Samsung S23 Ultra not updating outside of US

[MishaB]

Hi,

Galaxy S23 Ultra, 256GB (AT&T)
Model Info: MOBILE SM-S918U BLACK ATT
Carrier: XAA

I just bought a phone on eBay and am using it in Costa Rica with a local provider. The phone won't update. I read that the phone won't update outside the US. There are two options:

1. Travel to the US, insert an AT&T SIM card, and update. This doesn't work for me.

2. Update manually using SAMFV firmware and the ODIN program. Questions:
- Is this legal? Will it damage the phone?
- My carrier is XAA (US Unlocked). There is no such firmware, but there is AT&T. Can I use it?

What other update options are there?

Thank you.

[LongHiker]

@MishaB XAA is a CSC (Country Specific Code). In phone settings -> About phone what is the model name? 

[MishaB]

@LongHiker

SM-S918U

[LongHiker]

That is a carrier device. So, if it has AT&T firmware on it, it will only update automatically if connected to an AT&T network.

[MishaB]

@LongHiker 

I don't plan on using AT&T. Are there any other options?

[Jerechas37 · Accepted solution]

Odin and finding the firmware your going to use, or it unlocked...slap in whichever company sim your gonna use and if indeed it is unlocked it will tell you service provider switched please restart and it will calibrate itself for that carrier but again it's only if your network is unlocked to use on any network

[MishaB]

@Jerechas37 

I updated the system using the ODIN program. Everything went perfectly. Thank you.

P.S. I like UI 6 better. And the battery drains faster now, but nothing critical.

[Therealcipher]

Please, what guide did you use for the ODIN process? I'm having the same problem and I have no choice but to use ODIN

[MishaB]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW384zifGYE