Is latest stock necessary befre GrapheneOS

moddel

is it necessary to upgrade to the latest version of the stock OS before installing GrapheneOS?

Let's say your phone ships with Android 13, do you need to upgrade to Android 15 before installing GrapheneOS?

I understand that this may be necessary because installing GrapheneOS does not install the firmware, so if there is a incompatibility in a driver from one version to the next it could cause a problem, is this a correct understanding?

Other ROMs are very specific about this step, for example, installing LineageOS they always warn:

If your device is currently using a newer or older version than the required version, please up- or downgrade to the required version before proceeding with your LineageOS installation.

The required version is Android 15, which may be lower than the LineageOS version you are about to install - this is not an error!
If there are multiple updates of that version (e.g. security updates), make sure to use the latest!

GrapheneOS advises this:

It's best practice to update the device before installing GrapheneOS to have the latest firmware for connecting the device to the computer and performing the early flashing process. Either way, GrapheneOS flashes the latest firmware early in the installation process.

This statement seems to imply that it is best to have the latest for the purpose of connecting the device and flashing but that GrapheneOS will automatically upgrade the firmware, drivers during the installation process? Is this correct?

other8026

moddel see this response from the project account https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/21057-flashing-gos-without-updating-android-on-device-first/8

moddel

other8026

Thank you this answers my question exactly.

Next question: Let's say a phone comes out of the box with Android 14 an I want to evaluate and stay on Android 14 rather than upgrade to Android 15 directly. I assume that the latest version of GrapheneOS will be based on Android 15. Is it possible to install an older version of GrapheneOS, say the last version before it was rebased on Android 15?

On the releases page I only see the zip install package for the latest version. I can see the changelog with the previous versions and release links to the source code but where are the install zip packages for previous version?

moddel

other8026 see this response from the project account https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/21057-flashing-gos-without-updating-android-on-device-first/8

Okay I found and verified with ssh-keygen a version 1 release before GrapheneOS was rebased to Android 15. I am still confused about this:

Installing` or updating GrapheneOS provides all of the latest SoC firmware.

Does the Graphene installer update to the latest firmware as of the time of install or does it update to the latest firmware included in the installer package? Logically, I would assume it updates to the latest firmware drivers in the installer package because otherwise the installer would need to redownload from the internet and I do not see internet access listed in the install instructions here: https://topjohnwu.github.io/Magisk/install.html

Can someone with prior install experience please clarify this point for me, it is a rather important point.

de0u

moddel I can see the changelog with the previous versions and release links to the source code but where are the install zip packages for previous version?

They are not all stored. But it is possible to build old ones personally. Old releases of GrapheneOS (as any OS) suffer from known security vulnerabilities.

moddel

de0u They are not all stored. But it is possible to build old ones personally. Old releases of GrapheneOS (as any OS) suffer from known security vulnerabilities.

Yes it doesn't need to be the final destination however I need to test API 34 and API 35 are different.

Are any stored or only the latest version, is there any secondary location to find these or only the link from the GrapheneOS homepage?

At appears the the wayback machine has some, maybe 15% of them are archived but its really hit of miss. I am still looking for one with the sig file so I check check it.

de0u

moddel Can someone with prior install experience please clarify this point for me, it is a rather important point.

I suspect unpacking the image will allow inspection of the firmware images, and also inspection of the flashing script (which I believe does not download anything).

other8026

moddel I believe the firmware is all in the factory image and included in updates.

moddel I do not see internet access listed in the install instructions here: https://topjohnwu.github.io/Magisk/install.html

If you're rooting your phone or making other modifications to the OS, then we cannot provide support for that. If you modify the OS, it's no longer truly GrapheneOS.

moddel

other8026
Yes that is clear. The ultimate goal would be to be able to take advantage of all the security upgrades including verified boot while also enjoying the privacy enhancements GrapheneOS offers. This will ultimately depend on how comprehensive the privacy feature set is over stock and other alternative rooted solutions.

At first glance from the documentation things look very promising but only a real world trial will reveal if there are any missing essential features.

The documentation is comprehensive and gives the impression that GrapheneOS is a security first operating system. Privacy enhancements are offered only in that that do not compromise the security architecture.

For security, many attack vectors appear to have been considered and mitigated however many interesting privacy features brought up by users here and on github are still "coming soon" or are planned for the future.

GrapheneOS appears to be a fascinating project.