Database Users

[Q] Debranding NOTE 4 on 3 Network (UK)

Hey People
Got my Note 4 on friday and I love it ..
The only thing I do not like about the phone is the 3 (UK) symbol that comes up when you power up the phone so I would like to unbrand the phone
Question is does three phones come unlocked ? and if they dont do I really need to unlock it before I unbrand it.
What website will supply a good untouched firmware ??
thanks in advance
Ant

If your phone has network branding then chances are its also locked to that network, three may be able to provide unlock code for free or a fee, you can check if your phone is locked by putting another network sim in your phone, if the phone asks for a code on boot then its locked, if your phone just loads as normal and finds the network then you know its unlocked.
Go to sam mobile website who have all the firmwares you need.....
Link for UK BTU below
http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/download/36857/N910FXXU1ANJ4_N910FBTU1ANJ1_BTU.zip/

martytarty said:
If your phone has network branding then chances are its also locked to that network, three may be able to provide unlock code for free or a fee, you can check if your phone is locked by putting another network sim in your phone, if the phone asks for a code on boot then its locked, if your phone just loads as normal and finds the network then you know its unlocked.
Go to sam mobile website who have all the firmwares you need.....
Link for UK BTU below
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the link buddy..
I just put my old sim card (o2) in the note 4 and it gets reception and can make and recieve phone calls
so now its debranding time :laugh:

Does it trip the knox warranty flag when flashing original Samsung ROM via ODIN in order to get rid of the provider modified ROM?

raupe1337 said:
Does it trip the knox warranty flag when flashing original Samsung ROM via ODIN in order to get rid of the provider modified ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi mate
I used odin 3.09 and installed the original samsung firmware
when i go into that boot mode it says
knox warranty void 0x0
so to my understanding this does not void my warrenty ?

Yep, you are good to go i guess. Thanks!

Flashing a stock firmware will not trip knox in any way, only rooting or custom firmwares would trip knox

All three phones are sent unlocked

Does this mean the OPs phone will automatically get 'vanilla' note 4/android updates or does the phone the phone still think it's a Three specific model?

fz9999 said:
Does this mean the OPs phone will automatically get 'vanilla' note 4/android updates or does the phone the phone still think it's a Three specific model?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the phone has been debranded correctly it will think it's a ''vanilla' note 4" (well actually if you've debranded then your phone is a 'vanilla' note 4)
Flash stock btu
factory reset required to change the csc (carrier sales code) to generic uk one (BTU)
you should then get ota updates for "vanilla note 4"

This is good to see, I should get my three phone on friday.
Looking on the three my account page theres an option to "unlock" your phone. Obviously I don't have the phone yet so I cannot try it.
Still nice to know I can just flash the stock firmware.

I'm pretty sure 3 UK brags that it no longer locks there handsets to their network.

Thankyou
i was annoyed when i saw this on my 3 branded note four, after doing this reflash
status is still official and knox is 0x0.
I thought three had stopped branding thier phones as the last two i had wasnt.
The only thing now is i wish i could remove evernote, dont use it , dont want it, but also unable to disable it!!!.

Hi,
I'm a bit confused here, I've flashed the BTU firmware. I typed in *#272*IMEI# and nothing happens. I typed in *#1234# and it says my CSC is BTU. Is that it, do I need to do anything else? Someone mentioned having to factory reset but if my CSC is showing as the BTU do I need to?
I tried factory reset but when I boot into manual mode with volume key up+home+power it states:
Appling multi-csc
applied the csc-code:H3G
successfully applied multi-csc
So isn't the CSC still on Three UK instead of vanilla?
Despite the above I'm getting software updates now so.... meh?

Can you post some link to the unbranded rom please
thank you

I used the one the guy on the first page linked
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=56133581&postcount=2

Creomortis said:
This is good to see, I should get my three phone on friday.
Looking on the three my account page theres an option to "unlock" your phone. Obviously I don't have the phone yet so I cannot try it.
Still nice to know I can just flash the stock firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How exactly are you guys doing this? Any video tutorials? Im really close to returning the phone for an iPhone if i can't get rid of the Carrier modifications.

Just open the firmware link on the first page and follow the instructions. Then factory reset your phone. I held down vol up+home+power for download mode and vol down+home+power for boot menu. I used the boot menu to factory reset making sure I wiped all the caches.

Creomortis said:
Just open the firmware link on the first page and follow the instructions. Then factory reset your phone. I held down vol up+home+power for download mode and vol down+home+power for boot menu. I used the boot menu to factory reset making sure I wiped all the caches.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need to factory reset. I downloaded the firmware from from your helpful post, and flashed my Vodafone branded Note 4, once it rebooted job was done. No vodafone crapware and all apps etc intact.
Tecio
For instructions just google odin flashing guide, there's no shortage of tutorials

Yes that was also the case for me. But for some reason I couldn't get any software updates. After factory resetting I got a software update...

Stuck in bootloop on untouched stock rom, unrooted device.

This afternoon my S7 Edge entered a boot loop. All I was doing was reading the news, in the same app I have been for the past couple of months. The device is untouched in terms of modifications since purchase, so unrooted stock rom. I can get into download mode, and occasionally, recovery mode. I wiped the cache as my first attempted fix - no change. Then did a factory reset - no change. I then thought I'd try loading twrp so I could flash a custom rom, but Odin was unable to flash it due to FRP Lock blocking it. I then downloaded the latest stock rom from sammobile, and was able to flash this via Odin. On first boot the device did start to load, and reached 10/19 in optimising the apps, before starting the boot loop again. I am kinda out of ideas now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

re: bootloops
whitebloodcell said:
This afternoon my S7 Edge entered a boot loop. All I was doing was reading the news, in the same app I have been for the past couple of months. The device is untouched in terms of modifications since purchase, so unrooted stock rom. I can get into download mode, and occasionally, recovery mode. I wiped the cache as my first attempted fix - no change. Then did a factory reset - no change. I then thought I'd try loading twrp so I could flash a custom rom, but Odin was unable to flash it due to FRP Lock blocking it. I then downloaded the latest stock rom from sammobile, and was able to flash this via Odin. On first boot the device did start to load, and reached 10/19 in optimising the apps, before starting the boot loop again. I am kinda out of ideas now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into settings>developer's options and ENABLE OEM UNLOCK then
go into settings>general management>reset>factory data reset and
reset the phone.
Once you have done that the phone will work properly without rebooting
provided that you have successfully odin flashed the official samsung
G935F S7 Edge firmware prior to doing a factory data reset.
Good luck, have a great day!

Thanks for replying. Unfortunately I can't get into the phone at all. Only screen I have access to a recovery and downloader.

So I left the phone alone for a while and tried booting into safemode. This time it worked - sort of. It is asking me for a password, but I have never set one. I only ever set a pin and fingerprints. But since wiping everything that doesn't seem to apply anymore. What is the default password? I am referring to the phone password, rather than a google account obviously. I am not at that stage of the boot up.
Update: found the password (default_password), still boot looping on the optimising apps screen.

If you still can't get into the phone like the person above said, I would use Oden to reparation and reflash your stock rom. If it still gives you issues, I'd suspect hardware fault.

vsn4 said:
If you still can't get into the phone like the person above said, I would use Oden to reparation and reflash your stock rom. If it still gives you issues, I'd suspect hardware fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have flashed stock rom (initially the version that matches my carrier, although my phone was bought sim free and unlocked, and then the version for unlocked phones (BTU in sammobile I think)) but it still just boot loops. The phone can remain in download mode as long as it wants, and previously, when it was asking for the password, it was able to remain on that screen indefinitely. I would have thought if it was a hardware problem the boot looping would happen regardless of the action on screen. Immediately after flashing the stock rom, it did start to load before ooting. Now it just boots immediately at the Samsung Logo.

vsn4 said:
If you still can't get into the phone like the person above said, I would use Oden to reparation and reflash your stock rom. If it still gives you issues, I'd suspect hardware fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to be clear, do you mean repartition here? I have not checked that option before, will try it.

Even without the PIT file. Flashing stock rom should have fixed you... which carrier do you have? If Verizon, they have a recovery assistant software that works in these situations. Or if not try "samsung kies". If all else fails I'd give Sammy a call.

vsn4 said:
If you still can't get into the phone like the person above said, I would use Oden to reparation and reflash your stock rom. If it still gives you issues, I'd suspect hardware fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
vsn4 said:
Even without the PIT file. Flashing stock rom should have fixed you... which carrier do you have? If Verizon, they have a recovery assistant software that works in these situations. Or if not try "samsung kies". If all else fails I'd give Sammy a call.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the UK, and my carrier is Three, although the phone was purchased sim free. I tried samsung kies (phone not compatible apparently), samsung switch (phone does not support initialization). I may have to call Samsung, but I purchased the phone on eBay, so no warranty (never doing that again!), so I guess it'll be expensive to get them to sort it. I've taken it to a phone repair shop this afternoon and the guy reckoned he could fix it based on what I said. We shall see. I don't have to pay unless he fixes it, so worth a shot.

You can wipe your phone by entering recovery. Default recovery has the wipe option.

alehawk said:
You can wipe your phone by entering recovery. Default recovery has the wipe option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was the first thing I tried. Didn't help.

I got the bootloop thingy and was the cache, I wiped and the phone booted up

alehawk said:
I got the bootloop thingy and was the cache, I wiped and the phone booted up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for trying to help, but, again, already tried that.

whitebloodcell said:
I am in the UK, and my carrier is Three, although the phone was purchased sim free. I tried samsung kies (phone not compatible apparently), samsung switch (phone does not support initialization). I may have to call Samsung, but I purchased the phone on eBay, so no warranty (never doing that again!), so I guess it'll be expensive to get them to sort it. I've taken it to a phone repair shop this afternoon and the guy reckoned he could fix it based on what I said. We shall see. I don't have to pay unless he fixes it, so worth a shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope all goes well, let us know if you get it sorted out.

Hi
Just curious...why do u say u don't have warranty just because u brought from eBay?
Surely it doesn't matter where u brought it and it still has warranty.
Have u tried contacting Samsung?

AnubuRe said:
Hi
Just curious...why do u say u don't have warranty just because u brought from eBay?
Surely it doesn't matter where u brought it and it still has warranty.
Have u tried contacting Samsung?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much all warranties (including Samsung - I checked) are contracts with the original purchaser only. Even if you have proof of purchase, you then need to match the records they have of the identity of the original purchaser. Whilst some manufacturers will be more lenient, others will follow the official policy strictly. Speaking from experience here.

whitebloodcell said:
Pretty much all warranties (including Samsung - I checked) are contracts with the original purchaser only. Even if you have proof of purchase, you then need to match the records they have of the identity of the original purchaser. Whilst some manufacturers will be more lenient, others will follow the official policy strictly. Speaking from experience here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For those perhaps in similar situation in the future, Samsung didn't care that it was purchased second hand, despite what the fine print says. They just looked at the serial number. In the course of trying my own repairs I flashed a custom rom, which of course tripped the knox warranty void bit. When I took it into the service centre they saw this and then wanted to charge £225 for an out of warranty repair. I refused at the time. I later called Samsung support and explained the situation (I said a phone repair shop must have done the flashing). Again on the phone I was told it would be an out of warranty repair, and this time I agreed. They collected my phone and returned it to me today however, with no invoice or mention of charges, so it looks like they just did the repair no questions asked.

I have the same issues, so far I'm getting by with flashing a stock rom with pit file and doing repartition and nand erase, normal cache/ factory reset doesn't help, it sometimes even boot loops while in twrp.
Somehow Odin flashing helps for a random amount of time, but it has thus far, crashed after a month, or a couple weeks since the last flash, etc. So far it's been my 5th boot loop event in the last 6 months
It sucks but as I got mine from another country (/win), didn't get the warranty ;( plus I tripped Knox by rooting.

sounds hardware related to me..
i had a friend with a note 4 who had similar problems it would hardly ever boot sometimes boot straight into download mode..
if by chance it did boot it would boot once the device was locked for a short time it would reboot and start over again bootlooping..
it was the emmc flash memory that was failing...
a workaround i found for this was the first thing i did when finally getting it to boot was install "Wake Lock - CPU Awake" and set it to never let the device sleep and to startup on boot...
this "fixed" it as long as your phone does not turn off... he had insurance though and sent it off and they sent him a new refirb
again this note 4 was untouched never rooted or anything

vsn4 said:
If you still can't get into the phone like the person above said, I would use Oden to reparation and reflash your stock rom. If it still gives you issues, I'd suspect hardware fault.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im having pretty much the exact same problem except ive been unsuccesful at flashing the stock firmware for my galaxy s7 active (SM-G891A). the active series isnt the most saute after, so finding the right firmware is alil more difficult. which im pretty sure is how i got into this situation! my question is what exacly does checking the "reparation" option do. i read to leave to leave it unchecked/unticked. maybe thats why ive been unsuccessful. and someone told me awhile ago not to fill in the "bt" box becuz i have a locked bootloader. this correct or no?

Sm-T580 FRP lock and custom binary blocked by frp. Cant flash twrp recovery.

So im trying to install twrp recovery but when i try to flash it thru odin, i get a Custom Binary (RECOVERY) blocked by FRP lock. I cant factory reset because it also disabled by FRP. I cant verify the tablet because i dont know the account information as the tablet was bought through craigslist. I have tried flashing a stock firmware version and that installed fine, but i still couldnt get past the verify screen. So thats when i decided to try and flash twrp but came into the binary error. I have been trying for the past two days to find a way around the verify identity and the frp lock. I cant enable oem unlock. I have tried rootjunky method but OTG flash wont pull up the file manager when plugged into the tablet. I cant use adb because i cant enable the developer settings because you guessed it i cant get past verify identity screen. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like you need to find the Combination Firmware.

softasspoptart said:
So im trying to install twrp recovery but when i try to flash it thru odin, i get a Custom Binary (RECOVERY) blocked by FRP lock. I cant factory reset because it also disabled by FRP. I cant verify the tablet because i dont know the account information as the tablet was bought through craigslist. I have tried flashing a stock firmware version and that installed fine, but i still couldnt get past the verify screen. So thats when i decided to try and flash twrp but came into the binary error. I have been trying for the past two days to find a way around the verify identity and the frp lock. I cant enable oem unlock. I have tried rootjunky method but OTG flash wont pull up the file manager when plugged into the tablet. I cant use adb because i cant enable the developer settings because you guessed it i cant get past verify identity screen. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read the post by Beut in this thread and then watch the video.

4929york said:
Read the post by Beut in this thread and then watch the video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already tried that method but didn't work. It's on android 7.0. I tried downgrading to sm-t580.. XAR firmware 6.1 and it worked but when it boots it goes straight to a black screen asking for a password. I tried the frp call method as well but it doesnt have wifi calling.

softasspoptart said:
I already tried that method but didn't work. It's on android 7.0. I tried downgrading to sm-t580.. XAR firmware 6.1 and it worked but when it boots it goes straight to a black screen asking for a password. I tried the frp call method as well but it doesnt have wifi calling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It only works with certain versions of 6. The one ending is PL4 is the one you want. The trick is in adding the fake wifi network instead of connecting to your home network. Pay close attention to the beginning of the video.

lewmur said:
It only works with certain versions of 6. The one ending is PL4 is the one you want. The trick is in adding the fake wifi network instead of connecting to your home network. Pay close attention to the beginning of the video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay thank you. I will try that again when I get home. And this works on version 7.0? The device is currently on 7.0 but when I tried the pl4 md5 it flashes it but when I boot up the device it just goes to a black screen and asks for a password. It doesn't start at the setup wizard

softasspoptart said:
Okay thank you. I will try that again when I get home. And this works on version 7.0? The device is currently on 7.0 but when I tried the pl4 md5 it flashes it but when I boot up the device it just goes to a black screen and asks for a password. It doesn't start at the setup wizard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to use Odin to install PL4. You can't flash it via TWRP. Also, make sure you wipe everything first.

lewmur said:
You have to use Odin to install PL4. You can't flash it via TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know. I can't install twrp like I said. I've been using Odin to flash everything. But when I flashed the pl4 file and tablet goes to reboot. It doesn't load the setup wizard. Doesn't show the welcome screen and pick a language. It goes straight to a black screen and asks for a password. Doesn't ask for an email or anything.

softasspoptart said:
I know. I can't install twrp like I said. I've been using Odin to flash everything. But when I flashed the pl4 file and tablet goes to reboot. It doesn't load the setup wizard. Doesn't show the welcome screen and pick a language. It goes straight to a black screen and asks for a password. Doesn't ask for an email or anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never heard of that. Can you boot from there into recovery and wipe again?

lewmur said:
Never heard of that. Can you boot from there into recovery and wipe again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea but when I try to factory wipe it says mdm doesn't allow factory reset and reboots and takes me back to that same black screen. I can only wipe cache partition. I will post a picture of the screen when I get home.

softasspoptart said:
Yea but when I try to factory wipe it says mdm doesn't allow factory reset and reboots and takes me back to that same black screen. I can only wipe cache partition. I will post a picture of the screen when I get home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found this site. It is apparently an "MDM lock" and not FRP.

lewmur said:
I found this site. It is apparently an "MDM lock" and not FRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried this as well. I did it about 20 times before giving up. I might try it again and do it about 30 to 50 times. If I was just able to get to settings I'd be straight but I can't get to the settings so that's why I'm trying to reset it as a completely new device. Do you know if I could flash the 7 inch tab A firmware onto the smt580? Or flash the smt585 firmware onto the t580 and flash the BL AP and CSC?

softasspoptart said:
Tried this as well. I did it about 20 times before giving up. I might try it again and do it about 30 to 50 times. If I was just able to get to settings I'd be straight but I can't get to the settings so that's why I'm trying to reset it as a completely new device. Do you know if I could flash the 7 inch tab A firmware onto the smt580? Or flash the smt585 firmware onto the t580 and flash the BL AP and CSC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read, Airwatch MDM lock can't be removed by flashing ANYTHING. It is third party anti-theft protection that has nothing to do with what ROM is installed. I know I ran into their stuff a few years ago with a used laptop I bought and only Airwatch was able to solve the problem after contacting their customer and verifying the laptop wasn't stolen.

4929york said:
From what I've read, Airwatch MDM lock can't be removed by flashing ANYTHING. It is third party anti-theft protection that has nothing to do with what ROM is installed. I know I ran into their stuff a few years ago with a used laptop I bought and only Airwatch was able to solve the problem after contacting their customer and verifying the laptop wasn't stolen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay thanks. I'll get in contact with airwatch.

lewmur said:
I found this site. It is apparently an "MDM lock" and not FRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did end up finding this. Seems the device is completely locked with no way to get around. When i flashed the device i may have deleted the admin privilages so there is no way of gettting around it as of now. I might end up paying someone to fix it or get around it or i wasted 180$ on a locked device. The guy i bought it from either blocked my number or deactivated his number as i cant get in contact with him. Pretty pissed. Thanks for all the help tho

I had the black screen password happen to me when I downgraded my SM-P580 from Android 7 to 6. Try clearing the cache. If that doesn't work, try reflashing, then turn it off and reboot to recovery and clear the cache.

BBowermaster said:
I had the black screen password happen to me when I downgraded my SM-P580 from Android 7 to 6. Try clearing the cache. If that doesn't work, try reflashing, then turn it off and reboot to recovery and clear the cache.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay I'll try that. Didn't try that yet. Will keep updated

lewmur said:
I found this site. It is apparently an "MDM lock" and not FRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you think if i changed the CSC to a different region on the tablet, and put a unlocked bootloader on it, would it might get rid of the frp lock? Do you happen to have a smt580? If so do you think there is anyother way of getting around this? say if i flashed like your firmware on to my tablet? Im desperate to get this thing unlocked as i would be out 180$ :crying:. Thanks for all your help so far. I really appreciate it man. Thanks to everyone who has helped so far.

Or what if i downgrade it to 6.1 and then downgrade it again to a even farther back version? Do you think this might work and gett me around the black screen? If so then i would be able to bypass the google verify account. Ima go ahead and try it unless its a risk of bricking the tablet completely.

I also read somewhere that if i flash the cp part on odin that it will erase all data. Think that might be worth a shot? But what do i need to insert in the cp slott? I know BL goes to BL and AP to AP and CSC home goes in CSC. So what goes in the cp slot?
EDIT: So instead of putting csc home in the csc slot i put the other csc file in its place. I checked the re partition box. When i did this i got a new message on the tablet in the top left of tthe download mode that says FRP is enabled, ignore PIT download. Any idea what this means?

Sm-g955f bricked - flashing stock firmware only made it worse

Hi All,
So, I have spent 2 days trying to get my Galaxy s8+ back to normal. However, I seem to only have made it worse. It all happened when I decided to change the /data partition from ext4 to another format and then back again to get the /data partition to mount in TWRP after flashing Pascal Rom. However when I rebooted, nothing worked, no boot up screen, no recovery, no life, but all I could get was download mode. It then must of froze up after another restart and I couldn't get anything for 12 hours or so.
The next step I tried once i got download mode again was to flash stock firmware for the G955F, I can't remember the version of this firmware, but I still had nothing change. So then i flashed the latest firmware from SamFirm's downloading client, which was G955FXXU2CRF7 - Australian Optus Branded Firmware (OPS). I was able to get as far as the "hello start screen" and then my phone restarted, it then tried to upgrade my system again, then started "erasing" and then it rebooted and I still had the same issue, nothing but download mode and still no recovery, it still wouldn't turn on. So I flashed the latest International/Unbranded Australian firmware (XSA) - G955FXXU3CRGH, still the same result. I now can't go back to the OPS version of firmware because I get the Check error with the bootloader (since it's a more recent version), so I can't go backwards. I also can only flash "Official Binaries" now. Oh and to make things worse, I read that Odin Option "Nand Erase" just erased user data, so I thought I might as well try it, and as a result, I now can't flash even the (XSA) firmware because of ODIN failing and I now have an "An Error has Occurred while updating the device software. Use the emergency recovery function in the smart switch PC Software.". I am a bloody idiot :good: . Oh, I have tried multiple versions of Both Samsung Kies & Smart Switch (Which both had the option for "recovery & initialisation"), however, I get a message that my device is unsupported after adding in my device model and S/N. I tried a PIT file and then found out it's now included in all the latest firmware img files.. so yeah lol. Fun times. Soooo I feel like I am out of Options, nothing I do is working. The worst of all this is my wife is not happy haha which means after years of tinkering with android phones (flashing custom ROMS, Kernels, Root Solutions, e.c.t ), this may be the end of the road for me if I can't fix this phone. I really hope this thread isn't true too : https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8+/help/sm-g955fd-access-download-mode-t3748228
So Please, someone help me out if it is at all fixable even if it requires opening the phone up lol.
The stats i have on download mode are the following:
RMM State as Prenormal
OEM Lock: OFF
FRP Lock: OFF
CARRIER_ID: OPS (which is super weird because it only accepts XSA to be flashed :S )
Secure download: Enabled
System Status: Custom
Warranty Void: 1
Current Binary: Samsun Official
If you need more, just let me know.

Ok, quick update: I have got rid of the error that I mentioned. I managed to flash XSA firmware again, it went to the blue Andriod is updating the system screen, then started "erasing" then rebooted and nothing again, still only download mode available. Nothing happens when I try to turn it on or try recovery mode.

This firmware you mentioned XSA - G955FXXU3CRGH i would double check. As far as I know Australia doesn't have a version 3 bootloader yet whether unbranded.telstra or Optus.

Quick Update: Maybe Fixed now!
Even though no one has replied yet, as it's only been an hour or so. I just wanted to let anyone else know who is experiencing a similar issue in the future on how to possibly fix it.
This was a real nightmare, however quick disclaimer, I am not responsible for any damage incurred to your device/property by following my instructions.
So the way I have fixed it, is I flashed the AP file only (from the firmware zip i had downloaded from SamFirm) with "Auto Reboot" Off. When ODIN finished, I held the Vol Down + power button, to reset it. It gave me a blue "No Command" Screen, I then waited and it then went black and the recovery screen appeared. I cleared the cache, rebooted to bootloader, which it didn't turn back on, so I left it because I thought it was the same thing. Came back 10 mins later and turned it on (or hard restarted, can't remember) and it worked. It booted!
I did soon learn it looks like it was having a charging problem because it had no charge and kept telling me there was water in the port (even though it was dry), I restarted it again after putting it on a wireless charging pad and it is seeming fine so far with the USB charger. So big note to anyone in the future, that it could be possibly bugging out with charging as well if you can't get it back on. I did have the device tell me here and there the last two days that there was water in the port when it was off. So kinda weird.
I know this all sounds a little hocus pocus, superstitious almost, but hey, my phone is working, so maybe replicating my actions may just help lol. :cyclops:

spawnlives said:
This firmware you mentioned XSA - G955FXXU3CRGH i would double check. As far as I know Australia doesn't have a version 3 bootloader yet whether unbranded.telstra or Optus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh right, well, I did hear that SamFirm is not supported anymore, as that's where that firmware came from. Maybe it's dishing out incorrect firmware now? Possible the structure of where ever it is getting its firmware from (pretty sure it's pulled from samsung) has possibly been altered?

Just for reference I use www.updato.com for downloading firmware it is usually up to date. No reference to the firmware you mentioned (not for Australia anyway)

The screenshot I took: Imgur link:
https://imgur.com/a/lqyzWW7

Interesting I'll keep a lookout for it. Still on nougat 7.0 (XSA) no plans to upgrade yet until some issues are fully resolved ( out of beta stage that is ).

spawnlives said:
Interesting I'll keep a lookout for it. Still on nougat 7.0 (XSA) no plans to upgrade yet until some issues are fully resolved ( out of beta stage that is ).
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Yeah, it's seeming to work now, but my fast charge isn't working. However, my other oreo ROM didn't work with fast charge either. So i am unsure if it is my phone or an orio bug :/ lol

Well at least you got it working and not using as a door stop

that was really sad story man.....

spawnlives said:
Well at least you got it working and not using as a door stop
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Yeah haha, so glad it's not a door stop haha

Flashing ROM help on Samsung S8

Hello Everyone,
First of all I am a newbie when it comes to Android, so forgive me for asking such a noob question.
So here is the story, my girlfriend's dad passed away few months ago. He used an old Samsung S8, sadly we do not know what the login pattern is or his Google account password (We did try recovery options but to no avail)
As there was no other option, I went ahead and had the phone factory reset, and from what I learned the phone is now FRP locked.
After a reading a few more guides I downloaded a tool called Odin and some 'Stock ROM' and flashed it hoping that would resolve the issue (Oh boy, how wrong I was) and the phone is now stuck on a screen saying "Error occurred while updating the device software, use the emergency recovery function"
My girlfriend just wanted to be able to use it for some time, and now I feel really bad for screwing it up.
Just wondering what my options are and if the phone is salvageable at all?

Hey, are you sure you downloaded the right ROM for this S8? Since there are two models of this phone, each with a different chipset (Exynos / Qualcomm Snapdragon). I feel like this error could come from a bad firmware? Does Odin still see the phone when you connect it to the PC?
Edit: Apparently people solved this problem using Samsung's Smart Switch on PC.

Yes, I think I downloaded the correct one. The phone is from Telstra Australia and so downloaded the ROM from Samfrew that was listed as Telstra, I typed in the model number which is SM-G950F it is this firmware that came up.
Yes when I put the phone into Recovery mode and connect to PC, Odin detects it, but the flash gets stuck halfway. I've loaded the BL, AP, CP and CSC that came within the ZIP file from Samfrew and under options only ticked 'Auto Reboot' and 'F.Reset Time'
Also tried just with the BL and AP but same deal.

blackslash said:
Also tried just with the BL and AP but same deal.
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Have you tried Samsung's Smart Switch app on PC? Apparently people successfuly fixed this error with it.

blackslash said:
Also tried just with the BL and AP but same deal.
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Click to collapse
I've never had to deal with a Samsung that has a FRP lock, that could just be the reason why the flashing fails, i wouldn't know. I hope you can get the Factory Reset to work :/

Also tried the Smart Switch app but it would recognize the phone. Thank you for looking into this.

You could send a message to this user "makeyourself" : https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/i-think-i-screwed-the-pooch-on-this-one.3939572/post-79729654 , he seems aware about the FRP locks / flashing issues.
Good luck with your S8.

@Derbi75 thanks heaps, will message makeyourself now.

Ideas? Anyone?

blackslash said:
Ideas? Anyone?
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From what I know, the error only appears if the phone was interrupted during flashing. Such as, Odin was writing into phone but you probably removed the USB or stuff. The screen you see is actually download mode. It is just renamed. Try plugging in your device when it's on the error screen then re-flash it.