Install LineageOS on
Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 2020 (Wi-Fi)

Basic requirements

1. Read through the instructions at least once before actually following them, so as to avoid any problems due to any missed steps!
2. Make sure your computer has adb and fastboot. Setup instructions can be found here.
3. Enable USB debugging on your device.
4. Make sure that your model number is one of the following (exact match required!):
   • SM-T500
5. Boot your device with the stock OS at least once and check every functionality.
6. LineageOS is provided as-is with no warranty. While we attempt to verify everything works you are installing this at your own risk!

Checking the correct firmware

Installation on your device requires a specific firmware version to be installed before you continue.

• Firmware refers to a device-specific set of images that are included in, and updated by the stock OS
• LineageOS builds for this device require an Android 12 version of the stock OS to be installed prior to following the installation guide
• Please ensure that you are checking the Android version, and not the vendor OS version
• Being on another custom ROM, including unofficial builds of the same version of LineageOS, does not ensure that this requirement has been fulfilled
• Please re-read this section as many times as necessary to fully understand the requirements

Failing to install the correct firmware version prior to installation may result in failure to install LineageOS, unexpected crashes post-installation, or permanent damage to your device!

Pre-Install Instructions

1. Connect the device to a Wi-Fi network.
2. Enable Developer Options by pressing the “Build Number” option at least 7 times, in the “Settings” app within the “About” menu
   • From within the Developer options menu, enable OEM unlock.
3. Download vbmeta.img from here.
4. Open a Command Prompt in the folder where the file was downloaded and TAR the file by running tar --format=ustar -cvf vbmeta.tar vbmeta.img
5. Power off the device, and boot it into download mode:
   • With USB plugged in, hold Volume up + Volume Down + Power.
   • Now, click the button that the onscreen instructions correlate to “Device unlock mode” and/or “Unlock Bootloader”.
   • Device will restart, repeat steps 1 and 2 to enable the Developer Options menu again.
   • Verify that “OEM Unlock” is still enabled and continue to step 6
6. Download and install the necessary drivers.
   • Download the newest Samsung drivers from here.
   • Install SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones.exe.
7. Download this version of Odin.
8. Extract “Odin_3.13.1.zip”.
9. Run Odin3 v3.13.1 found in the newly extracted “Odin_3.13.1” folder.
10. Check the box labeled next to the button labeled “AP”, and then click the “AP” button.
    • In the menu that pops up, select the newly created custom VBMeta .tar file.
11. Power off the device, and again boot it into download mode:
    • With USB plugged in, hold Volume up + Volume Down + Power.
12. Check in the top left of the Odin window that you see a valid device, it will show up as something like COM0.
    check

    Tip: The COM port, or the number succeeding COM, may be any valid number.
13. Click “Start”. A transfer bar will appear on the device showing the VBMeta image being flashed.
14. Your device will reboot, you may now unplug the USB cable from your device.
15. The device will demand you factory reset, please follow the onscreen instructions to do so.
16. Run through Android Setup skipping everything you can, then connect the device to a Wi-Fi network.
17. Re-enable Development settings by clicking the “Build Number” option 10 times, in the “Settings” app within the “About” menu, and verify that “OEM Unlock” is still enabled in the “Developer options” menu.

Important Information

Samsung devices come with a unique boot mode called “Download mode”, which is very similar to “Fastboot mode” on some devices with unlocked bootloaders. Odin is a Samsung-made tool for interfacing with Download mode on Samsung devices. The preferred method of installing a custom recovery is through Download Mode – rooting the stock firmware is neither necessary nor required.

Installing Lineage Recovery using Odin

1. Enable Developer Options by pressing the “Build Number” option 10 times, in the “Settings” app within the “About” menu
   • From within the Developer options menu, enable OEM unlock.
2. Download Lineage Recovery. Simply download the latest recovery file, named recovery.img
3. Open a Command Prompt in the folder where the file was downloaded, and TAR the file by running tar --format=ustar -cvf recovery.tar recovery.img
   check

   Tip: Make sure to not accidentally name the file recovery.img.img when file name extensions are hidden.
   check

   Tip: You can open a command prompt in any folder by right-clicking on empty space while holding Shift and selecting “Open Command Prompt here” or “Open PowerShell window here” from the context menu.
   warning

   Important: Other recoveries may not work for installation or updates. We strongly recommend to use the one linked above!
4. Power off the device, and boot it into download mode:
   • With USB plugged in, hold Volume up + Volume Down + Power.
   • Now, click the button that the onscreen instructions correlate to “Continue”, and insert the USB cable into the device.
5. Download and install the necessary drivers.
   • Download the newest Samsung drivers from here. You will need to create a Samsung account and login to download them.
   • Install SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones.exe.
6. Download this version of Odin.
7. Extract “Odin_3.13.1.zip”.
8. Run Odin3 v3.13.1 found in the newly extracted “Odin_3.13.1” folder.
9. Check in the top left of the Odin window that you see a valid device, it will show up as something like COM0.
   check

   Tip: The COM port, or the number succeeding COM, may be any valid number.
10. In the left side of the Odin window, you will see an “Options” tab, click it, and then un-check the “Auto Reboot” option.
11. Check the box labeled next to the button labeled “AP”, and then click the “AP” button.
    • In the menu that pops up, select the newly downloaded (or built) custom recovery .tar or .tar.md5.
    check

    Tip: The filename may vary depending on your device, and the version of your custom recovery.
12. Click “Start”. A transfer bar will appear on the device showing the recovery image being flashed.
    info_outline

    Note: The device will continue to display Downloading... Do not turn off target!! even after the process is complete.
13. Manually reboot into recovery, this may require pulling the device’s battery out and putting it back in, or if you have a non-removable battery, press the Volume Down + Power buttons for 8~10 seconds until the screen turns black & release the buttons immediately when it does, then boot to recovery:
    • With the device powered off, hold Volume Up + Power.
    info_outline

    Note: Be sure to reboot into recovery immediately after installing the custom recovery. If you don’t the custom recovery will be overwritten on boot.
    info_outline

    Note: If your recovery does not show the LineageOS logo , you accidentally booted into the wrong recovery. Please start at the top of this section!

Installing LineageOS from recovery

1. Download the LineageOS zip file that you would like to install or build the package yourself.
2. If you are not in recovery, reboot into recovery:
   • With the device powered off, hold Volume Up + Power.
3. Now tap Factory Reset, then Format data / factory reset and continue with the formatting process. This will remove encryption and delete all files stored in the internal storage, as well as format your cache partition (if you have one).
4. Return to the main menu.
5. Sideload the LineageOS .zip package but do not reboot before you read/followed the rest of the instructions!
   • On the device, select “Apply Update”, then “Apply from ADB” to begin sideload.
   • On the host machine, sideload the package using: adb -d sideload filename.zip.
     check

     Tip: Normally, adb will report Total xfer: 1.00x, but in some cases, even if the process succeeds the output will stop at 47% and report adb: failed to read command: Success. In some cases it will report adb: failed to read command: No error or adb: failed to read command: Undefined error: 0 which is also fine.

Installing Add-Ons

1. Click Apply Update, then Apply from ADB, then adb -d sideload filename.zip for all desired packages in sequence.
   When presented with a screen that says Signature verification failed, click Yes. It is expected as add-ons aren’t signed with LineageOS’s official key!

All set!

Once you have installed everything successfully, you can now reboot your device into the OS for the first time!

• Click the back arrow in the top left of the screen, then “Reboot system now”.