My computer runs 64-bit Ubuntu LTS Desktop. Is there any way I can use it to revert my Samsung Galaxy S9+ (SM-G965F, dual SIM) to the stock Samsung Android ROM? I can only find https://doc.e.foundation/pages/revert_samsung_to_stock_on_windows (and it looks very complex!). Thanks for any ideas here.
Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online services
Use Heimdall. It’s the equivalent of Odin (Windows). See also
Preparing for installation using Heimdall : 1. Install Heimdall or if you prefer you can Build latest Heimdall suite
Revert to Samsung OS is easier using Odin than Heimdall, but you can follow
Flashing Samsung Firmware with Heimdall
or
[HOWTO] (Needs expert review) Flash Galaxy s9+ to Stock Android 10 using heimdall-gui
Cool, thanks! Heimdall was relatively easy to build and it runs on my system.
How do I pick out firmware? I’m confused by “region”. Is this something about the language/locale in the firmware, or is this just indicating the server I’m downloading from? I’m guessing it is the latter, I just want to be sure.
samfrew says the firmwares available for the Galaxy S9+ (SM-G965F) are all the same version (G965FXXUHFVG4, but when I click that number it also shows G965FOXMHFVB4 and G965FXXUHFVB4), same OS (10 – looks like this is the latest available for this phone), build (2022-07-21) and changelist (23733710).
It is about country/carrier dependant OR country/carrier free
The phone is carrier-unlocked. I bought it in the spring of 2021 from ESolutions (now Murena, I guess). I think it is basically the one they sell called “Murena Galaxy S9+ Refurbished”.
or this one: USED - Samsung Galaxy S9+Plus SM-G965F/DS Dual SIM (FACTORY UNLOCKED) 64GB Black | eBay
Is there some kind of “country unlock” I need to account for as well? That eBay listing says “no region lock”. I’ll also ask Murena if the phone they sold me was region-locked.
Ah, so “CSC” is “country-specific code”. I don’t see a CSC in the settings and I am unable to use the methods to figure out my CSC such as dialing *#1234#. I do see that the settings says “baseband version” is G965FXXUHFVB4, which corresponds to the previous (February 2022 Update) firmware at samfrew.
I suppose I could try downloading two different firmwares from samfrew then diff’ing the files.
So if I figure out the phone is not region-locked, I can use any one of these G965FXXUHFVG4 firmwares? Is that right? For example, if I pick Switzerland it looks like the latest available is:
Ugh, I give up. Heimdall doesn’t recognize anything in the .zip file I got from samfrew. SWC-G965FXXUHFVG4-20220824134740.zip contains:
AP_G965FXXUHFVG4_CL23733710_QB54197687_REV01_user_low_ship_meta_OS10.tar.md5
BL_G965FXXUHFVG4_CL23733710_QB54197687_REV01_user_low_ship.tar.md5
CP_G965FXXUHFVB4_CP21749216_CL23733710_QB49528399_REV01_user_low_ship.tar.md5
CSC_OMC_OVF_G965FOVFHFVB2_CL23736736_QB49329611_REV01_user_low_ship.tar.md5
HOME_CSC_OMC_OVF_G965FOVFHFVB2_CL23736736_QB49329611_REV01_user_low_ship.tar.md5
I guess I’ll try Odin in a Windows VM. Man, this is rough.
Odin in a Windows VM worked. I think the ROM was meant for Switzerland but I changed the language to English (USA) and it worked as expected. Lots of bloatware (ugh!), spyware, tracking, so way worse than /e/ OS in many ways, but now I get VoLTE (very necessary since T-Mobile USA dropped 3G support) and Wi-Fi calling (also quite nice to have). This is a bittersweet victory.
Heimdall manage the partitions images that are included in the .TAR.MD5 files of the Samsung firmware
Coverage and technologies of the T-Mobile network
4G LTE
Frequencies that can provide LTE:
Band 2 (1900 MHz)
Band 5 (850 MHz)
Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz)
Band 66 (Extension of band 4 on 1700/2100 MHz).
incl. VoLTE
Galaxy S9+ (SM-G965F) can handle these frequencies.
Alternative Region: BTU (United Kingdom) is for phones direct from Samsung, without brands and less bloatware.
I’m back on /e/ OS with a Fairphone 4! 