How to install Android 9 Pie on Galaxy S9 and S9+ (Leaked official firmware added)

Samsung hasn’t announced its Android 9 release plans yet — unlike HTC, Huawei, Motorola, and OnePlus — but they sure would start rolling out the latest and greatest version of Android in near future.

We have already detailed out when we expect Samsung to start rolling out the Android 9 update for various Samsung Galaxy Android phones and tablets, including the Galaxy S9, Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Note 8, and Galaxy S8, in a separate post that you should check out now to get an idea of when to expect the Pie update on your Samsung device.

As regards the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, the Pie update is expected to start seeding out as an OTA sometime in January 2019 — a beta could arrive in December 2018 unless Samsung screws up again — but that’s a far lot away.

The great thing about Android though, is that you have custom ROMs that get you latest Android OS available already unofficially. And the same is the case with Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus handsets right now, as users of both of these handsets can now install a Generic System Image (GSI) based on Android 9 AOSP to get the taste of Android Pie now.

Yes, you can install the Pie update now even if Samsung would bring it to you only by the end of January 2019 (expected date).

Let’s see how to install Android 9 Pie on your Galaxy S9 and S9+ now.

Samsung Galaxy S9 Android 9 Pie update

Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus will receive the official update from Samsung, that’s obvious. But thanks to the Project Treble, they also have unofficial Android 9 update available. For this reason, we have divided this article into two sections: official update and unofficial update.

Here’s a gist the status of the updates first, though.

• Official update expected in early-Q1 2019
  • Beta version of Samsung Android Pie not released yet; expected in early-November 2018
  • Leaked build available — provide below along with an installation guide
• Unofficial update available already (only for Exynos variants, sold in India, Europe, etc. but not in the US)
  • AOSP based custom ROM available as GSI (system image)
  • Initial alpha build available (As of August 23)

Official Android 9 Pie update

In this section, we will talk about the official Android 9 Pie update with from Samsung that comes with their custom skin called Samsung Experience 10. All kinds of official build from Samsung, as available, will be included here: leaked, beta, and stable.

Download leaked official Android 9 Pie update

• Galaxy S9 (compatible only with model no. SM-G960U/U1)
  • Leaked Android 9 Pie OTA update – build U3ZRJ7
  • Required base Android 8.1 firmware – G960USQS3ARI6
• Galaxy S9 Plus (compatible only with model no. SM-G965U/U1)
  • Leaked Android 9 Pie OTA update – build U3ZRJ7
  • Required base Android 8.1 firmware – G965USQS3ARI6

How to install official leaked Android 9 Pie firmware on Samsung S9 and S9+

First, check the current software version of your Galaxy S9 (or S9+). If it is ending with ARI6, then you don’t need to download the ARI6 firmware from above, nor install it. If you already have the ARI6 update installed on your S9/S9+, then jump to step 13 below to directly install the Android Pie update (version ZRJ7). Steps 1 to 12 are about installing the required base version ARI6 (Android 8.1), while step 13 to 17 are about installing Android 9 Pie.

Step 1. Download the Android Pie OTA update file and Android 8.1 base firmware ARI6 on your Windows PC, depending on the model no. of your Galaxy S9 and S9+.

Step 2. Install Samsung USB driver (method 1 on the linked page) first of all. Double-click the .exe file of drivers to begin the installation. (Not required if you have already done this.)

Step 3. Also, download Odin PC software (latest version).

Step 4. Extract the ARI6 firmware file now. You can use a free software like 7-zip for this. Install 7-zip, then right click on firmware file and under 7-zip, select ‘Extract here’. You should get few files .tar.md5 format now, with AP, BL, CP or CSC etc. written at the beginning of those files.

Step 5. Extract the Odin file. You should get the Odin program file (other files could be hidden, hence not visible).

Step 6. Disconnect your Galaxy S9 (or S9+) from PC if it is connected.

Step 7. Boot the Galaxy S9 (or S9+) into download mode:

• Power off your device. Wait for 6-7 seconds after screen goes off.
• Press and hold the three buttons Volume down + Bixby + Power together until you see the Warning screen.
• Press Volume Up to continue to download mode.

Step 8. Double click on Odin .exe file (from step 5) to open the Odin window as shown below. Be careful with Odin, and do just as said to prevent problems.

Step 9. Connect your device now using the USB cable. Odin should recognize your device. It’s a must. When it recognizes, you will see Added!! message appearing in the Log box in the bottom left, and the first box under ID:COM will also show a no. and turn its background blue. Look at the pic below.

• You cannot proceed until you get the Added!! message, which confirms that Odin has recognized your device.
• If you don’t get Added!! message, you need to install/re-install drivers again and use the original cable that came with the device. Mostly, drivers are the problem (look at step 2 above).
• You can try different USB ports on your PC too.

Step 10. Load the firmware files(s) on your device. Here’s how:

• Click on the BL tab, and select the file beginning with BL text.
• Click on the AP tab, and select the file beginning with AP text.
• Click on the CP tab, and select the file beginning with CP text.
• [Different] Click on the CSC tab, and select the file beginning with HOME_CSC text. If HOME_CSC file isn’t available, then select the file beginning with CSC text.

About CSC file: Using the HOME_CSC file won’t reset your device, and data on the phone shouldn’t be deleted. However, when we select regular CSC file, and it results in CSC on the device being different than that in CSC file, your phone will be formatted automatically. You can even choose to ignore loading the CSC file, that may do alright too. But if it doesn’t work out, repeat the whole process and select CSC file this time around.

• Info: When you load files, Odin checks the md5 of the firmware file, which takes time. So, simply wait until that’s done and the firmware file is loaded. Don’t worry if Odin gets unresponsive for a while, it’s normal. Binary size will also show up in Odin.

Step 11. Click on Options tab, and make sure Re-partition checkbox is NOT selected. Don’t use PIT tab, ever!

Go back to the Log tab now, as it will show the progress of the firmware installation when you hit the start button in the next step.

Step 12. Verify that everything is okay as mentioned above. When satisfied, click the Start button on Odin now to start flashing the firmware on your device.

Wait till installation is finished, after which your device will reboot automatically. You’ll get PASS message as shown below upon successful installation from Odin.

Some errors you may run into, and with respective solution.

• If Odin gets stuck at setup connection, then you need to do this all again. Disconnect your device, close Odin, boot device into download mode again, open Odin, and then select the file and flash it again as said above.
• If you get FAIL in the top left box, then also you need to flash the file again as stated just above.

That’s it. Let the device restart automatically.

Step 13. Once the device has restarted, you can install the Android Pie update. For this, first of all, disconnect the device from PC and then install the fastboot and adb driver on your PC.

Step 14. Now open a command window inside the folder where you have the Android 9 update OTA file (ending with U3ZRJ7.zip). For this, go that folder, and then type cmd in the address bar of that folder’s window, and then hit the enter key. A command window will open up, and its location will be that folder.

Step 15. Boot the Galaxy S9 (or S9+) into recovery mode:

• Power off your device. Wait for 6-7 seconds after screen goes off.
• Press and hold the three buttons Volume up + Bixby + Power together for 7 seconds. It will reboot into recovery mode soon.

Step 16. Connect your Galaxy S9 to the PC now.

Step 17. Run the adb sideload command below to install the Android Pie update on your S9 or S9+.

• For Galaxy S9 – adb sideload G960USQS3ARI6-to-U3ZRJ7.zip
• For Galaxy S9 Plus – adb sideload G965USQS3ARI6-to-U3ZRJ7.zip

Type the above command for your particular device and then hit the enter key to run it. Once the process is finished, the device will reboot automatically. You may disconnect the device from PC now. That’s it.

Your Galaxy S9 or the Galaxy S9 Plus will be running the leaked version of Android Pie update once the device has restarted.

Note: In case you are unable to install the Android Pie OTA file using the steps 13 to 17 above, here is an alternate method. After doing steps 1 to 12, you can do this to install Android Pie update instead of steps 13 to 17 above.

How to install Android Pie update using a microSD card (external storage)

• Insert a microSD card into your Galaxy S9/S9+
• Connect the device to PC, then transfer the Android 9 Pie update OTA file to your device’s SDcard.
• Now, reboot into recovery mode (see above for how to do this).
• Use the option ‘Install update via external storage’ and then select the update file you transferred earlier.
• Confirm the installation. The Android Pie update will install and when it’s done, the device will restart automatically. That’s it.

Unofficial Android 9 Pie update

Downloads

As stated above, the official Android 9 Pie update from Samsung is not available at the moment but is expected in January 2019.

Below is the download and installation procedure for the unofficial update (via AOSP Android 9 GSI).

• Unofficial Android 9 Pie update ROM:
  • AOSP 9.0 ROM GSI (v104, September 04 release, works for both S9 and S9+)
    [Download the latest ARM64 A-only ROM from here]
  • Android 9 Gapps
• Required TWRP recovery (TWRP 3.2.3 or above required)

How to install unofficial Android Pie update on Samsung S9 and S9+

Rather than be surprised, it’s good to know more about the ROM than blind flash it. Check out the known issues if any with the ROM on its development page here before installing the ROM. It may not be good enough to be relied upon in day-to-day life.

1. Make sure you have Android 8.0 Oreo update installed. (It’s quite old now, so you must already have it easily without a doubt.)
   → Find latest Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ updates here. [Firmware here: S9/S9+]
2. Make sure you have the TWRP recovery 3.2.3 or above installed. Find the guide to install TWRP on Galaxy S9/S9+ here.
3. Download the latest Android 9 ROM and Gapps files from above. (The ROM comes in .XZ format, while Gapps comes in .ZIP format.)
4. Extract the System image’s .XZ file to get the larger system image file in the .IMG format. (You can use a free software like 7-zip for this on your PC.)
5. Take the appropriate backup of your device as this will need a factory reset, which would delete everything on the device.
6. Once the above is done, let’s install the unofficial Android 9 Pie update (AOSP ROM) on your Galaxy S9/S9+ now. Transfer the ROM and Gapps files to your Galaxy S9/S9+.
   → Be sure to transfer the extracted .IMG file of the ROM, not the downloaded file.
7. Reboot into recovery mode to access TWRP. For this:
   1. Power off the device.
   2. Press and hold power and volume down buttons together for a few seconds until you see the Samsung logo on the screen. You will see the TWRP soon.
8. [Careful!] Wipe the device to prepare it for Android 9 update. This will delete everything except the content on internal storage and SD card. Make sure you have a backup of contacts, app data, etc. stuff. Here’s how to wipe the device using TWRP:
   1. In TWRP, tap on Wipe, and then tap on Format Data option. Type yes on the next screen to confirm this.
   2. Go back to the TWRP homescreen, tap the Wipe button again, and now perform the swipe action at the bottom to perform a factory reset on the device.
9. Install the Android 9 Pie update using system GSI on your Galaxy S9/S9+.
   1. Go back to home screen of TWRP.
   2. Tap on the Install button.
   3. Tap on the Install image button.
   4. Now select the System Image file you transferred earlier.
   5. Select System Image option.
   6. Now Swipe at the bottom to confirm the installation.
10. Install the Gapps file. Go the home screen of TWRP, and then tap on Install, select the Gapps file you transferred above, and then confirm the installation by swiping at the bottom of the screen.
11. Tap on Reboot system button after installing the Gapps file to restart the device.

That’s all.

Your Galaxy S9/S9+ will boot with the Android 9 Pie update now. It’s an unofficial update but it’s pretty good one.