This thread will be about my current path to a new phone. My old stock OnePlus 5 stopped charging and I got offered XA2 for $100. Besides missing AMOLED I like the phone and the 17.1 comes signed for it. I got it and now I am writing down what I am doing with it in this thread.
The focus will be whether Lineage OS is much better than stock android and comparable to devices with greater care (iPhone SE, Samsung S series, Samsung A series, Google Pixel, OnePlus)
I will try to keep it like a blog and a guide with enough source links.
Follow if you are interested in:
- Android battery life
- Low data usage
- practical tricks
Status:
- phone is home and so far running great
- running Fedora on my workstation
- New 128GB SD is being bad-blocked right now (single pass you lifespan geeks)
- Working from home every day now, so I have time to play and type it up.
Using it as daily driver for 2 weeks:
- Already exceeded my expectations.
- I think this phone and Lineage OS is comparable if not better than Samsung A series and I hold A series well above generic Android phones.
- Comparison with Samsung S series will be tough due to limited HW. Still I am actually comparing it and that is a good sign.
- Already ebtter than my experience with old SE, probably cannot match experiences with new iPhone SE. But clsoer than comparison with S series.
Current sentiments
- Do not buy a phone without support from Lineage, unless the own manufacture is proven to provide same care. (e.g. iPhone 7 or 8, Samsung A series older than 2020 and generic Android)
- Fears of not being able to run things are disappearing. You will see more notes here.
Day 1: Installing Lineage OS - adb, fastboot makes it pretty easy
This is not as good as the original guide, but it might serve as a feedback to those struggling.
Sources:
- https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/pioneer (2020-09-22)
- https://download.lineageos.org/pioneer (2020-09-22)
- https://opengapps.org/?api=10&variant=nano (2020-09-22)
- https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=8889791610682929240 (2020-09-22)
- http://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/unlock-yourboot-loader/
Basic requirements:
- Install adb and fastboot
sudo dnf install android-tools.x86_64
- List attached devices:
adb devices
List of devices attached
CQ3000QVAH unauthorized
- Confirm on phone…
- List attached devices:
adb devices
List of devices attached
CQ3000QVAH device
Unlocking the boot-loader
Sony does offer the codes online and I had no issue getting it for the first SIM slot.
Your unlock code for 123466092185949 is: 1234FC34B2E9D42
adb reboot bootloader
sudo fastboot devices
CQ3000QVAH fastboot
- sudo fastboot oem unlock 57FBAFC34B2E9D42
OKAY [ 1.275s]
Finished. Total time: 1.275s
Downloading build:
Recovery and the image, including SHA checksum
wget https://mirrorbits.lineageos.org/recovery/pioneer/20200917/lineage-17.1-20200917-recovery-pioneer.img
wget https://mirrorbits.lineageos.org/recovery/pioneer/20200917/lineage-17.1-20200917-recovery-pioneer.img?sha256
wget https://mirrorbits.lineageos.org/full/pioneer/20200917/lineage-17.1-20200917-nightly-pioneer-signed.zip?sha256
wget https://mirrorbits.lineageos.org/full/pioneer/20200917/lineage-17.1-20200917-nightly-pioneer-signed.zip
sha256sum -c *sha256
lineage-17.1-20200917-nightly-pioneer-signed.zip: OK
lineage-17.1-20200917-recovery-pioneer.img: OK
Downloading GApps:
Links are in sources, 10 and Nano was recommended to me.
wget https://kumisystems.dl.sourceforge.net/project/opengapps/arm64/20200918/open_gapps-arm64-10.0-nano-20200918.zip
wget https://master.dl.sourceforge.net/project/opengapps/arm64/20200918/open_gapps-arm64-10.0-nano-20200918.zip.md5
md5sum -c *md5
open_gapps-arm64-10.0-nano-20200918.zip: OK
Downloading copy-partitions:
This requires firefox due to the mirror, afterwards:
mv ~/Downloads/copy-partitions-20200903_1329.zip ./
echo c51c52fc294bc989fbf37d7a287292eb copy-partitions-20200903_1329.zip > copy-partitions-20200903_1329.zip.md5
md5sum -c copy-partitions-20200903_1329.zip.md5
copy-partitions-20200903_1329.zip: OK
Flashing recovery:
- sudo fastboot flash boot lineage-17.1-20200917-recovery-pioneer.img
- Unplug, lights turn off.
- Hold power and volume down, release on sony logo
- Plug the cable once in recovery.
- adb devices
List of devices attached
CQ3000QVAH unauthorized
- Advanced -> Enable ADB
- adb devices
List of devices attached
CQ3000QVAH recovery
Installing the image:
adb sideload copy-partitions-20200903_1329.zip
adb sideload lineage-17.1-20200917-nightly-pioneer-signed.zip
- Advanced -> Reboot to recovery and get to the of sideload ADB again
adb sideload open_gapps-arm64-10.0-nano-20200918.zip
- In recovery select:
Reboot system now.
Problems:
- I managed to reboot the device to original recovery and it showed a warning about corrupted system. Just boot into lineage recovery again from fastboot
- Recovery is not available from bootloader while cable is connected. This took me a while.
- Holding the recovery shortcut too long causes the recovery to exit itself and you have to start over.
- Lineage starts before flashing the GApps - repeated the process.
First impressions:
- First boot was smooth.
- Default brightness was low, but managable inside.
- Now I am ready to set my phone up again. Teaser: Termux, Company Portal…