Galaxy S7: Flashing stock firmware - how to get HOME_CSC?

[Wingnutbob]

Hi there,

I have a Galaxy S7 SM-G930A that's stuck in a boot loop. I've already tried soft resets and wiping the cache partition several times. When I do the recovery boot, I get the "Installing system update" screen, followed by the "No command" screen, followed by the recovery boot menu with a following printed at the bottom:

#fail to open recovery_cause(no such file or directory)#
#Reboot Recovery Cause is [UNKNOWN]#
No Support SINGLE-SKU

I have *not* tried a factory reset yet, because I'm first trying to find a way to fix it without erasing the user data, and I understand from other threads that this may be possible by flashing the stock firmware using Odin - but only if I select a file called "HOME_CSC" or "CSC_HOME" instead of the regular CSC file.

The problem is, none of the firmware downloads I can find online seem to have the HOME CSC file. Do I just need to keep looking? Is there some reason that I'm never going to find one? Or is there some other way forward?

Thanks a ton for any help. I've never flashed Android firmware before - just learning all of this from research I've done today

 

[Wingnutbob]

@mustang7757 MNMobileGuy is correct that I want to try flashing without doing a factory reset if at all possible, which I gather means that I need the stock firmware. But I appreciate your help!

 

[Wingnutbob]

I can create a HOME CSC file for you, from the main CSC file

@MNMobileGuy That would be awesome! How do we proceed? I just download this one, but could also download a different one if necessary.

 

[MNMobileGuy]

@MNMobileGuy That would be awesome! How do we proceed? I just download this one, but could also download a different one if necessary.

You always want to flash the exact same version that you're currently running, for best chance of success. Your current version can be found in the Android Recovery menu. It's usually the 3rd or 4th line from the top - the only line where all of the letters are capitalized

 

[Wingnutbob]

You always want to flash the exact same version that you're currently running, for best chance of success. Your current version can be found in the Android Recovery menu. It's usually the 3rd or 4th line from the top - the only line where all of the letters are capitalized

Ah thanks, I had missed that! Mine says 8.0.0/R16NW/G930AUCSACSH3

I can't find any G930AUCSACSH3 available for free download online, though this site seems to claim I can buy it for $3 (which I don't mind doing, if you think it looks legit):

https://www.fullstockfirmwaredownload.com/downloads/stock-firmware-sm-g930a/

 

[mustang7757]

@mustang7757 MNMobileGuy is correct that I want to try flashing without doing a factory reset if at all possible, which I gather means that I need the stock firmware. But I appreciate your help!

Ok let me know

 

[Wingnutbob]

Ok let me know

Okay, so I just download that one and then...send you the CSC file?

 

[mustang7757]

Okay, so I just download that one and then...send you the CSC file?

One thing at a time let Mobile guy help you first , ill step in if it cant be resolved

 

[MNMobileGuy]

Ah thanks, I had missed that! Mine says 8.0.0/R16NW/G930AUCSACSH3

I can't find any G930AUCSACSH3 available for free download online

I found it, from one of my sources. I'll download it, upload it to my Google Drive, and then post the link

 

[Wingnutbob]

One thing at a time let Mobile guy help you first , ill step in if it cant be resolved

Oh whoops, got mixed up about who I was replying to for a second. Sorry about that. Thanks for standing by!

 

[Wingnutbob]

I found it, from one of my sources. I'll download it, upload it to my Google Drive, and then post the link

Awesome! Thanks so much!

 

[Wingnutbob]

Is it going to be a problem if the phone never had USB Debugging enabled in the Android developer settings?

 

[Edox]

Awesome! Thanks so much!

On this link I sent you, you have that rom ... 2 from above...
Here again... https://www.getdroidtips.com/nougat-att-galaxy-s7-edge-g930aucu4bqd4/

 

[Wingnutbob]

On this link I sent you, you have that rom ... 2 from above...
Here again... https://www.getdroidtips.com/nougat-att-galaxy-s7-edge-g930aucu4bqd4/

Oh, I see it now - thanks. I did look there, but I guess I must have been looking at the CSC version instead of the AP version.

 

[MNMobileGuy]

Is it going to be a problem if the phone never had USB Debugging enabled in the Android developer settings?

No because flashing doesn't involve USB Debugging

 

[Wingnutbob]

No because flashing doesn't involve USB Debugging

Great. Some tutorials online seemed to say you have to have USB Debugging enabled first.

 

[MNMobileGuy]

Great. Some tutorials online seemed to say you have to have USB Debugging enabled first.

Maybe for models from other manufacturers. For Samsungs, the only thing that USB Debugging might be used for in terms of flashing would be for booting the phone to Download mode. But you can also do that via the buttons, so Debugging isn't needed

 

[Wingnutbob]

Maybe for models from other manufacturers. For Samsungs, the only thing that USB Debugging might be used for in terms of flashing would be for booting the phone to Download mode. But you can also do that via the buttons, so Debugging isn't needed

Ah okay, makes sense.

Just awaiting those files then. Thanks again for helping out.

 

[MNMobileGuy]

Ah okay, makes sense.

Just awaiting those files then. Thanks again for helping out.

One thing that I had forgotten about:

AT&T firmware for some reason has a "userdata" partition included in the AP file and if flashed, that partition automatically performs a factory reset - even if you flash HOME CSC. (So that actually might be the reason for them not including a HOME CSC in the firmware: the standard AP file performs a reset anyways.) So like I've had to do for others in the past who wanted to update firmware without wiping, I had to extract the AP and then re-pack it without the "userdata" included. So here's the link to the Google Drive folder. Download BL, CP, and G930AUCSACSH3_no_wipe - that will be your "no wipe" AP and your HOME CSC.

If the flash doesn't fix it, then you'll probably have to wipe unfortunately. You can try just doing a factory reset from the Android Recovery menu if you want, or if you want to do a normal "wipe" flash, download the G930AUCSACSH3_wipe zip - that will be your "standard" AT&T firmware, with "wipe" AP and CSC

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NCZ-64hc6UM8wHuLsoMaa-Yx1AT2Dpxs

 

[Wingnutbob]

Awesome - thank you so much! Sounds like I'd be SOL several times over without your help.

Downloading now. Hopefully whatever's wrong will be fixed by this...we'll find out soon. Even if I can boot successfully just once to get the data off before still having to do a factory reset for some reason, that will be great.

So the G930AUCSACSH3_no_wipe is a zip with both an AP and HOME CSC file zipped up in it?

 

[Wingnutbob]

Okay so, I flashed it and got a PASS! in Odin, but now the phone is stuck in a loop of "RECOVERY BOOTING..." to "Installing system update" to "Error!" when the progress bar reaches 32%.

Is there something I should do to try to fix this other than a factory reset? Does it suggest a specific problem?