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Samsung Galaxy A51 (samsung-a51)

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Samsung Galaxy A51
Samsung Galaxy A51, running postmarketOS with XFCE 4
Samsung Galaxy A51, running postmarketOS with XFCE 4
Manufacturer Samsung
Name Galaxy A51
Codename samsung-a51
Model SM-A515F
SM-A515W
Released 2019
Type handset
Hardware
Chipset Samsung Exynos 9611
Display 1080x2400 Super AMOLED
Storage 64GB / 128GB / 256GB
Memory 4GB / 8GB
Architecture aarch64
Software
Original software
The software and version the device was shipped with.
Android (One UI) 10 (One UI 2.1)
Extended version
The most recent supported version from the manufacturer.
Android (One UI) 13 (One UI 5.1.1)
postmarketOS
Category downstream
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.
no
pmOS kernel
The kernel version that runs on the device's port.
4.14.113
Unixbench score
Unixbench Whetstone/Dhrystone score. See Unixbench.
3413.6
Device package device-samsung-a51
Kernel package linux-samsung-a51
Firmware package firmware-samsung-a51
Features
Flashing
Whether it is possible to flash the device with pmbootstrap flasher.
Partial
USB Networking
After connecting the device with USB to your PC, you can connect to it via telnet (initramfs) or SSH (booted system).
Works
Internal storage
eMMC, SD cards, UFS...
Works
SD card
Also includes other external storage cards.
Untested
Battery
Whether charging and battery level reporting work.
Works
Screen
Whether the display works; ideally with sleep mode and brightness control.
Works
Touchscreen
Works
Multimedia
3D Acceleration
Untested
Audio
Audio playback, microphone, headset and buttons.
Untested
Camera
Untested
Camera Flash
Untested
Connectivity
WiFi
Works
Bluetooth
Untested
GPS
Untested
NFC
Near Field Communication
Untested
Modem
Calls
Untested
SMS
Untested
Mobile data
Untested
Miscellaneous
FDE
Full disk encryption and unlocking with unl0kr.
Untested
USB OTG
USB On-The-Go or USB-C Role switching.
Untested
Sensors
Accelerometer
Handles automatic screen rotation in many interfaces.
Untested
Magnetometer
Sensor to measure the Earth's magnetism
Untested
Ambient Light
Measures the light level; used for automatic screen dimming in many interfaces.
Untested
Proximity
Untested
Hall Effect
Measures magnetic fields; usually used as a flip cover sensor
Untested
Haptics
Untested
Barometer
Sensor to measure air pressure
Untested
Power Sensor
Sensor to monitor current, voltage and power. Not fuel gauge!
Untested

Contributors

Users owning this device


How to enter recovery/Odin mode

  • Press and hold Volume Up + Volume Down simultaneously while device is powered off, then plug USB cable in for Odin mode.
  • Press and hold Volume Up + Power simultaneously while device is powered off, then plug in USB cable for recovery mode.
  • Press and hold Volume Down + Power simultaneously for 7-8 seconds while device is powered on to force reboot. Once time is up immediately release the keys and press one of combinations above before boot logo appears, otherwise device will boot normally.

Installation

Use pmbootstrap to build your own installation image. The device configuration will also build firmware package, which contains required proprietary blobs for Wi-Fi.

Since dynamic partition support hasn't been added to the port, you will have to either install to external SD Card or use userdata partition as postmarketOS' root partition. This can be done by adding --recovery-install-partition=data to your pmbootstrap's install command. See Installation from recovery mode for more information.

Heimdall installation is untested. Use Installation_from_recovery_mode instead.

Note Particularly for this device, ADB Sideloading through TWRP may cause the installation process to hang after finishing the installation. Install postmarketOS with TWRP's Install GUI instead.

Known Working

  • Touchscreen
  • Display (with Samsung's DECON driver)
  • Framebuffer (additionally with msm-fb-refresher to refresh the screen)
  • Charging & battery status
  • Volume (tested on XFCE)
  • Screen brightness changing (partially)
  • Wi-Fi (with firmware package)

Notes

USB Networking

USB Networking works without any additional setup by enabling CONFIG_USB_ETH (and additionally CONFIG_USB_ETH_RNDIS).

Wi-Fi

To enable Wi-Fi, these proprietary blobs are required to be loaded:

vendor/etc/wifi/mx
vendor/etc/wifi/mx140.bin
vendor/etc/wifi/mx140_wlan.hcf
vendor/etc/wifi/mx140_wlan_sw.hcf

These files are pulled and packaged already in firmware-samsung-a51 pmaports package.

Framebuffer

Some patches are required for framebuffer to fix some issues, e.g. swapped color, missing fb0 device, etc. The last one is required to boot framebuffer-based or text interfaces with CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE, or if you want to display kernel console to the screen, otherwise the kernel panics with null pointer dereference.

See also