[AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note5] Badbrane:
I am using an at&t note 5 (sm-920A) i downgraded from Nougat EQC6, 7.0.1 to 6.0.1. MM CPK1 with Binary 4 bootloader. This phone has never been rooted.

I now have access to hotspot in my notifications drop down menu, and USB tethering along with Bluetooth tethering work by just going to the option and switching them on.

My Goal was initially to downgrade to 5.1.1 to get root so i could make use of the Native Tether/Hotspot and other root apps on my ATT Note 5.

I am using this phone on the Straight Talk network.

This is my first how-to and first post. I apologize if i post in the wrong section or am unable to give more help to those in need.

I've searched/googled and although i have found workarounds i have not found any how-to's to get to this end result.

Ive been using my note 5 this way for a few days now with no problems. disabled att bloatware, knox, and system updates with package disabler pro.

With not having any issues, I flashed back to the 6.01 firmware to check my steps and write this how-to. Will update if anything changes.

WARNING!!

Some things i did may be unnessary but were in my process at the time of writing/doing this so are included

I haven't tested everything on this phone.

I don't know if there are any bugs.

I don't know what will happen when updated.

I do not garuntee this will work for you.

I take NO responsibility if your decision to try/do this fails.

The Search button and google were my biggest helpers.

Here is my process as laid out and straight forward as i could think to write it.

Things you will need:

1. N920AUCS4CPK1 posted by droidvoider (https://xdaforums.com/att-galaxy-note5/help/solution-samsung-note-5-sm-n920a-error-t3545600 using odin) by droidvoider

2. Odin3 v3.12.10 posted by anycallmongolia (https://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2711451) by anycallmongolia,

3. COMBINATION_FA51_N920AUCU4APL1_CL6053901_QB11816686_REV00_user_mid_noship posted by BE8ST (https://androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=124797)

4. N920AUCE2APB2.tar posted by TechNyne66 (https://xdaforums.com/att-galaxy-note5/general/att-note-5-n920a-teather-root-t3356666)

Big Thank you to these guys for posting this stuff, and everything else they post.

I am assuming you know how to put your phone into download mode and use odin in the following instructions. I left my phone connected to my pc with sim card in the entire process.

1. Unzip N920AUCS4CPK1, then Flash using odin. Use all 4 files in their respected spots. nothing else has to be changed hit start.

After reboot I setup up the phone enough to get to settings and enable developer options. making sure to turn on adb debugging and oem unlock. then rebooted to download mode

2. In Odin, Flash N920AUCE2APB2.tar in the BL slot and COMBINATION_FA51_N920AUCU4APL1_CL6053901_QB11816686_REV00_user_mid_noship.tar in the AP slot. (I flashed these two at the same time)

Phone will reboot to binary splash screen then start regularly. For me the phone Played boot music and (vibrated then vibrate twice) repeatedly. Bootloop

If this happens to you as well,

2a. Shut phone off by holding volume down key and power button.

(If you are brought to a screen that says power key long press in yellow with other information below[well call this the info screen, not sure on its proper name],

then power off by holding volume down key and power key again, releasing both when screen goes blank.

2b. When the phone is completly off reboot to recovery by holding volume up key and power key.

Do a factory reset and wipe cache. Then reboot. (If it freezes at cache complete, power off with volume down key and power key).

Holding power button for 10 seconds or more will boot you to info screen again.

3. Your phone should load to a home screen with what looks like a debugging menu as the background.

4. Turn phone off and boot to download mode.

5. In Odin, load BL, AP, and CP from N920AUCS4CPK1. Leave CSC blank. No other options should be changed in Odin.

6. You will reboot to recovery. Use reboot option. dm verity check will start then phone should reboot to normal setup initialization.

7. If for some reason your phone shows the wrong storage size, go to back-up and resert in settings and o a factory data reset mine was showing up as 16gb where as it is 64gb

That was everything i did.

If with straight talk send a text to 611611 with the mesage being apn.

afrter a few minutes they will send a configuration message for browser and mms.

Install both. They should say installed when complete.

For others you will have to input your apn settings manually.

My phone showed H+ for the first few minutes, has been showing 4g ever since.

Just a few thoughts before i post, but are in no way tested or confirmed...

I'm thinking coming from cpk1 full firmware you could just flash the combination file in the AP slot.

Then after reboot to Download mode flash the cpk1 firmware without the CSC file and hve the same result,

but I havnt had a chance to test that yet as i need my phone running, and will soon have to go to work.

The main reason the N920AUCE2APB2.tar file was used was because i was playing around flashing different files it may or may not be needed. further testing is needed. but it was there during this process so i included it. Again I apologize if this could be simplified or if i left anything out. any comments are appreciated positive or negative. Thanks