the custom Odin supplied here and now I'm back up and running :D
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
Recovery is volume up power and home.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] drift08:
I tested on Jet Audio and officesuite. Both does not allow write on sd card.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] drfsupercenter:
That has to do with Android 6, so older apps that don't code that in won't let you write to the SD card.

Theoretically you could fix that with root but I don't know how.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
Officesuite 8.7.xxxx writes to external sd card just fine on galaxy s7 . Maybe you didn't set permissions correct or you're on an outdated version of officesuite, but it works fine for me.

I don't know about jet audio.....I'll test if I get a chance.

---------- Post added at 03:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:50 PM ----------

Yeah, it's the apps fault it can't write on 6.x.x. Once the apps update and conform they write fine. I still have a couple that haven't updated yet, but most have, and those write to external sd just fine.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
I found a way for a couple of apps to set ext sd as backup location.

I was primarily having problem with my titanium backup and utorrent not being able to set ext sd card in preferences.

For TB-

highaltitude explained the correct method of setting ext sd as backup location.

Open Titanium Backup, Menu, Preferences, Backup Folder Location, Storage provider and then hit DocumentProvider Storage and select your SD card.

For utorrent-

Find the com.utorrent.client folder under the ext sd Android/data and you can set that as download folder or create subfolders under that. That way, during torrent download you can choose that folder as your download location.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] drfsupercenter:
If you have root, would it be possible to set a hardlink/symlink? Say, on sdcard/external that points to /storage/[your SD card's UUID]?

The only catch would be if you ever boot your phone without that MicroSD in it'll probably break something.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] highaltitude:
Q: How to fix SD card RW but Titanium Backup can't write to external SD card, why???

A: This is because of googles changes concerning SD card, to fix this open Titanium Backup, Menu, Preferences, Backup Folder Location, Storage provider and than hig DocumentProvider Storage and select your SD card. Problem solved
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
You can do that too......Learn something new every day. This is proper way and better because the folder doesn't have to be buried this way. There probably is a correct way to select ext sd storage for every app then.....just got to find it. Thanks for telling me about Titanium backup though.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] ew:
I was hoping to find another solution for Titanium Backup. It runs much slower on my device using the Document Provider storage.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] FilthyFord:
When i try clicking on Documentprovider storage, titanium force closes. I'm on Echoe rom
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
Could be the rom? DocumentsProvider storage opens up an android window where you can select the root of your ext sd.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] Pseudomimic:
I got my g930a rooted via the method here and it worked beautifully for several days after adjusting kernel and some other improvements people reccomeneded, hadnt disabled sercuritylogagent yet as i couldnt buy the pro version of TB until today. Well i woke up this morning and some of myapps had started crashing and being unable to open. Kik right from the start and facebook after i had viewed it for about 10 minutes. decided to reboot my phone and now it is stuck on the att logo screen and vibrating. this happened once while i was trying to root and i had to flash stock firmware to fix it. am i gonna have to do the same again and rerroot or is there another option i have? phone can boot in download mode but no matter how long i hold the volume up+power+home keys it will not go into recovery mode.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] saf4xdadev:
Wonder why those specific apps, if it is the app at all, are causing the problems?

Did you find a fix or did you go back to the beginning?

Also, in case you don't know, flash psouza4's -v15 fix after root, then TB pro to freeze Securitylogagent and Security policy updates and AT&T Software Update. I turn some of that stuff off in Settings too and also I stop all auto updates from the play store and then only update stuff I use and pretty sure won't cause issue.....which gets back to why those two specific or types of apps would cause the problem??

Plus after psouza4's fix I never did anything else to the phone and it runs practically perfect. I think I cleared cache once after flashing fix too and a few reboots and recharges but that's it....no other tweaks with any of the kernel progs.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7 Guides, News, & Discussion] mcholly7:
Ok, so the people over on the supersu page were super useless and said to ask here, but I was wondering if the latest binary update for SuperSU was compatible with the s7 edge root found here, or if we were still stuck with the knockoff ones provided? I'm not complaining about any of it. I was just hoping to actually get an answer instead of being shooed off.