Installing Lineage OS to a Samsung Galaxy A3

Introduction

Heimdal

Build Heimdal

git clone https://gitlab.com/BenjaminDobell/Heimdall.git
sudo dnf install libusb-devel.x86_64
cd Heimdall
mkdir build; cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DDISABLE_FRONTEND ..
make

Check installation

Put your device in download mode, on the A3 it’s:

1 Switch OFF device
2 Volume Down + Home button + Power button.
3 Choose Download mode: Volume Up

$ sudo ./heimdal detect

Download PIT file

$ sudo ./heimdall download-pit --output 'a3-2020-02-20.pit' --verbose 
Heimdall v1.4.2

Copyright (c) 2010-2017 Benjamin Dobell, Glass Echidna
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/

This software is provided free of charge. Copying and redistribution is
encouraged.

If you appreciate this software and you would like to support future
development please consider donating:
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/donate/

Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
      Manufacturer: "SAMSUNG"
           Product: "Gadget Serial"

            length: 18
      device class: 2
               S/N: 0
           VID:PID: 04E8:685D
         bcdDevice: 021B
   iMan:iProd:iSer: 1:2:0
          nb confs: 1

interface[0].altsetting[0]: num endpoints = 1
   Class.SubClass.Protocol: 02.02.01
       endpoint[0].address: 83
           max packet size: 0010
          polling interval: 09

interface[1].altsetting[0]: num endpoints = 2
   Class.SubClass.Protocol: 0A.00.00
       endpoint[0].address: 81
           max packet size: 0200
          polling interval: 00
       endpoint[1].address: 02
           max packet size: 0200
          polling interval: 00
Claiming interface...
Setting up interface...

Initialising protocol...
Protocol initialisation successful.

Beginning session...

Some devices may take up to 2 minutes to respond.
Please be patient!

Session begun.

Downloading device's PIT file...
WARNING: Empty bulk transfer after receiving packet failed. Continuing anyway...
PIT file download successful.

Ending session...
Rebooting device...
Releasing device interface...

$ file a3-2020-02-20.pit 
a3-2020-02-20.pit: Partition Information Table for Samsung smartphone, 28 entries; #1 BOOTLOADER+RW (0x50) "sboot.bin"; #2 CM+RW (0x5a) "cm.bin"; #3 PIT (0x46) "-"; #4 MD5HDR (0x47) "md5.img"; #5 BOTA0 (0x1) "-"; #6 BOTA1 (0x2) "-"; #7 EFS (0x3) "efs.img"; #8 CPEFS (0x4) "cpefs.img"; #9 m9kefs1 (0x5) "m9kefs1.bin"; #10 m9kefs2 (0x6) "m9kefs2.bin"; #11 m9kefs3 (0x7) "m9kefs3.bin"; #12 CARRIER (0x8) "carrier.img"; #13 PARAM (0x9) "param.bin"; #14 BOOT (0xa) "boot.img"; #15 RECOVERY (0xb) "recovery.img"; #16 OTA (0xc) "-"; #17 RADIO (0xd) "modem.bin"; #18 TOMBSTONES (0xe) "tombstones.img"

We can see that the recovery partition is named RECOVERY and is the #15. It’s better viewed with the print-pit command (entry 14 because it begins at 0):

$ ./heimdall print-pit --file ./a3-2020-02-20.pit
Heimdall v1.4.2

Copyright (c) 2010-2017 Benjamin Dobell, Glass Echidna
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/

This software is provided free of charge. Copying and redistribution is
encouraged.

If you appreciate this software and you would like to support future
development please consider donating:
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/donate/

Entry Count: 28
Unknown 1: 1598902083
Unknown 2: 844251476
Unknown 3: 21324
Unknown 4: 14153
Unknown 5: 14392
Unknown 6: 48
Unknown 7: 0
Unknown 8: 0


--- Entry #0 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 80
Attributes: 2 (STL Read-Only)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 0
Partition Block Count: 8192
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: BOOTLOADER
Flash Filename: sboot.bin
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #1 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 90
Attributes: 2 (STL Read-Only)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 0
Partition Block Count: 8192
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: CM
Flash Filename: cm.bin
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #2 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 70
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 34
Partition Block Count: 16
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: PIT
Flash Filename: -
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #3 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 71
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 50
Partition Block Count: 2048
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: MD5HDR
Flash Filename: md5.img
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #4 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 1
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 8192
Partition Block Count: 8192
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: BOTA0
Flash Filename: -
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #5 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 2
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 16384
Partition Block Count: 8192
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: BOTA1
Flash Filename: -
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #6 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 3
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 5 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 24576
Partition Block Count: 40960
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: EFS
Flash Filename: efs.img
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #7 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 4
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 5 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 65536
Partition Block Count: 16384
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: CPEFS
Flash Filename: cpefs.img
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #8 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 5
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 81920
Partition Block Count: 8192
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: m9kefs1
Flash Filename: m9kefs1.bin
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #9 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 6
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 90112
Partition Block Count: 8192
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: m9kefs2
Flash Filename: m9kefs2.bin
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #10 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 7
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 98304
Partition Block Count: 8192
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: m9kefs3
Flash Filename: m9kefs3.bin
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #11 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 8
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 5 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 106496
Partition Block Count: 2048
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: CARRIER
Flash Filename: carrier.img
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #12 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 9
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 108544
Partition Block Count: 16384
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: PARAM
Flash Filename: param.bin
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #13 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 10
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 124928
Partition Block Count: 65536
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: BOOT
Flash Filename: boot.img
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #14 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 11
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 190464
Partition Block Count: 77824
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: RECOVERY
Flash Filename: recovery.img
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #15 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 12
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 268288
Partition Block Count: 16384
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: OTA
Flash Filename: -
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #16 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 13
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 284672
Partition Block Count: 92160
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: RADIO
Flash Filename: modem.bin
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #17 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 14
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 5 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 376832
Partition Block Count: 2048
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: TOMBSTONES
Flash Filename: tombstones.img
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #18 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 15
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 378880
Partition Block Count: 2048
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: DNT
Flash Filename: dnt.ssw
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #19 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 16
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 380928
Partition Block Count: 1024
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: PERSISTENT
Flash Filename: 
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #20 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 17
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 381952
Partition Block Count: 2048
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: STEADY
Flash Filename: steady.bin
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #21 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 18
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 384000
Partition Block Count: 9216
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: RESERVED2
Flash Filename: -
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #22 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 19
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 5 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 393216
Partition Block Count: 8192000
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: SYSTEM
Flash Filename: system.img
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #23 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 20
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 5 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 8585216
Partition Block Count: 409600
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: CACHE
Flash Filename: cache.img
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #24 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 21
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 5 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 8994816
Partition Block Count: 122880
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: HIDDEN
Flash Filename: hidden.img
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #25 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 22
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 9117696
Partition Block Count: 10240
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: CP_DEBUG
Flash Filename: modem_debug.bin
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #26 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 23
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 1 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 9127936
Partition Block Count: 2048
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: NAD_REFER
Flash Filename: nad_refer.bin
FOTA Filename: 


--- Entry #27 ---
Binary Type: 0 (AP)
Device Type: 2 (MMC)
Identifier: 24
Attributes: 5 (Read/Write)
Update Attributes: 5 (FOTA)
Partition Block Size/Offset: 9129984
Partition Block Count: 0
File Offset (Obsolete): 0
File Size (Obsolete): 0
Partition Name: USERDATA
Flash Filename: userdata.img
FOTA Filename: remained

TWRP

Download TWRP at: https://eu.dl.twrp.me/a3y17lte/twrp-3.3.1-0-a3y17lte.img.html

$ file twrp-3.3.1-0-a3y17lte.img
twrp-3.3.1-0-a3y17lte.img: Android bootimg, kernel (0x10008000), ramdisk (0x11000000), page size: 2048, cmdline (androidboot.selinux=permissive)

Flashing TWRP on the recovery partition

Here we need to specify the --no-reboot parameter in order to let us time at the end to boot in recovery mode. If we don’t do that, TWRP will be erased by the stock recovery image.

$ sudo ./heimdall flash --no-reboot --RECOVERY twrp-3.3.1-0-a3y17lte.img
Heimdall v1.4.2

Copyright (c) 2010-2017 Benjamin Dobell, Glass Echidna
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/

This software is provided free of charge. Copying and redistribution is
encouraged.

If you appreciate this software and you would like to support future
development please consider donating:
http://www.glassechidna.com.au/donate/

Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
Claiming interface...
Setting up interface...

Initialising protocol...
Protocol initialisation successful.

Beginning session...

Some devices may take up to 2 minutes to respond.
Please be patient!

Session begun.

Downloading device's PIT file...
PIT file download successful.

Uploading RECOVERY
100%
RECOVERY upload successful

Ending session...
Releasing device interface...

Volume Up + Volume Down + Home Button + Power Button

when it reboot, release the Volume Down Button