Google Apps can't be reinstalled

Help Fairphone 1
82

Hi Kephson,

thanks for trying out! Hopefully there will still be an easier way…

83

Ok, this is for now the only working methode of getting GAPPS and 1.8.5 working on a FP1 model having gone the manual 1.8.5 FP1U route.

Beware Only use this method if you are absolutely sure you are fine with flash your phone using SP Flasher!
Warning Only use this method after a BACKUP! (or if you already used the Recovery route, in which case you probably wiped your data partition anyways…)

To get you kickstarted, you need:

Then:

  • connect your phone while in recovery mode to your PC (it should install the MTK6589 drivers, if not see bottom of this post)
  • Unzip both sp flasher and binaries
  • power down your phone and take battery out
  • start SP flasher
  • Use scatter-loading button (right, 2nd button) to load scatter file from 1.6 dir (MT6589_Android_scatter_emmc.txt)
  • Press Download button (top of screen)
  • After you press download, connect phone to pc by cable, THEN insert battery WHILE pressing volume UP
  • SP Flasher should now see your phone and start flashing

After you see the big green completed sign, disconnect your phone, reboot phone!
Then go ahead and connect to wifi but skip everything else.
Go to FP updater, it should say v1.6 and offer you the 1.8.5 update.
Go ahead and update.
After reboot, V1.8.5 wants you to connect to wifi again and offers to reinstall gapps.
After reboot Google wants your account settings.

DONE!

Now reinstall apps from backup or play store and enjoy 1.8.5 with gapps on a FP1 Unified Partition!

Offtopic: I think something still needs fixing, because I now have a recovery that is not accepting my external SD, that didn’t magically go away…)

Driver: if your pc doesn’t install the MKT6589 divers and you don’t have them, the original post points to http://d-h.st/p3m but I recommend http://gleescape.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/MT65xx_USB_Driver.zip. I didn’t need this driver package, but if you do: I recommend manual installation of the driver (by letting windows detect the device and the going to the x64 or i86 dir and pointing to the driver, instead of using the dodgy installer that is in the first package). My preferred source for the drivers (on gleescape) doesn’t come with an installer which is fine. Right-click the android_winusb.inf file and select Install from the windows popup menu.

UPDATE: Thanks to @Kephson there is a slightly quicker option that he used: you need the scatter file he posted in Google Apps can’t be reinstalled and the 1.8.5 binary image FP1U. This will save you 1 step: you’re flash directly to 1.8.5 and don’t need to update ‘twice’. I haved used this myself and you need to trust him in giving you a correct scatter file. Other than that it is one step quicker.

10 Likes
84

Ah, nice, this is the other way.
I flashed the version 1.8.5 and made my own scatter file with the Mtk Droid Tools.
Then installed the Google Apps and all was ok.

1 Like
85

My history:

  • I was on 1.8 with the partition hack -> intern storage to 4GB

  • tried to update via update app

  • failed with update app - have been in the google apps loop, but have been stuck on 1.8

  • manually updated with the storage unify version (I only used the .zip with the storage unify thing, not both in my collomn - maybe that was to much thinking?!)

  • manuall update sucessfull. Update app shows that I am on 1.8.5, all data lost (but I backed them up before) and unified storage

  • stuck in the google apps loop

  • try to install 1.6 again to change something on the situation. Update app doesn’t care about my wish - stayed with 1.8.5

  • tried to manually install google app store. Succeed in installing it, but the app closes imediately after opening it. Tried some versions of the play store to maybe find a compatible one. failed.

  • got ready to meet a friend, have some fun instead of being frustrated :smile:

  • now hoping for a solution :smile:

86

Ok so to summarize you all installed manually (or tried to install google before the upgrade was complete - @therob and @vitorvasconcelos did you then finish the upgrade via updater app/manually? Sorry if I missed those posts.) and most of you didn’t have a (the official) unified storage before upgrading (wich is why most of you couldn’t use the updater app.

@anon12454812, @Techaddict, @Marco I believe the storage updater that you pulled might not be the problem (or at least it works for people who successfully updated via updater app, maybe you should instead pull the manual update files and find a different solution for those users who can’t use the updater app?

PS: And obviously there also has to be a solution for above quoted people who allready installed manually and are in the GAPPS loop. (The only humble solution I can provide is: Try [living without Google!][1] It’s really fun and gives you a warm feeling in your chest :sunny: :blush: )
[1]: Alternative Apps(tores): Living without Google (FP1)

1 Like
87

Well, what to do now?

  • Living without Google is not really possible for me, because in fdroid - which I use also - aren’t all the apps I need/want to have.
  • downgrading to 1.6 (how do I do this) > unify the storage with this storage tool (need of backup etc) > upgrading to 1.8.5 and hoping it will work?
  • or: downloading a GAPPS.apk somwhere what will do the job (as far as I see it this hasn’t worked for anyone yet
  • or: getting an better GAPPS updater from Fairphone as @Marco promised yesterday

I’m anyhow a little bit confused about the speech of “official” allowed by the fairphone company and not. I’m slighty remember this postcard sending with the phone (http://tinyurl.com/p5vszy2) and think I really own my phone because I can go root… and partion it as I want to have it…

88

I think some people with the same problem have tried this and it didn’t work either.
Better wait for an official solution by the (small) Fairphone crew. I’m sure they are working hard to solve this problem.

1 Like
89

Hi Paul,

I believe you missed me, and I don’t exactly get you.

According to my understanding of their posts, at least Megalies and vitorvasconcelos have upgraded same way as me. Why do you come to the conclusion that we have tried to install google before the update was complete? We have run “1.8.5 Storage Upgrader”, I believe it finished successfully, and then afterwards no further install of whatever OS or GAPPS was possible. For me, I had the official old partition layout before, so I expect that official Storage Upgrader must run successfully and this way must be supported.

We didn’t use the Updater App, because it didn’t show anything new so far. And, according to Fairphone’s official mail from before yesterday (Monday), the Fairphone Updater App was starting to show an update only by yesterday! But we have all upgraded already on the week-end.

Your proposed solution to live without Google is nice, and I do a lot, but it is still not appropriate at this point, because there are use-cases why it makes sense.

Best regards, Alexander.

1 Like
90

I don’t really understand how I could have tried to install Google before the upgrade was complete? I mean I may have done but if that’s the case it means the process is confusing.

For me, yes, I had manually altered my partition but this caused me no problems on upgrading to 1.6 or 1.8. [The only major issue I ever had with 1.8 was the SD card was continually ‘dropped’ somewhere, which meant I couldn’t have any SD-loaded apps on my home screen.]

So for this upgrade I tried to go to 1.8.5 via updater and it downloaded it then before hitting ‘restart’ I was told something like /cache full and then when I tried ‘restart’ I got file not found: /cache/fp_update_21.zip

I tried restarting and clearing the updater’s cache and data but this had no effect. I even stopped the updater.

I then decided to try to downgrade to 1.6 first but I had exactly the same cache issues.

Next I backed everything up and did a full factory reset. Still it didn’t work.

So I decided to use the manual option and put myself back to 1.6. Then I attempted to update from 1.8.5 at this point, but still the Cache issue. This meant I decided to update to 1.8.5 via manual, following this page:

https://fairphone.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/202478028-Manually-install-Fairphone-OS-software-update-version-Kola-Nut-1-8-5

I elected to download the Storage Updater 1.8.5 since I hoped to avoid the issue with the SD Card ‘dropping’ and removing apps from my home screen.

I did this installation and then I found I *still had the cache issue for Google Apps. Someone on here mentioned the ‘signature verification’ thing, so I followed the first process on that, which was to use the Recovery to wipe and format the cache. This failed to make any difference, so here I am.

Fundamentally, I am not okay with no Google because I cannot use Winamp + Last.FM to note what I listen to (I like statistics) and because my family use Google Hangouts to communicate and because my wife and I use Instagram to send pics of our daughter to each other or to our parents. These are things that are impossible without the Play store so far as I can see.

91

I am having issues with the upgrade to 1.8.5.

I have just let the installer do it’s thing. Not tried anything manually.

So I told it that it could update to 1.8.5. and restarted the phone and then did the same with google apps.

Now it is asking me to do this all again and there are issues with the google apps and no play store etc.

any advice?
Thsnks

92

@therob and @vitorvasconcelos tried installing google after the pre-update (updater app) and before the full update. You didn’t. (You just have a similiar username :wink: )

1 Like
93

@farkinator what’s your partitioning situation? (did you do the unified partition upgrade in 1.6, in 1.8.5 (or do you have the FP1U wich came with a unified partition), do you still have “internal storage” and “phone storage” or did you do a custom partitioning?

94

It is just what came when the phone arrived. I’ve not changed this.

I am wondering if the issue was that I didn’t do the pre updater. I wasn’t given the option for this. I did however upgrade from 1.8 rather than 1.6…

Thanks

95

Hi Paul,

could you please shortly explain again the term “pre-update”? I ran the 1.8.5 Storage Upgrader. So far, I didn’t get an answer to my question if this contains a full 1.8.5 system or not. After doing so, no further install of any OS is working, so I cannot continue with a possible “upgrade is complete”. Also the Fairphone Updater App shows, I am on 1.8.5. So, am I or not?

Best regards, Alexander.

96

I did not complete the update process yet - because I am afraid of it after reading a lot of threads here … :wink:
I will first check if my backup procedure (TitaniumBackup and Nandroid) are well done before continue.

For the moment I am fine with Cherry 1.6 + PreUpdate 1.8.5 + without playstore symbol but with working google account (maps, calender sync…)

All my update processes are done via the FP Updater and no UnifiedStorageUpdate performed until no. Will do this after 1.8.5 update is successfull + full Backup done again.
Cheers, Robert

97

That is strange. Did you follow the interactive tutorial? If so at what point did things run differently for you?

98

That’s the first step of the update where you update the updater app.
If you ran the 1.8.5 storage upgrader you must have allready been on 1.8.5 with a updated updater app, otherwize you wouldn’t have had that option (i think) unless you installed this manually?

Thats a good choice! :smiley:

99

Paul, this interactive tutorial shows that “Pre-Update” is an icon in the Fairphone Updater App. But since according to a mailing from Fairphone, this updater App was detecting a new OS only since yesterday, many cannot have it, but must have used the manual install guideline. And here, no “Pre-Updater” exists, but a Storage Updater, and a “real” version. The question is: Are they unique, and you need just one package out of them, or you need the Storage Updater and another package? If the latter, then my install and of everybody else (I assume) is incomplete. Otherwise for many I believe it is complete.

100

Oh, I didn’t know you were talking about the manual update.
I’d guess you first have to install the OS and then the Storage Upgrade, but I don’t know.
@anon12454812?

101

I never saw Pre-Update appear in the updater app. I presume that’s because I was at 1.8 already. maybe.