GrapheneOS on the Pixel 4a - Step-by-step Installation Guide & Review
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- Опубліковано 23 сер 2024
- Hi everyone,
In this video I'll discuss about GrapheneOS, a security hardened, privacy focused, AOSP-based ROM. You will see a step-by-step guide on how to install GrapheneOS and also a full review of this very interesting custom ROM (exemplified on the Pixel 4a device). Enjoy!
Android Platform Tools: developer.andr...
GrapheneOS Official Guide: grapheneos.org...
GrapheneOS Releases: grapheneos.org...
Stay tuned, more videos on the Google Pixel 4a will follow - comparisons, custom roms, reviews!
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Thanks for this video. I now I have de-googled Google phone.
How is it going so far?
@@brokeitguyio I just got a 4a g5 last night, and would like graphene for security ..but loading the system is proving to be a challenge lol I'll figure it out tho. This video is helping
@@bro2603 Did you get through? And how hard was it? I'm a complete newb but I wanna learn to do this stuff.
Just did my first de-googled phone. Nice to have your video to refer to. I found the powershell terminal on windows better than the usual CMD. Now I just have to find some Apps!
F-Droid and if some mandatory apps are still missing you can give Aurora Store a go.
Another alternative is APKMirror.
Another ping for updates? Lol I'm a newbie at all of this but interested in trying.
FINALLY FIGURED OUT INSTALL:
This video did not work for me, the other video on YT with the young guy working on a pixel 3 was obsolete, and the other video with the guy with an accent was above my head because he didn't cover the powershell terminal situation, and I think he was showing a bunch of Linux stuff which I don't understand. Anyway, This installation is way easier than the official graphene website seems. The three key issues I had were: 1 - getting my windows 10 PC drivers correctly set for the Pixel 4a. 2 - understanding the "powershell terminal" situation. 3 - having a good USB cable to complete the flash. Once those are figured out, this install was easy peasy. Here are some notes:
My windows 10 PC could not recognize my brand new Pixel 4a. Additionally, there isn't just one driver that recognizes my device all the time. If device is booted up and running on the operating system, windows must have the "MTP USB Device" driver. Don't forget that when you plug your device in, it defaults to "charging only". You must tap the charging/usb notification, expand it, and choose "file transfer". I believe this must be done every time the device is plugged in.
When the device is booted to bootloader/fastboot mode, the "MTP USB Device" driver does not work to allow communication with the device (at least for me). Thus, once you've booted the device, allowed OEM UNLOCKING, allowed USB debugging, and set USB to exchange files, and restarted to fastboot with volume down/power - you'll need to update the device driver again in device manager to "ADB Debugging Interface". Both of these drivers are available if you select "browse this computer" then choose "select from list". Sometimes I had to search through the device list to find mine, but it always showed up somehwere, and was always named "pixel 4a".
To check proper connectivity: With device booted, you should be able to find your Pixel 4a, by name, under file explorer. Then you should be able to open the internal storage and see various folders. You should be able to cut/paste files both from PC to device, and then from device to PC. When phone is in fastboot mode, you can check connectivity by downloading the platform tools from androiddevelopers, extracting, going into the platform-tools folder, and opening a command prompt from within that folder. To open that command prompt, simply click on the directory address bar above, type "cmd" and hit enter. Once the command prompt window opens, if you issue command "fastboot devices", the device should immediately respond with it's serial number.
Once you've got the drivers arranged, and have verified connectivity both when booted up, and in fastboot mode, you can proceed with install. This is way easier than it seemed to begin with. Trickiest part is opening up an "instance of powershell". All you gotta do is go into file explorer, single click on your C drive, and in the directory address bar above, type in "powershell". This will launch a special command prompt window. From here, just copy/paste the commands in the gray boxes from the official graphene installation page. You'll need to read carefully, because some of the commands apply to Linux, some apply to Mac, and some apply to Windows. For windows, They are:
Remove-Item Alias:Curl
-PC should execute this command instantly and come back with the command prompt
curl -O dl.google.com/android/repository/platform-tools_r30.0.5-windows.zip
(Get-FileHash platform-tools_r30.0.5-windows.zip).hash -eq "549ba2bdc31f335eb8a504f005f77606a479cc216d6b64a3e8b64c780003661f"
tar xvf platform-tools_r30.0.5-windows.zip
-PC will go fetch the necessary platform tools from the official google source, and then extract them as needed. This will take a moment or two, but will complete by not issuing errors, and coming back with the command prompt
$env:Path = "$pwd\platform-tools;$env:Path"
-PC will execute this command instantly and come back with command prompt
fastboot --version
-PC should come back with with current version of fastboot. This also verifies all the above commands worked, and you've successfully fetched and extracted platform tools to the required directory and path
fastboot flashing unlock
-This should take a second or two, and now you'll need to confirm the unlock on your device. PC should immediately report back that you've been successful
curl -O releases.grapheneos.org/factory.pub
-I issued this command and the PC did something, but I don't think it's necessary because later, it is used for the "signify" command which didn't work right. The folks on the grapheneOS chatroom said the signify feature doesn't work correctly with windows. Can't elaborate more than this, I'm a rank amateur.
curl -O releases.grapheneos.org/sunfish-factory-2021.02.02.09.zip
curl -O releases.grapheneos.org/sunfish-factory-2021.02.02.09.zip.sig
-This will take a while, because it commands PC to go fetch the 1 gig system image file from graphene's server. The second file, the .sig one, I thin is unnecessary, again because it is meant to validate the image file, but windows doesn't do it properly. Nonetheless, I issued the command per the instructions. Be aware the graphene install instructions page uses the pixel 4a as an example. If you have a different device, the file names above will not be correct. You'll need to replace with the EXACT file names of the correct files for your specific device. They can be found on the "releases" page of grapheneOS
signify -Cqp factory.pub -x sunfish-factory-2021.02.02.09.zip.sig && echo verified
-I issued this command and got error messages. Again, folks in the graphene chatroom said this may not work on windows... so I disregarded the error
cd sunfish-factory-2021.02.02.09
-PC loads the file to directory, to prepare for flash. PC should immediately come back with command prompt
./flash-all.bat
-PC begins to flash the system image onto device. I tried this 5 times, and it failed each time. Took me a while to troubleshoot issue as a bad USB cable. While the cable could successfully cut/paste data files between PC and device, it just wasn't up to the task of flashing. Trying another USB cable solved issue. The flashing process will take a few minutes and end with a "flashing complete, hit any key to continue".
Another note on cables - the smart people say you should use a high quality cable with a USB-c connector on one end for your device, and a USB-A connector on the other end for your PC. No adaptors, switches or hubs should be used. USB-c to USB-c cables also not recommended. When you get a cable that properly flashes, you should put it aside, and you should hang it vertically, with no bends. Do not coil it up. Treat it with respect so you can rely on it in the future.
Now you'll just need to "start" your device and begin setting it up to your preferences. Good luck.
If you reply to this asking questions, I'll help as best I can, but I'm NOT an expert. I can't guarantee this is all perfect, but it worked for me at beginning of February 2021. I was proud of myself to have muddled through this and get it done successfully. Hopefully this helps others.
Hey thanks for your long explanation. Im using a pixel 3 but cant find the “MTP USB Device” driver when in OS mode. In fastboot mode same issue, it shows me “Android bootloader interface”.When I’m trying to update those im not possible of Finding the drivers that you stated.
@@enzo6517 If those drivers are not available to pick from list on your PC, go to windows driver update for them. The official installation instructions for Graphene, and the chatroom banter always suggests getting them that way. Usually though, it's the "ADB Debugging Interface" driver that is missing and must be acquired via the "optional update" choice of the windows update. That said, if you have the ADB Debugging Interface driver selected - the device should be responsive to commands from the command prompt, and the installation should be able to proceed.
This right here is exactly the information I needed. The only small difference in my case was that when I went to select the driver for the device in fastboot mode from device manager, I had to select "ADB device". But it got my bootloader unlocked holy shit thank you.
Hey, thanks. Does your method work in 3a XL?
This deserves more “thumbs-up”
Worked for me. Many thanks.
You're welcome!
Thank you so much for this video.
Still can't get past the boot connect and unlock bootloader steps
I'm in windows 11, updated drivers, downloaded SDK tools and the rest but no luck.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
Do you have root on a device after installing GrapheneOS?
At 18:20 you answered my question. I was impatient. :)
Worked. Thank You
Can I ask how youve found the camera after installing graphene? I am on the verge of purchasing the 4a but just want to know if its still a fairly decent camera afterwards. Im not after anything amazing and happy with some loss of quality but don’t want it to look like I took the photo on a phone from the 90s!
Also, I’m assuming you have open camera installed to improve it somewhat?
Yeah, it still is decent enough, definitely not on par with the Google Camera though. OpenCamera with CameraAPI 2 is your best bet on something decent on a custom rom such as GrapheneOS.
Phones in the 90s didn't have cameras.
>thinkpad
>Windows 10
why?
Choice, I thought he would be on Arch or maybe a debian based distro. Im playing around with FreeBSD
@@darren537 What's the appeal of BSD for you? I've looked into it, but I don't see the appeal, there's less documentation, less support for hardware, what makes you gravitate towards BSD? The only advantange I see from the outside looking in is the security that OpenBSD offers.
@@tylerdean980 I'm just getting my feet wet with Linux I'm only tinkering with it because the Kernel itself is becoming harder to maintain. I think its roughly two million lines of code added annually the problem I'm seeing it that the more code the more vulnerability. Its seemingly becoming too bloated too quickly unless something changes I foresee major issues within the next five years. I'm on the outside looking in really but based on the info I've received lately I don't like the look of it. I didn't know what open source was until last year but trying to find sources to teach myself Linux to help maintain it. I imagine my computer science class won't be of much help considering its probably going to be focused on windows and proprietary spyware.
@@tylerdean980 Most BSDs have better and more complete documentation than Linux distros so why do you say they have less?
Thanks for this review !
Hello , thank you for doing this type of video I hope to see more on the future .
I see that you have WhatsApp on this pixel I wonder is it "safe" and did you log with a number or there is other ways??
Thank you
Hi, am I right in thinking if I do this the awesome camera (best feature of the phone lol) will be lost?
You can still recover some of that by using a Gcam port
@@MikeTheTechSavvy how well does open camera work ?
didnt work for me under win 10 (wouldn't flash), had to revert to using Linux in the end which did work
Thank you much
Hi!, I am a Developer. Is it allowed to build that ROM from source for other devices?
I searched for their website but there's w lot of documentation...
I downloaded the platform tools and connected the phone then went to cmd and typed "fastboot devices." Nothing happened. It didn't recognize the phone. Any advice?
Likely have incorrect device drivers. For my Pixel 4a device and Windows 10, I need to update driver to "MTP Media Device" for the PC to recognize my device when it is booted up and running. However, when in fastboot mode, I must update the driver to "ADB Debugging Interface" to establish connection to the device. I think you can also achieve this by going to device manager and checking for updates WHILE device is in fastboot mode.
Theres an error that you can get saying that you need to update your fastboot, To bypas this right click and edit the flash-all file in notepad and everything above fastboot flash bootloader (basically the version line that starts initiating the flash process) delete it all and it avoids all checks for versions and works.
Hi when i double click flash all. bat in my platform tools folder. My cmd.exe boots up then instantly closes. unsure if I'm doing something wrong.
Getting same issue...
Same thing here anyone having a solution please ?
Did you find a solution to this?
@@socialchain820 I deleted this text imgur.com/a/dlP8Yhy
@@tworiverslad3774 Thanks for that, finally got it to work
I'm not sure where this is going wrong, but it isn't working for me. i've got the phone unlocked showing up in adb per the devices command with the March 6th GrapheneOS ROM and folder contents in the ADB folder. But when I double click on the flash-all batch file, a command window flashes on my laptop screen and then...nothing. The phone doesn't register any sort of change (but still shows up per the devices command in ADB) and remains in fastboot mode. I'm on ADB v 31.0 and using W10 x64, so that's not it. The one difference I can spot is that in your video, you have a lib64 folder in your ADB folder that I don't have, but I'm not sure how that would affect things as ADB appears to be running just fine.
Any help is appreciated, since it seems like the easy step is the one malfunctioning. Thanks for the videos regardless.
nice information
is there any way to have to icons on the screen? I have to go into settings and then open them. Is there a way to have voice microphone activated? I miss voice to text. Thanks
You can also just search speech to text on F-droid
Thank you for the tutorial. Will your banking apps still work after you install the OS? I ask because the banking apps don't run on rooted devices.
I have a degoogled Moto X 2015 with LineageOS and my banking app complains about there not being any google play services, but once I dismiss the popup it works like normal. So it's probably the same on this ROM/phone as well, should work as long as you're not rooted.
@@thosko98 great. Thanks man ☺️
@@apoorvsl It might depend on the banking apps though, since they could be different depending on what country you're from. If you run into problems, there's a way to trick apps into thinking play services are there by using Micro G, look it up!
@@thosko98 MicroG is great, but as the developers of GrapheneOS state on their website, if you rely on Google Services (even just through MicroG), GrapheneOS isn't what you're looking for. something like LineageOS would suit people with these needs a lot better :)
My device doesn't show when its plugged in. When I go to fastboot devices I get no list of any sort so I went on ahead to flash unlock and it searching for a device that is not popping up
Thank you for your video
but I encountered a problem.
I double-clicked "flash-all" in the last step of the upgrade，and the result window only appeared for one second and a crash occurred.
What should I do?
Hi did you find out a solution to this?
@@socialchain820 im having the same issue
@@jasesnow I managed to install a much easier way. If you go to the official graphene website. Click on "Install", then click on "Web" After installing drivers to your pc you can simply plug in the phone and install through the browser. All instructions are on the page.
This video is highly misleading. Please refer to my recent, but very long comment here that begins with "FINALLY FIGURED OUT INSTALL". You're not supposed to be issuing commands from command prompt within platform tools folder. Instead you should be doing it from Powershell. I learned this from the #grapheneOS chatroom. Everything worked great for me.
Definitely try the "web installation" on Graphene website. Unfortunately it didn't work for me, and I had to do the powershell command prompt method I write about in my long comment. It's honestly way easier than it looked...
hi, i did download and unzip the latest version of fastboot but on the command when i type fastboot --version (so at the very beginning of the process), i get this response: 'fastboot' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file
(to be precise i opened the command in the right folder : platform-tools ... etc)
what can i do ?
Hi do you use your phone for crypto
I got stuck at 5:50 it does not find the device but so far i did exactly what you did
15:16 I thought this was GrapheneOS.
May I ask, is it possible to run Kali Linux kernel with grapheme os?
it says for me waiting for any device. it can not read on pixel 4a. what do i do from here?
Dope
Anyone know if you can do this with a pixel 4a on google fi?
When I try to run flash-all.bat, nothing happens. It quickly loads and closes what looks like a command prompt, and then nothing else happens... Any tips?
This video is misleading. I have a recent comment (very long) that describes the entire installation process. It's really not too tough. In short, you'll need to execute commands from Powershell terminal, NOT command prompt window.
First make sure you have the right adb drivers installed then if it keeps crashing edit the batch file and remove everything up from the “(“ relating to fastboot being outdated
I'm confused what is the point of using GrapheneOS and then install apps like Whatsapp and Spotify?
Even if you install these and a dozen more you are still left with a more privacy-oriented device than a stock ROM with the same set of apps.
Isn't it all about obscuring your identity from the activity on the phone? If so, doesn't your sim card give away your identity in anything you do?
Security is a process, not a destination. If you aren't using a VPN, VoIP, anonymous accounts, disposable cards etc... Then yes, your identity will leak.
Privacy and security are about the weakest links in the chain. This is a strong link, but whether you build it into a strong chain is up to you.
Is it install any other divice like vivo or Xiaomi
device does not appear in cmd for fasbtoot devices
Can you log into a premium Spotify account without losing any privacy?
Not really no. It's not going to completely defeat the purpose but it is not secure at all and will help tie the phone to your identity.
e-sim work with graphene os ?
thanks
You're welcome!
what is the factory pin number when you get your pixel at the begining , I didn't use the phone for 4 months and I never changed the first pin when you restart the phone...
( I have GrapheneOS on it )
I don't think there's a predefined PIN, you have to enter it manually even the first time.
my oem unlocking is grayed out. what should i do next?
did you figure it out?
Degoogled phone with WhatsApp installed. lol... Thanks for the vid though
I mean, he is using Win10, so I don't think he's very red-pilled yet.
Only Pixel phones are supported!?
Yes
you can try similar phones, which includes similar or the same cpu chip, gpu, ram, and storage.
but it might break your phone, ending up with a bricked phone. so unless you know how to unbrick ur phone, maybe you should try. let me know if you managed to get graphene os unsupported/unofficial.
Does this work with pixel 5a?
Of course it does. It works on any recent Pixel device.
What alternative to gmail are you using, not talking about app (K9 is good I think), but rather e-mail provider?
And did you try using Magisk?
I know my e-Banking app needs to be tricked into believing the phone is not rooted, so I would have to use Magisk for that.
There is no root access on GrapheneOS. Privacy-wise, you're best off if you login straight from the website to the Email, not by installing the app.
Can you use metamask
IODE OS ??
Does Graphene OS come with the Aurora Store, F-Droid, and Micro-G?
@Sid So people talking about having to download apks from some unofficial website is no longer accurate then?
WhatsApp works without any issues in graphene os?
@ongaku Valid point lol
Yes, it does
which phones i can download graphene os on? except the supported pixel phones.
maybe i can install it on realme phones? xiaomi ? idk
only pixel phones are supported offically but unoffical developers developed graphene os for other phones i wouldnt use them since you cant be sure if they are stealing your data there is a "build" tab in graphene os website you can build yourself for your phone
@@mert3976
thank you for your reply.
i guess it needs someone with previous skills to build a version for a phone, right?
@@naderahmed8299 yes i think
my phone doesnt want to detect my sim card
I want to root and have graphene os on my device is this possible??
Absolutely not. Part of the security of gOS is the LACK of root access and the locked bootloader. Both these features make it way, way harder to attack the system.
You know you can buy a phone on eBay with Graphene OS or any other custom ROM pre-installed, right? Just look up deGoogled, and the phone you want. For example, search up "deGoogled OnePlus phone," or "deGoogled Pixel 3."
Yes and you will never know what code you are running on your phone, great!
They overcharge for it. Used Pixel 3a is $80, $180 if preloaded with Graphene.
Why pay extra for a service you can do yourself
don’t be foolish 😂
How do you get back to stock android, and remove grapheneos?
Es un poco XD comprar un pixel e instalar grapheneOS siendo que lo mejor del pixel es su software
Is it compatible with Samsung phones yet
No.
Imagine using pixel experience rom in pixel device 😂😂😂
Can you update with OTA with this rom or is it manual update with ADB?
Updates are OTA, and frequent, as the developers are constantly tweaking for smoother operation and higher security. You can shut off the auto updates, or sideload them if you prefer. It's pretty slick and runs great. Highly recommend
What if I want to return to standard android, how can I do that?
Download an official system image for the device from Google, flash it.
Instructions are on GrapheneOS and Google factory images web pages. Only slight thing to watch is to remember tomerase the avb custom key.
Does it have face unlock features?
Nope, only fingerprint.
I suggest only use passwords and no biometrics
Never use biometrics.
How can you whatsapp on graphene os? Isn't it spyware by facebook?
exactly. whats the point of graphene if u will install whatsapp or facebook
it is, but im sure he disabled whats app permissions.
@@naderahmed8299 true, you can do that, but I'd imagine some permissions can't get disabled or appear to be disabled or are hidden
@@bellelysenko3498
yeah, its true. thats why i wouldn't install these kind of apps.
outof date does not work
All I need to know if there’s a maps app and a Spotify
You can install both from the Aurora Store.
@Prince CooperOSMAnd+ is on F-droid and works well.
Use newpipe instead of spotify ( UA-cam have all the songs. ) and regarding podcast use antenna pod or rss
If you remove the google interface then you will remove the google camera enhancements lol
open camera
This is the biggest downside imo
@@ghoststar2512 this is correct. For me I'll take opencamera for security. If I want good photos I'll buy a nice dslr with better quality than any phone could ever have
This method is old and needs to be updated
Is this can apply also to pixel 4XL?
Yes, you just have to flash the correct files for the Pixel 4 XL.
The Aurora store is broken!!
If you have problems with it go into Seetings - Network and tick Enable custom tokenizer. It should be alright afterwards.
Will 911 location work ?
Hope I can degoogle this pixel
CAN INSTALL GRAPHENOS ON MY SAMSUNG M10S PHONE
No
@@mercy5628 WHY.
@@mrdied8439 it's only available on pixel phones.
@@mercy5628 Is there any other OS for Samsung phone' I AM NOT LIKE GOOGLE ANDROID
@@mrdied8439 I would recommend Lineage os. But you can check other Custom Roms. Here a link:
beebom.com/best-custom-roms-android-phones/
Thanks for this video. I now I have de-googled Google phone.
Urs is 4a too? I wonder if this works on 3a XL
will this work with the 4a 5g
Yes it will. The 4a 5g version is still marked as experimental on the grapheneos website but it seems to work fine.