Of course, a flawlessly functioning OTA is the non-plus-ultra for system upgrades. In my opinion the manual flashing of the “official Pie Builds” does not cause any problems even for the beginners among us, because the upgrade can be done via the TWRP-Recovery already installed in the respective device.
Please note
Backup your data.
Even if this installation is an upgrade installation WITHOUT data loss, a backup is recommended.
The latest TWRP Recovery version must (should) be installed.
The “official Pie build” must be available.
The following steps show an example (Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900F “klte”) of a successful upgrade to /e/ OS 9-pie without data loss. The process is done exclusively with the /e/ Phone without PC.
Let’s get started …
Open your web browser on your /e/ phone and download the correct official Pie build for your device (here exemplary on /e/ phone “klte”)
The downloaded .zip-file is stored in the Internal Storage in the directory /Download.
Switch off the device and start TWRP-Recovery manually (key combination)
Select “Install” when TWRP Recovery has arrived.
“Select Storage” → “Internal Storage” → OK
Change to the directory /sdcard/Download
[Note: The “Internal Storge” is displayed in TWRP as (internal) /sdcard]
Now choose your 9-pie.zip (e-0.7-p-2019121033603-dev-klte.zip)
“Swipe ro confirm Flash”
After a successful installation → “Wipe cache/dalvik”
Now the system can be restarted via Reboot → System
If everything worked out, you’ll be on your way with 9-Pie from now on.
An upgrade using the PC is basically the same.
Connect the smartphone to the PC via USB cable
Copy the official 9-Pie build file to the “Internal Storage” of the device
[Note: The “Internal Storge” is displayed in TWRP as (internal) /sdcard]
Switch off the device and start TWRP-Recovery manually (key combination)
Select “Install” when TWRP Recovery has arrived.
Now choose the 9-pie.zip file.
After a successful installation -→ Wipe cache/dalvik
Now the device can be restarted via Reboot → System
If everything worked out, you’ll be on your way with 9-Pie from now on.
The key problem for us, users, is that at the time when I write this post, there are just NO official Pie builds for many devices that are already running on LineageOS 16 Pie.
If I have understood you correctly, then you are hoping for a soon 9-pie upgrade for all devices currently supported by /e/ - and are looking forward to the new year 2020.
The official e-9-pie upgrades will come and anyone can install it because it’s so easy - whether the upgrade is done via OTA or has to be done manually.
@andrelam, do you assume that a “Clean flash” will be necessary or could it be sufficient that e. g. only system Dalvik cache need to be deleted?
With the already installed TWRP Recovery we can make a device-dependent backup (Nandroid-Backup) and pull this data over to the PC or store it on an external mircroSD card.
My robust Samsung Galaxy S5 “klte” has already accepted some experiments and also swallowed the upgrade to n-9-pie without any problems.
What are the names of the “Some devices” that don’t want to boot anymore?
If some devices do not boot, explicit deletion via TeamWin - TWRP is recommended.
To be on the safe side and to follow the short hint “Some devices won’t boot if you don’t erase data…” of @andrelam /e/ support, the partitions /Dalvik / ART + Cache /System + /Cache in TWRP should be deleted first. This deletion procedure preserves the personal data in /data/media.
Thanks for this manual.
Does this work in the same way for an upgrade from Nougat to Oreo? (For the S7 that I bought in the eStore.)
Are there any arguments against such upgrade?
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