Flash Official Unlocked Firmware on S21 Ultra 

Without explanation?

SJR is the old unlocked for Canada on W, XAA is unlocked for US using U1, thats why they said to use XAA and not SJR because SJR doesnt exist for U1, only W. But now Canada now uses XAC for W. So, TL;DR, use U1 XAA for US, or W XAC for Canada.

@@frozennorthproductions You can also flash U1 on the W model 🙂

I'm actually running U1 XAA on my W S21u because Canada gets super slow updates. Only issue is that Canadian 5G doesn't work on U1, Bixby alarm only reads Fahrenheit, no way to change it in any settings to Celsius, and Samsung Pay requires a Zipcode but we use Postal Codes in the frozen north. There's a workaround for that last one but it still has its limitations using U1 in Canada so W XAC is preferred for the majority as you lose 5G and the metric system with Bixby lol

hey i know this is old but which version should i use for a g966u s21 plus, tried usc and it got the tmobile

Thats one message I got when I was trying to do this with my A52 5G. I have an Indian version and want to Flash Canadian firmware. Model is SM-A52F and i loaded SM-A52W firmware.

hi, did you choose csc or home_csc ?

@@WaNteDrv backup all your data and use Csc in order to avoid any bricking and get a clean install replacing the csc will wipe all your data while replacing home csc won't wipe your data but there is always a risk of not getting clean install along with boot loop issue

@@faisalb4 thx 🙏

OTA will work fine on W and U1. As long as you don't use a different carrier CSC. Gotta make sure it's W XAC or U1 XAA

Once you flash U1 XAA or W XAC, the OTA updates come from Samsung instead of the carrier. That's the only difference now.

Plus the Fija link does not work?

Test I had issues with Google Drive so I set up my own cloud for links, so all the files are all over the place right now while I get everything sorted out. There's new links to the Google on the Discord to the latest files right now but you can also find the latest Frija on XDA. As for backing up, I just meant user data using the Samsung Cloud backup, cause it will back up app data and everything

I use Samsung backup to OneDrive because it backs up everything without needing root access like other apps. You would have to flash G998U TMB, have T-Mobile SIM, and then sign up for thr Beta, but I already have a video on how to get the beta without official access now cause in Canada we got left out from the programme

​@@frozennorthproductions I'd appreciate your advice. I followed the guide exactly and used the latest 7/1/2023 U1 XAA firmware for my SM-S908U S22 Ultra. Before doing this, the firmware was TMB/TMK (Metro by T-Mobile) which was correct because my phone was originally from T-Mobile. After flashing the XAA firmware and restoring my backup, my phone is stuck on: TMK/TMK, TMK/XAU. I don't understand what I did wrong. I thought my phone should be all XAA now. I used the right firmware and patched Odin. I didn't flash with a SIM card in. In fact I had an eSIM for a Verizon MVNO, not Metro or T-Mobile. I'm totally lost. Is this to do with my backup? Did I restore the old CSC somehow?

Yes, gotta tap on the build number in software version 7 times to unlock it

thanks i have the same s21 ultra from verizon and your comment gave me the courage to do it and now i got U1 as well.

Restoring user data is fine. It's the system data that needs to be wiped. Should work fine.

@@frozennorthproductions Thanks!

@@quazivigilante hey i have a s21 u version from tmobile and i want to get to u1 version. Can you help please?

​@@vishald2302did you manage bro if yes how

​@@vishald2302bro did you find solution my s21 plus is running on smg996u firmware I want to flesh smg996u1. Is u1 is working on your phone?

Yep, just download AXX for SM-G998U1 instead. Process is exactly the same and you'll save some space too.

You have to check the radio bands, if the b/ds model doesn't support the same 5G radio bands, then it won't physically have the right chipset to actually connect to US towers. But, if the bands ARE all the same, then yes, flashing SM-G998U1 with XAA should fix this because it will just be enabling those existing bands in software.

OTA still works fine, the only difference between U and U1 is the U variants get the updates from the carrier (so only a Verizon SIM will allow OTA using VZW on a U variant phone), but U1 is universal from Samsung and the updates come directly from them for any carrier.

I'm not sure, I don't have a exynos model to test but I thought all of China uses Snapdragon models and only Hong Kong for Exynos.

@@frozennorthproductions Mine is a Snapdragon version. So the question is can i use any other firmwares? Or should i use only G9980 firmwares for G9980?

@@TheLethallist you can just use SM-G998U1 XAA

XAA is Samsung Official, it's only U1. U firmwares are Carrier Specific, so only TMB, ATT, etc. The hardware is identical so you can flash U1 XAA. The only different is U1 doesn't have carrier bloat. U does.

Yeah, you just need to make sure you download the firmware for the S21, not S21 Ultra

SM-G998U1 XAA

If you flash the XAA version for that phone you will receive updates directly from Samsung, however it is no longer debloated from factory. Since OneUI 4.1, Samsung made it so when you insert a SIM, it will preinstall the carrier bloat, so your CSC will change to whatever SIM you're using. But, updates will still come directly from Samsung over the air like normal.

Also if you live in Canada, use XAC because it's in metric so a bunch of underlying stuff will be correct for Canada. XAA is imperial for the US. That's the only difference

Hello my AT&T s22 ultra runing on XAA it already unlocked don't get updates last update on August

No, you can only use other Exynos firmware. Canada only has Snapdragon. But with Samsung Pay, just set it up and enter only the numbers from your postal code with 0's at the end. Like, if your postal code is A1B 2C3, you would enter 12300 and then you confirm the credit card with the prompt and it just works after that.

I didn't even know this was a feature, I don't have anything like this one mine (SM-G998W running XAA U1)

@@frozennorthproductions what does this firmware means other than less built in apps from the carrier? things like, Wi-Fi Calling, VLTE or any region specific advantages over other FW like PMB or BMC?

It's just the native version Samaung released before carrier's made all their own changes. So if a Carrier disables wifi calling or tethering then this firmware will enable it

Since the official release of One UI 4.0 and 4.1. It automatically installs bloat as soon as you put a SIM card in. There's no such thing as a bloatfree firmware anymore.

@@frozennorthproductions would I still be able to do the flash method and do the whole root process to uninstall the bloat? I see guides on the ADX forums I believe and tried to grasp it but not fully understanding as I'm using a second phone to try Android as im normally an ios user lol

Yeah there's tons of stuff on XDA and when I was just starting with this stuff many years ago, it was super overwhelming which is why I started making videos about this stuff to make it easier. You don't need root to debloat, you can do it with ADB without voiding your warranty of anything. I actually made a video where I show what to do. It's the second half of this one. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TbjqeJHgnAI.html

Android ROMs don't work like that, you would need an AOSP ROM for an S21 Snapdragon and an unlocked bootloader before you can make that work. So, the most vanilla Android ROM would ve LinageOS but because these phones have a locked bootloader, they don't make an official version. You would have to use the paid service by a developer on XDA, and then flash TWRP through ADB, and then using TWRP you can flash the unofficial Linage OS. Which WILL have tons of issues, won't have the same image processing for the cameras, and possibly be locked down to 60Hz unless there is an open source driver that supports these displays. Running an AOSP ROM on any Samsung is hit or miss, because Samsung uses proprietary drivers for all of the hardware, so you would be better off running stock debloated, or SamPWN, which is a ROM created by the same dev that offers the unlock service on XDA

@@frozennorthproductions so when I try to flash I'm getting a message saying that it fails Sha 256. I got the right firmware BTW. Can you please help

CSC should be XAA for unlocked US model.

Appreciate the fast response. Gonna try and do this without messing something up. It's this or drop the $ on another s21😒

Yes, UICC unlock is paired to the drive, firmware changes are fine, it's essentially just a software update.

No, one you convert it over it's OTA just like a normal phone, all this does is remove carrier bloat by using the unlocked firmware from Samsung

hello friend have you tried it on your tmobile s21 ultra im trying im getting ID:0/006> Odin engine v(ID:3.1401).. File analysis.. skip file list for home binary spunvm.bin quest.fv testvector.fv persist.img misc.bin userdata.img carrier.img metadata.img Home Binary Download Total Binary size: 10062 M SetupConnection.. Initialzation.. FAIL! SHA256 is invalid All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

Hi guy , I have the same phone, how did you do ? I need to do update, please

Are you using patched odin or regular one? You gotta use the patched one to convert from U to U1

Were you able to do this?

Yeah, works on any Samsung, just gotta make sure the model number and CSC are correct for you device

They did, U variants get updates from the carrier, U1 get updates from Samsung. And W do both. If a W varient CSC is XAC, you will get the updates from Samaung. If the CSC is anything else, it comes from the carrier. But all of them auto switch now as soon as you put a SIM card in. For me, I'm running a W variant with XAC CSC on Bell. So the firmware in settings cha ges to BMC, but the updates still directly from Samaung because it's BMC on XAC firmware. It's kind of confusing but basically you only want two firmwares. Either U1 XAA for US, or W XAC for Canada. You also need to use Patched Odin to flash it because it changes the default model firmware and official Odin will fail to flash EDIT: The difference between W and U1 is that W does not use mmWave 5G, only Sub6 cause Canada doesn't have mmWave. And Bixby is metric. So Bixby will read weather in Celsius, Bixby alarm reads in Celsius, and Samsung Pay can recognize Canadian Debit Visa's. U1 has mmWave, and Bixby is Imperial. Canadian credit cards still work on Samaung Pay with U1 but not Canadian Debit Visa cards.

No root, and warranty intact. This is just I stalling Samsung official firmware.

I have never heard of e-SIM. Has never been a standard feature for Canada that I've ever used. However the phone directly from Samaung has all features. Flashing the unlocked firmware is only for the carrier limited phones. If you have an SJR, you have ever feature Samsung let's you have on Snapdragon. It's possible e-SIM only exist on the Exynos models.

@@frozennorthproductions thanks for the info. If you can, please check if you get that esim option in the settings? It's a two year old feature and some providers support it. You don't need to switch, just the fact that it's there will help. I'm trying to understand, if that setting is available and I put an esim there, will the phone still allow the physical Sim as secondary sim. Your tutorial is by far the best resource on flashing samsung native OS. So I think only you can help me with it.

Nothing is there for me, nothing comes up when I search settings for esim, e-sim or e sim. So it's not there.

@@frozennorthproductions I also have this problem, I need it to be dual sim in Canada. Does flashing like this make the "sim card manager" setting appear in the setting menu? This would answer the question im pretty sure.

One UI 4.0 Beta is out now, I just made a video on it, and it enables eSIM. The device now has /DS at the end of the model number signifying its a Dual SIM phone and I have the option for eSIM now. So, eSIM is coming to North America as standard with One UI 4.0

The original method is to hit power while holding both volume buttons, but it doesn't work on some phones, so you can just try that to see if it works but usually the USB trick works everything.

Yes, all of my download links went down for a bit because Google Drive changed their Backup and Sync app to Google Drive for Desktop which wiped half my Google Drive cloud storage, everything should be working again but I'm moving to a new cloud storage in the future one I figure something out.

The other solution I thought about is that I could just get the U1 XAA, but i have U for now and I don't quite understand if it's completely risk free or not

SM-G998U1 XAA

You don't need it for this anymore. Only USB Debugging

Were you able to do this?

BTW, I did used patched Odin (Odin3 v3.14.1_3B_PatcheD) to flash.

Did you use CSC or HOME_CSC? Cause doing from 3.1 to 4.1 using HOME_CSC would likely cause this as it's trying to restore 3.1 data on 4.1 which is impossible. But as long as it's working, you're good. Bloat doesn't get installed from OTA but if any Samsung update bloat. So like, Samsung apps can be bundled in the firmware updates, so you might get Samsung bloat but there's no way to avoid that. However, you could use ADB to remove them and it won't come back after updates cause the phone will already know it has it, it's just uninstalled for the user account and won't force the install again.

@@frozennorthproductions Thanks a lot for the reply. The purpose of this was to 1) remove the Verizon bloat; 2) change CSC so I could use this phone in case I travel to Asia. So I did choose CSC, not HOME_CSC, to flash. What I guessed was that the version 5 firmware has blocked what your tried to do. If I flashed newer 3 or even older 4 firmware (in stead of the latest 5) and converted the CSC first, then either flash to the latest or let the OTA to take care of it, then the result could be different. But now I am on 5 and can't go back to earlier version. Do you have any new idea to change CSC if you're in my shoes? I watched your newer video "stop Samsung update", I hope your problem has automatically been resolved with the latest firmware.

Only gets rid of carrier bloat, it's the same firmware you get on the "unlocked" phone directly from Samsung, but you will still have a network lock because it's IMEI is not from Samaung directly, so once the phone is paid off, you can just call your carrier and have it unlocked for you.

it's factory firmware, warranty is still valid, Knox will not be tripped, and this is how you unbrick your device from a softbrick, so it's the safest method.

U1 XAA for US models W XAC for Canadian models

Just check the radio bands, if Mexico uses the same frequencies as the US or Canada than you can just flash SM-G998U1 for XAA and you'll be ready to go

@@frozennorthproductions how do you check for those?

Google. There's no definitive source cause each phone is different

SM-G998U1 XAA

@@frozennorthproductions mine still says that the sim is not compatible and needs a code.

This is only the unlocked firmware that has no carrier bloat apps pre-installed, you need to have the phone paid off and then you can contact the original carrier to get them to unlock it

I'm having the same issue, have you make it work ?

You gotta flash AXX and use CSC not Home_CSC so it does a factory reset while flashing and removes all the old bloat.

@@frozennorthproductions hello thanks for the reply, I found US XAA for sm-g991u1 model, that is the universal formaware. Can I install it in my sm-g991b model? I can't find a stock firmware for that model :/. I even have random adds popping from my carrier I really hate it!

The SM-G998U1 AXX is the unlocked version from Samsung if you buy it directly from them. It works on all North American Snapdragon phones, and some Global Snapdragon phones as long at the radios are the same. You just have to Google what bands and frequencies your carrier uses, and compare them with the US bands and frequencies that the U1 model uses. If they are the same, it will work, if they are different, you won't have full cell coverage

Just flash SM-G998U1 for XAA

@@frozennorthproductions So I can flash this firmware on my SM-N986U safely with no problems.

Correct

To SIM Unlock? Bootloader Unlock? Or Firmware Unlock? This video is is firmware unlock only. To SIM unlock you have to contact your carrier after the phone is paid in full to have it unlocked, to unlock the bootloader you need to search for Elliwigy on XDA and get in touch with their Telegram to have the bootloader unlocked.

LTE+ is Long Term Evoluyion Advanced, not 5G. So 5G must be turned off in settings, or, you did a dirty flash and it's a bug. LTE+ and 5G's main difference is that 5G is a bought 10x faster. So if it doesn't say 5G, you're not getting 5G. Cause LTE+ is true 4G, and LTE is 3G on steroids (about half as fast as LTE+)

Did you figure this out? I flashed the XAA on my at&t s21Ultra but it doesn't go to XAA for me...I'm getting ATT/ATT/ATT as well as LTE+ like you said

@@B1Gxyz The same thing happened to me just now when cleaning a Verizon ROM.

This doesn't work anymore. Samsung changed it as of OneUI 4.1, as soon as you put a SIM card in, it forcing you to reboot so it can switch the CSC. Every phone is now every phone. They are all the same within region.

@@frozennorthproductions Are you saying there is no need to cross flash again that once we insert sim card it will change to region CSC or you mean once we flash U1 on U the problem of 4G+ instead of 5G is now resolved on 4.1?