How to Install Android 14 GSI on Any Smartphone
Now, if you’re one of the interested Android fans to grab the latest Android 14 GSI and experience new features on your Project-Treble supported handset, follow this in-depth guide to install it correctly. So, without wasting any more time, let’s jump into it.
Download Android 14 GSI
Here you can easily get the latest Android 14 GSI file for your non-Pixel device (running Android 8.0 or later) without worrying about the eligibility from your OEM or even without waiting for the OTA update to arrive. Even if your specific device model is eligible to receive the Android 14 OS update from your OEM, the chances are high that it might take a couple of months from now on to receive the stable version.
Android 14 QPR1:
Date: December 05, 2023
Build: UQ1A.231205.015
Security patch level: December 2023
Google Play Services: 23.32.17
Check the CPU Architecture
Grab the specific GSI package according to your device’s architecture. To check your device’s architecture, you can run the following command on your PC via the ADB & Fastboot method Windows computer after connecting your handset to it using the USB cable.
adb shell getprop ro.product.cpu.abi
Once you’re aware of your device’s architecture, download the particular GSI package from the link above. Now, you’ll have to follow all the requirements one by one.
Pre-Requirements:
Installation Steps
- First, you’ll need to perform a factory reset on your phone. [You can also reboot to Recovery mode and perform a factory reset]
- Keep in mind that OEM Unlock and USB Debugging are already enabled on your phone. If not, do that too.
- We assume that you’ve already installed the ADB & Fastboot Tool on your PC. If not, visit the download section, and install it.
- Now, transfer the downloaded Android 14 GSI file to your computer and extract it. Copy and paste the system.img and vbmeta.img files into the ADB & Fastboot folder for ease.
- Connect your Android device to the PC/Laptop by using the USB cable and authorize the device (if prompted).
- Now, launch a command prompt on your PC from the extracted GSI folder by typing cmd in the address bar and pressing the Enter button on your keyboard.
- Restart your device into bootloader mode or fastboot mode by typing the following command in the command prompt and pressing the Enter key:
adb reboot bootloader
- This will reboot your phone into Fastboot mode.
- You can run the following command to verify the Fastboot connection. If already connected, you’ll get back the fastboot device ID.
fastboot devices
- Next, you’ll have to disable Android Verified Boot (AVB) by running the command below:
fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
- Next, type in the following command and hit the Enter button to delete the existing system partition on your device:
fastboot erase system
- Use the following command to install the Android 14 GSI package:
fastboot flash system system.img
- The installation process will start and will take some time. So, please wait for it.
- Once the installation process is done, you will need to enter the following command to wipe the user data partition:
fastboot -w
- Finally, restart your device by executing the command below:
fastboot reboot
- Enjoy! The first boot may take some time after the OS upgrade. Now, your device should boot into vanilla Android 14 OS successfully.
Disclaimer: Though we won’t recommend flashing the initial build of Android 14 on your primary device, you can try it out on a secondary device. Currently, it contains multiple bugs or stability issues, so it depends on whether you’ll wait for the stable release.
That’s it, guys. We assume this guide was helpful to you. If you have any further queries, feel free to ask in the comment section below.
Thank you for the information**