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[XA 2] - android support stopped working after updating several apps via Aurora Store

asked 2019-10-03 23:29:04 +0200

ElderOrb gravatar image

Not sure what exactly happened, but I've updated ~14 apps via Aurora Store (including MicroG services) and found that can't run a single android app anymore. Multiple reboots / re-installs android support didn't help. Any ideas?

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answered 2019-10-04 00:09:07 +0200

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updated 2019-10-04 09:33:52 +0200

wosrediinanatour gravatar image

Yes it showed MicroG as Update...but may, because it had been installed. Actually, you have (tried to) install Google Services over MicroG...

Use f-droid for removing and reinstalling.

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Lets assume that was the case, what can I do now to fix it?

ElderOrb ( 2019-10-04 00:17:56 +0200 )edit

Remove Google Services and reinstall MicroG.

Giacomo Di Giacomo ( 2019-10-04 02:26:44 +0200 )edit

How? I don't see any apps named like 'Google Services' or 'MicroG' anymore. Is there any script to remove it?

ElderOrb ( 2019-10-04 02:48:25 +0200 )edit

Have you f-droid or how have you installed MicroG in the first way? There in the options you find installed application...and MicroG

wosrediinanatour ( 2019-10-04 09:33:07 +0200 )edit
1

both microG and Google Play Store install a class called com.google.android.gms or GmsCore (They are both just alternative implementation of the same API, the first being an incomplete opensource 3rd party attempt and the second being the genuine official proprietary blob).

Aurora works by simply display the name of the currently installed application (in your case: 'microG') instead of the Java class, but if you pay attention you'll notice it's suggesting you to update from version '0.2.8.17785' (typical microG version numbering) to version '19.2.75' (typicall Google version number).

The weird part is that Aurora is actually suggesting you this upgrade in the first place: it's supposed to detect which package are managed by F-Droid and mask them (so GmsCore should not appear in the updates because it's currently installed microG and managed by F-Droid. Not the proprietary blob). In Aurora, check the Settings -> Filters -> "Filter F-droid apps - Removes F-droid apps from app list".

You could still black list the package, though. (In Aurora, Settings -> Blacklist).

Aptoid doesn't have such automatic blacklisting, so you need to manually block GmsCore updates there to avoid overwriting the Google Blob.

Is there any script to remove it?

You could remove it manually from the outside by deleting any occurrende of com.google.android.google from home/.android/data/app/, home/.android/data/data/home/.android/data/app-lib/ and home/nemo/android_storage/Android/data/.

Or just nuke the whole thing from orbit as coderus suggested (Its the only way to be sure !™ )

DrYak ( 2019-10-04 16:12:38 +0200 )edit
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answered 2019-10-04 00:19:38 +0200

coderus gravatar image

updated 2019-10-04 00:19:46 +0200

Remove android support

Reboot

Install Android supoport

Profit!

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That's what I already tried - no luck. Just to clarify, do I need to reinstall all the android apps after doing it?

ElderOrb ( 2019-10-04 00:20:54 +0200 )edit

I removed android support, rebooted and installed it again. Still can't launch old android apps and can't install new ones. What exactly should I delete to ensure clean installation?

ElderOrb ( 2019-10-04 00:50:51 +0200 )edit
1

Okay, remove also /home/.android

coderus ( 2019-10-04 09:48:10 +0200 )edit

...and depending on which strategies you've used in the past to install either microG or Google Play Services, please check that you don't have some old remaining backup-before-patching of system.img still lingering in /opt/alien/.

DrYak ( 2019-10-04 15:48:17 +0200 )edit
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Thank you everybody, removal of .android did help.

ElderOrb ( 2019-10-05 21:44:06 +0200 )edit
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answered 2019-10-11 11:59:40 +0200

mViper gravatar image

updated 2019-10-11 12:04:29 +0200

Similar here at my XA2. The one day Android Apps crashing while seconds of use, do not start right up,... The other day, everything working fine. Very strange.I am not fiddeling arround that much with the phone.

My Android App List: GMX Mail, WhatsApp, Edge (Browser), Here WeGo, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, TikTok, Amazon Alexa, Play-Fi, Klipsch Stream, Health Mate, Prime Video, Opera (Browser), the Microsoft Office Suite (One Note, Word, Outlook,...), Bank Austria (finance), rar, OneDrive, Amazon App Store, and just 2...3 Android Games. Nothing "Google" at the first glance?!

Well, maybe I should not have tried to install Android Auto? It failed anyway... but maybe it created some files?! But that was weeks ago, working fine, just as mentioned from ElderOrb, there were some updates and after that...

So we have to fear every single Android App Update that it might shoot the whole Android Support... ouch... If it is not getting better the next days, I am thinking of reset it to factory defaults hoping to clear that issue.

Keep on sailing (-:

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Update - as mentioned, it continued to work sometimes, sometimes not. I did the recommened uninstall of the Android App Support, reboot, reinstall - did not help )-: Those mentioned folders to be deleted, I have not found those on my device?! My way --> reset to factory default --> now everything is working fine (-:

mViper ( 2019-10-21 15:53:58 +0200 )edit
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Asked: 2019-10-03 23:29:04 +0200

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Last updated: Oct 11 '19