Google Nexus 5 still supported?

Thanks for addressing this on gitlab!
I hope this issue gets resolved quickly, for security and usability reasons (Apps app not working anymore)

Info about hammerhead

Warning: The Google Nexus 5 is no longer maintained. A build guide is available for developers that would like to make private builds, or even restart official support.

The note above states that custom ROM development ended with LOS 14.1.


The lineage OS 17.1 - List Of Official Supported Devices neither official LOS 16.0 nor LOS 17.1 names ROMs for “hammerhead”:

Accordingly, you will’ve to settle for UNOFFICIAL variants of LineageOS 16.0 and 17.1 ROMs.

In my estimation, due to the state of affairs, /e/ support for Nexus 5 “hammerhead” will be discontinued soon.

First of all thank you @archje for this information.

However I really hope /e/ will continue supporting this device as far as it is

  • still a very powerful device
  • one rare device which can be repaired
  • is still an important device for open source development (e.g. supported by the ubports project)

I only have experience in desktop application development but hardly in mobile os developing so I wonder how hard it is to upgrade /e/ to pie for the nexus 5?

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The last update for the Nexus 5 was End of March 2020. There was a decision to stop official support for a number of older devices and it looks the Nexus 5 is one of them. The support for many older Samsung devices also stopped. As the security patch level of the last Nexus 5 e update is the beginning of February and we are heading to July, it’s surprising that the device is still on the officially supported list.

As it’s mentioned above, there is an unofficial LineageOS 17.1 ROM available for the Nexus 5.

This would be really a pity, as far the Nexus 5 is probably the most used “old” smartphones out there. It would be awesome to see /e/ go on maintaining this device, I would definitely help supporting it. I am capable of developing but have somewhat experience with mobile infrastructures. Is there any kind of documentation to learn upgrading /e/ to newer android versions? As there is an 17.1 LineageOS ROM available for the Nexus 5 I guess it is not too difficult to adapt this to /e/. If the problem is mainly a issue of manpower I would like to help!

Hi @Mickey the upgrade of devices to LOS 17.1 or Android Q requires the /e/ source code to be upgraded. This process has just started and will take a minimum of a month without testing. Some devices which are no longer supported by vendors may have a problem getting vendor patches. We need to finalize a short list of new devices which we will officially support. These will get official upgrades. For the rest of the devices it would be either GSI / unofficial or custom builds. You can read more details here.

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Hi @Mickey

This is for you:
https://doc.e.foundation/how-tos/build-e

https://doc.e.foundation/projects-looking-for-contributors

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If, at the end, /e/ decides to leave Nexus 5, the last solution to use this phone with the last security patch will be to flash it with LOS : https://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/orig-development/rom-lineageos-17-1-nexus-5-hammerhead-t4039273
It’s not fully ungoogled but it’s better than nothing

Does anyone know when the v0.12 will be out?

I hope to get again updates on my Nexus 5 thanks to this blocking issue being in the scope of the v0.12: https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/backlog/-/issues/1172

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Yes I got the update with the 0.12 as well, that’s great news!
Thanks to the dev team, I hope the Nexus 5 will continue to be supported in the future :slight_smile:

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@Fly When I clic on @PierreT 's link, I can’t find the image. Is it a problem on my side or it disappear on your side as well?
Thank you

Thanks everyone working on the /e/ project for this incredible project! I am very happy that finally a new image for the Nexus 5 could be built. :+1: :+1: :+1:

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You are not alone, it disappeared for me too, but I already have installed it. I do not know the reason, but if you need it I can upload it.

Hi, I didn’t have to do anything on my side, I just checked for system updates on my phone and it proposed it.

I hope it will be back for you soon! This 0.12 is running like a charm here.

The v0.12 has been withdrawn from the servers as it was causing an issue in most devices. An updated version of the build will be uploaded and should be available OTA once we resolve the issue. Will update on the progress.

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Thank you @Manoj so this issue concerns all ROMs.

@Mickey thank you for your help but I will wait until the bug is fixed. However, I’m happy that there is a new version for our old Nexus 5 :blush:

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Yeah it’s still a nice piece of hardware. BTW I did not recognize any issue with the new image on the Nexus 5.

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This might not be the right thread for this, but I’m getting an error message when trying to install any of the available /e/ ROMs from https://images.ecloud.global/dev/hammerhead/ on my Nexus 5.

The error reads “Updater process ended with ERROR: 7” A quick Google search suggests that the ROM updater script checks whether the ROM is compatible with the phone, and in my case comes up negative. There seems to be a way to skip this mechanism and install the ROM anyway by editing the script.

Has anybody else had to do this? Seems a bit random that this error pops up when I’m trying to install the ROM on the phone it was built for. Wonder if I’m doing anything wrong…

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Never mind, just had to restart the device between wiping the phone and sideloading the new ROM.

Thanks anyway

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Looks like Nexus 5 has a January 2021 release.

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