Install Stock firmware on Note 9 (Complete Guide)

Samsung is renowned worldwide for its exquisite Note series. The famous Note 9 was released in August 2018. The design, features, and specs ruled the heart of many. Nevertheless, all these fancy Note series smartphones come with a hefty price tag. Some say the money spent is worth the phone, but I think one can get almost the same phone at a lot less. Well, the opinions differentiate. Suppose you have already got a Note 9. You tried to flash a custom ROM or root your phone. Even if you didn’t do anything with your phone, the firmware is corrupted and stuck on the Samsung logo in a bootloop. You want to fix this issue and return to stock ONE UI OS of Samsung. You can use this guide to install stock firmware on Note 9 using either the ODIN or the smart switch.

Android and Samsung are loved in the tech community as they let you customize and modify the visible look and underlying features. You can do this by rooting Note 9 or flashing a custom ROM. Samsung smartphones come with unlocked bootloaders for the very same purpose. It lets you mess around with the features. However, if you make a wrong turn, there is always a U-turn via flashing the stock firmware. Not only this, even if you are using the Note 9 casually and because of some reason, the firmware is corrupted or no longer loads at the boot. This guide can also help you in those situations.

This guide will deal with two methods that you can use to install stock firmware on Note 9. You can either do it with a smart switch or with ODIN. You can only use the smart switch if you have MAC, as MAC OSX does not support ODIN. Smart controls are more accessible to operate for non-tech and non-specialists. Technical people with the know-how of rooting and flashing find more flexibility using ODIN.

How to install stock firmware on Note 9 using Smart switch:

Smart switch is the easy way around; it is recommended for non-tech people. It is an easy-to-use software that lets you install the firmware easily by following the on-screen instructions. However, it has its limitations as well. At times, your phone is not detected by your PC. Other times, your phone won’t pass by the startup’s boot screen or the Samsung logo. In those cases, the smart switch might not work. The only solution is ODIN. If you want to go stock, some software issues on your Note 9 are not solved by the factory reset or wiping cache. Then, a smart switch can be handy to install stock firmware on Note 9.

The smart switch works on both Windows OS and MAC OS. You can also use it to back up your phone on your PC completely. Once you have flashed the firmware, you can also use it to restore the backup on your phone.

Let’s move on to the guide. Follow the step-to-step guide below to install stock firmware on your Note 9:

1. First, download a smart switch on your Windows PC or MAC using this website.
2. Now, Install the software and open it up on your PC.
3. Next, connect your phone to your PC using Samsung’s original data cable.
4. All the information about your Galaxy Note 9 is on the screen.
5. Now, click on “More.” You can find it in the top right corner of the smart switch.
6. Select “Emergency Software Recovery.”
7. The smart switch will find the most appropriate OS or firmware for your Note 9.
8. Follow the on-screen instructions until the firmware is installed.

Note: Emergency Software Recovery might ask for a recovery code. Suppose you can not find the recovery code. You can install stock firmware on your Samsung Galaxy Note 9 via Device initialization instead of the Emergency Software Recovery option. You must have your Galaxy Note’s model number, which can be SM-N960FD, SM-N960U, or any other. You can find it on your phone’s back or box. You will also need your device’s serial number, which you can find in your phone box.

Keep your phone connected to the PC while the process is running. Your phone will reboot once the new firmware is installed on Note 9. You can either set it up as a new phone or restore a backup from the smart switch.

If, for some reason, the smart switch does not help. You can always rely on ODIN, which will be covered in the method below.

How to install stock firmware on Note 9 using ODIN:

ODIN has existed since the days of Galaxy S2, and it still works efficiently. You can use it to root Samsung smartphones and install custom or stock firmware or recoveries. So, if your phone gets sick significantly, it is not even moving past the startup screen. Your only saviour can be ODIN. It is official software by Samsung for flashing firmware and recoveries on its devices. So you need not worry. However, it can be a little complicated for very non-tech people.

Another thing is that it only works for Windows OS. Suppose you have Linux OS or MAX OSX. You might have to borrow a Windows PC from a friend or install Windows in a virtual environment on your MAC.

Prerequisites:

• Make sure your phone is charged.
• Turn on USB Debugging on your Note 9:
  • Go to Settings -> About device -> Tap on Build number 7 times.
  • Now Go back to Settings -> Developer Options -> Turn on USB debugging.
• Download and install Samsung drivers for PC.
• Download the latest stock firmware for Samsung Galaxy Note 9 from Sammobile.

Note: Downloading the appropriate firmware is very important. If your phone is carrier-free, it’s not branded with any carrier like T-Mobile or Verizon. You can easily download any carrier-free firmware from Sammobile with your country’s origin for your phone. If your phone is carrier-locked, you must download the specific firmware for that firmware. Also, some carrier-locked phones are not easy to install firmware into. So, the process is different for those phones.

Let’s move on to the step-to-step guide on how to install stock firmware on Note 9:

1. First, turn off your Note 9 and get into download mode.
2. To get into download mode, press Volume Down, Bixby button, and Power Button until you see the warning. Once you know the warning, press the Volume up button to continue.
3. Open ODIN and connect your phone to your PC using a USB data cable. You will see “Added” in the ODIN logs.
4. You will see your phone has a connection with your PC. The ID: COM on ODIN will change to blue. (If the colour didn’t vary, the PC failed to recognize your phone. Above all, ensure you have installed the correct drivers and that the drivers were installed successfully. Sometimes, the fault lies in the USB cable)
5. In ODIN, you will see several tabs, and you will have to select files that correspond to each account. For example, click on CP and locate and select the CP file from the extracted firmware. Similarly, click on AP and select the file with AP in the name. Likewise, add the BL file in the BL tab.
6. Suppose you want to factory reset while you install stock firmware on Note 9. First, select the CSC file in the CSC file. Otherwise, load the HOME_CSC instead.
7. Make sure F.Reset.Time and Auto-Reboot options are checked in the ODIN. Meanwhile, if there is, any other option is checked. Uncheck it.
8. Finally, when everything is ready, press the “Start” button. The whole process will take around 5-9 Minutes. Once done, your phone will reboot.

Note: Do NOT disconnect your Note 9 from your PC while the flashing is in process. Even if it is stuck at some point. Until you get in logs that the process is finished or your phone reboots itself after successful firmware flashing. If you disconnect your phone in the middle of flashing, you might end up bricking your phone.

Questions or Follow-up?

Suppose you are confused regarding the guide above on installing stock firmware on Note 9, Or you are stuck at some point. Instead of doing hit and trial, ask me in the comments or write on Facebook. I will get back to you as soon as possible if you want to add more to this guide, which I missed. Your opinion and feedback are always welcome.

Best of luck with the flashing.