Install /e/OS on a Samsung - Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 2020 (LTE) gta4l

This guide installs /e/OS on your gta4l. Read it through once before you start, so you don’t hit surprises partway in. Downgrading from a newer OS version than the /e/OS build you’re about to install can cause instability or brick some devices — check your current OS version first. Flashing is done at your own risk: /e/OS builds are provided as best effort, without any guarantee, and the /e/OS project takes no responsibility for the consequences.

Requirements

Back up your important data to an external storage device — some of the steps below format the phone, wiping any backup left on it.
Charge your phone above 50%.
Enable adb on your PC — setup instructions.
Download every file listed in the Downloads section below before you start.
Use a real data cable — some cables only charge and can’t transfer data.
Enable USB debugging on your device — instructions.
Confirm your exact model in the Device Selector: where shown, hover the device name for the supported model number, and check it matches yours exactly.
Boot the stock OS at least once and check everything works — SMS, calls, and both over WiFi and LTE if available (some devices need VoLTE/VoWiFi used once on stock to provision IMS). Whatever’s broken on stock stays broken on /e/OS.

Warning: Log out of any accounts (Google, Samsung, Mi Account, etc.) set on the stock ROM before proceeding. Most vendors enable Factory Reset Protection (FRP): after a factory reset, a device that's still signed in will ask for the credentials of that account before it can be used again. Also remove any screen locks.

Downloads for gta4l

Tip: Before installing /e/OS on the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 2020 (LTE) gta4l for the first time, install the latest stock OS version 12 build on the device

community /e/OS A16

Each build includes /e/OS Recovery — no separate download needed.

Not sure which one to pick? See official vs. community builds.

Before following these instructions please ensure that the device is on the latest Android 12 firmware.
If your device is currently using a newer or older version than the required version, please upgrade or downgrade to the required version before proceeding with your /e/OS installation.
The required version is Android 12 , which may be lower than the /e/OS version you are about to install - this is not an error! If there are multiple updates of that version (e.g. security updates), make sure to use the latest!
If you need to upgrade or downgrade your device, please search online for guides. We are unable to provide specific instructions here and on our support platforms.

Pre-Install Instructions

Warning: The following instructions will unlock the bootloader and wipe all userdata on the device.

Connect the device to a Wi-Fi network.
Enable Developer Options by pressing the “Build Number” option at least 7 times, in the “Settings” app within the “About” menu
- From within the Developer options menu, enable OEM unlock.
Download the /e/OS build zip file from the section marked ‘Downloads for gta4l’. Extract the contents of the /e/OS build zip file. You will find a vbmeta.img in the extracted files.

Tip: The partition files will be available in the /e/OS build or /e/OS recovery zip folders. Look for the file name starting with the partition name. For example, the vbmeta.img file may be named vbmeta-e-3.6-a15-20260314594305-community-a52q.img. You can rename it to vbmeta.img if you want to — the part after vbmeta is just an indicator of the build date when it was compiled. If the files are not found in these zip folders, users can download them from the LineageOS wiki install page specific to this device and OS build.

Open a Command Prompt in the folder where the file was downloaded and TAR the file by running tar --format=ustar -cvf vbmeta.tar vbmeta.img
Power off the device, and boot it into download mode:
- hold Volume Down + Volume Up and connect the USB cable to PC.
- Now, click the button that the onscreen instructions correlate to “Device unlock mode” and/or “Unlock Bootloader”.
- Device will restart, repeat steps 1 and 2 to enable the Developer Options menu again.
- Verify that “OEM Unlock” is still enabled and continue to step 6
Download and install the necessary drivers.
- Download the newest Samsung drivers from here.
- Install SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones.exe.
Download this version of Odin.
Extract “Odin_3.13.1.zip”.
Run Odin3 v3.13.1 found in the newly extracted “Odin_3.13.1” folder.
Check the box labeled next to the button labeled “AP”, and then click the “AP” button.
- In the menu that pops up, select the newly created custom VBMeta .tar file.
Power off the device, and again boot it into download mode:
- hold Volume Down + Volume Up and connect the USB cable to PC.
Check in the top left of the Odin window that you see a valid device, it will show up as something like COM0.
Tip: The COM port, or the number succeeding COM, may be any valid number.
Click “Start”. A blue or white transfer bar will appear on the device showing the VBMeta image being flashed.
Your device will reboot, you may now unplug the USB cable from your device.
The device will demand you format userdata, please follow the onscreen instructions to do so.
Run through Android Setup skipping everything you can, then connect the device to a Wi-Fi network.
Re-enable Development settings by clicking the “Build Number” option 10 times, in the “Settings” app within the “About” menu, and verify that “OEM Unlock” is still enabled in the “Developer options” menu.

Important Information

Caution: The following instructions require a machine running Windows 10 build 17063 or newer..

Samsung devices come with a unique boot mode called “Download mode”, which is very similar to “Fastboot mode” on some devices with unlocked bootloaders. Odin is a Samsung-made tool for interfacing with Download mode on Samsung devices. The preferred method of installing a custom recovery is through Download Mode – rooting the stock firmware is neither necessary nor required.

Tip: If this device’s install instructions already had you download Odin/Enable OEM Unlocking earlier in the installation process, you can skip steps 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7 below.

Installing a custom recovery using `Odin`

Enable Developer Options by pressing the “Build Number” option 10 times, in the “Settings” app within the “About” menu
- From within the Developer options menu, enable OEM unlock.
Download the latest recovery file, mentioned in the Downloads for gta4l section above.
Rename the downloaded image to “recovery.img”, Open a Command Prompt in the folder where the file was downloaded, and TAR the file by running
```
tar --format=ustar -cvf recovery.tar recovery.img
```
Tip: The path may vary depending on where you download the recovery image.
Power off the device, and boot it into download mode:
- hold Volume Down + Volume Up and connect the USB cable to PC.
- Now, click the button that the onscreen instructions correlate to “Continue”, and insert the USB cable into the device.
Download and install the necessary drivers.
- Download the newest Samsung drivers from here. You will need to create a Samsung account and login to download them.
- Install SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones.exe.
Download this version of Odin.
Extract “Odin_3.13.1.zip”.
Run Odin3 v3.13.1 found in the newly extracted “Odin_3.13.1” folder.
Check in the top left of the Odin window that you see a valid device, it will show up as something like COM0.
Tip: The COM port, or the number succeeding COM, may be any valid number.
In the left side of the Odin window, you will see an “Options” tab, click it, and then un-check the “Auto Reboot” option.
Check the box labeled next to the button labeled “AP”, and then click the “AP” button.
- In the menu that pops up, select the newly downloaded custom recovery .tar or .tar.md5.
Tip: The filename may very depending on your device, and the version of your custom recovery.
A blue transfer bar will appear on the device showing the recovery image being flashed.
Tip: The device will continue to display Downloading... Do not turn off target!! even after the process is complete. When the status message in the top left of the device’s display reports that the process is complete, you may proceed.
Manually reboot into recovery, this may require pulling the device’s battery out and putting it back in, or if you have a non-removable battery, press the Volume Down + Power buttons for 8~10 seconds until the screen turns black & release the buttons immediately when it does, then boot to recovery:
- With the device powered off, hold Volume Up + Power while the device is connected to a PC via USB cable.

Caution: Be sure to reboot into recovery immediately after installing the custom recovery. If you don’t the custom recovery will be overwritten on boot.

Steps to install /e/OS from recovery

Use Volume to navigate and Power to select — to go back to the main screen, use Volume Up to choose the arrow at the top. If your PC can’t detect the device over adb, tap Advanced » Enable adb from the /e/OS recovery main screen.

Format the device

On /e/OS Recovery main screen:

Select Factory reset
Select Format data / Factory reset option
Next screen will display a warning that this action cannot be undone
Select Format data to proceed or Cancel if you want to go back
If you selected Format data, the format process will complete
You’ll see text in small font on the lower left side of the screen showing format progress, similar to this:
```
Wiping data
Formatting/data
Formatting/cache
Data wipe complete
```
Display will now return to the Factory Reset screen

Install /e/OS

In /e/OS recovery main screen:

Select Apply Update and in next screen Apply update from adb
In the next screen, the device is now in sideload mode
Note at this point the Cancel option is highlighted that does not mean you have canceled the action. The device is in adb sideload mode.
On your PC begin adb sideload. Type the below command in a console
```
adb sideload downloaded_file_name.zip
```
Replace downloaded_file_name.zip with the name of the /e/OS file you downloaded in the previous section
Press enter key on the keyboard to start the sideloading The screen will show the progress percentage…This might pause at 47%
Give it some time
The PC console will now display Total xfer: 1.00x
The phone screen will now display some text with a message similar to:
```
Script succeeded result was [1.000000]
```
This means that the install was successful.

Reboot the device

In /e/OS recovery main screen:

Select Reboot system now
The reboot process may take 5 - 10 minutes

Success: Congratulations! Your phone should now be booting into /e/OS.

To find some troubleshooting tips… click here

adb

Getting a Total xFer ':' 0.01x message - Try to upload the /e/OS to internal storage and retry to install
adb ':' sideload connection failed ':' insufficient permissions for device error - Try to execute the commands adb kill-server and adb start-server and retry
Getting an insufficient permissions error - Try the solution given here
When running "adb devices" in bash a device is shown as "unauthorized" - Try the solution given here

Connectivity

Trying to troubleshoot mobile connectivity issues - Read this guide

Please share your experience , suggest tips or changes to this install guide documentation by visiting the Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 2020 (LTE) specific topic on our community forum. To report issues in /e/OS please refer this guide

This documentation “Install /e/OS on a Samsung - Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 2020 (LTE) - “gta4l”” is a derivative of “install LineageOS on gta4l” by The LineageOS Project, used under CC BY.