Update to Android 16 (official) almost bricked my One+ Nord

/e/OS Devices Murena
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Hello,

Yesterday I updated my OnePlus Nord from the previous release “OS 3.5-s-20260211580871-official-avicii” to the new “3.7.3-a16-20260507618651-official-avicii” and nearly bricked it in the process:

The update apparently went through smoothly. After the reboot, however, surprisingly, I wasn’t asked for my SIM PIN first, but immediately for my device PIN .

At first, everything looked fine, but then I noticed that the Wi-Fi wouldn’t turn on anymore. On top of that, a warning appeared stating that my storage was almost full and that not all services were functioning properly. After deleting practically all data and clearing the cache everywhere, I realized that the temporary system files took up 96 GB (plus Android 16 occupies 20 GB and map data about 10 GB ).

Hoping that a restart would clear the temporary files, I restarted the device, but that only made the problem worse: The relevant service wouldn’t even accept my SIM PIN anymore, and I had to restart again without the SIM card just to regain access to the device at all. The temporary system files have also grown even larger in the process.

Current status: the device has no cellular connection or Wi-Fi, and virtually all apps have been remo ved.

Technical observation: some process in this device’s new Android 16 seems to generate a massive amount of temporary data that isn’t being automatically cleared.

Question: how do I get the device cleaned up and running again?

PS. I read Phone Unusable After Upgrade but this doesn’t really seem to address nor to solve the problem (My last was Official A12 and not Communty A14).

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Oh, and I bought it directly from the /e/OS - e Foundation as an Murena device.

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There is an issue tracking this bug here, You can add your issue details to the same bug.
As a customer you can log an issue with the helpdesk using their contact form sharing all details.

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Thanks, i added my problem to this issue. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Thanks. Have shared the comments in your previous post with the developers.

6

Hi,

today I found a release for an A14 version among the official Avicii builds (IMG-e-3.1.1-a14-20250828…). It actually wasn’t in my list of possible updates when i looked at my device.

It’s from 2025, but at least it’s A14 and not A12, which is what I had on my OnePlus before my failed upgrade to A16.

Question: Is it stable and free of security vulnerabilities? And could I flash it and downgrade to it? Or is it a dead end?

It looks like the A16 bug fixing is going to take a while, and I’d actually like to be able to use my smartphone again. Otherwise, with the memory usage chronically at 100% (due to Wi-Fi and the SIM service), it’s basically dead.

Thanks

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This was your original question

Question: how do I get the device cleaned up and running again?

While I have not flowed the issue closely I understand that the difficulty is the ota-upgrade. There are users of the a16 build with fresh install. You could check nord to verify. However a16 official is currently withdrawn except for testing.

Did you ask /e/ support team this question?

The devs aim is to meet the requirements of OTA Upgrade without data loss.

If you are up for a Clean install then imho a16 /e/OS community avicii download community is probably a better bet than downgrade to a14 official. Fastboot ROMs indicated by leading IMG- are expected to be capable of Android version downgrade.

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Hi, thanx for the answer.

I already considered to change to the Community release. But in fact i don’t know whether this is tested with an AC2003 device. It seems to have slighty different request to the bios and this obviously is causing the problems with upgrading my phone.

But on the hand it would be a further test for the developers… :wink:

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Only recently the Testing group was calling out for an AC2003 tester.

As a Murena Customer you can expect support on official. Are you OK with full backup and Format data?

If yes I suggest you should state this in the Gitlab issue and ask to be supported with best way forward.

The Testing group is somewhat for experts but devs handling the mainstream issue may be happy to help with a clean install. I don’t know.

Indeed, wink acknowledged. Staying official may be more advantageous all round especially if you do get an offer of help with a clean official install from the team.

(I give this response really to your idea that you were drawn to a fresh start with a14.)

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This part is partly personal speculation. Back in the day users were asked before /e/OS install to have the device on latest (with compexity of Android version) firmware. There were many user hiccups. As I researched this at the time I had the sense that OnePlus were doing different firmware upgrades in different global regions.

By the time we got to a13 the “ideal” firmware was included with the build. Community a13 onwards seem to have not had the previous difficulty.

I speculate in 2026 that “modern” /e/OS versions on a12 (firmware not in original build) have some disadvantage to make the transition.

  • (Background. This thread is quite hard to follow Oneplus Nord manual installation problems but the user story has its solution (for the second device) at the arrival of a13 and vendor firmware included with build.)
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Yes, this statement with the bios was wrong. I actually meant the firmware as some contributes to the developer discussion on No Internet Wi-Fi and Mobile After Update (#9332) · Issues · e / Backlog · GitLab pointed in that direction. And i really hope they will find a way to fix my phone.

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Hi Manoj,

I just noticed that Issue 9332, which you created on Git, was closed by Kumar Abhishek after a new version was apparently found that supports mobile connections, Wi-Fi, and SMS. Thanks a lot for that.

However, the question of whether the battery now has its original runtime again remained unanswered. And neither has my direct question been answered: whether the memory overflow has been fixed in the new version, and how I’m even supposed to get the new version onto my device after it was practically bricked by the previous update! Not to mention that a new official release hasn’t been posted yet.

I fully understand that the developers can’t attend to individual users, but what happens next: The failed update had used up every last bit of storage space with temporary system data in just two or three hours (a full 97 GB!), which is why I can’t even download a new update now, let alone install it!

Do I—as a consumer—have to flash it myself after it’s released? And get back to you if the storage might overflow again and the battery life remains practically useless?

And btw: Thank you for your support as well!

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The tester and developer both mentioned that they did not face any issues with the battery on the latest build. This build should be released with v4.0. You can install it and then check the battery usage. If you face issues, you can raise a bug on gitlab with details.
Regarding the storage issue with downloads you have an option to delete builds once they have been installed which clears up space
Settings >> Updater >> Three dots menu (top right) >> Preferences >> Delete updates when installed

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Hi everyone,

I’m really happy to see that the new v4 release seems to finally fix the connection and battery issues I’ve been struggling with. I’d love to do a major update now.

My current setup is:

  • /e/OS version 3.0.4-t (community)

  • OnePlus Nord (avicii)

I’m considering upgrading to the latest community build (not trying to move from community to official, which I don’t think is possible).
Before I give up again like I did in previous months, I’m asking:

Is it possible to do a dirty update (keeping all my settings and app data intact) from 3.0.4-t directly to the latest community version?
I really want to avoid a fresh install and wipe of my data.

I tried a few times before but it didn’t work (using recovery and adb sideload), so I stopped. Any advice or success stories would be super helpful - thanks in advance

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Hi,

Unfortunately, the last answer didn’t help me, since—according to the settings—the updates are deleted right after installation anyway.

But even if I could have freed up some more space that would hardly have solved the core problem, which is that ANY free memory is IMMEDIATELY taken up again by some “temporary system files”: So it’s NOT the current memory usage, but the DYNAMIC increase in some junk data. And since the memory is completely full, the services can no longer run properly, which is why, for example, Bluetooth, the BlissLauncher, the Media Selector, App Compatibility, and Files are “repeatedly terminated” according to the error messages (I had to translate these terms into English from an external source). Consequently, according to further error messages, logs can no longer be generated or written.

Since I can’t activate either a mobile data connection or Wi-Fi, I tried three different methods to install the new IMG-e-4.0-a16-20260610633931 from a USB drive as a “local update,” but unfortunately, all of them turned out to be dead ends:

My first attempt was via the corresponding option in e-os Update, where—after a few detours—I was finally able to select the image. Unfortunately, my selection wasn’t saved repeatedly, though I’m not sure if that was due to the File service crashing or the ZIP file format (was IMG actually required here?)

For the second attempt, I first wanted to delete two photos and some leftover files from my uninstalled TextMaker app from my PC. Unfortunately, I never even got as far as starting the file transfer. And I can’t access them via the File Service either—presumably because the File Service is no longer working. That means, at the moment, I can’t access PRACTICALLY ANYTHING through the normal channels.

The third attempt was then made via Recovery Mode, where I tried to perform an update via usbotg from a USB drive formatted with exFAT (FAT32 wasn’t writable obviously). And here I at least received a few useful error messages, namely:

ERROR: recovery: footer is wrong

ERROR: recovery: Signature verification failed

ERROR: recovery: error: 21

Installation aborted

I have no idea what’s wrong with the footer, or why the signature couldn’t be verified. I did notice, however, that the Fastboot Mode intro doesn’t display any information about the bootloader version or the baseband version. So maybe my current system is missing the information needed to match it with the new version?

That’s the extent of my attempts so far. And I haven’t been able to check the battery drain, yet. But it would be great if someone who is familiar with such information could help me out now. It would be a shame to just throw away 450 EUR after three years of use.

Thanks

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[HOWTO] Upgrade my /e/OS to major Android version without loosing /data

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This is the file for a new install, NOT the right file to updating / upgrading an existing /e/OS system…
You need the latest OTA file :

https://ota.ecloud.global/api/v1/avicii/community/

https://ota.ecloud.global/api/v1/avicii/official/

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This is where to ask

Please write to Customer service before

It would be a shame to just throw away 450 EUR after three years of use.

I asked before but are you minded to

  • Format data and Fresh install … or
  • Are you still trying and hoping to perform the OTA Upgrade?

It is not at all unreasonable to expect the support of experts through Customer services.

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Hi @piero,

This seemed to be the missing link! So thank you for your consult.

Once I had downloaded the last OTA-File I started the update via Recovery and USB-stick and now the verification was accepted and ran through without any error message. Install completed with status 0.

But after restarting my device I still ran into a further problem, since my device didn’t react to my security PIN. So I now simply stay outside of the user interface. My assumption is that the update was successful but—being just an OTA update—it didn’t delete these temporary system files that are still blocking my device.

Question is whether I should try to delete them with “fastboot erase system”, “fastboot erase data” and “fastboot erase cache” and to replace them with fresh images from the Zip-file. Or to use the way via a factory reset or maybe the Web Installer, as the Murena helpdesk now suggested. Probably I’ll try the official way first, because I don’t want to do any procedural mistakes.

Oh, and @aibd, I don’t mind about the few data I still have. But I’m rather tenacious about bringing this phone back to life. Thanks for asking.

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(Probably @piero and I would not do this) but Customer services will be watching your progress so I recommend what they say. eosinstaller will Format data, fully overwrite previous versions and leave the phone clean.

Firstly you MUST use the recommended browser and it must be fully capable of WebUSB. You can check in advance if your chosen browser needs any security settings relaxed for WebUSB to work. eosinstaller will fail safe before the start of flashing if the browser cannot do this job.