Samsung Galaxy S7 Active AT&T Firmware Needs a Downgrade from Oreo to Nougat
Samsung Galaxy S7 Active AT&T Firmware Downgrade
Hi there!
I bought 2 of these Samsung Galaxy S7 Active AT&T branded phones off ebay USA and got 'em delivered to Australia. Both of these phones were working perfecty alright with the old firmware installed (I'm reasonably sure the firmware was Android 7 Nougat), until I forced the new firmware update by manually updating the firmware to Android 8 via Odin.
We have got 3 major telcos and numerous MVNO's(Mobile Virtual Network Operators) in Australia and both of these above-mentioned phones were working with all 3 major telcos and all of their MVNO's before I forced the firmware upgrade via Odin. Now, out of these 3 network operators Vodafone and its MVNO's sim cards has stopped working. Both phones working perfectly fine with other 2 network sim cards. I believe this has got something to do with the operating system upgrade as both of these phones having difficulty making/receiving calls on Vodafone network (I'm able to send/receive messages sometimes with long delays, though ). The new firmware must have disabled few of the frequencies/Network bands. The following link might help that has got the operating frequencies of these 3 networks
https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones/Guides/Will-my-phone-work-in-Australia-carrier-network-frequencies
I am attaching the current software information and I want to downgrade the operating system(Firmware ) back to Android Nougat. I'm not worried about Rooting/Warranty/Official Status etc. I just want these phones to keep working for all 3 networks.
A supplementry question is that most of the time these phones do not show callers' number, even though the caller has got 'Show my number' enabled and that number is shown on all other phones but except these 2. All the right settings enable on the caller's phone. I am using Optus network sim cards in these handsets at the moment.
I have tried to downgrade the firmware by myself but could not get the right/easy to follow step-by-step information on the different tech forums. I think for the experts, it won't be a very hard task. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks
Attached File might help with any information I might have missed
Experts-Exchange-Question-Samsung-Ga.pdf
Hi there!
I bought 2 of these Samsung Galaxy S7 Active AT&T branded phones off ebay USA and got 'em delivered to Australia. Both of these phones were working perfecty alright with the old firmware installed (I'm reasonably sure the firmware was Android 7 Nougat), until I forced the new firmware update by manually updating the firmware to Android 8 via Odin.
We have got 3 major telcos and numerous MVNO's(Mobile Virtual Network Operators) in Australia and both of these above-mentioned phones were working with all 3 major telcos and all of their MVNO's before I forced the firmware upgrade via Odin. Now, out of these 3 network operators Vodafone and its MVNO's sim cards has stopped working. Both phones working perfectly fine with other 2 network sim cards. I believe this has got something to do with the operating system upgrade as both of these phones having difficulty making/receiving calls on Vodafone network (I'm able to send/receive messages sometimes with long delays, though ). The new firmware must have disabled few of the frequencies/Network bands. The following link might help that has got the operating frequencies of these 3 networks
https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones/Guides/Will-my-phone-work-in-Australia-carrier-network-frequencies
I am attaching the current software information and I want to downgrade the operating system(Firmware ) back to Android Nougat. I'm not worried about Rooting/Warranty/Official Status etc. I just want these phones to keep working for all 3 networks.
A supplementry question is that most of the time these phones do not show callers' number, even though the caller has got 'Show my number' enabled and that number is shown on all other phones but except these 2. All the right settings enable on the caller's phone. I am using Optus network sim cards in these handsets at the moment.
I have tried to downgrade the firmware by myself but could not get the right/easy to follow step-by-step information on the different tech forums. I think for the experts, it won't be a very hard task. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks
Attached File might help with any information I might have missed
Experts-Exchange-Question-Samsung-Ga.pdf
ASKER
@Jackie Man
Thanks for your comment.
Could you please go through the problem description again, please. I believe you have missed a lot of key information in the problem statement.
1) It's a Samsung Galaxy S7 Active note SGS7 Edge
2) These phones were unlocked, Not locked to a carrier, Country etc. I have used both of these mobiles with all the 3 Australian carriers without any issues for more than 12 months, when those were on Android 7.0. The problem occured after the firmware upgrade, and even after that I'm still able to use the sim cards from 2 telcos out of 3 without any issues. Only problem is Vodafone and I believe it is only some certain frequencies which got disabled/stopped working after the upgrade.
3) I repeat the above-mentioned information again here, we do not need to unlock the IMEI. It is working with 2 carriers only stopped supporting the 3rd carrier straight after the firmware upgrade. So there is nothing changed at the carrier end, only change is at my end.
Waiting for comments. Thank you
Thanks for your comment.
Could you please go through the problem description again, please. I believe you have missed a lot of key information in the problem statement.
1) It's a Samsung Galaxy S7 Active note SGS7 Edge
2) These phones were unlocked, Not locked to a carrier, Country etc. I have used both of these mobiles with all the 3 Australian carriers without any issues for more than 12 months, when those were on Android 7.0. The problem occured after the firmware upgrade, and even after that I'm still able to use the sim cards from 2 telcos out of 3 without any issues. Only problem is Vodafone and I believe it is only some certain frequencies which got disabled/stopped working after the upgrade.
3) I repeat the above-mentioned information again here, we do not need to unlock the IMEI. It is working with 2 carriers only stopped supporting the 3rd carrier straight after the firmware upgrade. So there is nothing changed at the carrier end, only change is at my end.
Waiting for comments. Thank you
Find out the imei of your Samsung phone and input it on the link below and post back the result.
https://unlock.vodafone.com.au/voila/handsetunlock/self-service.html?method=selectService
https://unlock.vodafone.com.au/voila/handsetunlock/self-service.html?method=selectService
The information below make me believe that it is a sim lock issue instead of frequency bands issue. But I am not in Australia and have not ever been to Australia and it is my educated guess only.
Australian--Network-Frequencies.pdf
Samsung-S7-Active.pdf
Technically, the three telcos in Australia have not much difference in term of frequency bands of 3G and your problem is not restricted to 4G network as you cannot dial and receive calls also.
If you check up the spec of Samsung S7 Active, it should work no different across all telcos in Australia.
Australian--Network-Frequencies.pdf
Samsung-S7-Active.pdf
Technically, the three telcos in Australia have not much difference in term of frequency bands of 3G and your problem is not restricted to 4G network as you cannot dial and receive calls also.
If you check up the spec of Samsung S7 Active, it should work no different across all telcos in Australia.
ASKER
@ Jackie Man
Can we try the firmware downgrade option first. I'd like to go back in time where both of these phones were working perfectly. There must be a way to change the operating system
Can we try the firmware downgrade option first. I'd like to go back in time where both of these phones were working perfectly. There must be a way to change the operating system
Downgrading firmware is not a technically feasible option. Installing the old firmware is not equivalent to going back to the status before firmware upgrade.
Find out the imei of your Samsung phone by pressing *#06# in Phone app and input it on the link below and post back the result.
https://unlock.vodafone.com.au/voila/handsetunlock/self-service.html?method=selectService
Find out the imei of your Samsung phone by pressing *#06# in Phone app and input it on the link below and post back the result.
https://unlock.vodafone.com.au/voila/handsetunlock/self-service.html?method=selectService
ASKER
@ Jackie Man
Please find the following screenshots. Thanks
screencapture-unlock-vodafone-au-voi.jpg
Screenshot_20191223-201204_YouTube.jpg
Please find the following screenshots. Thanks
screencapture-unlock-vodafone-au-voi.jpg
Screenshot_20191223-201204_YouTube.jpg
Do you see your phone is using the Vodafone Australia 4G network?
If yes, it is very likely you cannot dial and receive calls as your operator tries to use VoLTE to connect calls but your phone does not support VoLTE.
Try to change Network mode from LTE/3G/2G (auto connect) to 3G/2G (auto connect).
Settings > Connections. Tap Mobile networks. Tap Network mode.
...
Tap one of the following desired band settings:
LTE/3G/2G (auto connect)
3G/2G (auto connect)
3G ONLY.
2G ONLY.
If yes, it is very likely you cannot dial and receive calls as your operator tries to use VoLTE to connect calls but your phone does not support VoLTE.
Try to change Network mode from LTE/3G/2G (auto connect) to 3G/2G (auto connect).
Settings > Connections. Tap Mobile networks. Tap Network mode.
...
Tap one of the following desired band settings:
LTE/3G/2G (auto connect)
3G/2G (auto connect)
3G ONLY.
2G ONLY.
ASKER
@Jackie Man
Could not follow the above instructions as there is no option to choose the band settings.
I'd appreciate if you could guide me to downgrade the firmware. Thanks
Could not follow the above instructions as there is no option to choose the band settings.
I'd appreciate if you could guide me to downgrade the firmware. Thanks
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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The seller of your Samsung S7 Edge should have manually unlock the imei using unlock code from apps or online service but the unlock has been reset on firmware update as it is just like a factory reset to factory status. As your phone is a carrier-specific model for AT&T, factory status means carrier lock to AT&T so that if you can load back a firmware for Android 7.0, it will still have a carrier lock.
What you need to do is to manually unlock the imei using unlock code from apps or online service again.