[UNOFFICIAL BUILD] A Pi/e/ test ROM for the FP2

Thanks @manoj , that’s great news!
I’ve installed the pie version on a factory reset FP2 without any problems.
Just the two “issues” you’ve mentioned her apply:

I’ll see if I may use it as a my “daily primary system”…
Can the pie version be built via Docker way?

Well, actually it was the Oreo build mentioned above. But I think there was nothing left of it because it had wiped /data and /system (and /cache) in TWRP before I installed pie.
I might try out the update from /e/ Nougat without factory reset if that helps.

Thanks for confirming that. Wanted to check the impact if it is flashed on top of the official nougat build. Not sure that will work. Also not sure you will be able to return to the nougat / oreo builds. On devices Pie makes some changes which makes nougat or Oreo builds go into a boot loop.

Well, the answer seems not to be easy…
My daily used system is using an encrypted data partition (and /e/ nougat version).
If I install the oreo version on top then there’s a bootloop.
If I install the pie version on top then it says - when booting - that data partition is corrupt and that a factory reset has to be done. I can just accept that and it reboots into recovery to do the factory reset.

After installing /e/ nougat version without encrypted data I’ve been able to install pie version on top (without wiping anything) and at least a handful of installed test apps seem to work fine as before (with all configuration unchanged).

So my impression is that upgrade from /e/ nougat (official) to /e/ pie (unofficial) seems to work if phone is not encrypted.

Sidenode: /e/ nougat only seems to install on phone with preinstalled stock rom (FPOS), oreo and pie even on completely factory reset device (without any system preinstalled).

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Thanks @ff2u for the excellent observations and feedback.

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I’ve now been using your test Pie version for several days - and as far is I can tell up to now it seems to run quite fine.
As there’ve been some /e/ updates in the meantime and as I currently can’t build it myself - could you provide a current version on occasion (it’s not urgent!)? Thanks.

Hi @ff2u the last build I made was on the 03rd - which is the one currently available for download. I was looking for some more development changes before a new build can be rolled out. The idea is that we get to test if there are changes or any existing app breaks. Will be building the next ROM by 18th June EOD and uploading it.

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So far it seems that all my apps run fine.

There is a new Pi/e/ test ROM for the FP2 available here for users who want to test it out…
The warnings for the build are the same as given above…

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So far it looks fine…


…and everything seems to work.

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Thanks for the update @ff2u

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The Latest FP2 build is available here. Please note the build version has changed to e-0.7-p-xxxx .No changelogs available for now with test builds.

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Thanks!
The update process was smooth and all seems to run fine so far.

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Thanks for the confirmation @ff2u

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I built my own pie version with my own OTA server built-in to make updating a bit smoother.
So my observations:

  • in general it’s stable, of course we’re still missing some features from nougat /e/…
  • this nasty bug is fixed: Fairphone 2 (FP2) workaround
  • updating from nougat (unencrypted) without wiping everything lead to some instabilities…
    • the lock settings got faulty at some point making the whole UI crash when trying to un-lock the screen (I could fix it by renaming some files)
    • Signal couldn’t start as it seemingly lost it’s encryption keys
  • Pie->Pie updates are super fast :heart:
  • as there’s no pie/oreo stock roms available that obviously won’t have to be mentioned in any install guides (and… I actually never had any issues just installing any custom rom without flashing stock rom first… so I think that’s quite unnecessary… but maybe that’s the only way to downgrade or something…)

@ff2u I’m currently building with docker (using the dev tag)… if you’re interested in OTA support, you can have look here. The checksums are available with just .md5sum / .sha256sum added to the link.
I’m aiming for updating at least every week.

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This is great news! So the last version with version nr. 0.7 is a Android Pie build? I was waiting for some time to test /e/, as I did’t want to go back from the Android running with Lineage OS+microg… now this seems possible.

One question I have! Do you think it could be possible to backup my data partition from my current LOS+microg and restore it after flashing /e/ in order to not to loose my apps (I know music+fotos etc I have to store aside)???

/e/ version 0.7 not related to android version, its unofficial pie test builds, better try this one cuz this support ota A Pi/e/ test ROM for the FP2 , you try backup with twrp or with titanium backup.

Thanks for your fast reply. So the 0.7-nightly is still another android version?
I would try to backup with TWRP!

and as it is still a test build: how difficult it is to switch to an official version when out?

i think it will be easy because sources are same, even unofficial builds we use official sources from lineageos so i think you can simply reflash zip.

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