Database Users

About to switch to the VZW S7 Edge, have some questions regarding firmwares

I'm about to purchase a S7 Edge so I've been poking around these forums trying to figure if I should/if I can modify it once I get it. I'm no stranger to rooting, unlocking, and installing custom ROMs on my previous phones but I'm trying to keep things relatively stock this time around. However, I will definitely want to root and potentially unlock the bootloader. After poking around here I have some questions:
1. I'm seeing different firmwares being talked about all over the place. What exactly are these firmwares? Are they OTA updates from Verizon? These aren't full ROMs or software updates, right?
2. I know Samsung has said that M is coming for the S7, but I also know that it's probably going to take forever for Samsung to get it out, and then it's going to take forever and a day for Verizon to approve/mangle it how they see fit. So I'm wondering if you guys think there will be a quicker upgrade path to N for those of us who are able to tinker with out phones like this. I'm talking Samsung N, not something like CM14. Though I'm not entirely opposed to a stock-based firmware, we'll see how much TouchWiz wares on me.
Thanks for any help!

1. There are only two types, the Verizon firmware and the U (for Unlocked) firmware. You should know what Verizon's always have in their software, but the Unlocked is the international variant that's much cleaner but also lacks features like Wi-Fi calling and visual voicemail.
2. The S7 and S7 Edge already comes with Marshmallow out of the box, if that's what you're asking? And TouchWiz isn't that bad especially how much they've cleaned it up for this year.

GigaSPX said:
1. There are only two types, the Verizon firmware and the U (for Unlocked) firmware. You should know what Verizon's always have in their software, but the Unlocked is the international variant that's much cleaner but also lacks features like Wi-Fi calling and visual voicemail.
2. The S7 and S7 Edge already comes with Marshmallow out of the box, if that's what you're asking? And TouchWiz isn't that bad especially how much they've cleaned it up for this year.
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Ok, thanks. And I actually meant Nougat, not Marshmallow.

Is the latest software still rootable?

Current state of root for Verizon Galaxy S7 [Questions]

Hello,
I'm considering picking up a used Verizon GS7 (or GS7 Edge) until the Pixel 2 comes out. I absolutely need root (I use WiFi Hotspot Tethering, Xposed, AdAway, Titanium Backup, and several other root-required apps heavily.)
I have not been keeping up with the Verizon Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge rooting threads recently, but I just looked through the OP in this thread --- rooting, flashing the optimizations / fixes, and flashing Xposed all look quite simple compared to some of the other phones I've experienced.
Questions:
1) Is the method in the thread linked (above) still the process to root and optimize the Verizon variant, or are there preferable ways that will get the phone working better?
2) How much does the performance and battery life to stock after rooting, flashing the fixes and Xposed? (Please try to be as objective as possible - I know owning a you naturally are inclined to oversell it, but I need to know how much my performance and battery life will suffer from rooting, etc, because I use my phone almost constantly.
3) Besides Samsung Pay / Android Pay, does rooting break or negatively affect anything material? (Bluetooth, wifi, radios, sms, mms, calling/dialer, camera, sensors, software functionality, fast charge, fingerprint reader, or anything else?)
I figured you guys are probably the most knowledgeable about this subject, so I wanted to ask as many questions as I could before picking up a used Verizon S7 / S7 Edge.
Thanks!

I just bought an S7 for my mom, but she needs tethering also, so I am still reading and trying to figure out if I made a mistake buying it. So I feel ya man. Like to know also.
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

IMHO, performance and battery life on the S7 with root are abysmal. I've been rooting my phones since 09 and I can't believe I actually use stock, unrooted Android on my S7. Root is that bad. The fixes made it slightly better, but it was still awful.

Buy an unlocked version or pass on this phone. I can speak for others but the lag and quirks on this phone after root suck.

The hybrid rom unrooted provides tethering and a clean rom base without a lot of bloat. You are SOL if you're wanting to run xposed and such unless you try to take all the steps from the tips and tricks to make a rooted s7 usable.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/verizon-galaxy-s7/development/rom-t3576124

Using unlocked G935A on Tmo

Hello everyone,
I just bought an unlocked G935A (AT&T) s7e this morning, to use on Tmo. Not a fan of the bloatware, so I tried rooting it. Didn't work out, and I ended up flashing back to ATTs firmware circa September 2016 (goo.gl/ZwXTwX) (Baseband version: G935AUCS4API2, Build number: MMB29M.G935AUCS4API2)
My question is, where should I go from here? Is there a benefit to trying to flash to the unlocked or tmo variant? Is it worth it to update to Nougat, I've heard mixed reviews about the camera and battery life. Is there a way to get this horrible bloatware off, without ending up in a bootloop like I was stuck in before... I don't think I want to root the phone anymore, considering the solutions have a unstable disclaimer (https://forum.xda-developers.com/att...g935a-t3410538). Overall phone stability, battery life, and camera consistency is super important to me, I'm going to be travelling all summer without access to a computer, and with limited electricity.
Also, I just gotta say I hate that Samsung doesn't host official firmware anywhere. I feel dirty having a random install on my phone now, and I didn't even get rid of the bloatware.
Anyway, thanks for the help!

Advice on firmware

This is a tough call but all things considered, I should really flash back to complete stock. It's definitely the 1st time I've gone without root.
I need a reliable phone right now. There's some great people trying to make the most out of this with the Eng kernel, but ultimately I running into problems (sometimes it'll run great for over a week but then the issues become apparent. )
That said, I'm told Ufirmware has a problem with getting Doze to work properly. The result is poor battery life.
So my question is what would be the best fw to use?
My model is SM-G935U
CARRIER: AT&T in the USA
***first samsung phone for me and the most confusing part is all the different variants. Should I download xxa?

If you want the best experience on the network, I'd suggest SM-G935A. Sure, it has the carrier bloat, but I don't have an issue disabling the ones I don't use.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

1) The U firmware does not have a doze problem. It gets far better battery life than the A version.
2) This device does not work well with root. You *can* root, but most people seem to go back to stock at some point due to all the glitches and patches required.
3) The U firmware will work just fine on AT&T, but you will lose carrier specific features. Specifically, WiFi calling, VoLTE, etc. (You can get most of the others back by installing APKs)
4) The A firmware obviously will work fine on AT&T, but AT&T really gimped the bajeezus out of the S7 Edge Nougat ROM. I was getting unacceptable lag on bone stock A firmware.
5) You *can* disable packages on either using various Knox-based tools, but in some cases this can actually make things worse depending on how the package is used.
You just need to decide which is more important. Fast and battery efficient, but "bare bones"; or full featured, but a hot, laggy mess?

I was rooted using the samsung u firmware on the att model. I lost my phone a week ago and the insurance sent me a brand new one thankfully. I really didn't have any complaints when I was using the rooted s7 edge. But when I got this new one full att stock. It is quite clear to me now it is night and day difference. The rooted version right now is ok and usable but i will not be rooting my new s7 edge. This phone just flies with stock compared to eng root which just putts along.

jshamlet said:
1) The U firmware does not have a doze problem. It gets far better battery life than the A version.
2) This device does not work well with root. You *can* root, but most people seem to go back to stock at some point due to all the glitches and patches required.
3) The U firmware will work just fine on AT&T, but you will lose carrier specific features. Specifically, WiFi calling, VoLTE, etc. (You can get most of the others back by installing APKs)
4) The A firmware obviously will work fine on AT&T, but AT&T really gimped the bajeezus out of the S7 Edge Nougat ROM. I was getting unacceptable lag on bone stock A firmware.
5) You *can* disable packages on either using various Knox-based tools, but in some cases this can actually make things worse depending on how the package is used.
You just need to decide which is more important. Fast and battery efficient, but "bare bones"; or full featured, but a hot, laggy mess?
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Thanks for the info!
Wish I'd waited just a bit longer. I wound up flashing xaa. Performance wise, it's good. Battery is also fine but I think right now WiFi Calling would be very useful. A family member just moved to an Island and the cell service is fair if it even works.
That's disappointing about 935A fw. Is it really laggy?
Also after flashing I couldnt write to my external sdcard. The system could but I lost those permissions and after much trial &error, I had to factory reset. Still not entirely sure why but it's been awhile since my phones had an sd slot. Think I recall removing it every time I flashed a new rom or even an update. Is that what you do?
Edit-it just occurred to me I downloaded the fw for my model G935U so I believe I am using the U firmware. I don't remember what xxa means. I think it applies to the region?

Looking to Root my S7 Edge

Looking to root my S7 Edge that is running on Total Wireless. The phone was a VZW phone. How much trouble is it root and what is the best non bloated rom to run on it.
Thanks in advance.

1fb17 said:
Looking to root my S7 Edge that is running on Total Wireless. The phone was a VZW phone. How much trouble is it root and what is the best non bloated rom to run on it.
Thanks in advance.
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Click to collapse
The rooting is not very difficult if you're comfortable with using Odin or have used another image flasher before. The thing that sucks about it is that the current root is somewhat of a work around and has a huge performance and battery life issues. That being said, there are many "fixes" for this floating around. I say this in quotes because there seems to be a lot of mixed reports on these fixes working. Some have gotten their phones to be better than stock, others have close to stock performance/battery life but are left off a tad worse, others have phones that are left essentially unusable because of how slow the phone is and have to go back to stock. The silver lining is that I haven't seen anyone mention issues of bricking.
So while the root itself is fairly easy, it could be considered hard/annoying if you factor in all the CPU behavior tweaking you will have to perform afterwards to get the device to be usable again. Unfortunately this is all tied to the kernel so as far as I'm aware no change in ROM will help with these issues other than a tad of relief from the slowness if you use a debloated and optimzied ROM. So they don't directly fix the issue is what I'm saying.
I actually just made a post inquiring as to why this is, but otherwise if you just look at the "Verizon Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Guides, News, & Discussion" section of the forums you will quickly get a good idea of the situation.

Can the Verizon S7 Edge with U firm be rooted successfully with the 8 in this build number?