Following the previous attempt (successful) of installing the LineageOS described here, I decided to really change my previous phone from 2018 which last security update was 2020-06-01. The hardware was still working, but the lack of updates was really annoying, stuck with Android 10 and all security holes.
Candidate phone
My sister had a One Plus 6T in a drawer collecting dust. She wiped it and gave it to me, nice!
LineageOS on the One Plus 6T
LineageOS supports so many (and old) devices it’s amazing. The One Plus 6T corresponds to the fajita release and builds are here.
Installation
The 8-steps instructions are clearly described in the wiki.
Using the OxygenOS from OnePlus, I had to update from Android 10 to 11 as asked.
After activating the USB debugging, I had to add my login to the plugdev group while it was not necessary for the Samsung S5.
usermod -aG plugdev loginHad to restart the laptop, check you are part of this group with id.
All commands are run as root.
Unlock OEM
After rebooting in proprietary recovery:
The following commands:
fastboot devices
fastboot oem unlockare super fast:
Result:
Install lineage recovery
fastboot flash boot.img
Check that after rebooting in recovery mode that you have the LineageOS recovery:
Then select Apply update on the phone using volume Up/Down and Power to confirm. On the laptop, sideload the main lineage image, 2 accessories and MindtheGapps if you want to keep Google Play.
To use the right architecture and Android version (13 here).
I am not sure what the dtbo and vbmeta images actually are but I did follow all steps.
adb -d sideload lineage-20.0-20240116-nightly-fajita-signed.zip
adb -d sideload dtbo.img
adb -d sideload vbmeta.img
adb -d sideload MindTheGapps-13.0.0-arm64-20231025_200931.zip
and reboot system.
Aftermath
We started from Android 11, now we have 13. And we continue receiving updates (already one a week after this installation). Everything is working. The only annoying part is the Fingerprint reader which success reading rate is around 50%. Don’t know what is wrong, the sensor or the software treating information.
The bank apps are working, Luxtrust and so on as one friend was telling me that un-rooted ROM prevents usage of these apps.
While installing messaging apps, it was interesting to see the different levels of security for restoring/transferring accounts.
- Signal It is not allowed to have the app working on both phones using the same phone number. It makes sense, even if I have only Wifi on the old phone, it could be used to send messages but not with Signal. A procedure is proposed to transfer the content (contacts / messages / groups) from the old -> new phone using Bluetooth. It worked perfectly. Of note, all linked Signal Desktop were un-linked and I had to re-link them using the new phone.
- Telegram Very little security. On the new phone, installed the app, received a confirmation by SMS and that’s it. All chats were restored, and the old phone can still be used along with the Desktop apps.
- Simplex Chat This messaging app is nice as it does not require any account. Transferring data was feasible, I had to archive an archive with a passphrase, copy over this file and restore the database after unlocking it with the passphrase.
Each boot is showing this warning, I gladly ignore.
Edit: Android 14
LineageOS offered on 2024-02-16 the upgrade to Android 14, called LineageOS version 21. I did it, and it was smooth. No data loss, no settings lost. The phone is still working fine. I followed the instructions for adb sideload and it worked.
What’s next?
Getting rid of Google Play. Or Google account altogether. Next goal is to try CalyxOS and the Aurora store. I have restored some security with LineageOS but no privacy since I kept Google Play.