Samsung Galaxy A53 5G

Samsung Galaxy A53 5G

Summary of what works and doesn't

Steps to install

Use one of the below listed options. If you aren't in need of TWRP recovery, I still recommend fastboot-enabled recovery as it can resize SYSTEM partition without needing to reflash OneUI. Fastboot-enabled recovery is also considered more stable, despite being more tedious to install.

TWRP recovery

Download the latest TWRP from my collection of A53 files and follow instructions there.

Fastboot-enabled recovery

As afaneh stopped maintaining the permissive kernel and TWRP and nobody replaced him, his permissive kernel is likely broken on newer OneUI versions. At least I couldn't get it to install and successfully boot on OneUI 6 (Android 14). This makes installation a bit harder.

Make sure your bootloader is already unlocked. Below procedure WILL delete all your data, so please make a backup of anything important. This procedure presumes you already have Odin and Android Studio with fastboot installed. If not, please install Odin from here (only for Windows) and Android Studio from here. You can install fastboot from within Android Studio.

1. Download files from latest release

If your Samsung device already has fastbootd, boot into fastboot and skip straight to step 8! Your Samsung device should be plugged into your computer from now on, with USB debugging enabled.

2. Boot into Download Mode by holding VOL UP and VOL DOWN simultaneously when the device is off. Alternatively, you can run adb reboot download.

3. TURN OFF AUTO RESTART IN ODIN (options tab), AS RESTARTING TO STOCK ROM WILL WIPE CUSTOM RECOVERY!

4. Select patched recovery (.tar.md5 file) as AP file and vbmeta (.tar file) as USERDATA. This is enables fastboot, as modern Samsung devices don't have this feature enabled.

5. Once flash is complete, hold VOL DOWN and SIDE KEY (power button) to exit Download Mode, then IMMEDIATELY change to VOL UP and SIDE KEY (power button) when screen goes black. If you screw this up and you don't time it correctly, you'll end up booting in best case in OneUI or in worst case a bootloop. You'll need to repeat the before mentioned procedure (go back to step 2).

6. Press the VOL UP and VOL DOWN buttons to select the fastboot option once in Android recovery.

7. Press SIDE KEY to boot into fastbootd.

8. Run fastboot devices in Windows Terminal or Command Prompt to ensure the device is recognized.

9. If your GSI came in a compressed file (.xz, .zip, etc.) extract it with your program of choice. You should be left with a .img file. Rename this file to system.img. All of this should be done in your downloads folder.

10. Navigate your command prompt using cd to your Downloads folder. In my case, it was cd C:\Users\User\Downloads\. Your username might be different.

11. Run fastboot erase system.

12. Run fastboot flash system system.img. This might take a few minutes to complete. If you get an error about system partition size, scroll to the bottom of this article and run the command to free up space.

13. Once complete, run fastboot -w. If this returns an error, do not retry and proceed to the next step. If it ran successfully, do a fastboot reboot and enjoy your newly flashed GSI.

14. Select an option "Enter recovery" or something similar and select it by clicking the SIDE KEY (power button). You should be transferred back to the recovery. In case you accidentally rebooted the system, you will have to return to step 11. In a worst case scenario, you may have to go to the PANIK GUIDE to completely reset, then go from step 1. Alternatively, you may also do a fastboot reboot recovery.

15. Use VOL UP and VOL DOWN to select 'Wipe Data/Factory Reset' and use SIDE KEY to confirm.

16. After wiping data, use VOL UP and VOL DOWN to reboot (should be the first option in Android recovery).

17. You should get rebooted to your newly flashed GSI. Enjoy.

This procedure should work for any Samsung device and was modified from woffles_'s guide on XDA. Thank you so much.

Legacy TWRP (shouldn't be used on newer firmwares)

• Flash TWRP as AP and one of patched VBMETAs, located at the bottom of first message as USERDATA with Odin.

• Reboot to recovery via recovery key combo (Vol up + power + USB connected).

• Open TWRP Terminal, execute "multidisabler" command, then go to Wipe > Format Data > Yes and reboot recovery.

• ADB Push a kernel ZIP, corresponding to your firmware release date, to /sdcard

• Flash the pushed ZIP (GSI won't boot without it.)

• Flash any GSI image as system image in TWRP, then reboot system and enjoy.

Hardware support

Component	Comment
Camera	Working
Speaker / Mic	Working
Bluetooth	Working
WiFi	Working
SMS	Working with mitigations
SIM / Mobile Data / Voice	Working (if not, try to reflash the GSI or wipe data from recovery)
VoLTE	Not Working
Fingerprint	Working
NFC	Working
Offline Charging	Not Working
5G	Working (as of TrebleDroid Android 14 release on 22. 2. 2024)
120Hz Refresh Rate	Working
USB-C headphones and sound cards	Working with mitigations (Settings -> Phh Treble Settings -> Samsung features -> Use alternate audio policy)

Mitigations for non-working SMS

Receiving

If you've upgraded to one of Samsung's newer firmwares, most likely 7 and 8, you won't be able to receive any SMS messages.

A temporary fix for it is a RIL rollback Magisk/KernelSU module, although it needs a more permanent fix.

Sending

As of 26th February 2024, this issue is resolved, although not yet in all GSIs. Check if your GSI has an update on 26th February or later.

If you've upgraded to an Android 14 GSI, you will encounter an issue where you won't be able to send any SMS messages (Error 0 is shown in Google Messages).

In case you encounter such an issue, you may want to downgrade to one Android 13 GSI. SMS sending works on Android 13 GSIs.

GSI support

Android 15 GSIs are NOT supported.

Android 14 GSIs are supported (only VNDK). Bootloops while running on VNDKlite vendor.

Android 13 GSIs are supported (only VNDK). Bootloops while running on VNDKlite vendor.

Android 12 GSIs are supported (both VNDK and VNDKlite).

GSIs tested

Android 12

• Lineage 19.1 - Android 12 - tested with bvN and both vendors (VNDKlite and VNDK). Universal SafetyNet Fix interferes with some Google apps, but less than on Lineage 20. Tested on 18/05/2023 by mytja.

Android 13

• Lineage TD 20.0 - tested with bvN as well as bgN with VNDK vendor, vndklite didn't feel like booting. Seems that Universal SafetyNet Fix interferes with Google apps (including Messages, Drive and GMail) and makes them crash upon opening. It might just be my phone, but proceed with caution. Tested on 28/07/2023 by mytja.
• PixelOS 13.0 - didn't boot, stuck on Google logo, connecting and disconnecting from my computer every 10-60 seconds. Tested on 29/07/2023 by mytja.
• Pixel Experience 13.0 - tested with VNDK vendor (not slim or vndklite), first time it didn't want to connect to WiFi during setup, reboot didn't help, had to reinstall the image to make it work. After having it installed for more than a week, everything listed in above table seems to be correct (only 5G and VoLTE not working due to Samsung's proprietary design).

Android 14

• PixelOS 14 February release - tested with VNDK (normal) vendor (not slim or vndklite). Booted fine, I wasn't able to achieve backup from Google Account, despite being offered several times. Tested on 23. 2. 2024.
• Lineage TD 21.0 - tested with bgN with VNDK vendor. Booted successfully, tested only briefly. Tested on 23. 2. 2024.
• TrebleDroid (android_14.0.0_r27 ci-20240222) - Tested with system-td-arm64-ab-vanilla.img.xz, booted successfully, tested only briefly. Tested on 23. 2. 2024.
• Evolution-X 8.3 - Booted successfully, tested extensively, no issues despite before-mentioned in hardware support section. Tested on 23. 2. 2024.
• Treble AOSP by Ponces - Booted successfully, tested extensively, no issues despite before-mentioned in hardware support section. Tested on 10. 2. 2024.

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Tested By: ItsLynix - SM-A536B(EUX), A536BXXU4BVL2 - 01/02/2023 - Template created by @zguithues and @hackintosh5

Tested By: mytja - SM-A536B(EUX), A536BZKNEEE - 18/05/2023 - LineageOS GSI 19.1

Tested By: mytja - SM-A536B(EUX), A536BZKNEEE - 29/07/2023 - Pixel Experience Plus 13.0

Tested By: mytja - SM-A536B(EUX), A536BZKNEEE - 23/02/2024 - Evolution-X 8.3 (Android 14)