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Samsung Galaxy A7 2015 (samsung-a7)

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 A7 (2015)
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Manufacturer Samsung
Name Galaxy A7 (2015)
Codename samsung-a7
Released 2014
Type handset
Hardware
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 (MSM8939)
CPU 4x1.2 GHz Cortex-A53
4x1.0 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU Adreno 405
Display 1080 x 1920
Storage 16 GB
Memory 2 GB
Architecture aarch64
Software
Original software
The software and version the device was shipped with.
Android 4.4.4
Extended version
The most recent supported version from the manufacturer.
Android 6.0.1
postmarketOS
Category testing
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.
1022.4
Optional Generic Port Generic MSM8916 (qcom-msm8916)
Device package device-samsung-a7
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
SD card
Also includes other external storage cards.
Partial
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
Partial
Audio
Audio playback, microphone, headset and buttons.
Works
Camera
Broken
Camera Flash
Broken
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
Haptics
Works
Barometer
Sensor to measure air pressure
Works
Note Note: This page is about 2015 version of Samsung Galaxy A7.


Users owning this device


How to enter flash mode

Press Volume Down, Power, and Home all at the same time to boot to Odin mode. After lk2nd is installed, press Volume Down and Power at the same time.

Firmware

Architecture

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

Outdated firmware

According to GSMArena, some variants received a build of Android 7.0 Nougat. Needs investigation. Also see #Specifications, #Firmware builds.

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.

Desktop environments

GNOME

Currently unusable due to GPU driver/graphics crashes. Includes the mobile version. Should work fine on the edge channel. Has a software #Brightness extension (Soft Brightness Plus) availible through GNOME Extensions.

Phosh

Works. No notable issues. Compositor scaling tool in Mobile Settings is very useful, can also be set using dconf. No #Brightness solution?

Plasma Desktop

Untested? Likely partial. Kirigami Apps may flicker and show a distorted UI! Should work fine on the edge channel. Landscape (horizontal) mode is recommended. Likely to have a software #Brightness solution. Needs testing.

Plasma Mobile

Partial. Plasma works smoothly, but there are some graphical glitches sometimes. Kirigami apps may flicker and show a distorted UI! Should work fine on the edge channel. Includes software #Brightness (overlay dimming effect)!

Works on A5 2015, you should set custom scaling factor to 2. Should be in display settings.

kscreen-doctor output.1.scale.2 should work.

To run this command from ssh session add the following env variables to the above command:

XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/10000 QT_QPA_PLATFORM=wayland kscreen-doctor output.1.scale.2

SXMO

  • Sway - Works.
  • DWM - Untested? Likely to work.

Has deviceprofile for A5. More should be added.

XFCE

Untested? Likely to work. It runs on almost anything from the last decades. Likely to have a software #Brightness solution. Needs testing.

Audio

Only PulseAudio is working. Automatic device switching is unreliable when using it. See Qualcomm Snapdragon 410/412 (MSM8916)#Audio for instructions. Also 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 Microphone (Mic2) - Works. (?)
  • Headset input (AUX) - Works. (?)

Audio output devices

  • Earpiece playback - Works.
  • Speaker playback - Works.
  • Headphones output (AUX) - 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. Supports A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, and HSP.

Note Note: Headset microphones may not work below #Bluetooth 5.x.

DSP

See Qualcomm_Snapdragon_410/412 (MSM8916)#Switching rproc mode for instructions.

Display

Partial. While displaying the UI works fine, adjusting the brightness doesn't work.

Brightness

Currently unsupported. Needs a driver.

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

Partial. Should fully work on most variants. 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.

3D acceleration

Instead of 60 fps in video mode[2], panel s6e3fa2-ams549eh01 runs at 30 fps in command mode. The framerate is reduced to 5/6x [3] on mainline, and it runs at only 25 fps now. Ideally, we should found a solution to covert the panel to video mode.

Touchscreen

There is no successful attempt on SM-A700H for now.

$ dmesg | grep cyttsp5
[   14.031305] cyttsp5 6-0024: Error on deassert int r=-6
[   14.031344] cyttsp5 6-0024: Fail initial startup r=-19

Ambient Light/Proximity Sensor

The driver for tmd3782 ambient light/proximity sensor is not available.

SD card

SD Card detects, but sometimes in read-only mode (even if it works fine on another device) (probably a slot issue??)

Reboot Loop

There are some issues on the hardware, which cause endless reboot even you have a 100% charged battery.

See also

References