[9] GlassROM

[TheMystic]

Custom kernels will not work at all with the f2fs variant. This is because this ROM uses an F2FS feature that was added very recently to mainline and custom kernels are really slow at updating these things

Also did you format /cache as F2FS?

I am on Havoc at the moment. Like I told you previously, I got the error after flashing GlassROM, so I had to clean flash OOS (which too did not boot with the same Decryption Unsuccessful error), rebooted to OOS recovery (since OOS replaces custom recovery with its own), do a system settings reset (factory reset), boot into system, flash TWRP and restore nandroid backup.

Now, I was using Havoc for the last 4 days without any issues. Yesterday, I just rebooted my phone and was greeted with Decryption Unsuccessful error. So I am repeating the above process again to restore nandroid backup. I will then backup everything i want and format my data partition to get rid of that error. Then clean flash the rom.

All this is an unnecessary headache because I think GlassROM was trying to format the data partition in ext4 (on my already encrypted phone) and I wish there were sufficient warnings in place on what could happen.

 

[anupritaisno1]

I am on Havoc at the moment. Like I told you previously, I got the error after flashing GlassROM, so I had to clean flash OOS (which too did not boot with the same Decryption Unsuccessful error), rebooted to OOS recovery (since OOS replaces custom recovery with its own), do a system settings reset (factory reset), boot into system, flash TWRP and restore nandroid backup.

Now, I was using Havoc for the last 4 days without any issues. Yesterday, I just rebooted my phone and was greeted with Decryption Unsuccessful error. So I am repeating the above process again to restore nandroid backup. I will then backup everything i want and format my data partition to get rid of that error. Then clean flash the rom.

All this is an unnecessary headache because I think GlassROM was trying to format the data partition in ext4 (on my already encrypted phone) and I wish there were sufficient warnings in place on what could happen.

They warnings are already in place

The first post did mention at one point that F2FS was totally unsupported
The first post now says that there's a separate variant that only supports one and that both /data and /cache must be formatted with that variant

The warnings are in place. Please read carefully

As for custom kernels: I'm not really adding a warning. It is your responsibility if you use a custom kernel and something goes wrong. Such bugs should be reported to the person who developed that kernel

 

[anupritaisno1]

I am on Havoc at the moment. Like I told you previously, I got the error after flashing GlassROM, so I had to clean flash OOS (which too did not boot with the same Decryption Unsuccessful error), rebooted to OOS recovery (since OOS replaces custom recovery with its own), do a system settings reset (factory reset), boot into system, flash TWRP and restore nandroid backup.

Now, I was using Havoc for the last 4 days without any issues. Yesterday, I just rebooted my phone and was greeted with Decryption Unsuccessful error. So I am repeating the above process again to restore nandroid backup. I will then backup everything i want and format my data partition to get rid of that error. Then clean flash the rom.

All this is an unnecessary headache because I think GlassROM was trying to format the data partition in ext4 (on my already encrypted phone) and I wish there were sufficient warnings in place on what could happen.

Also the ROM doesn't format if an existing filesystem is present. It shows decryption failed because it does not know how to mount it and stops at that screen to prevent data loss

You can fix it by attempting to restore your crypto footer

To backup your crypto footer:
Run blockdev --getsz /path/to/data
Subtract 16384 from this number
dd bs=1 skip=(the number you got in the previous step) count=16384 if=/path/to/data of=/sdcard/crypto_footer.img iflag=fullblock

To restore the crypto footer just flip the if and the of without changing the rest of the command

 

[TheMystic]

They warnings are already in place

The first post did mention at one point that F2FS was totally unsupported
The first post now says that there's a separate variant that only supports one and that both /data and /cache must be formatted with that variant

The warnings are in place. Please read carefully

As for custom kernels: I'm not really adding a warning. It is your responsibility if you use a custom kernel and something goes wrong. Such bugs should be reported to the person who developed that kernel

They are in place, but not in a language everyone understands.

As expected, you are always defensive and not open to criticisms.

When you make a product, your instruction manual should be written for the target users, in the most simple and easy to understand manner, and you should assume that your audience have only a very basic understanding of the products. You shouldn’t expect your audience to be at par with your level of knowledge because they are not necessarily in the same field as you.

Please note that this in no way undermines the audience. I’m just pointing to the fact that people come from different backgrounds and are good in the things they do, which may have nothing to do with tech.

---------- Post added at 12:51 ---------- Previous post was at 12:49 ----------

Also the ROM doesn't format if an existing filesystem is present. It shows decryption failed because it does not know how to mount it and stops at that screen to prevent data loss

You can fix it by attempting to restore your crypto footer

To backup your crypto footer:
Run blockdev --getsz /path/to/data
Subtract 16384 from this number
dd bs=1 skip=(the number you got in the previous step) count=16384 if=/path/to/data of=/sdcard/crypto_footer.img iflag=fullblock

To restore the crypto footer just flip the if and the of without changing the rest of the command

I am not a developer and I don’t know how to execute the above.

But I will thank you for the fact that my data is intact fortunately. It is the process that is long to restore it.

 

[anupritaisno1]

They are in place, but not in a language everyone understands.

As expected, you are always defensive and not open to criticisms.

When you make a product, your instruction manual should be written for the target users, in the most simple and easy to understand manner, and you should assume that your audience have only a very basic understanding of the products. You shouldn’t expect your audience to be at par with your level of knowledge because they are not necessarily in the same field as you.

Please note that this in no way undermines the audience. I’m just pointing to the fact that people come from different backgrounds and are good in the things they do, which may have nothing to do with tech.

---------- Post added at 12:51 ---------- Previous post was at 12:49 ----------


I am not a developer and I don’t know how to execute the above.

But I will thank you for the fact that my data is intact fortunately. It is the process that is long to restore it.

This was already talked about in https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78374543&postcount=4

There is nobody at glassrom to write documentation and the current developers (myself included) lack any and all knowledge on how to present xda threads

Also do note: you're the only one here to even have a problem in the first place with F2FS. Nobody else has reported an issue about F2FS. Please read the thread carefully

So unless somebody wants to volunteer there is no way to get a full guide out

 

[abhibnl]

They are in place, but not in a language everyone understands.

As expected, you are always defensive and not open to criticisms.

When you make a product, your instruction manual should be written for the target users, in the most simple and easy to understand manner, and you should assume that your audience have only a very basic understanding of the products. You shouldn’t expect your audience to be at par with your level of knowledge because they are not necessarily in the same field as you.

Please note that this in no way undermines the audience. I’m just pointing to the fact that people come from different backgrounds and are good in the things they do, which may have nothing to do with tech.

I just read this and found it totally ridiculous. First, the instructions are in English language, and are posted in a rather simple language. Can you go through the first post and let me know which part is "but not in a language everyone understands"?
Second, this is a custom ROM. It's not a product, and its out of his sheer free time and interest in developing and building a ROM. Any user, who expects to unlock bootloaders, root their devices, and flash custom firmware on their device, I don't think the "a very basic understanding of the products" rule applies here.
I have read the OP twice and it actually has alot of warnings and things to remember before flashing.
So rather than teaching the developer of this ROM "how to post product instructions", please try to read the OP of every ROM you flash and check last 5-10 pages. I read it on day one and immediately asked him about his forced encryption method. So, be polite, respect developers here, and read OP next time before blindly flashing a custom ROM and flashing your favorite kernel on top of it.
And as always, every single custom ROM comes with a .01% possibility of data loss. It's always your responsibility to back up your data before flashing. Happy Flashing for future!

 

[TheMystic]

I just read this and found it totally ridiculous. First, the instructions are in English language, and are posted in a rather simple language. Can you go through the first post and let me know which part is "but not in a language everyone understands"?
Second, this is a custom ROM. It's not a product, and its out of his sheer free time and interest in developing and building a ROM. Any user, who expects to unlock bootloaders, root their devices, and flash custom firmware on their device, I don't think the "a very basic understanding of the products" rule applies here.
I have read the OP twice and it actually has alot of warnings and things to remember before flashing.
So rather than teaching the developer of this ROM "how to post product instructions", please try to read the OP of every ROM you flash and check last 5-10 pages. I read it on day one and immediately asked him about his forced encryption method. So, be polite, respect developers here, and read OP next time before blindly flashing a custom ROM and flashing your favorite kernel on top of it.
And as always, every single custom ROM comes with a .01% possibility of data loss. It's always your responsibility to back up your data before flashing. Happy Flashing for future!

There is a background to our discussion that you are not aware of, so I am not surprised you found it ridiculous. But I wasn't being rude to him (although it may appear so when out of context).

I have been flashing custom ROMs for the last 3 years, and this is the first time (not first instance) something like this happened. More importantly, the error popped up despite the fact that I successfully restored my backup previously. He was aware of how I did that and my guess is he too didn't expect this error.

I do appreciate the efforts developers put in and don't for once think that I don't have gratitude for them.

 

[kenny_cfc]

There is a background to our discussion that you are not aware of, so I am not surprised you found it ridiculous. But I wasn't being rude to him (although it may appear so when out of context).

I have been flashing custom ROMs for the last 3 years, and this is the first time (not first instance) something like this happened. More importantly, the error popped up despite the fact that I successfully restored my backup previously. He was aware of how I did that and my guess is he too didn't expect this error.

I do appreciate the efforts developers put in and don't for once think that I don't have gratitude for them.

The way you put words in the previous reply looks to me like you playing a blame game (even though you state you are not). So you see written communication is sometimes confusing. So we have to be careful before and during the process of flashing and also when we post msgs.

 

[Oswald Boelcke]

Ladies & gentlemen, I'm convinced we all appreciate vivid discussions and the exchange of information and experiences in a development thread - as long as they are on topic!
That what I'm monitoring in this thread for a few days clearly deviates from this expectation. Please don't trigger off-topic discussions with your posts. Currently I'm refraining from cleaning the thread unless the OP asks me so but if it continues I'd to proceed with different actions.
Thanks very much for your understanding.

 

[anupritaisno1]

There is a background to our discussion that you are not aware of, so I am not surprised you found it ridiculous. But I wasn't being rude to him (although it may appear so when out of context).

I have been flashing custom ROMs for the last 3 years, and this is the first time (not first instance) something like this happened. More importantly, the error popped up despite the fact that I successfully restored my backup previously. He was aware of how I did that and my guess is he too didn't expect this error.

I do appreciate the efforts developers put in and don't for once think that I don't have gratitude for them.

I believe that simplifying a complex process will actually hide it's complexity to the point users stop questioning what's even happening behind the scenes

Those who say that users should have freedom of choice about encryption or about verity. I'll just say this:
It seems like users are confused that verity is being forced on them. Is it really?
You cannot enforce verity at all unless you build the ROM yourself so where is the freedom of choice here? Or is it freedom of choice only when it conforms to what you (the user) wants to be the default?
Clearly enabling verity by default is the only way to allow the user to choose whether or not the user wants verity because the implementation is strictly the same as it is on AOSP and is easy to disable if desired


As for forced encryption, not forcing encryption at all triggers a bug on the op3 where there is not enough reserve space at the end of data and the ROM doesn't have the tools needed to resize your userdata partition. This means a decrypted device loses all encryption capabilities unless a special TWRP is used. Again freedom of choice is violated if encryption is optional because then you can't encrypt at all


The F2FS vs ext4: here's a good question: if you support both ext4 and f2fs on a single build which one will be chosen if there is no valid filesystem on userdata? I've clearly told you that F2FS is still a very experimental filesystem and data loss and random performance drops are still not uncommon on something that's still in heavy development. On the other hand ext4 has been around for a very long time and is very reliable and doesn't face these issues. Clearly the user should have a choice and shipping both in one build does not allow the user to choose which filesystem is needed. The ROM cannot read your mind and format the partition to the filesystem of your choice

In all these cases you can clearly see that hiding the complexity of a system increases the complexity of the system even more. If that's your definition of "simple" you won't find it here

In fact it's actually simpler:
When you flash you'll always start with a clean base system
The ROM has install time verification so it let's you know if your file was corrupt and allows you to fix it
Once you install it you can customize the system to your liking, choose a filesystem you want and even disable verity/forced encryption/both if you don't want them
You can write your own automated scripts and files to handle all the patching for you
It can very well be a flash and forget ROM once you learn how to configure it. There is absolutely zero reason to clean flash updates or even wipe cache or anything else that every other ROM tells you to. This is true even for major version upgrades
Glassrom has a ports/modding system that allows module authors to code modules that can be built and signed by the glassrom server to allow easy installation as an incremental update. Sadly nobody has submitted any mods yet
And if you're still not happy the entire source code is out there for building


I have already said this before that this is NOT a custom ROM but a stock-like ROM. I created glassrom to make a ROM that actually behaves like a stock ROM. It will behave exactly like a stock ROM. You won't find the "friendliness" of a custom ROM here. The best you can call it is "aftermarket firmware". If you flashed this thinking it was just a custom ROM then you were mistaken

Also I'm really tired of this but I do have to bring this up

You will expect a stable build but when asked to test will just say that you'll wait until it's stable
Same with F2FS. I have 5 closed beta testers and only 1 used the filesystem. I had to format my own unit to the filesystem and test it out. It took a while to test but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have wanted to test it out

And now about the documentation. You complain about the lack of documentation when there is sufficient documentation and there's no other user reporting this issue but if I ask you to correct anything that's wrong in the documentation there's just silence

Ever wondered why this thread has no donation link, why the download server has a strict zero logging policy and has no advertisements or trackers and the ROM doesn't have any ads or other nonsense either?
It is because glassrom makes no money out of this hardened Android port. There are other projects like https://github.com/anupritaisno1/linux-hardened which actually cover the costs of keeping this whole project alive. There is nobody working at glassrom who wants to write one so only if you or somebody else volunteers will there be the "guide" you want

 

[anupritaisno1]

Ladies & gentlemen, I'm convinced we all appreciate vivid discussions and the exchange of information and experiences in a development thread - as long as they are on topic!
That what I'm monitoring in this thread for a few days clearly deviates from this expectation. Please don't trigger off-topic discussions with your posts. Currently I'm refraining from cleaning the thread unless the OP asks me so but if it continues I'd to proceed with different actions.
Thanks very much for your understanding.

I'm not really against off-topic in my threads but if you think something is going out of hand feel free to act as desired

 

[Oswald Boelcke]

I'm not really against off-topic in my threads but if you think something is going out of hand feel free to act as desired

Thanks very much for providing your point of view to me and all the other members interested in your thread.
You are the OP, and you decide what's happening in your thread. If you accept off-topic posts it's not on me to complain or to act. We are not censoring on XDA.
The only really issue is that I care if the Forum Rules are followed especially the provided guidance, what "type" of language is not acceptable.

 

[abhibnl]

@anupritaisno1
If you want, I can flash the ext4 version to test it out for you this weekend and provide a step by step guide for those who already have their bootloader unlocked and have basic knowledge of how flashing ROMs works in TWRP.
I am currently using a custom recovery by HolyAngel which is TWRP version 3.2.3-0 I believe. I have flashed many Pie ROMs and all of them have flashed successfully on my encrypted /data partition.
I am very happy with the current OOS 5.0.8 + EAS Kernel setup I have because I can play PubG on a smooth frame-rate and non-OOS ROMs currently do not have this kernel support, not the version that I am running. So I can't run your ROM on daily basis but I can make a guide and if possible, a video tutorial for interested users. Let me know if you'd like that.

 

[anupritaisno1]

@anupritaisno1
If you want, I can flash the ext4 version to test it out for you this weekend and provide a step by step guide for those who already have their bootloader unlocked and have basic knowledge of how flashing ROMs works in TWRP.
I am currently using a custom recovery by HolyAngel which is TWRP version 3.2.3-0 I believe. I have flashed many Pie ROMs and all of them have flashed successfully on my encrypted /data partition.
I am very happy with the current OOS 5.0.8 + EAS Kernel setup I have because I can play PubG on a smooth frame-rate and non-OOS ROMs currently do not have this kernel support, not the version that I am running. So I can't run your ROM on daily basis but I can make a guide and if possible, a video tutorial for interested users. Let me know if you'd like that.

There are no issues with booting off an already encrypted data partition

The real mess starts when you start encryption on a custom ROM

To encrypt with dm-req-crypt you need 16kb of free space at the end of the partition

And by "free space" I mean that even the filesystem should not use that region. The last 16kb should not be visible or usable by the filesystem at all

What TWRP does is that it goes ahead and just formats data without reserving this space and ROMs do not have resize capability

This will cause a phone to get stuck at the bootanimation if you try to encrypt and this is the reason lineageos has a special TWRP build for op3 when you read their instructions

As for the video guide yeah sure if you want to

 

[abhibnl]

hmm, seems like I won't be of much help in that case. Because my /data partition was also formatted using TWRP and then encrypted by OOS.

 

[anupritaisno1]

hmm, seems like I won't be of much help in that case. Because my /data partition was also formatted using TWRP and then encrypted by OOS.

This is what forced encryption attempts to fix. Glassrom supports resizing the data partition and can reserve the correct space before attempting encryption

Glassrom is not affected by this issue

 

[xRyzer]

Interesting Rom, I'will give it a try :highfive:

 

[anupritaisno1]

3.18.137 is out and will be available with the next update

Edit: 3.18.137 source has been pushed to github
Edit: 3.18.137 has been successfully compiled

 

[TheMystic]

I believe that simplifying a complex process will actually hide it's complexity to the point users stop questioning what's even happening behind the scenes

Firstly, "users" need not know what is happening behind the scenes, if everything works well. As with enthusiasts, while it does help understanding how things work, at no point would anyone prefer complexity over simplicity. Simplicity is always preferred and you really have to keep everything as simple as possible.

Those who say that users should have freedom of choice about encryption or about verity. I'll just say this:
It seems like users are confused that verity is being forced on them. Is it really?
You cannot enforce verity at all unless you build the ROM yourself so where is the freedom of choice here? Or is it freedom of choice only when it conforms to what you (the user) wants to be the default?
Clearly enabling verity by default is the only way to allow the user to choose whether or not the user wants verity because the implementation is strictly the same as it is on AOSP and is easy to disable if desired


As for forced encryption, not forcing encryption at all triggers a bug on the op3 where there is not enough reserve space at the end of data and the ROM doesn't have the tools needed to resize your userdata partition. This means a decrypted device loses all encryption capabilities unless a special TWRP is used. Again freedom of choice is violated if encryption is optional because then you can't encrypt at all

I guess this is in response to some other comment, as it has nothing to do with mine.

The F2FS vs ext4: here's a good question: if you support both ext4 and f2fs on a single build which one will be chosen if there is no valid filesystem on userdata? I've clearly told you that F2FS is still a very experimental filesystem and data loss and random performance drops are still not uncommon on something that's still in heavy development. On the other hand ext4 has been around for a very long time and is very reliable and doesn't face these issues. Clearly the user should have a choice and shipping both in one build does not allow the user to choose which filesystem is needed. The ROM cannot read your mind and format the partition to the filesystem of your choice

In all these cases you can clearly see that hiding the complexity of a system increases the complexity of the system even more. If that's your definition of "simple" you won't find it here

In fact it's actually simpler:
When you flash you'll always start with a clean base system
The ROM has install time verification so it let's you know if your file was corrupt and allows you to fix it
Once you install it you can customize the system to your liking, choose a filesystem you want and even disable verity/forced encryption/both if you don't want them
You can write your own automated scripts and files to handle all the patching for you
It can very well be a flash and forget ROM once you learn how to configure it. There is absolutely zero reason to clean flash updates or even wipe cache or anything else that every other ROM tells you to. This is true even for major version upgrades
Glassrom has a ports/modding system that allows module authors to code modules that can be built and signed by the glassrom server to allow easy installation as an incremental update. Sadly nobody has submitted any mods yet
And if you're still not happy the entire source code is out there for building

Please understand, people who try different ROMs know very little about ROM development and how these things work behind the scenes.

My question is this - why did the "decryption unsuccessful" message pop up on boot? My data partition was already encrypted and I clean flashed your ROM, just like I do other ROMs. Your ROM is probably the only ROM that uses ext4 for data, whilst most other popular custom ROMs, and even stock ROMs, format data partition in f2fs. Sure you have your reasons to stick with ext4, but there should be a mechanism to warn user when flashing on a different formatted partition.

Also, I told you that I had to wipe all partitions (except internal storage) clean, flash OOS, boot to get the same "decryption unsuccessful" error, reboot to recovery (this time OOS recovery because OOS replaces custom recovery with it's own), wipe system settings to do a factory reset, boot to system, flash twrp and then restore my nandroid backup. Now everything was working fine until I just rebooted my phone. This gave me the same "decryption unsuccessful" error and I had to repeat the above process again. So what exactly did GlassROM do for this to happen?

The ROM doesn't have to read my mind to format it as per my requirements (if there is one). It just has to warn the user before proceeding so the user can do the needful beforehand.

I have already said this before that this is NOT a custom ROM but a stock-like ROM. I created glassrom to make a ROM that actually behaves like a stock ROM. It will behave exactly like a stock ROM. You won't find the "friendliness" of a custom ROM here. The best you can call it is "aftermarket firmware". If you flashed this thinking it was just a custom ROM then you were mistaken

Also I'm really tired of this but I do have to bring this up

You will expect a stable build but when asked to test will just say that you'll wait until it's stable
Same with F2FS. I have 5 closed beta testers and only 1 used the filesystem. I had to format my own unit to the filesystem and test it out. It took a while to test but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have wanted to test it out

Why would you make a stock-like ROM? I find that useful only when my OEM stops supporting my device, and in that case a stock-like custom ROM would at least keep my device updated to the latest Android version and latest security patch. Other than that, I really don't see the point of making the switch. Even then, why would someone choose your ROM over others that come with many more perks?

And now about the documentation. You complain about the lack of documentation when there is sufficient documentation and there's no other user reporting this issue but if I ask you to correct anything that's wrong in the documentation there's just silence

Ever wondered why this thread has no donation link, why the download server has a strict zero logging policy and has no advertisements or trackers and the ROM doesn't have any ads or other nonsense either?
It is because glassrom makes no money out of this hardened Android port. There are other projects like https://github.com/anupritaisno1/linux-hardened which actually cover the costs of keeping this whole project alive. There is nobody working at glassrom who wants to write one so only if you or somebody else volunteers will there be the "guide" you want

We really appreciate the fact that you put in a lot of efforts to keep the project alive free of cost.

As with documentation, look at the first page of other custom ROMs on XDA. There is a lot more info there on what to expect from the ROM. I'm talking about that. Also, personally while I would be happy to help you with the necessary documentation, I am limited by my own knowledge on the technical front, and I am not the correct person for this job. Even if I make an attempt, I would keep getting back to you with questions and clarifications, so you might as well feel that you are better off doing it on your own.

Do note that none of this is meant to be a personal attack or a reflection of an unthankful attitude. You and I are seeing things from a different position and with a different perspective as a result of that. Hope you take it positively. Thanks.

 

[anupritaisno1]

Firstly, "users" need not know what is happening behind the scenes, if everything works well. As with enthusiasts, while it does help understanding how things work, at no point would anyone prefer complexity over simplicity. Simplicity is always preferred and you really have to keep everything as simple as possible.


I guess this is in response to some other comment, as it has nothing to do with mine.


Please understand, people who try different ROMs know very little about ROM development and how these things work behind the scenes.

My question is this - why did the "decryption unsuccessful" message pop up on boot? My data partition was already encrypted and I clean flashed your ROM, just like I do other ROMs. Your ROM is probably the only ROM that uses ext4 for data, whilst most other popular custom ROMs, and even stock ROMs, format data partition in f2fs. Sure you have your reasons to stick with ext4, but there should be a mechanism to warn user when flashing on a different formatted partition.

Also, I told you that I had to wipe all partitions (except internal storage) clean, flash OOS, boot to get the same "decryption unsuccessful" error, reboot to recovery (this time OOS recovery because OOS replaces custom recovery with it's own), wipe system settings to do a factory reset, boot to system, flash twrp and then restore my nandroid backup. Now everything was working fine until I just rebooted my phone. This gave me the same "decryption unsuccessful" error and I had to repeat the above process again. So what exactly did GlassROM do for this to happen?

The ROM doesn't have to read my mind to format it as per my requirements (if there is one). It just has to warn the user before proceeding so the user can do the needful beforehand.


Why would you make a stock-like ROM? I find that useful only when my OEM stops supporting my device, and in that case a stock-like custom ROM would at least keep my device updated to the latest Android version and latest security patch. Other than that, I really don't see the point of making the switch. Even then, why would someone choose your ROM over others that come with many more perks?


We really appreciate the fact that you put in a lot of efforts to keep the project alive free of cost.

As with documentation, look at the first page of other custom ROMs on XDA. There is a lot more info there on what to expect from the ROM. I'm talking about that. Also, personally while I would be happy to help you with the necessary documentation, I am limited by my own knowledge on the technical front, and I am not the correct person for this job. Even if I make an attempt, I would keep getting back to you with questions and clarifications, so you might as well feel that you are better off doing it on your own.

Do note that none of this is meant to be a personal attack or a reflection of an unthankful attitude. You and I are seeing things from a different position and with a different perspective as a result of that. Hope you take it positively. Thanks.

1) Every heard of this document called "The arch way"?

The Arch Way is a document that has been around for some time. It defines the core Archlinux philosophy - what makes us tick.

Here is my take on that document. My version of what we provide the user.

In short, the Arch Way is about simplicity and giving control to the user. Keeping things simple, and agile.

Arch is lightweight and simple, like clay - able to be molded by the user as they choose.

Arch is not a distribution made for "user friendliness". It is a distribution designed to be a platform - a "base" for the user to do what they want. This means that we don't try to force a user's hand into our way of doing things, with our configuration tools, and our ideas. It should be about their ideas.

It is important who controls the system here: the user. Developers suggest things, and push in certain directions, but let the user do as they wish.

Arch is a base for anyone to make into whatever they see fit. Arch is a tool.

Use it well

Furthermore, the driving philosophy behind Arch is provided in this document. Here, again, is my take on this (really just reworded).

Keep It Simple, Stupid: A simple design is usually the most elegant (See also Occam's Razor)

'Simple' is defined from a technical standpoint, not a usability standpoint. It is better to be technically elegant with a higher learning curve, than to be easy to use, and technically crap.

Relying on complex tools to manage and build your system is going to hurt the end users. Maintenance and upgrading should be an active process, not a passive one.

"If you try to hide the complexity of the system, you'll end up with a more complex system". Layers of abstraction that serve to hide internals are never a good thing. Instead, the internals should be designed in a way such that they NEED no hiding.

We can't help you. Yes this is a philosophical point. Every Arch user is expected to be able to help themselves - to be able to look up information, configuration files, bugs, etc. You're expected to be able to do a little research when you have a problem. Teach a man to fish, and all that.

We are, above all, a community oriented distro. Contributions and effort from the end users should never be discouraged.

Unlike other distros, Arch is not primarily concerned about the user. The user is important, sure, but most important are simplicity and elegance. The user is important as long as it does not interfere with these doctrines.

"It is what you make it" -- Judd Vinet

Sadly this document was long lost and all I have is a copy of this from a very long time ago so I can't give you a link

This is pretty much what glassrom is about

It is also in-line with some of torvald's philosophy:
Kernel "security" should not break the system or require massive changes
Kernel "security" should not intentionally break parts of the system everyone uses
Kernel "security" should not make the system unstable

And if you're not satisfied the source code is out there ready for you to use

2) Yes that's in response to another comment

3) unlocking a bootloader by definition is only for developers who want to test their code before locking it again. By unlocking the bootloader you accept that you have sufficient knowledge before you proceed to do so. The official bootloader unlock guide by Google is only aimed at developers and warns you about the risks that are involved. In no way is it the developer's fault if you do something strange on an unlocked bootloader

Also do note: XDA isn't a forum for users. It is a forum for developers, by developers. The "I'm just a user argument doesn't work here"

Read zelendel's famous quote here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=16682226

4), 5) and 6) instructions have been provided in the first post. Please format your filesystem correctly

"There should be a mechanism to warn the user" -> there IS, it IS the "decryption failed" screen. The ROM stops at that screen to warn you that something is wrong. I could have made it ignore the fact that data is incorrectly formatted and told it to go and format data. Users would have lost a lot of data had I done that

"I clean flashed and wiped"
You've messaged me before on the oneplus forums and I've told you that "wipe" and "format" are different things. Wiping != Formatting

"Your ROM is the only one to use ext4"
No, most ROMs use something called a "multimount fstab". Fstabs by design are multimount. If you specify the same device/image and the same mount point multiple times then it evaluates all entries and "breaks" (here, break is used in the sense of a switch statement) once one of the entries are successful. I've already explained in the post you've quoted as to why this is a very bad idea and I won't be doing this

7) maybe because I want to? There's no argument here.
Glassrom does NOT update your device to the latest android version. Check oneplus 2 which will be supported in extended long term support for 5 years but will NEVER go beyond 8.1. Why? This is because 8.1 was the last android version to be stable on the oneplus 2

The same will happen with op3. Glassrom might get Q and maybe even R but at one point you are not going to see "updates to the latest Android version". All you'll get is monthly security patches

This is not a custom ROM where I introduce hacks just so that you can run the latest and greatest android version. If it's unstable the device will be dropped into extended long term support

8) and 9) no, just no

10) I never took it that way