yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] thisperson:
Hi. I am on mint mobile (mvno on tmobile network) and I have an SM-N950U originally from Sprint unlocked. I am wondering if there are any advantages to flashing the Sprint XAA compared to the Unlocked Firmware? Or would I be flashing the Tmobile XAA? I am not too certain on that front.

Any advice you could give as well as letting me know if I should expect any quirks from whichever is recommended would be excellent!

I am wanting to flash because 1. Sprint wants me to travel for an hour plus to remove the OMADM activation feature of their ROM, which starts up and tries to dictate my APN settings on boot (currently took away ability to change settings on system under system apps), but it is still annoying to see every boot up.

And 2. is that Sprint does not permit the wifi tethering option to be utilized outside of their network apparently. I have a large gb per month plan, and I get good speeds when it is uncongested (35 mbps at like 7 AM) but I cannot tether. Hence wanting to flash a ROM. I am on the latest and (greatest *cough*) Sprint ROM. It is from August 30th 2018.

I have another Note 8 from that is from beginning of May 2018 also from Sprint. It has not been updated in a while if it makes things easier.

Please let me know if you have any insight into my issue. May you be fruitful in your endeavors and thank ye!
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] jcsww:
XAA is the U1. If you download an XAA that contains a userdata or says it's for a carrier. Stay away from it. This confusing crap of carrier U1 doesn't help anyone! Carrier firmwares are U only for the US. The non-carrier firmware and there is only one non-carrier model for the US, uses the U1 firmware. You can flash back and forth but a few conditions make sure everything goes perfect.

1. You must flash to U1 from any device that is on the U firmware and you must factory reset before flashing!

2. Your bootloader version must be the same or an older than the one contained in the firmware you are flashing. You can not flash a firmware over a newer bootloader version!

3. Never flash using the HOME-CSC! Using this will leave things behind you want to eliminate when converting. Always use the OYN CSC.

4. USB Debugging needs to be enabled in Developer Options before you can flash with the modded or patched ODIN. After you factory reset, skip through the setup and enable both.

Make sure you install the correct drivers in Download Mode before opening ODIN.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] thisperson:
Hoo-boy. Okay. I think that leaves me out. Comsy's Odin only works with V3 bootloader I think is what I understood.

I am on S5 or V5 I think. Even the older one is on S4 or V4.

Eh if I am going to go with the flashing Stock T-Mobile ROM (I think that's what I have to do), it says:

Yet mine ends in CRG9 If I recall correctly. Is there something I am missing? It does say it is oreo compatible and lists the appropriate odin...wait. I remember reading the very first version of Oreo had the V3 bootloader or something..right? I think that's what I saw in one other thread many threads before this one. Darn...this will brick my device then if it is on V4 or V5, I am guessing. Oh Poo. :(

I see from this user that I may just need to download the Tmobile ROM (from Sammobile) and flash it. Following the steps you outlined of course. Thanks! I hope I do not brick the device.

Is there a suggested sequence of file flashing? Particularly if I need to revert everything back in case it fails.

I would rather this not happen to me:

(Sorry for putting you on the spot bro)

Thank you for the informative answers jcsww. I loved the touchpad toolbox for my HP tablet.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] jcsww:
Sorry! I go back and forth between the Note 8, S9/S9 Plus, and Note 9 forums a lot. The process is still the same though. Note 8's do have firmwares with v4 and v5 bootloaders but the same applies. I haven't personally used that version of ODIN but the modded or patched will flash any U1 stock firmware to a U or W firmware device that has the same or a newer bootloader than the device currently has.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] wphend00:
Just need some help.

I have not flashed a phone in a longgg time.

I have an unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 8 with Oreo (8.0.0)

Baseband version is N950U1UEU5CRG6

Build number starts with R16N and ends with CRG6

Knox version is 3.1

Got the phone from a family member.

Popped in my t-mobile sim. Found out the Antennaes are barely compatible with current T-mobile network. I hardly ever get 4-bars... barely 2 in my own house, and that is what T-mobile Cell Tower Extender (for comparison, I got consistent 4-5 bars with my T-mobile branded Galaxy S8+).

I need to flash my phone with latest T-mobile Firmware and Rom.

Can someone lead me in rght direction... I am currently downloading the Oreo Rom found in this thread...

But is that and Odin all I need? Or is there something else?

Also, just in case I wish to flash back to the factory unlocked firmware... where would I get the ROM for that?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] thisperson:
Okay. So if I am understanding correctly I need use the modded Odin 13.x version and use that to update my v4 to a v5 u1 firmware?

Just got done unlocking it. I will use it modded Odin to update. Hopefully everything goes well.

Have all the files I need except the latest u1 firmware. I am assuming I can do the latest one. If not I guess I can go incremental and do +1 from whatever version I currently have.

Just checked says I am on CRE1. From early may.

So based off of what you told me I need either of these top two files from sammobile? (Screenshot)

Sorry for needing my hand to be held so much. I have only used Odin once and I think it was for a tab 2 7.0 a long long time ago, in a galaxy far away...

Steps being:

1. Reset phone.

2. Flash firmware using odin. Cre1 or greater.

3. Reboot?

I think somewhere in between 1-3 I am to flash a non Csc file. Oyn you said, if I remember correctly, but I do not know where to find such a file. And I will not use any from the OP because I think all of those are using crc2. And I am already on cre1.

Your help is greatly appreciated. I am sorry I am a bit of a parasite, feeding off of your knowledge and strength without providing much in return.

I would mash the thanks/thumbs up a thousand times if I could.

Edit: Okay upon some further reading and on my desktop this time, I see that the download I screenshotted was US Cellular. I need the XAA version (non carrier specific). And it comes with the CSC OYN file built in. Just registered at sam mobile. It says I may go as fast as 15kb/s... *cries*

Wish me luck. I am going for the CRE4 version. Who knows, maybe one day I will have root if I stay on the same version long enough.

o/

Thanks for all the info you guys make available.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] jcsww:
The US Cellular is actually the one I used to flash my Mother's Note 8. There is no userdata in it and the firmware states it is U1EU, which is correct. Factory reset, skip the setup, enable Developer Options and USB Debugging, reboot to Download Mode, make sure the drivers are installed before opening modded or patched ODIN, load up the four files corresponding to their two letter ID, do not use the HOME_CSC, don't change any of the options in ODIN, and flash.

The U1 for T-Mobile will give you the same compatibility for bands as the TMB U firmware and also supports T-Mobile's WiFi Calling. Video calling and a few other features won't work unless you continue on to flash the U after flashing the U1. If you choose to continue to flash the U after the U1, the process is the same essentially. Skip the setup, enable USB Debugging in Developer Options, and pretty much everything else is exactly the same outside of you need to also flash the userdata along with the four other files in the TMB firmware. No flashing the HOME_CSC this time around also.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] thisperson:
Okay. I plan to stay on the u1 version. I will use the tmobile version then. Did not know I would somehow not have access to the physical bands my phone has if I went with u1 xaa.

And wifi calling would be nice. Maybe I would not even get hotspot if I do not have that the u version. I will try the features out after using the u1 version. Maybe it will have everything I want.

Also....sammobile :((

I left the download going all night. Just to wake up and it is stuck with 13 minutes left. Jeez Louise! 2.9 out of 3.x gigs done and it halted.

No matter. I will search for the tmobile cre1 u1 (xaa) one now.

[Edit] Apparently there is not a cre4, I must have been dog tired, because everything I saw of this phone seemed to be cre4 (thank God for a fresh pair of eyes and mind). [/edit]

So not going with sammobile. :((

Anyone know if I can get these files directly from Samsung? Or some other non-throttling website? Every other site I saw said the same thing, that they would throttle me. Why they are not on mega.nz or mediafire.com I do not know. They are not illegal files.

Off to go test my Google-fu. I will start with trying to find the hash-check value for the cre4 xaa t mobile version.

Thank you so much for the detailed process. I think I got everything down. Now just need the fw! Wish me luck. I will return, maybe after a 15+hour download, with news of my success...Thanks to you!
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] jcsww:
Updato is very slow but atleast it's reliable.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] thisperson:
Thank you!

Much more respectable 2.8 MB/s compared to under 600 KB/s from SamMobile. Saying 3.6 MB/s now! And it peaked at 4.1 MB/s.

13 minutes left. I will go walk my dog for now.

Edit: flashing at the moment. Tip for anyone else who is doing this. If your system seems to hang upon loading AP in Odin...leave it alone. It will respond eventually.

I have an okay processor (4790k) and it hung for like 10 seconds. Do not close the program. Do not touch anything. If you are on an older system or even a laptop it will take longer to verify the 3.7 gb file.

Oh and I want to be your friend [MENTION=3116388]jcsww[/MENTION]! Thank you so much.

We have done all we can. The rest...is up to God. /Edit.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] jcsww:
Anytime! Now I need to figure out how to accept that. :P
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] thisperson:
Okay. It went excellent. Everything works.

I have wifi hotspot now. Yay! Sprint OMADM is gone! Video calling works! Wifi calling works! Still on U1 version of Tmobile. I do not feel the need to use the carrier locked U version. Awesome! I will use opensignal throughout the day just to verify that I get the 6-10 mbps during the day and 35 peak I have seen at uncongested times like pre 7 AM and post 8 PM.

Cannot thank you enough dude! You are the reason this place thrives! Ah, the salt of the Earth.

I feel enabled enough to repeat the process with the newer (August 2018 Sprint) firmware.

Thank you!

Edit: Huh, the CRG9 firmware is not available yet for the SM-N950U1. Ah well. I could not find it. Sites just list the CRG6. Ah well. And I had updated a week or so ago thinking it would fix my hotspot issue. Well I have one working as I want it. Thanks for all the help.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] wphend00:
Hoping someone can help me out.

I downloaded N950USQU3CRC2_N950UOYN3CRC2_TMB and I have downloaded Odin v3.12 Prince Comsy... is that all I need?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] kaibsora:
You will need to use the 3.13 custom Odin listed. Then you just need to flashed the unlocked oreo version provided from tmobile from updato (the n950u1 Verizon works on n950u phones.) If you need more help let me know
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] Rafy186:
I have a SPrint Note 8 thats currently updated to the August CRG9 firmware. If I would like to switch carriers will I need a new combination file? Attempting the current version gives me errors in 3 different ODIN (comsy, patched).
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] NvWatts:
I recently bought a Verizon note 8 but I have straight talk service(trac phone bootscreen) would flashing the unlocked firmware work?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] jcsww:
Flashing the U1 will remove the boot animation and replace it with the stock boot animation. To do this correctly, you will need to do a factory reset and make sure you do not flash the HOME_CSC.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] Rafy186:
I was able to find some CRG9 firmware in samfirm and its confirmed to work. I was able to switch carriers.

Anyone with the latest CRG9 firmware whom would like to switch carriers but the combination files do not work can try the following combination file and it will work.

COMBINATION_FA71_N950USQU5ARG2 ............................................ https://mega.nz/#!stJU2Kxa!T7o3JcU9UoHpQeSDv6qyYkK6ZJqHsEkSxNeo17i7xwA
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] Ki_Ly:
Doesn't work for me. The phone won't boot.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] cfclay:
I have a sprint branded phone Note 8 that I bought, not realizing that it didn't pass the financial resell check.

Using Cricket and the phone works fine except for won't accept updates and the SecurityLogAgent prompts to restart.

Will flashing to an unlocked firmware fix?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] Rafy186:
I followed the steps here completely only difference was using the combination file in question and was able to switch from Sprint to Unlocked XAA. Tmobile SIM is working. Here's a mirror just in case the md5 doesn't match. https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=1322778262903985609
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] ZzZzoneZzZZ:
Hello mr blue fox

My device have CSC N950USQS4CRE1

It's in download mode have carrier on ATT

I bought it from China when I back to my country its haven't work on lte

Can I use your Unlocked rom For make it work on my device

And the IMEI will be changed or still on old IMEI num

Thank you a lot
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] wphend00:
ERROR message I received on first flashg was

abl.elf

FAIL! (Auth)

Complete(Write) operation failed.

I know my phone is factory unlocked edition but I am guessing maybe Knox security is enabled?

Or was this because I was using the ROM I specified in my initial post, and not an unlocked one?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] kaibsora:
You will need to use the unlocked carrier version for your carrier of choice. And if you are on nougat then use 3.12 if on oreo use 3.13
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] sixk:
I am currently on CRG9 build on unlocked device using ATT sim.

Would I be able to flash the CRF6 ATT CSS and USERDATA or will I have to revert back to CRF6 on my phone before flashing?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] playboy71322:
I have VZW sim unlocked N960U running baseband version N960USQ1RG9, my wifi calling features do not work on AT&T (current carrier). I want to know how can I flash stock AT&T rom to get AT&T carrier features working again or is that not a possibility? Right now when I boot up the phone it shows the Verizon boot screen. Any help would be appreciated.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] jcsww:
It is possible, but you also need to have an AT&T purchased phone with WiFi Calling to activate and enable WiFi Calling on your account. AT&T will not activate WiFi Calling on an account that doesn't have a phone purchased from AT&T that supports WiFi Calling on it. Essentially, you activate it with the other phone after flashing to the U1 and then to the AT&T U and once you have it activated and your SIM gets an update, you put that SIM back in your Note 8 and WiFi Calling should work.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] playboy71322:
Yeah I came from an iPhone X with iphone with wifi calling and other features working that same sim is in this note 9. And my wife has an iphone i can use to activate the features on my line then switch the sim back. I guess my next question is how to flash this over this stock Verizon firmware with stock AT&T firmware? When I boot up my phone it shows Verizon and i have verizon apps/ bloatware on it. Thanks for the reply.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] jcsww:
You need to factory reset the device, skip through the setup and enable Developer Options and USB Debugging. Download the U1 firmware with the same or newer bootloader version than your device currently has. Reboot to download mode, make sure you have the correct drivers installed before opening up modded or patched ODIN. load up the images in their correct slots, and flash. The process is the same going from U1 to U, but you must go to U1 before switching to another U firmware. You do not have to factory reset to go from U1 to U but you should use the OYN CSC and not the HOME_CSC in both flashes.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] playboy71322:
Ok thanks for the steps I will try this tonight when I get home and report back the results. I tried some form of this last night with no success but I don't think i went from U(verizon) U1 to U(AT&T). I think I picked some random order in desperation lol.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] jcsww:
That is just a rough overview. There are some very good detailed flash instructions in various threads. I just tend to focus on the things most overlook, but it is basically as easy as it sounds.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] playboy71322:
yeah i will follow these instructions and see how I come out. They seem to be along the lines of what I want to do except I have a note 9 instead of 8.

https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=74087344&postcount=2
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] jcsww:
It's the same procedure for the Note 8, S9, S9 Plus, and Note 9. I have flashed them all multiple times each.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] buddha5955:
I am currently running the latest Oreo N950USQU5CRG7. The phone is on AT&T and I am looking to carrier switch to Sprint. I found the latest Binary Combination file to be Binary 5. Is this the appropriate combination file needed for the process of carrier switching? Also, the OP stated using a Canadian XAC HOME_CSC in the process. Is this still needed and if so how can I get the appropriate file for this Firmware?

I appreciate all the help!

Noob but slowly learning!
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] playboy71322:
Ok so I can report back now that I am now on AT&T firmware from Verzion firmware. VisualVM works, No wifi calling yet..., AT&T said they couldn't see my device, yet I downloaded an update from them when I check for updates. So on the AT&T website it doesn't show my phone at all just a silhouette. My next step is to get my wifes iphone x and put my sim in it let it register online, activate wifi calling and put that sim in my note 9 and see if that does anything. I seen from previous posts that it worked but from what i see it was all android based devices.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] jcsww:
Hopefully it will work with your iPhone. Once WiFi Calling is provisioned on the account though, it hopefully won't make a difference. Either way, please let us know as it might help others in the future.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] playboy71322:
Ok update again....I have my WiFi calling and everything is working as if I bought my phone from AT&T. Even pulled an update from their servers. I called AT&T told them I wanted to add wifi calling on my Note 9 they proceeded to ask my IMEI number had me reboot my phone and try again, no luck. I then was forwarded to escalated support and this guy basically said as of July 2018 the note 9 is unable to get wifi calling (LIE) he said that because i told him the note 9 wasn't an official att device i told him it was unlocked, he quickly got off the phone. Then i put my sim that was in my note 9 in my wifes iPhone chatted with att got them to add the iPhone to my line and then activate the wifi calling, once that was done i quickly added the sim to my note 9 and added wifi calling feature. Now I am good. I hope this helps anyone out there that was stuck like I was. I can give you the fill steps from start to finish if anyone needs help going from Verizon sim unlocked device to AT&T.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] jcsww:
Yeah. The b/s to get something that works to work on AT&T is ridiculous.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] Tonyy1206:
Question Is it possible to odin flash a combination of u and u1 files? Is yes what's the difference? Reason why I'm asking, I have my note 8 running tmobiles CRG9. the signal reception I get for wifi and data is not good compared to when I had U1 firmware running on my phone.

Any advice on fixing the reception performance
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] Tonyy1206:
Anyone have N950U1UES5CRG9 firmware to download? Been checking updato.com but no updates...
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] gregcapps:
N950USQS5CRG9 link https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=1322778262904010789

Thanks to [MENTION=4631220]Venom0642[/MENTION]
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] DeeXii:
Yes just flash all of the U1 firmware except the CSC.

Flash the CSC from the N950U TMB firmware.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] leoleleo:
My samsung note8 rom BRA1 firmware is N9500ZCU2BRA1

but I cant find one ends in BRA1, which firmware should I use?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] MrMike2182:
I'm not sure you're trying to do this when you have the unlocked international version.. Look up information for N9500 and you'll see.. Also read this. https://www.google.com/amp/s/xdafor...o/guide-n9500-unlocking-bl-twrp-t3696103/amp/
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] Wilsonb:
Just stumbled on this forum.. Just to clarify since I didn't completely understand from the main OP. Is this just for carrier unlocked firmware? This is not rooted , correct? Also , I see Oreo firmware here.

Oreo is not root-able on SM-N950U (SnapDragon) correct?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] MrMike2182:
It's not rooted correct.. This is not just for unlocked carrier firmware.. You can be on Verizon T-Mobile AT&T etc etc etc and it's to switch to unlocked firmware.. Oreo cannot be rooted as of yet for bootloader locked devices.
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] mircioku:
Hello, i have a note 8 n950u1, i use this phone in Romania.

It's the september security update available for this model, because mine its with august security
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] buddha5955:
(repost) I am currently running the latest Oreo N950USQU5CRG7. The phone is on AT&T and I am looking to carrier switch to Sprint. I found the latest Binary Combination file to be Binary 5. Is this the appropriate combination file needed for the process of carrier switching? Also, the OP stated using a Canadian XAC HOME_CSC in the process. Is this still needed and if so how can I get the appropriate file for this Firmware?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] Mr. Orange 645:
Where did you get v5 factory binary files?
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] buddha5955:
https://xdaforums.com/galaxy-s8/development/combination-files-v4-s8-g950u-g950u1-t3809963/page6

Half way down the page there is a post with the Binary 5 links
[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] leoleleo:
But it's still in Android 7.1, I clieck software update and it says it's latest. (no android 8 for note8?)

So may I ask what's the problem?