Under "Connecting the Device" it refers to having "the udev rules set". I tried searching for what that means because it is unclear if just installing the package sets the rules.
That's exactly what I stumbled upon.
I'm planning to buy a Pixel 8a and use it with GrapheneOS right from the start. So, the prerequisite for me would be, that I can actually get the installation done, because a smartphone with a "normal" (Google) Android is out of the question for me! That's why I try to inform myself as much as possible in advance...
My operating system on the computer is an Arch Linux derivative (CachyOS with KDE).
The web installer guide say two things about udev:
Flashing as non-root
On traditional Linux distributions, USB devices cannot be used as non-root without udev rules for each type of device. This is not an issue for other platforms.
On Arch Linux, install the android-udev package. ...
Connecting the device
Connect the device to the computer. On Linux, you'll need to do this again if you didn't have the udev rules set up when you connected it.
Hmm ... do I have set up the udev rules already at this time (if I have carried out point 1, i.e. for Arch Linux sudo pacman -S android-udev
)?
And what else is meant by "you'll need to do this again"? What is "this" and what is meant by "again"? As I understand it:
This = So I connect the device to the computer.
Again = Then I unplug it and reconnect it again?
What happens or does it do, if the udev rules are not installed or do not work for some reason? Is it then not possible to install GrapheneOS at all?
Maybe my concern is unfounded and simply installing android-udev is actually all you have to do and it will work.
Since several people have apparently stumbled upon this point, I think it could perhaps be worded a little more clearly.
In the CLI install guide I found the following note:
The udev rules on Debian and Ubuntu are very out-of-date but the package has the rules needed for Pixel devices since the same USB IDs have been used for many years.
This does not answer the question of whether a simple installation (without any configuration) is sufficient, but the note that the out-of-date package also works under Debian/Ubuntu suggests, that nothing special is needed for the Pixel 8 series.
Sorry, I'm German and my English is not particularly good, a translation tool helped me in some cases!