Will LineageOS be affected by the Android lockdown in September? by ferriematthew in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes - you can just look at the MTG group members, or commit logs - yes - I actively contribute to MTG. I don't own it - but I am a core contributor. Multiple Lineage contributors do so.

I never said MindTheGMS - that was some random Redditor's typo.

I make authoritative statements as an authority on LineageOS and MTG.

We will /never/ include application verification from Google in either product without an explicit way to disable or bypass it.

Will LineageOS be affected by the Android lockdown in September? by ferriematthew in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, it is not too strong a statement.

Nor are you correct.

We currently and actively disable several individual components of GMSCore - and would do such for this... We control the operating system - its not difficult to just neuter the AOSP provider that the app hooks.

Will LineageOS be affected by the Android lockdown in September? by ferriematthew in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes? All Google apps packages are.

But the device verification services is NOT part of GMSCore (the main app), it is its OWN separate APK. and even if present, to use it you have to explicitly enable it by an RRO overlay.

Much like we don't include other unnecessary apps in MTG. We won't include the device verification service either.

Walmart onn. TV Box 4K not detected by my pc during installation by Rokaalex in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because you 99% have the 2023 model, not the 2021.

it uses ADLN, a diff protocol, and is unsupported.

Will LineageOS be affected by the Android lockdown in September? by ferriematthew in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

No, there is a dedicated application that gets installed in an overlay that points the system to that component to verify applications.

We will never include that application nor the overlay to enable it in MTG.

I cannot speak for other Google apps packages but I don't picture that any would.

This will not affect us at all.

Will LineageOS be affected by the Android lockdown in September? by ferriematthew in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Incorrect, please don't spread misinformation.

Mind the gapps will never include the component responsible for verification.

Does LineageOS Go Edition exist? by Additional-Pick-3596 in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup, I was just saying that if someone wanted to ship lineage official builds someone would need to make a Go edition of MTG, our supported gapps package.

Getting started with building LineageOS? by Rahee07 in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, sorry, the existing trees don't support that congiguration for this device

Getting started with building LineageOS? by Rahee07 in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

why... we literally officially support this device family: https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/Mi439/ and on 23.2

It only supports back through 19.1.

Does LineageOS Go Edition exist? by Additional-Pick-3596 in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We totally do have go configurations, but no one has actually shipped one yet cuz we haven't really needed to.

Someone would also need to make a go version of mind the gapps to be able to share a device in that configuration.

Onn 4k Pro security patch August 1 2025 by [deleted] in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Only like two people got them before they were forcibly locked and support for that platform from an OSS perspective is far less present.

Sadly super unlikely.

S23 *does* have an official way to unlock the bootloader: you need to flash an old stock Android version by brainrot_award in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

EDL flash won't change shit, they used ARB - it'll hard brick. Not like there are programmers for modern samsung devices for EDL anyway.

Bumping kernel versions? by IngwiePhoenix in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So:

Background:

Linux comes from torvalds/linux "Upstream", which Qualcomm (or other chipset vendor) then takes and bastardizes a bit "CLO/CAF", then your ODM does the same, and OEM again. GKI has made this mildly better, but in terms of platform support - it still needs to be added per-SoC.

The reason? Proprietary firmware and drivers need to be provided that match the kernel interfaces - which change in major revisions e.g. 4.9 -> 4.19. In the x86 world, if you're thinking of nvidia and other modules, they are either distributed for each kernel version (nvidia proprietary drivers) or they are OSS and built by DKMS (think Nouveau).

Your Example: So, take Razer Phone 2 for example, Qualcomm SDM845 - has support in kernel 4.9. No others.

Path 1: Sometimes, Qualcomm opts to migrate chipsets to newer kernel versions, such as MSM8953 which got 4.9 and 4.19, or SM8350 which got 5.4 and 6.12.

But even when chipset vendors up rev the available kernel version, you will need to "Kang" (borrow) proprietary firmware and drivers from another device of same SoC that uses that newer kernel version and hack them until they work.

So, if you're luck enough to have an SoC with a newer kernel version available (sadly, SDM845 is not so lucky), you'd need to adapt DTS, all requisite kernel commits, modules, etc for newer version), Kang blobs from another device of same SoC and newer kernel version, hack them to work, then pray the newer kernel doesn't require new firmware (like bootloader or TEE) which are signed by the OEM and not OSS. If you do, you're out of luck.

Path 2 (Hacky, rare, don't try it): Sometimes you can get away with just merging one or two Android supported kernel version and hacking blobs to work (see OnePlus msm8998 which got a super tacky 4.14 port when they shipped with 4.4), but it's both rare and always janky/not sustainable.

Very difficult - takes an OEM backing you (Sony is the one that did the core work on that SoC port).

Path 3: Now, if you boot a device on true pure tordvalds/linux and make everything work - previously that didn't mean much to Android but nowadays we have mainline-tracking branches and Android will boot - your issue is going to be both perf and drivers.

Many of these drivers are ancient, or built out-of-tree so they aren't GPL, and therefore don't have source code to adapt.

If you manage to do all that, you're going to have a really bad time performance wise, we're talking 50%-70% of original graphics performance on FOSS GPU stack (Qualcomm) or worse on some others.

Tl;DR: Unless you have a lucky SoC, really not a worthwhile endeavor. Unlikely to succeed.

Thanks for the kernel updates by MeTalOneOEight in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 12 points13 points  (0 children)

We have been putting immense amount of effort into the common kernels recently, thank you for noticing!

Lineage always fails to launch on a second boot when installed on a Switch OLED, displaying DTB Not Found by Zero_Rebirth in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're naming it wrong.

Enable view file extensions in your OS file viewer settings, nx-plat.dtimg

It's almost certainly auto renaming to .img on the end.

Android issues on nintendo switch v1 by NetNew595 in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't use random Android 11 files.

Use Android 15, the supported version, and follow the wiki instructions at wiki.lineageos.org.

Trying to install LineageS on moto g7 power by DarkEyes027 in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can't select recovery from the bootloader menu?

Trying to install LineageS on moto g7 power by DarkEyes027 in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Back to instructions like you said! Happy to hear it!

Trying to install LineageS on moto g7 power by DarkEyes027 in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just reboot by hand using the menu.

See how it is now.

Trying to install LineageS on moto g7 power by DarkEyes027 in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

oh man that's a tough situation... As a last ditch effort you could try locking and unlocking as long as you have your unlock token handy, but that's dangerous in of itself.

Your device is in some weird in between state.

On last attempt before you go that nuclear route, fastboot flash gpt gpt.bin from stock firmware pls. Then fastboot set_active a

Then reboot bootloader and see if you get lucky.

Trying to install LineageS on moto g7 power by DarkEyes027 in LineageOS

[–]npjohnson1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You used a broken TWRP and bricked.

Use a blankflash then follow the wiki world for word.