[Guide][SM-T500/T505] Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 - Unlock Bootloader & Root with Magisk

[DJBhardwaj]

I recently purchased the Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 (released in 2020) and couldn't help but notice that there's no dedicated thread in the forums for unlocking the bootloader or rooting (Although, the method should be very similar to what is followed for the Tab 10.1 (2019)).

It's been quite some time since I published a tutorial on XDA. So, I decided to put up this comprehensive tutorial, hope it helps everyone who's looking for it. We will take the direct approach of rooting the tab by patching the AP firmware and flashing the patched AP through Odin.

/* I will be using the same images I prepared for the tutorial to be posted on my blog. Sorry that they have been watermarked, that is to prevent scrapers from stealing. It took me enough time to capture them and do some post-processing. */

Before we start, here's the obligatory disclaimer and warning:

• Unlocking the bootloader will erase all the data on your tab, including all the data that's on the internal storage. So, make sure that you have taken a complete backup of all your important data.
• Flashing a custom binary (such as Magisk patched TAR in this guide) will trip the KNOX counter. This means, you will not be able to use apps and services like Secure Folder, Samsung Pass, and anything that relies on KNOX.
• Although I have tried this on my Galaxy Tab A7 (SM-500) and can confirm that this works, I will not take any responsibility of any bricked/toasted devices. Make sure that you fully understand what you're doing and accept the consequences if anything goes wrong.
• If you do land your tablet in trouble, feel free to ask, I shall try my best to help.

Requirements

• Your Galaxy Tab A7 with SM-T500 or SM-T505 model number
• A compatible USB-C cable
• A Windows computer. (Odin only works on Windows. If you're using Linux or Mac, you could try Heimdall)

Instructions

Step 1: Enable OEM Unlocking
In order to unlock the bootloader, you must first enable the 'OEM Unlocking' toggle. This toggle resides inside the 'Developer options' screen, which is hidden by-default on most Android devices.

First, enable 'Developer options' by going to 'Settings' > 'About tablet' > 'Software Information' and repeatedly tap on the 'Build number' section for five times. If you have a lock screen security set, you will need to input your PIN/Password/Pattern when prompted.

Once you do this, you should see a toast notification on the bottom of the screen saying that "Developer mode has been enabled".

Once that is out of the way, go to 'Settings' > 'Developer options' and turn ON the toggle next to "OEM unlocking". You will instantly be prompted to enter your PIN/Password/Pattern, so do it. Then select "Enable" to allow OEM unlocking.

• Note: If the OEM unlocking toggle is grayed out, make sure that you have connected the tablet to the internet first (via WiFi or mobile network, your choice).

Step 2: Unlock the Bootloader
Start by powering off your tablet completely. Then while holding the Volume Up and Volume Down keys together, connect it to your computer using the USB cable. This should take you to the bootloader screen (I call it that because logically that's what directs you to either Download Mode or Device Unlock Mode). Long-press the Volume Up key to enter the 'Device unlock mode'.

Your tab should now prompt you with a confirmation screen, so press the Volume Up key to confirm and unlock the bootloader.

Your Tab A7's bootloader is now unlocked and it should reboot automatically. You should also see a warning message right before the Samsung splash screen, just as shown in the picture below. Don't worry, it's completely normal. And no, there's no way to get rid of it (unless of course, you relock the bootloader).

The first boot after unlocking the bootloader could take some time (took around 3-4 minutes for me). So be patient.

Now that the bootloader is unlocked, let's verify it. After your tab boots, connect it to the internet. Then enable the Developer options as shown in step #1 and go to 'Settings' > 'Developer options'. The OEM unlocking toggle should be greyed out and say that the bootloader is already unlocked. Again, refer to the picture below.

Step 3: Download the firmware package
With the bootloader properly unlocked, you can begin with the rooting part. Like I mentioned, we will be patching the AP firmware file via Magisk Manager, as instructed by John Wu in his installation guide on Github.

This is because the ramdisk on the Galaxy devices, such as the Tab A7 does not reside in the /boot partition. In which case, you have no other choice but to install Magisk to the /recovery partition. Hats off to John for coming up with this very clever and at the same time, unique solution back when the S10 series was released.

So, you will need to download the firmware package for the software version that's currently installed on your tab. This is very important, do not use an older firmware, as it will result in issues. You could of course use a newer firmware, which will update your tab at the same time as rooting it.

To verify your software version, you can go to 'Settings' > 'About tablet' > 'Software information' and check the "Build number". The latter half of the mentioned build number is your tab's software version, which in my case as shown in the picture below is: T500XXU1ATJ2. So, I will need to download the firmware package for "T500XXU1ATJ2" and it your case you should download the one corresponding to the info you see under 'Build number'.

Where to download? You could use online FW databases like SamMobile, Samfrew, etc. However, I would recommended using Frija or Samloader as they allow you download the firmware directly from Samsung's Firmware Update Servers and without any speed caps. If you're operating on Windows, use Frija. On macOS/Linux, use Samloader.

Step 4: Extract the AP firmware and transfer it to your Tab A7
Once you have the ZIP package downloaded, you will need to extract it to get The extracted folder should contain the individual firmware files like BL, AP, CP (only for SM-T505 LTE variant) and CSC/HOME_CSC (in .tar.md5 file format).

The file you'll require is the AP firmware, which in my case is "AP_T500XXU1ATJ2_CL19362637_QB34980135_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT_meta_RKEY_OS10.tar.md5". Again, in your case, the filename would be a bit different, but it should follow the same structure.

After extracting the AP firmware, connect your tab to the computer, enable File Transfer (MTP) mode on it, and copy over the AP firmware to your tab's internal storage. Copy it to the root directory, that is, outside all the folders as shown below. The location of the file doesn't matter, you can copy it anywhere, but I prefer this for easier access.

Step 5: Patch the AP firmware using Magisk Manager
Now's the time to patch the AP firmware. To do this, download Magisk Manager v8.0.2 from the official Github releases page to your Tab A7. This will be an APK file. Once downloaded, install the APK file using your choice of file manager.

Warning about unofficial sources of Magisk: Magisk does not have any officially registered domain. If you Google for it, you will probably come across multiple websites that have the word "Magisk" in their domain URL. They are there to deceive the users, and often misinform users, especially those who are new to the scene.
John Wu, as well as XDA have previously warned the users from falling into these deceptive websites. The only official place to get Magisk is from Github.

After installing, go to the app drawer and launch the Magisk Manager app. Before you start patching, you would want to change Magisk Manager's update channel to Public Beta. This is because Magisk's latest version (i.e. v21.0) is only available on the beta channel and hasn't been pushed to the stable channel yet (at least at the time of publishing this tutorial).

To do this, press the settings icon on the top-right, tap on "Update channel" and select "Beta". Then go back to the app's main screen. It should refresh and show you the latest version as v21.0.

With that out of the way, press the "Install" button and then "Select and Patch a File" from the list of available methods. This should open the file selector, so navigate to the internal storage and select the AP firmware you transferred during the previous step.

Once the file is selected, hit "LET'S GO" to start the patching process. This should take a minute or so, because the AP firmware is quite an heavy file. Once it is done, the patched AP firmware with filename "magisk_patched.tar" should be stored inside the "Download" folder of your tab's internal storage.

Step 6: Flash the Patched AP Firmware using Odin
The last step is to flash the patched AP firmware to your Galaxy Tab A7 and root it. For this, connect your tab to the computer over USB and copy the "magisk_patched.tar" file from the Download folder. Paste this patched AP firmware inside the firmware folder that was extracted during step #5, along with the rest of the firmware files (BL, CSC, etc). Disconnect it from the PC after transferring the file.

Now, boot your Tab A7 into Download Mode. Power it off, and connect it to the computer over USB while holding the Volume Up and Volume Down keys together. This should bring up the bootloader screen. Simply tap the Volume Up key once to enter Download Mode. Here's what the Download Mode on the Tab A7 looks like.

Next, download Odin v3.14.4 from this XDA thread and extract the contents of the downloaded ZIP package. Then launch Odin on your computer by double-clicking the "Odin3 v3.14.4.exe" executable and click "Ok" when prompted. You should see the Odin interface on your computer screen now.

Odin should automatically recognize your tab in Download Mode and display the COM ID on the top-left. Now, load the firmware files in the respective slots of Odin.

• The BL firmware file (BL_T500/5XXXXXXX_xxxxxxxxxxx.tar.md5) goes to the "BL" slot
• The CP firmware file (CP_T505XXXXXX_xxxxxxxxxxx.tar.md5) goes to the "CP" slot. Note that the CP firmware only applies to the Tab A7 LTE variant with the SM-T505 model number.
• The HOME_CSC firmware file (HOME_CSC_OMC_ODM_T500/5XXXXXXX_xxxxxxxxx.tar.md5) goes to the "CSC" slot. We will not be using the regular CSC, as it will erase all the data. If you want to do that, feel free to use it.
• And finally, the patched AP firmware file (magisk_patched.tar) goes to the "AP" slot.

Once the files are loaded in their respective slots, hit the "Start" button to flash them to your tab.

• Note: While you could get away with just flashing the patched AP firmware alone, John recommends NOT doing it. Always flash the patched AP along with the rest of the firmware files like BL, CSC, etc.

Wait for the flash to finish. Once it is, you should see the 'PASS!' message in Odin and your Galaxy Tab A7 will automatically reboot. You can close the Odin program now. Your tab may reboot more than once right after flashing and rooting it, which is completely normal. So be patient.

Your Tab is Rooted!
Once it is done, it will enter the OS. You can verify if your tab is successfully rooted or not by opening the Magisk Manager app. It should say "v21.0" against the "Installed" label.

You may now go ahead and start using root applications, install some modules, etc. Since v20.4, Magisk Hide has been disabled by default on new installations in light of the new hardware-backed SafetyNet attestation. So, to use banking/security, or any other sort of apps that may detect root, you will need to turn ON Magisk Hide from within the Magisk Manager settings.

Before you leave, there are a few key things you should note:

• First, Magisk now resides inside the /recovery partition, alongside the stock recovery. Unlike some other Samsung phones, you will not need to follow any complex button combinations to boot into the stock recovery. A normal reboot will always boot your Tab A7 into the rooted Magisk system. On the other hand, the regular Volume Up + Power key combo will get your tab into the stock recovery mode.
• Second, if a new software update is rolled out, you will need to repeat the same process from step #4 all the way to step #7.

That's all from my side. If you run into any issues, feel free to post. Don't forget to share details like the software version your tab is on, the firmware package you downloaded and used, and of course your tab's complete model number.

 

[jserio]

Thank you for posting this! I bought a 2019 Tab A just before the A7 released and have been tempted to return it and pick up the A7 but wanted to make sure I could root it. How is the performance if this?

 

[DJBhardwaj]

Thank you for posting this! I bought a 2019 Tab A just before the A7 released and have been tempted to return it and pick up the A7 but wanted to make sure I could root it. How is the performance if this?

I was really inclined to the Tab S6 Lite. But being honest, I wouldn't have used the SPen that much. So, I dropped it.

I saw Tab A 10.1 (2019), the one you're referring to, and it was a steal for the specs. The reviews were good too. But then the A7 was released, an upgraded model along the same lines. I like it very much. For a budget tab, it really delivers decent performance and a premium-ish design. And, great speakers I must say.

Unlocking and rooting were really fun and easy as well. Overally, it's a pretty darn good tab for the price.

 

[Gitah.]

Thanks for the guide, I've been undecided for days if I should pull the trigger or not and no info on rooting was one of the things that was making me hesitate.
The other one is 3gb of ram, how's your experience been so far? I don't play games on my phone/tablet so that's not an issue.

 

[DJBhardwaj]

Thanks for the guide, I've been undecided for days if I should pull the trigger or not and no info on rooting was one of the things that was making me hesitate.
The other one is 3gb of ram, how's your experience been so far? I don't play games on my phone/tablet so that's not an issue.

You're welcome!

For me, 3GB of RAM is enough, of course given my usage. I usually use it for browsing and streaming only. Not much of a mobile gamer, use real consoles and PC for that, lol.

I like Samsung's One UI experience, compared to any other OEM skin (apart from OxygenOS). It's quite smooth IMO. Already removed the bloatware via ADB, might as well come with a guide for that.

It could however be different under heavy multi-tasking usage, like playing mobile FPS titles, etc. Couldn't tell on that.

 

[Cloudxddd]

storage problem

you can not move any app to the sdcard no option tried different formats as well tried app2sd pro creating a adaptable storage will work but you cant see the partition and you cant move apps back to the internal with out app corruption. terminal commands dont work cant edit system

 

[Dj89]

You are a lifesaver, my friend. I just wanted to note for others that Frija did not work for me. It would only fetch a .zip.enc4 image for my SM-T500 (CSC is XAR). I am currently downloading the firmware from SamMobile to try. Magisk can't flash the file Frija get's for me, it needs to be .tar. Yes, I know it says zip but the file is extracted. Just a heads up for others out there! Also, have you flashed a different recovery for this tablet? And, if so, what image based on what model? TWRP and OrangeFox don't have an official image for the SM-T500. Thanks in advance!

DJ

UPDATE: the image from SamMobile was corrupt. Stuck me in a boot loop with a message about it not being offical Samsung software. Had to factory reset from recovery. This method is flawless, otherwise. Gonna try again with different firmware.

 

[jserio]

Hey guys. Followed the guide to a T (downloaded latest firmware using Friaj) and also flashed CSC (not home) so I could have a clean install. Magisk patched the file just fine. Odin flashed with no error but on first boot besides the usual "bootloader unlocked" error I get another one saying that custom binaries are installed and the tablet is locked. I cant seem to boot to download mode now. I can boot to the bootloader unlock screen but that's it. Any ideas?

 

[paziusss]

Thanks, DJBhardwaj. Very good guide!

Just a note for European SM-T500 users: SafetyNet won't pass as magisk will return evalType: hardware. At least that's what I found in T500XXU2ATJ6. That's not a problem for me as the only app that requires SafetyNet that I use is Netflix and the issue can be fixed by installed a very legacy version of it, but I think people should be warned before tripping knox fuse

 

[DJBhardwaj]

you can not move any app to the sdcard no option tried different formats as well tried app2sd pro creating a adaptable storage will work but you cant see the partition and you cant move apps back to the internal with out app corruption. terminal commands dont work cant edit system

I suppose Scoped Storage has some effect, not 100% sure. But I am really curious now. Going to dig in.

 

[DJBhardwaj]

You are a lifesaver, my friend. I just wanted to note for others that Frija did not work for me. It would only fetch a .zip.enc4 image for my SM-T500 (CSC is XAR). I am currently downloading the firmware from SamMobile to try. Magisk can't flash the file Frija get's for me, it needs to be .tar. Yes, I know it says zip but the file is extracted. Just a heads up for others out there! Also, have you flashed a different recovery for this tablet? And, if so, what image based on what model? TWRP and OrangeFox don't have an official image for the SM-T500. Thanks in advance!

DJ

UPDATE: the image from SamMobile was corrupt. Stuck me in a boot loop with a message about it not being offical Samsung software. Had to factory reset from recovery. This method is flawless, otherwise. Gonna try again with different firmware.

Thanks for the kind words.

Frija, Samloader, SamFirm. All of those tools fetch the firmware from Samsung's Firmware Update Servers. These packages are encrypted as .zip.enc4 (for newer devices) or .zip.enc2 (mostly for old ones).

After downloading, the firmware package will automatically be decrypted and converted to a regular ZIP file, if you're using Frija or SamFirm. The ZIP file should contain the AP, CSC, and BL firmware TAR files.

I don't use custom recoveries anymore, but I was more than willing to try. Couldn't find anything for the Tab A7 (yet).

 

[DJBhardwaj]

Thanks, DJBhardwaj. Very good guide!

Just a note for European SM-T500 users: SafetyNet won't pass as magisk will return evalType: hardware. At least that's what I found in T500XXU2ATJ6. That's not a problem for me as the only app that requires SafetyNet that I use is Netflix and the issue can be fixed by installed a very legacy version of it, but I think people should be warned before tripping knox fuse

It's more likely to be unit-based. For example, my OnePlus 8 still hasn't been forced to hardware-backed attestation for SN. But my friend's unit (same model and region) has been.

Have you tried enabling Magisk Hide? It is disabled by default. Another thing to try is the Magisk Props module.

 

[DJBhardwaj]

Hey guys. Followed the guide to a T (downloaded latest firmware using Friaj) and also flashed CSC (not home) so I could have a clean install. Magisk patched the file just fine. Odin flashed with no error but on first boot besides the usual "bootloader unlocked" error I get another one saying that custom binaries are installed and the tablet is locked. I can't seem to boot to download mode now. I can boot to the bootloader unlock screen but that's it. Any ideas?

Could you share a picture of the screen you're referring to?

 

[Dj89]

Thanks for the kind words.

Frija, Samloader, SamFirm. All of those tools fetch the firmware from Samsung's Firmware Update Servers. These packages are encrypted as .zip.enc4 (for newer devices) or .zip.enc2 (mostly for old ones).

After downloading, the firmware package will automatically be decrypted and converted to a regular ZIP file, if you're using Frija or SamFirm. The ZIP file should contain the AP, CSC, and BL firmware TAR files.

I don't use custom recoveries anymore, but I was more than willing to try. Couldn't find anything for the Tab A7 (yet).

Thanks for the info! I'll post an update later this week once I get it going! Take care and thanks again for posting this guide!

 

[jserio]

Could you share a picture of the screen you're referring to?

Sorry for the late reply. I went through the process again and everything worked. It's possible the issue was either a) I used the newest fw to patch and flash or b) I didn't check to make sure "oem unlocking" was greed-out after unlocking it.

Any way to block updates? I prefer not to go through this each update? Hopefully we get twrp for this tablet. I live it compared to the 2019 A with its crappy one-sided speakers.

 

[DJBhardwaj]

Sorry for the late reply. I went through the process again and everything worked. It's possible the issue was either a) I used the newest fw to patch and flash or b) I didn't check to make sure "oem unlocking" was greed-out after unlocking it.

Any way to block updates? I prefer not to go through this each update? Hopefully we get twrp for this tablet. I live it compared to the 2019 A with its crappy one-sided speakers.

That's great!

As for updates, I think there was a way by blocking the update services using Titanium. Might have to look it up again. I did that years ago. Yes, TWRP would be great for flashing ROMs and NANDroid backups.

I was going for the 10.1 earlier, didn't knew it had one-sided speakers.

 

[SanHelios]

I have a question... Unlocking the bootloader and rooting a device are mostly the first steps to a custom rom like lineageos . I find tons of threads for the SM-T510, but not the SM-T505.

Will there ever be a custom rom for the T505?

 

[william_79]

I suppose Scoped Storage has some effect, not 100% sure. But I am really curious now. Going to dig in.

So it's impossible to move apps to sd even with root?

 

[ormefocus]

Any fixes to allow apps to be moved/installed on SD card? Can't root with work/UEM apps installed. Seems super wierd for a new tablet, is this a bug or should I return?

 

[Bozdogana]

Allow apps to be moved/installed on SD card

Any fixes to allow apps to be moved/installed on SD card? Can't root with work/UEM apps installed. Seems super wierd for a new tablet, is this a bug or should I return?

Same here i tried on 2 different sd cards(SD- HD) format them from the tablet and no one app won't move to the sd card.

I turn on the develpoers options and i fount this option: Force allow apps on external(Makes any app eligible to be written to external storage regardless of manifest values) and i tried to donwload Asphal 9 and Gangster Vegas and 2 apps downloaded to the internal storage...
I chekt if the options to move apps is visable on this apps and its not.
If any one fine how to transfer apps to the sd card i will very thankful