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Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 Wi-Fi (SM-T520) (samsung-n2awifi)

From postmarketOS Wiki
Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (Wi-Fi)
A picture of a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 Wi-Fi running pmOS with GNOME.
A picture of a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 Wi-Fi running pmOS with GNOME.
Manufacturer Samsung
Name Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (Wi-Fi)
Codename samsung-n2awifi
Released 2014
Type tablet
Hardware
Chipset Samsung Exynos 5420
CPU 4x1.9 GHz Cortex-A15 and 4x1.3 GHz Cortex-A7
GPU Mali-T628 MP6
Display 2560x1600
Storage 16/32 GB
Memory 2 GB
Architecture armv7
Software
Original software
The software and version the device was shipped with.
Android 4.4.2
Extended version
The most recent supported version from the manufacturer.
Android
FOSS bootloader partial
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.
6.12.63
Unixbench score
Unixbench Whetstone/Dhrystone score. See Unixbench.
1772.0
Device package device-samsung-n2awifi
Kernel package linux-postmarketos-exynos5
Initial MR
Initial merge request.
pmaports!5233
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
Internal storage
eMMC, SD cards, UFS...
Works
SD card
Also includes other external storage cards.
Works
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
Partial
Audio
Audio playback, microphone, headset and buttons.
Broken
Camera
Broken
IR TX
Broken
IR RX
Broken
Connectivity
WiFi
Partial
Bluetooth
Partial
GPS
Broken
Miscellaneous
FDE
Full disk encryption and unlocking with unl0kr.
Works
USB OTG
USB On-The-Go or USB-C Role switching.
Works
HDMI/DP
Video and audio output with HDMI or DisplayPort.
Broken
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.
Works
Hall Effect
Measures magnetic fields; usually used as a flip cover sensor
Works
Haptics
Works
Power Sensor
Sensor to monitor current, voltage and power. Not fuel gauge!
Works
U-Boot
Primary Bootloader
Whether it is possible to replace stock bootloader with U-Boot.
Broken
Secondary Bootloader
Whether it is possible to chainload U-Boot from stock bootloader.
Works
Mainline
Whether latest upstream versions of U-Boot are not broken and it is possible to use them.
Works
Internal Storage
Whether it is possible to boot from internal storage (e.g. eMMC or UFS).
Works
SD card
Whether it is possible to boot from SD card.
Works
USB Host
Whether it is possible to boot from a USB storage or connect a keyboard.
Broken
USB Peripheral
Whether it is possible to use device as a peripheral in U-Boot, e.g. for fastboot mode.
Broken
Display
Works
Buttons
Whether it is possible to navigate in boot menu or grub with volume and power buttons.
Works

Contributors

  • Denix
  • Eisenbahnfan2015

Users owning this device

Mainline Features

Status Hardware Info
Y Panel Sometimes the panel lags.
Y Touchscreen
P GPU
Y SD cards
Y Internal memory
N GPS
N Cameras
P WiFi WPA2 Enterprise isn't working with the firmware available in linux-firmware-brcm
P Bluetooth Connection to audio devices fails because audio isn't working yet.
Y Buttons There are 4 keys on GPIO: Home button, Volume up, Volume down, Power button.
P Charger Charges only very slowly. If the panel is on, it only discharges.
Y Fuel Gauge
Y PMIC
N Sound
Y Accelerometer
Y Magnetometer
Y Light

How to enter recovery mode

Press and hold Power + Volume Up.

How to enter flash mode

Press and hold Power + Volume Down. Press Volume Up when prompted.

Installation

U-Boot

Note U-Boot currently can only boot automatically from USERDATA partition or sd-card!
Note The sd-card has a higher boot priority than the USERDATA partition
Note Currently, U-Boot requires up to 1 minute to boot an EFI file. During that time, the screen remains on the boot screen. Please be patient when booting up the device!

The device requires U-Boot to gain UEFI support and boot newer versions of postmarketOS. Ready to use binaries can be found here. The source code is also available. The U-Boot port is still in early development and therefore has a limited feature set.

  1. Download the image for your device from https://gitlab.com/exynos5-mainline/u-boot/-/releases
  2. Then flash with heimdall:
    • heimdall flash --BOOT u-boot-samsung-n2awifi.img

A simple boot menu can be entered through holding Volume Down after power up.

U-Boot can be updated through the use of the update-u-boot script that's part of the u-boot-exynos5420 package.

postmarketOS

Follow the instructions on Installation/Using pmbootstrap to install it either on sdcard or the USERDATA partition.

Known issues

The device automatically boots when connected to power.

Additional info

Unixbench results

========================================================================
   BYTE UNIX Benchmarks (Version 6.0.0)

   System: samsung-n2awifi: Linux
   OS: Linux -- 7.0.7-postmarketos-exynos5 -- #145 SMP PREEMPT Fri May 15 08:28:54 UTC 2026
   Machine: armv7l (unknown)
   Language: en_US.utf8 (charmap="UTF-8", collate=)
   CPU 0: ARMv7 Processor rev 3 (v7l) (108.0 bogomips)
          
   CPU 1: ARMv7 Processor rev 3 (v7l) (108.0 bogomips)
          
   CPU 2: ARMv7 Processor rev 3 (v7l) (108.0 bogomips)
          
   CPU 3: ARMv7 Processor rev 3 (v7l) (108.0 bogomips)
          
   18:25:27 up 15 min,  0 users,  load average: 0.98, 0.78, 0.51; runlevel 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benchmark Run: Fri May 15 2026 18:25:27 - 18:30:31
4 CPUs in system; running 1 parallel copy of tests

Dhrystone 2 using register variables        7347143.6 lps   (10.0 s, 7 samples)
Double-Precision Whetstone                     2556.7 MWIPS (9.9 s, 7 samples)

System Benchmarks Partial Index              BASELINE       RESULT    INDEX
Dhrystone 2 using register variables         116700.0    7347143.6    629.6
Double-Precision Whetstone                       55.0       2556.7    464.9
                                                                   ========
System Benchmarks Index Score (Partial Only)                          541.0

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Benchmark Run: Fri May 15 2026 18:30:31 - 18:35:19
4 CPUs in system; running 4 parallel copies of tests

Dhrystone 2 using register variables       23056188.4 lps   (10.0 s, 7 samples)
Double-Precision Whetstone                     8740.9 MWIPS (10.7 s, 7 samples)

System Benchmarks Partial Index              BASELINE       RESULT    INDEX
Dhrystone 2 using register variables         116700.0   23056188.4   1975.7
Double-Precision Whetstone                       55.0       8740.9   1589.3
                                                                   ========
System Benchmarks Index Score (Partial Only)                         1772.0

See also