How will /e/ update from Android Oreo to Pie work?

We also had some development going on on a tool through which the user could setup / flash the /e/ builds easily. Do not have any ETA’s on it as yet. That would help ease user concerns to some extent.

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What’s the reason that you can’t directly update to /e/ Pie via OTA? What causes the bootloop?

And why then /e/ sells smartphones with preloaded /e/ if the user still has to mess with the phone and flash the Stock ROM to do a simple version upgrade?

/e/ Team should definitely look into this. Basically, you are selling phones that will break/brick if the user don’t know how the update.

And then the website is also misleading:

https://e.foundation/get-support/#faq

Does /e/ have a simple way for updating the system regularly ?

Yes – a simple 1-click (well, that may be 2 or 3!) “over the air” update feature is available in settings.

Why does /e/ lie about this on their website if the OTA update does not even work?

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Please read the website details carefully before making such accusations. There are no OTA updates which break devices on our supported device list. The two devices which have /e/ official Pie updates have detailed instructions on how to install them.

Also in case you browse the forum and check out topics on test Pie builds made by members from the community you would see that the bootloop happens when stock ROM of previous versions are installed. That means on a stock pie build if you try to flash stock Oreo or nougat builds that can cause a bootloop. This was what we tested and informed our users.

That means on a stock pie build if you try to flash stock Oreo or nougat builds that can cause a bootloop.

What does /e/ has to do if someone flashes Stock ROM over Stock ROM?

A stock rom is a original google android rom which is on your device when you get it from manufacturer, Samsund for example.
And here we never talked about flashing original samsung rom over original Samsung rom. We have talked about flashing a custom.ron (e) over a custom ron (e) and flashing a custom rom (e) over a Samsumsung original rom

And here we never talked about flashing original samsung rom over original Samsung rom.

That’s why asked it.

Sorry, i’m confusted now. As I have understand you have talked about updating e-oreo to e-pie

We tested a number of devices and found that the best way to upgrade was to flash stock Pie and then the /e/ Pie. There were devices which went into boot loop when directly flashed with Pie ROM’s. It is bad user experience but unfortunately it is the only option we have at the moment.

even if we have to accept this compromise right now cause of unavoidable technical constraints, it still would be a significant improvement, to reduce this inconvenient workarounds to the absolute minimum and provide at least further OTA updates once the upgrade from oreo to pie is done on the device.

unfortunately that’s not the case in the unofficial pie test images right now, and it makes the testing resp. curious beta use of this prerelease images more laborious than necessary.

My experience flashing Stock ROM <> LineageOS <> LineageOS-for-mircoG <> / e / OS (back and forth, back and forth) is very good by way. So far I never have bootloops…

Remember: An upgrade from LineageOS 15.1 to LOS 16.0 could also not be done via OTA. But with TWRP Recovery the installation was a snap.

Upgrades from Android StockROM 4.4.2 / 5.0 / 6.0 directly to LOS16 or /e/OS (e-0.7-n-) have always been done without errors. Even an upgrade from LineageOS-for-mircoG to UNOFFICIAL e-Pie TestROM was performed without errors. Maybe I’m just lucky and have the right phones to the right destination? ;o)
Anyway: I am satisfied with /e/OS at the moment and expect it to get even better.

On my self-flashed phones with OFFICIAL Nightly (e-0.7-n-) the update of /e/OS via OTA has always worked perfectly.

different firmwares, so a high chance that your sim will not work like here users reports in this topic Redmi Note 5 pro - Camera not working and Sim card not getting detected - #22 by Unknown

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Usually I find these discussions useful, but in this case I have to say that I agree with @harvey186 - I am really confused by this discussion.

I thought the /e/ phones are meant to be phones that ordinary laymen can use and manage. I am probably closer to that kind of user than most of the people on this forum.

After reading this discussion, all I can think is, “What!?”

  1. I have a phone with /e/ on it - How will I know which kinds of updates work OTA, and which don’t?
  2. How will I know when there is a stock OS upgrade for my device? Will I get some kind of notification?
  3. If there is a stock OS upgrade for my device, how will I know if there is an upgrade of /e/ that incorporates that stock OS upgrade for my device?
  4. If there is an upgrade of /e/ available for my device due to an upgrade of the stock OS, where do I go to find the instructions to do that upgrade for my device?

This makes a simple user like me very nervous. People who know less than I do are not going to stand for this. Or am I seriously misunderstanding what is being discussed here?

(I had always assumed that it would be a simple OTA process…)

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Hi @dln949 do you have a phone with /e/ on it now ? If yes dont you get OTA update notifications on it. For standard same OS updates we have OTA updates.
This is an OS change …from oreo or nougat to Pie. For that update while testing we found that certain devices for e.g Xiaomi phones do not work with a simple OTA update. There was functionality which did not work. So the best option was to revert to latest Pie stock and then flash the /e/ Pie on it as there were firmware changes which were not get through on the OTA builds. The same problem is there on Lineage Os updates as well i believe i.e. update from 15.1 to 16.0 do not work perfectly.
Not a perfect solution but the only one we have at the moment. If any one of the users can come out with a tested method of updating or building a OS update ROM we would love to hear about it.

Currently I have /e/ on a Motorola Moto G3. Currently I do get OTA notifications for updates. But, I don’t know if I will get them for an OS change, like from nougat to pie. How do I know if the normal OTA update process for that kind of update will work on my phone, or if I’ll need to do something different? (The device is currently Android 7.1.2.)

All OS change will be preceded by an announcement on our Telegram channels + this Forum . The announcement had details of the page on wiki from where you can get the ROM to download along with instructions on how to flash them.
If your device is on nougat first you could check if it has Pie builds on Lineage. If it has a Pie build you can request for a OS upgrade here. The more the users request for the build the better the chances.

Sorry, I’m still struggling.

Please tell me if I’m understanding all this correctly, Currently, the process is like this:

  1. I need to monitor this forum and/or Telegram to know if there is an OS change.
  2. If there is such a change, then I need to look on LineageOS to see if the new OS exists for my device.
  3. If LineageOS supports the new OS on my device, I need to figure out the correct method for my device to upgrade /e/ to support that new OS.

Do I have this right?

If I have this right, how can I tell on the LineageOS site if the new OS supports my device? For example, for the Pixel XL https://download.lineageos.org/marlin, it says that the latest LineageOS version is 16.0. But, how do I know if that is nougat or pie or whatever???

Also, where will I find the instructions unique to my device for the method to upgrade /e/ to a new OS, assuming that LineageOS supports the new OS on my device - that is, whether or not an OTA process will work?

About

how do I know if that is nougat or pie or whatever?

Just duck it:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=lineageos+version+history&t=canonical&ia=web
and take a look at the first hit, wikipedia, more specifically, the Version History part of the Wikipedia entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LineageOS#Version_history
Spoiler alert, 16 is Pie.
Good luck

On e you can see it on the version.
V1-n… = nougat
V1-o… = oreo
V1-p…= pie

There is no OTA for MAJOR upgrades (nougat -> oreo -> pie), OTA are only for minor updates (bug fixes, minor improvements,…).

To upgrade from oreo to pie you need :

  1. To check if /e/ has been builded under pie for your device (if there is a e-pie build for your phone). If there’s no pie build available for /e/ but there’s one for Lineage, you can request dev team to build a pie /e/ ROM.

  2. Depending of your devices :

  • You’ll have to flash the pie /e/ version over your oreo /e/ version. ( /e/ oreo -> /e/ pie )

  • On some phones like Xiaomi’s ones, you’ll have to flash MIUI pie over your /e/ oreo then flash /e/ pie. ( /e/ oreo -> MIUI pie -> /e/ pie )

Is that clearer ?

PS : MIUI is the default android-based software when you buy a Xiaomi phone,… This can also be EMUI for Huawei phones, ColorOS for Oppo and Realme, or Samsung’s ROM. I mean the ROM shipped with your phone.

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