My adventure with Samsung Galaxy A26 5G

#android #mobile #androiddev

Chapter 1: The Broken Motorola Edge 50 Fusion

I had been using my Motorola Edge 50 Fusion for a while with a modified kernel and an unlocked bootloader. One day, out of the blue, the bootloader relocked itself, and the system failed integrity checks. I tried to unlock the bootloader again, but I couldn't—OEM unlocking had also disabled itself automatically, and the toggle was no longer accessible.

I reached out to Motorola support, but all they offered was an ADB-based workaround—hardly a solution for EDL mode recovery this solution was useless because I couldn't even turn on the system lol

I decided to send the phone to the official service center. The shipping cost me 16 PLN (about $4). After inspection, they wanted to replace the motherboard for 1013 PLN (around $250). I declined and asked for the device to be returned. They did send it back, but I still had to pay a 116 PLN (about $28) "service fee" just to get my phone back.

Frustrated but undeterred, I decided it was time for a new challenge. I bought the Samsung Galaxy A26 5G (SM-A266B), eager to see if I could push it even further: root it while preserving STRONG Integrity and keeping OTA updates functional.

Chapter 2: Unrooted Beginnings

For the first few days, I used the A26 just like a stock device—no root, no modifications. I familiarized myself with One UI 7 on Android 15 and made sure everything ran smoothly. Meanwhile, the countdown to root day was ticking.

Chapter 3: Upstream Contribution

Roughly a month after buying the phone, I noticed that many Samsung users on One UI 7 relied on kernel version 5.15.153, yet support wasn’t available in WildKernels/GKI_KernelSU_SUSFS. So, I submitted a pull request:

Add build for 5.15.153 kernel version

Many Samsung users on OneUI 7 rely on kernel version 5.15.153. Adding this version ensures better compatibility and support for devices using the latest Samsung firmware.

A few days later, maintainer TheWildJames accepted and merged my change. Now, GKI_KernelSU_SUSFS had out-of-the-box support for 5.15.153.

Chapter 4: Rooting the A26 5G

Armed with KernelSU-Next and SuSFS, I set out to root my phone. I used the following modules and tools:

susfs4ksu
PlayIntegrityFix [INJECT]
TrickyStore + TrickyAddon
BetterKnownInstalled
LSPosed
- KnoxPatch
KnoxPatchEnhancer

I based my method on the classic gist by rafareborn (gist.github.com/rafareborn/4531390f14e9821a8fd88976f6180252), integrating KnoxPatch to hide root from Samsung services.

To configure TrickyStore, I used its Web UI by simply clicking buttons—no manual editing needed:

Tap the ≡ (hamburger menu)
Press Mark all
Uncheck unnecessary items
Tap Save
Tap Set critical key

Chapter 5: Achieving STRONG Integrity & OTA

After reboot, SafetyNet and Play Integrity both returned MEETS_STRONG_INTEGRITY. Samsung OTA updates still worked, thanks to:

No modifications to /system (SuSFS overrides)
A patched boot.img built from KSU sources, preserving signatures
Restored or repatched vbmeta to satisfy dm-verity

Still, I recommend manual OTA flashes to stay in absolute control.

Chapter 6: Manual OTA Updates

Here’s my streamlined manual update process:

Download the full firmware package from SamFW.
Flash everything in Odin except for the AP file.
For AP:

Rename .tar.md5 to .tar and extract contents.
Remove boot.img.lz4 and add it from WildKernels/GKI_KernelSU_SUSFS
Extract vbmeta.img.lz4, patch vbmeta.img, then discard original.
Optionally delete userdata.img to preserve user data.
1. Repack modified files into a .tar archive.
2. Flash the repacked AP via Odin alongside the rest.