There are several online firmware repositories from where you can download the Samsung Android firmware for free. Samsung firmware download tools like Frija, Samloader, and SamFirm are even better solutions for those who want to download BL, AP, CP, CSC, and HOME CSC binaries or Samsung firmware update files to flash with Odin. Since there is no way to download the firmware files separately, you must download the full firmware to get all 4 binaries in a zip. Once you have the files, you can easily flash them using the official Odin tool.
What are BL, AP, CP, CSC & Home CSC in Odin?
An Android smartphone relies on components like the bootloader, data, vendor, key storage, EFS, user data, system, modem, kernel, and recovery. Samsung firmware files have MD5 and LZ4 encryption. Binaries like BL, AP, CP, and CSC contain all core elements and partitions.
- BL: It’s the short form of Bootloader. The BL binary with .tar.md5 extension flashes the bootloader on your Samsung smartphone or Galaxy Tab.
- AP: If you look at the file size of the AP binary, you’ll notice that it’s the biggest of all 4 files you flash using Odin. On the older versions of Odin, this option was called PDA. The full file of AP is ‘Android Processor‘ and it is responsible for flashing the system partition on your Samsung device.
- CP: Previously known as PDA, CP stands for ‘Core Processor‘. This binary contains the modem.img and when you install this with Odin, it pushes the Modem on your device.
- CSC: The full form of CSC is ‘Consumer Software Customization‘ or ‘Country Specific Code‘. The CSC component of Samsung firmware is specific to network providers and geographical regions. In other words, it contains customizations related to a geographical location, APN settings, carrier branding, and other things. If you want a clean installation on your phone, you should flash CSC. Flashing the CSC (only) binary will wipe all the apps, data, settings, and files and your device will be reset to the factory status. The CSC binary contains the Samsung PIT file.
- HOME CSC: This binary is the same as CSC. This difference is it does not wipe your Samsung Galaxy device during the firmware update.
Samsung Official Firmware Download Tools
There are so many websites and file hosting services from where you can grab the firmware for your Samsung device. Below, we’ll check some of the best Samsung firmware downloader tools to download the official Samsung firmware update files for Odin.
1. Frija – Samsung Firmware Downloader
If you want to download Samsung firmware for free and without any speed cap, Frija is the best tool. It’s a simple tool with a clean and user-friendly UI. Frija supports auto and manual modes. In Auto mode, you need to provide the model number and CSC of your Samsung device.
The Auto mode checks for the latest firmware update for your Samsung phone or Galaxy Tab. On the other hand, with the Manual mode, you can download the Samsung firmware of your choice. You will have to provide more details like the Model number, IMEI number, and CSC of your phone as well as versions of PDA (AP), Phone (CP), and CSC. If the provided details are correct, Frija will download the BL, AP, CP, CSC, and HOME CSC binaries packed in a ZIP file. You can download the latest version of this tool from my full-fledged article describing the steps to use the Frija firmware download tool.
2. SamFirm – Samsung Firmware Download Tool
SamFirm is the short form of Samsung firmware. It used to be the only tool until Frija surfaced. Even though the developer of the tool has discontinued the development, SamFirm still works. This firmware downloader tool is not as user-friendly as Frija but it’s the only available alternative to the latter.
You can download the Samsung firmware for your Galaxy phone or Tab with SamFirm in just five steps as shown in the screenshot below.
- Download SamFirm and extract the downloaded zip. You can also download it from Google Drive.
- Open the extracted folder and double-click SamFirm.exe to launch it.
- In the box next to Model, fill in your Samsung device’s model number. You can find the model number by going to Settings > About phone.
- In the Region field, you need to fill in the CSC of your device. Read my tutorial to find out your Samsung phone’s CSC.
- Now click the Check Update button.
- SamFirm will fetch the details of the latest firmware available for your device and show its file name, AP, CSC, and CP versions of the software update, and its size.
- Finally, click the Download button. You’ll be asked to save the firmware zip file. When the firmware file is downloaded, unzip it to get the BL, AP, CP, CSC, and HOME CSC files for your Samsung device model.
3. Samloader – Download BL, AP, CP, & CSC Files (Mac, Windows, & Linux)
Samloader is a great Frija and Samfirm alternative as it’s a versatile tool that will help you download Samsung firmware on macOS, Linux, Windows, and even on an Android device using a terminal emulator app like Termux. It is a Python-based script that can check for the latest firmware for your Galaxy device via the Terminal (macOS) or the Command Prompt (Windows) and download it. Head over to my detailed Samloader tutorial to learn how you can use this tool on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Samsung Firmware Download Websites
1. Sammobile
Sammobile has been one of the oldest and most trusted sources from where you can download the latest Samsung firmware for all Samsung Galaxy devices. The website provides free firmware download to its members, but the speed is very slow. If you want to enjoy a fast Samsung firmware download, you’ll have to get a monthly plan ranging from €6.50-€250. I don’t think it’s a wise decision to use Sammobile when we already have great options like Frija and SamFirm.
2. Updato
Updato is a Sammobile alternative that allows Samsung firmware download from their repository. The website has a good UI but its pages are super packed with ad banners. It doesn’t offer fast firmware downloads for free. The slow plan is so slow that you might need to make several attempts before you can download the firmware file.
3. Samsung-Firmware
Samsung Firmware (.org) is just another website like the ones mentioned above. They offer two plans slow speed and unmetered speed. In the slow-speed plan, you can download the firmware for free. However, considering the size of Samsung firmware files, it might take forever to download the full firmware. Just imagine a 5GB firmware download with a speed limit of 15KB per second! If you think you are a person of immense patience, you must try it to pass a litmus test.
4. SamFrew
SamFrew is another option for those who don’t want to use a Samsung firmware download tool. It’s cheaper than Sammobile and Updato. Just like others, it also offers slow Samsung firmware downloads for free. To get the firmware from 100 Mbps/100o Mbps mirrors, you are supposed to pay a one-time fee of $8.99/$22.99. My experience with SamFrew was better than all other websites listed above.
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Install BL, AP, CP, and CSC Files with Odin
Now that you have the firmware files ready, check out the following steps to use Odin to flash firmware on Samsung Galaxy devices.
- If you are going to use Samsung Odin for the first time, here are a few things you must be familiar with. When you have downloaded the Odin.zip file, extract it using a Zip extractor tool like 7Zip, WinZip, etc. Navigate to the Odin folder and perform right-click on Odin3.exe with your mouse and select ‘Run as administrator’.
- Make sure you have already downloaded the correct firmware zip and extracted it on your Windows desktop
- Download and install the Samsung USB driver on your computer.
- Enable USB Debugging on your device.
- Now turn off your Samsung device and boot it into the Download or Odin Mode.
- Connect your device to the computer. Make sure to use the original Samsung USB cable to avoid any issues. When Odin detects your device, the ID COM port will be highlighted in blue.
- Open the firmware folder that contains the 5 binaries with .tar.md5 extension. In case you have an old Samsung Galaxy phone or Tab, and the firmware you downloaded has just a single .tar.md5 file, you are supposed to add the firmware to the AP slot in Odin. The rest of the steps are the same as described below.
- Click the BL button in Odin, navigate to the firmware folder, and add the file with “BL_” in its name.
- Then click the AP button and select the firmware binary with “AP_” in its name The AP file will take a while to load in Odin because of its heavy size. Don’t panic if the Odin window freezes for some time after selecting the AP file.
- Similarly, add the CP, and CSC (plain CSC if you want a clean installation and HOME_CSC if you don’t want to wipe your device data) files to the corresponding fields in Odin.
- Finally, click the Start button to initiate the installation.
- Samsung firmware files might take 3-5 minutes to install. So, be patient and calm.
- Lastly, you’ll get PASS!! message in Odin. It indicates that Odin has flashed the firmware file successfully.
- When the firmware is installed, your Samsung device will reboot automatically.
You have successfully installed Samsung firmware binaries (BL, AP, CP, and CSC) on your Samsung Galaxy Device. If your Samsung device does not reboot or the installation gets stuck, you can fix any Odin errors using our tutorial.
Of all 4 Samsung firmware download tools and sources listed above, I highly recommend Frija because it’s the easiest to use. Why should we pay to download something from a 3rd-party website when we can get it directly from Samsung firmware servers?
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