[OnePlus 7T Pro (Regular & McLaren) ROMs & Dev.] steadfasterX:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q #0: For CUSTOM builds only: Why is the /e/ App store not included??? It is GREAT!

Mainly due to security and privacy concerns. Wth? I thought /e/ is secure and privacy focused? Yes it is but.. read on:

First of all the App store itself has

no

security or privacy issues. It is opensource

and I see no issues with the app itself!

... the most important point for a smartphone is the availability of apps. I mean having a secure device which respects your privacy is great but it will have no chance to win when you cannot get easily apps on it.

... and the most dangerous part for a smartphone is installing apps because here is where Malware can easily step in! So whatever you do never install APK files from a website directly unless you can be 100% safe it is trustworthy.

It is all about trust again and when you look in the sources of the /e/ Apps store you find it connects to: cleanapk.org.

/e/ makes that not a secret though as you can read here.

So who is behind that cleanapk.org? Why is /e/ trusting them? While reading through the /e/ forums I found that this page hosts (as far as we know) apps mirrored from apkpure + fdroid.

.. and it's completely unclear who hosts that site and where is behind it. On the other site /e/ (Gael, the founder as well) states clearly they are not in any relation to that site. "They just using their api".

here some

facts

:

you cannot get the owner by a whois request

They have a info page here which just roughly describes where the apps are coming from and how

There is no detailed privacy statement or even an info if they keep your data GDPR compliant or not

No way for devs to get their apps removed or updated

The /e/ foundation clearly states they have no relationship to that repository of apps but some things are interesting aren't they:

IP's of /e/ and cleanapk are at least nearby

During an ongoing discussion about exactly that topic something took my attention: the welcome notification on api.cleanapk.org was exactly at that time: https://archive.is/U1E0y (I mean.... )

/e/ itself was audited several times by a site named "infosec-handbook" and of course even they find that app store at least "mysterious"

During that mentioned discussion and after pointing Gael to that - the welcome message suddenly changed to what it is today..

The full topic where even Gael is talking (not that friendly) is: here

TL;DR:

/e/ is providing apps (the most used way to get infected by malware) by an API which is at least questionable.

I do not say /e/ is doing questionable things and as said before the /e/ ROM is 100% trustworthy (otherwise I would not do any builds for it) but that cleanapk.org site is truly another story.

An interesting quote of Gael can make one read between the lines (I marked the interesting ones bold and cursive):

Of course /e/ needs to ensure that what they are doing is 100% legal and offering an app repository like cleanapk.org is

not

.

My personal assumption is that /e/ is offering that repo - indirectly so not

officially

by the e.foundation itself.

A relation between is for sure nothing they want to have public as this would cause legal questions.

So the last question is:

Q: Why do I consider AuroraStore "better" then using cleanapk.org and so removed the /e/ apps store and adding AuroraStore instead?

A: Because I definitively know where the apps are coming from when using Aurora instead of /e/. Not just the app itself is OSS (like the /e/ one) the apps are coming directly from the play store instead of an unknown source.

Q #01: I want to report an issue. What is the proper way to do so?

I'm glad that you are asking: before doing so check the KNOWN ISSUES topic in the OP and ofc the other FAQ's listed here!

if you have an

audio issue

follow FAQ #6 instead.

Often selinux can cause issues so try that at very first:

if you have magisk installed:
adb shell
su
setenforce permissive

When " usb debugging root" is enabled in developer settings:
adb root
adb shell
setenforce permissive

Try again and if the issue is gone when in permissive mode:

provide me a logcat as described

here -> on step 3 I need the SELINUX log (option D)

If your issue is not solved with selinux permissive click here to proceed:

If your issue is not listed there follow the directions here briefly and I may can fix it:

logcat GUIDE

Ensure you have done a

full

CLEAN install before doing so (refer to FAQ #2 for what that means).

Warning: NO SUPPORT when:

- magisk is installed (known to cause issues sometimes - regardless of the ROM or version)

- Xposed is installed (known to cause issues sometimes - regardless of the ROM or version)

If you have installed any of these UNINSTALL or better do a FULL CLEAN install (see FAQ #2) before doing anything else. Often enough these above causes several issues like battery draining, problems on booting and much more. Even when they may work properly you should re-produce your issue without them first and follow the above to grab the log.

Magisk is a great piece of software and besides that it is Open Source which SuperSu never was.

I just saying I do not "support" issues when you have Magisk installed. Why? It is (like Xposed) extendable with modules (made by whoever) and those can cause billions of issues.

Other then that magisk was sometimes the reason for battery drain etc. Magisk modifies the boot "process" and sits very deep in the system (which is needed to make it work ofc) but that has the potential to make a system/ROM unstable or result in strange behaviors.

so in order to support a specific issue I have to be sure the ROM is in a "clean" state, no magisk, no xposed.

Pro-Tip: a very first test is to set magisk on core functions only to see if an extension causes your issue or not.

Q #02: I want to install clean, how? What is a clean install? What is the recommended way to flash a new ROM version?

A clean install ensures that there are no leftovers from any previous install. One can say that there are 2 phases of a clean flash:

1) regular

2) full - when you (still) encounter issues

Usually the regular one is fully ok when flashing a new ROM version but if you encounter strange issues nobody else is reporting or if a release post is recommending it you should do a full clean install instead.

A

regular clean

install can be done like this:

WIPE -> Advanced -> select: System + Cache

Flash the ROM

reflash root addon/magisk if you want root

A

full clean

install needs 2 steps more then the regular:

follow the steps for regular clean

go back in WIPE -> touch the "FORMAT data" button and type "yes" to format the internal storage (you will LOOSE ALL YOUR DATA - obviously)

REBOOT -> Recovery

Flash the ROM

reflash root addon/magisk if you want root

It is absolutely recommended to create a backup before and COPYING IT to your PC(!) before doing the above.

Q #03: Are there any plans or a chance of official /e/ builds?

Yes. With your help! What you can do? Test and report EVEN SUCCESS in this thread.

Q #4: Is there a FAQ specific for /e/?

Sure:

FAQ: click

Forum: click

HOWTOs: click (a great resource for all your first questions)

App alternatives (to replace google variants): click

Q #5: issues with audio (e.g. echo's, silence on one or the other site, ..)? Read here how to provide a specific log for that:

Do the following steps:

1) Ensure you have adb set up on your PC, and have adb debugging and adb root enabled in developer options on your phone

2) Then perform the following (all one command)

On Linux:

On windows:

3) Then re-produce your audio issue and cancel the logcat from step 2 before hanging up!

4) Share the logcat output from the console screen using paste.omnirom.org

Q #6: I'm scared about that microG , I don't want to expose my phone so is this /e/ version a security risk?

First of all you need a lot of trust installing ANY custom ROM. A developer can do nasty things right? Besides that yes microG allowing to let apps act like as they are another app, also known as signature spoofing. This CAN be a good and a bad thing. Read on why my builds are different:

In general the microG patch is an all or nothing. A ROM which supports microG (i.e. signature spoofing) have that feature enabled, always.

The difference in my /e/ builds is that I am using the "restricted" option of signature spoofing so as long as you trust me you are as safe as without microG.

Q #7: What is the difference between CUSTOM and UNOFFICIAL builds?

See OP

Q #8: Will my banking app (or other root detecting app) work with this ROM?

The answer is .. well .. simple. it depends.

First of all the following technique works regardless of what ROM you are using or what device. It worked with my LG G4, OnePlus 6T and now OP7tpro so its a generic "maybe-solution"

Read on here:

I am using a german banking app which works even when root gets detected. It will prompt and say thats bad but I am still able to use it. The same was the case for the TAN generator app of the same bank but it fully stopped working one day after a (forced) app upgrade.

So I started to play around and found a solution which works for me since several years but there is no guarantee it will work for you or for how long it will work. The process and steps must be followed briefly and nothing more, nothing less must be done.

The following references a banking app but it applies to any app which rejects starting when root or a custom ROM has been detected:

you need root, i.e. Magisk. This ROM has a custom build which includes Magisk already.

uninstall the currently not working banking app(s)

install & setup a work-profile manager like Insular, Shelter, (if you do not care about google trackers: Island), or [fill-in-another] ,.....

configure Magisk that it hides itself (i.e. re-package Magisk with a random name) & reboot just to be sure. and yes that works on signed and locked ROMs, too ;)

newer Magisk versions will clone themself into the island profile during the repackage process so open island then switch to the island tab and remove the magisk app there (so not from the "mainland"!)

install the banking app(s) - BUT DO NOT start it!

clone that app into your work-profile (i.e. open Insular/Shelter/Island/.. find the app, clone it there), repeat that step for any app needed

configure Magisk hide for this app(s) and ensure you select all options (some apps can be expanded in magisk hide, select all options then)

remove any icons of your app(s) from your launcher but DO NOT UNINSTALL them!! (never)

in your work-profile manager (Insular/Shelter/Island/...) find your app and create a quick start launcher (repeat that for any app needed)

now start your banking app quick link (again it HAS to be the one created by your work-profile manager). usually you can identify that you are using the right one bc it has a mini icon of your work-profile manager on top of the regular app icon

enjoy. if it does still detect root or a custom ROM you either have not followed the above steps briefly or you are out of luck.

Background:

You cannot uninstall the app(s) from android (ever) because otherwise Magisk hide will not work. so you always need to keep that app(s) but never starting it.

It can make sense to try another work-profile manager if the above way fails for you as the app devs using different techniques

Q #9: Will DRM protected content work? | Will this ROM satisfy Safetynet?

Likely not. Yes this ROM is signed, selinux is enforcing and you can lock your bootloader but these days this is not enough anymore. While there are some workarounds available these might stop at any time. So do not expect that this will work or work for a long time.