[Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Guides, News, & Discussion] tablet_seeker:
Hi everybody, I have been looking for a way to get an official version of Vanilla Android 14 on the Tab S6 for and wanted to make sure the community finally had access to a fully working and sufficiently detailed guide.

This ROM improves battery life by 200%, it's absolutely insane.

Every source, link or file referenced in this guide is 100% official and safe.

Cheers!

Download Firmware + Extract:​

Install SamFirm and download the latest firmware for the Tab S6.

(You will also need to install Visual Studio C++ 8 & 9 for this software to function properly)

SamFirm Tool - Download Samsung Firmware Tool

Download the latest version of the SamFirm Tool, which facilitates the free downloading of Samsung Stock Firmware (ROM).

samfirmtool.com

Install 7Zip and extract the firmware zip.

Then open the CSC file with 7zip and extract the PIT.

Unlock Bootloader

Enable Developer Options and turn on OEM Unlocking

Disconnect USB/power cables and turn your device OFF

Hold both Volume buttons (do not press Power) and plug in the USB cord connected to your PC

The download/unlock screen should come up immediately. Select the option for device unlock mode.

Download TWRP:

Download the official TWRP and vbmeta image

TWRP > https://twrp.me/samsung/samsunggalaxytabs6qcomwifi.html

vbmeta > https://dl.twrp.me/gts4lv/vbmeta.tar.html

Download Official AOSP / Android 14 Image:

The official Android 14 (or 13/12/11) GSI is available on Google's developer page and needs to be extracted via 7zip. (This will also contain a vbmeta.img but disregard it)

(GMS = Gapps | No GMS = Vanilla | FLOSS = Open Source Apps Only)

(Make sure to get a arm64 version) https://developer.android.com/about/versions/14/gsi-release-notes.html

If you prefer the consumer grade "prettier" version of AOSP, you can also download one of the arm64 images provided by phhusson on Github, who exclusively uses official sources code, as well.

https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/releases

You can also download one of the official daily builds directly from the ACI Project's master-branch (Android Continuous Integration) which represents the literal bleeding edge of AOSP straight from Android : https://ci.android.com/builds/branches/aosp-master/grid?

Flashing Firmware with Odin

Download Odin Flash Tool from a safe source.

Odin - Download

Odin: Samsung-Geräte rooten und flashen - Kostenloser Download für ✓ Windows

www.netzwelt.de

Put the Tab S6 in Download Mode by pressing both Volume Up + Volume Down, while simultaneously connecting the USB cable. (The tablet needs to be off)

Open Odin and add the Firmware Files to the appropriate slots

BL > BL , AP > AP, CSC > CSC

Then click on PIT and add the previously extracted PIT file

Lastly click options and select Nand Erase, Re-Partition, while unselecting Auto Reboot

Flashing TWRP & vbmeta with Odin

After successfully flashing hold down Power Button + Volume Down for 7 seconds but be ready to immediately hold down Volume up + Volume Down to re-enter Download Mode.

(USB Cable needs to be connected at all times)

(If you missed your chance and it's booting, hold down Power Button + Volume down to reset and try again)

Once back in Download Mode click Reset in Odin

Deselect Auto Reboot in the Options again

Then add the TWRP image in AP and vbmeta.tar in the CP slot.

Rooting with Magisk

Extract the boot.img from the firmware.

Download the official Magisk APK from here: https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/releases , install it on your device and patch the boot.img with it.

After you have wiped all the necessary partitions and installed a GSI (see below) you subsequently flash the patched boot.img in the Boot Slot and the Room will be rooted.

Wiping Cache & Partitions

After flashing hold down Power Button + Volume for 7 seconds and immediately hold down Power Button + Volume Up the entire time until you see TWRP.

Once inside TWRP wipe Dalvik Cache and Cache in the Advanced Wipe menu. Subsequently re-enter the wipe menu, select Format Data and type yes.

After this (USB cable still connected) make sure the Internal Storage is mounted and transfer the system.img (extracted from the AOSP GSI zip) to the tablet

Finishing Up

In TWRP click Install, select the system.img and choose system image.

Flash it, Reboot to System and your DONE!

Kernel Flashing Guide:

The latest release of the official Android 14 GSI has been causing boot loop issues for some users. Installing the latest mainline or stable kernels > 4.16 seems to fix that.

Navigate to https://ci.android.com/builds/branches/aosp-main/grid

Enter "kernel" in the text box and choose whichever version you prefer

Personally I would recommend the aosp mainline kernel: https://ci.android.com/builds/branches/aosp_kernel-common-android-mainline/grid?legacy=1

Choose kernel_aarch64 which will redirect you to the artifacts page.

Here you'll find a file named "boot.img" which contains the kernel files. Download it.

Use any preferred software to extract the image's contents. Linux users can use the following command to mount the image: mount -o loop boot.img /mnt ( you can find the offset value with fdisk )

The files you need to copy are the kernel headers and kernel image

Now get your device's boot.img which can be extracted from the AP portion of the Samsung firmware.

Replace the two aforementioned files (kernel image and kernel headers) with the old kernel files in your device's boot image. You can either mount it r/w or simply extract, replace and repack.

If you require root, you can simply patch this modified boot.img with Magisk like always.

Flash the updated boot.img with TWRP, selecting the Boot Image option.

That's it!

Current build - Android 14:

Date: April 12, 2023

Build: UPB1.230309.014

Build type: experimental

Security patch level: April 2023

Google Play Services: 23.09.12

Working:

Fingerprint

Hardware Buttons

SDCard

Wifi

Bluetooth

Gapps and Google Setup

Tablet is very fast!

Charging

USB File Transfer

Audio

Video out for USB-C

Auto-rotate

GPS

Official Samsung Keyboard Physically attached working fine too!

Themes

Colours

Mic

SPen

Not Working:

Top Speakers

This issue has already been fixed in the Beta Version which will soon be moved to stable.

Current build - Android 13 (Beta):

(at the time of writing this)

Date: March 29, 2023

Build: T3B2.230316.003

Build type: experimental

Security patch level: March 2023

Google Play Services: 23.02.14

Generic System Image releases | Platform | Android Developers

developer.android.com