I installed lineage-16.0-20190823-nightly-FP2-signed.zip and it has rather severe problems, i.e.
Google Play Store is not there and I can’t find a compatible version.
My backup file I created from my Fairphone OS can’t be restored.
I can’t sync my data on it from the cloud, because the corresponding menu in the settings is completely empty.
I tried to find older versions than those nightly builds, as I was told that the OS 15 was more stable, but they seem to be removed, see here: https://www.lineageoslog.com/15.1/FP2
All the alleged dowload links are no more.
So, while I don’t mind if experimental versions exist, but is there any lineage OS out there that actually works in a stable manner?
LineageOS 16.0 is officially supported on the Fairphone 2 by the LineageOS community. There’s nothing more stable with regular security updates.
Nightly builds are just the way the LineageOS community operates, there’s no “stable” label.
15.1 was nightly builds only, too.
Where did you get the idea LineageOS would include Google Apps and services?
As @lklaus mentioned, you can just install them via https://opengapps.org.
I simply didn’t know that there actually are any Android OSs where you can’t install that one. Also I did NOT expect that anyone would compile an OS without something as essential as an App to connect to Google Play Store pre-installed. That’s like asking Ubuntu users to download the Software Center separately.
My phone is currently back at Fairphone OS (with all its freeze bugs back, too), but when I find the time and nerves to try again, I’ll try the gapps, if someone can tell me why the cloud syncing option in the Settings is empty.
Yes. If there was an Ubuntu fork coming without the default software center preinstalled, giving people who don’t like the default one the choice to install a different one out of several options available without having to get rid of the default one.
It’s not a bad thing solely because you didn’t expect it. Informed choices are key.
Can happen with automatically built nightlies. Informed choices again.
I rather meant stable when the OS is installed and running, but in hindsight my wording really wasn’t clear on this.
If a build doesn’t install or boot you’re right, that’s a catch of the system. I guess somebody will report when it works again. Until then … It is confirmed the 20190823 build works.
(There are occasional reports for installs of the LineageOS for microG fork here, but you can’t cross-install this with regular LineageOS.)
If you want to use the Google cloud, I would suppose the necessary parts would come with the GApps.
If you still want to try LineageOS with all the Google stuff …
Install the next LineageOS build that boots, or the confirmed working 20190823 one.
LineageOS isn’t a Google certified Android like Fairphone OS is, so to play it safe with your Google account, you want to have a look at Google’s device registration for the use of Google Apps and services on non-certified Android OSes … https://www.google.com/android/uncertified/
Are you implying that getting rid of one thing is a bigger deal than having to research how to install one of multiple options? Because I was blindsided by it, since I had no way of knowing beforehand that lineage is different from normal Android OSs in that key regard. That is one high hurdle for a user who merely wanted to try a more modern OS (based on Android 9 instead of 7) in the hopes of getting rid of a ton of freeze bugs that look like they could be memory-leaks in the OS (because they happen across all apps I tested that use animations or videos). lineage could simply ask the user during the initial setup which one should be installed if any and if any Ubuntu fork without SW center came out I would expect the same of them. There is a limit on how informed a user should be expected to be.
Yeah, that’s true. Luckily I didn’t lose anything important.
Well, if something like that can just happen (which I understand all too well as a programmer), then I believe it really would be a lot better to have occasional stable releases that went through more detailed testing (even if it’s just once or twice a year like Ubuntu). Or if you don’t have time for this, at least leave older versions online for more than one week and whenever a version happens to be more stable than the others, you can direct any user who isn’t interested in eternal experimentation to that one. I mean, if the boot bug isn’t fixed within one week you’ll have nothing but non-working versions for download.
Thanks for the links, I’ll try to find the time to try lineage again. For now I need to rest my nerves.
Well, it’s not that some weirdo just thinks not packing g-apps is a good idea. Not packing g-apps per default is a Google restriction. It’s only included in certified devices. But this is where the informed part comes in. There are alternative app stores that help you evade Google tracking, e.g. f-droid. So, it boils down to be cared for by using a certified device (I.e. Fairphone OS) or a free device (FP Open OS or LOS)
But regarding the Play Store … Google are pretty lenient as is with Open GApps and similar projects which in the end get people wary of the default Android ways to install Google Apps nonetheless, which is in the interest of Google.
And Google can’t forbid custom Android OSes as long as they keep Android Open Source via the AOSP (I suspect because it is partly based on open source components itself … Linux kernel and Java come to mind).
However, creating automated ways to install Google Apps and services would be legally problematic because they are a proprietary addition to the Android ecosystem and not Open Source and not free for everybody to distribute.
Android OS vendors (Fairphone being one of them) have a business relationship and went through certification with Google exactly to be allowed to preinstall Google Apps and services on their Android OSes.
The LineageOS community Open Source effort doesn’t have that. And I suspect they wouldn’t want that.
And if Google wanted, they could legally shut down projects like Open GApps or a LineageOS automatically installing Google stuff in no time.
Fork LineageOS then and do this. Perhaps your fork will be more popular than the original.
There’s a “LineageOS for microG” fork already because regular LineageOS didn’t want to conveniently integrate microG. Some microG enthusiasts just went and did this, and it’s awesome. (Disclaimer: I use that fork myself. )
So why not have your “LineageOS stable” fork? Go right ahead.
Okay, if there are legal reasons then that’s different. That makes the whole discussion about which way round is more cumbersome moot. And being informed DOES depend on how readily information is available.
The devs of course. It’s all about comprehensive tutorials, a nice Getting Started page and user-friendliness in general. The OSs popularity will depend on their decision. I can see that a lot has already been done in that regard, but if creating nightly builds means that some versions won’t boot at all, then maybe it’d be better to slow down the development a healthy bit to make more room for testing. Not every single update fixes crucial security issues and nobody in their right mind should try to slave-drive devs into burn-out. I don’t see any reason why you’d need a new nightly build literally every day. And if anyone wants faster development, then they could join the team, am I right?
It looks interesting, but since they have weekly builds, are they really more stable than trunk lineage? I mean, in theory weekly is better than daily, but since their newest version is from today, it doesn’t look like they took code from a few days ago and tested it any more rigorously than the devs on the trunk did. Or am I wrong on that account?
But it’s good that they have microG pre-installed. But does their implementation status mean that you can’t play any games in general or that you need to install a bridge to the Google play store? Implementation Status · microg/GmsCore Wiki · GitHub
Wait, is the reason why all builds that are older than one week get deleted a pure server cost issue? Because otherwise I can’t imagine why it would be more expensive to NOT delete older versions. Also if they have 7 FP2 builds, they can just replace 1-2 slots with stable versions.
Also, do all forms of criticism, even constructive ideas, automatically lead to someone saying I should program it myself and/or donate? I understand that reaction in case of bad-mannered people, but if you say it everytime anyone proposes anything you end up coming across as touchy. Feedback is important, even in case of free stuff.
A build is not required to have any changes … there are builds which are just new builds without any changes. It’s automatic after all.
Nobody’s driving anybody.
But of course we’re then back to why daily builds? Well, I personally feel like letting them do things their way, it’s their project and I’m profitting from it for free.
Hmmm … perhaps I even donated, but if I can’t quite remember, perhaps a(nother) donation is due .
Nobody claims it would be more stable.
I think they indeed just take a regular LineageOS build every week and automatically patch it with their own changes.
Which reminds me … the next LineageOS for microG build probably will not boot … will have to check.
I don’t know how accurate the given implementation status really is.
microG is always mimicking Google as good as it can, but you simply don’t use it if you depend on Google-dependent Apps working 100%. Treat it as a nice bonus if it works for a particular App. There’s no hurt in trying.
Even if you get an App to run with microG, Google can break this any day by changing things on their side again so microG’s mimicking doesn’t match anymore and has to catch up again. It happens.
This sounds so perfect for an internet law (examples), with a little luck you are first to it and you can name it.
“All forms of criticism, even constructive ideas, concerning an Open Source effort or project, if pursued long and/or adamantly enough, automatically lead to someone saying you should program it yourself and/or donate.”
Legit (no smiley, I mean it). “Sacrebleu’s law”?
Absolutely, and your feedback in this Fairphone community forum is valid and interesting, but it changes absolutely nothing regarding how the LineageOS project does things, because this here is not a communication channel that is supposed to reach the LineageOS project.
So I did set some pointers in the general direction. Silly me .
I agree, but I’m not making demands, I’m just giving feedback based on what Murphy’s Law did to me the 1st time I got around to trying one of their builds.
Then there was a misunderstanding. You see, further above I was saying that it’d be better to have occasional stable releases and you quoted it and responded to that by telling my about LineageOS for microG. Since you said that it’s awesome I naturally assumed that it’s awesomeness had something to do with it being more stable.
But thanks for checking out whether or not the new version boots. It’ll be super helpful to know in advance whether or not I can use it at all.
And if that law becomes Sacrebleu’s law, then the French are SO going to hate me for adding popularity to a word only used by fictional cliché french characters.
Thanks. And yeah, I suspected that, but after that ordeal I felt like giving feedback in addition to asking for help, and since I tried to combine lineage and FP2 I thought that either community would be fine.
@AnotherElk
I just now tried to install lineage OS with microG, I downloaded the oldest version 20180808 and twrp gave me error 7, so that one isn’t compatible either. I am having the worst luck right now. Which one do you have installed?
Error 7 should have nothing to do with the build.
Sounds rather like you didn’t wipe your previous OS or perhaps didn’t install a halfway current TWRP …
https://lineage.microg.org/ says “This ROM has few changes from the official LineageOS ROM, so you can follow the installation guide for your device on the LineageOS wiki.” … which would amount to this guide here …
Just follow the guide and use lineage-16.0-20190819-microG-FP2.zip (currently) with it instead of the regular LineageOS file.
20180808 is the last build of LineageOS 14.1 for microG, which was Android 7.1.
20180508 is the last build of LineageOS 15.1 for microG, which was Android 8.1.
LineageOS 16.0 for microG, which is Android 9.0, is the only currently maintained version.
Especially in transition to the respective next major Android version it is useful to have the older major Android version around for testing or for going back when something perhaps doesn’t work, so it’s rather nice they keep these around … but I guess it may look confusing for somebody just starting to get into this all.
Alright, thanks, I’ll try that.
It’s good to see that they keep old versions around in contrast to the main lineage project and it’s even better that they apparently didn’t upload a newer version, presumably due to the boot bug I guess.
I currently installed lineage from 2019-08-23 again, but before I could even try to download a play store I tried to get my bluetooth keyboard to run, but any URL I type in gets deleted again when I hit the enter key. That problem doesn’t happen with the virtual keyboard. It’s as if my enter key is mapped to a home button or something. Works fine in the calculator though.
Also you were right about the wiping thing. I thought I had wiped everything, but when I installed lineage, everything was still there and I got some Google Play Store crash-loop, so I wiped it again and formatted it for good measure.
Okay, it’s nice of you that you took the time to do that.
Also I just tested my phone for the freeze bug and sadly it happens with “lineage-16.0-20190819-microG-FP2.zip” as well, i.e. I open Telegram, go into some room, post a bunch of gifs and after 30 seconds it freezes. But at least with lineage I can still close the App. Fairphone 2 OS made me reboot the whole thing by pressing the power button for 10-15 seconds.
And I also verified that this bug does not happen with my old Yotaphone 2 (Android 4.3).
So, I guess now that I actually did everything you advised me to do, except for disassembling it, that means now is the time for contacting official support and getting the thing repaired.
On an btw: Today I received a new update for the Fairphone OS, too, and after I installed it I could no longer connect to my W-LAN. And the freeze bug was still there, too.
But thanks for all your time! You’ve been a great help!
There are alternative app stores that help you evade Google tracking, e.g. f-droid. So, it boils down to be cared for by using a certified device (I.e. Fairphone OS) or a free device (FP Open OS or LOS)
.
… will have to check.