Root Instructions for SM-T290 (Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 2019)
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Welcome! This is my first guide on XDA Developers. This will tell you how to root a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 2019, specially for the SM-T290 model of it. I hope you like it and it works! It has exactly 30 steps.
Disclaimer
* Your warranty will or is now be void. It might already been void (if your warranty is over...)
* I'm not responsible for any damage to your device when following this guide. It's your choice to do it.
* If you still say it's my fault, I'll probably say that I had warned you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
UPDATE YOUR TABLET TO VERSION T290XXU3CVG3 AND NOT HIGHER!!!Please update your tablet to the version listed above and NOT higher. Make sure it is fully upgraded to Android 11, so that you can use the better version of TWRP. BUT NOT HIGHER THAN THE VERSION ABOVE, AS THE DEVICE WILL LIKELY NEVER BE ABLE TO BE ROOTED AGAIN. Update by flashing T290XXU3CVG3 with Odin. Download the firmware for your country. Soon I might will update this guide so that TWRP will work on the latest firmware, but for now, DO NOT GO HIGHER THAN T290XXU3CVG3!!! If you have bootloader version 4, it is impossible to flash any of the stuff described here and your device won't be able to have a downgraded bootloader, making it currently impossible to flash any custom stuff when you have bootloader version 4!
MAKE A BACKUP!Be sure to make a complete backup first of all important stuff you have! When you have TWRP (and likely also ROOT), you are able to make a COMPLETE backup of your tablet, including partitions like boot and data and allows apps with complete data to be restored, be sure to use this feature when you have installed TWRP.
Known issues
Charging the device while it is powered off will power it on again. The device will always be on when charging.
Sometimes, when you wipe and/or format data, the storage space is seen as 8GB, while it has 32GB. You can find the fix here.
The battery may drain fast. If this is your case, check this fix.
You may get a black screen after you have flashed TWRP. This means that this method likely doesn't work for your device, because your device came with Android 10 instead. This means that the Android 9 bootloader doesn't work properly on this device. We know the device can be used by using screen mirroring from ADB, but we need more research.
Issue trackerYou can report issues here. This repository is used to report issues for all my XDA threads. You MUST add the label 'Root Instructions For SM-T290', so I know where to post this issue.
Instructions for ROOT1. Power on your device.
2. Open the settings app.
3. Go to 'About device/phone/tablet'
4. Click on 'Software info'.
5. Tap on the build number for 7 times until a message pops up saying "You are now a developer!".
6. Go back to home menu of settings app and click on 'Developer options'.
7. Enable the OEM unlock switch.
Optional: Unlock the bootloader using the steps below, go through setup, enable developer options and check if the option is still enabled.
8. Turn your device off and reboot into download mode by plugging the device into a PC using an USB cable and holding Pwr+VolUp+VolDown after being plugged in.
9. Disable the OEM lock and enable bootloader by holding VolUp for 10 seconds and then follow the instructions.
10. After that, you should see a download icon saying (downloading...).
11. Download Odin Flash Tool 'Odin3-v3.14.4.zip' from the files below.
12. Extract the ZIP file.
13. Open the ODIN executable.
14. Connect your tablet with a micro-USB to USB-A adapter (Your charging cable).
15. Download TWRP recovery image by clicking here. It should work with any version on your tablet. (TWRP XDA Thread)
16. Go back to ODIN, click OK.
17. Go to 'options' tab.
18. Disable 'Auto Reboot'. (not required, keeping enabled may be needed if you can't install and/or use the device.)
19. Click the check box before 'AP'.
20. Click on 'AP'.
21. Select the TWRP file 'twrp-3.7.0_11-0-T290XXU3CVG3-20221120.tar.md5'.
For users with auto-reboot enabled: read step 22, 23 and 24 first to do it correctly.
22. Click 'start'.
23. Wait until you see 'PASS' in the left upper corner.
24. READ THIS WHOLE STEP BEFORE YOU EXECUTE IT! On your tablet, hold the Pwr+VolDown button for 10 seconds until it reboots. From then, you need to be fast. When you see the logo, hold Pwr+VolUp. When you see a warning, IMMEDIATELY press ONLY Pwr for once. After that, hold Pwr+VolUp again as fast as you can until you see the TWRP logo. You successfully managed to install custom recovery! If you fail, you must redo step 16-18 until you get into TWRP.
25. Swipe the box to the right so that you can make modifications and can install Magisk (App for ROOT) and Multidisabler (Disables VaultKeeper, so that ROOT and TWRP will not be uninstalled after normal boot).
26. On the computer, download 'Magisk-v25.2.apk' from here and 'multidisabler-samsung-3.1.zip' from below (under thread), and copy these 2 files to the root directory of the tablet's internal storage by selecting the tablet in Windows Explorer, selecting 'Internal Storage' and pasting them there. If you see weird directories, you may need a SD card connected to the tablet and paste the file there, which was my case. For SD card, you are going to select 'SD Card' instead of 'Internal Storage'.
27. Press 'Install' on tablet.
28. If you have an SD Card, click 'Select storage' and click on '(micro)SD Card'. Select 'Magisk-v25.2.apk' and then swipe to install. Wait until this is done. After that, repat step 21-22 for 'multidisabler-samsung-3.1.zip' and do the same, but this time, also click 'Wipe cache/dalvik' afterwards to make sure it can build new, fresh cache.
29. When you are done, click 'Done'.
30. Click 'Reboot' and then 'System'.
Hooray! You have rooted your SM-T290 tablet successfully. You can close/exit everything now! The app for root is 'Magisk', so verify that you have root completely by opening it, and looking at the 'Installed' column in the 'Magisk' section. If it says 'Installed 25.2 (252XX)', and ROOT is succesfully installed! If it doesn't say this, reboot into TWRP and repeat step 21-22.
(Maybe edited so please stay tuned.)
TWRP image could not be upload here due to XDA not allowing me to upload it due to the .tar.md5 file extension.
Recommended TWRP flashable ZIPs
Open Gapps - Replaces/Installs more up-to-date apps from Google: https://opengapps.org
Samsung Game Services (by me) - Installs Samsung Game Booster + Launcher + Optimizing Service on any Samsung device with OneUI: https://github.com/minionguyjpro/Samsung-Game-Services-Installer
TroubleshootingProblem: 8GB on a 32GB device
Fix: Turn your device off, boot into TWRP by holding Pwr+VolDown, pressing Pwr once immediately on the warning prompt, and pressing Pwr+VolDown again, until you boot into TWRP. Then go to Wipe > Advanced Wipe > Select System > Repair or Change File System > Resize File System > Swipe to the right. If that doesn't work, you can also try the Data partition, and/or the other option 'Repair File System'.
Problem: Fast battery drain
Fix: Turn your device off, boot into TWRP by holding Pwr+VolDown, pressing Pwr once immediately on the warning prompt, and pressing Pwr+VolDown again, until you boot into TWRP. Then go to Wipe > Advanced Wipe > Select Dalvik / ART Cache > Swipe to Wipe. If that doesn't work, try to factory reset the device, look for apps that may cause a fast battery drain or use a Custom ROM that is faster and has a better battery life.
Offline instructions and dataThe offline guide and data are also available below:
Couple points of note:
To enter recovery mode, hold Volume UP (+), not Down (-). Do not hold Power, it will force a reboot again.
After unlocking the bootloader, the best course of action is to allow the device to boot into Android and enable Developer Options, then check to ensure OEM Unlocking is still there and grayed out (should show Bootloader is already unlocked). If not, this may cause problems when attempting to flash TWRP. See here
TWRP 3.6.0_11 is here: XDA Thread Download link
It's not necessary to change the Magisk extension from .apk to .zip. TWRP will still install it as a ZIP.
The only acceptable source for Magisk is the Magisk Github
It is not necessary to use an SD card, although it's recommended given the tablet's limited storage. MTP should work while in TWRP; the user can transfer both Magisk and the Multidisabler to the internal storage via USB and install them before wiping data.
V0latyle said:
Couple points of note:
To enter recovery mode, hold Volume UP (+), not Down (-). Do not hold Power, it will force a reboot again.
After unlocking the bootloader, the best course of action is to allow the device to boot into Android and enable Developer Options, then check to ensure OEM Unlocking is still there and grayed out (should show Bootloader is already unlocked). If not, this may cause problems when attempting to flash TWRP. See here
TWRP 3.6.0_11 is here: XDA Thread Download link
It's not necessary to change the Magisk extension from .apk to .zip. TWRP will still install it as a ZIP.
The only acceptable source for Magisk is the Magisk Github
It is not necessary to use an SD card, although it's recommended given the tablet's limited storage. MTP should work while in TWRP; the user can transfer both Magisk and the Multidisabler to the internal storage via USB and install them before wiping data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While you say SD is not required, on mine my internal storage had random dirs. And didnt show files so i needed SD, but that depends of someone else has this too.
Minionguyjpro said:
While you say SD is not required, on mine my internal storage had random dirs. And didnt show files so i needed SD, but that depends of someone else has this too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's normal. TWRP is unable to decrypt storage, so the random directory names are because everything is scrambled. Still, you should be able to transfer files to internal storage via USB; just put them in the root of internal storage. The files you transfer will be unencrpyted.
That being said, it IS easier to use an external SD card...
V0latyle said:
TWRP 3.6.0_11 is here: XDA Thread Download link
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to this link, the file twrp-3.6.1_11-0-T290XXU3CUK4-20220327.tar.md5, which includes 4 files: recovery.img (actually TWRP), vaultkeeper.mbn, vbmeta.mbn and finally the file aboot.mbn, and this android bootloader 9 T290XXS3ATF1. That is, when installing TWRP, the android bootloader 11 is replaced with the android bootloader 9 ... Naturally, then we get a positive result
Talich52 said:
According to this link, the file twrp-3.6.1_11-0-T290XXU3CUK4-20220327.tar.md5, which includes 4 files: recovery.img (actually TWRP), vaultkeeper.mbn, vbmeta.mbn and finally the file aboot.mbn, and this android bootloader 9 T290XXS3ATF1. That is, when installing TWRP, the android bootloader 11 is replaced with the android bootloader 9 ... Naturally, then we get a positive result
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I'm getting set up now after installing CVG3, I'll update when done.
Edit: Yep, bootloader version shows as T290XXU3CVG3. I'll flash TWRP and update when done.
V0latyle said:
Interesting. I'm getting set up now after installing CVG3, I'll update when done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pay attention to the bootloader version. This is clearly visible in the Phone Info application in the Firmware Information tab...
V0latyle said:
Couple points of note:
To enter recovery mode, hold Volume UP (+), not Down (-). Do not hold Power, it will force a reboot again.
After unlocking the bootloader, the best course of action is to allow the device to boot into Android and enable Developer Options, then check to ensure OEM Unlocking is still there and grayed out (should show Bootloader is already unlocked). If not, this may cause problems when attempting to flash TWRP. See here
TWRP 3.6.0_11 is here: XDA Thread Download link
It's not necessary to change the Magisk extension from .apk to .zip. TWRP will still install it as a ZIP.
The only acceptable source for Magisk is the Magisk Github
It is not necessary to use an SD card, although it's recommended given the tablet's limited storage. MTP should work while in TWRP; the user can transfer both Magisk and the Multidisabler to the internal storage via USB and install them before wiping data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, great!
Talich52 said:
According to this link, the file twrp-3.6.1_11-0-T290XXU3CUK4-20220327.tar.md5, which includes 4 files: recovery.img (actually TWRP), vaultkeeper.mbn, vbmeta.mbn and finally the file aboot.mbn, and this android bootloader 9 T290XXS3ATF1. That is, when installing TWRP, the android bootloader 11 is replaced with the android bootloader 9 ... Naturally, then we get a positive result
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it does still work.
Talich52 said:
Pay attention to the bootloader version. This is clearly visible in the Phone Info application in the Firmware Information tab...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I understood you the first time.
V0latyle said:
Couple points of note:
To enter recovery mode, hold Volume UP (+), not Down (-). Do not hold Power, it will force a reboot again.
After unlocking the bootloader, the best course of action is to allow the device to boot into Android and enable Developer Options, then check to ensure OEM Unlocking is still there and grayed out (should show Bootloader is already unlocked). If not, this may cause problems when attempting to flash TWRP. See here
TWRP 3.6.0_11 is here: XDA Thread Download link
It's not necessary to change the Magisk extension from .apk to .zip. TWRP will still install it as a ZIP.
The only acceptable source for Magisk is the Magisk Github
It is not necessary to use an SD card, although it's recommended given the tablet's limited storage. MTP should work while in TWRP; the user can transfer both Magisk and the Multidisabler to the internal storage via USB and install them before wiping data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made a few changes. VolDown and VolUp are now correct. And removed Magisk and changed to direct download link from GitHub.
Talich52 said:
Pay attention to the bootloader version. This is clearly visible in the Phone Info application in the Firmware Information tab...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This should be no issue if you have Android 11. I installed it this exact way while i already had Android 11. I think the bootloader just gets a different version. I have latest T290XXU3CVG3 version with the android 9 bootloader from that TWRP version.
Minionguyjpro said:
This should be no issue if you have Android 11. I installed it this exact way while i already had Android 11. I think the bootloader just gets a different version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turns out flashing TWRP does overwrite the bootloader.
After updating via Odin, I was at T290XXU3CVD3.
After flashing TWRP, it's at T290XXS3ATF1.
Talich52 said:
Pay attention to the bootloader version. This is clearly visible in the Phone Info application in the Firmware Information tab...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is no
V0latyle said:
Yes, I understood you the first time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First flash update, then flash only AP with TWRP. Make sure to disable auto-reboot.
V0latyle said:
Turns out flashing TWRP does overwrite the bootloader.
After updating via Odin, I was at T290XXU3CVD3.
After flashing TWRP, it's at T290XXS3ATF1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, maybe that the bootloader is overwritten. But this is only a issue if you want the latest security patches. But i have the latest version of Android 11 installed. May it be possible that the software will be updated, but the bootloader/firmware will stay on an older version?
V0latyle said:
Turns out flashing TWRP does overwrite the bootloader.
After updating via Odin, I was at T290XXU3CVD3.
After flashing TWRP, it's at T290XXS3ATF1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's why it works. And the author of the TWRP file modestly kept silent that he was changing the bootloader to Android 9 ...
There is no trouble in this, the device is fully functional on Android 11 with 9 bootloader. One trouble - charging does not work, more precisely, there is no display of charging when charging the switched off device. This is critical for someone, but I don’t turn off the device, it only blocks ...
Minionguyjpro said:
May it be possible that the software will be updated, but the bootloader/firmware will stay on an older version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A rooted device will not be updated over the air or via SmartSwitch. But you can update the firmware via ODIN, saving the data. But the bootloader should remain 9 android ...
Talich52 said:
Yes, that's why it works. And the author of the TWRP file modestly kept silent that he was changing the bootloader to Android 9 ...
There is no trouble in this, the device is fully functional on Android 11 with 9 bootloader. One trouble - charging does not work, more precisely, there is no display of charging when charging the switched off device. This is critical for someone, but I don’t turn off the device, it only blocks ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works for me
Minionguyjpro said:
Yes, maybe that the bootloader is overwritten. But this is only a issue if you want the latest security patches. But i have the latest version of Android 11 installed. May it be possible that the software will be updated, but the bootloader/firmware will stay on an older version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Talich52 said:
A rooted device will not be updated over the air or via SmartSwitch. But you can update the firmware via ODIN, saving the data. But the bootloader should remain 9 android ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung devices are a bit weird. On "proper" devices like my Pixel, you can force update system without updating bootloader or radio. Not sure if Samsung works the same way; I suppose someone could try only flashing AP, CP, CSC and see if it works?
V0latyle said:
Works for me
Samsung devices are a bit weird. On "proper" devices like my Pixel, you can force update system without updating bootloader or radio. Not sure if Samsung works the same way; I suppose someone could try only flashing AP, CP, CSC and see if it works?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The weird thing is that you need to flash TWRP as AP, not BL. Indeed the charging will turn the device on.this issues is listed in the thread.
Minionguyjpro said:
The weird thing is that you need to flash TWRP as AP, not BL. Indeed the charging will turn the device on.this issues is listed in the thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah...so updating will always overwrite TWRP. My theory is by not flashing the BL tar, maybe it won't overwrite the older bootloader?
V0latyle said:
Yeah...so updating will always overwrite TWRP. My theory is by not flashing the BL tar, maybe it won't overwrite the older bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could be. Im not really sure. But... is the root workimg?
Related
This version of TWRP works on both the TB-X605F (wifi) and TB-X605L (LTE). It does not work for the TB-X605FC/FL (Tab M10 FHD Rel).
Warning: this TWRP is for the Lenovo Smart Tab M10 with the Snapdragon 450 (SDA450) chipset. This image will not work for the second gen M10 (TB-X606F/L), which use a Mediatek SOC. See this thread.
For the M10 HD (TB-X505F/L), see this thread. For the TB-X505X, see this thread.
Code:
#include <std_disclaimer.h>
/*
* We are not responsible for bricked devices, dead SD cards,
* thermonuclear war, or you getting fired because the alarm app failed. Please
* do some research if you have any concerns about features included in this ROM
* before flashing it! YOU are choosing to make these modifications, and if
* you point the finger at us for messing up your device, we will laugh at you.
*/
Possible issues with TB-X605L
If the latest version of TWRP for TB-X605F doesn't work for your TB-X605L model, try version 3.4.0-0 from twrp.me.
Installation
TWRP for this device is officially supported. You can download it from twrp.me or in the TWRP App (from the PlayStore). Installation instructions are included on twrp.me.
It is recommended that you also install Magisk. This will ensure TWRP remains your default recovery.
Step-by-step guide
download TWRP to your PC (see the Download section below)
download magisk.zip to your MicroSD or OTG device. Get the latest Magisk zip file here.
if your bootloader is already unlocked, go to step 4. To unlock bootloader:
on tablet: go to Settings->System->About and press "Build number" 7 times to enable Developer Options.
on tablet: go to Settings->System->DeveloperOptions. Turn on: "OEM unlocking" and "USB debugging".
connect tablet to your computer. Tablet will ask for permission to "Allow USB debugging". Tick "always allow" and select "OK".
backup any files you want to keep to an external device (MicroSD/OTG/computer), because the next step will wipe all your photos, files, google account etc on the tablet.
Now unlock the bootloader:
Code:
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot oem unlock-go
fastboot reboot
flash the twrp image:
Code:
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot flash recovery twrp.img
if you haven't loaded Magisk yet, go to step 6. If you have already loaded Magisk, you can just reboot and you're finished:
Code:
fastboot reboot
adb reboot recovery
load Magisk (step one): reboot to recovery. Do not reboot into the system, because it will over-write TWRP with stock recovery. If that happens, go back to step 4 and start again. When you issue the reboot command (below), you have to immediately press the button combination to reboot to recovery (TWRP). Here are the steps:
issue the reboot command:
Code:
fastboot reboot
immediately press and hold all three buttons (Pwr+VolUp+VolDown). The tablet might reboot twice. Release all the buttons when you see the TWRP screen, or hear your PC acknowledge that ADB is connected.
load Magisk (step two): flash Magisk. In TWRP:
select "Install"
use "select storage" to locate device you stored magisk.zip on.
press the OK button
select the Magisk zip file
swipe to confirm Flash
when Magisk is finished, hit the back button to go back to main TWRP screen.
select "Reboot" then "System"
if the Magisk Manager app wasn't automatically loaded, you can get it here.
finished!
If you prefer to use button combos, rather than fastboot/ADB commands:
Vol Down + Power = fastboot mode
Vol Up + Vol Down + Power = recovery mode
Changelog
Code:
02/03/2022 - TWRP 3.6.1_9: new TWRP release
23/11/2021 - TWRP 3.6.0_9: new TWRP release
01/01/2021 - TWRP 3.5.0-0: new TWRP release
21/11/2020 - TWRP 3.4.0-1: new official version with SPL patch
19/11/2020 - promoted security patch level to 2099-12-31. No need to worry about SPLs ever again.
02/09/2020 - promote security patch level to 2020-08-01 for TB-X605F_S210208_200807_ROW
06/08/2020 - officially supported
31/07/2020 - upgrade to TWRP 3.4.0-0
- data decryption working (security patch 2020-04-01)
- landscape mode (by popular demand)
- add more partitions to Backup options
15/01/2020 - reverted to API 28 (Android Pie)
- renamed "sdcard1" to "external_sd"
- changed [ro.build.incremental.version] in preparation for OTA #4
24/11/2019 - fixed date/time & EDL reboot mode
- dropped back to API 27
20/11/2019 - initial commit (API 28) - encryption/decryption not working
Downloads
official
TWRP for X605F: twrp.me
Source code
github.com/minimal-manifest-twrp/platform_manifest_twrp_omni/tree/twrp-9.0
github.com/TeamWin/android_device_lenovo_X605F (official)
github.com/Yahoo-Mike/recovery_device_lenovo_X605F (unofficial)
FAQ
See the third post for answers to some FAQs like:
Will this TWRP work with other M10 and P10 devices?
Why is my "Data" partition empty (0 MB)?
how do I root my device?
Credits
The guys at TeamWin Recovery Project.
Everyone whose device trees I plagiarised from GitHub.
The amazing work of @Chaser42, @Long_Sam and others to get this project started.
XDA:DevDB Information
X605F Recovery, Tool/Utility for the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet
Contributors
Yahoo Mike, Chaser42
Source Code: https://github.com/TeamWin/android_device_lenovo_X605F
Version Information
Status: Testing
Created 2019-11-19
Last Updated 2022-05-22 (v3.6.1 and warning for TB-X605L)
Encryption/Decryption
When you load the stock ROM, it creates and automatically encrypts the data partition. If you are not using the correct TWRP version, the data partition might be empty (0 MB). This is because TWRP failed to decrypt the data partition.
If your data partition is 0MB in TWRP, make sure you have loaded the latest version of TWRP (Nov 2020 or newer). Older builds required the security patch levels to match on TWRP and your system.
If you want to remove encryption completely, then you can use the dm-verity-forceencrypt tool. @turboperson123 has put together some instructions to remove encryption. If you've already loaded TWRP, then you only need to follow steps 6 and 7 from that post. @turboperson123 's method uses @Zackptg5 's Universal DM-Verity, ForceEncrypt, Disk Quota Disablers tool to remove encryption and dm-verity.
FAQs
Can I use this TWRP on other M10 and P10 tablets?
There are quite a few variants of these Tabs that use the Snapdragon 450 (SDM450) chipset:
TB-X605F (Tab M10 wifi) - tested working this TWRP
TB-X605L (Tab M10 LTE) - tested working with TWRP ( thanks @alexupsa )
TB-X705F/L (Tab P10) - no. Use the twrp available on this thread.
For the TB-X505F/L (M10 HD) see this post.
NOTE: the TB-606F/L (M10 2nd gen), TB-X605FC (M10 FHD) use different chipsets, so this TWRP won't work.
Why is my "Data" partition 0MB?
See the second post in this thread.
What should I backup?
Short answer: everything.
But the bare minimum might include:
System Image
Vendor Image
Firmware/Modem
Persist
Data
Cache
Boot
How do I root my device?
To root your device, here are the instructions for the:
X705F (thanks to @Chaser42)
X605F/L - follow steps 6 & 7 in the OP above. If you don't want to load TWRP, then try something like @Long_Sam's patched boot.img method.
X505F/L - follow the "step by step guide" in the OP above. Just make sure you use twrp for X505F (not for X605F).
How do I load OTAs with TWRP?
Note: if you ran the dm-verity-forceencrypt tool to unencrypt your /data, then the steps below will not work.
select "uninstall" in the Magisk Manager app. If MM doesn't reboot the system, then reboot - this will re-install stock recovery.
install the OTA (either in the system or using stock recovery).
re-flash TWRP (for the new security patch level)
re-install Magisk
TB-X605L working properly. Thank you!
TB-X605L working properly. Thank you!
Yahoo Mike said:
This is a work in progress. Volunteer testers are very welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow...
That's really huge...
As we say here : "Monsieur, chapeau bas !"
Long_Sam
Lenovo has released quite a few variants of the Tab M10 now. I'm not sure this TWRP will work on all of them.
There are now even variants of a variant !
Code:
[B]M10[/B] with SDM-450 models: X605F (wifi) & X605L (LTE)
[B]M10 HD[/B] with SDM-429 models: X505F (wifi), X505L (LTE) & X505X (LTE Bands 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,20,38,40)
[B]M10 FHD[/B] with SDM-450 models: X605FC (wifi) & X605LC (LTE)
The M10 I have is shipped with a Snapdragon 450 (SDM-450) chipset & Hardware Code 63. But I see on their US site that Lenovo are now putting the SDM-429 in the X605. This might cause a problem with TWRP. I'm not sure if the kernels will be compatible.
The TWRP I've posted is for the X605F/L SDM450 (HW=63). I might need to compile a different TWRP for the SDM429 versions of the X605 & the X505.
If your X605 or X505 shipped with the SDM429, can you let me know if this TWRP works ? I need to know the Hardware Version, CPU and Hardware Code. Hardware Version and CPU are in System->About. The Hardware Code is in brackets after the S/N on the sticker on the back of the tablet, eg S/N Hxxxxxxx (63).
If you have an X605FC/LC, let me know if this TWRP works. I think it will, but I want make sure.
I have one with the 429 TB-X505F SD429 HW71 If i get some time today I might be bale to try it. I'll post soon as I do.
This morning I successfully compiled and ran the P10 kernel source on my M10. I had to tweak the config a bit. I tested it in TWRP. No problems.
Tomorrow, I'll inject it into the boot.img of the system ROM and see what happens. If it is mostly stable, then we're on the way to LOS for the M10. If it's completely stable, I'll push the source up to github.
I'll continue to use the stock kernel for the released versions of TWRP in this thread, though.
Thanks to @clsA for helping me work out that the M10 kernel is a subset of the P10 kernel.
@Yahoo Mike
thx for the twrp
succesfully flashed on my X605L
"Stock recovery image (recovery_stockROM.img) from TB-X605F_USR_S200065_1905280020_Q00332_ROW - just in case something goes wrong & you need to restore stock recovery. Only use this image on a TB-X605F. If you need it for any other variant, just ask in this thread and we'll track it down for you."
do you have the stock recovery for the X605L ?
how can i backup "DATA" inside twrp ?
will this help ?
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/software/universal-dm-verity-forceencrypt-t3817389
OSIRIS2010 said:
...
do you have the stock recovery for the X605L ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I think of it, you don't need it. If TWRP fails to flash, then stock recovery will still be there. If stock recovery is still not loading, just boot into the system and shutdown. When you shutdown, the system will re-flash stock recovery for you.
OSIRIS2010 said:
...
how can i backup "DATA" inside twrp ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have a look at the second post.
TL;DR...the dm-verity-forceencrypt tool will do it. But it will break the next OTA. The unencrypted P10 guys are having problems at the moment with this.
I've tried to get TWRP to unencrypt the data partition, but I can't get KeyMaster to initialise successfully. Maybe the next version of TWRP will be able to do it.
Yooo. Sorry I took so long works been crazy. I cant get it to reboot into twrp recovery. Its flashes the 605 recovery then I follow the next steps in the guide but I can only get it to reboot to the stock recovery screen. Run the reboot recovery command then immediately hold the volume + - down along with power. I tried a lot I let reboot twice then let off, and nothing then I tried several more times. Reflashing then the next step. I must not be holding my mouth...err I mean pushing the buttons right or the recovery just isn't gonna work. Add I'm very newbie at rooting and customizing. I've I've rooted one phone. A 70$ moto g5 plus I got off Ebay that was basically brand new. Installed twrp recovery and magisk. I bought that cause I have SD note 9 I cant root and have this need to play YouTube videos in my truck lol. Let me know if you have any suggestions I can try. Or ideas that might make it work. I pretty much fubard the tab and (at a different time) before I tried this recovery and was able to reflash stock img though odin.
11mackey11 said:
Yooo. Sorry I took so long works been crazy. I cant get it to reboot into twrp recovery. Its flashes the 605 recovery then I follow the next steps in the guide but I can only get it to reboot to the stock recovery screen. Run the reboot recovery command then immediately hold the volume + - down along with power. I tried a lot I let reboot twice then let off, and nothing then I tried several more times. Reflashing then the next step. I must not be holding my mouth...err I mean pushing the buttons right or the recovery just isn't gonna work. Add I'm very newbie at rooting and customizing. ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't be too hard on yourself...you've done well to get this far.
I just had a quick look at the kernel for the X505F. It's very different from the X605F. So this TWRP definitely won't work for you. Sorry.
If you want me to build a TWRP for the X505F, PM me and we'll work something out.
How do you remove twrp I think that or magisk is giving me the booting issues. Half the time I reboot for things it gets stuck. Not sure if it's root or twrp but I can't seem to remove either.
cbomb1337 said:
How do you remove twrp I think that or magisk is giving me the booting issues. Half the time I reboot for things it gets stuck. Not sure if it's root or twrp but I can't seem to remove either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you uninstall Magisk, then the system will overwrite TWRP with stock recovery the next time you reboot. Just tap "uninstall" in the Magisk Manager app. You can also remove Magisk from TWRP following these instructions.
What kind of boot issues are you having? Are you using a TB-X605F with SDA450? Or is it something similar?
I am using Tb 605f it seems to be booting fine now after removing this riru module and edxposed. I'll just leave that and stick with just viper 4 Android lol
Do you know if them modules for increasing speed work? I think one of them was called fde and there the doze one.
cbomb1337 said:
I am using Tb 605f it seems to be booting fine now after removing this riru module and edxposed. I'll just leave that and stick with just viper 4 Android lol
Do you know if them modules for increasing speed work? I think one of them was called fde and there the doze one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to hear it's all working again.
Sorry, I haven't tried any of those tweaks.
Lenovo have updated the stock ROM they serve for the TB-X605F through LMSA rescue. It's now at TB-X605F_USR_S210126_1910290024_Q00332_ROW. This is the latest update. There are no OTAs to apply. The M10 is due for a security OTA pretty soon, though. The P10 has already received it.
Unfortunately, it's no longer possible to post a direct link to Lenovo's website for this ROM. You'll have to use LMSA to get it.
FYI. Lenovo have changed how they serve the stock ROM. The ROM is now kept at rsdsecure-cloud.motorola.com. LMSA seems to generate (or request and receive) a one-off time-limited credentialed ticket for the download. You can't download the zip files without the credentials attached to the URL.
If you really want to, you can still intercept the URL in download_resources.json in the LMSA download folder.
is there anything new in the update. i might hold of because i dont want to lose root.
cbomb1337 said:
is there anything new in the update. i might hold of because i dont want to lose root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, there's nothing new. This isn't really an update, it just seems to be a consolidation of the old stock ROM and incremental OTAs.
This is only for M10 wifi (TB-X605F) with SDA450.
The latest OTA for TB-X605F has just landed. It's available on your tablet, or directly from: TB-X605F_USR_S210126_191029_Q00332_ROW_TO_TB-X605F_USR_S210152_200120_Q00332_ROW_WCE26E2CD5.zip.
The update takes the M10 to:
Code:
build: TB-X605F_USR_S210152_200120_ROW
security patch: 1 January 2020
kernel: 3.18.120-perf-gd60e12b6-dirty
If you have TWRP and root, you'll need to:
select "uninstall" in the Magisk Manager app
install the OTA (from SD card) in recovery and reboot
re-flash TWRP
re-install Magisk
only if you unencrypted the data partition
If you have unencrypted your data partition, it will be re-encrypted during this process. Make sure you back it up before you start the OTA. You might also need to restore the TWRP backup you made of the vendor partition, before the OTA will run. Once the OTA, TWRP and Magisk are installed, you can re-run the dm-verity tool.
Installing Lineage
Few quick things.
LOS 18.1 is now official so the guide will now just be covering that.
I also want to address a common question, you can use Windows for this process. I prefer Linux, and Fastboot just works in Linux without driver issues. If you have Fastboot and ADB working in Windows already feel free to use that if you want.
Frequently asked Questions:
This looks like a lot of work, is there an easier way to install? Try the LOS Wiki Method.
Using TWRP 3.5.2_9-01. Start off Fresh. Install OOS using the Fastboot ROM.
Start off with a fresh install of OOS. You need the latest version of OOS 10. I typically use a the fastboot ROMs for this as it will do both slots for me at once. (Alternatively you can use TWRP and install the ZIPs and do it twice to get it on both slots, or my least favorite, the MSM Tool if you want. Doesn't matter how OOS ends up on both slots, as long as it ends up on both slots.)
I use Linux, and honestly I feel like it's easier and more reliable for fastboot and ADB so that's what I'm including here in these steps. It's easy to boot from a USB.
To create a bootable Linux flash drive you can use Unetbootin, which you can download for free here (Your other option would be to burn the ISO straight to a DVD and skip the unetbootin step):
https://unetbootin.github.io/
For Linux, I'm using Linux Mint Cinnamon, You can download for free here:
https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
Then run unetbootin (yours will look a little different, I'm running it in Linux):
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Point it to the Linux ISO, and tell it where an empty flash drive is. It will erase everything on the flash drive. Afterwards you can load whatever you want on the flash drive. However be aware when booting Linux from this drive you can't access what is on the drive (at least not by normal methods).
After this has successfully completed, reboot the PC, and boot from the USB drive. Your PC will boot into Linux (turning off the PC and removing the USB drive will make it boot up like normal again).
Next we need to install fastboot and adb. You need to open up the "start menu" and open the "synaptic package manager". You can find this stuff in the menus, however the easiest way to get to these items is to just start typing the name of the item. See below:
Search fastboot, click the boxes, choose install. Then search for ADB, click the boxes, choose install and then click apply. It's that easy it will download everything that's needed and install.
Time to open up a terminal:
Just to make sure we don't run into any problems we need to update adb and fastboot. In the terminal run these commands to update fastboot and adb (this is downloading them directly from Google).
wget https://dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools-latest-linux.zip
unzip \platform-tools-latest-linux.zip
sudo cp platform-tools/adb /usr/bin/adb
sudo cp platform-tools/fastboot /usr/bin/fastboot
You will also need the appropriate fastboot ROM. Fastboot ROMs available in this thread. The catch being that thread is no longer updated. So we will need to make our own fastboot rom. To do this we need two things:
1. The stock rom zip (OP Site).
2. Payload dumper. I've yet to get the one from the GitHub link to work, so I've been using the one from this Article. Direct Download Link
You need to extract the payload.bin file from the stock rom zip. Extract the payload_dumper files as well, and place everything in the same folder. Payload_dumper requires python3. Open up Synaptic again, search for python3.6 and install it. Now open a terminal so we can extract the images from the payload.bin.
Navigate to the location of payload_dumper and your payload.bin file. In my case my commands are:
cd Desktop <-- switches to the Desktop folder
cd payload_dumper <-- switches to the payload_dumper folder on the Desktop
python3 payload_dumper.py payload.bin <-- runs the payload_dumper "program" and extract the images from the payload.bin
Now would be a good time to back everything up. The phone will get wiped. Extract the fastboot images to a folder that is easy to find. I would recommend the Desktop.
Now it's time to flash all those images we just extracted using payload dumper. Place the phone in fastboot mode. You can do this using the advanced reboot menu, ADB, or the key combinations (all key combos listed below for reference):
Volume Up + Power while turning on will boot to fastboot.
Volume Down + Power while turn on will boot to recovery.
Holding Volume Up + Power should force the phone to turn off.
Volume Up + Volume Down should put your phone in Download mode for the MSM Tool.
You can flash the images one by one or use a script. My script is available here. Flashing the fastboot ROM should look something like this:
That image explained:
cd Desktop <-- Switched the directory to the Desktop the default directory when you open up the terminal is the /home directory.
cd flash <-- I put my fastboot images in a folder called flash. This stuff is case sensitive. My folder was all lowercase.
sudo fastboot devices <-- Is just checking to see if my PC can see my phone, and making sure it's in fastboot. Sudo is necessary for this distro, as both fastboot and ADB must be run as root.
sudo sh FlashThese.sh <-- Tells the terminal to run my script, since the script contains fastboot commands it must be run as root.
At the end you should get something like this:
Then just choose start form Fastboot (If you were previously on a custom ROM go straight to recovery and wipe everything). Not booting and getting dumped off at the OnePlus recovery screen is nothing to worry about. Choose your language of choice, Wipe data and cache, Erase everything (Music, pics, etc), This can not be undone, continue. After that the phone will boot. Once booted enable developer options, advanced reboot, and reboot to fastboot.
2. Installing TWRP.
First step is to boot the correct TWRP image. Grab the current TWRP from the official site. You need both files, the img file, and the installer. Once again from the terminal:
The image explained:
cd Desktop <-- Switched the directory to the Desktop the default directory when you open up the terminal is the /home directory.
sudo fastboot devices <-- Is just checking to see if my PC can see my phone, and making sure it's in fastboot. Sudo is necessary for this distro, as both fastboot and ADB must be run as root.
sudo fastboot boot twrp-3.5.2_9-0-fajita.img * <-- Sends that TWRP image to the phone to be booted temporarily. Only boot this, never run the command "flash".
Once in TWRP the phone should show up as a media device so you can copy files to it. Copy the TWRP installer over to it. Choose Install from the TWRP menu and navigate to where you placed the TWRP installer. Press on it, and swipe to confirm flash. When it is done hit the back button until you are back out to the main menu.
From the main menu choose reboot, and choose Recovery:
The first time you try and reboot the official version of TWRP it will ask you if you want to install the TWRP app. Do NOT install the app. In the settings you can disable this prompt. Your other option is just uncheck both boxes at the screen you see below when you get to it, and then click the button that says do not install. Do use the slider. At that point the phone will reboot as to recovery as you selected.
Now that you are back in TWRP that is now installed, time to wipe the phone. From the main menu choose Wipe. Swipe the factory reset slider at the bottom. Then hit back. Next hit Format Data. Type Yes to Continue. Hit back to continue. Keep hitting back till you get to the main menu.
Do NOT wipe cache, do not Wipe system, do NOT Wipe Dalvik / ART, do not add anything else, Just Factory Reset and Format Data. After doing those two Reboot to Recovery one more time. So go back into the reboot menu, choose reboot to recovery again (swipe to allow modifications if it asks). You must do this after formatting data.
3. Install Lineage
Links:
Lineage 18.1 XDA Thread
Official 6T Lineage Downloads
The phone should still be in TWRP at this point. You now need to copy Lineage to the phone. From TWRP's main menu choose install. Then navigate to your ROM .zip location and click on it. Then swipe to confirm flash.
Lineage will replace TWRP, so you need to reflash TWRP as well. Run the TWRP installer again. If it's not on the phone, just copy it over again real quick. On A/B devices ROMs get flashed to the opposite slot. Things like Gapps, Magisk, etc get flashed to the current slot. We need Lineage on both slots, so it must be flash again. Flashing it twice only needs to be done the first time as we need to get rid of OOS. For updates it just gets flashed once. After the TWRP installer has run, back out to the main menu, and choose reboot, then recovery:
Once back in TWRP flash Lineage again. From TWRP's main menu choose install. Then navigate to your ROM .zip location and click on it. Then swipe to confirm flash.
Now run the TWRP installer again. Back out to the main menu, and reboot to recovery.
4.Optional, Gapps
Links:
NikGapps <-- For Lineage 18.1 (Use the R Folders for Android 11. I recommend the "Core" version. I also tested Basic though if you want that level of Gapps. I strongly recommend you grab setup wizard out of the R Addons Folder, I used the regular setup wizard, not the pixel one.)
MindTheGapps <-- It's worth mentioning here Lineage recommends MindTheGapps for 18.1. Take your pick. I personally use NikGapps as I can use a "leaner" Gapps package.
Now that your phone is back in TWRP for the last time before booting up Lineage, it's time to install Gapps if you want them. This step is optional. Same as the other steps here, go to install, choose your OpenGapps package, Then navigate to your .zip location and click on it. Then swipe to confirm flash.
5. Very Optional, Magisk
These steps are very optional. However this is how I, root, pass safety net, and get a various apps to appear in the Play store.
Flash Magisk in TWRP. For Magisk 23, you now have to rename the Magisk.apk to Magisk.zip. Then flash it in TWRP. If you wanted to uninstall it, you rename it to uninstall.zip. If you already had an older version of Magisk installed, make sure you do not have it hidden / nenamed when installing Magisk 23 for the first time. Restore the original package before installing 23.
Magisk <-- Flash this right after Gapps.
These items are add-ons are flashed in Magisk after the first boot (Don't flash these in TWRP anymore):
MagiskHide Props Config
Busybox
To flash modules in Magisk press the puzzle piece icon. Then choose install from storage. Now just choose your addons. After flashing the icons it will have a reboot icon at the bottom. You can reboot or you can press back and flash another. After you are done reboot.
You will also need a Terminal Emulator. I personally use:
Terminal Emulator for Android
Once all these are installed the first step is setup Magisk. Under Magisk go to settings:
In version 20.4+ Magisk Hide is no longer on by default. So make sure the Magisk Hide, Hide Magisk from various forms of detection switch is flipped. Then press Hide Magisk Manager. This will bring up a box for you to choose a random name for the Magisk Manager, type whatever you want here. You can leave it Manager if you wish, but I typically change this.
Now open Magisk again. It will ask you to download it again, click ok, then manually open the app again as it says. Now we need to open Magisk hide. This is now under the shield icon, then click the arrow at the top:
These are the apps you don't want to know that you have root. Less is better. You can cause instability problems by just choosing everything. My general rule of thumb is, Google, steaming video, music, and payment apps get selected. In my experience if I come across an app that needs it and I didn't select it, I just clear cache and/or data and re-open the app and it works. There are some big multiplayer apps that ban hardware / people, so do your research (don't ask me, I don't play those games).
Next time to change the device fingerprint using MagiskHide Props Config Module. We do this using the terminal emulator. In the terminal emulator, type "su" to gain root privileges. Then type props to run the module:
Now it's just following the menus. Choose option 1 - Edit device finger print. (type 1, hit enter)
After this you will see a menu of devices. It doesn't matter what device you pick really. If you want apps / Google to think you have a OPPO or Samsung pick one of those Fingerprints. However there's a bit more to passing Safety-net than that. Since Google has changed how things work not all those fingerprints that used to work will work now. Also now you may get an error when you turn on the phone because of the security dates. The OP6T Android 10 fingerprint has no issues at this point, so use that if you want:
After choosing the fingerprint you want, it will ask you if you want to reboot. Choose yes. After rebooting, you may need to clear the cache from the play store for some apps to appear in it. You should now pass safety net. Check this in Magisk:
6. Very Optional, Ad Blocking with a Host File.
You can block many things with a hosts file, most popular would be ads. I've been use StevenBlack's host file which is a compilation of several hosts files. This is located on Github:
https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts (Scroll down you'll see the options of what you can block)
Direct link to the hosts file I use. This will block Adware / Malware.
Unfortunately for quite some time now on this device you can no longer just use a root browser to swap the hosts file. The easiest way is to use TWRP.
First we have to make the hosts file. The hosts file must use unix / linux line endings. If you are using linux, don't worry about this, just create the file. If you are using Windows, the easiest thing to do is use Notepad++ (Free).
Notepad++ Downloads
Next one other caveat. The hosts file is quite large. I've never had much luck copy and pasting it from any other browser than Firefox (Windows or Linux), but however you get it into Notepad++ is not a big deal.
Once in you have the hosts file into Notepad++ go to Edit, EOL Conversion, and Choose Unix (LF).
Now save the file as "hosts" no ending. This does mean under file type you will need to change it to All File types *.*. Move this hosts file to your phone. Then reboot to recovery. From the main TWRP menu, choose mount. Then mount system:
Hit the back button and go to the advanced menu. Choose File Manager:
You will find your hosts file under /sdcard, wherever you placed it. In my case I placed it in a folder called ROMs. Once you locate it, press and hold it for a moment, and relase. Then choose copy file:
At this point you need to tell TWRP where you want to paste the hosts file. It belongs in the /etc folder. The only hic-cup here is depending on what you were doing in TWRP this could be (on this device) /system/etc or /system/system/etc (you will see similar folders to the image below if you are in the right place). Once you are there, press "paste?" button in the lower right corner:
After this just swipe to confirm:
You can now reboot the device, and your hosts file should now be in place. Your ad block should now be active for all apps as it's global for all connections.
7. Reboot to system.
Updating Lineage
1. Flash Lineage.
Reboot to recovery. You can use the advanced reboot menu, or Volume Down + Power while turning the phone on. Don't wipe anything. From TWRP's main menu choose install. Then navigate to your ROM .zip location and click on it. Then swipe to confirm flash.
Lineage will replace TWRP, so you need to reflash TWRP as well. Run the TWRP installer again. After the TWRP installer has run, back out to the main menu, and choose reboot, then recovery:
2. Optional, Gapps (if you installed them once you must continue to install them or do a clean install)
Links:
NikGapps
Now that your phone is back in TWRP for the last time before booting up Lineage, it's time to install Gapps if you want them. This step is optional. Same as the other steps here, go to install, choose your OpenGapps package, Then navigate to your .zip location and click on it. Then swipe to confirm flash.
3. Reboot to system.
Last updatedSince I don't want people to have to wonder if these instructions are current, I am going to periodically test and update this post with my results. Please note I'm testing with a 6T, TMobile 6Ts are different. You can generally assume previous versions of LOS and OOS were also tested, but if you are unsure feel free to ask in this thread.
Last tested with:
OOS 10.3.7 and LOS 17.1 12-31 with TWRP 3.4.0-2
OOS 10.3.11 and LOS 18.1 05-27 with TWRP 3.5.2_9-0
This method has also been tested with:
OOS 10.3.3 and Omnirom 5-24 MicroG and Omnirom 5-24.
Cliff Notes
*TWRP 3.5.0_9-0+ Must be used with LOS 18 / 18.1
- Backup everything to the PC, so you will need to copy all your data over.
- Sync all your accounts, etc.
- In TWRP format data. Reboot recovery (This step wipes the device, make sure you backed everything up!)
- Factory Reset. (This is the slider at the bottom, do not Wipe system, do NOT Wipe Dalvik / ART, do not add anything else)
- Flash Lineage
- Flash TWRP Installer
- Reboot to Recovery
- Flash Lineage (This is only the first time, to get the AOSP rom on both slots, only do this for the first install)
- Flash TWRP Installer (This is only the first time, to get the AOSP rom on both slots, only do this for the first install)
- Reboot to Recovery (This is only the first time, to get the AOSP rom on both slots, only do this for the first install)
- Flash Gapps (Optional)
- Flash Magisk (Optional) (Remember for ver 22 the Magisk.apk gets renamed to Magisk.zip, can also be renamed to uninstall.zip for uninstalling)
- Reboot to System.
- Then you should be able to setup the device, copy everything back over. Restore your data.
After this you should be able to update Lineage as normal.
- Reboot to recovery
- Flash Lineage.
- Flash TWRP Installer
- Reboot to Recovery
- Flash Gapps. (Optional, but if you flashed them once you have to keep flashing them.)
- Flash Magisk. (Optional)
- Reboot to system.
- No loss of data, or anything.
Thanks for the guide, able to flash los 17.1 successfully.
How to go back to OOS?
Does anyone have a guide on how to go back to OOS after flashing Lineage according to Lineage's instructions?
fordjonathan said:
Does anyone have a guide on how to go back to OOS after flashing Lineage according to Lineage's instructions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Back up your data, use Step 1 of these instructions. That will put OOS back on your phone.
MSM Tool, always my least favorite option, but always an option.
MSM Tools for Regular 6T (TMobile uses a different one)
installed 17.1!
OhioYJ said:
Installing Lineage...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Massive thanks for your instructions!
- at first, I tried upgrading from LOS 16.0 to LOS 17.1. I followed the instructions on the wiki, but it landed me in the qualcomm crashdump mode.
- after that I ran into your instructions, and tried to follow your update guide, but it didn't help (not very surprising I guess, but I haven't had much to lose at this point ).
- after that, I just followed your fresh install guide (i.e. flashing the fastboot room and starting from scratch), followed every step and it worked!
I wonder if it's worth updating lineage OS wiki and pointing to your instructions? There is bunch of people in this thread, who also bricked the phone into crashdump, so perhaps it could help to prevent it for someone else.
Updating to LOS 17.1 ?
Dasseem said:
Thanks for the guide, able to flash los 17.1 successfully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Initially I had problems with updating LOS, so I returned to Stock. As more people attempted to install LOS, and this fine Original Poster "Ohio" offered such excellent, and detailed instructions, I have been running LOS 16 since February.
However, I have not updated it, since I have had Zero Issues.
But to clarify, you used this method to update to LOS 17.1 ?
- coming from LOS 16 - without first returning to a fast-boot ROM ?
Did you up-date GApps accordingly during this Flash ?
Thank You, in advance, for any assistance!
:good:
barguybrady said:
But to clarify, you used this method to update to LOS 17.1 ?
- coming from LOS 16 - without first returning to a fast-boot ROM ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I updated my previous reply to make it a bit more clear!
Yep, I was on LOS 16. Haven't had any issues, but figured why not update if I'll have to do it eventually
So I downloaded 17.1 and used the wiki instructions, which messed the phone up
Ended up flashing fastboot rom and starting from scratch, flashed gapps and magisk according to OhioYJ's instruction and it worked.
Flashing method
barguybrady said:
But to clarify, you used this method to update to LOS 17.1 ?
- coming from LOS 16 - without first returning to a fast-boot ROM ?
Did you up-date GApps accordingly during this Flash ?
Thank You, in advance, for any assistance!
:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was using carbon ROM previously, had to move to OOS latest for flashing the lineage 17.1, believe it needs to be done if you are coming from pie, people know better correct me if I am wrong here.
As Karlicoss mentioned, it's better to follow the method posted by Ohio.
OhioYJ said:
Cliff Notes Versions
Installing Lineage
- Install fastboot ROM boot it once. Just to make sure everything is good.
- Reboot to fastboot.
- Boot the image of TWRP.
- Run the TWRP installer, reboot to recovery
- You backed everything up right?
- Factory reset (This is the slider at the bottom in the wipe menu).
- Format data. (This is the button that says Format data in the wipe menu)
- Do NOT wipe cache, do not Wipe system, do NOT Wipe Dalvik / ART, do not add anything else, Just Factory Reset and Format Data. After doing those two Reboot to Recovery one more time. You must do this after formatting data.
- Now transfer Lineage and TWRP to your phone, Windows / Linux should see TWRP fine as a media device when plugged in.
- Install Lineage
- Run the TWRP Installer.
- Reboot to Recovery.
- Install Lineage (You need Lineage on both slots, so yes run it again)
- Run the TWRP Installer (yes again).
- Reboot to Recovery.
- Install Gapps if you want them.
- Install Magisk if you use Magisk. Do not install modules or other add ons at this point. Boot once and go through the setup and everything, then install your add-ons.
- Be aware the phone may restart once, then Lineage will start up and all will be good.
Updating Lineage
- Reboot to recovery
- Flash Lineage.
- Flash TWRP Installer
- Reboot to Recovery
- Flash Gapps. (Assuming you use them, if you installed them once you must continue to install them or do a clean install)
- Flash Magisk. (Optional If you use it)
- Reboot to system.
- No loss of data, or anything.
- No need to flash anything twice etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Updating failed for me, as it shows everything encripted once I reboot the second time to recovery on slot B...
badpanda said:
Updating failed for me, as it shows everything encripted once I reboot the second time to recovery on slot B...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Usually this means you didnt format data, or you are using an old version of TWRP. Did you do a clean install?
I just tried it on my phone, was running 4-12 build, using 3.3.1-32 TWRP, updated to the 4-14 build, using 4-14 Gapps (nano), everything went smoothly here.
OhioYJ said:
Usually this means you didnt format data, or you are using an old version of TWRP. Did you do a clean install?
I just tried it on my phone, was running 4-12 build, using 3.3.1-32 TWRP, updated to the 4-14 build, using 4-14 Gapps (nano), everything went smoothly here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, no clean install. Just wanted to update to today's newest build os.
bump...
Thanks a lot for your guide. Very helpfull.
I'm using it with /e/ rom.
installing android 10 roms
I followed exactly as it was written. Same issues arose for me. After the phone is off then turned on no LTE. It makes phone calls and also text stuff. HOWEVER when you take out and reinsert sim LTE is enable. What is the problom?????????
sickpoppy said:
I followed exactly as it was written. Same issues arose for me. After the phone is off then turned on no LTE. It makes phone calls and also text stuff. HOWEVER when you take out and reinsert sim LTE is enable. What is the problom?????????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just cycling airplane mode doesnt work? This isn't a TMobile 6T is it? You are in Sim slot 1? You maybe better asking in the LOS thread, and provide log it not working and then it working when you reinsert it. Im not quite sure whats going on there.
OhioYJ said:
Usually this means you didnt format data, or you are using an old version of TWRP. Did you do a clean install?
I just tried it on my phone, was running 4-12 build, using 3.3.1-32 TWRP, updated to the 4-14 build, using 4-14 Gapps (nano), everything went smoothly here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So this means you do have to always format data for every single update??
---------- Post added at 09:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:05 PM ----------
sickpoppy said:
I followed exactly as it was written. Same issues arose for me. After the phone is off then turned on no LTE. It makes phone calls and also text stuff. HOWEVER when you take out and reinsert sim LTE is enable. What is the problom?????????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Change your sim card to the other slot...
---------- Post added at 09:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:07 PM ----------
@OhioYJ So for an update you boot to recovery flash LOS latest version then flash twrp again and then reboot to recovery second time then format data to possibly decript encrypted system and, transfer files both gapps and magisk to device and then install gapps and magisk, lastly just reboot to system?
reply
yes it is a tmobile but it was flashed to global. TWRP is the version you are using. downloaded the lastest ROM. Weird it finds LTE at first then like I said when then phone shuts off LTE doesnt work til I take sim out.
badpanda said:
So this means you do have to always format data for every single update??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No that would be ridiculous. Not necessary at all. You have something else going on, but I dont know what. My update procedure is exactly as listed on the OP, on two 6Ts, two different carriers.
sickpoppy said:
yes it is a tmobile but it was flashed to global. TWRP is the version you are using. downloaded the lastest ROM. Weird it finds LTE at first then like I said when then phone shuts off LTE doesnt work til I take sim out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A TMobile "converted" to global does not equal a global 6T. Logs posted in the LOS thread, may help out other TMobile users? The TMobile 6Ts introduce all sorts of quirks, and Im afraid I dont have any experience with them, so hopefully another TMobile user will be able to help.
I recently purchased the Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 (released in 2020) and couldn't help but notice that there's no dedicated thread in the forums for unlocking the bootloader or rooting (Although, the method should be very similar to what is followed for the Tab 10.1 (2019)).
It's been quite some time since I published a tutorial on XDA. So, I decided to put up this comprehensive tutorial, hope it helps everyone who's looking for it. We will take the direct approach of rooting the tab by patching the AP firmware and flashing the patched AP through Odin.
/* I will be using the same images I prepared for the tutorial to be posted on my blog. Sorry that they have been watermarked, that is to prevent scrapers from stealing. It took me enough time to capture them and do some post-processing. */
Before we start, here's the obligatory disclaimer and warning:
Unlocking the bootloader will erase all the data on your tab, including all the data that's on the internal storage. So, make sure that you have taken a complete backup of all your important data.
Flashing a custom binary (such as Magisk patched TAR in this guide) will trip the KNOX counter. Your device's official warranty will be void once KNOX is tripped.
You will not be able to use apps and services like Secure Folder, Samsung Pass, and anything that relies on KNOX.
Although I have tried this on my Galaxy Tab A7 (SM-500) and can confirm that this works, I will not take any responsibility of any bricked/toasted devices. Make sure that you fully understand what you're doing and accept the consequences if anything goes wrong.
If you do land your tablet in trouble, feel free to ask, I shall try my best to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update log
Updated on March 2, 2021
Added more info about the warranty. It seems like some users are still not aware of how KNOX affects the warranty. If you're getting into software modifications such as rooting, I expect you to have some prior knowledge about such things.
Redacted the part where you needed to change Magisk's update channel under Step #5. Not needed anymore as Magisk v21.x was released to the Stable channel in January 2021.
Replaced all instances of "Magisk Manager" with "Magisk App". Starting with Magisk v22, Magisk Manager is gone and merged with the core Magisk. It's now called the "Magisk App".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Requirements
Your Galaxy Tab A7 with SM-T500 or SM-T505 model number
A compatible USB-C cable
A Windows computer. (Odin only works on Windows. If you're using Linux or Mac, you could try Heimdall)
Instructions
Step 1: Enable OEM Unlocking
In order to unlock the bootloader, you must first enable the 'OEM Unlocking' toggle. This toggle resides inside the 'Developer options' screen, which is hidden by default on most Android devices.
First, enable 'Developer options' by going to 'Settings' > 'About tablet' > 'Software Information' and repeatedly tap on the 'Build number' section five times. If you have a lock screen security set, you will need to input your PIN/Password/Pattern when prompted.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Once you do this, you should see a toast notification on the bottom of the screen saying that "Developer mode has been enabled".
Once that is out of the way, go to 'Settings' > 'Developer options' and turn ON the toggle next to "OEM unlocking". You will instantly be prompted to enter your PIN/Password/Pattern, so do it. Then select "Enable" to allow OEM unlocking.
Note: If the OEM unlocking toggle is grayed out, make sure that you have connected the tablet to the internet first (via WiFi or mobile network, your choice).
Step 2: Unlock the Bootloader
Start by powering off your tablet completely. Then while holding the Volume Up and Volume Down keys together, connect it to your computer using the USB cable. This should take you to the bootloader screen (I call it that because logically that's what directs you to either Download Mode or Device Unlock Mode). Long-press the Volume Up key to enter the 'Device unlock mode'.
Your tab should now prompt you with a confirmation screen, so press the Volume Up key to confirm and unlock the bootloader.
Your Tab A7's bootloader is now unlocked and it should reboot automatically. You should also see a warning message right before the Samsung splash screen, just as shown in the picture below. Don't worry, it's completely normal. And no, there's no way to get rid of it (unless of course, you relock the bootloader).
The first boot after unlocking the bootloader could take some time (took around 3-4 minutes for me). So be patient.
Now that the bootloader is unlocked, let's verify it. Samsung introduced a new feature known as "VaultKeeper", which will automatically relock the bootloader if you do not perform this step.
After your tab boots, connect it to the internet. Then enable the Developer options as shown in step #1 and go to 'Settings' > 'Developer options'. The OEM unlocking toggle should be greyed out and say that the bootloader is already unlocked. Again, refer to the picture below.
Step 3: Download the firmware package
With the bootloader properly unlocked, you can begin with the rooting part. As I mentioned, we will be patching the AP firmware file via Magisk App, as instructed by John Wu in his installation guide on Github.
So, you will need to download the firmware package for the software version that's currently installed on your tab. This is very important, do not use an older firmware, as it will result in issues. You could of course use a newer firmware, which will update your tab at the same time as rooting it.
To verify your software version, you can go to 'Settings' > 'About tablet' > 'Software information' and check the "Build number". The latter half of the mentioned build number is your tab's software version, which in my case as shown in the picture below is: T500XXU1ATJ2. So, I will need to download the firmware package for "T500XXU1ATJ2" and in your case you should download the one corresponding to the info you see under 'Build number'.
Where to download? You could use online FW databases like SamMobile, Samfrew, etc. However, I would recommend using Frija or Samloader as they allow you to download the firmware directly from Samsung's Firmware Update Servers and without any speed caps. If you're operating on Windows, use Frija. On macOS/Linux, use Samloader.
Step 4: Extract the AP firmware and transfer it to your Tab A7
Once you have the ZIP package downloaded, you will need to extract it to get The extracted folder should contain the individual firmware files like BL, AP, CP (only for SM-T505 LTE variant), and CSC/HOME_CSC (in .tar.md5 file format).
The file you'll require is the AP firmware, which in my case is "AP_T500XXU1ATJ2_CL19362637_QB34980135_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT_meta_RKEY_OS10.tar.md5". Again, in your case, the filename would be a bit different, but it should follow the same structure.
After extracting the AP firmware, connect your tab to the computer, enable File Transfer (MTP) mode on it, and copy over the AP firmware to your tab's internal storage. Copy it to the root directory, that is, outside all the folders as shown below. The location of the file doesn't matter, you can copy it anywhere, but I prefer this for easier access.
Step 5: Patch the AP firmware using Magisk App
Now's the time to patch the AP firmware. To do this, download the latest version of the Magisk app from the official Github releases page to your Tab A7. This will be an APK file. Once downloaded, install the APK file using your choice of file manager.
Warning about unofficial sources of Magisk: Magisk does not have any officially registered domain. If you Google for it, you will probably come across multiple websites that have the word "Magisk" in their domain URL. They are there to deceive the users, and often misinform users, especially those who are new to the scene.
John Wu, as well as XDA have previously warned the users from falling into these deceptive websites. The only official place to get Magisk is from Github.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do not need to change Magisk's update channel to Beta anymore. Starting January 12, Magisk v21.x was pushed to the stable channel (default).
After installing, go to the app drawer and launch the Magisk Manager app. Before you start patching, you would want to change Magisk Manager's update channel to Public Beta. This is because Magisk's latest version (i.e. v21.0) is only available on the beta channel and hasn't been pushed to the stable channel yet (at least at the time of publishing this tutorial).
To do this, press the settings icon on the top-right, tap on "Update channel" and select "Beta". Then go back to the app's main screen. It should refresh and show you the latest version as v21.0.
Press the "Install" button and then "Select and Patch a File" from the list of available methods. This should open the file selector, so navigate to the internal storage and select the AP firmware you transferred during the previous step.
Once the file is selected, hit "LET'S GO" to start the patching process. This should take a minute or so because the AP firmware is quite a heavy file. Once it is done, the patched AP firmware with the filename "magisk_patched_xxxxx.tar" (where "xxxxx" is an arbitrary code) should be stored inside the "Download" folder of your tab's internal storage.
Step 6: Flash the Patched AP Firmware using Odin
The last step is to flash the patched AP firmware to your Galaxy Tab A7 and root it. For this, connect your tab to the computer over USB and copy the "magisk_patched.tar" file from the Download folder. Paste this patched AP firmware inside the firmware folder that was extracted during step #5, along with the rest of the firmware files (BL, CSC, etc). Disconnect it from the PC after transferring the file.
Now, boot your Tab A7 into Download Mode. Power it off, and connect it to the computer over USB while holding the Volume Up and Volume Down keys together. This should bring up the bootloader screen. Simply tap the Volume Up key once to enter Download Mode. Here's what the Download Mode on the Tab A7 looks like.
Next, download Odin v3.14.1 from this XDA thread (NOT the patched version, but the regular one) and extract the contents of the downloaded ZIP package. Then launch Odin on your computer by double-clicking the "Odin3 v3.14.1.exe" executable and click "Ok" when prompted. You should see the Odin interface on your computer screen now.
Odin should automatically recognize your tab in Download Mode and display the COM ID on the top-left.
Click the 'Options' tab and uncheck the 'Auto Reboot' option. This will prevent the tablet from being automatically restarted after the flash is complete.
Now, load the firmware files in the respective slots of Odin.
The BL firmware file (BL_T500/5XXXXXXX_xxxxxxxxxxx.tar.md5) goes to the "BL" slot
The CP firmware file (CP_T505XXXXXX_xxxxxxxxxxx.tar.md5) goes to the "CP" slot. Note that the CP firmware only applies to the Tab A7 LTE variant with the SM-T505 model number.
The HOME_CSC firmware file (HOME_CSC_OMC_ODM_T500/5XXXXXXX_xxxxxxxxx.tar.md5) goes to the "CSC" slot. We will not be using the regular CSC, as it will erase all the data. If you want to do that, feel free to use it.
And finally, the patched AP firmware file (magisk_patched.tar) goes to the "AP" slot.
Once the files are loaded in their respective slots, hit the "Start" button to flash them to your tab.
Note: While you could get away with just flashing the patched AP firmware alone, John recommends NOT doing it. Always flash the patched AP along with the rest of the firmware files like BL, CSC, etc.
Wait for the flash to finish. Once it is, you should see the 'PASS!' message in Odin. Like so:
You can now close the Odin window and disconnect your tab from the computer.
Step 7: Perform a Factory Reset
Once the flash is complete, you will need to manually boot your tablet into the stock recovery mode and do a factory reset. This is only mandatory during the initial rooting process, which is exactly what we are doing here.
To do this, hold the Volume Down and Power keys together for about 7 seconds. As soon as the screen turns off, release the Volume Down key and quickly hold the Volume Up key, while still holding the Power key. Keep holding the keys until you see the stock recovery screen.
You should now see the stock recovery screen with some device information in yellow color at the top. Like so:
Use the Volume keys to move the selector to 'Wipe data/factory reset' and hit the Power key to confirm the selection.
You will now see a confirmation prompt on the screen. Select 'Factory Data Reset' to confirm and finally perform a factory reset.
Once done, select the 'Reboot system now' option from the recovery's main menu. Your Tab A7 should now reboot may be more than once, so be patient.
We're not done yet. After booting, you will need to open the Magisk app from the app drawer and follow the on-screen instructions to replace the Magisk stub with the actual full application, and further complete the required setup when prompted by Magisk app.
Once this is done, your Tab A7 should reboot one last time and should be rooted thereafter.
Your Tab is Rooted!
You may now go ahead and start using root applications, install some modules, etc. Since v20.4, Magisk Hide has been disabled by default on new installations in light of the new hardware-backed SafetyNet attestation. So, to use banking/security, or any other sort of apps that may detect root, you will need to turn ON Magisk Hide from within the Magisk App settings.
Before you leave, there are a few key things you should note:
Unlike some other Samsung phones, you will not need to follow any complex button combinations to boot into the stock recovery. A normal reboot will always boot your Tab A7 into the rooted Magisk system. On the other hand, the regular Volume Up + Power key combo will get your tab into the stock recovery mode.
Second, if a new software update is rolled out, you will need to repeat the same process from step #4 all the way to step #7. When updating the FW, you can simply use the HOME_CSC instead of the regular CSC to prevent your data from being wiped. A backup should still be taken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's all from my side. If you run into any issues, feel free to post. Don't forget to share details like the software version your tab is on, the firmware package you downloaded and used, and of course your tab's complete model number.
Thank you for posting this! I bought a 2019 Tab A just before the A7 released and have been tempted to return it and pick up the A7 but wanted to make sure I could root it. How is the performance if this?
jserio said:
Thank you for posting this! I bought a 2019 Tab A just before the A7 released and have been tempted to return it and pick up the A7 but wanted to make sure I could root it. How is the performance if this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was really inclined to the Tab S6 Lite. But being honest, I wouldn't have used the SPen that much. So, I dropped it.
I saw Tab A 10.1 (2019), the one you're referring to, and it was a steal for the specs. The reviews were good too. But then the A7 was released, an upgraded model along the same lines. I like it very much. For a budget tab, it really delivers decent performance and a premium-ish design. And, great speakers I must say.
Unlocking and rooting were really fun and easy as well. Overally, it's a pretty darn good tab for the price.
Thanks for the guide, I've been undecided for days if I should pull the trigger or not and no info on rooting was one of the things that was making me hesitate.
The other one is 3gb of ram, how's your experience been so far? I don't play games on my phone/tablet so that's not an issue.
Gitah. said:
Thanks for the guide, I've been undecided for days if I should pull the trigger or not and no info on rooting was one of the things that was making me hesitate.
The other one is 3gb of ram, how's your experience been so far? I don't play games on my phone/tablet so that's not an issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome!
For me, 3GB of RAM is enough, of course given my usage. I usually use it for browsing and streaming only. Not much of a mobile gamer, use real consoles and PC for that, lol.
I like Samsung's One UI experience, compared to any other OEM skin (apart from OxygenOS). It's quite smooth IMO. Already removed the bloatware via ADB, might as well come with a guide for that.
It could however be different under heavy multi-tasking usage, like playing mobile FPS titles, etc. Couldn't tell on that.
storage problem
you can not move any app to the sdcard no option tried different formats as well tried app2sd pro creating a adaptable storage will work but you cant see the partition and you cant move apps back to the internal with out app corruption. terminal commands dont work cant edit system
You are a lifesaver, my friend. I just wanted to note for others that Frija did not work for me. It would only fetch a .zip.enc4 image for my SM-T500 (CSC is XAR). I am currently downloading the firmware from SamMobile to try. Magisk can't flash the file Frija get's for me, it needs to be .tar. Yes, I know it says zip but the file is extracted. Just a heads up for others out there! Also, have you flashed a different recovery for this tablet? And, if so, what image based on what model? TWRP and OrangeFox don't have an official image for the SM-T500. Thanks in advance!
DJ
UPDATE: the image from SamMobile was corrupt. Stuck me in a boot loop with a message about it not being offical Samsung software. Had to factory reset from recovery. This method is flawless, otherwise. Gonna try again with different firmware.
Hey guys. Followed the guide to a T (downloaded latest firmware using Friaj) and also flashed CSC (not home) so I could have a clean install. Magisk patched the file just fine. Odin flashed with no error but on first boot besides the usual "bootloader unlocked" error I get another one saying that custom binaries are installed and the tablet is locked. I cant seem to boot to download mode now. I can boot to the bootloader unlock screen but that's it. Any ideas?
Thanks, DJBhardwaj. Very good guide!
Just a note for European SM-T500 users: SafetyNet won't pass as magisk will return evalType: hardware. At least that's what I found in T500XXU2ATJ6. That's not a problem for me as the only app that requires SafetyNet that I use is Netflix and the issue can be fixed by installed a very legacy version of it, but I think people should be warned before tripping knox fuse
Cloudxddd said:
you can not move any app to the sdcard no option tried different formats as well tried app2sd pro creating a adaptable storage will work but you cant see the partition and you cant move apps back to the internal with out app corruption. terminal commands dont work cant edit system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose Scoped Storage has some effect, not 100% sure. But I am really curious now. Going to dig in.
Dj89 said:
You are a lifesaver, my friend. I just wanted to note for others that Frija did not work for me. It would only fetch a .zip.enc4 image for my SM-T500 (CSC is XAR). I am currently downloading the firmware from SamMobile to try. Magisk can't flash the file Frija get's for me, it needs to be .tar. Yes, I know it says zip but the file is extracted. Just a heads up for others out there! Also, have you flashed a different recovery for this tablet? And, if so, what image based on what model? TWRP and OrangeFox don't have an official image for the SM-T500. Thanks in advance!
DJ
UPDATE: the image from SamMobile was corrupt. Stuck me in a boot loop with a message about it not being offical Samsung software. Had to factory reset from recovery. This method is flawless, otherwise. Gonna try again with different firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the kind words.
Frija, Samloader, SamFirm. All of those tools fetch the firmware from Samsung's Firmware Update Servers. These packages are encrypted as .zip.enc4 (for newer devices) or .zip.enc2 (mostly for old ones).
After downloading, the firmware package will automatically be decrypted and converted to a regular ZIP file, if you're using Frija or SamFirm. The ZIP file should contain the AP, CSC, and BL firmware TAR files.
I don't use custom recoveries anymore, but I was more than willing to try. Couldn't find anything for the Tab A7 (yet).
paziusss said:
Thanks, DJBhardwaj. Very good guide!
Just a note for European SM-T500 users: SafetyNet won't pass as magisk will return evalType: hardware. At least that's what I found in T500XXU2ATJ6. That's not a problem for me as the only app that requires SafetyNet that I use is Netflix and the issue can be fixed by installed a very legacy version of it, but I think people should be warned before tripping knox fuse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's more likely to be unit-based. For example, my OnePlus 8 still hasn't been forced to hardware-backed attestation for SN. But my friend's unit (same model and region) has been.
Have you tried enabling Magisk Hide? It is disabled by default. Another thing to try is the Magisk Props module.
jserio said:
Hey guys. Followed the guide to a T (downloaded latest firmware using Friaj) and also flashed CSC (not home) so I could have a clean install. Magisk patched the file just fine. Odin flashed with no error but on first boot besides the usual "bootloader unlocked" error I get another one saying that custom binaries are installed and the tablet is locked. I can't seem to boot to download mode now. I can boot to the bootloader unlock screen but that's it. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you share a picture of the screen you're referring to?
DJBhardwaj said:
Thanks for the kind words.
Frija, Samloader, SamFirm. All of those tools fetch the firmware from Samsung's Firmware Update Servers. These packages are encrypted as .zip.enc4 (for newer devices) or .zip.enc2 (mostly for old ones).
After downloading, the firmware package will automatically be decrypted and converted to a regular ZIP file, if you're using Frija or SamFirm. The ZIP file should contain the AP, CSC, and BL firmware TAR files.
I don't use custom recoveries anymore, but I was more than willing to try. Couldn't find anything for the Tab A7 (yet).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info! I'll post an update later this week once I get it going! Take care and thanks again for posting this guide!
DJBhardwaj said:
Could you share a picture of the screen you're referring to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the late reply. I went through the process again and everything worked. It's possible the issue was either a) I used the newest fw to patch and flash or b) I didn't check to make sure "oem unlocking" was greed-out after unlocking it.
Any way to block updates? I prefer not to go through this each update? Hopefully we get twrp for this tablet. I live it compared to the 2019 A with its crappy one-sided speakers.
jserio said:
Sorry for the late reply. I went through the process again and everything worked. It's possible the issue was either a) I used the newest fw to patch and flash or b) I didn't check to make sure "oem unlocking" was greed-out after unlocking it.
Any way to block updates? I prefer not to go through this each update? Hopefully we get twrp for this tablet. I live it compared to the 2019 A with its crappy one-sided speakers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's great!
As for updates, I think there was a way by blocking the update services using Titanium. Might have to look it up again. I did that years ago. Yes, TWRP would be great for flashing ROMs and NANDroid backups.
I was going for the 10.1 earlier, didn't knew it had one-sided speakers.
I have a question... Unlocking the bootloader and rooting a device are mostly the first steps to a custom rom like lineageos . I find tons of threads for the SM-T510, but not the SM-T505.
Will there ever be a custom rom for the T505?
DJBhardwaj said:
I suppose Scoped Storage has some effect, not 100% sure. But I am really curious now. Going to dig in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it's impossible to move apps to sd even with root?
Any fixes to allow apps to be moved/installed on SD card? Can't root with work/UEM apps installed. Seems super wierd for a new tablet, is this a bug or should I return?
Allow apps to be moved/installed on SD card
ormefocus said:
Any fixes to allow apps to be moved/installed on SD card? Can't root with work/UEM apps installed. Seems super wierd for a new tablet, is this a bug or should I return?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here i tried on 2 different sd cards(SD- HD) format them from the tablet and no one app won't move to the sd card.
I turn on the develpoers options and i fount this option: Force allow apps on external(Makes any app eligible to be written to external storage regardless of manifest values) and i tried to donwload Asphal 9 and Gangster Vegas and 2 apps downloaded to the internal storage...
I chekt if the options to move apps is visable on this apps and its not.
If any one fine how to transfer apps to the sd card i will very thankful
Update: March 24 2022: This ROM has been retired and a new one based on LOS 19.1 (and TWRP based on Android 11) have taken its place. New thread here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...4-2020-lineageos-19-1-and-twrp-3-6-1.4421365/
---
Update 9:46am EST July 15 2021: new builds of TWRP and LineageOS with TWRP touch fixed and LOS w/ space for Gapps is now live.
WARNING: USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
I have successfully ported TWRP and Lineage OS 18.1 to the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 (2020), aka SM-T500. This is my first time porting TWRP or LOS, so there may be issues unknown about at this time. Thus far, the only known issue is that the touchscreen in TWRP does not work. This can be worked around by using a USB mouse and/or accessing the device via ADB.
Here are the steps to follow:
Update your device to the latest stock ROM (as of this writing) either using the built-in system updater or via Odin. You want the build that ends with "3BUF3".
Unlock device bootloader using instructions from other threads. This will wipe your device.
Boot into download mode and flash "vbmeta_disabled_R.tar" via Odin in the "Userdata" slot to disable verified boot. This will wipe your device again.
Boot device back into download mode and flash TWRP via Odin in the "AP" slot. If you boot up into the stock ROM rather than booting directly back into download mode then go through the initial setup process of the stock ROM and enable developer tools and ensure OEM Unlocking is still enabled (VaultKeeper can possibly undo OEM Unlocking if you get to the ROM but don't go into Developer Tools and view OEM Unlocking is enabled, so make sure to do this).
Boot device into TWRP (recovery mode) and format (not wipe) your data partition. Then reboot back into TWRP.
Push LineageOS (super.new.ext4.img) to device. Ideally push it to an SD card formatted with ExFat or EXT2/3/4 (FAT/FAT16/FAT32/VFAT won't work due to file-size limitations).
Install LineageOS image to "Super" partition. Make sure to select "Install from Image" in order to show .img files in the install selector screen.
(Optional) Push NikGapps Omni to your device and install the zip. Make sure you include a "nikgapps.config" file in your "/tmp" folder that is configured to install to "system" rather than "product" or "default".
Reboot to system. You should now be in LOS with Gapps.
(Optional, but recommended): Install Magisk via TWRP
(Optional, but recommended): Run fix script to fix brightness slider not working and to make Magisk work. If you didn't install Magisk but only want the brightness fix, just enter "n" when prompted in the script. To run the script:
NOTE: Script has .txt file extension to allow hosting on AFH. Remove that so it's just .sh to match the instructions below.
Download and push to device when booted into TWRP
adb push sm-t500_fixes.sh /tmp
Enter an adb shell
adb shell
Change directories and set permissions
cd /tmp
chmod +x /tmp/sm-t500_fixes.sh
Run script
/tmp/sm-t500_fixes.sh
Tips:
If you are not seeing all of your storage space in the OS on the internal flash, boot to TWRP and format data.
Flash TWRP via "AP" slot and flash VBMeta_Disabler via "Userdata" slot in Odin.
Flash LineageOS as an Image, not as a Zip.
For Gapps, use the latest NikGapps for ARM64 and Android 11/R.
For Gapps, make sure you install to the System partition and not Product. To do this you need to slightly modify a nikgapps.config file. Instructions on that can be found on the NikGapps site.
Downloads:
LineageOS 18.1 20210615 Beta 2: https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=14943124697586369438
TWRP 3.5.2 Beta 3: https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=14943124697586369439
vbmeta_disabled_R: https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=14943124697586369440
Fixes for brightness and Magisk (sm-t500_fixes.sh): https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=14943124697586369521
Known Issues:
OS-encrypted storage (Internal Data) not able to be decrypted in TWRP.
Brightness controls don't work: Fixed via "sm-t500_fixes.sh script.
TWRP touch screen doesn't work (use USB keyboard or adb). Should be fixed with TWRP Beta 3.
TWRP formatting external SD card may hardbrick device. Do not do this! Fixed with TWRP Beta 2.
Source (device tree for TWRP from my Github): https://github.com/agreenbhm/android_device_samsung_gta4lwifi
Source (kernel sources from Samsung): https://opensource.samsung.com/uploadSearch?searchValue=Sm-t500#
agreenbhm said:
I have successfully ported TWRP and Lineage OS 18.1 to the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 (2020), aka SM-T500. This is my first time porting TWRP or LOS, so there may be issues unknown about at this time. Thus far, the only known issue is that the touchscreen in TWRP does not work. This can be worked around by using a USB mouse and/or accessing the device via ADB.
Here are the rough steps to follow:
Unlock device bootloader using instructions from other threads.
Patch stock ROM (AP) using Magisk, then flash rooted ROM. Will likely need to wipe device after this.
Boot into rooted ROM and ensure "OEM Unlocking" is still enabled in "Developer Tools".
Boot back into download mode and flash "vbmeta_disabled_R.tar" to disable verified boot.
Boot device back into rooted stock ROM to ensure things are still functional (may require a device wipe at this step).
Boot device into download mode and use ODIN to flash TWRP recovery.tar file via "AP" slot.
Boot device into TWRP to verify functionality (hold Vol-Up + Power during boot).
Access TWRP via adb using "adb shell" or with USB mouse (touch functionality currently not working).
Format data partition on device.
Via ADB shell: twrp format data
Via USB mouse: Wipe -> Advanced -> Format Data
Boot device into download mode.
Via ADB shell: twrp reboot download
Via USB mouse: Reboot -> Download
Flash LineageOS tar file via ODIN using the "AP" slot.
If device boots into TWRP after flashing LineageOS, use USB mouse to select: Reboot -> System
Device should boot and stall for ~1m at the Samsung logo screen with red text below, then should go blank and then display LineageOS boot image.
Downloads:
LineageOS 18.1 20210615 with TWRP 3.5.2: https://mega.nz/file/vMVglThZ#TepIHvdEypezq3z4S_4Lln7FRFVfC7CUjVGq3ByFb6U
TWRP 3.5.2: https://mega.nz/file/GYU1yCCQ#JsthI8BYNtfB08Pzt1eeXta2Lb1zCkUI185Zm88dEW4
vbmeta_disabled_R: https://mega.nz/file/iMFx3CQI#8cP4mPoRaQNwDATqt0vKD8wxqRWSTz1EL79U0fNpW8M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great news!! But I think you need to post it in the ROMs, Kernels, Recover thread.
awesome. Will try after work. Also I think you posted in the wrong section.
Which slot to flash the vbmeta?
wizzdome said:
Which slot to flash the vbmeta?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AP
Thanks,
After flashing the vbmeta it booted into recovery automatically after what looked like a bootloop in progress, so I wiped with factory reset and then it rebooted fine. (still not sure exactly what the vbmeta does I was hoping it would make it so i didnt get that stupid pop up asking me to hit power button to continue booting due to it having the patched os) anyhow booted fine and twrp installed as you stated without touch screen but mouse with otg works fine. (great job so far) On to LOS... I think I should have checked oem lock before flashing LOS as when I installed I get stuck at boot screen that says oem lock is on... must have been from my factory reset... (facepalm)
Nope... Still sticking on boot with the following showing on the screen...
RPMB fuse not set
RPMB Provisioned
Current BInary: Custom (0x30f)
FRP Lock : OFF
OEM Lock : ON (U) {this was off verified before flash}
KG Status : Checking
Waranty Void : 0x1 (0xE02)
Quallcomm Secureboot : Enable
RP SWREV : B3 (1,1,1,3,1,1) k3 s3
secure download : enable
grdm status : normal (d0000501)
did : 041ce2d22dba
this is displayed in the corner on the bootscreen and looks like it belongs on the download screen, anyhow booting into twrp from this point works however factory reset fails with unable to mount key(something and key(something else) i figure i will let it sit a while as I know sometimes it just takes first boot a while to go through however it doesnt seem to be the problem. Have you had a positive install of the LOS? I am wondering if I had maybe gotten a bad copy of the file. When i go to install I get a pass in odin so not quite sure where to go from here other than back to the factory image any help to get this going would be great... I took on this task cause i needed someting to take my mind off the severely crappy week I have had... so looking forward to anything you can share here...
Actually, userdata is the slot I always use. It might work in both though.
Something to mention: there is not enough space on the /system partition to flash Gapps. I created a build that supports it (with a resized /system partition) but I couldn't get it to flash via Odin. The only way I got it to work was by flashing it via TWRP as an img file. I will be posting that soon. Unfortunately that will be the end of development for now as I hard-bricked the device and need to wait for a repair or replacement. Should be back developing in 2 weeks.
Nevermind what I said here.
jayzarry84 said:
Anyone get this to work? I just flashed the TWRP part but have not been able to get into TWRP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get adb access in the OS and then run "adb reboot recovery"
agreenbhm said:
Get adb access in the OS and then run "adb reboot recovery"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
question. I don't have an OTG cable and TWRP keeps booting. I've tried rebbot, rebbot bootloader, reboot system. any advice?
jayzarry84 said:
question. I don't have an OTG cable and TWRP keeps booting. I've tried rebbot, rebbot bootloader, reboot system. any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may need to get an otg cable for a USB mouse and choose "reboot system" from the gui. Alternatively, look at the /dev/block/by-name/misc partition and try blanking that out with dd. That has worked sometimes.
jayzarry84 said:
question. I don't have an OTG cable and TWRP keeps booting. I've tried rebbot, rebbot bootloader, reboot system. any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, from an adb shell, try "twrp reboot". Supposedly that should boot to system, but I feel like in testing I got mixed results. According to the TWRP documentation though that should be the answer.
agreenbhm said:
Also, from an adb shell, try "twrp reboot". Supposedly that should boot to system, but I feel like in testing I got mixed results. According to the TWRP documentation though that should be the answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not working. I'll wait for my otg cable to come in
jayzarry84 said:
Not working. I'll wait for my otg cable to come in
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to use adb to run the TWRP Format Data command and it rebooted the tablet and now LOS has booted up. I think I'm good!
Looking forward to see how this develops
Rom is fast and snappy. Brightness control does not work. I haven’t played too much because of work but that’s what I’ve found so far
Can a mod move this to the rom release section?
agreenbhm said:
Something to mention: there is not enough space on the /system partition to flash Gapps. I created a build that supports it (with a resized /system partition) but I couldn't get it to flash via Odin. The only way I got it to work was by flashing it via TWRP as an img file. I will be posting that soon. Unfortunately that will be the end of development for now as I hard-bricked the device and need to wait for a repair or replacement. Should be back developing in 2 weeks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've not been able to flash this yet but I know that the latest TWRP versions have a way to fix the system partition to accept gapps. /Wipe/Advanced check system then resize. Sometimes you have to do it more than once if it is a large gapps.
lewmur said:
I've not been able to flash this yet but I know that the latest TWRP versions have a way to fix the system partition to accept gapps. /Wipe/Advanced check system then resize. Sometimes you have to do it more than once if it is a large gapps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will look into that, but I'm not optimistic it will work. This device does not separately present the system partition, rather it uses a super partition which contains system, vendor, product, and odm. TWRP only shows me the super partition for working with. I was able to resize the system partition by expanding the Lineage image and file system on my pc to match the original stock system partition, then rebuilt the super image with the other partitions it needs.
Hello!
So recently I was able to install LineageOS 18.1 (GSI) + GApps on my Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8 (SM-T290) tablet and wanted to share how I did it. I noticed a lack of decent step-by-step guides to modding this tablet so I figure I'd share what I learned through scouring multiple threads and through multiple headaches. Fun fact: I also got this working with LineageOS 19 (GSI), however it ran pretty poorly and Android 12 is ugly as hell so why bother anyway? ALSO interestingly enough, you'll see I wrote [SM-T290N] in the title as well. That is the model of the Kid's Edition of this phone, which happens to be the one I had. So I can confirm this process works for the Kid's Edition of this tablet as well as the original.
Some Things To Note
Below I'll list the software/firmware I used in this process. You don't necessarily need to follow this exactly but I don't see any reason not to. The end result is a working install of LineageOS with GApps so if that's what you want I would just follow along step-by-step. ALSO I'm writing this from memory so if I make a mistake please let me know and I'll try and correct it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What You'll Need
Your tablet
A USB Cable to connect your tablet to your PC
A 4GB+ MicroSD card
A Windows PC
Some patience
Instructions
Preparing Your MicroSD Card
1. Place the LineageOS 18.1 .img file from this thread (On SourceForge, there is a section below the files about the naming conventions and how they relate to the hardware of your device and configuration of your ROM. I used the lineage-18.1-20220315-UNOFFICIAL-arm64_bvS-vndklite.img.xz image for my device. If your device is slightly different, you can use Treble Info to determine what ROM you should use. Just make sure to use the VNDKLITE rom if your device supports it.
2. Place the multidisabler .zip folder on there as well. This will preserve encryption provided by TWRP after rebooting.
3. Finally, place the MindTheGapps .zip folder on your SD card (make sure to get the correct version. In my case this was the 11.00-arm64 version).
4. Insert your MicroSD card into your device.
Unlocking the Bootloader
So the first thing you're gonna want to do is unlock your OEM bootloader on your Samsung device.
1. Go to Settings->About Phone->Software Information and look for a field called "Build Number". Tap this Five Times until you see a notification saying developer settings were enabled.
2. Go to Settings->Developer Settings and look for the setting labeled OEM Unlock and turn it on.
If you don't see this setting try connecting to wifi, changing your date and time to around two months prior (I set mine to back to May 2021 since the firmware I was using was set in July 2021), then go back to your developer settings and switch them off and back on again. You should now see the OEM Unlock option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3. From here, you can reboot your device into Recovery Mode by holding the Vol+ and Vol- buttons when the device begins to boot again.
4. You should see a blue screen with some options. Press the Vol+ button to enter Download Mode. This is where you'll use Odin to flash the firmware you need as well as TWRP.
Flashing Firmware
So when I attempted this process I used Magendanz's Unofficial TWRP 3.6.0 as it is the only version of TWRP I found for this device. I also used Odin v3.14.1_3B Patched from this XDA thread. Magendanz's TWRP requires you to have the T290XXU3CUG4 Firmware (I used the XAR region) in order to flash TWRP to your device (you can check wether or not you already have this firmware on your phone by looking the About Phone section again). It takes a while to download though make sure you have some time.
1. Download Odin and run the program. Unzip your firmware folder and use the relevant files when selecting the BL, AP, CP, CSC fields in Odin. I didn't use the HOME_CSC just leave it blank.
2. Connect your device via USB and Flash this firmware to your device.
3. Once your device restarts, go through the setup process and then repeat the Unlocking the Bootloader instructions above in order to make sure it is unlocked again.
4. Reboot your device the same way as stated above.
Flashing TWRP
Before starting, be aware that after you flash TWRP to your device, your device will restart and attempt to open the stock system again. You're going to want to hold the Power and Vol+ buttons simultaneously. You will likely get a warning screen saying that the bootloader is unlocked and may ask you to do a factory reset, this (I believe) is fine. The key here is that once you press the Power Button to continue (as instructed on the warning screen) you'll want to immediately press and hold the Power and Vol+ keys for around 6 Seconds before letting go again (you should be seeing the Samsung Galaxy Tab A logo screen). After letting go, wait around 3-4 seconds, if nothing changes, restart the device by holding all three buttons (Power, Vol+,Vol-) and attempt the process again. It's a pain in the ass but you'll get it eventually. Just make sure not to let the device boot into the system again as that can cause problems in TWRP and you'll likely have to start the process over (from flashing the firmware).
1. Once your tablet is once again in Download Mode, open Odin again and flash the TWRP (tar.md5 file) to the AP (recovery) partition. Do not use any of the other partitions.
2. If this is successful, your phone will begin to reboot. Quickly press and hold the combination of buttons Power and Vol+ until you see the warning dialog pop up. Once you do, release all buttons and be ready to quickly press and release the Power button continue, and then immediately after press and hold the Power and Vol+ buttons again for 6 seconds. After around 6 seconds, release all buttons. Wait around 3-4 seconds and, if the screen does not change to the TWRP logo, restart the device by pressing and holding all buttons simultaneously and try this step again.
3. If you have entered into TWRP, congrats!
Installing Custom ROM + Software in TWRP
1. The first thing you'll want to do is select the Wipe->Format Data. Type 'yes' and hit enter (or swipe I forget which).
2. Next, select Install, and then select your MicroSD card as your storage device. You should see your zip files (if not switch from the install image option).
3. Install the multidisabler, do not reboot
4. Go back into Install and select Install Image (might not be the exact naming) option. Select your MicroSD card as the storage device again and install the LineageOS 18.1 rom. Do not reboot.
5. Go back into Install and select your MindTheGapps zip file and install it.
Now, a lot of people run into a problem when trying to install Gapps which is your device complaining about no more available space in the system partition. If this is the case, go back to Wipe and select Advanced Wipe. Select your system partition and then select Change or Repair Partition. Once you're here you should see the size and available space of your partition. You'll want to hit Resize Partition and let it do it's thing. To confirm it worked, go back to Wipe->Advanced Wipe->Select System->Change or Repair Partition and your available space should be much larger now. Now just attempt to install MindTheGapps again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Final Steps
Once you reboot you should be able to successfully reach the setup screen for Lineage. Go through the steps of setting up your device as usual and be sure that Gapps are installed. Go ahead and re-enable developer settings and enable USB-Debugging and Root Debugging. The reason for this is that, when I first installed Gapps, Google Play Protect would keep throwing warnings at me about my device not being Google Play Certified. This means I couldn't actually use any of the google play services. If you run into the same issue, here are the steps you can take to fix it:
1. First, go into Settings->Apps and find your Google Play Services app. Clear the cache and delete the app data, then reboot your device. If you try and sign into the Google Play store and you are able to without getting any play protect warnings, then you're good you can disregard the following steps.
2. If you are still receiving these warnings, you'll want to head over to this site and follow the instructions (I'm not gonna tell you how to use ADB here). Once you submit your framework ID, reboot your device. Everything should be working fine now.
And that's it! If I am forgetting any steps please let me know, again I am writing this from memory of the process so it may be missing some minor details. I hope this helps!!!
How's the stability, speed and the responsiveness on Lineage with a t290? I have mine rooted debloated and twrp installed but it is slow on stock OS
kkdamion said:
How's the stability, speed and the responsiveness on Lineage with a t290? I have mine rooted debloated and twrp installed but it is slow on stock OS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It runs surprisingly well! Much better than stock. There’s virtually no input lag and the battery life is also very solid on lineage.
Where i run into some lag is when trying to use apps that have embedded video in them. For whatever reason the T290 cannot handle video very well at all.
So yeah I would definitely recommend trying it, it’ll really breathe new life into that tablet
i cant get google play services to work and i cant fetch device_id to register the device
i get "no closing qoute" message
adb shell 'sqlite3 /data/data/com.google.android.gsf/databases/gservices.db \
/system/bin/sh: no closing quote
EDIT: downloaded "android device id" APK from the internet and gathered the framework id information from the app
kkdamion said:
i cant get google play services to work and i cant fetch device_id to register the device
i get "no closing qoute" message
adb shell 'sqlite3 /data/data/com.google.android.gsf/databases/gservices.db \
/system/bin/sh: no closing quote
EDIT: downloaded "android device id" APK from the internet and gathered the framework id information from the app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad it worked out for you! Let me know if you have any more questions and I'd be happy to help.
Hi! is this applicable also for SM-T295?
for those trying to figure out the Google Play Certified page with the adb command
Code:
adb shell 'sqlite3 /data/data/com.google.android.gsf/databases/gservices.db \
"select * from main where name = \"android_id\";"'
do : adb shell
first then paste in :
sqlite3 /data/data/com.google.android.gsf/databases/gservices.db \
"select * from main where name = \"android_id\";"
and it shouldn't give you the error
i must say. linageos on my sm-t290 is really nice
its fast and smooth way much better then stock fw
i would reccomend anyone with a t290/t295 to install this GSI
Im into a bootloop right now after a few fails with installing Lineage on my SM-T290..
Seems like i cant install any rom? not sure how to fix this issue, can anyone point me in the right direction?
Im able to get into TWRP and download mode. but cant install any rom?
thepalek1ng said:
Hello!
So recently I was able to install LineageOS 18.1 (GSI) + GApps on my Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8 (SM-T290) tablet and wanted to share how I did it. I noticed a lack of decent step-by-step guides to modding this tablet so I figure I'd share what I learned through scouring multiple threads and through multiple headaches. Fun fact: I also got this working with LineageOS 19 (GSI), however it ran pretty poorly and Android 12 is ugly as hell so why bother anyway? ALSO interestingly enough, you'll see I wrote [SM-T290N] in the title as well. That is the model of the Kid's Edition of this phone, which happens to be the one I had. So I can confirm this process works for the Kid's Edition of this tablet as well as the original.
What You'll Need
Your tablet
A USB Cable to connect your tablet to your PC
A 4GB+ MicroSD card
A Windows PC
Some patience
Instructions
Preparing Your MicroSD Card
1. Place the LineageOS 18.1 .img file from this thread (On SourceForge, there is a section below the files about the naming conventions and how they relate to the hardware of your device and configuration of your ROM. I used the lineage-18.1-20220315-UNOFFICIAL-arm64_bvS-vndklite.img.xz image for my device. If your device is slightly different, you can use Treble Info to determine what ROM you should use. Just make sure to use the VNDKLITE rom if your device supports it.
2. Place the multidisabler .zip folder on there as well. This will preserve encryption provided by TWRP after rebooting.
3. Finally, place the MindTheGapps .zip folder on your SD card (make sure to get the correct version. In my case this was the 11.00-arm64 version).
4. Insert your MicroSD card into your device.
Unlocking the Bootloader
So the first thing you're gonna want to do is unlock your OEM bootloader on your Samsung device.
1. Go to Settings->About Phone->Software Information and look for a field called "Build Number". Tap this Five Times until you see a notification saying developer settings were enabled.
2. Go to Settings->Developer Settings and look for the setting labeled OEM Unlock and turn it on.
3. From here, you can reboot your device into Recovery Mode by holding the Vol+ and Vol- buttons when the device begins to boot again.
4. You should see a blue screen with some options. Press the Vol+ button to enter Download Mode. This is where you'll use Odin to flash the firmware you need as well as TWRP.
Flashing Firmware
So when I attempted this process I used Magendanz's Unofficial TWRP 3.6.0 as it is the only version of TWRP I found for this device. I also used Odin v3.14.1_3B Patched from this XDA thread. Magendanz's TWRP requires you to have the T290XXU3CUG4 Firmware (I used the XAR region) in order to flash TWRP to your device (you can check wether or not you already have this firmware on your phone by looking the About Phone section again). It takes a while to download though make sure you have some time.
1. Download Odin and run the program. Unzip your firmware folder and use the relevant files when selecting the BL, AP, CP, CSC fields in Odin. I didn't use the HOME_CSC just leave it blank.
2. Connect your device via USB and Flash this firmware to your device.
3. Once your device restarts, go through the setup process and then repeat the Unlocking the Bootloader instructions above in order to make sure it is unlocked again.
4. Reboot your device the same way as stated above.
Flashing TWRP
Before starting, be aware that after you flash TWRP to your device, your device will restart and attempt to open the stock system again. You're going to want to hold the Power and Vol+ buttons simultaneously. You will likely get a warning screen saying that the bootloader is unlocked and may ask you to do a factory reset, this (I believe) is fine. The key here is that once you press the Power Button to continue (as instructed on the warning screen) you'll want to immediately press and hold the Power and Vol+ keys for around 6 Seconds before letting go again (you should be seeing the Samsung Galaxy Tab A logo screen). After letting go, wait around 3-4 seconds, if nothing changes, restart the device by holding all three buttons (Power, Vol+,Vol-) and attempt the process again. It's a pain in the ass but you'll get it eventually. Just make sure not to let the device boot into the system again as that can cause problems in TWRP and you'll likely have to start the process over (from flashing the firmware).
1. Once your tablet is once again in Download Mode, open Odin again and flash the TWRP (tar.md5 file) to the AP (recovery) partition. Do not use any of the other partitions.
2. If this is successful, your phone will begin to reboot. Quickly press and hold the combination of buttons Power and Vol+ until you see the warning dialog pop up. Once you do, release all buttons and be ready to quickly press and release the Power button continue, and then immediately after press and hold the Power and Vol+ buttons again for 6 seconds. After around 6 seconds, release all buttons. Wait around 3-4 seconds and, if the screen does not change to the TWRP logo, restart the device by pressing and holding all buttons simultaneously and try this step again.
3. If you have entered into TWRP, congrats!
Installing Custom ROM + Software in TWRP
1. The first thing you'll want to do is select the Wipe->Format Data. Type 'yes' and hit enter (or swipe I forget which).
2. Next, select Install, and then select your MicroSD card as your storage device. You should see your zip files (if not switch from the install image option).
3. Install the multidisabler, do not reboot
4. Go back into Install and select Install Image (might not be the exact naming) option. Select your MicroSD card as the storage device again and install the LineageOS 18.1 rom. Do not reboot.
5. Go back into Install and select your MindTheGapps zip file and install it.
Final Steps
Once you reboot you should be able to successfully reach the setup screen for Lineage. Go through the steps of setting up your device as usual and be sure that Gapps are installed. Go ahead and re-enable developer settings and enable USB-Debugging and Root Debugging. The reason for this is that, when I first installed Gapps, Google Play Protect would keep throwing warnings at me about my device not being Google Play Certified. This means I couldn't actually use any of the google play services. If you run into the same issue, here are the steps you can take to fix it:
1. First, go into Settings->Apps and find your Google Play Services app. Clear the cache and delete the app data, then reboot your device. If you try and sign into the Google Play store and you are able to without getting any play protect warnings, then you're good you can disregard the following steps.
2. If you are still receiving these warnings, you'll want to head over to this site and follow the instructions (I'm not gonna tell you how to use ADB here). Once you submit your framework ID, reboot your device. Everything should be working fine now.
And that's it! If I am forgetting any steps please let me know, again I am writing this from memory of the process so it may be missing some minor details. I hope this helps!!!
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Click to collapse
bro, I have a problem, my tablet is in a bootloop and I don't know what to do, try with other custom roms but it's the same, what do I have to do so that when I install a custom room it doesn't give me that error?
Flashing the Gapps package resulted in an error: Failure to mount '/system_root' (Invalid argument)
V0latyle said:
Flashing the Gapps package resulted in an error: Failure to mount '/system_root' (Invalid argument)
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Sorry for the bother, new to Android modding scene.
I went into the recovery menu (oem unlock on) and tried to flash TWRP as written on this guide, but I get a secure check fail : aboot on my device and fail on Odin. What do I do here?
Edit: Aparently my device is SM-T295, basically the LTE version of the same device, which is why it isn't recognising it. My bad.
Do you have any video to teach better ???
HyruleanKnight said:
Sorry for the bother, new to Android modding scene.
I went into the recovery menu (oem unlock on) and tried to flash TWRP as written on this guide, but I get a secure check fail : aboot on my device and fail on Odin. What do I do here?
Edit: Aparently my device is SM-T295, basically the LTE version of the same device, which is why it isn't recognising it. My bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shouldn't matter, TWRP is the same for both variants.
There's two ways to get around the secure check fail problem:
After updating via Odin, make sure you immediately interrupt the boot and force reboot into Download Mode. Then, flash TWRP.
Or, after updating, allow your device to boot to Android, skip through the setup wizard (make sure you connect to the internet), and enable Developer Options. Ensure OEM Unlocking is there and grayed out. If not, leave it for a bit until it is. This disables Vaultkeeper on the bootloader. Then, reboot to download mode and flash TWRP.
In both cases, after flashing TWRP, DO NOT let the device boot into Android. Force boot into recovery, then install the Multidisabler from here.
Now to my own problem...
I don't know what I did differently (or wrong) but I cannot get LineageOS to boot correctly on my T290. I was running 18.1 before. I recently updated to CVG3 and followed the same process as I did before - flashed TWRP, then installed the LineageOS GSI to /system.
18.1 continuously bootloops without even loading LineageOS.
19.1 gets to the LineageOS splash screen, and occasionally the setup screen, but continuously reboots also.
After flashing TWRP, I'm installing the multidisabler, then wiping /system, /data, /cache.
Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
@J.Michael any thoughts? You're more familiar with Samsung than I am
V0latyle said:
Shouldn't matter, TWRP is the same for both variants.
There's two ways to get around the secure check fail problem:
After updating via Odin, make sure you immediately interrupt the boot and force reboot into Download Mode. Then, flash TWRP.
Or, after updating, allow your device to boot to Android, skip through the setup wizard (make sure you connect to the internet), and enable Developer Options. Ensure OEM Unlocking is there and grayed out. If not, leave it for a bit until it is. This disables Vaultkeeper on the bootloader. Then, reboot to download mode and flash TWRP.
In both cases, after flashing TWRP, DO NOT let the device boot into Android. Force boot into recovery, then install the Multidisabler from here.
Now to my own problem...
I don't know what I did differently (or wrong) but I cannot get LineageOS to boot correctly on my T290. I was running 18.1 before. I recently updated to CVG3 and followed the same process as I did before - flashed TWRP, then installed the LineageOS GSI to /system.
18.1 continuously bootloops without even loading LineageOS.
19.1 gets to the LineageOS splash screen, and occasionally the setup screen, but continuously reboots also.
After flashing TWRP, I'm installing the multidisabler, then wiping /system, /data, /cache.
Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
@J.Michael any thoughts? You're more familiar with Samsung than I am
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Click to collapse
I think I have a solution.
I see that you are installing the multidisabler after you booted TWRP and by wiping the partitions, however, what you are supposed to do is this:
After you have booted into TWRP and have swiped to allow modifications, go to Wipe> Format Data and type yes. Don't reboot, and don't wipe any other partitions.
After that, go to install and then install the multidisabler, don't reboot.
Then install the latest LineageOS gsi to the system partition, and finally install gapps, then reboot.
Make sure you are choosing the arm64_bvS_vndklite variant, otherwise it will bootloop.
Hope this helps!
Just Mike said:
I think I have a solution.
I see that you are installing the multidisabler after you booted TWRP and by wiping the partitions, however, what you are supposed to do is this:
After you have booted into TWRP and have swiped to allow modifications, go to Wipe> Format Data and type yes. Don't reboot, and don't wipe any other partitions.
After that, go to install and then install the multidisabler, don't reboot.
Then install the latest LineageOS gsi to the system partition, and finally install gapps, then reboot.
Make sure you are choosing the arm64_bvS_vndklite variant, otherwise it will bootloop.
Hope this helps!
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Click to collapse
Okay, so install Multidisabler AFTER wiping data. I'll try that.
I'm using the bgS image so it's already got Google apps. I didn't have any success flashing any of the Gapps packages on the vanilla images.
Is Multidisabler still necessary on Android 11 on this device, or do we just need a patched vbmeta.img?
V0latyle said:
Okay, so install Multidisabler AFTER wiping data. I'll try that.
I'm using the bgS image so it's already got Google apps. I didn't have any success flashing any of the Gapps packages on the vanilla images.
Is Multidisabler still necessary on Android 11 on this device, or do we just need a patched vbmeta.img?
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Click to collapse
Yes, Multidisabler is necessary, otherwise it'll bootloop. I haven't tried anything with a patched vbmeta and frankly don't want to.
The bgS version will work just fine for Android 11.
Currently running Android 13 with LineageOS 20.0, the bvS version. Gotta say it works great. MindtheGapps 13 will work, I haven't encountered any "This device is not certified" issues.
Just Mike said:
Yes, Multidisabler is necessary, otherwise it'll bootloop. I haven't tried anything with a patched vbmeta and frankly don't want to.
The bgS version will work just fine for Android 11.
Currently running Android 13 with LineageOS 20.0, the bvS version. Gotta say it works great. MindtheGapps 13 will work, I haven't encountered any "This device is not certified" issues.
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Click to collapse
Do I need to wipe /system or /boot or anything before installing? I did exactly as you said - rebooted to recovery (was running Samsung stock), formatted data, installed multidisabler, then installed a LineageOS 19 image to /system. It begins to boot (LineageOS animation) then reboots.
Are you using Andy Yan's builds?
V0latyle said:
Do I need to wipe /system or /boot or anything before installing? I did exactly as you said - rebooted to recovery (was running Samsung stock), formatted data, installed multidisabler, then installed a LineageOS 19 image to /system. It begins to boot (LineageOS animation) then reboots.
Are you using Andy Yan's builds?
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Click to collapse
Nope, you don't have to wipe any other partitions, only format data
Yes, I'm using Andy Yan's builds. I'll link the thread here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/gsi-13-lineageos-20-trebledroid-based.4517345/
If I may ask, which type GSI from Andy Yan did you use?
Just Mike said:
Nope, you don't have to wipe any other partitions, only format data
Yes, I'm using Andy Yan's builds. I'll link the thread here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/gsi-13-lineageos-20-trebledroid-based.4517345/
If I may ask, which type GSI from Andy Yan did you use?
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Trying to get back into TWRP, just a sec...
-arm64_bgS.img
Flashing the vndklite one now to see if it works
If I can get this working, I plan on using a bgN flavor so I can just install Magisk, since I don't use SuperSU
Edit: vndklite is bootlooping too