[Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) Guides, News, & Discussio] jannis3:
Hi everyone, I tried to get LineageOS 18.1/Android 11 again onto my A8 and this time it worked. I have written down all the steps I followed.

You can take these steps and do whatever you want but don't blame me if it breaks anything. You are responsible for what you do to your phone. You will loose your warranty. You will loose all data on your phone including internal storage. I don't think you will pass Safetynet afterwards so say bye to banking apps.

Some steps are copied out of other posts so big thank you to them. I always linked them. Actually this is more or less a summary of different guides I read put together in one.

I don't use Google Services so I don't know if they'll work.

CHAPTER 0 - Prerequisites

- Make a backup of all your important data

- Make a backup of data in your internal storage

- Have the bootloader unlocked (Go to settings/Developer options and enable OEM unlock)

- Be RMM unlocked (no RMM State prenormal). You can check this in download mode (Power + Vol. Up + Vol. Down) by reading the small text

- Read everything before you start

- You can also download all the things before starting

CHAPTER 1 - Reset

I don't think that this is necessary but things like calls were broke for me before so I decided to reset everything by flashing stock firmware. Please decide for yourself if you need this.

- Download Odin

- Download official firmware (e.g. from here: https://galaxyfirmware.com/model/SM-A530F)

- Extract zip file

- Enter download mode (turn off, then Power + Vol. Up + Vol. Down)

- Connect phone to computer

- Open Odin

- Select all the files you extraced from the firmware zip in Odin (BL/AP/CP...)

- Untick Autoreboot under options

- Hit start

- When finished, disconnect phone

- Press "Power" and "Vol. Down" until screen goes black

- In this moment, press all buttons (Power + Vol. Up + Vol. Down) again to reenter download mode!

CHAPTER 2 - Install custom recovery

see https://xdaforums.com/t/guide-17-06...ll-twrp-on-exynos-samsung-after-2018.3760975/

- Download TWRP tar file from here: https://twrp.me/samsung/samsunggalaxya82018.html

- After chapter 1, your phone is in download mode. If you skipped it, turn off and press Power + Vol. Up + Vol. Down to enter download mode

- Connect phone to computer

- Open Odin, go into options and untick Auto-reboot and put the TWRP tar file in AP tab of odin, hit Start and wait

- When Odin shows "PASS", take your device in hands, disconnect the usb cable and press simultaneously the "Power" + "Vol. Down" + "Vol. Up" buttons until the downoad mode disappears

- At the precise moment the screen becomes black, immediately release the "Vol.Down" button and press the "Vol. Up" + "Power" buttons during 10 to 15sec to forcefully enter TWRP

- ***Don't boot into rom because it will lock your device again!!!!

CHAPTER 3 - Wipe

- Swipe "Allow modifications"

- Go into Wipe menu and select "Format data" - note that this will erase all your data including internal storage

CHAPTER 4 - Trebelize

see https://xdaforums.com/t/guide-trebl...-guide-for-galaxy-a8-2018-18-04-2019.3894881/

- Download Treble creator and treble TWRP

- Wipe system/cache/data

- Copy the TrebleCreator.zip(of your variant) and TWRP-jackpotlte-Treble.img to your Internal/SDcard

- Flash the TrebleCreator.zip through TWRP recovery

- After completing your device will reboot to RECOVERY

- Now touch INSTALL > Select Image > Locate TWRP-jackpotlte-Treble.img

- Flash TWRP-jackpotlte-Treble.img to recovery

- Reboot your device to recovery

- Wipe system, cache, vendor, dalvik cache and data.

CHAPTER 5 - Android 11

- Download Vendor, GSI (if you used the linked vendor, you'll need: arm64, A/B, vndklite)

- Vendor download: https://xdaforums.com/t/sar-vendor-...dor-quack-v2-5-for-galaxy-a8-a8-2018.4157533/

- GSI download (recommendation): https://xdaforums.com/t/gsi-11-lineageos-18-x-gsi-all-archs.4205461/

- Extract the system image .xz file

- Reboot to recovery

- Copy files onto the phone

- Install vendor zip

- Flash gsi image as system image

- Reboot to system

CHAPTER 6 - Enjoy

Don't turn on "Workaround for broken fingerprint".

WHAT WORKS

The system seems to be pretty stable for a GSI. I haven't experienced any random freezes yet.

- Phone, Mobile data

- Wifi

- Bluetooth

- NFC

- Hotspot (I opened one but didn't try to connect to it)

- Camera (also 3rd party apps, YES!)

- Fingerprint

If you downloaded the LineageOS version I linked above, you will automatically have root because it's based on the phh treble GSI. You can install the Superuser app from F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/de/packages/me.phh.superuser/ just as a normal APK file.

NOT WORKING

- probably everything that doesn't work in any GSI like voLTE and Bluetooth calls but havent tested any of them

- of course the second front cam

- USB accessories? (they are broke with this vendor)