S20 FE development ? - Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Questions & Answers

Recently a complete device tree was developed for all of the S20 family (except FE).
Many custom ROMs most of them went official.
Apparently, S20 FE has some different hardware ( WiFi chip and others) that prevent cross development and flashing.
What can regular users contribute with to help with the process that would make us catch up with the progress made with S20 family?

If anyone releases free bootloader unlock for (S20 FE Snapdragon US models), I think the development will be more available.

I'm not sure what the current state of play is nowadays but I've had phones where Verizon and Sprint bootloaders were locked but development was plentiful.
if a phone is very popular it'll usually attract support.

Assistance Requested LineageOS 18.1 | XDA Developers Forums (xda-developers.com)
Mostly there is a way to Unlock the Bootloader as far as I know you can Unlock the Bootloader for this Device
I'm Currently on SM-781B and the Bootloader is Unlockable, Correct me if I'm Wrong

for the first few years, while Samsung is supporting this phone surely the most stable, fully functional roms are going to be ONEUI based ones.
strip out all the Samsung, Microsoft and even a few Google apps. keep the camera algorithms and the 120hz as is but maybe swap the kernel to add a few features and workarounds etc ?
I'd love an AOSP rom on this phone but my experience has been the further you stray from the base firmware the more there is that never quite works right.

Related

Why hasn't there been any stock android ROMs?

Hey, i was just wondering why hasnt there been any stock android roms for the note 8 yet? I saw the s9 getting a resurrection remix. Is there any technical limitations thats holding back the development or do people just not care?
Because this phone has a pen ana that pen won't work without source code from Samfail
silveraero said:
Because this phone has a pen ana that pen won't work without source code from Samfail
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock Android - and especically things like RR actually have pretty solid stylus support. And there's plenty of apps that add features like pen-gestures and replicate the proprietary Samsung stuff.
The problem is likely more to do with the lack of treble support that the S9 has - which drastically simplifies the issue of dealing with proprietary firmware and API's.
And the fact that a large portion of Note 8 users have models with locked bootloaders, which prevent the usage of non-Samsung ROMS. There have been several threads detailing attempts at making AOSP or similar ROM's, but all have fallen silent without much to show in the way of progress:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-8/how-to/unofficial-lineageos-t3686026
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-8/how-to/bounty-aosp-roms-note8-t3686083
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-8/how-to/resurrection-remix-official-note-8-t3756351
Decoding and dealing with proprietary API's and firmware takes a lot of time and luck without sources which Samsung refuse to provide. And the pool of developers that seem interested in such a huge effort for the Note 8 seems to be shrinking.
Aaren11 said:
Stock Android - and especically things like RR actually have pretty solid stylus support. And there's plenty of apps that add features like pen-gestures and replicate the proprietary Samsung stuff.
The problem is likely more to do with the lack of treble support that the S9 has - which drastically simplifies the issue of dealing with proprietary firmware and API's.
And the fact that a large portion of Note 8 users have models with locked bootloaders, which prevent the usage of non-Samsung ROMS. There have been several threads detailing attempts at making AOSP or similar ROM's, but all have fallen silent without much to show in the way of progress:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-8/how-to/unofficial-lineageos-t3686026
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-8/how-to/bounty-aosp-roms-note8-t3686083
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-8/how-to/resurrection-remix-official-note-8-t3756351
Decoding and dealing with proprietary API's and firmware takes a lot of time and luck without sources which Samsung refuse to provide. And the pool of developers that seem interested in such a huge effort for the Note 8 seems to be shrinking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SO basically no hope for the future? this thing wouldve been a beast with an aosp rom. Thats really dissapointing i was looking forward to android p (
2000ftt said:
SO basically no hope for the future? this thing wouldve been a beast with an aosp rom. Thats really dissapointing i was looking forward to android p (
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't say the situation is hopeless. Just pretty silent at the moment. Some of the groundwork seems to have been done particularly by @SaschaNes and the teams they're a part of. But they've been silent on actual progress of bootable builds for several months now. No clue if they're still working at it or not.
I would say AOSP or Lineage for the Note 8 is achievable it would just take reasons for developers to dedicate their time and effort. And currently, there aren't many for most. Few dev's actually have the device, and even fewer are interested in AOSP for it. Perhaps a bounty might lure one or two - but it would have to be sizeable, and considering the amount of people that seem to have bought this device for the Samsung features - that's going to be hard to organize.
considering the amount of people that seem to have bought this device for the Samsung features - that's going to be hard to organize.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This, is the reason the note line, for a while now, has not had the development other Samsung phones have. Add to that , snapdragon and its lockdown , makes it difficult to see the note series as a custom powerhouse.
Sent from my Galaxy Note8 using XDA Labs
Which is a shame, considering the legacy of the Note 3,4 and 5 which continue to have AOSP roms built for them to this day - which has drastically extended the lifespan beyond Samsungs woeful EOL. Sadly devs simply don't seem to have the motivation or time to deal with jumping through the increasingly convoluted hoops constantly being errected by google and OEMs.
Because the note 8 is so locked down

Non EMUI Rom for Mate 20 PRO

(I have no permissions for ROMs sections so posting this here)
So it looks things are slowly moving , and we are able to unlock bootloader and root our devices.
User @auras76 was kind enough to bring as the first ROM available, but I guess I am not the only one looking forward to get rid of EMUI and its poor customisation layer
I hope once firm .173 hits general release we start getting more dev interest, but the goal of this thread is to find out if any dev could be potentially interested (or already planning) to work on a non-EMUI ROM
I can imagine a bounty could be organised for users to support financially this action.
What are everyone's thoughts on this?
Doubt you will see much development of any major Rom's if there is not a free way to unlock your bootloader as there just won't be that many unlocked devices
I am fully aware of that, however let´s hope that changes if/when .171 FW is generally available and allows bootloader unlock.
I just wanted to check if there would be a way to attract some devs here, even by supporting their work (purchasing a device? 10$ per person???)
If you like custom ROMs so much buy a One Plus phone. Lots of custom ROMs and every custom ROM has bugs. There is no build of any custom ROM that doesn't have bugs and sometimes the bugs on "stable" versions of custom ROMs are so serious they impact the basic functionality of the phone.
If you think I'm exaggerating pick a custom ROM for the OP5, 5T, OP6 or 6T and look at the last several pages of user posts.
They will be users reporting bugs-often very serious ones.
If you pick an OP5 or 5T ROM many will no longer be in development. The last several pages before the ROM was abandoned will be users still reporting bugs that will never get fixed.
And that is on phones that are supposedly very development friendly.
The days of custom ROMs that improve a phone's functionality, speed and stability over the stock ROM died with Nexus phones but if you want to run a custom ROM anyway buying this phone makes pretty much no sense because Huawei is not developer friendly. They don't want owners of Huawei phones to unlock their bootloaders or run custom ROMs on Huawei devices. The same is true for Xiaomi and Samsung phones.
For that matter Google, the company behind Nexus phones which were the most developed friendly phones anyone could buy no longer wants people to use custom ROMs which is why they came up with the ROM certification program and safety net.
Apps that help phone owners bypass safety net are automatically banned from the Play Store. Whatever method Magisk uses to bypass Safety Net gets plugged by Google forcing the developer to come up with a new method that will stop working when it also gets plugged by Google.
The developer behind SuperSu said the writing was on the wall for original Android development several years ago and he knew what he was talking about.
Well, I thought XDA was exactly the place where people "like custom ROMS" and tinker with their phones.
I am coming exactly from OP phone so I know how scene works there.
OP phones are dev-friendly but not many people try different ROMs as Oxygen is probably the smoothest implementation layer of all manufacturers, so there is no need other to change other than fun.
But we are not talking about OP but Huawei here, which is the opposite case. Lousy software implementation, from battery management (see the Powergenie issues threads), to Huawei bloatware, notification handling, little customisation allowed.... So Huawei is not like OP but more like Xiaomi, heavily (not for good) customised Android version. And there might be not many OP ROMS, but check in Xiaomi land... many super stable versions that improve almost any Xiaomi device with AOSP or LOS versions.
As I said, maybe all it takes is to support a dev with a device for ROM release... I know I wouldn't be the only one looking forward to this.
Alright let's clear up what XDA is about.
It's a hub for developers. It's not a hub for people coming in with no knowledge demanding/posting hundreds of threads asking for ROMs for a device which is bootloader locked in most cases. Attitude like this steers developers away from devices because of noob communities. Look at the Samsung community on XDA.
Huwaei is still an infant when it comes to Android so they are learning the ins and outs of what works and what doesn't. Give em a break. They produce amazing devices with amazing technology. Just because it's locked doesn't mean you have to get your nickers in a twist because no one wants to develop for a new company on the Android scene. Give it some time. Maybe someone will come along and get the ball rolling for everyone and find a nice little backdoor in the bootloader and make it possible for everyone. Till then don't hold your breath and stamp your feet. Do your research before you flog out a grand on a device that might not have unofficial development for.
I really hope we can open this device up for more development, what could we do with unbridled access to the NPU, 3 rear cameras and the front 3d point cloud camera array
jhs39 said:
If you like custom ROMs so much buy a One Plus phone. Lots of custom ROMs and every custom ROM has bugs. There is no build of any custom ROM that doesn't have bugs and sometimes the bugs on "stable" versions of custom ROMs are so serious they impact the basic functionality of the phone. .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had to pop in here to tell you you're completely wrong on that one.
Off the top of my head. No limits xXx for the OnePlus 5, not a single bug.
From Oreo 8.1 anyway.
A lot for devices have ROMs which surpass stock in more ways than one and have zero bugs
Further to my point and @ the OP.
The p20 pro has only seen ROMs because of the last few users / developers who have committed to Huawei/Honor devices and the fact that Honor view 10 ROMs work on the pro, in light of the changes made by Huawei IE: bootloader lock down, you will not see a lot of ROMs at all for your device in fact anyone who wants to root / flash / unlock their phones should not touch Huawei or Honor ever again, maybe (and that's a big maybe) the greedy pair of OEMs will see sense. But I doubt it.
Advice in short, dont buy their phones, I certainly won't ever again. They don't deserve it after what they've done.

What problems are there with Custom ROM development for M31 and Exynos based devices?

So here is an article about Exynos on other OEM Devices
According to this, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo may use Exynos chips in future. Xiaomi was really good for Development because of the inclusion of Fastboot mode of Snapdragon with Primary Bootloader with Fastboot EDL ( Emergency Download Mode ) so hard bricking the device was really unlikely. Lately due to security vulnerabilities, the EDL modes are getting locked too. Now as for Mediatek, the closed source chips are kinda useless for anything other than porting from another similar SoC Phone. I couldn't come across much info about Exynos based devices. The flagships have some Custom ROM presence but most of the Galaxy A series are useless after 2 years even if Samsung was kind enough to provide update because of lack of Custom ROMs.
Since you guys now own one is familiar with it's development, How's your experience so far? Do you guys face any issue? Is there a way to prevent hard bricking like the EDL mode on Qualcomm devices? Back when I owned a Galaxy Odin Mode was a big thing, Does it still exist?
Sorry for asking such a general question here.
I think this phone is problematic too about development, i bought this phone last year still thers no working recovery or enough custom rom, i faced very much problem with theese. If u cant live without custom roms, i dont suggets you to buy any samsung phone, at least m31.

Question Is the Vivo X60 Pro+ likely to see much custom ROM development?

Apologies if this is a question with an obvious answer, are Vivo bootloaders unlockable, and is there an active development community for their phones? (Vivo says it's not possible, and if you do unlock the bootloader, that voids the warranty ...so that presumes it's possible...?)
Not knowing much about Vivo phones in general I looked around the forums and haven't seen that much activity, and no official LineageOS drops. Given that Vivo doesn't seem to be committed to long term OS updates, I'd want to know if there is a reasonable chance of getting some sort of custom ROM -- the camera looks amazing, but IMO not worth the cost if the phone is disposable after 2 years...
Thanks for any advice/ opinions you might have
Don't think so, Vivo is synonymous with not Cooperating with developers and not open sourcing thier sources and device trees.
Most likely the answer for most Vivo and even Oppo phones is no to custom ROMs.
I would buy a Vivo phone if they allowed bootloader unlock and also published thier kernel source and device trees.
DrupadSachania said:
Don't think so, Vivo is synonymous with not Cooperating with developers and not open sourcing thier sources and device trees.
Most likely the answer for most Vivo and even Oppo phones is no to custom ROMs.
I would buy a Vivo phone if they allowed bootloader unlock and also published thier kernel source and device trees.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlocking the Bootloader creates security vulnerabilities......many Apps like Banking, Netflix etc will not function with an unlocked Bootloader.
The reason for many manufacturers disapprove of unlocking it.

Should I exchange my s20FE 5G with Oneplus 9RT/Mi 11x pro?

I don't have any problems with the device, just that I am used to modding my devices and Samsung has made it very unappealing to root/unlock their phones. So if I trade this device, which is still under warranty, will it be a good deal?
that's gotta be entirely your decision as you've got to live with it. Oneplus 9 might've fixed some of it's heat issues or the community might've solved it, but look into that first. don't know much about the Xiaomi other than you need custom firmware because the stock one isn't good and the cameras aren't bad.
I'm currently running Lineage 19 GSI with a modified quick settings pull down, I'm rooted and have TWRP. the only thing I'm missing that I want is v4a and I could submit logs to get that fixed if I wanted. Samsung phones have had Knox for nearly a decade now, accepting Knox's demise going in is standard for Samsung modders. this phone is a rare chance to a Samsung with a snapdragon that can be rooted/modded for many people. custom roms are being worked on but both devs are new to Samsung and really struggling with a final major bug. if they overcome the problem custom roms will start to come thru with greater ease.
3mel said:
that's gotta be entirely your decision as you've got to live with it. Oneplus 9 might've fixed some of it's heat issues or the community might've solved it, but look into that first. don't know much about the Xiaomi other than you need custom firmware because the stock one isn't good and the cameras aren't bad.
I'm currently running Lineage 19 GSI with a modified quick settings pull down, I'm rooted and have TWRP. the only thing I'm missing that I want is v4a and I could submit logs to get that fixed if I wanted. Samsung phones have had Knox for nearly a decade now, accepting Knox's demise going in is standard for Samsung modders. this phone is a rare chance to a Samsung with a snapdragon that can be rooted/modded for many people. custom roms are being worked on but both devs are new to Samsung and really struggling with a final major bug. if they overcome the problem custom roms will start to come thru with greater ease.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that last line gives me hope.
well the truth is the two guys working on roms have been struggling with getting the SIM cards to be recognised for months, to the point of needing to walk away for their sanity. the projects may resume or might not. there are one or two other devs with this phone who've said they'll be waiting until all the official updates are finished releasing. again there, no guarantee they'll even still have the phone by that time.
most guys are using GSI roms for now, they're OK but a full custom rom would be better.
If you like custom roms and development related fun with your device, you should go with xiaomi, xiaomi devices has better developement range and easy way to play with it, but oneplus hasn't as i also own 9rt and i am not a big fan of google dialer and because of only dialer i want to change rom to chinese( as 9rt has only chinese rom and chinese rom might have oneplus dialer ) and i am unable to find a proper thread or guide to get familier with oneplus phone - unlocking bootloader, flashing rom and vice versa. but in same case with xiaomi its easier and lots of videos on youtube too to get it done.
but mi 11 x pro has not a lot of custom roms, instead of this mi 11x has a wide range and you should try this
But one thing keep in mind among all devices you said and includes mi 11x samsnug s20 fe is best as i used all of this devcices and currently i am on 9rt samsung is good with stock rom you do not need to flash any custom rom.
mi 11x has best performance according to price but worst camera, mi 11x pro good phone but so so camera, 9rt is good in 3 of this but no wide range of custom developement.

Categories

Resources