[GUIDE] Restoring Google Apps

[Preetam]

THIS GUIDE HAS BEEN DEPRECATED. PLEASE SEE THE NEW GUIDE HERE.

Restoring Google Apps

If you would like to restore access to the Play store for your device, you will need to do a little extra work.

We have had success using the TWRP custom recovery to restore Google apps:

1. Download Play apps from a 3rd party packager like Open Gapps and save it in
    the same directory you unzipped the Maru installer:

    Maru OS v0.2.4 and below:
    http://opengapps.org/?arch=arm&api=5.1&variant=pico
   
    Maru OS v0.3 and above:
    http://opengapps.org/?arch=arm&api=6.0&variant=pico

2. Download TWRP for your device and save it in the same directory you
    unzipped the Maru installer:

    https://twrp.me/Devices

3. Connect your device to your computer, enable USB Debugging, and follow the instructions below depending on your platform.

    NOTE: The following instructions assume you have downloaded the installer zip, which contain adb and fastboot tools.
               If you are using the update zip, you will need to obtain your own versions of adb and fastboot.

    (Make sure to substitute the correct name of the file you downloaded for anything in brackets)

    Mac or Linux
    -------------------

    Open up a terminal and run the following:

    Tip: you may need to run the fastboot command as root if it hangs at < waiting for any device >

    $ cd <unzipped maru installer directory>
    $ ./adb push -p <gapps filename>.zip /sdcard/
    $ ./adb reboot bootloader
    $ ./fastboot flash recovery <twrp filename>.img

    Windows
    -------------

    Open up Command Prompt and run the following:

    $ cd <unzipped maru installer directory>
    $ adb push -p <gapps filename>.zip /sdcard/
    $ adb reboot bootloader
    $ fastboot flash recovery <twrp filename>.img


You will now be in the bootloader and need to do a few more steps:

4.  Use the <Volume Up> button on your device to cycle through the bootloader options
    to "Recovery mode" and hit the <Power> button to boot into TWRP recovery

    (You will be greeted by a screen that allows you to "Keep Read Only" or "Swipe to Allow
    Modifications". It's safest to tap "Keep Read Only": TWRP will be replaced by your stock
    recovery after your phone reboots. Alternatively, if you would like to keep TWRP recovery
    on your device after your phone reboots, swipe right.)

5.  Tap "Install"

6.  Tap the Google apps zip file that you downloaded earlier (you may need to scroll down)

7.  Swipe to confirm flash of the Google apps

8.  Tap "Reboot System" to reboot back into Maru

    (You may be asked to install SuperSU to root your device. If you know what rooting your
    device means and want to have it rooted then go ahead. Otherwise, it's best to tap
    "Do Not Install".)

You should now have Google Play apps!

Community Guides

• Maru OS e Instalación de Google Apps (Spanish)

Feel free to suggest corrections, alternative installation methods, etc. below.


Edit 6/12: Update open gapps link to point to 32-bit arm version
Edit 6/17: Add Community Guides section and NOTE that adb and fastboot instructions are for installer zip
Edit 7/5: Add tip to run fastboot as root
Edit 11/8: Add Marshmallow open gapps link for v0.3 and above

Edit 2017-03-30: Update TWRP link to device search page since we now support more devices

Edit 2019-03-06: Add deprecation notice and link to new guide

[Doug Copeland]

i tried this guide and trying to figure out if i need to make sure to turn off secure boot, isn't working well and unable to install twrp please advise

[Preetam]

@C00p3r No need to disable secure boot. The only thing you need is the bootloader lock state to be unlocked. If you have already installed Maru then your bootloader should already be unlocked and ready to go. Can you please provide more details? Are you able to fastboot flash the TWRP binary? Any further info / terminal output will be helpful to troubleshoot.

[Willie McKemie]

    Mac or Linux
    -------------------

    Open up a terminal and run the following:

    $ cd <unzipped maru installer directory>
    $ ./adb push -p <gapps filename>.zip /sdcard/
    $ ./adb reboot bootloader
    $ ./fastboot flash recovery <twrp filename>.img

I found I needed to install a Mint package to get adb.

I can not make the push command work.  I wonder if "sdcard" refers to an removable card?  I don't have printed documentation for my Nexus5 and have not found anything other that Quick Start Guide online.
---
willie@willie-Lenovo-G580 ~/Desktop/maru $ ./adb push ./open_gapps-arm64-5~ico-20160611-1.zip /sdcard/
cannot stat './open_gapps-arm64-5~ico-20160611-1.zip': No such file or directory
willie@willie-Lenovo-G580 ~/Desktop/maru $
---
willie@willie-Lenovo-G580 ~/Desktop/maru $ ./adb push open_gapps-arm64-5~ico-20160611-1.zip /sdcard/
cannot stat 'open_gapps-arm64-5~ico-20160611-1.zip': No such file or directory
willie@willie-Lenovo-G580 ~/Desktop/maru $
---
The zip  file is in the maru subdirectory..

As you might observe, I am a complete newbie in messing with Android software.

 

[Christian B]

You do need fastboot and adb installed.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48915118#post48915118

To get rid of the CD command, you can simply (WINDOWS) navigate to the folder with Maru.zip and twrp.img and press :

"Shift + Right Click --> Open CMD here"

Greets, Christian

[Preetam]

On Saturday, June 11, 2016 at 8:15:10 AM UTC-4, Willie McKemie wrote:

    Mac or Linux
    -------------------

    Open up a terminal and run the following:

    $ cd <unzipped maru installer directory>
    $ ./adb push -p <gapps filename>.zip /sdcard/
    $ ./adb reboot bootloader
    $ ./fastboot flash recovery <twrp filename>.img

I found I needed to install a Mint package to get adb.

 
Ah, yes, these instructions were written specifically for the installer zip files (maru-v0.2.3-installer-*), which contain adb and fastboot binaries in them. If you are using the update zip, you will need to install adb and fastboot on your own.

I can not make the push command work.  I wonder if "sdcard" refers to an removable card? [...]

"/sdcard/" usually refers to a real removable SD card, but Android emulates this storage area on a device's internal flash storage if it does not support a removable card. The Nexus 5 makes use of this, so yes this is the correct location.
 

 
---
willie@willie-Lenovo-G580 ~/Desktop/maru $ ./adb push ./open_gapps-arm64-5~ico-20160611-1.zip /sdcard/
cannot stat './open_gapps-arm64-5~ico-20160611-1.zip': No such file or directory
willie@willie-Lenovo-G580 ~/Desktop/maru $
---
willie@willie-Lenovo-G580 ~/Desktop/maru $ ./adb push open_gapps-arm64-5~ico-20160611-1.zip /sdcard/
cannot stat 'open_gapps-arm64-5~ico-20160611-1.zip': No such file or directory
willie@willie-Lenovo-G580 ~/Desktop/maru $
---
The zip  file is in the maru subdirectory..

Hmm, looks like you have a typo in the file name? You have "open_gapps-arm64-5~ico-

20160611-1.zip" but I believe the correct name is "open_gapps-arm64-5.1-pico-

20160611-1.zip"?

Also this is the wrong open gapps zip, you need the arm 32-bit version available. Direct link here: http://opengapps.org/?arch=arm&api=5.1&variant=pico. Apologies for the confusion, I will update the link in the guide.

The file should be called something like open_gapps-arm-5.1-pico-20160611.zip.

 

As you might observe, I am a complete newbie in messing with Android software.

No problem, we all started there!

[Ali Hosseini]

Did isntall TWRP tried both versions
C:\Users\Ali\Desktop\Gapp>fastboot flash recovery twrp3.img
< waiting for any device >
target reported max download size of 1073741824 bytes
sending 'recovery' (14524 KB)...
OKAY [  0.637s]
writing 'recovery'...
OKAY [  1.140s]
finished. total time: 1.779s

but is gives the no recovery icon if i want to go to recovery

[ELSATE COM]

In Spanish: How Install Google Apps on Maru OS

http://www.elsate.com/viewtopic.php?t=1015

Thanks to Preetam

El sábado, 7 de mayo de 2016, 0:25:06 (UTC+2), Preetam escribió:

Restoring Google Apps

If you would like to restore access to the Play store for your device, you will need to do a little extra work.

We have had success using the TWRP custom recovery to restore Google apps:

1. Download Play apps from a 3rd party packager like Open Gapps and save it in
    the same directory you unzipped the Maru installer:

    http://opengapps.org/?arch=arm&api=5.1&variant=pico

2. Download TWRP (we have tested v2.8.7.1 and v3.0.0.0) and save it in the same directory you
    unzipped the Maru installer:

    https://dl.twrp.me/hammerhead

3. Connect your device to your computer, enable USB Debugging, and follow the instructions below depending on your platform.

    (Make sure to substitute the correct name of the file you downloaded for anything in brackets)

    Mac or Linux
    -------------------

    Open up a terminal and run the following:

Feel free to suggest corrections, alternative installation methods, etc. below.

[Preetam]

Have you tried following the instructions here to install TWRP? Specifically about using the Volume buttons directly after the flash (before rebooting)? If you reboot before, sometimes TWRP will be overwritten with the stock recovery so it's important to go directly to recovery from the bootloader.

https://github.com/maruos/maruos/wiki/TWRP

On Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 6:22:34 AM UTC-4, ELSATE COM wrote:

In Spanish: How Install Google Apps on Maru OS

http://www.elsate.com/viewtopic.php?t=1015

Wow, this is awesome!! Thank you so much for translating!

Would you mind if I linked to this on this thread and the GitHub wiki? Or even better, maybe I can use your translation for a new Spanish installation guide on the official wiki?

[Joris Vermeir]

I tried restoring the Google Apps after installing the OS itself, but after swiping to confirm flash of the Google apps I got an error:

Updating partition details...

...done

Full SELinux support is present.

MTP Enabled

Installing zip file '/sdcard/open_gapps-arm-5.zip'

Checking for MD5 file...

Skipping MD5 check: no MD5 file found

Could not find 'META-INF/com/google/android/update-binary' in the zip file.

Error installing zip file '/sdcard/open_gapps-arm-5.zip'

After downloading the open gapps zipfile on my computer, my mac automatically unzipped the file and made a folder. But no problem, I zipped it again and used it in the commands listed below. After getting this error, I checked the contents of the zip and the 'update-binary' file that "wasn't found" is actually present in the folder. So I don't really get why this isn't working.

I was really excited to test MaruOS, so if someone could help me with my problem, I would be most delighted!

Thanks in advance.

J.

Op zaterdag 7 mei 2016 00:25:06 UTC+2 schreef Preetam:

Restoring Google Apps

If you would like to restore access to the Play store for your device, you will need to do a little extra work.

We have had success using the TWRP custom recovery to restore Google apps:

1. Download Play apps from a 3rd party packager like Open Gapps and save it in
    the same directory you unzipped the Maru installer:

    http://opengapps.org/?arch=arm&api=5.1&variant=pico

2. Download TWRP (we have tested v2.8.7.1 and v3.0.0.0) and save it in the same directory you
    unzipped the Maru installer:

    https://dl.twrp.me/hammerhead

3. Connect your device to your computer, enable USB Debugging, and follow the instructions below depending on your platform.

    (Make sure to substitute the correct name of the file you downloaded for anything in brackets)

    Mac or Linux
    -------------------

    Open up a terminal and run the following:

Feel free to suggest corrections, alternative installation methods, etc. below.

[ELSATE COM]

Download again the zip file, its corrupt.

http://opengapps.org/?arch=arm&api=5.1&variant=nano

check that the open_gapps.arm.5.1-pico-xxxxx.zip is in same folder that Maru OS Install (its use adb and fastboot to upload file to smartphone)

 cd [b]folder Maru OS installer>[/b]
    ./adb push -p <nombre fichero de gapps>.zip /sdcard/
    ./adb reboot bootloader
    ./fastboot flash recovery <nombre fichero twrp>.img

Alternative you can copy  open_gapps.arm.5.1-pico-xxxxx.zip via explorer with USB in Windows o Linux and enter recovery mode (Power + Down Volume keys) later to finish install gapps.zip

1. Choose "install zip" or "Apply update" from within recovery, and navigate to the zip-file loaded earlier.

Good luck

[Joris Vermeir]

I downloaded the open gapps zipfile on a linux machine and transferred it to my mac using a USB and it worked. So apparently rezipping the automatically unzipped file on mac isn't a good working option.

Thanks for the help!

Op vrijdag 17 juni 2016 13:05:30 UTC+2 schreef ELSATE COM:

[Daniel Tripp]

Worked for me from a Ubuntu Xenial machine (using TWRP) and I rooted it while I was there.

I wish someone would explain the reason for removing Google Play (I saw a mention on XDA developers - Google Play was previously included in a prior build) - for me an Android phone is next to useless without the Play Store...  All my apps, Music etc...   Google Docs, Gmail...  and I need that to install Dropbox which I cannot survive without...

[Blauer Hunger]

AFAIK Google forbids the deployment of Google Apps without some kind of partnering program... so either MaruOS dropped it to work around trouble or Google already showed up.

[chev droid]

Blauer Hunger

That is correct, it is not allowed for an OEM to deploy GAPPS on their devices without partnering program.

Since Maru only gives you Maru OS to flash (GAPPS not included) there is no problem for Maru, the user can flash the GAPPS if he want's, but it's not per default in maru. 

[Daniel Tripp]

Thanks for the explanation...

[Caleb Jensen]

Can you add a note to make sure to run ./fastboot as root? It took me a while to figure that out. It just hangs at < waiting for any device >
Thanks!

On Friday, May 6, 2016 at 6:25:06 PM UTC-4, Preetam wrote:

Restoring Google Apps

If you would like to restore access to the Play store for your device, you will need to do a little extra work.

We have had success using the TWRP custom recovery to restore Google apps:

1. Download Play apps from a 3rd party packager like Open Gapps and save it in
    the same directory you unzipped the Maru installer:

    http://opengapps.org/?arch=arm&api=5.1&variant=pico

2. Download TWRP (we have tested v2.8.7.1 and v3.0.0.0) and save it in the same directory you
    unzipped the Maru installer:

    https://dl.twrp.me/hammerhead

3. Connect your device to your computer, enable USB Debugging, and follow the instructions below depending on your platform.

    NOTE: The following instructions assume you have downloaded the installer zip, which contain adb and fastboot tools.
               If you are using the update zip, you will need to obtain your own versions of adb and fastboot.

    (Make sure to substitute the correct name of the file you downloaded for anything in brackets)

    Mac or Linux
    -------------------

    Open up a terminal and run the following:

[Preetam]

Thanks for the note--I've added it above!

[Preetam]

A heads-up to everyone that you will need to switch over to the 6.0 version of Open Gapps if you upgrade to Maru OS v0.3 and above:

http://opengapps.org/?arch=arm&api=6.0&variant=pico

I have updated the guide to include the links depending on your version of Maru OS.

- Preetam

[Daniel Tripp]

Dangit!  I wish I'd read this before I wiped my Nexus 5!  :-)

I just installed MaruOS 0.3.0 (instead of upgrading) - and trying to get GApps on there - I got TWRP on there okay - but accidentally installed AOSP zip file - and got stock android back with no Maru!

So now I've wiped it again - installed Maru, then TWRP - now waiting for Pico GAPPS to download...

Live and learn...

I wish there was a HTTP link I could use wget to grab the pico GAPPS download from - as I'm trying for the third time to grab it!

[Alex Manuskin]

Want to share another method that worked for me.
Download twrp file from here:
https://dl.twrp.me/hammerhead/twrp-3.0.3-0-hammerhead.img.html

Boot the device into bootloader

Now run from your terminal:

fastboot flash recovery twrp*.img

This will flash the custom recovery

Reboot once this is done.

Download the Gapps pico file from here:

http://opengapps.org

Boot into custom recovery

Go to 'Advanced->Sideload'

Now run from the terminal
adb sideload <gapps-version.zip>

Now reboot and you will have Gapps installed

On Saturday, May 7, 2016 at 1:25:06 AM UTC+3, Preetam wrote:

Restoring Google Apps

If you would like to restore access to the Play store for your device, you will need to do a little extra work.

We have had success using the TWRP custom recovery to restore Google apps:

1. Download Play apps from a 3rd party packager like Open Gapps and save it in
    the same directory you unzipped the Maru installer:

    Maru OS v0.2.4 and below:
    http://opengapps.org/?arch=arm&api=5.1&variant=pico
   
    Maru OS v0.3 and above:
   

http://opengapps.org/?arch=arm&api=6.0&variant=pico

2. Download TWRP (we have tested v2.8.7.1 and v3.0.0.0) and save it in the same directory you
    unzipped the Maru installer:

    https://dl.twrp.me/hammerhead

[d3bunk Er]

Hi Preetam,

I successfully loaded the Google Apps via Linux as per your instructions (using the vendor websites md5 verified versions of maru-v0.3-installer-hammerhead-linux-64fe8f83.zip, twrp-3.0.3-0-hammerhead.img and open_gapps-arm-6.0-pico-20170131.zip) ...

Mac or Linux
    -------------------

    Open up a terminal and run the following:

    Tip: you may need to run the fastboot command as root if it hangs at < waiting for any device >

    $ cd <unzipped maru installer directory>
    $ ./adb push -p <gapps filename>.zip /sdcard/
    $ ./adb reboot bootloader
    $ ./fastboot flash recovery <twrp filename>.img

 ... however the first app I load and ran out of the playstore was the VirusTotal app by VirusTotal (aka Google/ABC) and it identified that 3 of the installed gapps as potentially containing malware. The apps in question were "Contacts Storage", "Shell", and "Email".

• App="Contacts Storage" Mal.Cnt=(1), AV1="Rising",  Result1="Malware.Undefined!8.C-1pIHHJL8ThK (cloud)"
  For detailed virus total results see ... https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/fa72246f09cb5a0bd462bad856a04892fc7f695cbc8d8d0e8d43d24ce7ef62db/analysis/
  
  
• App="Shell", Mal.Cnt=(2), AV1="Bkav", Result1="Android.Trojan.SMS.FakeInst.E673", AV2="CAT-QuickHeal", Result2="Android.gEWPB.GEN12424 (PUP)"
  For detailed virus total results see ... https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/380f68c0bf27cb0502fe4a863b18493c01f971f2b933788e002ab48defa9dc33/analysis/
  
  
• App="Email", Mal.Cnt=(1), AV1="Bkav", Result1="Android.Trojan.SMS.SpyForw.1.db.5F70"
  For detailed virus total results see ... https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/5bb7b862109a4407b4caf73ee32bd419b92ed07a78793b4c6aea11b5e4aa35db/analysis/

There was a fourth app "Android System WebView" that I could not load to VirusTotal so its scan result is unknown.
App="Android System WebView", AV=Unknown as file size of 37MB exceeds the 32MB upload limit of VirusTotal so can't be analysed.

Just curious if anybody else has been able to replicate similar results.
I am pretty cautious about loading 3rd party apps, so needless to say I blew these additions away and went back to stock Maru.

[Dionis L]

What additions you did blew away ?

[chev droid]

3rd party apps?

Android System WebView for example is part of "android" not the aosp part but installed on all android devices which you can buy in any store, same for Email App etc.

The Gapps are nothing more than a bunch of Apps such as Google Play Store and its dependencies which are needed to let you use Google Play Store...

So I don't see why you think it's malware.

[Preetam]

Hi d3bunkEr,

Thanks for trying Maru OS out and your feedback!

I want to just immediately point out that I wouldn't trust the results of this "VirusTotal" app. I am unfamiliar with this app but I looked up the store listing and it is clear that this is VERY outdated--the last update was on June 13, 2012...

Regarding the apps that it highlighted, @chev is right that these are just part of standard Android. Here's some more info:

* Contacts Storage is part of the core Android framework, this is not a 3rd party app. We use the upstream version from Google: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/packages/providers/ContactsProvider
* Shell is part of the core Android framework, this is not a 3rd party app. We use the upstream version from Google: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/android-6.0.1_r77/packages/Shell/
* Email is a well-known stock AOSP app, this is not a 3rd party app. We use the upstream version hosted at Google: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/packages/apps/Email/
* Android System WebView is part of the core Android framework, this is not a 3rd party app either. We use the upstream version from Google: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/webview/

Again, I wouldn't trust this "VirusTotal" app, which is itself a 3rd party app...

Regarding OpenGapps: The are pretty well trusted within the community in general. I, and many, many people using Maru OS), haven't had any issues with it. If there is some "secret malware" in OpenGapps that is overwritting the highlighted apps with their own, I am unaware of it, and find this highly unlikely since their code is completely open-source on GitHub with quite a few eyeballs on it. The only unknown are, of course, the closed-source apps distributed by Google that let you access the Play Store--it is up to you whether you trust these or not.

If you are still concerned about OpenGapps, you may want to take a look at F-Droid, which is an alternative open-source app store that only hosts FOSS apps. And, of course, running stock Maru is the most conservative approach if you want to be paranoid!

Hope this clears things up!

-Preetam

On Thursday, February 2, 2017 at 2:55:39 AM UTC-5, d3bunk Er wrote:

Hi Preetam,

I successfully loaded the Google Apps via Linux as per your instructions (using the vendor websites md5 verified versions of maru-v0.3-installer-hammerhead-linux-64fe8f83.zip, twrp-3.0.3-0-hammerhead.img and open_gapps-arm-6.0-pico-20170131.zip) ...

... however the first app I load and ran out of the playstore was the VirusTotal app by VirusTotal (aka Google/ABC) and it identified that 3 of the installed gapps as potentially containing malware. The apps in question were "Contacts Storage", "Shell", and "Email".

[d3bunk Er]

Thanks Preetam for clearing that up. You've given me a little more confidence about the origin of the source.

By the way, VirusTotal is owned by Google. It is the one of the largest black-listing databases on the internet. It allows computer researchers to upload potential virus samples and have them run against 50+ different AV tools. While the VirusTotal app is old, it is still useful; or a for a more current interface you can use the website www.virustotal.com to achieve the same end. A sample file <32MB in size can be uploaded or a file hash (eg. md5 sha1 or sha256) can be checked against the check for prior analysis and reports.

It is quite possible that the files in question were false positives due to the heuristics employed by many AV tools but I felt it worth raising even if the files in question do come from a trusted upstream source such as Google https://android.googlesource.com.

My original questions still stands though. Was anybody able to replicate these results?

Or put another way, does anybody else get the following hash results for the following apps: -
Contacts Storage   fa72246f09cb5a0bd462bad856a04892fc7f695cbc8d8d0e8d43d24ce7ef62db
Shell              380f68c0bf27cb0502fe4a863b18493c01f971f2b933788e002ab48defa9dc33
Email              5bb7b862109a4407b4caf73ee32bd419b92ed07a78793b4c6aea11b5e4aa35db

Just want to make sure no malware snuck in from my PC side.

[tom rhodes]

Hi all, I just tried to install stock gapps, and it said the system partition was too small, I have 26Gb of space available and the open gapps stock is like 738MB?

What is happening here?

[Preetam]

@tom 

Are you running on the N7 2013 (flo)? If so, there is an open issue about this: https://github.com/maruos/maruos/issues/66. We are currently testing a fix.

Also, that 26GB of space available is your data partition, not system--system is usually a lot smaller.

[tom rhodes]

Nope it's on hammerhead. Installed pico now, and will add other stuff bit by bit to test it out.

[Preetam]

Ah yes, if on hammerhead please make sure you use the link above in the guide. We only officially support pico on hammerhead.

[Alan Upson]

I wrote the following post under the “New Maru OS User” posts, but I deleted it from there and posted it here as this ”Restoring Google Apps” post is far more relevant. “Hi again, I have replaced Maru v0.3 with Maru v0.4 on my Nexus 5 following Preetam's installation guide at https://github.com/maruos/maruos/wiki/Installation-Guide and using maru-v0.4-installer-hammerhead-windows-0db8cdcb.zip. It worked well, except that Google Play Store is no longer visible. I saw your note somewhere about "Play store will freak out and disappear" and "just go ahead and flash the gapps again". I can't find a Gapps file to flash, so could someone kindly explain how this is done? Regards Alan”.

 

Since then, I have found this post and tried to follow the instructions provided by Preetam to restore Google Play Store, but was unable to complete the steps from step 3 onward. However, the following approach (based upon the instructions and a bit of guesswork) worked for me: I went to http://opengapps.org and downloaded the pico version of Open G Apps onto the Nexus 5 phone. I then used Marius Quabeck’s magic-device-tool via my Linux PC to install (or maybe repair) TWRP onto the phone. I was then able to boot into recovery and install Gapps using the downloaded file. I now have v0.4 of Maru with Google Play Store back! Hopefully this may help others. Perhaps the instructions could be modified to make it easier for new users to get up and running with Maru and experience its amazing abilities.

On Friday, May 6, 2016 at 11:25:06 PM UTC+1, Preetam wrote:

Restoring Google Apps

If you would like to restore access to the Play store for your device, you will need to do a little extra work.

We have had success using the TWRP custom recovery to restore Google apps:

1. Download Play apps from a 3rd party packager like Open Gapps and save it in
    the same directory you unzipped the Maru installer:

    Maru OS v0.2.4 and below:
    http://opengapps.org/?arch=arm&api=5.1&variant=pico
   
    Maru OS v0.3 and above:
   

http://opengapps.org/?arch=arm&api=6.0&variant=pico

2. Download TWRP for your device and save it in the same directory you
    unzipped the Maru installer:

    https://twrp.me/Devices

3. Connect your device to your computer, enable USB Debugging, and follow the instructions below depending on your platform.

    NOTE: The following instructions assume you have downloaded the installer zip, which contain adb and fastboot tools.
               If you are using the update zip, you will need to obtain your own versions of adb and fastboot.

    (Make sure to substitute the correct name of the file you downloaded for anything in brackets)

    Mac or Linux
    -------------------

    Open up a terminal and run the following:

    Tip: you may need to run the fastboot command as root if it hangs at < waiting for any device >

    $ cd <unzipped maru installer directory>
    $ ./adb push -p <gapps filename>.zip /sdcard/
    $ ./adb reboot bootloader
    $ ./fastboot flash recovery <twrp filename>.img

    Windows
    -------------

    Open up Command Prompt and run the following:

    $ cd <unzipped maru installer directory>

Edit 2017-03-30: Update TWRP link to device search page since we now support more devices

[Preetam]

Hi Alan, thanks for sharing your tips! You bring up a good point that you can download the gapps file directly from your device itself, which can then be used in TWRP without having to transfer it from your PC to your device as suggested in the instructions. The hardest part is probably getting TWRP installed though, which usually requires a PC around, a fastboot binary for flashing TWRP to your device's recovery, and proper device permissions from your PC (a little annoying on Windows due to additional USB driver install), which can be confusing sometimes.

By the way, can you explain where you got stuck on step 3 so we can make the instructions clearer? It sounds like you were able to get things to work with magic-device-tool on Linux, which internally uses mostly the same commands listed in this guide, so these instructions should have worked too. It looks like you said you used the windows installer though, so I'm assuming you followed the Windows instructions when following the guide? Perhaps you can try on your Linux PC with the *-hammerhead-linux-*.zip installer next time.

As an additional tip, you may want to use the update zip (maru-v0.4-update-hammerhead-dd793179.zip) next time you upgrade an existing installation of Maru if you would like to save your user data. We have an upgrading guide here: https://github.com/maruos/maruos/wiki/Upgrading.

[Alan Upson]

Hi Preetam, thanks for the reply. I can’t recall the reasons I got stuck, but I will try the procedure again soon and let you know the outcome. I would like to reinstall Maru OS v0.4 when I have finished experimenting with Lineage OS, which I intend to install next week using Marius Quabeck’s magic-device-tool (mdt). I emailed Marius recently and he told me that he is planning to update Maru OS to the latest version in mdt soon. Do you have much contact with Marius? In the meantime, I checked my downloads folder, and can confirm that I used the Linux version of the zip installer in my Linux PC. Sorry for the error, but I copied and pasted the wrong link in my earlier post. Regards Alan.

[Alan Upson]

I have reinstalled Maru OS v0.4 and repeated the steps in the Restoring Google Apps Guide at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/maru-os/S8PUEqq with the following results:

 

Step 1 (http://opengapps.org/?arch=arm&api=6.0&variant=pico) worked fine.

Step 2 (https://twrp.me/Devices) worked fine.

Step 3 (from Connect your device to your computer, enable USB Debugging through to ./adb reboot bootloader) worked fine, and I could confirm that the “opengapps zip” file above had been successfully pushed to the internal storage of the Nexus 5.

Step 3 (./fastboot flash recovery <twrp filename>.img) did not work for me. The image I had previously downloaded from https://twrp.me/devices/lgnexus5.html had an apk extension not an img extension. Changing it to twrp.img did not work. The Primary (Europe) website was down and I was unable to try other images. Just in case, I tried the first two images from Primary (Americas) (twrp-3.1.0-0 and twrp-3.0.3-0-hammerhead.img) but they did not work.

 

I resolved the issue by using Marius Quabeck’s magic-device-tool (mdt) to install TWRP (shown on the phone as version 3.0.3-0), following which I could boot into Recovery and install Google Apps following steps 4 to 8 of your guide.

 

Prior to the above installation, I had experimented with Lineage OS, Maru OS v 0.4 via mdt and Stock Android; here are my comments on the quality of the installation instructions:

 

1. Lineage OS via Lineage OS website: good instructions, straightforward to install

2. Maru OS v0.4 via magic-device-tool: good instructions, very easy to install

3. Stock Android OS via https://developers.google.com/android/images: OK instructions, straightforward to reinstall (although the build number I selected required several updates)

4. Maru OS v0.4 via Maru OS website at https://github.com/maruos/maruos/wiki/Installation-Guide: poor instructions, needed trial and error and additional knowledge to install

5. Google Apps via Maru OS Guide: good instructions, but step 3 did not work (as above).

 

In summary, there appears to be problems relating to TWRP images which prevent the installation of Google Apps using the Maru OS Guide.

 

In addition, I think it would be beneficial and encourage new users if the Maru OS website provided clear, comprehensive and unambiguous instructions (including any prerequisites) for obtaining and installing Maru OS, along the lines of those provided by Lineage OS, Marius Quabeck mdt, Google Developers and others.

 

[Dionis L]

Is good you shared with others the alternate methods ,and what worked and how you did it .

For me all works fine using just https://github.com/maruos/maruos/wiki/Installation-Guide  and I found all very easy to fallow , and I was also impressed the install process was made so advanced .

Is interesting others find it hard to fallow , I dnt consider me a pro  but I'm using linux for over 15 years .


Maybe the install process will be split in 2 parts , a super easy to install method , and a little advanced method .

[Alan Upson]

The instructions at https://github.com/maruos/maruos/wiki/Installation-Guide for “Easy installers” consist of only two steps i.e. download installer zip (in my case maru-v0.4-installer-hammerhead-linux-6b1b3aeb.zip) and install (“Open a terminal, cd to the unzipped installer, and run the install.sh script with: $ ./install.sh”).

 

In the “Easy installers” section, you could perhaps explain that you need to download the installer zip to a computer, extract it somewhere (I extracted in the Downloads directory), connect the device to the computer via a USB cable, navigate to the installer zip (providing an example of how this can be done*), and mention any prerequisites that are or are not handled by the installer. *In my case, it was /home/alanupson/Downloads/maru-v0.4-installer-hammerhead-linux-6b1b3aeb/install.sh.

 

While the above may be obvious to persons having a good working knowledge of Linux, there are plenty of persons that would benefit from having better instructions. As well as the examples of good instructions I mentioned in my previous post, the Maru OS “Maru OS [Guide] Restoring Google Apps” instructions are also a good example of the level of detail that I think should be provided.  

 

When the “cd to the unzipped installer” part is properly completed, the ./install.sh command works fine and brings up the “Welcome to the Maru installer” instructions which are also fine.

[Alan Upson]

Update on Step 3 (./fastboot flash recovery twrp filename>.img) problem described below: the Primary (Europe) website worked today, and (unlike last time) provided an .img file. I was then able to  install TWRP and Google Apps as per Maru OS instructions.

[Preetam]

@Alan Happy to hear that it worked this time! Thanks for all the great feedback by the way. I agree that we can work on making the instructions even clearer to follow so that users of all experience levels can get up and running with Maru. I have taken most of your suggestions on improving the easy installer guide and have updated the wiki: https://github.com/maruos/maruos/wiki/Installation-Guide/_compare/3d0c7dacfdc1b6a63d56c8ab1915318fffb50264

[Alan Upson]

Thanks Preetam. I have provided further suggestions in a new post entitled "Easy and Complete Instructions for Installing Maru OS". I was going to reply to your "[How to] Installing Maru" post, but did not see a "Post" option.

[Ramanathan Balakrishnan]

Could someone help me understand why twrp is required to flash gapps? I mean can't it be flashed with stock recovery? Or can't it go along with the ROM? Excuse me if i don't make sense

[Ian Kelling]

Ramanathan Balakrishnan <sreeram...@gmail.com> writes:

> Could someone help me understand why twrp is required to flash gapps? I
> mean can't it be flashed with stock recovery? Or can't it go along with the
> ROM? Excuse me if i don't make sense

Stock recovery can't do much, I'm guessing it's limited to installing a
single rom. gapps need to be separate from any os rom, because they are
proprietary and google does not allow them to be distributed as part of
any os rom which they don't approve of, and they would not approve of
maru.

There's a decent chance that google will make gapps have limited
functionality on unapproved roms lke maru at some point. See
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/. I've found that no gapps works fine. I use
google maps directions in the browser, and thats it from google. F-droid
replaces the app store, and Nextcloud is the easiest way to backup your
contacts/photos etc, and that is all you usually need to go without
gapps. If you do a web search for android without google, you will find
other suggestions.

--
Ian Kelling
https://iankelling.org

[Ramanathan Balakrishnan]

Thanks Ian, that makes it clear !

[Preetam]

Just a heads-up that this guide has been deprecated in favor of our new guide available here: https://maruos.com/docs/user/google-apps.html

[Francisc Lukacs]

It does not work for me. After installing the Maru os, it keeps telling me that there is no more space available on the phone.. after i wipe all data, and trying to install again maru, i keep getting error 7.

[Preetam]

Which OpenGapps zip variant are you using? Maru images are larger than normal so the system partition is constrained more than on a standard ROM. We suggest installing the pico version of Open Gapps if your device does not have enough space.

Just to verify, I just flashed my Nexus 5 with maru-v0.6.6-update-hammerhead-90e81fc8.zip and open_gapps-arm-8.1-pico-20190306.zip using TWRP 3.2.3-0 and it installed fine.

I will update the guide to include a large notice about requiring the pico variant since it may be confusing.

[Alan Upson]

I used sudo apt update and sudo apt install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot to install adb and fastboot on my Linus desktop. I eventually had success installing TWRP 3.2.2-0 (but only temporarily because the stock recovery kept overwriting it) and then flashing maru-v0.6.6 and open_gapps-arm-8.1-pico. This gave me an excellent Android OS on phone (many thanks) and an OK Debian OS cast onto my TV (bluetooth mouse action a bit jerky). However, it took me a day and half to do this. I found the www.teamandroid.com TWRP 3.0 on LG Nexus 5 instructions better than the instructions in the TWRP and Maru websites. Would it be possible to improve the instructions for installing TWRP to Nexus 5, and have the instructions for TWRP, Maru and GApps all in one place? Also, could you recommend a way to prevent TWRP 3.2.2 form being overwritten by the stock recovery? 

On Friday, May 6, 2016 at 11:25:06 PM UTC+1, Preetam D'Souza wrote:

THIS GUIDE HAS BEEN DEPRECATED. PLEASE SEE THE NEW GUIDE HERE.

Edit 2019-03-06: Add deprecation notice and link to new guide

[Bhaskar Manda]

Why is this deprecated guide pinned to the top of the forum?