Arch Linux ARM for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 (gts6l): PKGBUILDs, rootfs builder, TWRP installer, and device tooling
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kit 516e59a859 device 0.5: RebootWatchdogSec=2min - hung shutdowns get hardware-reset
Shutdown hangs on this device (services down, kernel alive, everything
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Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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installer/META-INF/com/google/android gts6l ALARM: packages, rootfs builder, TWRP installer 2026-08-18 23:56:43 -06:00
packages device 0.5: RebootWatchdogSec=2min - hung shutdowns get hardware-reset 2026-08-19 09:00:33 -06:00
.gitignore gts6l ALARM: packages, rootfs builder, TWRP installer 2026-08-18 23:56:43 -06:00
build-rootfs.sh gts6l ALARM: packages, rootfs builder, TWRP installer 2026-08-18 23:56:43 -06:00
makepkg-aarch64.conf gts6l ALARM: packages, rootfs builder, TWRP installer 2026-08-18 23:56:43 -06:00
README.md gts6l ALARM: packages, rootfs builder, TWRP installer 2026-08-18 23:56:43 -06:00

Arch Linux ARM for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 (gts6l)

Mainline-kernel Arch Linux ARM for the SM-T867V (SM8150). Kernel lives in linux-gts6l, branch gts6l/6.17.

Layout

packages/linux-gts6l/     kernel + modules + DTB (cross-built with clang)
packages/gts6l-device/    board support: USB gadget console, stock-partition
                          firmware mounts+links, boot failsafes
packages/gts6l-uboot/     U-Boot image + gts6l-flash-uboot (flash from the
                          running OS, PARTLABEL-addressed, verified)
packages/gts6l-firmware/  DEPRECATED: ripped-blob package, superseded by
                          gts6l-device's stock-partition mounts
makepkg-aarch64.conf      cross-packaging config (CARCH, PKGEXT - see
                          comments; makepkg stamps the HOST arch without it)
build-rootfs.sh           extract | shell | customize | image
installer/                TWRP-flashable zip (META-INF); tools/mkzip.sh in
                          the project tree assembles it

Design points

  • No proprietary blobs ship anywhere. Firmware is read from the device's own stock partitions (apnhlos/vendor), mounted ro and symlinked into /usr/lib/firmware at boot. The TWRP zip works on any unit.
  • The USB gadget (ACM console + RNDIS) is the primary console; the device is reachable even with nothing on screen.
  • Boot failsafes assume no physical access: an unreachable boot demotes the SD kernel and parks in fastboot for the dev host.

Full bring-up history and hardware notes: MAINLINE-NOTES.md in the private project tree.