[Galaxy A3, A5, A7, A8, A9 Q&A, Help & Troubleshoot] Topster77:
Dear all,

I own a Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016) with the following informations

CSC A310FB2X2APD2

Baseband A310FXXU2APC5

Current software A310FXXU2APDA

The phone was provided with a car type Seat Leon Connect which supports Android Auto. I live in Germany. As you might recognize, the CSC code B2X is a bit uncommon, but related to the "Seat edition" of the phone.

Now I have the problem that the phone is on a quite old software version (Android 5.1.1 with Security Updates of May 2016) and the phone does not find updates via OTA or Smart Switch. Several calls to the provider (Seat) and Samsung revealed that there is confusion how and when the last updates that were published for the A3 (2016) series will arrive for that specific model. As the phone provided has a Spanish country code, I was finally forwarded to Samsung Spain who told me I should simply search for updates. Which I obviously did.

As Samsung Germany told me that a spanish model would only do OTA updates when having a spanish IP, I even used a spanish proxy to look for updates, but without success.

I tried to change my CSC to the german DBT using the *#272# command, but it just tells me that the command did not succeed. There is an app called "Phone *INFO* Samsung" that tells me my CSC is E01 where E01, E02, E03, E04 and E04 are available in the firmware. This is confusing since this "E0x" is no known CSC country/provider code. So no way to simply switch the phone to DBT and german software updates.

I have the feeling, I will never be able to receive official updates...

So I have a couple of questions:

I'm coming from a Windows Mobile 10 phone where updates came nearly on a monthly base. Plus, the platform was never subject to hacking attacks due to only few devices. How critical is it to stay with the old software from a security point of view? Note, I only download software from the Play Store, but I am surfing the web a lot.

Is it true that a spanish IP is required for OTA updates or Smart Switch to find the update for the spanish phone?

As it is likely that I won't get offcial updates, I am willing to flash the german DBT firmware of December 2016 (say, from updato.com) using ODIN. Will I be able to receive OTA or Smart Switch updates in the future based on that, and therefore stay on a regular update path? I read that CSC and/or product code may be an issue.

Is there a way to ensure that the firmware I download from updato.com is really the official firmware? I am very sceptical about security and modified ROMs as I use the phone for business purposes. I informed myself a bit on the KNOX software installed on Samsung phones. Is it right that KNOX is able to check the originality of the firmware being flashed and therefore should increase the "Warranty void" counter in case the firmware is NOT original? Is there another way to check originality in advance before flashing?

Will I have to care for changing CSC and/or product code after flashing?

Most important: Say, I do the flashing to DBT firmware and for some reason, I need the original firmware back. Is there a way to return to the original Seat firmware? As it is available nowhere for download, I would have to use Smart Switch. Will I be able to connect the phone and simply put it to factory state (including the CSC code)?

Sorry for this long list and possibly dumb questions, but I am really unsure how to proceed.

Thanks for helping!

Tobias