Pixel 2 xl, taimen - Been at it all night, can't make /e/ work on that phone!

Hello folks!

I have tried all night to make /e/ boot on that phone…Followed guides here, and everywhere… After 6-7 hours of trying and searching, I found this forum (does not seem to be referenced in google or duckduckgo!)
I read an extra hour and saw some worrying posts about GSI (never heard of that!).

Could someone please tell me what is the status of /e/ on the Pixel 2 Xl while I flash LineageOS on the phone to see if I am just an idiot!

Regards, Normand

Unfortunately there are issues with the /e/ OS build for the Pixel 2xl taimen. We will be dropping the device from the supported list in the next set of builds.

Damn-it! I was super excited to go-in full thunder-dome de-googleified phone! (now that I have degoogled and de-microsofted most of my technology!)

Are there plans to fix it or have I just bought this phone yesterday because it was in the officially supported list for absolutely nothing?

(BTW, LOS installed in 3 minutes, so I am not stupid in the end! :stuck_out_tongue: )

If the LOS build is working well that would mean we are pointing at the wrong device trees. We will check on this and make a build possible in the 2nd week of Jan and share on the official site.

BTW which version of the LOS build are you using the /e/ is still on Oreo while the LOS are on Pie and Q…

Oh… Don’t know the desert names, but it is 17.01 (AKA Android 10)

TWRP is also giving me issues with that phone… It is my first non-samsung phone and I might be missing something. The LOS recovery works great, but it lacks a lot of important functionalities, such as installing from local files…

Is /e/ built on top of LOS ?

Yes it is, but /e/OS still runs on 8-Oreo while LineageOS 17.1 as well as LineageOS-17.1-for-microG runs on Android 10 ‘Q’.

Try the following: First install the latest version of

1. stock Android 8.1.0
2. TWRP 3.3.0-0 * but not(!) TWRP 3.4.0-1 * followed by
3. e-0.13-o-2020120989191-dev-taimen[/s]


Update

The above proposal, now crossed out, is not a good idea. Why? Because I have not been able to get e-0.13-o-2020120989191-dev-taimen to work either based on stock Android 8.1.0, 9.0 and 10.0. Flashing the stock Android ROM is a zillion times faster than handling the outdated e-Recovery and e-0.13-o ROM. Every installation process shows an identical error: Unable to find partition for path '/cache'.

The check with TWRP 3.3.0-0 and 3.4.0-1 confirms this: No /cache partition is displayed in TWRP and cannot be deleted, as stated in the /e/ documentation:

Installing /e/ from recovery
6. Select the Cache and System partitions to be wiped and then Swipe to Wipe

Installing LineageOS 17.1, on the other hand, is child’s play.

No way… I was an inch-away from doing just that when I gave up because the GSI things scared me!!!

Fear is a meaningful emotion that protects us. But when fear gets out of control, it paralyses and makes us unfree.

The Pixel 2 XL ‘taimen’ is an extremely robust phone. It takes a huge effort to break it. But it’s probably better to wait for better times in 2021 and /e/ OS version 10 'Q’. And until then, LineageOS 17.1 runs well and can be further degoogled by the user with a few tweaks.

There was fear, but also not sleeping at all that night and getting frustrated by the end! :smiley:

How do you guys manage things like GPS navigation with traffic awareness, car radio connectivity and such without google services?

How is this device doing? @Normand_Nadon u could use calixos while e/ gets there?