Week 37, 2023: Development and Testing Updates

Release Information

v1.15

Status: :green_circle: Testing in progress

Issues fixes coming in this release

:nerd_face: Multiple builds will show up in the above build that is because there are multiple test builds created for each test cycle.

:point_right: See section marked ā€˜Posting information on test buildsā€™ below

ETA: Mid September :crossed_fingers:

Some issues that were reported with current / previous builds

  • 16 devices which have missed updates since v1.11 will released the v1.15 builds.
  • Devices are Mi439 Mi8917 Mi8937 alioth apollon gauguin haydn kane kiev lisa lmi miatoll nairo nio onclite pyxis
  • A couple of users pointed out the crash of the updater on the FP4 post installation of v1.14 .The testing team were unable to reproduce the issue.The fix for the issue was to clear the updater cache and storage through either passing a shell command adb shell pm clear org.lineageos.updater or by running settings >> apps&notifications >> see all apps >> (enable system apps from options) >> Updater >> storage & cache >> clear storage >> OK

Contact Management has been centralized

  • All contacts will be moved from webmail to contacts app
  • New email address you send mails to will be added by default to the contact list. This default behavior can be disabled.
  • To sync Settings >> Accounts >> username@murena.io >> My Account >> Settings >> username@murena.io >> Three dots at top of screen >> Refresh Address book list
  • Check the post here for more details

Upcoming milestones / Releases

/e/OS T builds

Status : :green_circle: Build and testing

Team is working on adding firmware along with the T builds. This will make it easier for users to flash the builds without having to flash the stock ROM first.

  • First list of devices getting the /e/OS T build.
  • Builds will require manual download and installation by users. It is advisable to take a complete backup of data before any OS upgrade.

ETA : With v1.15 this month

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Upcoming releases

Status : :green_circle: Testing and development

  • Updated version of the Bliss Launcher
  • A tablet with /e/OS T. Tablet name will be shared once we have the go ahead from build team.

ETA: To be announced

:nerd_face: ETA: Estimated time of arrival - term used in software development to denote the estimated time when a product can be expected to be released.

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Previous 5 releases & user feedback

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:warning: Posting information on test builds

  • Please do not post information or links to /e/OS test builds on the forum.
  • These builds are as yet untested and under development and may in some cases cause user devices to soft brick.
  • Such information can confuse other users who do not see these builds in the updater.
  • Remember not all users who come to this forum are experts in installing and formatting custom ROMs and can end up seriously damaging their devices by trying out these test builds
  • If you are genuinely interested in helping with the testing activities and also understand how to fix and do some minor level of testing on custom ROMS, you are welcome to join the testing team
  • As part of the testing team you can share your comments on the dedicated testing telegram channel.

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Murena cloud updated to NC 25.0.8.19

Status : :green_circle: Released

Self hosting Murena cloud v 25.0.8.19

Status : :green_circle: Released

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How to check the NextCloud version šŸ¤“ You can find the complete documentation and current NC version under https://murena.io/settings/help >> NextCloud xx user documentation. The xx should show the latest version. - Another way to check the current version is to check the [NextCloud scan link](https://scan.nextcloud.com) and input https://murena.io this should display the current version number as well as the security level. > Please note if MurenaCloud patch number is not the same as the NC patch number, the rating would show up as bad šŸ˜ This is not exactly a problem. We do not immediately jump to the next NC patch as soon as it is released. We first test it and then set out with the deployment.

GSI

v1.14 :new:

Status: :green_circle: Released

  • Download here
    • Sources available here
    • version is /e/OS Q (A10)
    • S (A12) and R (A11) version of GSI yet to be planned. Awaiting developer availability
    • Frequently we see users complain about the GSI OS versions not being in sync with the ROM OS versions. As mentioned we do have developer bandwidth issues. If there are users who have development skills we welcome them to share their expertise and help speed up the process in the true spirit of an Open Source project.

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Roadmap for 2023 and beyond

Read this post where Gaƫl shares his vision on the Murena and /e/OS roadmap into 2023 and beyond

This is just a sneak peek into exciting news we would be sharing in the days to come.
For example ā€¦

  • The release of Fairphone FP4 in the US through the Murena Store was one
  • Fairphone 5 with /e/OS release

Subscribe to our newsletter to get the news first hand. All links available below.

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OS OTA upgrades

What OS OTA upgrade means

Usually for /e/OS ROMs to upgrade the OS you have to do the following

  • If available download the correct OS build from the supported device list
  • For some devices you also need to download the stock ROM from the vendor site.
  • Take a back up of your data
  • First install the Stock ROM
  • Next install the /e/OS ROM. Here you can take help of the install guides available on our documentation site.
  • If required apply the backups you downloaded before starting the whole process

An alternate to this tedious process is where we offer the user the option to upgrade the OS OTA. This option is available for stable device builds only.
This process is easy for the user but requires a lot of development and testing effort.

Different /e/OS build types

Completed
  • Gigaset: GS290 : Q (A10)ā†’ Android 11 (R)
  • Oneplus: avicii : A12
  • OnePlus : avicii : Q ( A10) ā†’ R (A11)
  • Fairphone: FP4 : R ( A11) ā†’ S (A12)
  • Fairphone:FP3 : R (A11) ā†’ S (A12)
  • Fairphone:FP3 : Q (A10) ā†’ R (A11)
  • Samsung: s7 / s7+ : Nougat (A7) ā†’ Q (A10)
  • Samsung: s9 / s9+ : Oreo (A8) ā†’ Q (A10)
  • Samsung: s8 / s8+ : Pie (A9) ā†’ R (A11)
  • Teracube: 2e / zirconia: Q (A10) to R (A11)
  • Teracube: emerald & zirconia : R (A11) to S (A12)
    • All OTA OS upgrades are on stable builds
Under Testing šŸ†•
  • Samsung: Galaxy S9/9+ : Q (A10)ā†’ R(A11)
  • Gigaset: GS290: R(A11) ā†’ S (A12)
    • All OTA OS upgrades are on stable builds

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Support dropped

Only one OS version per device

  • Support of multiple OS versions on the same device has been stopped
  • Upgrade your device to the latest OS version available.
    • For example, if /e/OS R (Android 11) builds are available for your /e/OS Q (Android 10) build, upgrade to the latest version which in this case would be A11.

Nokia devices

  • All Nokia devices

    • It is not possible to officially unlock Nokia bootloaders + lack of dedicated maintainer
  • Google

    • Google Nexus 7 2013 flox
    • Device has partition size issues. Not able to build /e/OS ROMs for this device even with minimal build

    :nerd_face: Minimal build is a setting in /e/OS build which removes the following default applications (LibreOffice viewer, PDFViewer, Maps and Weather)from the source code and builds a smaller version of the ROM.

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Check real time availability of /e/OS and related services websites
OS upgrade info specific to the FP3
  • The FP3 OTA OS update from Pie to Q/R is not possible as encryption method changed on FP3 between Pie and Q/R. It is not possible to change the method while updating.
  • The team spent a great deal of time on this, but has not been able to resolve this problem. For now, the manual process is the only way to upgrade the FP3 from pie to other OS versions.
End of official support for Nougat, Oreo and Pie šŸ˜ž Pie, Oreo and Nougat the official /e/OS support has ended.

Reasons for dropping official support are:

  • newly released applications like App Lounge, Advanced privacy code has not been customized for these OS versions.
  • lack of dedicated ROM Maintainers
  • no support upstream (Lineage dropped support for Pie sometime back)
  • device trees will continue to exist in the Gitlab and users with build skills can create custom ROMs on these builds
  • Security patches and vendor patches for the Pie, Oreo and Nougat code will be updated based on availability.

:nerd_face: Google stops security patches for OS after some time. Similarly, Vendors drop support for older models when they release newer models in the market. Then it depends on developers from various communities to backport the patches.

Device and Vendor specific Announcements

:loudspeaker: Gigaset GS290

  • We have stopped the sales of the Gigaset GS290 on the eSolutionsShop as the vendor has stopped production of the device. We will continue support for existing users.

:loudspeaker: Message being shared on the request of our vendor partners

  • Vendors whose phones we sell on our eSolutions Store do not directly sell /e/OS flashed devices.
  • The vendors only sell their devices with their own stock ROM.
  • To get pre flashed /e/OS phones, you have to purchase them from the eSolutions Shop.

:loudspeaker: /e/OS Pre flashed device sales

  • We sell directly in EU, US, Canada.
  • Find details of what devices are available in which countries here eSolutions Shop.
  • In Australia we do not sell directly. You can purchase preflashed /e/OS devices from this site

:loudspeaker: Murena One released
A phone from Murena with /e/OS installed has been launched and is available for purchase. Check the device specs here

Expect more device releases from Murena in future :grinning:

:nerd_face: Murena is the brand name and /e/OS is the operating system.

Different /e/OS build types

Check out this guide to understand differences between build types on /e/OS

/e/OS website and social media Links

Support

  • Facing issues with devices you purchased from us ? Send a mail with details to helpdesk@e.email

Websites

Telegram Channel

Social Media

Newsletters

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

8 Likes

e/os is supposed to be for everyone since version 1. Having to run command lines again to fix messed up updates is really not serious.

The next paragraph describes the GUI way. Sooooooo?

4 Likes

Will that (yet unknown) tablet be sold at murena.com?

Yes it certainly should

2 Likes

what are you refering to ?

@Jean-Philippe

is not running command linesā€¦

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@AnotherElk ok, thanks
out of that topic, i am still not shure to have undestand if there is a recovery manager available for the FP4 ?

Recovery should be available, but this has nothing to do with the issue and the fix described here.

This was pointed out by @Scytale already.

another way to update without updater and wthout command line

1 Like

Updating via recovery is undocumented on the Fairphone 4 for current /e/OS versions, updating in itself was not the issue, and the updater crashing after the update is fixable easily enough, it seems. Please keep in mind ā€¦

The FP4 will certainly be able to be upgraded to Android 13 in OTA mode.
After all, this is a device sold by Murena.
These have priority to be eligible for upgrades without reflashing the device.
This was already the case when it was upgraded to Android 12.

The Fairphone 3 was a device sold by the e foundation and couldnā€™t be OTA-upgraded from /e/OS Android 9 to 10 for technical reasons.
Just saying :wink: .

This would be problematic for the FP4, even for experienced users, as it would be necessary to unlock and then relock the bootloader, thus erasing all the data on the device.

Of course. And?
You canā€™t simply conclude from Murena selling phones that automatically every OTA upgrade to a new Android version will be possible. Murena is not immune to technical complications.

Sorry, I meantā€¦ for users.
I know the dev team is doing their best to make it possible and easy to use.
Still good hopes for next OTA upgrade though :crossed_fingers:

https://mastodon.social/@murena/111053112282436556

afbeelding

Iā€™m curiousā€¦ :smiley:

Well, there is a Tablet announcement missing which should be bundled with the new Bliss version in the next release. So i hope for that. But it will most likely FP5 in the regular shop

My guess is this :

like @GaelDuval mentioned in the roadmap for 2023

3 Likes