Synopsis

I installed LineageOS 14.1 on an old Samsung SM-T113NU tablet. Here's the guide I wish I had.

Installing LineageOS on a Samsung SM-T113 Tablet

I would've preferred GrapheneOS, but with a Galaxy Tab 3 Lite, you can't really be a chooser. The camera doesn't work and the device can't stay off when charging, but, overall, this device is a decent e-reader and that's all that matters for my use case.

Many thanks to XDA user "pstglia" for making and sharing his custom LineageOS build for the SM-T113NU.

Step 1: Booting in Odin mode

Samsung's Odin (or download) mode lets us flash custom recovery images which in turn can be used to install custom ROMs. Odin mode can be accessed by shutting down the device, and then pressing Home+Power+VolumeDown for a while.

Step 2: Installing TWRP

TWRP is a custom Samsung recovery image popular for these kinds of procedures. The latest TWRP build for the T113 (codename: goyave) can be downloaded here, and can be flashed either through Samsung's Odin tool, or, in our case, through Heimdall, an open-source replacement for Odin. On Debian 12, Heimdall is readily available as 'heimdall' (apt install heimdall). You may have to reboot your system after the installation.

With your device in Odin mode and plugged into your computer, you can install TWRP by running the following command:

heimdall flash --no-reboot --RECOVERY <path-to-twrp.img>

You can now access TWRP by booting your device in recovery mode, which you can do by first shutting down your device, and then pressing Home+Power+VolumeUp for a while.

Step 3: Preparing the device

Download or build pstglia's custom LineageOS ROM and copy the archive to your tablet. On Debian, this is as simple as opening the file manager and copying the file to the device. Before continuing to the next step, you can use TWRP to back up the current ROM, which you will be able to restore if anything goes wrong.

Step 4: Installing LineageOS

Use TWRP to install the archive you've copied during the previous step. You may see some errors in the installation logs, but those I've encountered were unimportant and didn't cause the installation to fail. Now reboot your tablet and enjoy your new OS.