Update At&t Galaxy S7 Active to Android Nougat

Samsung is updating all of its flagship devices to Android Nougat one by one. Following Samsung’s footsteps, carriers like At&t, Verizon and others have also started updating their phones now. At&t has already updated its Galaxy S7 and Galaxy Note 5 to Android 7.0 Nougat. The update for Galaxy S7 Active which also falls under the umbrella of At&t has been released.

Nougat update for Galaxy S7 Active brings loads of new features. The update will give your phone a brand new look as there are UI elements crafted from scratch. The icons have a transparent background now. Settings application has a new UI with all new icons. Calendar application is completely new. New toggles in notification panel with extra options are there. Samsung has added a bluelight filter in the phone to make the screen easy on your eyes. Samsung phones running on Nougat have the option now to change the resolution, which something worth having on your phone if it’s equipping a QHD display. You can now double press the home button to switch between your front and back camera. There is a lot more to discuss regarding this new update, but you can understand it better once you are running it on your phone.

Official Android 7.0 Nougat update for the At&t Galaxy S7 Active came out with the build number G891AUCU2BQB2. Updating your S7 Active to this latest firmware is possible through multiple pathways. Since this update is in the .zip format and it’s a stock OTA, it requires your phone running on the most recent Marshmallow firmware. If your Galaxy S7 Active is currently running on the PL1, PK2 or the QA1 firmware, you should be easily able to update your phone. If your phone is running on a previous build of Marshmallow, you will first need to update your phone to the one of the firmwares mentioned above and only then you can update it.

We will jump up to the method now. You need to be very, very careful while downloading the correct file for your device and then you can follow the instructions to update At&t Galaxy S7 Active to Android Nougat.

Update At&t Galaxy S7 Active to Android Nougat

Preparation

1. The update is intended only for the At&t Galaxy S7 Active G891A. 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 S7 Active.
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 PK2, PL1 or QA1 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 S7 Active is currently running PK2 firmware, you can skip the Andorid Marshmallow OTA.zip files given below and start flashing the files of Android Nougat in the following manner: PK2 —> BQB2, BQB2 to QBC2, QBC2 to QBC4.

If your device is running on APL1, you will flash the APL1 —> BQB2, BQB2 to QBC2, QBC2 to QBC4.

If your device is running on AQA1, you will flash the AQA1 —> BQB2, BQB2 to QBC2, QBC2 to QBC4.

If your Galaxy S7 Active is running on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow APE7 firmware, you will flash the files to update it to PG7, then PH1, after that PI2, then PK2. These are Marshmallow builds. Once you are running on the latest Marshmallow build, you can follow the sequence given in above steps to flash Nougat.

Please note that the files are in stock state. The Nougat firmware is still in beta stages. At the moment, you can flash the beta firmware to check if it works well. As soon as the final build rolls out, I will add the links here and update our viewers about it.

Download the firmware now:

Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow to higher Marshmallow files

G891AUCU1APE7 -> G891AUCU1APG7: v1.1. –G891AUCU1APE7-the SS-to-U1APG7 the UP 
G891AUCU1APG7 -> G891AUCS1APH1: v1.2. –G891AUCU1APG7-the SS-to-S1APH1 the UP 
G891AUCS1APH1 -> G891AUCS2API2: v1.3. —G891AUCS1APH1 the SS to-S2API2
G891AUCS2API2 -> G891AUCU2APK2: v1.4. –G891AUCS2API2-SS-to U2APK2 
G891AUCU2APK2 -> G891AUCS2APL1: v1.5. –G891AUCU2APK2-the SS-to-S2APL1 the UP 
G891AUCS2APL1 -> G891AUCS2AQA1: v1.6 SS-G891AUCS2APL1-to-S2AQA1-the UP

Marshmallow to Android 7.0 Nougat files

Beta builds

G891AUCU2APK2 v1.4 -> G891AUCU2BQB2 v2.3: v2.3. SS–G891AUCU2APK2-SS-to U2BQB2-UP
G891AUCS2APL1 v1.5 -> G891AUCU2BQB2 v2.3 : or SS-G891AUCS2APL1-to-U2BQB2-UP 
G891AUCS2AQA1 v1.6 -> G891AUCU2BQB2 v2.3 : or SS-G891AUCS2AQA1-to-U2BQB2-UP

Nougat to Nougat files

G891AUCU2BQB2 v2.3 -> G891AUCS2BQC2 v2.4: v2.4. SS-G891AUCU2BQB2-the SS-to-S2BQC2 the UP 
G891AUCS2BQC2 -> G891AUCU2BQC4: v2.5. beta SS–G891AUCS2BQC2-the SS-to-U2BQC4 the UP 

How to install Android Nougat on your At&t Galaxy S7 Active 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 G891AUCU2APK2 v1.4 -> G891AUCU2BQB2 and all other update files [BQB2 > BQC2, BQC2 > BQC4] according to your build number 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 S7 Active 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.zip

9. Replace the UPDATEFILENAME with the name of the file you are flashing. e.g.
   

   adb sideload SS-G891AUCU2APK2-SS-to U2BQB2-UP.zip

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 all the files to reach latest Nougat build.
12. Reboot your phone after installing all files correctly.
13. 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 OTA on your At&t Galaxy S7 Active.
11. Flash all required files one by one in the same sequence give above to reach the latest build of Android Nougat.
12. 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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