With the release of Android 13, Google introduced many new features for the smartphones. One of the major aspects of the new operating system was Project treble. Project treble enables faster delivery of updates to the device, independent of the manufacturer. It basically separates the Android OS framework from the vendor implementations.
To even simplify things further, here is exactly what happens. Usually, when a software or system update is created by the developers, they pass it on to the device manufacturer who has to integrate it with its own OEM specific skin. Then they pass it to the tele-carriers and finally, the update reaches the users. However, with project treble, it by-passes the dependency on device maker. So, software or system updates reach the user quite faster than usual.
Now, you may ask what advantage a device gets if it supports Project Treble..? Well, it enables the device to install Generic System Image (GSI) based on AOSP. GSI refers to system partition files(the ones with .img extension). If we simplify the terms, “Generic” means that any image file can be installed on a device with support for Project Treble. These system image file can be from any vendor. This actually makes way for the various top ranking custom ROMs which users can easily flash on their devices. In this post, we will tell you how to install Generic System Image on Project Treble devices.
How To install Generic System Image on Project Treble Devices
Any device that runs Android 8.0 or 8.1 Oreo out-of-the-box, supports Project Treble. Primarily, there are two ways to install Generic System Image on any Project Treble supported device. You can either use TWRP or Fastboot method to flash the system.img file. We will take a look at both the methods. There may be some other device-specific procedure you have to follow.
First of all, you have to download GSI image file for your device. Here we have provided you with the image file of Lineage OS 15.1.
Download GSI ROM here
Various Methods to Install Generic System Image on Project Treble Devices
Before moving ahead into the installation procedures, you have to follow some guidelines. Also, you will need to install some tools to perform the GSI installation.
- You will need to factory reset your device during the installation process. This will erase all the data stored on the device. So, we advise you to take a complete backup of your device data.
- First, make sure whether your device supports Project treble or not. This guide will only be effective on devices with Project Treble. You can check if your phone supports Project treble or not. Check out our list of Project Treble supported devices.
- It is mandatory that your device must have an unlocked bootloader to flash the GSI file.
- If you wish to use flash GSI using TWRP, then you should install device-specific latest TWRP recovery.
- Alternatively, if you want to follow the fastboot method 2, you’ve to install Android SDK tools on your PC.
- You must Make sure that your phone is using the stock boot image/ramdisk image. You can look for your device-specific image here.
- Some devices may fail due to dm-verity check. To fix, you can install latest Magisk to disable dm-verity.
- A PC/Laptop with USB cable
Flash the GSI USing TWRP Method
Step-1 Download Generic System Image from the download section
Step-2 Move it to the phone’s internal storage or SD card.
Step-3 Switch off the device completely > Press and hold Power + Vol Down button to enter the recovery mode.
Step-4 Alternatively give the following command in the command prompt
adb reboot recovery
Step-5 In the TWRP menu, go to ‘Wipe’ > swipe the ‘Swipe to Factory Reset’ button.
Step-6 Go back to the TWRP Menu screen.
Step-7 Tap on the ‘Install’ button.
Step-8 Select the ‘Install Image’ button at the bottom > Navigate to the storage and select the IMG file.
Step-9 Then select ‘System Image’ > swipe to install Generic System Image >
Step-10 It will take a while to install. After it is complete, tap on the ‘Reboot System’ in TWRP Menu.
Flash the GSI USing ADB Fastboot Method
Now, this method requires the setting up of ADB and fastboot tool on your computer. It is comparatively simpler than the TWRP method. You have to use the command prompt
So, that’s it, guys. This was a detailed guide on How to install Generic System Image on Project Treble enabled devices. If you have any queries regarding this, do let us know in the comments section.
C:\Users\rodrigo\Downloads\twrp> fastboot flash system_img_name.img
unknown partition ‘system_img_name.img’
error: cannot determine image filename for ‘system_img_name.img’