/e/OS Installed Only in Slot A. What about Slot B?

Using /e/OS Setup
1

The other day I tried to install /e/OS on a Pixel 5 using the web installer. During the installation at step 16 I got the following error on the computer:

Error on step: go-to-apply-update
Cannot read properties of undefined (reading ‘command’)

And the following error on the phone in Recovery → ADB Sideload:

ERROR: recovery: Timeout waiting for messages from minabd

The recovery also showed that the active slot was slot B. I then switched to the manual installation and continued the installation using the following command:

adb sideload downloaded_file_name.zip

After completing the installation and rebooting the device, I got the following error message on the screen:

Can’t find a valid operating system. The device will not start.

After trying some suggestions I finally changed the active slot from slot B to slot A and the device booted successfully and now it works fine. It is, however, quite awkward that the the device cannot boot from slot B, although the active slot during the installation were slot B.

My question is now regarding slot B. As far as I know the purpose of having two slots are as follows:

The A/B partition system ensures safe updates because:

  1. Updates are applied to the inactive slot first.
  2. Once confirmed successful, the inactive slot becomes active during reboot.
  3. If something goes wrong with an update or installation, you can revert back to the previous working slot without bricking your phone.
    This design makes devices more robust against failed installations or corrupt firmware flashes.

Now that slot B has no OS installed on it (it seems to be case as it does not boot from slot B) and I cannot profit from the above advantages, should I switch back to slot B and install the /e/OS manually again on slot B? Isn’t there any automatic process that copies the OS from slot A to slot B?

Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/OS the deGoogled mobile OS and online servicesphone

2

I think you should not worry too much. Next time you have an OTA it will install itself on the other slot and the switching begins :grin::grin:

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3

There is a copy_partitions.sh script for some devices, if you found one you would need to know for certain that it was suitable for your device. If you feel adventurous you could adb sideload the same ROM again, in which case the install is expected to populate the “next available” slot … or the next update will do the job for you. As said above it is ok to ignore it, especially as it will not longer exist after an update. (Unless, unlikely, the eosinstaller created a very “unusual” situation.)

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4

Should I re-lock the bootloader at this stage or should I stay unlocked until the next OTA is installed and I confirm that slot B is updated?

5

That you can choose by yourself. There is no right or wrong but all the data on the device will be gone when you lock.

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