Hi,
I’m almost happy with my setup to test /e/ on an old mobile, Samsung A52s 5G (or SM-A528B/DS).
Just WiFi is not working yet (known bug: Issues · e · GitLab ), but my fingerprints (2 fingers) are working.
The following instructions have worked on an Apple MacBook Pro with a M1 Pro chip form 2021, running macOS 15.6. They are focused on for a user who is comfortable with the Unix shell.
It took ca. 2h with some errors and taking notes.
Create ourself a baseline where to hold all the stuff
cd ~; mkdir DeGoogle; cd DeGoogle
Dependency for Android debugger
sudo port install android-platform-tools
Install dependencies for Heimdall
Build dependencies - note pkgconfig has been added in 2.2.2 to allow Homebrew to interact with cmake
sudo port install cmake pkgconfig
Run dependencies
sudo port install libusb qt6-qtbase
Download Heimdall and follow the instructions on https://git.sr.ht/\~grimler/Heimdall - with 1 path adoption
git clone https://git.sr.ht/\~grimler/Heimdall
cd Heimdall
mkdir build && cd build
Modified cmake statement to hint where the Qt6Widgets cmake file is
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -D CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/opt/local/libexec/qt6/lib/cmake/Qt6Widgets ..
make
Download the relevant files from the community build page /e/OS community a52sxq download :
cd ~/DeGoogle; mkdir eos && cd eos
curl https://images.ecloud.global/community/a52sxq/recovery-IMG-e-3.3-a14-20251214557451-community-a52sxq.zip
curl https://images.ecloud.global/community/a52sxq/e-3.3-a14-20251214557451-community-a52sxq.zip
Check if the files match the provided checksums at the same webpage:
sha256 recovery-IMG-e-3.3-a14-20251214557451-community-a52sxq.zip
sha256 e-3.3-a14-20251214557451-community-a52sxq.zip
Unpack the recovery zip file, as we only need parts of it:
unzip recovery-IMG-e-3.3-a14-20251214557451-community-a52sxq.zip -t recovery-IMG-e-3.3-a14-20251214557451-community-a52sxq
Let’s baseline ourselves for outstanding work and summarize the preparations:
cd ~/DeGoogle
Now we have all 4 items that we need:
- Heimdall in
./Heimdall/build/bin/heimdall adbavailable on the command line- recovery image in
./eos/recovery-IMG-e-3.3-a14-20251214557451-community-a52sxq/recovery-e-3.3-a14-20251214557451-community-a52sxq.img - the full /e/ image at ./eos/e-3.3-a14-20251214557451-community-a52sxq.zip
Until here, these are the preparation steps and easy to undestand/follow.
Now we start to press buttons on the Android phone, magically connect cables - and I can’t full predict what is happening due to a lack of knowledge.
Unlock the boot loader - just follow the steps mentioned
Flash the recovery - just follow the steps mentioned; command is in my case ./Heimdall/build/bin/heimdall flash --RECOVERY ./eos/recovery-IMG-e-3.3-a14-20251214557451-community-a52sxq/recovery-e-3.3-a14-20251214557451-community-a52sxq.img --no-reboot
Note: don’t be shy to shutdown via VolumeDwn + Power
Boot to recovery and side load system - just follow the steps mentioned; command is in my case adb ./eos/e-3.3-a14-20251214557451-community-a52sxq.zip
I have no clue how long to press to really reach the /e/ recovery setup - it only worked in the 3rd or 4th attempt for me. Be patient. Especially with yourself.
Reboot - enjoy /e/!
Personally, I will have to activate the test SIM tomorrow - and fix 2 bugs: No WiFi + Permanent bottom menu. I have seen proposals for both - just currently failing to boot into /e/ recovery mode to sideload the WiFi FW blobs.
Thanks for the halfway decent documentation,
sumirati