Should I be getting Android 12 by now?

[King Mustard]

I bought a used Galaxy S21 Ultra from SmartFoneStore (UK) (via Back Market).

Settings > About phone > Software information tells me I'm running One UI v3.1 (Android 11).

Settings > Software update > Download and install tells me:

Your software is up to date.

Current version: G998BXXU3AUDA / G998BOXM3AUDA / G998BXX3AUDA
Security patch level: 1 May 2021

That all seems rather out of date?

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Yep, you are a solid year behind. Probably 20 updates worth...

My S21 ultra is on Android 12, oneUI 4.1 and the May 2022 security patch.

 

[King Mustard]

Yep, you are a solid year behind. Probably 20 updates worth...

My S21 ultra is on Android 12, oneUI 4.1 and the May 2022 security patch.

Hmm. I wonder why my phone is telling me I'm up-to-date?

 

[rvbfan]

Is it an actual S21? Could it be a knockoff?

 

[King Mustard]

Is it an actual S21? Could it be a knockoff?

It's definitely the real deal.

 

[ironass]

It could be a CSC code mismatch on a re-flashed phone from another region.

What is the devices, "Service provider software version".

Go to... Settings > About phone > Software information > Service provider software version (See screenshot)

 

[King Mustard]

It could be a CSC code mismatch on a re-flashed phone from another region.

What is the devices, "Service provider software version".

Go to... Settings > About phone > Software information > Service provider software version (See screenshot)

https://i.imgur.com/OZZ6MmXl.png

Baseband version: G998BXXU3AUDA
Service provider software version: SAOMC_SM-G998B_OXM_BTU_RR_0011, BTU/BTU,BTU/EEX/LUX

 

[ironass]

Baseband version: G998BXXU3AUDA
Service provider software version: SAOMC_SM-G998B_OXM_BTU_RR_0011, BTU/BTU,BTU/EEX/LUX

Just as I thought, this device was originally on European code LUX for Luxembourg and has been re-flashed by a re-seller with a generic engineering firmware, G998BXXU3AUDA, which was never released for the stock Samsung, U.K. models on CSC code BTU, or Luxembourg for that matter.

I have come across this on a number of other forums and you will never receive an OTA, (Over The Air), update on this device with such a CSC code mismatch as it is not recognised by Samsung.

You can no longer change your device's CSC code by using sites such as SamKey.

You therefore have 2 choices...

• 1. Download and update the latest U.K. firmware manually, using Odin. This will need to be done each time there is a U.K. update.
• 2. Return your phone to SmartPhoneStore (UK) and demand a refund.

 

[King Mustard]

Just as I thought, this device was originally on European code LUX for Luxembourg and has been re-flashed by a re-seller with a generic engineering firmware, G998BXXU3AUDA, which was never released for the stock Samsung, U.K. models on CSC code BTU, or Luxembourg for that matter.

I have come across this on a number of other forums and you will never receive an OTA, (Over The Air), update on this device with such a CSC code mismatch as it is not recognised by Samsung.

You can no longer change your device's CSC code by using sites such as SamKey.

You therefore have 2 choices...

• 1. Download and update the latest U.K. firmware manually, using Odin. This will need to be done each time there is a U.K. update.
• 2. Return your phone to SmartPhoneStore (UK) and demand a refund.

Thank you so much!

What a ball ache.

 

[ironass]

Thank you so much!

What a ball ache.

That's how these re-sellers can sell them so cheaply as they hoover up all the excess stock and re-flash them for whatever market they can sell them in and hope that buyers do not realise that they have a, "lemon".

Personally, I would approach SmartPhoneStore (UK) and demand a refund as the device is, "not of merchandisable quality".

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

My thought was either this or a compromised system image. This is the more benign of those two, so at least there's that lol.

 

[MNMobileGuy]

That's how these re-sellers can sell them so cheaply as they hoover up all the excess stock and re-flash them for whatever market they can sell them in and hope that buyers do not realise that they have a, "lemon".

Personally, I would approach SmartPhoneStore (UK) and demand a refund as the device is, "not of merchandisable quality".

The device is most certainly not a "lemon" and is absolutely "of merchandisable quality".

The software can very easily be manually updated using a PC, and OTA updates should work fine after that

 

[King Mustard]

The device is most certainly not a "lemon" and is absolutely "of merchandisable quality".

The software can very easily be manually updated using a PC, and OTA updates should work fine after that

Are you able to provide instructions for this?

Will the first manual update by a PC wipe all data on the phone?

 

[ironass]

The device is most certainly not a "lemon" and is absolutely "of merchandisable quality".

The software can very easily be manually updated using a PC, and OTA updates should work fine after that

A phone that cannot receive updates OTA as prescribed by Samsung is most definitely not of merchandisable quality in any way, shape or form as the OP has demonstrated.

 

[MNMobileGuy]

Are you able to provide instructions for this?

Will the first manual update by a PC wipe all data on the phone?

There are tons of guides to flashing Samsung firmware, both here on AC and in lots of other places around the internet. No, data will not be wiped if you flash it correctly

A phone that cannot receive updates OTA as prescribed by Samsung is most definitely not of merchandisable quality in any way, shape or form as the OP has demonstrated.

If every single other feature and function on the phone works fine, then I would disagree

 

[ironass]

If every single other feature and function on the phone works fine, then I would disagree

The OP was not informed at the time of purchase that the phone would never receive the last 12 months of security updates or any future updates or the update to Android 12 some 7 months ago or Android 13 in future and you seriously consider that acceptable?

 

[MNMobileGuy]

The OP was not informed at the time of purchase that the phone would never receive the last 12 months of security updates or any future updates or the update to Android 12 some 7 months ago or Android 13 in future and you seriously consider that acceptable?

Manually updating is very easy, so no, a device not updating is not a deal-breaker for most people.

Also, it's totally possible that the seller did not know about the issue.

Also, the current firmware that the phone has is not an "engineering firmware". It's just that that version was never released broadly for the European region, so the phone doesn't think that it's a valid firmware to update from

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Manually updating is very easy, so no, a device not updating is not a deal-breaker for most people.

Also, it's totally possible that the seller did not know about the issue.

Also, the current firmware that the phone has is not an "engineering firmware". It's just that that version was never released broadly for the European region, so the phone doesn't think that it's a valid firmware to update from

Just because I like to mix in...

I think you may have a rather skewed view of the average person's level of technical ability lol.

Also, as a relatively technically sophisticated user, I personally would find having to connect to a PC and manually update every month to be totally and wholly unacceptable.

I'll let Ironass teach you about the firmware themself.

 

[ironass]

Manually updating is very easy, so no, a device not updating is not a deal-breaker for most people.

I disagree. The OP clearly does not know how to manually update via Odin and why should he. He bought a phone in good faith and expects it to work as all other S21 Ultra devices do with OTA updates.

Also, it's totally possible that the seller did not know about the issue.

Whether or not the re-seller knew about it is totally irrelevant. The OP paid for a fully functioning device and not a grey market re-flash.

Also, the current firmware that the phone has is not an "engineering firmware". It's just that that version was never released broadly for the European region, so the phone doesn't think that it's a valid firmware to update from

The AUDA firmware is used in a large number of similar posts about re-flashed devices and was never released for the U.K. or Luxembourg. Therefore the OP has paid for a device that is not running U.K. firmware, has not received updates for 12 months and cannot update to Android 12 via the normal OTA update. Ergo, it is not of merchandisable quality as it does not meet the expected standards of a U.K. device and this is not mentioned on their website prior to purchase.

 

[MNMobileGuy]

Also, as a relatively technically sophisticated user, I personally would find having to connect to a PC and manually update every month to be totally and wholly unacceptable.

I'll let Ironass teach you about the firmware themself.

1. You don't need to update every month. Once you flash a valid version that was released broadly to the EU region, OTAs will work fine

2. Software-related services for mobile devices is quite literally our job. We don't need anyone to teach us anything