Impossible to install system apps on Fairphone 3 and 4
Summary
- /e/ version: 0.9 (https://images.ecloud.global/dev/FP3/IMG-e-0.9-p-2020070161107-dev-FP3.zip)
- Device model: Fairphone 3 (FP3), Fairphone 4 (FP4)
- When it started to occur: when installing (flashing) /e/
- Reproducible with the last /e/ version: yes
- Reproducible with LineageOS: don’t know
As described on the forum, any attempts to install a system app (in this case, the F-Droid Privileged Extension) on a Fairphone 3 with /e/ fail (presumably this applies to any attempts to install system apps with this method). Neither the built-in LineageOS recovery mode nor TWRP work. The files are copied to the system partition, but do not show up when booting the phone normally.
Update: Same applies to Fairphone 4.
-
The device is unusable -
The bug is the source of a data loss or a big waste of time -
The bug concerns a third-party application -
The bug concerns security -
The bug concerns privacy
The problem
Steps to reproduce
- Boot to recovery mode
- Select “Apply update”
- Select “Apply from ADB”
- Use
adb sideload <ota.zip>
to install a system app (example: the F-Droid Privileged Extension) using an OTA .zip package
What is the current behavior?
Files are copied to the system partition (/dev/block/by-name/system_a
or /dev/block/by-name/system_b
) and remain there even after rebooting, but when booting the phone normally, the added files are nowhere to be found in /system/
and the system app is not installed.
What is the expected correct behavior?
The system app (example: F-Droid Privileged Extension) should be installed to /system/priv-app/
and be functional.
Technical informations
Relevant logs (adb logcat
)
Results of adb logcat
(after booting, not sure if there will be anything useful in there).
Solutions
Workaround
None known so far.
Possible fixes
For popular cases like the F-Droid Privileged Extension, implementing #1228 (closed) would make it unnecessary to install the app manually.