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Samsung Galaxy A3 2015 (samsung-a3)

From postmarketOS Wiki
Note This page is about the dedicated port of this device. There is also an optional generic port available for this device - see Generic MSM8916 (qcom-msm8916).
Samsung Galaxy A3 (2015)
Samsung Galaxy A3 (2015) running Plasma Mobile on mainline with hardware accelerated graphics
Samsung Galaxy A3 (2015) running Plasma Mobile on mainline with hardware accelerated graphics
Manufacturer Samsung
Name Galaxy A3 (2015)
Codename samsung-a3
Released 2014
Type handset
Hardware
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916)
CPU 1.2 GHz Quad ARM Cortex-A53
GPU Adreno A306
Display 540x960 AMOLED (AMS452EF01 panel with a S6E88A0 controller)
Storage 8GB (All variants except A300FU)
16 GB (A300FU)
Memory 1GB (All variants except A300FU)
1.5 GB (A300FU)
Architecture aarch64
Software
Original software
The software and version the device was shipped with.
Android 4.4
Extended version
The most recent supported version from the manufacturer.
Android 6.0.1
postmarketOS
Category community
Pre-built images
Whether pre-built images are available from the postmarketOS Installation page.
no
Mainline
Instead of a Linux kernel fork, it is possible to run (Close to) Mainline.
yes
pmOS kernel
The kernel version that runs on the device's port.
Mainline
Unixbench score
Unixbench Whetstone/Dhrystone score. See Unixbench.
1033.5
Optional Generic Port Generic MSM8916 (qcom-msm8916)
Device package device-samsung-a3
Kernel package linux-postmarketos-qcom-msm8916
Features
Flashing
Whether it is possible to flash the device with pmbootstrap flasher.
Works
USB Networking
After connecting the device with USB to your PC, you can connect to it via telnet (initramfs) or SSH (booted system).
Works
Battery
Whether charging and battery level reporting work.
Works
Screen
Whether the display works; ideally with sleep mode and brightness control.
Partial
Touchscreen
Works
Multimedia
3D Acceleration
Works
Audio
Audio playback, microphone, headset and buttons.
Works
Camera
Untested
Connectivity
WiFi
Works
Bluetooth
Works
GPS
Works
NFC
Near Field Communication
Works
Modem
Calls
Works
SMS
Works
Mobile data
Works
Miscellaneous
FDE
Full disk encryption and unlocking with unl0kr.
Works
USB OTG
USB On-The-Go or USB-C Role switching.
Works
Sensors
Accelerometer
Handles automatic screen rotation in many interfaces.
Works
Magnetometer
Sensor to measure the Earth's magnetism
Works
Ambient Light
Measures the light level; used for automatic screen dimming in many interfaces.
Broken
Proximity
Broken
Hall Effect
Measures magnetic fields; usually used as a flip cover sensor
Works


Contributors

Users owning this device

  • 0 (Notes: aftermarket screen)
  • Bastindo (Notes: works)
  • Chappo (Notes: WORKS, Model SM-A300Y Australia, Phosh/Edge Installed)
  • Colaur (Notes: Works with pmOS edge and Phosh)
  • GloomyJD (Notes: Works, cracked glass)
  • Gregorni (Notes: Runs postmarketOS, available for testing)
  • Imre (Notes: pmos on sdcard, can't reliably flash internal ROM)
  • KenOokamiHoro (Notes: SM-A3000 (China), Dual boot with LineageOS 17.1)
  • Lm2 (Notes: postmarket works almost well, testing the operatin'system)
  • Maccraft123 (Notes: broken screen :()
  • Mis012 (Notes: contributor)
  • MMK21 (Notes: Running pmOS Edge + Plasma Mobile)
  • PL (Notes: pmOS with Plasma Mobile. Working fine.)
  • Siken (Notes: Plasma mobile on stable)
  • TravMurav (Notes: SM-A300F, no display)
  • WonderfulShrineMaidenOfParadise


Architecture

Some variants are released with Kitkat 4.4, which doesn't boot arm64 kernel, so upgrade to Lollipop 5.0 or later first.

Boot modes

Fastboot (lk2nd menu) - hold Volume Down during boot, or (only for lk2nd Fastboot) - execute $ fastboot reboot bootloader on a connected USB host, or (also lk2nd) - select it on the bootloader menu by pressing Volume Down or Volume Up three times, then confirm using Power

Recovery (using lk2nd) - hold Volume Up during boot, or - enter Fastboot mode and select it on the bootloader menu by pressing Volume Down twice, confirm using Power

Recovery (using Samsung bootloader) - hold Home+Volume Up+Power, or (with USB debugging enabled) - execute $ adb reboot recovery on a connected USB host

DFU (Odin/Download) mode - hold Home+Volume Down+Power, or (with USB debugging enabled) - execute $ adb reboot download on a connected USB host

Hard reset - hold Volume Down+Power

Installation

Warning WARNING: Be careful when testing undocumented variants! Remember, we are dealing with Samsung here.


lk2nd is a secondary bootloader that provides a standard fastboot interface, which can be used to boot postmarketOS without Android boot flashed or pmbootstrap flasher flash_kernel.

  1. Download lk2nd-msm8916.img from Releases page on Github.
  2. Boot your phone to bootloader (Odin/Download) mode by holding Volume Down and Home while powering up.
  3. Follow lk2nd instructions to install lk2nd. Basically flash it to the boot partition (heimdall flash --BOOT lk2nd-msm8916.img)
  4. Follow Qualcomm_Snapdragon_410/412_(MSM8916)#Installation to install postmarketOS.
Note Note: Enter lk2nd fastboot mode by pressing only Volume Down + Power (without Home). Pressing Home additionally will bring you to the Samsung Download mode.

Audio

Only PulseAudio is working. Automatic device switching is unreliable when using it. See Systemd/audio for more details on PulseAudio.

Note Note: Playback issues may occur when playing FLAC files at high bitrates. Needs more testing/investigation.

Audio input devices

  • Primary microphone (Mic1) - Works.
  • Secondary microphoe (Mic2) - Works.
  • Headset input (3.5 mm) - Works. (?)

Audio output devices

  • Earpiece playback - Works.
  • Speaker playback - Works.
  • Headset output (3.5 mm) - Works. (?)

Note that the pop up volume bar is always empty in phosh. Could be a UI bug.

Warning WARNING: The speakers are rather loud on 100% volume and may produce distorted sound that may damage your speakers after long use. Please make sure to use reasonable volumes - your ears and your speaker will thank you!

Bluetooth Audio

Works. Has no known? issues.

DSP

See Qualcomm_Snapdragon_410/412 (MSM8916)#Audio.

Display

Screen works partially on this device. While displaying the UI works fine, adjusting the brightness doesn't work. Needs a driver.

Brightness

Currently unsupported.

Warning WARNING: Beware "burn in" when using an (AM)OLED display on high brightness! Permanent discoloration can occur after consistent long use. Especially on some low quality OLEDs.

Touch keys

See Tm2-touchkey for instructions.

Warning WARNING: Touch keys may not work on Duos variants. Confimed not to be working on SM-A5000. Needs testing.

Camera

Currently unsupported. You are welcome to try it!

Note The camera subsystem requires a lot of work. Needs more investigation.

Flash LED

Currently WIP. It can be controlled with SG Micro SGM3140 charge pump LED driver[1].

Note Note: Driver seems to be abandoned as of 2025. Needs to be completed.

Image sensors

Needs more research.

ISP

See Qualcomm Snapdragon 410/412 (MSM8916)#Camera.

WiFi

If your WiFi connection is unstable, consider disabling Bluetooth.

# rfkill block bluetooth

Ambient Light/Proximity Sensor

The driver for cm36652 ambient light/proximity sensor is not available.

Hardware details (hwtest) for SM-A300F

Category Model Path Status Value
framebuffer msm /sys/class/graphics/fb0 Working U:540x960p-0
drm /sys/class/drm/card0-DSI-1 Working 540x960
magnetometer bmc150_magn /sys/bus/iio/devices/iio:device2 Working 0.4, -0.52, -0.78 gauss
accelerometer bmc150_accel /sys/bus/iio/devices/iio:device1 Working -8.89, -0.94, -4.25 g
temperature bmc150_accel /sys/bus/iio/devices/iio:device1 Working 20.5 deg C
vibrator pwm-vibrator /dev/input/event6 Working
input samsung-a2015 Headset Jack /dev/input/event7 Working
input tm2-touchkey /dev/input/event5 Working
input Zinitix Capacitive TouchScreen /dev/input/event4 Working
input GPIO Hall Effect Sensor /dev/input/event3 Working
input GPIO Buttons /dev/input/event2 Working
input pm8941_resin /dev/input/event1 Working
input pm8941_pwrkey /dev/input/event0 Working

Note: this SM-A300F scored whet_dhry = 915.5, comparable to other Snapdragon 410.

See also

References