I would like to try /e/ on a cheap used phone and I have picked Samsung Galaxy S4 mini because I like its small size and dual-SIM capability.
But first I would like to know what’s your experience using /e/ on this device?
Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online services
/e /OS e-0.7-n (7-nougat) offers S4mini still the possibility to “live on”. Try it out - experience makes wise ;o/
NB: All versions of Galaxy S4 I tested so far work very well with customROMS based on LineageOS.
Actually i have built a pie version for the S4mini-serranoltexx 
9-pie version of what? e-0.7-p-UNOFFICIAL-serranoltexx … or … lineage-16.0-UNOFFICIAL (?)
Yes sorry if it was unclear a pi/e/ version of /e/.
Chimpthepimp, So, how does it work?
How do I figure out who is the /e/ developer for Galaxy S4 mini?
Hi @nickolai , unlike LineageOS we at /e/OS do not have device specific developers. The UI and app experience is also the same across all smartphones. So if you want to request a device you do it here and if you want to raise a bug you do it on gitlab. If there are device specific issues then also you raise the bug in gitlab and it gets fixed by the same set of developers.
I just started a new build which i will share here once it is finished, as the other one got quite old in the meantime
hello @nickolai,
you can find the thread about the Pi/e/ build for s4mini here please let me know how it works and keep in mind that it is a test build
I figured there are more than 3 variants of Samsung Galaxy S4 mini (mentioned e.g. here on GSMArena, be sure to expand the ‘Network’ section to see the supported bands). 3 variants in particular are supported by LineageOS, LineageOS for microG and /e/:
It’s only the second one that has dual-SIM capability and it supports 3G.
However, it looks like all the variants are no longer maintained in LineageOS, and hence in LineageOS for microG. How come /e/ still maintains them, if it is based on the former? And how do you, @Chimpthepimp build Pi/e/?
i am using the sources from arco68 he is/was the maintainer for los for serranoltexx, they don t delete devices the maintainer dropped, so one can still build with it.
Where are these sources located?
And what does it mean, in practical terms, that LineageOS for the device is no longer maintained? If the codebase is still good to build /e/, even with Pie, if all the hardware support is there, then it’s as good as maintained, for our purposes, no?
I finally went ahead and bought myself a Samsung Galaxy S4 mini (GT-I9192, serranodsdd because I wanted dual SIM) for eye-wateringly reasonable 2000 rubles ($32).
After getting familiar with the phone and its stock ROM (which is Android 4.4.2 max) I went ahead and flashed /e/. Surprisingly enough, it all went smoothly and I managed not to brick the device at all. My goal was to see if /e/ can become the drop-in replacement for an Android phone, and provide the adequate minimum of functionality to become my daily phone as is; and to figure out how to wean myself from Google and proprietary services later (e.g. I would still use my Gmail, for now) Now I see that it can, and it satisfies my modest requirements well so far.
Here are some of my observations from using e-0.7-n-2019112732147 and S4 mini; hopefully the will be useful for someone like me thinking of trying out /e/ on a cheap and small phone.
I run Linux on my desktop computer, specifically Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. I have flashed a ROM once, before. Like this time, I used instructions and common sense.
Hardware:
i. SIM2 doesn’t support 3G (only EDGE=2.5G). SIM1 supports HSDPA=3.5G, as it should. Don’t know whether it is common, and not a problem for me, but thought it’s worth mentioning.
ii. This is the first phone I see that supports 2 SIM cards AND a microSD card at the same time (microSD is capped at 64 GB though).
iii. Probably the smallest and lightest smartphone there is. And with a replaceable battery, too. I bought it with a Deppa case, and it’s doesn’t fall apart when falling down (as phones are wont to) while still being light and small. I’m happy with this.
Software:
The OS feels very neat and very iPhone-y, in a good way. I especially liked the keyboard, which has more sane non-English layout and seems more responsive than the stock Samsung one; and the notification system. The notification circles don’t show up for some reason though, for some reason; only the lockscreen notifications do.
I found it unnecessary. All the above can be installed from the repositories:
sudo apt install adb fastboot heimdall
I wonder how do these stores coexist? Does the latest Facebook Lite installed from APKPure equal the one from Aurora equal the one in Apps? Can I install with one store and update with the other?
I keep getting a ‘HTTP server error - Received multi-get response without ETag’ notification for my @gmail.com email address.
Phone identifies itself as Samsung Galaxy S9.
Mi Fit app doesn’t pair with Mi Band 4 smart band. I can pair it manually via Bluetooth, but the app can’t. Worked on stock ROM.
Couchsurfing app doesn’t run the latest version 4.33.0 (50265). Had to revert to 4.28.1 (50251) for it to work. APKPure is nagging to update it.
WhatsApp warns that I have a custom ROM and it doesn’t guarantee anything and is not supported on such a platform; but works. Ok-ish, but kind of a bummer too: I hoped that /e/ will be indistinguishable from a stock ROM.
Google Maps warns that Google Play Services needs to be updated, but then… just works?
How to make a screenshot?
The things I would like to get to next:
a) learn to do proper backups
b) learn to use Calendar, Notes and Tasks. The latter seems to support some kind of group work, it seems?
I have found the answer to my previous question, “what does it mean, in practical terms, that LineageOS for the device is no longer maintained?” here:
/e/ is not dependent on Lineage support to continue with devices on its own list. Lineage depends on device maintainers who build and maintain (fix errors) on devices. Once those maintainers move on, support is dropped by Lineage.
At /e/ builds are made using our build infrastructure. We do have a couple of device maintainers but their leaving does not stop the builds or support. Also defect fixes are done by a team of developers not the maintainers.
Security patches are also not dependent on Lineage. If a device is dropped by Lineage we will still download the patches and updated it for our builds. Every month around about the mid of the month the patches are applied.
The other question, about the sources from arco68 for serranoltexx, still stands. What/where are they? @archie @Chimpthepimp @Manoj
Hi @nickolai !
you can find them here, but i actually build just using the ones pushed to official lineage sources…
It works pretty fine to me (I have that one with dual sim capability, but i never used two sims to test). The only two trouble I had was: i) the app “apps” stopped working; ii) when aurora store stopped downloading apps. I couldn’t solve the first, but the second I solved changing the place to receive downloads to the internal storage (and not in aurora services as it was).
Hi! Do any of you know how strictly one has to stick to the “supported models” info? For seranoltexx (https://doc.e.foundation/devices/serranoltexx/) only “GT-I9195” is supported. My phone is a GT-I9195I (note the “I” at the end), is it likely to work? Or better yet, does anyone have experience with using /e/ on this model?
Thanks in advance!
Do not try this build the normal s4mini (serranoltexx) and the s4mini value edition (serranovelte) have different chipsets you could break stuff during flash… I will try providing a build for s4mini value edition( i9195i)
Thanks for your reply! Good thing I didn’t just try this on a hunch, in the current situation it might have taken me a while to get a new phone.
Of course, an /e/ edition for the I9591I would be amazing! Thanks a lot!
[[ROM][9.0.0][UNOFFICIAL]LineageOS 16.0 SERRANOVELTE GT-I9195I] is not /e/ OS but at least it is going in the right direction …
[RECOVERY][TWRP 3.3.1-0][SERRANOVELTE GT-I9195I] Galaxy S4 miniVE [UNOFFICIAL]
Flashing is and remains a risk. But the maintainer mernurisha seems to have experience with this special model.
