Install Android 4.4.2 KitKat VXUCNE2 Update Manually for US Cellular Galaxy Note 2 L900

Use this tutorial if you want to manually flash the official OTA Update to Android 4.4.2 KitKat for your US Cellular Galaxy Note 2 smartphone.

The official VXUCNE2 firmware update has been launched recently OTA (over-the-air) for all US Cellular devices. As you know these update are usually launched in phases and not all Note 2 US Cellular models will get the update at the same time. This guide is designed to help advanced users flash the new firmware update on their devices.

More info about the update can be found in our news article here.

In order to make sure that the process will complete successfully you should first take a look at the guidelines below:

• use this post only with the US Cellular Samsung Galaxy Note 2 model number R950.
  - do not attempt to update any other Android device nor other Note 2 device that doesn’t have the model number set to SGH – R950.
  - check the version of your device under Settings> More> About Phone and Model Number.
• install the Samsung USB Drivers on your PC.
• enable USB Debugging from Developer Options menu.
  - if you don’t know how to do it, then you can follow the info here -> that’s a guide for Galaxy S5, but it will work with any other Samsung device.
• disable the Samsung KIES and any antivirus apps from running on your computer.
  - these applications might block ODIN from running.
  - Odin3 v3.09 is the tool that we are going to use in order to successfully flash the update.
• if your US Cellular Galaxy Note 2 is rooted, then the updating process will revoke root access.
• in case you have a custom Recovery installed on it, then this will be replaced with a stock Recovery version.
• if you have a custom ROM installed on your US Cellular Note 2, then the update will write over it and you will lose all data stored on the system partition.
  - also, you will have to apply a ‘factory reset’ after the update is complete from Stock Recovery Mode menu.
  - this info is listed at the end of the post.
• backup data from installed apps with Helium for Android.
• sync Contacts info with your default Gmail account.
• check the battery charge level of your Note 2 and make sure that it is over 50%, this will prevent the device from powering down during the update.
• this guide should be applied by advanced users only.
• you can’t blame Android.gs in case the phone gets bricked in the process nor in case you lose any important data files.
• read the whole guide before starting update and make sure not to skip any steps if you’re planning on successfully applying all changes.

Now that you know all that you can continue to the next part of this post.

How to flash VXUCNE2 Android 4.4.2 Update for US Cellular Note 2 R950:

1. Download the R950VXUCNE2 firmware from here.
   - note that you need an account at SamMobile in order to be able to download the file.
2. Extract the contents of the zip file and save them on your PC.
   - you should get one file with R950VXUCNE2 tar.md5 extension, do not extract any further than that.
3. Download Odin3 v3.09 from here.
   - extract the Odin zip contents on your PC.
4. Power off your phone.
5. Boot the Galaxy Note 2 US Cellular in Download Mode.
6. Launch Odin 3.09 exe on your computer.
7. Connect your phone to PC via USB data cable.
   - wait for the phone to be detected by your computer.
   - if the device is not detected then you should re-install the USB Drivers (the download link is in the guidelines above).
8. Return to Odin menu screen now.
9. Click on the ‘AP’ button in Odin.
10. Find the R950VXUCNE2 tar.md5 file and load it into Odin.
    - make sure that ‘Re-Partition’ is disabled.
    - do not change other default Odin options.
11. Click on the START button when you want to begin the updating process of your US Cellular Note 2 device.
12. When the update is finished you will see the phone restarting and Odin will then boot in normal mode.
    - Odin should show the ‘PASS’ alert confirming that the files were flashed with success.
13. After the device is booted in normal mode, then you can start testing all the features and functions.

Now that you’ve completed the installation you can close this guide and continue testing all the latest changes added by VXUCNE2 firmware.

If you encounter any problems during the installation then you can read the notes below.

I – > if Odin freezes or it displays the FAIL error, then you should try to repeat the entire tutorial once again. Make sure that you don’t skip any steps and that the phone’s model number matches the one listed in this post.

II – > if Odin says that the update was passed, but the Note 2 US Cellular device doesn’t boot in normal mode and it gets stuck at the Samsung boot animation screen, then you will have to apply a factory reset.

Factory Reset is also required in case your device was running a custom ROM before installing the update. Here’s how to apply factory reset and force your Note 2 US Cellular boot in normal mode:

• switch off the device completely.
• boot it into Recovery Mode.
• select ‘wipe data/ factory reset’.
• confirm.
• reboot device in normal mode.