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Impossible to install system apps on Fairphone 3 and 4

Summary

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.

Edited by S M