Database Users

[Q] AT&T (G900A) - Did I screw up by buying this one?

I can't seem to find any legitimate way to root my G900A from AT&T.
I was with Sprint with my S4, and never had an issue. I made the switch to AT&T before buying the S5.. Was that mistake?
In all the threads I've combed through here there is one common, glaring, issue.. The G900A is not included in the supported devices.
Am I missing something obvious or am I screwed? Or am I just looking too soon?
Already gave the S4 to my daughter.
Thanks for any information or insight.

ACiD0N said:
I can't seem to find any legitimate way to root my G900A from AT&T.
I was with Sprint with my S4, and never had an issue. I made the switch to AT&T before buying the S5.. Was that mistake?
In all the threads I've combed through here there is one common, glaring, issue.. The G900A is not included in the supported devices.
Am I missing something obvious or am I screwed? Or am I just looking too soon?
Already gave the S4 to my daughter.
Thanks for any information or insight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is a universal root method.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2717061
Try to talk with a recovery developer to check your partition table.
(Other variant may have matching partition table with your variant)
I guess, @PlayfulGod can help you with it.

ACiD0N said:
I can't seem to find any legitimate way to root my G900A from AT&T.
I was with Sprint with my S4, and never had an issue. I made the switch to AT&T before buying the S5.. Was that mistake?
In all the threads I've combed through here there is one common, glaring, issue.. The G900A is not included in the supported devices.
Am I missing something obvious or am I screwed? Or am I just looking too soon?
Already gave the S4 to my daughter.
Thanks for any information or insight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SandeepEmekar said:
Here is a universal root method.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2717061
Try to talk with a recovery developer to check your partition table.
(Other variant may have matching partition table with your variant)
I guess, @PlayfulGod can help you with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure eventually a root method will come about for that model. Unfortunately tho, the vzw & att models have a locked bootloader and most likely locked down with knox as well and currently no way to boot custom recoveries or kernels.

PlayfulGod said:
I'm sure eventually a root method will come about for that model. Unfortunately tho, the vzw & att models have a locked bootloader and most likely locked down with knox as well and currently no way to boot custom recoveries or kernels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@PlayfulGod is absolutely right. Even if an exploit is found for the AT&T or Verizon models, it is unlikely that you'll ever have full root access - thanks to the combination of locked bootloaders, KNOX, and SELinux.
Check your contract - most carriers have a 14-day "buyer's remorse" period in which you can return your handset. You might be faced with a $35-$50 "restocking fee", but depending on how desperate you are for custom ROMs and/or Recovery, it may be worth it to you. Please note that your carrier may try everything they can to stop you from leaving (in terms of talking you out of it). Your contact with AT&T should also have a "back-out" period of 30 days (unless that's changed recently).
Couple other notes:
1) That's the primary reason I switched from AT&T to TMO when I jumped from the S4 to the S5 - I was sick of locked bootloaders. Otherwise, I really just like TMO a lot more as a company, including some of their political standpoints.
2) I've heard of several people now buying TMO S5's and taking them over to AT&T. It's a lot of money up front, but might be worth it to you.
Good luck.

Thanks guys
Thank you for the informative replies. They confirmed what I had already gathered, piece by piece, in a decent comprehensive manner so I appreciate it.
Unfortunately, this time around we gamed the system a bit and went in on this as a 'group' for the services and phones. As far as I can tell, as an individual, I don't have any options of returning the unit in favor of moving to another provider.
Besides that, I finally have good service where I live. I am in the middle of a city but my actual home was in a crap spot with Sprint. After doing research we found that we'd all have great service with AT&T. If the trade-off is no root, so be it I suppose. (Though I have heard that T-Mo has the same service in the same areas due to using the same connectivity)
The knox deal doesn't concern me so much.. This may be a bit cocky (and a little stupid), but I have yet to have to replace a galaxy since they started putting them out *knock on wood*. But it sounds like that's only one issue in a sea of others.
Long-winded story short, Thanks guys. I am much more informed on my situation than before. :good:

ACiD0N said:
I can't seem to find any legitimate way to root my G900A from AT&T.
I was with Sprint with my S4, and never had an issue. I made the switch to AT&T before buying the S5.. Was that mistake?
In all the threads I've combed through here there is one common, glaring, issue.. The G900A is not included in the supported devices.
Am I missing something obvious or am I screwed? Or am I just looking too soon?
Already gave the S4 to my daughter.
Thanks for any information or insight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I expressly bought a G900W8 model because of the locked bootloader issue with AT&T. I've come from Verizon on the S4, and I wasn't doing the whole locked thing again - it was annoying and I just wasn't going to have it. What I did was buy an S5 from AT&T on a $25/month installment plan, turn around and sold it on Swappa for full price, and bought an unlocked W8 model the same day. I payed virtually nothing except shipping, I get a nice unlocked phone ready for AOSP when it comes out, and I didn't have to pay the ridiculous $650 price for what would be essentially a developer unlocked phone.
If your phone is still new and you think you could sell it and get mint condition pricing on it, do your research on the G900T model. That's TMobile's phone, but it has an unlocked bootloader, can be rooted/flashed/whatever you like, and if I remember correctly (please someone correct me if I'm wrong), it works on all the bands that AT&T does and will be virtually the same as far as mobile data goes. If you already have your service activated on your current AT&T phone, you can literally just swap the SIM card out and you shouldn't have any issues after that. There might be a little caveat as far as having an AT&T SIM in a Tmo phone, but as far as I've read on the forum, this is very easy to get past; you may very well not have any problems whatsoever.
You could look for the W8 model, which wouldn't have any carrier branding on it, but those were hard to come by for me on Swappa, and the unlocked listing the main page gives you is for a phone that doesn't support 4G.
So like I said, if you think you could sell it, and you find a good listing on Swappa for an unlocked phone, I say go for it. Having an unlocked bootloader is going to put your device in a good place as far as updates go, and once developers start pushing out polished custom ROMs, you'll be happy to use your device for longer than the year's use that is generally expected.

[Q] AT&T over Verizon

So my question is quite simple, and before I get flamed, yes I have tried searching. I don't think I'm typing the correct sequence of words if there is already something on this. I never post obviously, I normally creep and derive my answers that way. Obvious again that I've been here since 2012
My question is if there is a way / guide to overwrite/reprogram the phone with the AT&T firmware and software and replace the Verizon that is currently on the device. I brought the phone over from Verizon to AT&T and there are just a couple complications that are just a bother and Just over it.
I would appreciate any guidance and information any of you could provide on the subject.

RonniEdwards said:
So my question is quite simple, and before I get flamed, yes I have tried searching. I don't think I'm typing the correct sequence of words if there is already something on this. I never post obviously, I normally creep and derive my answers that way. Obvious again that I've been here since 2012
My question is if there is a way / guide to overwrite/reprogram the phone with the AT&T firmware and software and replace the Verizon that is currently on the device. I brought the phone over from Verizon to AT&T and there are just a couple complications that are just a bother and Just over it.
I would appreciate any guidance and information any of you could provide on the subject.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if you can from a user stand point but when I was shopping around t-mobile store told me they would copy their firmware onto the phone so I could try their network. You may need to go to a store and talk to someone.

Since Verizon is CDMA and AT&T is GSM, I am not sure a simple firmware update is all that is needed to switch.

supersnackbar said:
Since Verizon is CDMA and AT&T is GSM, I am not sure a simple firmware update is all that is needed to switch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I thought but they insisted they could do it. Maybe since there is a Sim slot it's easier on the the 3's.

Years ago you could almost swap sim cards and be good. Idk about it anymore. I think you would have to take all the system files/partitions and the radio and swap them for the carriers. Im sure someone else whos more, but i think it would be unreasonably hard to do.
Sent From My Galaxy Note 3

This thread is moving to T-Mobile, but the concept is the same for AT&T
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2582747
Sent from my Note 3 via Tapatalk

i believe that some services would work as the phone has some radios in it for the att bands, but you would be better off trading for an att version. swappa has stuff like that all the time to straight trade

Getting service to work and getting 4Glte was no issue. That just required me to manually input APNs that were AT&T specific and presto I have service and all that jazz. My issue is a couple of other small things that really aren't big hut just thst, annoying. That's why I was seeing about the software and firmware being flashed into the device.

[Q] Help!! Verizon Branded S5

I decided to follow a buddies advise and save $100 and order a verizon s5 instead of ordering a no brand, unlocked one on ebay. it is basically the same phone for specs and what not, just verizon bloated. So, i bought it and called att and got the sim card activated with the phone and now my phone has data and phone. my problelms are this:
I want to get rid of all the bloat stuff
I cant use the tethering on anything because it wants a verizon subscription and i am with att.
my data speed isnt the 4g/LTE that i should be getting. according to the att rep, PROBABLY because it is a verizon phone. i get H+ speed,
which a buddy tells me is basically "3.5G".....lol
i have been able to get root access as one of the fellow techs at the shop is pretty good with this stuff. but he tells me that everything he sees/knows,
it cant be done because of the bootloader they used.
is there anything i can do to be able to do the tethering and get my speeds up? that at least would be suff!! i am a computer tech so i can follow some direction if you
can just point me in the right direction, i would be ever so grateful. thanks in advance....

Hi
Thanks for writing to us at XDA Assist. Please standby while we have your thread/question moved to the appropriate sub-forum for your device.
For future reference you can find your device sub-forum here (bookmark/subscribe this):
Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 5
Within that section you will find a dedicated q&a sub-forum (this is where your thread is going to be moved to):
Verizon Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting
Good luck!

update
i have done some research and found this tool called safestrap. LOVING IT! was able to get it installed and working with little to no effort. downloaded a couple of roms and loaded them into a rom slot(not stock) and everything is what i wanted with the exception of my data speed. still cant seem to get the 4g/lte working no matter what. ATT claims it is because it is a verizon phone...most likely. got the bloat stuff off and the tethering is working now. only issues now is the damn data speed. connected to wifi most of the time but when i am not, wow...is it alot slower than usual. any help on that would be great!! thanks again peeps....your site is AWESOME!!!

MjrMalfunkshn said:
i have done some research and found this tool called safestrap. LOVING IT! was able to get it installed and working with little to no effort. downloaded a couple of roms and loaded them into a rom slot(not stock) and everything is what i wanted with the exception of my data speed. still cant seem to get the 4g/lte working no matter what. ATT claims it is because it is a verizon phone...most likely. got the bloat stuff off and the tethering is working now. only issues now is the damn data speed. connected to wifi most of the time but when i am not, wow...is it alot slower than usual. any help on that would be great!! thanks again peeps....your site is AWESOME!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no help to give. You can't get 4G speeds on AT&T or T-Mobile with a Verizon phone.

landshark68 said:
There's no help to give. You can't get 4G speeds on AT&T or T-Mobile with a Verizon phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am finding that you would be correct...lol. have had a couple of different roms in the phone the last couple of days and find that i dont hit 4g hardly at all. once in a great moon it will come up but as quick as it does, it is gone. i appreciate all the nfo and help you guys have been.

landshark68 said:
There's no help to give. You can't get 4G speeds on AT&T or T-Mobile with a Verizon phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read on one site that you can actually switch S5s to other CSC codes by loading the desired stock firmware and using Kies. It said Kies sees the mismatched CSC and uses the one loaded instead of the device's. I haven't tried it, but I was wondering if anyone has?

Rapunzl said:
I read on one site that you can actually switch S5s to other CSC codes by loading the desired stock firmware and using Kies. It said Kies sees the mismatched CSC and uses the one loaded instead of the device's. I haven't tried it, but I was wondering if anyone has?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have not tried this as i am new to the whole modding my phone thing. would be curious if this would work. i am loving most of the roms on here.

Use the 900v with GCI?

Many thanks to those here who are willing and able to help.
My sister was given a sm-g900v, which is currently on Verizon. She has an account with GCI and took the phone to the GCI store. At the store, they told her that the phone is unlocked, but needs to be flashed in order to work with GCI.
I have searched through this forum and cannot find any "GCI" specific rom. What do I need to flash her phone with to enable it to work on GCI?
I have flashed Motorola phones before, so I think that I could flash it, I just have never used an S5, nor have I used GCI.
Thanks in advance!

AlaskaLinuxUser said:
Many thanks to those here who are willing and able to help.
My sister was given a sm-g900v, which is currently on Verizon. She has an account with GCI and took the phone to the GCI store. At the store, they told her that the phone is unlocked, but needs to be flashed in order to work with GCI.
I have searched through this forum and cannot find any "GCI" specific rom. What do I need to flash her phone with to enable it to work on GCI?
I have flashed Motorola phones before, so I think that I could flash it, I just have never used an S5, nor have I used GCI.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would think the best place to ask for firmware is GCI provider. Their network, they should know where and how to get the firmware!

buhohitr said:
I would think the best place to ask for firmware is GCI provider. Their network, they should know where and how to get the firmware!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, but that is why I am here. They do not seem to have any information on that (e.g., they are not very helpful or not very bright). I've been down this road before with my (other) sister's last phone, an S4. GCI said that they don't flash phones. They sent us across the street to Verizon to have them flash it. Verizon said that the phone is unlocked and works for their network, and if we want to use a different network, it is the responsibility of the new network provider to flash the phone. In my S4 sister's case, we just bought her a different phone. I am trying to avoid that with this sister's S5. It is getting kind of expensive to keep buying new phones because of a stinky carrier.
As you can see, this presents a redundant hamster wheel affect.
Perhaps part of the problem is Alaska's GCI service.

AlaskaLinuxUser said:
Thanks, but that is why I am here. They do not seem to have any information on that (e.g., they are not very helpful or not very bright). I've been down this road before with my (other) sister's last phone, an S4. GCI said that they don't flash phones. They sent us across the street to Verizon to have them flash it. Verizon said that the phone is unlocked and works for their network, and if we want to use a different network, it is the responsibility of the new network provider to flash the phone. In my S4 sister's case, we just bought her a different phone. I am trying to avoid that with this sister's S5. It is getting kind of expensive to keep buying new phones because of a stinky carrier.
As you can see, this presents a redundant hamster wheel affect.
Perhaps part of the problem is Alaska's GCI service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So my question would be, should I use GCI? how is the software will be upgrading going forward? I wouldn't mess around with provider that smart enough to support the device. You will have more headache going forward, just my thoughts.

buhohitr said:
So my question would be, should I use GCI? how is the software will be upgrading going forward? I wouldn't mess around with provider that smart enough to support the device. You will have more headache going forward, just my thoughts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't agree more! That's why I don't use GCI. However, in Alaska there are limited resources depending upon where you live. For the area they live in, GCI and Verizon are the networks with good signal. Thanks for your thoughts though!

Need (current) help with using a refurb Verizon S7e on Cricket

I purchased a refurbished Verizon S7 Edge. Looks brand new, never used... seems flawless in every way.
Put my Cricket Sim in it and got Cricket to register the IMEI number.
Aside from the irritating message that I'm not using a Verizon Sim, and all of the unwanted Verizon bloatware... the phone will NOT stay locked on the AT&T Network... AND, it has to be Manually Connected to the AT&T Network every time, in order to get 4G LTE.
Otherwise, I only get H+ and the phone constantly wants to switch to Global Network.
So.... I started reading through an endless number of posts. I found what seemed like many good answers, but to be honest, I'm not sure if they're still relevant or if the steps, choice of software tools, etc. have changed.
More over, I am not a cell person, so this all seems like Greek to me... actually, I can recognize Greek as Greek, so this is worse than that. LOL
I'm looking for some spot-on knowledgeable person who can walk me through the steps dealing with whatever Rooting, Bootloading, Flashing, etc. are, and getting to the point that perhaps my Verizon S7e now thinks that it is either an AT&T S7e... or that it's so Universal that every band is made available on here. I'm sure there's some Firmware somewhere for that, because I swear I read about something like that on here... but can't locate that thread now.
I understand that this is a big ask... and, if there are threads with step-by-step directions for newbs & dummies, then a list of those threads, with the order in which to complete the thread-posted directions, would really make me extremely happy.
Also, I'm curious if taking this approach to this phone can improve the cell signal reception. I've noticed with my ZTE Axon 7 that ZTE updates on at least 3 occasions have very noticeably degraded the Axon 7's signal reception. I thought I was imagining it and blamed it on everything except the phone... until reading endless complaints from other owners, about the same issue, and discovering that many of those owners seem to be much more knowledgeable about cell phone hardware, software, firmware, etc., than I am.
So, I'm hoping that I can discover exactly what I need to do to make this Verizon S7e run like a Derby Champion!
I'm sure there is someone out there who has the exact same issue and quest... and if so, I'm hoping that he or she will come forward and assist, especially if they can empathize with my frustration and learning curve! LOL
Thank you, in advance, to anyone and everyone who can help me NOT BRICK my phone and turn it into a truly useful tool.
~Tex

First you need to check AT&T and the Verizon S7 and make sure the phone supports the LTE bands for AT&T. You will also need to flash the Unlocked software for the SM-G935U model. https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-s7-edge/SM-G935U/ATT/

<<First you need to check AT&T and the Verizon S7 and make sure the phone supports the LTE bands for AT&T. You will also need to flash the Unlocked software for the SM-G935U model. >>
I'm in the same boat and appreciate your link to the SM-G935U firmware for AT&T.
I see in your link to the SM-G935U firmware that the dropdown menu includes a reference to AIO firmware. Is that Cricket firmware (the APN for Cricket includes a reference to aiowireless.net)? With a SM-G935V, can we use any of the flavors of SM-G935U firmware?
Thanks!

judicata said:
<<First you need to check AT&T and the Verizon S7 and make sure the phone supports the LTE bands for AT&T. You will also need to flash the Unlocked software for the SM-G935U model. >>
I'm in the same boat and appreciate your link to the SM-G935U firmware for AT&T.
I see in your link to the SM-G935U firmware that the dropdown menu includes a reference to AIO firmware. Is that Cricket firmware (the APN for Cricket includes a reference to aiowireless.net)? With a SM-G935V, can we use any of the flavors of SM-G935U firmware?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should use the firmware that best supports the network you will be using. This will make life a lot easier with little to no workarounds needed to make things work.

Thanks & I'm starting to work on it now
tx_dbs_tx said:
First you need to check AT&T and the Verizon S7 and make sure the phone supports the LTE bands for AT&T. You will also need to flash the Unlocked software for the SM-G935U model. https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-s7-edge/SM-G935U/ATT/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the information. This site can be overwhelming to a newbie... especially when I'm trying to work on my ZTE Axon 7 (already on Cricket, but bought the S7e as a replacement) and failing at that for some reason... plus get this new refurb S7e stripped of the Verizon firmware, etc.
Yes, it already has the bands, even with Verizon firmware, for the AT&T 4G LTE... but because of the Verizon software (or so I suspect) it requires me to keep manually connecting the phone to the AT&T 4G network (search, connect, etc.) whenever it drops or the phone is powered off. That's when I came back here to read and research.
Hopefully, I'll better understand all of this after I've successfully completed rooting and flashing one or both of my phones and one of them is working better for me on the Cricket network!
I'll post again if there are questions or successes... and I'm checking back on Judicata's progress as well. Similar problems might have similar solutions
~Tex

judicata said:
<<First you need to check AT&T and the Verizon S7 and make sure the phone supports the LTE bands for AT&T. You will also need to flash the Unlocked software for the SM-G935U model. >>
I'm in the same boat and appreciate your link to the SM-G935U firmware for AT&T.
I see in your link to the SM-G935U firmware that the dropdown menu includes a reference to AIO firmware. Is that Cricket firmware (the APN for Cricket includes a reference to aiowireless.net)? With a SM-G935V, can we use any of the flavors of SM-G935U firmware?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I switched back and forth a few times... it looks like it's the exact same firmware update names. All of the reading I've done on XDA Dev always seems to tell people to load ATT. I think I also saw something about being able to unlock every bandwidth in the phone... that these phones are capable of accessing all carrier bandwidths and are only limited by the software on them.
I'm also trying to work on my ZTE Axon 7... so I might be confusing those posts with the SG S7e posts. LOL
~Tex

I installed the SM-G735U software on my SM-G735V Verizon S7 Edge this afternoon. I used the AIO version figuring it was for Cricket, which is my carrier.
So far so good. The APN settings were all there and correct for Cricket. I wasn't sure whether to tick Re-Partition or not. I ticked it, and all worked out. I have not yet put the phone into Recovery Mode to wipe the cache then wipe data/factory reset. as suggested in the instructions on Sammobile to get updates OTA.
I'll post if any problems crop up.

Reflash stock bootloader after rooting. You get near stock performance.

how to root my phone
I have s7 edge verizon G935V with androd Oreo so if I install G935U firmware all verizon stuff would disapeir? could I rooted later? or how can root it?