DivestOS: long term device support with enhanced privacy and security

@SkewedZeppelin

Any plans to:

  1. Add support for Ginkgo (Redmi Note 8/8T)?

Unofficial R at:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/rom-unofficial-ginkgo-11-lineageos-18-1-for-redmi-note-8-8t.4202841/

I would assume R will arrive officially too since it’s officially supported device. And sure, R would be most welcome version obviously.

  1. Package MicroG similarily as CalyxOS does, to be able to download flash that too after OS is Flashed. This would be handy for those who want / need to use it for some apps. Or do you recommend installling microG as it is and adjust some settings?

I’m currently using /e/ OS, quite happy about this, but there are reasons to consider switch. Do you think there are small chances that with DivestOS (which is user build unlike /e/ OS which is userdebug build) + microG some banking apps could work without dirty tricks with Magisk?

PS. I’m not yet expert with custom roms.

If I remember well, developer of Android 10 version said he didn’t want to apply for R official version

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Thanks! I had missed that one.

A feature I’m missing in DivestOS is an option to limit battery charge (e.g. to 80%) to avoid losing capacity too rapidly. This is very useful on devices that don’t have an easily replaceable battery, or the batteries are no longer manufactured. On LOS I was using batterychargelimit, but it requires root. There is also acca.

With no official support for root on DivestOS, it would be nice to have something included in the system image. As I understand the actual functionality that requires root is very simple, it’s just writing to a specific file in /proc or /sys.

Any suggestions how could this be done (securely)?

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That’s slightly out of topic, not to mention the time delay, but one can install system f-droid manually without rooting an Android device with Magisk or superSU
(though an ADB Root developer option is indeed needed).

Funny, the link links back here: Privileged Extension OTA workaround for LOS 17.1

For DivestOS it won’t work anyway: no adb root. So right, off-topic here.

SkewedZeppelin,

please tell me what you think about the Minimal microG NoGoolag Edition by FriendlyNeighborhoodShane

The NoGoolag edition is completley free of any Google or proprietary components other then Droidguard.

Contents: microG (GMSCore, GSFProxy), Selected UNLP backends (Dejá vu, LocalGSM, LocalWiFi, Mozilla, Nominatim), Fake Store, Aurora Store, Aurora Droid, Aurora Services, Permission files for all of this, An addon.d file to backup/restore everything on a rom flash, Support for easily granting permissions with npem terminal command.

DivestOS for OnePlus 8T (kebab) | OnePlus 9 (lemonade)

The Calyx team published on February 25, 2022 under ‘Future device support’.

We experimented with this in late 2021 just before Android 12 was released, however we ran out of time to release a build. We were able to get CalyxOS running, and re-lock the bootloader.

Sony Xperia XZ2 (akari)

divested-18.1-20220301-dos-akari
Status: Likely Works
Relockable: Unknown
Verified Boot: 2.0

@SkewedZeppelin,
How do you rate this user experience in terms of locking ‘akari’ bootloader again?

Unable to relock the bootloader in Sony Xperia XZ2

@fossys

The NoGoolag edition is completely free of any Google or proprietary components other then Droidguard.

So other than the one that is proprietary blackbox and has a unique payload every time? :rofl:

lemonade

On my todo list to add.

akari

Probably cannot be locked.

Switched recently and this Rom is awesome! The closest we will get to GraphenOS.

First I was worried that I would miss good ol’ root, but what I used root for is already reasonibly taken care of, as with the hosts file for example.

And I like the “sensors off” tile option in particular. It took me a few seconds to realize why the camera doesn’t capture any picture and the audio recorder remains completely silent, but there was a significant ‘Ahhhh’-moment and a lot of amazement :D.

While reading through your App recommendations, I wondered if you aware of the Tor proxy InviZible?

It’s truly a great app and besides offering an easy to set up Tor proxy (while you can request tor bridges directly from inside the app, not even Tails does offer this functionality yet), it also comes with DNS encryption, and that module also supports wildcard filters (e.g. .ads.), IP blacklists, whitelisting and there is also a firewall option. I think it truly deserves a recommendation!

Edit: Opinion on Molly changed because of Licaon_Kter

And then there’s also Molly. In case you have’n heard of it yet, Molly(-Foss) is to Signal what Bromite is to Chrome.

Fully compatible with standard Signal, without the proprietary blobs and some extra features like passphrase encryption and Ram shredding and a f-droid repo. Likely the very best option if one wants to use a mainstream compatible messenger.

Last, but certainly not least - thank you very much for your outstanding work: the Rom, the site, the apps!
I’ve no idea what your usual workflow has to look like. How do you even manage to achieve all this? It’s incredible.

Funny that you care about Signal so much that you violate their service terms by using a differentnon-approved client.

Other people being unaware of certain implications of foss forks is not something I usually feel comfortable laughing about.

But you definitely have a point, I didn’t know about the signal corps hostile attitude towards foss forks, so thanks for making me aware, I edited the original message.

@Nameless

While reading through your App recommendations, I wondered if you aware of the Tor proxy InviZible?

Quite sure @SkewedZeppelin is aware. As for me, I prefer simplicity of orbot; I turned off most features of Invizible when I tried it. Also, there were times when connections were slow, and logs in Invizible always showed Russian named servers, which made me wonder if something fishy was happening. It’s probably fine, but life is short…

@Nameless

Invizible is a nice project, but has too many footguns compared to Orbot.
DivestOS also already has a firewall both via iptables (handy) and via INTERNET permission (cannot be bypassed).

Molly is also a neat project, but I am strongly opposed to Signal due to their hostility over the years.

I won’t recommend either on the website.

Yeah I agree, if you only want a Tor proxy, Orbot is the way to go.

One more use case for maximum control that seems only comfortably doable with InviZible:

One can simply blacklist all TLDs and only allow needed domains in the whitelist.

A bit involved to set up (though you see the DNS requests in the DNS tab in Invizible), but once set up it completely solves problems like:

  • third party tracker domains,
  • third party ads,
  • phishing,
  • (command and control traffic - at least in certain instances)

And then the universal wildcard filters like *.ads.* still apply as well.

Obvious downside is it can be annoying if you need to quickly look through some sites which are not in your whitelist, but you can simply use a web proxy like the one from startpage for those instances and you wont have to whitelist or disable anything.

DivestOS also already has a firewall both via iptables (handy) and via INTERNET permission (cannot be bypassed).

I didn’t even realize that the network permission is new since switching to DivestOS , seamlessly integrated for sure :smiley:

@anon25859725

Your device would only receive automatic updates if you configured the update server and regularly made builds:

As for the submodule issue, you need to edit it the or setup your ssh key: Failed trying to do a git submodule update · Issue #48 · Divested-Mobile/DivestOS-Build · GitHub

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Hi,

I don’t know if this is an appropriate place to post issues but I’ve tried installing DivestOS on my enchilada several times, all with the same outcome: boot loop. It previously had LineageOS 17.1 on it but I reset my device back to the stock rom and relocked the boot loader before my last attempt to install DivestOS.

I downloaded all of the files indicated here and followed the steps outlined here, but it still resulted in a boot loop. The site says this device is tested and working so I’m at a loss as to what I might have done wrong.

Any advice you could give to help me diagnose and resolve my issue would be very much appreciated. Otherwise, I’ll have to go back to LineageOS, I guess.

@Stenegeoff

enchilada/fajita are stable and are tested working.
You need to flash the final system stock update (or just vendor.img), use the a/b sync script, then flash DivestOS.

By “A/B sync script” do you mean copy-partitions-enchilada.zip? Maybe that’s what I did wrong. I didn’t run that after flashing the stock ROM. Only after flashing DivestOS.