[Galaxy Tab S2 Android Development] pflyaz:
For Newbies --- Tab S2 T710 Upgrade Procedure for the LineageOS 20 ROM by retiredtab

Per @retiredtab 's introduction point #8, I will document here a step-by-step for converting a stock T710 Tab S2 into a highly functional LOS 20 / Android 13 tablet. This ROM running on my T710 is my daily driver and recent builds have delivered outstanding reliability and performance for the Tab S2, the Samsung tablet that I consider the perfect balance of size, weight, and hardware configuration. Having it run Android 13 is great. Thank you to @retiredtab and @lpedia for your outstanding engineering work.

These installation instructions work for both Tab S2 variants, T710 and T810, starting from a device running stock Android 7.0. I have both devices and have tested the procedure on both. I am a Windows guy, so these instructions assume a Windows PC. I am a lifelong techie guy and an Android enthusiast. I am not a developer, so these instructions will work for any competent newbie who’s looking for LOS 20 on their Tab S2 tablet. I do realize there may be alternative approaches for those who have deeper Android tech knowledge than me, but this procedure does work every time.

This is an updated procedure from the one I wrote for the 19.1 ROM. I have removed all references to root and/or Magisk. I am a mainstream Google person who uses Play Store. And the presence of Magisk has in the past caused certain apps to misbehave and/or the device to show as "not certified" in Play Store Settings.

Step 1 – Preparation

Update your Tab S2 to the latest stock software.

Install a micro-SD card into your Tab S2.

Enable Developer Options – tap Build Number in Settings>About tablet seven times.

In Developer Options, turn on USB debugging.

Connect your Tab S2 to your PC via USB. Ensure there are no other Android devices connected by USB. Download onto the micro-SD card two files:

Retiredtab’s latest Lineage 20 ROM from https://sourceforge.net/projects/lpedia-sf/files/gts28wifi-20/ (T710) or https://sourceforge.net/projects/retiredtab/files/SM-T810/20/ (T810)

NikGapps-core-arm64-13-20230716-signed.zip from https://sourceforge.net/projects/nikgapps/files/Releases/NikGapps-T/16-Jul-2023/ . Note that there are newer NikGapps versions than this one, but at least one later version glitched on me during install, and this July version works fine.

Download to your PC TWRP_3.5.2_9_SM-T710_20210719_Unofficial.tar from https://sourceforge.net/projects/retiredtab/files/SM-T710/TWRP/ (T710) or twrp-3.5.2_9-0-gts210wifi.img.tar from Download TWRP for gts210wifi (T810)

Download to your PC Odin, from https://technastic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Odin3_v3.14.4.zip, and extract the zip.

Step 2 – Install TWRP Recovery

Power off your Tab S2.

Launch Odin on your PC and press OK.

Power up your Tab S2 into Download mode by holding down Home+VolDown+Power.

Then at the Warning screen tap VolUp.

Connect your Tab S2 via USB to your PC, and you should see Added!! in Odin.

Click AP in Odin and select the downloaded TWRP tar file.

In Odin Options, uncheck Auto Reboot.

Click Log tab again.

Click Start in Odin.

Installing TWRP only takes a couple of seconds.

You will see progress in the Log, and Pass at the top of Odin when done.

Step 3 – First boot into TWRP

This part is tricky!

Power down your Tab S2 by holding down VolDown+VolUp+Power.

IMMEDIATELY the screen goes blank, hold down Home+VolUp+Power.

Keep holding down until you see the TWRP home page.

If you end up booting into Android rather than TWRP then you will have to repeat Step 2 and Step 3 again.

Step 4 – Backup your stock ROM

In TWRP, select Backup, Select Storage to choose your micro-SD card, check all the partition boxes, and then swipe Backup.

Confirm your backup is good so you can revert to stock if necessary. Steps to do this:

In TWRP, select Wipe, then Advanced Wipe.​

Select all partitions except Micro SD Card (and USB OTG).​

Swipe to Wipe.​

Back, Back again, then Format Data​

Type yes, and tap check.​

Back, Back, Back, and select Restore.​

Select Micro SD card and your backup.​

Restore all partitions and allow restore to complete.​

Reboot to System, and confirm you are back to stock.​

Step 5 – Install LOS 20 ROM and NikGapps via a "clean flash"

In TWRP, select Wipe, then Advanced Wipe.

Select all partitions except Micro SD Card (and USB OTG).

Swipe to Wipe.

Back, Back again, then Format Data

Type yes, and tap check.

Back, Back, Back, and select Install.

Select your micro-SD storage.

Select the LOS 20 ROM.

Select Add more Zips, and select nikgapps.

Swipe to confirm Flash.

Install takes about 3 minutes.

Wipe Cache/Dalvik, and Swipe to Wipe.

Reboot System.

Step 6 – Build your Android 13 Tab S2

First boot into Lineage is less than a minute, and then the Lineage boot animation takes less than 1 minute before “Welcome to LineageOS” appears.

At the end of the initialization process, be sure not to choose the Replace Lineage Recovery option, otherwise TWRP goes away.

Set up your Android device per your preference. I am a mainstream Google/Google Play Apps user, and I have a number of standard Apps I use which I set up on the tablet for my daily use.

In case it's helpful, here are the settings I set and the core set of Apps I install after I have completed a clean build of my T710.

Set up SD card

Clean up Trust alert for build signature

Screen timeout 30 minutes

Dark theme off

Brightness manual

Autorotate screen

Touch, screen locking, and charging sounds off

Battery %age next to icon

Developer Options enabled

USB and Rooted debugging selected

Default USB = File Transfer

Advanced restart menu (to allow reboot into TWRP)

Remove taskbar and enable Gesture navigation (as the Tab S2 has hard buttons)

Animation scale(s) off, Hide login pattern, Blue wallpaper, Military time

Change backup account to google, and log in to google account

Confirm/setup autofill

Install Nova Launcher Prime and then Nova Launcher, and set as default Home app, and restore saved layout

FX File Explorer and FX Plus

Microsoft Edge, set as default browser (with AdBlock enabled and Google as search and sync to my PC)

Raindrop, HDHomeRun, Plex, Peacock, Logos, Devcheck, GPSTest, Swiftkey

OneDrive, Google Drive, Photos, Chrome, Maps, Firefox+AdBlock+FoxyProxy, Google (as digital assistant)

Gmail, Outlook, Wyze, TiVo, Cox Contour, ESPN, NordVPN, OpenVPN GUI, and VPN Client Pro

Step 7 – All done! Enjoy!

I do a final and full TWRP backup once the device is solid on LOS 20.