After a round of Beta releases of the Android Nougat Beta program, Samsung finally released the long-awaited Android 7.0 update for the international single and dual SIM Exynos variants of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge weeks ago.
As you know, the latest software updates for the carrier-branded models of the Samsung devices are rolled out much later after they are out for the international models. However, if you can’t wait and want to enjoy Android 7.0 Nougat on Galaxy S7 Active (SM-G891A) right now, you don’t need to wait any longer.
Just a week ago, we shared tutorials about updating the Verizon Galaxy S7 and the AT&T Galaxy S7/S7 Edge phones to Android 7.0 Nougat by flashing the firmware file using Odin. Today, we’ll see how we can flash the G891AUCU2BPL4 update zip file via stock recovery. The Android 7.0 firmware can be flashed on any Galaxy S7 Active running Marshmallow.
Must Read:
Follow steps in the tutorial carefully. If you have any doubts about the procedure described below, do clear them all before proceeding. You can install the provided firmware on your Galaxy S7 Active regardless of stock or custom firmware. If your S7 Active is network-locked or unlocked, flashing the firmware will not affect the locked/unlocked status after the updates.
Getting Prepared
Before you proceed, here’re a few preparations you need to make so that things go smoothly for you.
- Backup all your data and apps using Smart Switch as a precaution so that they are safe in case something goes wrong during the firmware installation procedure.
- Go to Settings> Personal> Lockscreen and security> Find my mobile and turn off Reactivation Lock.
- Go to Settings> Developer options and enable USB debugging (this is just as a precaution).
- Make sure that your Galaxy S7 is fully charged.
Download Nougat Firmware for Galaxy S7 Active (SM-G891A)
Since the full Android 7.0 Nougat firmware is available now, you don’t need to download multiple Nougat OTA packages. Just download the G891AUCU2BQB2 or G891AUCS2BRA7 firmware from below and install it using Odin. In case you are new to such things and don’t know how you can install Samsung firmware, you can use the steps given in this tutorial.
Firmware file:
Rakesh it worked perfectly but now I can’t find new security updates for the this baseband G891AUCU2BQA7.
It seems like this G891AUCU2BQA7 doesn’t exist on galaxy S7 active
What should I do? Thanks
Hey, if you live outside USA, you’ll have to install the updates manually.
i can up this with odin?
Yes. Download this firmware: https://mega.nz/#!4FBSEYRA!3Sepq2lGz0Y-hINa3eT0i_Ota918zLqSntMrbu8CQAw
Install it using Odin.
Hi Sam,
Please download the full Nougat firmware (QB2): https://mega.nz/#!4FBSEYRA!3Sepq2lGz0Y-hINa3eT0i_Ota918zLqSntMrbu8CQAw
Here’s the tutorial: https://www.droidviews.com/nougat-firmware-on-att-galaxy-s7s7-edge-sm-g930a-g935a/
Having installed the firmware, you’ll start getting the latest OTA updates from AT&T.
Thanks for the reply Rakesh!
As I am outside the US I unfortunately wont get the OTA updates. I have tried to update to QC2 and QD4 (for the security patches) using the flash method above but long story short it didnt work and I had to revert back to QB2 with odin. I assume that this should work? and this is how I should get future updates until another odin release?
Thanks again, your dedication to the comment sections on your articles has earned another loyal reader 🙂
Thanks for the appreciation, Sam! If you have been using your phone outside the US, you won’t get the OTAs and you will have to install the updates manually as long as you’re outside the US territory. 🙁
I think you can flash the QC2 update over QB2 and QD4 over QD4.
Hi Sam,
I’ve updated all the way to QE1 now. The update to QC2 failed on first try, I stubbornly cleared my sd card. Again followed the procedure and it worked on the second try. The update QD4 and QE1 update went without any problems.
Hope this gives you some clues
Hi Rakesh,
First I would like to thank you for your work.
Then I have a question: from which firmware update can I directly flash to the aforementioned QB2.
I have updated to the QA7 version now. And I would like to update it further to the latest version(QE1). Which path do I have to take?
PS. I think a lot of users will appreciate if you keep the post updated.
It’s okay!
Hi Rakesh,
thank you for the updated firmware which can be flashed with Odin now. If this information would have been in the original article I would not have needed to perform 6 OTA updates from the SD card first 😉 Would you please let us know where we can find (official) updates newer than QB2 and how to update to those? Thank you so much for your work!
Hi Rakesh, I just wanted to say a big thank you for those detailed instructions. Update worked well although very time consuming as I was going from the oldest firmware version and had to flash all 6 files. Took roughly 3 hours in total. Every works well thanks again I was looking forward to this update for a while.
Glad to know! It seems that you did not update your phone’s software for a long time. That;s why you had to download and flash all 6 files. Anyway, all’s well if end’s well.
yeah I’m using the phone in Australia and cannot get any updates here. Out of curiosity, which country is that firmware from ?
USA, of course!
You don’t have to open or extract the update zip files. You just need to rename them to “update.zip”, create a folder named ‘fota’ on your external storage (memory card) and copy the update.zip to it. Can you tell me what the build version of your phone?
Rakesh – Thank you so much for helping Android users. Would you please tell me how I can get a raw version of Nougat on my S7 Active? No proprietary apps, promotions or anything, just the OS. Thanks.
Hi Ron, if you want to have the pure Android (Nougat) on your device, you must have root privilege and a custom recovery installed on it.
However, if the terms I used above sound too geeky to you, you should stick with the stock Samsung firmware. As for the bloat apps, you can disable most of them from Settings> Applications.
“root privilege and a custom recovery”
Where can I get that? And do you know of a good link to help
me learn about it?
I’m using those two phrases “root privilege” and “custom recovery” to start learning on my own. But that’s the direction I want to go. You helped me see where I want to go and you pointed me in the right direction. Now that you understand what I want to do, if you happen to think of any more key words or phrases I can use, please post them here. Thanks
“stock Samsung firmware” = OS software installed by Samsung?
操作系統軟件 = Operating system software.
In electronic systems and computing, firmware[a] is a type of software that provides control, monitoring and data manipulation of engineered products and systems. Typical examples of devices containing firmware are embedded systems (such as traffic lights, consumer appliances, remote controls and digital watches), computers, computer peripherals, mobile phones, and digital cameras. The firmware contained in these devices provides the low-level control program for the device. As of 2013, most firmware can be updated.[2]
Firmware is held in non-volatile memory devices such as ROM, EPROM, or flash memory. Changing the firmware of a device may rarely or never be done during its lifetime; some firmware memory devices are permanently installed and cannot be changed after manufacture. Common reasons for updating firmware include fixing bugs or adding features to the device. This may require ROM integrated circuits to be physically replaced, or flash memory to be reprogrammed through a special procedure.[3] Firmware such as the ROM BIOS of a personal computer may contain only elementary basic functions of a device and may only provide services to higher-level software. Firmware such as the program of an embedded system may be the only program that will run on the system and provide all of its functions.
So dumb of Windows to not market their Smartphones properly so we could all have control of our phones like we have control of our PC’s. Now all we have is this “firmware” garbage.
UNIX/Android: “The original AT&T Unix, developed starting in the 1970s at the Bell Labs.”
1970? Hello, I thought this was 2017. They had to dig up something out of
its grave to perpetrate this Android scam on the people. Apple did the same thing after the Apple operating system went out of business because of Windows. But we all knew Apple became a fraud after they lost to Windows.
Of course that old stuff became “open source,” right out of the dumpster.
Before anyone asks me the next logical question, “why don’t you have a Windows phone then,” it’s because the newest Windows phone was released in 2015 and there is no foreseeable future for Windows phones. That’s why.
And the Androidian creatures threaten everyone else with “bricking” their phones if they try to have any control over their phone. I bet this whole thing backfires on the Andriodians, when the market does the same exact thing it’s doing to Microsoft for the same kind of stuff it did to them. I bet the market will take revenge on the Androidians soon. Maybe the next big wave of Smartphone OS’s will be made by those Canadians who made the Blackberry. They know how to build an OS. “The new Galaxy S9 with a Blackberry OS.” Awesome! Buh bye Androidians.
In the US, Samsung doesn’t even have Nougat ready for the regular S7, and who knows when they will have it for the S7 Active, The S7 Active phone itself wasn’t released until many months after the regular S7. And yet, the full and final release of Nougat for the S7 Active just sits there tormenting S7 Active users, with the techies just laughing about it. But I’m pretty sure I now have Nougat on my SD card ready to be installed on my phone, if I can just figure it out, or get some help with it. I’m so close, I can just feel it.
Like what someone posted here, that this page is not for regular users but rather for techs that understand how to do it, that means there is an opportunity for one of these techs out there to translate the tech stuff into regular user stuff so the PEOPLE can have Nougat on their phone. So far I don’t find that on the internet.
Well, Windows Phone is NOT coming back, period.
No way at all. And Apple is losing market share
very rapidly to Android. Android is the winner, no
matter what I or anyone else thinks about it. And
Samsung is the Toyota of Smartphones. The S7
Lexus is the most luxurious phone made. And the
S7 Active is the Lexus SUV.
You got quite a flare for writing, Ron!
I mean I like the Androids, but why can’t they be a
little more friendly and try to speak our language?
We were here first.
I agree with what you say but tech bloggers have their limitations. There’re several things we take for granted thinking the user would fill the little gaps. I’ll try be more detailed while explaining things from now on.
Definition of ANDROID:
1. an automaton in the form of a human being.
In the “form” of a human. WTF
How these Android people ever came into existence is a mystery to me.
It was only ten years ago that these Androidian creatures somehow
invaded earth. Apparently their purpose was to dig up the oldest
operating system they could find, UNIX/Linux, and make it into
a computer they could use to control the world with. And they seem to be
willing only to speak their own language, which should be a clue that
they intend to wipe everyone else out, and take over the earth. Next
thing you know they will be trying to take over our desktop computers.
Sounds a little bit Satanic to me.
Rakesh- I hope you realize that there will be thousands of people
looking at this page desiring to have Nougat on their S7 Active
who after reading these instructions will be too unsure if they
would be able to follow them, and choose not to attempt it for
fear they might mess up their phone. So anything you can do
to help me install Nougat will be helping hundreds of others.
Thanks
Hi Ron, sorry for the late reply! I had fever. I have tried to add more details and clarity in installation instructions.
Rakesh- Just curious, if this page is about Android 7, why does it say:
“Download Marshmallow and Nougat OTA Zips for Galaxy S7 Active (SM-G891A)”
Apparently that’s what I did and my phone installed Marshmallow. Nothing ever
asked me to choose which one I wanted to install. Also I have looked at these
words and number below, backwards and forwards and upside down too, but I don’t
get it. What does this mean?
“You have to install the files in the same order as they appear in the list. The first 5 files are Marshmallow OTAs while the last one is the update file for Android 7.0 Nougat.”
As we already mentioned above, the following are not full firmware files. They are just OTA zips and a specific version of OTA requires a specific version of firmware present on your phone. For example, if your phone’s firmware version is G891AUCS1APH1, you must flash PH1> PI2 file. If you try to install some other file, it won’t install at all. So please install the file in the same order as mentioned below.
So, if you have to get to Nougat, you must download files depending to your current software version and install them in incremental order one after another until you install the last file.
What does this mean: “flash PH1> PI2 file” ?
Please give as many different explanations as you
can think of. Even explain it as if you were explaining
it to a ten year-old. Thanks
PH1, PI2, etc. are the last three alpha-numeric combinations from the software versions released for the S7 Active. I just mentioned them in short. Since “I” comes after “H”, the PI2 version is greater that PH1.
Now, the PI2 version requires the earlier version of software as base to be installed. It’s simply like a count of 1-10, for example. If start from 1, 2, 3, 4….and so on to get to 10.
Is this like an S7 Active anyone else has?
Device name – SAMSUNG-SM-G891A
Model number – SAMSUNG-SM-G891A
Android version – 6.0.1
Baseband version – G891AUCU2APK2
Kernel version – 3.18.20-9489319, dpi@SWDD6007 #1, Thu Nov 3 20:26:00 KST 2016
Build number – MMB29M.G891AUCU2APK2
IMEI registration status – Not registered
Serial number – R38H60ADM9X
Device status – Official
There are some other specs but they didn’t look relevant to this installation.
i have the same problem i cant up to the next version, i have the version apk2 i cant put the apl1
Rakesh – Since apparently it will still be quite some time before AT&T automatically updates our S7 Active to the new OS, this might be an opportunity for you to create a separate page, with a link from this one, for everyday users of the S7 Active who are NOT computer geeks. If you are able to accomplish this, it would involve something like putting yourself in the shoes of the everyday S7 Active user, with an S7 Active in one hand and a Windows PC in the other. You could create a step-by-step procedure that involves exactly what you see on the PC and on the Smartphone. It could be done, if you want.
I’ll try to do that if I get some time. I can write a more detailed and general guide for installing OTAs on Android devices.
“I’ll try to do that” – Wonderful, thank you so much. I think the main point I’m trying to make here is about “translation,” and making clear exactly what you are talking about when you make a statement. Like when you say “installing OTAs on Android devices” – Without the knowledge you have, and yes we are expected to know that OTA means over the air, but I’m confused about why we would need a guide for installing OTA’s. Doesn’t the phone automatically install the new software over the air when we hit “Software update > Check for updates?”
Does this installation contain all the AT&T bloat-ware like the OTA will?
Also, can I do all this hacking with my sim card in a back-up phone
so I can continue receiving my text messages?
Yes, the file contains all stock apps. As for the SIM related question, yes you can do that.
How do we even know if we got Android 7 after doing all this? Here’s what I got from the internet: “Galaxy S7 Active Nougat update: AT&T releases G891AUCU2APK2 build (6.0.1).
In About Device, my phone now says Android version 6.0.1. I don’t know what that was before I installed SOMETHING. Does anyone know what all this means? It doesn’t seem like there is any new OS in my phone, everything all looks the same.
What’s the current firmware version of your phone?
Thanks for your help Rakesh. Your question is a perfect example of the problems with this whole effort that I mentioned at the start. The typical Smartphone user, and there are millions and millions of them, are not Android/UNIX/open source computer geeks. When you use the word “firmware,” to us, that might mean a girl’s firm bottom. When we go into Settings>About Device, we don’t see any word “firmware.” What most of us Smartphone users need, is a web page that knows how to translate computer geek into a language WE can understand. And for us to manually install the next version of Android, going by instruction from a computer geek, is next to impossible. But a few of us might keep trying anyway. Please translate the word “firmware” into something that’s listed on my Smartphone. I have a Galaxy S7 Active. Thanks.
Well, by firmware I mean the version of software running on your phone. You can find it by checking the build version under Settings> About device> Software info.
I’m using the AT&T exclusive Galaxy S7 Active. So to make any of this work, we need to be sure we are talking about the same phone. Maybe there are variations of this phone and what is written in the “About device” menu, I don’t know. But my S7 Active has no words “Software info” in the “About device” menu. But I’m glad you seem to be willing to learn how to give instructions like this. And the very first thing an instructor should do is make clear WHAT device with WHAT variation is being discussed. But please do continue, we can work over the bumpy road and get there the same.
Typical garbage, no actual step by step, just assuming everyone
knows what the author of this crap knows, but we don’t.
Hi, I am the author of this crap and would like to explain things that you may want to know about the procedure.
On that gsmtube site they have six files to download and one is Nougat, and five are Marshmallo. That’s strange. Maybe THIS site has the same thing. Maybe that’s why I reinstalled Marshmallo. Dunno. But those file numbers are way to confusing to me. Why would you download Marshmallo files when you want to install Nougat?
Hi Rakesh,
THANK YOU SO MUCH for this article and providing all the files. I am using my S7 Active in Austria and therefore I do not get any updates. I did not even find anything on XDA about this topic. That is why even my old S6 Active (which is now used by my girlfriend) had a newer software and I thought I was stuck with the old 6.0.1 FW. Thank you again! I would have been lost without your work 🙂
Wish you all the best and hope you could provide newer updates as well to us!
What, according to you, is an example of “bad grammar”, is just a typo. An error is an error though.
Written instructions about the procedure can’t be more detailed and clearer.
No no, it’s a grammar issue.
When the file it’s installed, reboot your phone using reboot system now option.
vs.
When the file is installed, reboot your phone using “reboot system now” option.
Well, that’s how I format text here. In place of double inverted commas, we use bold font.
“that’s how I format text” Okay bold works. Nothing is wrong with your grammar, sorry.
My phone says G891AUCS2AQA1. Is that newer than that mentioned in this article?
Hi Kenneth, since your phone has QA1, it’s obviously greater than PL4 update. 🙂
I understand. It’s just interesting since this article is from the 13th and I checked this on my device on the 21st, just 8 days later. I guess I’m out of luck and will just have to wait until the OTA update.
Listen Guys. First off, The terms that Rakesh is using are proper, just because you guys don’t understand them doesn’t make them wrong. Second, This procedure is not for regular users, its for techs that understand how to do it, simply put, this is extremely complicated stuff. If you dont understand what your doing on this one, you will brick your phone and void the warranty. Third, Im upgrading an S7 Active right now. Its on the QA1 firmware (just like yours Kenneth) So what I have to do is Downgrade the firmware to PI2 then upgrade it to PK2, Then upgrade it again to PL1, Then upgrade it again to QA7 (Nougat with latest update). Know how I got that knowledge? Ive been reading for the last 3 days, from many different sites and forums. not one guys website or youtube video. The thing to take note of is what firmware you have now, and depending on that, it determines what firmware to flash. But to keep it simple, you’ll probably have to downgrade them to PI2 and do the incremental upgrades like I mentioned. Ive been doing this for years, and Im just giving you all a heads up, dont mess with it. Be patient, Nougat will come to your phone soon enough. And Rakesh…Good Job on the instructions. Not perfect, but I understood them. You might want to add that as your flashing the incremental updates, when it finishes, delete it from the fota folder on your external SD CARD. Oh and Kenneth, this wasnt specifically to you, I just happened to hit reply on your comment, sorry about that. Hope I shed some light on this.
Thanks for the appreciation and clarifying things, Mac. I have made some changes in the post so that the tutorial is less “ambiguous”.
Thanks. I guess I’ll just wait until the OTA.
“This procedure is not for regular users, its for techs that understand how to do it” Thanks for being honest.
No problem. AT&T sent out the Android 7.0 OTA. Yay!