Samsung Galaxy A51 (samsung-a51)
| This device runs a Downstream kernel. Some UIs will not work, and most features (3D acceleration, audio, etc.) may be broken. |
|
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 |
|
| Kernel package |
|
| Firmware package |
|
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
- Keith. (Notes: dead OLED)
- Leahh
- Manoedinata (Notes: 8/128, screen replaced. Broken power button, so I can't boot it easily.)
- Map220v
- MettleSphee
- SeMi2309
- Troyhanligi (Notes: Works Good But No Sound and 3D Accel)
- Xyno (Notes: Don't use much.)
- Zokhoi (Notes: 6/128, Android 12)
How to enter recovery/Odin mode
- Press and hold + simultaneously while device is powered off, then plug USB cable in for Odin mode.
- Press and hold + simultaneously while device is powered off, then plug in USB cable for recovery mode.
- Press and hold + 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.
| Particularly for this device, ADB Sideloading through TWRP may cause the installation process to hang after finishing the installation. Install postmarketOS with TWRP's 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
- pmaports!5887 Initial merge request