Nexus 6, VoLTE, and what happens if I use a two year old build?

/e/OS Devices Google
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Hi folks,
I installed /e/ on a Nexus 6 in 2019. My wife has been using it on Verizon in the USA. But the screen is now broken. I went looking for a replacement phone and found another Nexus 6. Now, however, the US carriers are demanding that phones have VoLTE capability. I know that the Nexus 6 is capable of it, but I see that LineageOS says LOS 16.0 and above do not support VoLTE on shamu, and so I assume the current /e/ build for the Nexus 6 also does not support it. (I also assume that LOS < 16 did support VoLTE, though it does not say that.) Well, I still have the installation files for the first Nexus, specifically e-0.7-2019090322469-dev-shamu. Can anyone tell me what version of LOS that was built on? And would I have VoLTE if I install it? (I can’t check the old phone, and I don’t remember ever looking for that feature on it.) And if I install that, do I refrain from ever installing updates?
Thanks

Regain your privacy! Adopt /e/ the unGoogled mobile OS and online servicesphone

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You miss out the crucial android version letter. As in: e-0.7-n, or similar. What’s the letter?

Currently shamu has q and r builds supported which relate to LOS 17 and 18, so you can work it out from that.

If you installed the old build I guess it would work as it did back then but I couldn’t help you more than that.

Hopefully there are some shamu users here who can be of more help.

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Sorry, N is the letter. e-0.7-n-2019090322469-dev-shamu

So that would have been LOS 14 / Nougat? Somehow I thought I was on Oreo, maybe that was a later update.
Is there a way to get the last and presumably best version of /e/ for shamu that used LOS 15?
If it matters, the “new” Nexus 6 is on Android 7.1.1.

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It matters in the sense that you have the last available android version from google for that device, so it’s fully updated, so to speak!

Correct, eOS 0.7-n is nougat/android 7 equivalent to LOS14.

So you are looking for the last update in the eOS 0.(?)-o series.

I don’t know how you are going to get that. Maybe a specific post asking on the forum with oreo and device name in the title? Someone might have it.

I wonder if there is an archive of older releases for e somewhere?

Divest OS maintain a catalogue of older LOS equivalents.

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Thanks Chris. Ok, I have installed the 2019 build of /e/ on the Nexus 6, hooray! Now when I check for system updates, there are a great many available. I have two questions: do these have to be applied in order? And how can I find out what version of Android / LOS each update uses? In otherwords, could I use the updates to get to the “last best” build that still supports VoLTE, and how do I figure out which one that is?
The updates do not have a letter in them like the builds do …

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Always pick up the latest build of the same OS version from the download list. It will have all the fixes available in the earlier builds.

1 Like
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You need some accurate information regarding historical dates and versions. Can’t help much there, sorry.

If you try and apply an udate that is a higher android version, such as the oreo you are looking for, the phone will most likely not boot. Android version upgrades require manually flashing. But you can skip updates going forward within the same android version

Maybe a specific post asking on the forum with oreo and device name in the title? Someone might have it.

You can check on device for volte provioning via keypad in dialler ##4636## > phone information.

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Yes, I checked with ##4636## and found that the VoLTE provisioning slider was off, but was functional and I turned it on. Enhanced 4G LTE calling is also present under network settings and was enabled. So VoLTE is good. I just wish I knew what updates won’t break it. Do the major upgrades, e.g., from Android 7 to 8, come via the updates, or would one have to do something else to get them? Is there a way to rollback if I install an update that breaks something?

And here are a couple off-topic items. (A) If you look at the phone testing settings ( ##4636## ), note the ping test uses G**gle urls, any way to change that?
(B) To my dismay, MMS is not working; I tried all the usual steps, except I can’t add or edit APNs. This is also a problem on my Pixel with /e/. It’s a puzzle because my old broken Nexus 6 with the same version of /e/ and same SIM did do MMS. Too bad I can’t compare their settings. The specific issue is can’t send group or picture texts (seems like it times out). Can receive picture texts, not sure about group texts.

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OS Updates will have to be done manually. This in most cases requires

  • Taking a backup
  • Flashing the Stock OS first …for example if upgrading to Q or Pie then the stock Q or Pie
  • Installing /e/ of the upgraded OS version on top of the stock
    We are working on the OS OTA upgrade but there are some issues that still need to be fixed.
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Thanks @Manoj. But does this mean that all the updates I see available for download in the updater are pertinent to my OS version? Some of them are quite recent. I would not have thought that updates for Nougat were still being created. – Update: I see from the dev thread that you posted above that yes, there are still Nougat updates being built – Thanks! I have installed the latest one from October and confirmed that VoLTE is still working.

And I have tracked down my MMS problems to this: MMS works only as long as “Use network DNS” is enabled. Doesn’t work if I set my own DNS to 9.9.9.9 or 1.1.1.1. I found that this fixed the problem on my Pixel ( /e/, Android 9, Pie) as well, but I am not too happy with the implications. (This is still the behavior on the Nexus after applying the October update.)