New Samsung S6 USA user - installation experience and hopefully some helpful hints!

Hello everyone,

I (probably like many others) have for quite some time been watching the /e/ story unfold here from the United States. As the idea of loading an OS onto a device was daunting, I have long waited for the ability to purchase an /e/ phone with the OS already installed. Since that has not come to fruition as of yet, the choice was to either face my fear or continue to allow the “Big G” to usurp my digital sovereignty.

Fast forward, I purchased a SM-G620F (global, unlocked, Exynos processor) new in box via Ebay because it was the least expensive choice that the /e/ installer supported with the idea being if I brick the phone, I would only be out a relatively small amount of $. For anyone sitting on the fence in the US, it is imperative to purchase the “F” variant if you are new to device flashing and wish to use the /e/ installer.

The installation via the /e/ installer (under Windows) was relatively uneventful and kudos and special shout out to @Vincent for creating the tool- I don’t think I would have attempted this process without it- Just follow the onscreen prompts and any Windows user can achieve success as I did!

Post installation issues (current as of Nov 1, 2020):

  1. VOLTE: The S6 is an “old” phone and does not support VOLTE. This is a necessity for many carriers/MVNOs such as T-Mobile and Mint. The only carrier I found that would activate the Samsung “F” variant was AT&T, which does not require VOLTE.

  2. AT&T Activation: The only AT&T MVNOs that I found that would activate the phone are Cricket (which is owned by AT&T so no surprise there) and Red Pocket Mobile. I ended up activating the $10/mo RPM plan for testing purposes.

  3. Voice “Echo”: A search of threads on this forum outline a persistent and on-going issue where an “echo” that is heard by the other party. Plugging in a headset will alleviate this issue, but presents its own issues!

  4. “App Store”: the /e/ version installed with the OS is broken- again, many threads here on this issue. The work-arounds are to install Aurora Store and F-Droid from APKs and this works well without issues.

  5. Transferring local data from one device to another: I used the Big G’s “Contacts” app (yes, I know) to seemlessly move all contacts from my old Android to the S6. After that was done, the app was deleted. SMS Backup and Restore was used for SMS/MMS without issue. Verizon’s Contact Transfer app was used for everything else.

  6. Mail app: Protonmail works quite well as an alternative to /e/'s offering.

  7. SMS/MMS: the pre-installed app “Signal” works well.

  8. Other messaging: the pre-installed app “Telegram FOSS” also works well, supporting phone and videochat functions. Please be aware that the “echo” problem persists with this app as well! But, it is a formidable privacy-centric WhatsApp alternative- get a few of your closest contacts to install and say goodbye to FB. As an aside, I tested WhatsApp and the results were dismal: messages were no problem but calls were plagued with problems, but your mileage may vary if this is a must-have for you.

The Bottom Line: As much as I would like, I can’t use the /e/ device as my daily phone- the voice “echo” issue on this phone is a deal-killer as I don’t want to be tethered to a headset. If this bug was quashed, I could recommend it as a daily phone without reservation! :slight_smile:

If I could make a constructive point to the dev team it would be to apply resources to polish and refine the /e/OS for the Samsung devices already supported by the installer- doing so would likely create a great many converts here in the US!

Last thought/question: Can anyone tell me if the S9 SM-G960F suffers from the voice “echo” bug any longer?

Hope this helps some people who may be considering the /e/ alternative. Thanks for reading and be well.

Marc

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Hi, from release date already, yes. But it’s fast, very fast, because it works in the set to comparable devices not with eMMC 5.x but with UFS 2.0 memory chips.

Are you interested in trying out this current AOSP Android 10? You can easily flash it with TWRP Recovery. A ‘Clean install’ is recommended. If you’ve questions, please ask. I’m interested, if the echo is still there?

Hi Suzie, that’s why I put “old” in quotes :wink: It’s not as “old” as the phone I’m hoping it’s going to eventually replace: a Moto E (1st Generation)! :rofl:

Thank you for the unofficial Lineage 17.1 link - I’ve considered this but I came to /e/ to de-google and that’s a good enough rationale for me not to go through another flashing of this device!

I may try it in the future, but for right now I’d like to continue testing /e/ on this device for secondary phone/device usage/purposes. If at the end of the testing, I consider giving up some privacy from Google for an end to the “echo” effect, I will take the plunge and update this thread, but for right now, that’ll have to wait.

Thanks for taking the time to read the post and have a great day.

Best regards,

Marc

Hi Marc, I like my S6. Of course, I would like to have a 99.99% degoogled Galaxy S6 instead of the 90% degoogled Galaxy S6 as it is the case with a LineageOS 17.1 ROM. But if I can’t use it on the phone because I’m not understood or because the other side can’t understand me properly (echo), then I don’t use the /e/ OS.

The S6 ‘zerofltexx’ as well as the S6 Edge ‘zeroltexx’ is a phone that has been extremely neglected by the /e/ team for many months. Read all the posts with the complaints of the users. User feedback has simply evaporated in the data nirvana.

The last working eROM e-0.7-n-20200215 is from mid-February(!) 2020, and the fact that the S6 is also advertised as being capable of flashing with the /e/asy installer is a real blow to the barrel. If you are satisfied with the condition as it is, okay. I do not submit to the will and action of /e/.

I am a fan of the /e/ idea, but not at any price. I don’t use /e/ OS for my S6 anymore and I don’t use Stock Android 7.0 (Nougat) for my S6 and still enjoy my Galaxy S6.

Suzie, thank you for your most excellent and reasoned reply. I can’t say I’m satisfied with the /e/ experience on the phone as it doesn’t pass the most basic of tests: the ability to hold a conversation! :rofl:

I think it’s just that we’re coming at this from two different levels of experience: before this week, I had not flashed a device with a new OS before and while I’m a fairly adept Windows user, the prospect of attempting to do so was enormously intimidating to me.

It wasn’t just obtaining the “right” device so as to be able to use the /e/ installer, but trusting that the installer would actually work! Then the prospect and process of transferring local data from a hobbled 1st gen Moto E to the S6 without a “roadmap”… Then trying to find a US wireless carrier that would not only activate the device (some had issues with the fact that it was not the US version of the S6)… Then realizing that the S6 was non-VOLTE which turned into a bit of an unanticipated ordeal as many AT&T MVNOs would not activate the device because of it! (Looking at you Mint!)

All of this time and effort just to tip my toes into the AOSP world- a world I suspect is second-nature to you, but to me is a great unknown!

In hindsight all this effort has been a net positive- and while I hope that /e/ can reallocate resources to better support/update the Samsung devices that are currently supported by the installer, I understand that this simply may not be possible. Not doing so, however, in my opinion, is a truly wasted opportunity.

I am not wed to /e/, but their tools have allowed me to take my first steps into a much larger world and break some spectacular new ground in terms of my personal digital sovereignty, for which I’m grateful. I’m willing to take a wait and see approach for a time to see if there will be anything forthcoming from /e/ for the Samsung devices by the first quarter of 2021- As I said, this is a test device for me at this time and while I have some flexibility of time, if nothing changes it will remain a secondary device relegated to non-voice conversation usage.

And who knows, I may even take the 17.1 plunge early next year!

Thank you again and best regards,

Marc

To check device frequency capacity, you can use
https://m.gsmarena.com/

To check carrier compatibility, you can also use
https://willmyphonework.net
https://www.frequencycheck.com/

@mcmd, i think the s5 models could be well supported for the usa because the use à snapdragon chipset,
Also think about Xiaomi and OnePlus.

Official :

  • s5 « klte »
    Models Supported :
    G900AZ/F/M/R4/R7/T/V/W8
    S902L
  • s5 plus « kccat6 »
    Models Supported :
    SM-G901F
  • s5 active « klteactivexx »
    Models Supported :
    SM-G870F

Unofficial :

Download the device specific image of /e/OS
build for the ROM of your specific device from :

I don’t know @piero… I personally limited the scope of my search to those devices that were supported by the /e/ installer and the only U.S. GSM cellular provider that I found that would support the global, unlocked Exynos devices was AT&T. I can’t remember if T-Mobile had a problem with the S6 because of it’s lack of VOLTE or that it was a non-US device… :thinking:

@mcmd I am getting an S9 ( SM-G960F) soon, do you mind if I piggy back any info about it or the /e/ installation in your thread here?

Equipping a Galaxy S9 ‘SM-G960F’ with /e/ OS is much more demanding than simply installing /e/OS on a Galaxy S6 or S5. This starts with StockROM and OEM-Unlock and does not end with the patch no-verity-opt-encrypt.

Help installing /e/ on Galaxy S9 would be a recommended section for updating.

1 Like

Yes, I understand the difficulties involved. But - does the Easy Installer not work as intended for the S9? If not, it should be taken off the list.

https://doc.e.foundation/easy-installer

I do not use the /e/asy-installer. But I read different “success messages” in the few feedbacks. The decisive factor is the StockROM starting point. Which StockROM Android version is your S9 ’ starlte’ equipped with: 8, 9, or 10?

I don’t have it yet, all that I know is that it is supposedly factory unlocked.

Hi guys, just catching up with the thread. I concur with @SuzieQ, the above would be a better place to continue discussion re: S9.

In the alternative @cornfarmer perhaps a NEW thread would be warranted: the existing thread is chock full of great advice on manual installation on the S9, but not exclusively relating to installing /e/ on the S9 with the /e/asy installer standalone tool.

Just a thought.

@mcmd can you tell me how you determined which US carrier (i.e. such as your ATT MVNO) was compatible with the F variant phone?

I finally received an S9 (SM-G960F/DS), and got /e/ running, but it seems my carrier might be the Achilles heel - basically I have no cell service.

My carrier is an MVNO that uses either Verizon or T-Mobile GSM (Ting). I checked that the IMEI on this S9 is compatible, according to their system, but nothing I change in the network settings seems to make any difference. I’ve only tried the Verizon option so far, so I could try Ting’s other T-Moble network if I want to go any further.

@cornfarmer to the best of my knowledge Verizon is a CDMA network, and the S9 is a GSM network device, so this may be the source of the issue you are describing. I used the chat function at AT&T wireless to make sure they would activate the device on their network with the device IMEI- once I verified that they would I set out to find MVNOs that had a minimal data/cost plan as this was a testing environment only for me: I found Mint, Red Pocket and of course AT&T direct. I also checked T-Mobile, but they would not activate the S6 due to lack of VOLTE: this should not be an issue with your S9. In fact, I would like to hear back from you if you are successful in activating the S9 on T-Mobile with Ting. Hope this helps an d good luck!

Thanks @mcmd that is good info. I consulted with a Ting rep (they are highly recommended) and they informed me that the Verizon network they use is currently a mix of CDMA + GSM, vs. the T-Mobile option which is only GSM. (Verizon will be fully GSM by end of 2021 FWIW)

Currently I have the S9 running /e/, but it’s not able to make calls/texts. One thing I noticed is that with the Verizon sim, the APN’s could not be edited or deleted at all. If I could do that, I wouldn’t be posting here.

So the next thing I am going to try is switching to a sim on Ting’s T-Mobile/GSM side. I know of one other user here @marcdw that reports success with T-Mobile (different phones though) so that is promising. If all goes well, I’ll stop hijacking your thread and make a new one with a report on the whole /e/ --> S9 process/experience (which was not exactly a good one).

Well I’m sorry to hear that CF, but I look forward to reading about your experience as I am currently awaiting my unlocked S9… My current plan is to install /e/ Q via the /e/ installer as soon as it is available/possible. Don’t really want to do two installs! :slight_smile:

I wouldn’t really bother with the easy installer if that’s what you’re talking about. It doesn’t really seem to work as advertised, at least with the S9.

Really? I had good success with the installer and the S6. Still going to wait for /e/ Q for the S9- hopefully the /e/ installer will handle it OK! Looking forward to your report about the S9 in a new thread. :wink:

I have read many success story with the s9 and the easy installer.

You have to reboot immediately in TWRP mode when asked.