How to Update At&t Galaxy S6 to Nougat

Samsung started updating its flagship devices to Android Nougat very recently. At first, it updated the S7 and S7 Edge to Android Nougat. Carriers like At&t, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint also followed Samsung’s footsteps and updated their branded S7/S7 Edge to Android Nougat. Samsung rolled out the Android Nougat update for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge right after after that. The update first of all came out for the global variants of the phones. It is now the turn of network carriers to start updating the phones to further version of Android.

At&t has taken the lead in this regard as it turns out to be the very first carrier to update its S6 to Nougat. The update brings all goodies you heard about for the previous devices. It updates the UI of the phone, brings a new UI for notification panel and toggles, new icons in the toggles, new icons for applications and also the new settings applications. Apart from the UI elements, the device gets a better battery life and also a higher performance in this new Android Nougat update.

At&t is currently sending out the update through OTA updates. You can check your device’s about device > software section to see if an update is available for your Galaxy S6 which falls under the umbrella of At&t. XDA member sand_bit has come forward to help the At&t S6 owners and posted out the OTA update files over the forum. Users can get their hands on these files and flash them manually to update the phone without waiting. The method is good for those users who have an At&t Galaxy S6  outside the region or those who are unable to capture this update.

Let’s go through the detailed process and update At&t Galaxy S6 to Nougat right away.

Update At&t Galaxy S6 to Nougat

Preparation

1. The update is intended only for the At&t Galaxy S6 SM-G920A. Do not try this on any other phone.
2. Backup everything including text messages, contacts, call logs and media content.
3. Charge your phone up to 50%.
4. Enable OEM Unlocking on your At&t Galaxy S6.
5. Allow USB debugging mode on your phone.
6. Download and install Samsung USB drivers on your computer.
7. Turn of reactivation lock in settings > Lock screen and security > Find my mobile.
8. Follow the instructions very, very carefully.

Important instructions

You can update your phone to Android 7.0 Nougat either from DPK5 firmware or the DQB3 firmware.

In order to install the firmware successfully, your phone must follow the path of files given below. You have two pathways to follow. If your Galaxy S6 G920A is currently running DPK5 firmware, you can skip the Andorid Marshmallow OTA.zip files given below and start flashing the files of Android Nougat in the following manner: DPK5 —> EQA8, EQA8 to EQB8, EQB8 to EQC9.

If your device is running on DQB3, you will flash the DQB3 —> EQB8 or the DQB3 to ECQ9.

If your Galaxy S6 is running on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow DPJ1 firmware, you will have to flash the Android Marshmallow files as well in the following manner: DPJ1 to DPK1, DPK1 to DPK3, DPK3 to DPK5, DPK3 to DQB3 or DPK5 to DQB3.

If your Galaxy S6 is running on Android Lollipop, you will download the DPJ1 Odin files and flash them using this guide. The guide is for Galaxy S7, but you will follow the same procedure to flash the DPJ1 firmware on your At&t Galaxy S6.

Android 7.0 Nougat files

• 2017 Mar security level Android 7.0 (G920AUCU5EQB8 to G920AUCU6EQC9)
• 2017 Mar security level Android 7.0 (G920AUCU5DQB3 to G920AUCU6EQC9)
• 2017 Feb security level Android 7.0 (G920AUCU5EQA8 to G920AUCU5EQB8)
• 2017 Feb security level Android 7.0 (G920AUCU5DQB3 to G920AUCU5EQB8)
• 2017 Jan security level Android 7.0 (G920AUCS5DPK5 to G920AUCU5EQA8)

Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow files

• 2017 Feb security level Android 6.0.1 (G920AUCS5DPK5 to G920AUCU5DQB3)
• 2017 Feb secruity level Android 6.0.1 (G920AUCS5DPK3 to G920AUCU5DQB3)
• 2017 Jan security level Android 6.0.1 (G920AUCS5DPK3 to G920AUCS5DPK5)
• 2016 Dec security level Android 6.0.1 (G920AUCS5DPK1 to G920AUCS5DPK3)
• 2016 Nov security level Android 6.0.1 (G920AUCS5DPJ1 to G920AUCS5DPK1)

How to install Android Nougat on your At&t Galaxy S6 now

Make sure that you have read all the instructions carefully.

1. Now Install and setup Minimal Android ADB & Fastboot drivers.
2. Now open your respective ADB & Fastboot drivers directory.Minimal ADB & Fastboot drivers, you will open your installation drive > program files > Minimal ADB & Fastboot folder.
3. Now copy your desired update.zip files, for example SS-G920AUCS5DPK5-to-U5EQA8-UP and all other update files in the folder mentioned above.
4. Now open the Minimal ADB and Fastboot folder and hold the shift key on your keyboard. While holding it, right click on an empty area and click on “Open command window here”.
5. Put your Galaxy S6 in recovery mode using Volume Up + Power + Home Key simultaneously. Once it boots up in recovery, connect it to your computer.
6. In the command window, issue the following command to verify connection: adb devices – This command will result in some code making sure your phone is connected properly in the adb mode.
7. On your phone, use Volume buttons to navigate to apply update from adb and then press Power key to make a selection.
8. Once this mode is selected, get back to the command window and enter the following commands one by one.

   1. adb sideload UPDATEFILENAME 

9. Replace the UPDATEFILENAME with the name of the file you are flashing. E.g. adb sideload SS-G920AUCS5DPK5-to-U5EQA8-UP.
10. Flash all the  files by copying in the ADB directory and replacing the name like this.
11. Repeat the process unless you have flashed the EQB8 to EQC9 or the DQB3 to EQC9 files.
12. Reboot your phone once you have successfully flashed all Android Nougat update files.
14. That’s all.

Method#2

1. Access your phone’s external SD card either on your phone or on your computer.
2. Create a new folder named as “fota” in the root (main) directory of the external SD card.
3. Copy the update.zip file that you got above in this “fota” folder.
4. Turn off your phone now.
5. Boot it into download mode. To do so, press the Volume Down + Power + Home Key. Upon getting a warning, press Volume Up to continue.
6. In the download mode, make sure that the bootloader status is “Official” and not custom. If it says custom, then go back to the preparations and follow step# 4.
7. Now boot into recovery mode. To do so, turn off your phone again. Now turn it on by pressing and holding Volume Up + Power + Home button. As the phone turns on, leave the keys.
8. As your phone brings the recovery up, navigate using Volume Up/Down keys and press power key to select “apply update.zip from sd card”.
9. Now in the apply update.zip from sd card menu, select the update.zip file that you copied to fota folder and press the power key once again.
10. Press power key on the “Yes” option and it will quickly flash the Nougat OTA on your At&t Galaxy S6.
11. That’s all.

Found this method working well? Don’t forget to reach us out if you have got any queries. That’s all.

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