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Samsung Galaxy Tab E 7.0 (SM-T116) (samsung-goyave3g)

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Samsung Galaxy Tab E 7.0 /
Galaxy Tab 3V Lite
Galaxy Tab E 7.0 running XFCE4
Galaxy Tab E 7.0 running XFCE4
Manufacturer Samsung
Name Galaxy Tab E 7.0 /
Galaxy Tab 3V Lite
Codename samsung-goyave3g
Model SM-T116BU
Released 2015
Type tablet
Hardware
Chipset Spreadtrum SC8830
CPU 4x 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7
GPU Mali-400MP
Display 600x1024 TFT
Storage 8GB
Memory 1GB
Architecture armv7
Software
Original software Android (TouchWiz)
Original version
The version the device was shipped with.
4.4.4
FOSS bootloader no
postmarketOS
Category testing
Pre-built images
Whether pre-built images are available here.
no
pmOS kernel
The kernel version that runs on the device's port.
3.10.17
Unixbench score
Unixbench Whetstone/Dhrystone score. See Unixbench.
793.6
Features
Flashing
It is possible to flash the device with pmbootstrap flasher.
Works
Internal storage
eMMC, SD cards, UFS, ...
Works
SD card
Also includes other external storage cards
Works
Battery
Charging and battery level reporting works
Works
Screen
Display works. Ideally with sleep mode and brightness control.
Partial
Touchscreen
Partial
Multimedia
3D Acceleration
Broken
Audio
Audio playback, microphone, headset and buttons.
Partial
Camera
Broken
Connectivity
WiFi
Partial
Bluetooth
Broken
GPS
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
Auto screen rotation works in desktops e.g. Phosh or Plasma Mobile
Untested
Power Sensor
Sensor to monitor current, voltage and power. Not fuel gauge!
Untested


Contributors

Users owning this device

  • JoseskVolpe (Notes: Running stock ROM, testing PostMarketOS)


How to enter flash mode

  • Download mode: Volume Down + Power + Home
  • Recovery mode: Volume Up + Power + Home

Installation

$ pmbootstrap flasher flash_rootfs  # to install system
$ pmbootstrap flasher flash_kernel  # to install kernel

Boot

Boot screen is broken after Spreadtrum video patches are applied, but system boots normally.

Display

  • Needs this and this patch for Xorg to work properly.
  • After applying sprdfb-fix-swapped-colors.patch the boot screen breaks. Xorg works after system is booted. (plymouth)
  • Using msm-fb-refresher
  • Adjusting screen brightness works.

Touchscreen

Touchscreen goes to opposite locations, see pmaports #1883.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Needs proprietary firmware (BCM43438).

Current status: Firmware loads, wlan0 shows up and networks are identified, but module crashes while attempting to connect to any network.

nmcli throws:

Error: Connection activation failed: The device could not be readied for configuration.

Findings

  • The kernel doesn't requires modules, but requires 4 files to be extracted: bcmdhd_sta.bin, nvram_net.txt, nvram_mfg_DCXO.txt, nvram_net_DCXO.txt.
  • Needs to change CONFIG_BCMDHD_FW_PATH and CONFIG_BCMDHD_NVRAM_PATH on config files to PostmarketOS' relative path.
  • Kernel's files in arch/arm/boot/dts/ needs to be patched to use PostmarketOS' relative paths for nv_path and nv_mfg_path
  • There are 2 proprietary binary files relative to BCM4343 in Android stock ROM at /system/vendor/firmware, but they don't seem to be needed: BCM43430A1_001.002.009.0013.0017_ORC_Goya_VE_37_4MHz.hcd and goyave3gREV02/BCM43430A1_001.002.009.0013.0015_ORC_Goya_VE.hcd
  • Building driver as module and loading on boot gives this error:

dhd_module_init in [ 11.043701] [c3] no wifi platform data, skip [ 11.043731] [c3] DHD wifi platform data is required for Android build

Camera

Needs proprietary firmware.

Audio

  • Needs soc-sprd-audio-sc8830
  • Back speaker works
  • Headphone works
  • Frontal speaker not tested
  • Microphone works (both handset and headset), but is really low.
  • Sometimes audio won't work, specially after booting the device. Connecting headphone and disconnecting fixes that

PulseAudio

Edit default ALSA card and device in /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf, then reboot

defaults.ctl.card sprdphone
defaults.pcm.card sprdphone
defaults.pcm.device sprdphone

Alternatively, you may also add these lines at /etc/asound.conf instead:

defaults.ctl.card 1
defaults.pcm.card 1
defaults.pcm.device 1

After that, PulseAudio successfully connects to Spreadtrum audio card. However, playing sounds freezes the audio buffer, playing a continuous buzz. Microphone doesn't works either. To fix that, find the following line in /etc/pulse/default.pa and disable timer-based schedulling:

load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0

3D Acceleration

Needs proprietary Mali driver, or attempt to setup open-source Lima driver on this good old manufacturer kernel.

Additional notes

  • Contributor is currently unable to upstream due to issues about GitLab requesting sensitive information.
  • Firewall doesn't works: Downstream kernel doesn't supports nftables

See also