T999LUVUBOH1: New update for T-Mobile Galaxy S3 LTE (SGH-T999L)

After a long time naturally, the T-Mobile Galaxy S3 LTE — model no. SGH-T999L, not T999 — is at the end of receiving another update, dubbed as OH1. It’s the build no. we are seeing on many Samsung updates, mostly related to devices older than 1 year. OH1 brings a fix for Stagefright bug too, in case you were wondering.

Do note that the update belongs to LTE version of T-Mobile Galaxy S3, and not the original non-LTE version whose model no. was T999. And btw, it’s still based on Android 4.3, no incremental Android OS update here. As regards changelog, well no word is available yet as regards and what and what is new and changed. Update: T-Mobile has confirmed it too. And apart from the Stagefright fix as ”Messaging security improvements’, no other changes accompany the update.

Recently, Android 5.1 software update has been released for many popular T-Mobile sets like Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy S5, Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge and HTC One M9.

If your own a T-Mobile Galaxy S3 LTE, then you must be receiving an update notification soon. But if you don’t then either download and install the update using our guide below using the full OH1 firmware, or try to force the OTA update from Settings > About device > System update, then tap on ‘check for update’ button.

Downloads

OH1 Firmware — Link | Alternate Link | File: T999LUVUBOH1_T999LTMBBOH1_TMB.zip
Odin PC software — Link | File: Odin3_v3.10.6.zip (1.6 MB)

Supported devices

T-Mobile Galaxy S3 LTE, model no. SGH-T999L
Don’t try on any device of any other company than Samsung, or Samsung’s own non-Android devices!

Disclamer: Installing an official firmware through Odin doesn’t void your device’s warranty, but it remains an unofficial process and thus you need to be cautious of it. In any case, you only are responsible for your device. We won’t be liable if any damage occurs to your device and/or its components.

Backup important files stored on your device before proceeding with the steps below, so that in case something goes wrong you’ll have backup of all your important files. Sometimes, Odin installation may delete everything on your device!

Step-by-step Guide

Download the Odin software from above. And make sure you have downloaded a firmware file for your device, after carefully checking the model no. as firmware is based on that strictly.
Install Samsung Galaxy driver (method 1 there!) first of all. Double click the .exe file of drivers to begin installation. (Not required if you have already done this.)
Extract the 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 the a file in .tar.md5 format now. We will be loading this file into Odin in Step 9 below.
Extract the Odin file. You should get this file, Odin3 v3.10.6.exe (other files could be hidden, hence not visible).
Disconnect your T-Mobile Galaxy S3 LTE from PC if it is connected.
Boot your T-Mobile Galaxy S3 LTE into download mode:
1. Power off your device. Wait 6-7 seconds after screen goes off.
2. Press and hold the three buttons Volume Down + Power + Home together until you see warning screen.
3. Press Volume Up to continue to download mode.
Double click on extracted file of Odin, Odin3 v3.10.6.exe, to open the Odin window as shown below. Be careful with Odin, and do just as said below to prevent problems.
Connect your T-Mobile Galaxy S3 LTE to PC now using USB cable. Odin should recognizeyour device. It’s a must. When it recognizes, you will see Added!! message appearing in the Log box in 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, btw.
Load the firmware file into Odin. Click the AP button on Odin and the select the .tar.md5 file from Step 3 above.
- Info: When you load files, Odin checks the md5 sum value 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.
Make sure Re-partition checkbox is NOT selected, under the Options tab. Don’t use PIT tab either. Go back to Log tab btw, it will show the progress when you hit start button in next step.
Click the Start button on Odin now to start flashing the firmware on your T-Mobile Galaxy S3 LTE. Wait till installation is finished, after which your device will reboot automatically. You’ll get PASS message as show below upon successful installation from Odin.
- 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 firmware and flash it again as said above.
- If you get FAIL in the top left box, then also you need to flash the firmware again as stated just above.
First start of the device may take time, so wait patiently again. Check the Settings > About device to confirm new firmware.