Database Users

[Q] I Want To Play Too!

Okay, I'm trying to get in the Sailfish game here. I bought a broken Xperia Z and brought it back to life just to find out the bootloader is unlockable. I'm SO angry because Virgin Mobile is refusing to unlock it because I'm not a customer (nothing wrong with the IMEI, I checked). Anyway, this has just doubled down my sheer determination to get out from under the carriers foot.
So I want to play too. I already gave my info to sledges and said I could help with documentation (I was told to hold tight). BUT since that Xperia is dead to me I wanted to know if I should go pick up a Nexus 4 and help with that adoption (install and test), or should I go get something else like a Moto G or a Nexus 5 and start playing. Where would I be the most help to the community?
Thanks,
Dinsdale247

Sounds like Nexus 4 and the Samsung S3 LTE are getting all the love, I was planning to get the Jolla phone, but after I found out the Nexus 5 was about the same price, with much better specs, and the fact that it is one of the most open phones you can get, I was looking at putting sailfish on it when it becomes available. I was actually surprised that work started on the Nexus 4 and not together with the Nexus 5, I guess no one whose porting has one.
It depends on what you're looking for in a phone, or if you just any phone that you can get the Sailfish OS on.
I would help with porting Sailfish to Nexus 5, but I have exams coming up, and no experience with porting.

There is a reason Nexus 4 is getting the attention.
It all comes back to the Hybris project. Many developers are using it as THE means to get ports jump started to Android hardware. Not only Sailfish, but Ubuntu Touch and Open Source webOS are contributing. Consensus seems to have been reached by the various developer communities that Nexus 4 and factory 4.2.2 offer the best hosting for modern hardware porting efforts with up-to-date spec and software stability on which to build.
IMHO, Nexus 4 is the clear choice for users in the field who want options. It's a stellar piece of hardware; yes there are more dynamically spec'd devices coming everyday, but mostly that capability is not being used for anything short of intense 3D gaming. If you want a solid phone that will have the spec to test unoptomized software Alphas and Betas this is a great unit and it has the radio hardware for near universal GSM access. The latest Android builds remain available, you can port Ubuntu Touch, you can (now) port Sailfish OS, you can add multi-rom capability and boot into Firefox OS... PLUS... a rumor has recently reached my ears that soon you will be able to port Open webOS to the N4...
What other phone is going to give you that many options? I say, Nexus 4, FTW baby!!! :highfive:

No support for Nexus 6P?

Hi
What is the reason for not supporting 6P?
I was slightly disappointed to only see 5X on the list.

The 6P is being worked on and is on pre-nightly status.
Look in the 6P Android Developement section for the OmniROM thread and read page10.
It may be a while for it to get the official tag, but you can already enjoy it.

Nekromantik said:
Hi
What is the reason for not supporting 6P?
I was slightly disappointed to only see 5X on the list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same reason as any other device might not be supported - maintainer either does not exist or is too busy.
I know someone was working on it, but I'm not sure where they are.
Back when Nexus devices were heavily subsidized, they were "insta-buys" for any developer to have a recent AOSP reference device. Once they stopped heavily subsidizing them with the original 6, many of us had to start asking ourselves, "Do we ACTUALLY want this device as anything other than a development reference?" - which is why my latest Nexus device is a hammerhead. Too many of my Nexus devices would wind up just collecting dust.

Entropy512 said:
Same reason as any other device might not be supported - maintainer either does not exist or is too busy.
I know someone was working on it, but I'm not sure where they are.
Back when Nexus devices were heavily subsidized, they were "insta-buys" for any developer to have a recent AOSP reference device. Once they stopped heavily subsidizing them with the original 6, many of us had to start asking ourselves, "Do we ACTUALLY want this device as anything other than a development reference?" - which is why my latest Nexus device is a hammerhead. Too many of my Nexus devices would wind up just collecting dust.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's unfortunate.
6p is very good device. Much better then my HTC m9.

AT&T Phone Need assistance!

Fellow XDAers,
Hopefully someone here will be able to grab the information i need. I am a current user of a OnePlus 7 Pro phone.
OnePlus users are reporting terrible GPS reception in certain cases. Especially while using waze and other gps heavy apps like google maps.
XDA thread related to this issue! https://forum.xda-developers.com/7t-pro/how-to/oneplus-7t-pro-mclaren-edition-gps-t4017417
I was hoping someone with an AT&T branded Pixel device could upload their GPS.conf file, and any other GPS related information. I can give more specifics if you can help me out.
Why pixel 4? https://medium.com/@sjbarbeau/tl-dr-dual-frequency-gnss-on-android-table-of-devices-9be4bbb83a7b
Pixel 4 should have dual frequency gnss just like OneplusDevices and also uses a similar snapdragon chipset. If this works i may be willing to donate kudos .
This would be awesome if this helps alleviate the issue. I am thinking that a phone specifically set for AT&T network will have better GPS.conf settings than say my unlocked international OP7.
Thanks in advance!

I'll have mine on Tues. If you don't have accomplished I can help you out.

VoLTE

Having a vs995 my time has come. I didn't get the memo, and had to order a stop gap phone.
I have experience in reverse engineering hardened systems and was wondering if someone could help me approximate the effort required. This is my favorite platform to date. Last I did any android rev eng was the s4 mini (SCH i435). That phone was stolen. If someone can convince me that this would take 40 hours I'd humor it.
Otherwise... I've noticed the XCover Pro is still working for many even though Verizon killed a few on the 31st. I however don't see the CFW support rolling for that platform. I did put in for the Moto G Power, someone revived VoLTE on GSI and the battery procedure is reasonable. Thoughts? Suggestions?

OnePlus Nord N200. Pops apart like it was meant to be user serviced. Plenty of CFW support. Done.

Zz~ said:
Having a vs995 my time has come. I didn't get the memo, and had to order a stop gap phone.
I have experience in reverse engineering hardened systems and was wondering if someone could help me approximate the effort required. This is my favorite platform to date. Last I did any android rev eng was the s4 mini (SCH i435). That phone was stolen. If someone can convince me that this would take 40 hours I'd humor it.
Otherwise... I've noticed the XCover Pro is still working for many even though Verizon killed a few on the 31st. I however don't see the CFW support rolling for that platform. I did put in for the Moto G Power, someone revived VoLTE on GSI and the battery procedure is reasonable. Thoughts? Suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lg's implementation is odd with many frameworks needed from stock. With no documentation about their implementation, all you have to go off of is the stock rom files. It'll certainly be a challenge.

I realized as I started to dig. I need a phone by Monday so I found a compromise, the Oneplus N200. I still love my V20, it's still my favorite platform. Time permitting, I may revisit.

If I flash OREO custom ROM, will my Note 4 still represent as marshmallow in Play Store ?

Hi friends,
Background: I have DirecTV Streaming Service for my home because it offers 5.1 surround.
I HAD their mobile app on my Sprint Note 4 but before Sprint was purchased by T-Mo I was prompted to update the app in the Play Store.
When I tried a dialog popped up saying that my Android 6 Marshmallow phone was no longer compatible and that DirecTV Stream now required Android 7, Android 8 recommended.
If I successfully flash an OREO 8.1 ROM will the Play Store permit me to update my app or will they see that I am a Note 4 and deny me ?
And although YTTV/Hulu etc apps still work on Marshmallow they have poor audio for my home surround system .

No, it will only see the actual version of Android.

I actually flashed CRDROID Oreo 8.1 and was then able to download the latest apk from the playstore.
Installed and ran perfectly...
BUT, my WIFI connection repeatedly disconnected.
So did my bluetooth.
And my S-Pen was neutered.
Battery life abysmal.
Also, OREO was simply baffling to me.
Nothing like the Marshmallow that I am used to.
I wish that there was a way to "spoof" my android version and APPEAR as Nougat 7.
The Note 4 itself proved that it can run the app A-OK.
When Sprint died I just assumed that the latest Samsung offering would be better than my 7 year old phone.
So I bought a brand new A52 in August 21.
$450.00 wasted.
I hate it.
Stupid aspect-ratio results in black bands while streaming.
The display IS an inch wider (in landscape mode), 6.7 inches vs 5.7 inches.
BUT, considerably shorter (in landscape mode) which translates to LESS screen area.
As a result, typing is nearly impossible on the diminished keyboard.
No replaceable battery.
No S-Pen.
Overall, a big step BACKWARD !
<rant off>

Maybe try https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...experience-pie-trlte-tblte-trlteduos.3925885/ (PixelExperience 9)?
There are tons of roms and at least 1 will suit your needs

traman124 said:
Maybe try https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...experience-pie-trlte-tblte-trlteduos.3925885/ (PixelExperience 9)?
There are tons of roms and at least 1 will suit your needs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks pal...I have only flashed the OREO I mentioned so I am a very green newbie.
I have seen positive comments about Pixel so I will give it a shot.

Android 9 > 8. Any apps for 8 will work on 9 (or 10 and 11 and so on)

Hi Gang,
I thought that I'd update my results for those who are interested.
I eventually got comfortable flashing the Custom ROMs/GApps and tried many variants from 7(Nougat) up to Lineage 18.1(Android 11).
I tried a Pixel Experience package with included GApps that was very nice but on THIS particular ROM the DTVS(DirecTV Stream) APK would not install.
I suspect that the very comprehensive included GApps somehow betrayed my device's true identity.
All the other ROMs that I successfully flashed permitted the installation of the DTVS APK and it streamed flawlessy on each of them.
I do not understand why Marshmallow 6.0.1 is no longer considered sufficient.
Anyway, in the end I was really enjoying CRDroid 10 but something I had not considered made this entire exercise moot.
My home has terrible cellular reception and WIFI-Calling is indispensible for phone connnections.
What I had not realized was that WIFI-Calling is associated with each carrier's customization and cannot be incorporated into Custom ROMs as it is closely held proprietary information.
And so I have returned to the stock T-MO ROM I started out with.
Like anyone else I must be able to reliably contact emergency services for police, fire, medical, etc.
So my current solution is to leave my Mint Mobile SIM Card installed in the Note 4 while I am at home.
And if I wish to stream DTVS(via cellular) while I am out and about I must transfer the SIM to my Huawei Mate 10 which runs EMUI 12 (Android10).
It lacks WIFI Calling so it cannot be my home phone, BUT, it streams DTVS perfectly on a nice 16:9 display (no black bands on each side).
Swapping the card is a hassle but it's the best option I could think of.
I hope other users can somehow profit from my experience.

Weird. The app is not looking for the phone model; it's looking for the Android version.

Correct !
I can only assume that the model and droid version are conflated since the Note 4 was last updated in 2015 (marshmallow 6.0.1) and no further updates were/are authorized.
And so if the app sees Note 4 it can only be 6.0.1 max.
Just guessing here.
I spent alot of time studying build.prop mods to spoof my version but that never panned out.

I feel like I need to restate this: it doesn’t care if you have a note4 and limit based on that. It only limits based on version of Android.
Weird that PixelExperience didn’t work….

Lord_Ligonier said:
Correct !
I can only assume that the model and droid version are conflated since the Note 4 was last updated in 2015 (marshmallow 6.0.1) and no further updates were/are authorized.
And so if the app sees Note 4 it can only be 6.0.1 max.
Just guessing here.
I spent alot of time studying build.prop mods to spoof my version but that never panned out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2016. That's when Marshmallow was released. 2015 was Lollipop

I Recently learned of a Magisk Module called "Hide Props Config"
that promises to fake my version...
How To Spoof/Fake The Android Version On Your Device​
How to Spoof/Fake the Android Version on your device
In this comprehensive guide, we will show you the steps to spoof/fake the current Android version on your device to an older one.
droidwin.com
Trying to understand how this might work to make MY android version masquerede as a newer version that would permit the installation of the DTVS APK.
It appears that having rooted via Chainfire that I would need to unroot and then start over with Magisk.
Something about the stock boot.img being patched creating an obstacle to the installation.
Has anyone successfully installed Magisk while previously rooted ?
I tried and the app installs but two critical buttons are grayed out at the bottom of the app.
SU and Modules.
Anyone ???