Install /e/OS on a OnePlus 8T - “kebab”

The instructions in this guide will assist you to install /e/OS on your kebab. Please read through the instructions at least once before actually following them, so as to avoid any problems later.

It is important that you know that downgrading Smartphones on OS versions greater than the /e/OS OS version you plan to install, can cause instability or at worst brick some devices. We recommend that you check your current OS version, before attempting the installation.

It is advisable to flash your device only if you know what you are doing and are ok taking the associated risk. All /e/OS builds are provided as best effort, without any guarantee. The /e/OS project and its project members deny any and all responsibility about the consequences of using /e/OS software and or /e/OS services.

Requirements

  • If required take a backup of all important data from your phone on an external storage device before proceeding.
  • Do not take a backup on the same device as some of these actions will format the device and delete the backup.
  • Ensure your phone is charged more than 50%
  • Check that adb and fastboot are enabled on your PC. If not you can find the setup instructions here
  • Download all the files and images mentioned in the download section below before starting the installation

  • Make sure you have a working data cable to connect your device to the PC. There are cables which are only for charging and do not transfer data.

  • Enable USB debugging on your device. You can find the instructions here
  • Make sure that your model is listed in the Smartphone Selector. Check the model supported. Where available, information on the model supported should show as a pop-up when you hover the cursor on the Device name. The model number supported should be the exact same.
  • Boot your device with the stock OS at least once and check every functionality.
Warning: Make sure that you can send and receive SMS and place and receive calls (also via WiFi and LTE, if available), otherwise it will not work on /e/OS as well. Additionally, some devices require that VoLTE/VoWiFi be utilized once on stock to provision IMS.

Please share your experience , suggest tips or changes to this install guide documentation by visiting the 8T specific topic on our community forum.

To report issues in /e/OS please refer this guide

Downloads for kebab

To understand the difference between /e/OS builds check this guide

  • Before following these instructions please ensure that the device is on the latest Android 13 firmware.

Unlocking the bootloader

Tip: The steps given below only need to be run once per device.
Warning: Unlocking the bootloader will erase all data on your device! Before proceeding, ensure the data you would like to retain is backed up to your PC and/or an online drive
Warning: Some vendors/manufacturers prevent the bootloader from being unlocked. Depending on where your device was acquired you may or may not be able to unlock the bootloader. To verify if your device is compatible please check the devices list.

  1. Enable OEM unlock in the Developer options under device Settings, if present.

  2. Connect your device to your PC via USB.

  3. On the computer, open a command prompt (on Windows) or terminal (on Linux or macOS) window, and type: 
     adb reboot bootloader

    You can also boot into fastboot mode via a key combination:

    • With the device powered off
    • hold Volume Up + Volume Down + Power.
  4. Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC finds it by typing: 
     fastboot devices
    Tip: If you see no permissions fastboot while on Linux or macOS, try running fastboot as root.

  5. Now type the following command to unlock the bootloader:

     fastboot oem unlock

  6. If the device doesn’t automatically reboot, reboot it. It should now be unlocked.

  7. Since the device resets completely, you will need to re-enable USB debugging to continue.

Flashing additional partitions

Warning: This platform requires additional partitions to be flashed for recovery to work properly.The steps to flash the partitions are given below
Tip: In case the partition files are not available in the /e/OS recovery zip, users flashing the Android 13 or /e/OS T build, can try and download them from the LineageOS wiki install page specific to this device.
  1. First unzip the /e/OS Recovery file linked in the section marked Downloads for kebab . The following files would show up in the location where you unzipped the contents of the eRecovery zip file
    • dtbo.img
    • vbmeta.img
  2. Next we manually reboot into bootloader or download mode
    • With the device powered off
    • hold Volume Up + Volume Down + Power.
  3. Flash the downloaded image files to your device by typing (replace <...> with the actual filenames): 
    fastboot flash dtbo <dtbo>.img
fastboot flash vbmeta <vbmeta>.img

Installing a custom recovery using fastboot

  1. Before proceeding ensure you have downloaded the custom recovery from the link given in the Download section above

  2. Connect your device to your PC via USB.

  3. On the computer, open a command prompt (on Windows) or terminal (on Linux or macOS) window, and type: 
     adb reboot bootloader

    You can also boot into fastboot mode via a key combination:

    • With the device powered off
    • hold Volume Up + Volume Down + Power.
  4. Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC finds it by typing: 
    fastboot devices
    Tip: If you see no permissions fastboot while on Linux or macOS, try running fastboot as root
    Tip: Some devices have buggy USB support while in bootloader mode. If fastboot hangs with no output when using commands such as fastboot getvar .. , fastboot boot …, fastboot flash … try a different USB port (preferably a USB Type-A 2.0 one) or a USB hub

  5. Flash a recovery image onto your device by typing

     fastboot flash recovery recoveryfilename.img

    Replace the recoveryfilename with the name of the recovery image you downloaded in the previous section

  6. Now reboot into recovery to verify the installation:
    • With the device powered off
    • hold Volume Down + Power

Ensuring all firmware partitions are consistent

Tip: The steps below only need to be run once per device.

In some cases, the inactive slot can be unpopulated or contain much older firmware than the active slot, leading to various issues including a potential hard-brick. We can ensure none of that will happen by copying the contents of the active slot to the inactive slot.

To do this, sideload the copy-partitions-20220613-signed.zip package by doing the following:

  1. Download the copy-partitions-20220613-signed.zip file from here. It should have a MD5 sum of 79f2f860830f023b7030c29bfbea7737 or a SHA-256 sum of 92f03b54dc029e9ca2d68858c14b649974838d73fdb006f9a07a503f2eddd2cd.

  2. Sideload the copy-partitions-20220613-signed.zip package: * On the device, select Apply Update, then Apply from ADB to begin sideload. * On the host machine, sideload the package using: adb sideload copy-partitions-20220613-signed.zip

  3. Now reboot to recovery by tapping Advanced, then Reboot to recovery.

Steps to install /e/OS from recovery

Tip: Use the volume keys to navigate and power key to select
Tip: Use the volume up key to choose the arrow at the top to go back to main screen
Tip: If your PC is unable to detect your device with adb in the /e/OS recovery main screen tap Advanced » Enable adb

Format the device

On /e/OS Recovery main screen:

  1. Select Factory reset
  2. Select Format data / Factory reset option
  3. Next screen will display a warning that this action cannot be undone
  4. Select Format data to proceed or Cancel if you want to go back

  5. If you selected Format data, the format process will complete

    Tip: You will see text in small font on the lower left side of the screen mentioning format progress

    The small font text would be similar to this

     Wiping data
 Formatting/data
 Formatting/cache
 Data wipe complete
  6. Display will now return to the Factory Reset screen

Install /e/OS

In /e/OS recovery main screen:

  1. Select Apply Update and in next screen Apply update from adb

  2. In the next screen, the device is now in sideload mode

    Note at this point the Cancel option is highlighted that does not mean you have canceled the action. The device is in adb sideload mode.

  3. On your PC type begin adb sideload. Type the below command in a console

    adb sideload downloaded_file_name.zip

    Replace downloaded_file_name.zip with the name of the /e/OS file you downloaded in the previous section

  4. Press enter key on the keyboard to start the sideloading The screen will show the progress percentage…This might pause at 47%
  5. Give it some time
  6. The PC console will now display Total xfer: 1.00x
  7. The phone screen will now display some text with a message similar to

    Script succeeded result was [1.000000]

    This means that the install was successful.

Reboot the device

In /e/OS recovery main screen:

  1. Select Reboot system now

    The reboot process may take 5 - 10 minutes

Success: Congratulations !! Your phone should now be booting into /e/OS !!

Still need help to complete the installation ?

Need help to unlock the bootloader ?

TMobile user ?

Guides to help unlock the SIM

Having problems getting the device detected on Windows OS?

Guide on installing drivers on Windows OS