Installer fails

usenix

(base) peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ fastboot --set-active=b
Setting current slot to 'b'...
FAILED (remote: unknown command)
finished. total time: 0.000s
(base) peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ fastboot --set-active=b
error: Device does not support slots.
(base) peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ fastboot --set-active=a
Setting current slot to 'a'...
FAILED (remote: Invalid Slot)
finished. total time: 0.000s
(base) peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ fastboot --set-active=boot_a
Slot boot_a does not exist. supported slots are:
a
b

This is odd since I know that the device has slots and they were selectable in the past (i.e. before the ubports installation attempt). Is it possible that the installer changed something? Or could I have gone wrong when flashing the android 9 stock image? (which seems to be working fine)

AntiDroid

@usenix I had a similar issue on a different device after having /e/os on it because /e/ had done some strange things to the partitions and I had to do a full reconstruction including partitions that are not normally reflashed. At this point I would look for a tutorial on XDA to get the device back to factory (Minus locking the bootloader if possible). While following the tutorial use the latest android 9 image they link too. Then try following the Ubuntu Touch instructions except skip past flashing android 9 since you will already be there. It will likely involve either a special tool or using fastboot from the command line to flash the unusual partitions and TWRP to flash the normal partitions.

usenix

@antidroid Well my situation was a bit desperate. Fastboot basically didn't function at all. The only way to get it working again was to upgrade the stock rom back to android 10 (that is from the internal updater, since installing images or sideloading was not possible). Now I'm at the latest patchlevel, and fastboot is working as expected. I never had /e/ installed (but I bought the device used...).
So I'm back to square zero, android 10 with working fastboot. I expect that simply flashing the android 9 image will break fastboot again. I'm not sure I want to go through the same process again.

usenix

Can anyone confirm that they were able to install ubports on this device starting from an android 10 installation?

AntiDroid

@usenix Can you confirm you now have a/b slots? If they are working correctly I would try again.

From a quick search online there are a lot of Xiaomi flash tools available to restore the phone from a soft brick. Also on some phones I think Ubuntu Touch switches the buttons to get into fastboot. That is if it was power+vol_down after installing that now becomes how you enter recovery and power+vol_up is now fastboot or vice versa.

The UBports page for the Xiaomi Mi A2 does not mention needing to be on any particular Android build to start.

The main thing that needs to be correct is the partition table and that is why starting from a fresh factory Android is important. Ubuntu touch replaces the kernel with a patched Halium kernel and an entire filesystem on top of it so it should not matter unless the partition table changed a lot between Android versions (Like when they introduced the A/B slots).

From a quick search there does appear to be some changes between Android 9 and 10 files system wise but they may not be ones that effect installing Ubuntu Touch. And again there seem to be a lot of tools for unbricking the phone that make it less risky to try.

BristledKing

@antidroid said in Installer fails:

Ubuntu Touch switches the buttons to get into fastboot. That is if it was power+vol_down after installing that now becomes how you enter recovery and power+vol_up is now fastboot or vice versa.

Whoa! That explains a lot for me!! Thx!

@usenix I managed to make the installation work fine, with the installer. Just Ubuntu didn’t boot correctly for me afterward. Both my slots were accessible using fastboot.

Before flashing Android 9 did you wipe and format the partition with your recovery?

usenix

@AntiDroid The phone was not really "bricked", since the android 9 was still booting up. However, fastboot (and thus flashing) was completely dysfunctional. Fastboot was only accessible via hardware key combination (and not from adb, which would just reboot into android). And the only accepted command in fastboot was fastboot reboot.

The installer stresses that a particular build of android 9 is strictly necessary for this device, and must be flashed before installing ubports. Hence this is what I did, using the image to which the installer provides a link. (May I say that in general, I don't have the impression that ubports provides a lot of documentation...)

Now that I am back to android 10, fastboot commands works as expected, including slots. I might try once more tonight. Is there a tool to show the contents of the partition table? To make sure there are no undesired entries?

@BristledKing It's good to see that the installer worked. I hope to get to the same stage, then we will see if I run into the same problem as you did.

usenix

This is the output from /proc/mounts (though adb shell):

jasmine_sprout:/ $ cat /proc/mounts                                                                                         
/dev/root / ext4 ro,seclabel,nodev,relatime 0 0
tmpfs /dev tmpfs rw,seclabel,nosuid,relatime,size=1896744k,nr_inodes=474186,mode=755 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,seclabel,relatime,mode=600 0 0
proc /proc proc rw,relatime,gid=3009,hidepid=2 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs rw,seclabel,relatime 0 0
selinuxfs /sys/fs/selinux selinuxfs rw,relatime 0 0
tmpfs /mnt tmpfs rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=1896744k,nr_inodes=474186,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
tmpfs /apex tmpfs rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=1896744k,nr_inodes=474186,mode=755 0 0
/dev/block/dm-1 /vendor ext4 ro,seclabel,relatime,discard 0 0
none /dev/cg2_bpf cgroup2 rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
none /dev/cpuctl cgroup rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpu 0 0
none /acct cgroup rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpuacct 0 0
none /dev/cpuset cgroup rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpuset,noprefix,release_agent=/sbin/cpuset_release_agent 0 0
none /dev/stune cgroup rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,schedtune 0 0
/dev/root /apex/com.android.tzdata@290000000 ext4 ro,seclabel,relatime 0 0
/dev/root /apex/com.android.tzdata ext4 ro,seclabel,relatime 0 0
/dev/root /apex/com.android.runtime@1 ext4 ro,seclabel,relatime 0 0
/dev/root /apex/com.android.runtime ext4 ro,seclabel,relatime 0 0
debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs rw,seclabel,relatime 0 0
none /config configfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
pstore /sys/fs/pstore pstore rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime 0 0
tracefs /sys/kernel/debug/tracing tracefs rw,seclabel,relatime 0 0
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata /data ext4 rw,lazytime,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,discard,noauto_da_alloc,resgid=1065,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/modem_a /vendor/firmware_mnt vfat ro,context=u:object_r:firmware_file:s0,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1000,fmask=0337,dmask=0227,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=lower,errors=remount-ro 0 0
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/bluetooth_a /vendor/bt_firmware vfat ro,context=u:object_r:bt_firmware_file:s0,relatime,uid=1002,gid=3002,fmask=0337,dmask=0227,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=lower,errors=remount-ro 0 0
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/dsp_a /vendor/dsp ext4 ro,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,relatime,data=ordered 0 0
/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/persist /mnt/vendor/persist ext4 rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noatime,data=ordered 0 0
tmpfs /storage tmpfs rw,seclabel,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=1896744k,nr_inodes=474186,mode=755,gid=1000 0 0
/dev/root /apex/com.android.conscrypt@290000000 ext4 ro,seclabel,nodev,relatime 0 0
/dev/root /apex/com.android.conscrypt ext4 ro,seclabel,nodev,relatime 0 0
/dev/root /apex/com.android.media@290000000 ext4 ro,seclabel,nodev,relatime 0 0
/dev/root /apex/com.android.media ext4 ro,seclabel,nodev,relatime 0 0
/dev/root /apex/com.android.media.swcodec@290000000 ext4 ro,seclabel,nodev,relatime 0 0
/dev/root /apex/com.android.media.swcodec ext4 ro,seclabel,nodev,relatime 0 0
/dev/root /apex/com.android.resolv@290000000 ext4 ro,seclabel,nodev,relatime 0 0
/dev/root /apex/com.android.resolv ext4 ro,seclabel,nodev,relatime 0 0
adb /dev/usb-ffs/adb functionfs rw,relatime 0 0
/data/media /mnt/runtime/default/emulated sdcardfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,fsuid=1023,fsgid=1023,gid=1015,multiuser,mask=6,derive_gid,default_normal,unshared_obb 0 0
/data/media /storage/emulated sdcardfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,fsuid=1023,fsgid=1023,gid=1015,multiuser,mask=6,derive_gid,default_normal,unshared_obb 0 0
/data/media /mnt/runtime/read/emulated sdcardfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,fsuid=1023,fsgid=1023,gid=9997,multiuser,mask=23,derive_gid,default_normal,unshared_obb 0 0
/data/media /mnt/runtime/write/emulated sdcardfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,fsuid=1023,fsgid=1023,gid=9997,multiuser,mask=7,derive_gid,default_normal,unshared_obb 0 0
/data/media /mnt/runtime/full/emulated sdcardfs rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,noatime,fsuid=1023,fsgid=1023,gid=9997,multiuser,mask=7,derive_gid,default_normal,unshared_obb 0 0

jasmine_sprout:/ $ df
Filesystem            1K-blocks    Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/root               3047900 2544264    487252  84% /
tmpfs                   1896744    1016   1895728   1% /dev
tmpfs                   1896744       0   1896744   0% /mnt
tmpfs                   1896744       0   1896744   0% /apex
/dev/block/dm-1         2031964  667752   1347828  34% /vendor
/dev/block/mmcblk0p69  48110436  161536  47801444   1% /data
/data/media            48110436  161536  47801444   1% /storage/emulated

jasmine_sprout:/ $ ls -la /dev/block/by-name/                                                                                                                                                    
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 1460 1972-03-30 04:01 .
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 2120 1972-03-30 04:01 ..
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 abl_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p25
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 abl_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p26
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 apdp -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p11
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 bk1 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p51
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 bluetooth_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p38
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 bluetooth_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p50
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 boot_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p62
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 boot_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p63
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 cache -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 cmnlib64_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p22
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 cmnlib64_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p24
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 cmnlib_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p21
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 cmnlib_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p23
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 ddr -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p28
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 devcfg_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p30
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 devcfg_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p31
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 devinfo -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p43
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 dip -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p27
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   20 1972-03-30 04:01 dpo -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 dsp_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p48
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 dsp_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p49
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 frp -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p14
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   20 1972-03-30 04:01 fsc -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 fsg -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p45
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 hyp_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p17
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 hyp_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p18
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 keymaster_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p36
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 keymaster_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p37
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 keystore -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p13
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   20 1972-03-30 04:01 limits -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p4
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 logdump -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p57
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 logfs -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p44
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 mdtp_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p52
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 mdtp_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p53
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 mdtpsecapp_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p34
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 mdtpsecapp_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p35
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 minidump -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p61
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 misc -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p42
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   18 1972-03-30 04:01 mmcblk0 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   22 1972-03-30 04:01 mmcblk0rpmb -> /dev/block/mmcblk0rpmb
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 modem_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p58
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 modem_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p59
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 modemst1 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p46
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 modemst2 -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p47
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 msadp -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p12
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 oops -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p10
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 persist -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p55
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 persistbak -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p56
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 pmic_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p19
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 pmic_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p20
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 rawdump -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p60
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 rpm_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p15
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 rpm_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p16
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   20 1972-03-30 04:01 sec -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p6
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 splash -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p54
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   20 1972-03-30 04:01 ssd -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 sti -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p39
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   20 1972-03-30 04:01 storsec -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p9
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   20 1972-03-30 04:01 switch -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 system_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p65
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 system_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p66
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 toolsfv -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p29
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 tz_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p32
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 tz_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p33
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 userdata -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p69
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   20 1972-03-30 04:01 vbmeta_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p7
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   20 1972-03-30 04:01 vbmeta_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p8
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 vendor_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p67
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 vendor_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p68
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 xbl_a -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p40
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   21 1972-03-30 04:01 xbl_b -> /dev/block/mmcblk0p41

I don't know if this is informative. The phone is not rooted so I don't have permission to /proc/partitions.

usenix

From this, here is my process:

(base) peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ fastboot boot twrp.img
downloading 'boot.img'...
OKAY [  0.780s]
booting...
OKAY [  0.155s]
finished. total time: 0.935s

jasmine_sprout_stock_android9.zip: 1 file pushed. 28.6 MB/s (1131322942 bytes in 37.715s)

In TWRP, select this zip for installation.

Updating partition detail…
...done
Full SELinux support is present.
MTP Enabled
Installing zip file ‘/jasmine_sprout_stock_android9.zip’
Checkeing for Digest file…
Unmounting System…
Flashing A/B zip to inactive slot: B
Step 1/2
Step 2/2
To flash additional zips, please reboot recovery to switch to the updated slot.
Updating partition details…
...done

“Reboot System” in TWRP. This boots into Android 10 (which resides in Slot A).

peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ adb reboot fastboot
peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ fastboot set_active b
Setting current slot to 'b'...
OKAY [  0.026s]
finished. total time: 0.026s
peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ fastboot reboot
rebooting...

finished. total time: 0.050s

The system doesn’t boot up. I get this on my phone:

Android Recovery
xiaomi/jasmine/jasmine_sprout
9/PKQ1.180904.001/V10.0.2.0.PDIMIFJ
user/release-keys
Use volume up/down and power.
Can’t load Android system. Your data may be corrupt. If you continue to get this message, you may need to perform a factory data reset and erase all user data stored on this device
[Try again][Factory data reset]

xiaomi’s V10 is in fact Android 9; so this is the correct version. At this point, Try again doesn’t work (i.e. boots to the same message), and I go for the factory data reset. After that, a fresh Android 9 greets me. I go through the initial settings, then I enable USB degugging. I restart Android one more time just to be sure.

peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ adb devices
List of devices attached
8542b8c	unauthorized
peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ adb reboot fastboot
error: device unauthorized.
This adb server's $ADB_VENDOR_KEYS is not set
Try 'adb kill-server' if that seems wrong.
Otherwise check for a confirmation dialog on your device.

The odd thing is, on the phone no authorization dialogue popped up when I enabled USB debugging. I revoke the USB debugging authorizations on the phone, disable and re-enable USB debugging, and now the authorization dialogue does pop up.

peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ adb reboot fastboot

This does not boot into fastboot mode, but into the android image. I reboot into fastboot mode with the Power+Vol_down key combination.

peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ fastboot set_active b
error: Device does not support slots.
peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ fastboot boot twrp.img
downloading 'boot.img'… #this stalls, nothing happens
peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ fastboot reboot #this stalls, nothing happens

So, I’m in a state with a non-working fastboot again. I can’t even fastboot reboot (I thought this was still possible the last time, but I might be wrong). I reboot by holding the Power button for some seconds, and I can boot into android 9 again.

I guess I will have to work my way through the internal updates again, to get back to android 10 with working fastboot. I have the appropriate zip for android 10, but I don't see the way to get in on the device...

usenix

I guess I will have to work my way through the internal updates again, to get back to android 10 with working fastboot. I have the appropriate zip for android 10, but I don't see the way to get in on the device...

Off-topic: I couldn't edit my message to append these two sentences, since akismet flagged it as spam????

Lakotaubp

@usenix Try to edit again please. I just upped your reputation that may have fixed it.

AntiDroid

@usenix I agree the documentation can be poor. That is why I try and help out even with my limited experiance. And probably what leads most people to the forum.

When i flashed my a/b phone back to factory I had to flash both partitions. I wonder if your issues stem from only one partiton being downgraded.

Also which instructions are you following? I started the installer and choose your device. The first pop up i get talks about checking you have the correct hardware but nothing about android versions. I can not continue from that point since I do not have the correct phone. So I may be missing some information.

I also looked int the repos for the kernel and device overlay and didn't find any instructions for flashing there either. The only place i found was the device page that says to use the installer and nothing else. On my Oneplus one i started from the newest android available and simply flashed it using the installer. My development phone though takes special steps like you are taking with preflashes and manual steps.

The last thing is I never use adb to control reboots and what you experiance may be normal. I use the buttons everytime.

Maybe someone with your device can help more.

usenix

@antidroid Good point about the slots- I thought the more careful approach is to flash just the one- however, since after flashing the phone is in a state where I can't select the other slot anyway, I can probably flash both
BTW upon detecting the phone the ubports installer instructs to use a specific stock android version and provides the dowload link. So yes, this must be phone-specific.
@BristledKing did you flash the stock android 9 (downloaded from ubports link, I suppose)? To both slots? And how (just to make sure I could reproduce your approach)? And from a phone that was running android 9 or android 10?

BristledKing

@usenix I did try an other android without success. I followed this vidéo but I translated on Linux instead of windows : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t4UE4SiEL8

And used Ubuntu android 9 link instead of the one he provides in the comments section. I also used his twrp guide, for exemple he claims that only twrp 3.3.1 works for the A2... I wish you will find the solution!

I am not really understanding what I am doing ! so it s hard for me to help you correctly ...

c4pp4

I successfully went through the process from Android 10 -> 9 -> UT. I don't remember exact walkthrough but I think it was something like this:

I was using Linux distribution.

At first I unlocked the device and flashed TWRP 3.5.0_9-0. I followed the video from here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqmng9WQFkI.
Instead of installing TWRP installer (time 10:02) I used Advanced -> ADB Sideload:

adb sideload twrp-installer.zip

I also sideloaded Magisk-v21-4.zip to check "jdi" LCD via app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.andr7e.deviceinfohw.

After that I followed the video from here (the same @BristledKing linked):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t4UE4SiEL8.
I switched from slot A to B and sideloaded Android 9 from here: https://github.com/ubports-xiaomi-sdm660/artifacts/releases/download/v0.1/jasmine_sprout_stock_android9.zip (UBports installer recommends flash it to both slots to be safe but I didn't do that).

UBports installer:
I think the device was recognized as "jasmine" not "jasmine_sprout" so I chose the right one from the list.
I chose devel channel.
After the failure with downloaded vendor.img I think I made a copy into ~/snap/ubports-installer/334/.cache/ubports/jasmine_sprout/firmware/ folder.
UBports installer told me UT was successfully installed but after that gave me an error. The device didn't boot. I tried the installation again and the second try was really succesful.

belohoub

Hello all!
I just won a fight with the A2 installation process

After many iterations with the installer, I successfully installed it from the "devel channel".

I tried to replicate all steps mentioned above, but for a long time with only a little success.

The part of the process running "in the" fastboot (almost) always finished well: in short I have a working ubports recovery. The only two inconveniences I observed here:

there is the vendor.img checksum mismatch - this is probably only a mistake in the config file (old checksum and updated file ?) - it is possible to ignore, but it's a security issue
the installer "requested" reboot to "bootloader", but "fastboot" was in reality required - I noticed when I was in the bootloader and the installer said something like "fastboot is waiting for device"

But what I observed too many times was the following error:

the installer (almost) always hangs when I was already in recovery and the installer was trying to download ubuntu touch with the following error:

Error: systemimage:install: Error: Failed to download latest version TypeError: Cannot read property 'forEach' of undefined

I was successful only with the devel channel and even with the devel channel only in "some cases".

After a "successful" installation, the device stuck about 3-times in the "boot screen", the 4th "completed" iteration (after a few iterations terminated with the error above) was successful.

I tried from two locations with different network configurations...

I believe, that the root of the problem would be in the config file and/or remote repository accessibility, but I'm unable to perform diagnostics without deeper knowledge of the UBports ecosystem (which I do not have).

During the debug process, I was trying to find the instructions for the "manual installation" - could you provide it or point me to its description? I believe, that I'll be able to provide a closer analysis of what happened to report it using the manual process.

Is the "stable" and "rc" channel available for this device or it is not - I was unable to locate it (based just on the brief docs study).

usenix

@belohoub That's very interesting. I followed the instructions from the video as well. That left me at least with an Android 9 installation where fastboot and adb work as expected.
When trying to use the installer thereafter, it is detecting the device, showing no error message, but then hangs when trying to install "stable", the installer hangs indefinitely. All I get on the console is

peter@pt450:~/Downloads$ ubports-installer 
info: Welcome to the UBports Installer version 0.8.4-beta!
info: device detected: jasmine_sprout
info: Installing Ubuntu Touch on your Xiaomi Mi A2 (jasmine_sprout)
info: configuring...
info: settings: {"channel":"16.04/arm64/android9/stable","wipe":false,"bootstrap":true}
 info: Good bye!

After your report, I might try again with the dev channel. However, since I want to use the phone as a daily driver, I have little interest in running anything that is not as stable as possible.
I'm kind of snowed in with work right now, but I will post my progress hopefully within a week.

I think it would be rather beneficial to not have a "black box" installer that can't be diagnosed, and instructions for a "manual install" would be more than welcome.

Best

AppLee

@usenix said in Installer fails:

a "black box" installer that can't be diagnosed

The sources are available and there are log files.
Investigation is possible and the procedure being complex the installer is the best option for most people.

New devices to the installer require some work, that's for sure. And some are more troublesome than others...

Best of luck

belohoub

@applee @usenix The problem actually was, that there was empty stable channel for jasmine_sprout (no release in this channel), but the installer offered it.

Currently, there is the first release(OTA-16) in the stable channel (http://system-image.ubports.com/16.04/arm64/android9/stable/jasmine_sprout/index.json)

To be honest, currently, the ubports ecosystem is somehow foggy for someone who is not familiar with it... actually, it took me some time to get into and get basic understanding of the dev cycle and resource location. This little piece of information is provided by ubports docs, while the good explanation is e.g. here

If I'll find some time, I'll try to document what I learned, because I started to like ubports, but currently, I invested my allowed hobby time into learning and doing this, and unfortunately I'm currently loaded by too many things ...

usenix

@AppLee As a user I will not troubleshoot the source code (which is also written in a language I don't speak). Where are the log files you speak of? They are not in the directory that ubports-installer is run from, they are not in $HOME. If they exist, that's great, but the existence and the location should be documented. The easiest solution is often to print everything to the terminal...
The Mi A2 is not a "new device" that should "require some work". I actually bought this device specifically since it is listed as supported by the installer and it is listed as a device where "everything" works.
Don't get me wrong, I'm aware that this is a community project. And I'm further aware that the Mi A2 is a community device. It's not a problem if things don't work. However, UBports presents itself (on ubports.com) as a project that is hiding a lot of technical details from its target audience, thereby making the impression that it's not necessary to care about technical details. "Just run the installer and go." Not.
@belohoub Thanks, that is valuable information. With the latest installer (0.8.7), I tried again to install the stable channel. But it hangs at "Cleaning Up - Formatting system partition" with no further information on the shell, just a lot of CPU load. Or does one have to wait (hours?) long? Afterwards the device is again in a state where fastboot is broken. Seems like I have to go the lengthy upgrade path to android 10 again to get a working device. I might try to re-flash the android 9-image once more and try again. At some point it will be time to settle for Lineage OS