Prevent Nougat update for S7 / S7E

[beatglitch]

Hello,

I've just discovered N7A during my quest to find a way of ridding my G930P and my G935P of those intrusive software update nags. Your Shield looks like it may be the answer. My software is currently on the latest update for MM (PL6 release), which I hope to keep. I don't want to go with Nougat at this time. The nags have been driving me crazy!

Questions:
1. Based upon the above info, should the Shield eliminate the nags for good?
2. Is there much chance that installing and activating the Shield could negatively impact wi-fi calling functionality?
3. Might there be any reason that a factory reset would become necessary after installing and activating the Shield?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

EDIT:
I apologize for not starting a new thread. I'm unsure what I was thinking. If you want to delete this message I can start a new thread to replace it. Just let me know.

[beowulf381]

Just did a split and made a new topic for you.

To answer your questions:

1. Make some more posts (non Spam) to meet shield requirements and try shield v1. This should work for you:
https://note7alliance.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=356
If you blocked the update packeges, the phone will not update anymore.

If the nag won't go away and they are annoying for you, you may do a factory reset and install / activate the shield after this. (See 3)

2. If you just disable the update packages and don't tamper with other stuff, there's no reason for wifi calling to fail.

3. It makes no sense to factory reset after installing and activating the Shield, since the shield is gone by this procedure and you have to re-install it.

[beatglitch]

Understood. Thank you for the reply. I should also mention that I've always kept automatic updates disabled on both devices. But the nags still persistently notify me that there's "1 software update ready for download" (Nougat v7.0). So based upon that and what you've already explained, do most people in the same situation as myself find that simply installing and activating the Shield will make all nags vanish without having to do the factory reset step? Or are resets commonly necessary? I'm just trying to get an idea of how likely it is that I'll have to set up preferences on both phones again, since it takes a bit of time to do so.

[beowulf381]

Understood. Thank you for the reply. I should also mention that I've always kept automatic updates disabled on both devices. But the nags still persistently notify me that there's "1 software update ready for download" (Nougat v7.0). So based upon that and what you've already explained, do most people in the same situation as myself find that simply installing and activating the Shield will make all nags vanish without having to do the factory reset step? Or are resets commonly necessary? I'm just trying to get an idea of how likely it is that I'll have to set up preferences on both phones again, since it takes a bit of time to do so.

Reset is usually needed only if an update is already downloaded to device and "ready to install". If you have just the notification that you're able to download it should disappear if you block all the update packages on your devices.

[RRiVEN]

like Beowulf381 said with v2 once the software has been dl to your device a reset is the only way to stop the nag.

My wife hates change, so when i saw the notification on her S7 I installed v3 and it stopped the notification and nag screen. You could try v1 of the Shield and see if that helps.

[beatglitch]

Thank you kindly, RRiVEN! I understand and you've answered my question very precisely.

[beatglitch]

I've been thinking about the nag screens today, so I re-read this thread. And I've realized that I'm confused about the versions of Shield. Beowulf381 originally told me to try v1. Then RRiVEN said that his wife has v3 on her S7 and it works to eliminate her update nags/notifications. So if v1 may not work on my S7's, can I just go straight to v3? And which one is v3, by the way? I see the last downloadable apk version number is shown as 0.5.8 < is that version 3? Please excuse me if I'm missing something obvious.

Thanks

[RRiVEN]

It is a bit confusing.

V1 works on Samsung Devices, except for the note 7, can stop updates and is a package Disabler. The interface is rough as it was rushed out to prevent the kill updates. Then Samsung killed the app for Notes 7's

V2 works on all phones but is not a package Disabler. It only stops updates. It targets Note 7 but should stop updates on most phones. Side effect is the Software Update error a few times a day

V3 is still in development. Package Disabler, stops updates all Android devices 5.1 or higher. It also has APN management, and a firewall with ad blocking for Samsung Devices. As of right now there is no way to get v3. A few Admins and mods have the Alpha version. My wife has it because it is perk to be married to the developer. And I test it on her S7 and Tablet. I have a S7E, Note7 and Note 10.1 so I have a wide range of test devices. My son has the shield v3 on his Moto Z play also as a test device.

Stay tuned to to this site and Facebook for the beta release for the Shield v3. We have been dropping hints as to when it will be ready.

[beatglitch]

So if I am only looking to stop the update nag messages/notifications, then V2 should do the trick, right? As I mentioned in another thread, PDP v7.4 still seems to disable all packages except the two for Software Update (com.wssyncmldm and com.sec.android.soagent) - those are now hidden from it. And as for the Software Update error you speak of, is that only the small warning banner that occasionally appears on the pull-down notifications list? And is SHIELDV2.0.1.7 PUBLIC.APK the correct release to get V2 functionality?

Thanks

[beowulf381]

So if I am only looking to stop the update nag messages/notifications, then V2 should do the trick, right? As I mentioned in another thread, PDP v7.4 still seems to disable all packages except the two for Software Update (com.wssyncmldm and com.sec.android.soagent) - those are now hidden from it. And as for the Software Update error you speak of, is that only the small warning banner that occasionally appears on the pull-down notifications list? And is SHIELDV2.0.1.7 PUBLIC.APK the correct release to get V2 functionality?

Thanks

Just answerd you in the other thread: Better try V1.

The apk you mentioned is the correct one, but the software error may annoy you with a popup several times a day, saying 'Unfortunally software update has stopped'. As alrready said it's an emergency measure to prevent kill updates to happen to N7 devices w/o other kind of protection.

[beatglitch]

I get it now. I'll install V1. Thanks again!

[beatglitch]

So I've installed v1 and I have some questions. Before the installation, I disabled all packages that had been disabled with PDP and then I uninstalled PDP. I then installed and activated Shield v1. The installation went smoothly. So far, I'm still getting the banner that says "software update" at the top of the settings screen. I've been able to make it vanish by tapping on its X. But on occasion it used to allow me to do that, so I'm yet unsure whether the update nags have been disabled. Following are some of my questions:

1. Is the above described banner presence an expected behavior?

2. What constitutes a disabled item on Shield's package list ... are the packages shown in green with a slashed circle icon ones that have been disabled by default?

3. As relevant to question #2 above, am I to individually select the items/packages that I wish to disable by tapping each one?

Okay, I've just experimented a bit. I clicked on wssyncmldm.apk and com.sec.android.soagent to make them both turn red with a green check mark. After doing so, I was no longer able to make the "software update" banner vanish from the settings screen by clicking the X. That seems to mean that the green slashed circle state indicates a package has been disabled and that it's Shield's default for various unwanted packages. But it still hasn't disabled Software Update because even when all packages are green in Shield's list, I can tap on the ever present "software update" banner on the settings screen and it brings up the Software Update screen that gives me the option to download the currently available update. I haven't seen the auto nags yet, but I expect they will return.

My understanding was that this should work since no update has been downloaded yet. Have I missed something?

Thanks

[beowulf381]

So I've installed v1 and I have some questions. Before the installation, I disabled all packages that had been disabled with PDP and then I uninstalled PDP. I then installed and activated Shield v1. The installation went smoothly. So far, I'm still getting the banner that says "software update" at the top of the settings screen. I've been able to make it vanish by tapping on its X. But on occasion it used to allow me to do that, so I'm yet unsure whether the update nags have been disabled. Following are some of my questions:

1. Is the above described banner presence an expected behavior?

2. What constitutes a disabled item on Shield's package list ... are the packages shown in green with a slashed circle icon ones that have been disabled by default?

3. As relevant to question #2 above, am I to individually select the items/packages that I wish to disable by tapping each one?

Okay, I've just experimented a bit. I clicked on wssyncmldm.apk and com.sec.android.soagent to make them both turn red with a green check mark. After doing so, I was no longer able to make the "software update" banner vanish from the settings screen by clicking the X. That seems to mean that the green slashed circle state indicates a package has been disabled and that it's Shield's default for various unwanted packages. But it still hasn't disabled Software Update because even when all packages are green in Shield's list, I can tap on the ever present "software update" banner on the settings screen and it brings up the Software Update screen that gives me the option to download the currently available update. I haven't seen the auto nags yet, but I expect they will return.

My understanding was that this should work since no update has been downloaded yet. Have I missed something?

Thanks

Did you activate the shield, not just installed?

If the big shield symbol shows green color shield is activated and disables the default update packages. They show up in RED.
All packages shown in red with the green checkmark are DISABLED. The packages shown in green with slashed circle are ENABLED.
If you turn some package to green this is re-enabled.

[beatglitch]

Yes, I activated the shield. In fact, there's a notification item with a green shield icon in the notifications list that's titled "shields up!" So what you're telling me is that after installing and activating the shield, no packages are disabled by default. I'll test that now by disabling wssyncmldm.apk and com.sec.android.soagent ...

I've just tested it. After disabling those two items, it has indeed rendered the "software update" banner on the settings screen and the "download updates manually" item on the Software Update menu inoperative. So it does work. But is it possible to disable an additional package that will get rid of the "software update" banner at the top of the settings screen? I can get it to go away for the moment by clicking on its X 6 or 7 times. Isn't it produced/controlled by one of the packages that I can disable with Shield? ... And if so, which one is it?

Thanks

[beatglitch]

Okay. Upon further checking, I can see that Shield does disable about 9 or so packages by default. But I can't get that "software update" banner in settings to go away permanently. I can live with it if there's no known way to preclude it by disabling a package. But if there is, please let me know which package to disable. I kind of expect that if it were that easy to do it would be auto-disabled when Shield activates.

Thanks