Getting Android 13 On Your N10 By Flashing Pixel Experience GSI

[mouseracer]

Hello, my fellow Nord N10 owners and other potential readers!​

===========================================​

​

​

Pixel Experience is a custom rom (in this case, we're using a GSI made by ponces) which has a lot of Pixel goodies (incl. Gapps, Pixel Launcher, etc). I've used some GSIs (many of which had trouble with calling, using calling in some apps like Signal, and general issues.) However, for me, this is a better suited GSI for this phone as, even though I've had to tweak it, it wasn't as bad as the other GSIs.​

Plus, flashing this GSI brings ANDROID 13 to your Nord N10! (Nord N10, as you know, is stuck at A11) with the May Security Patch already on the GSI.
(as of writing this guide)

Why I Made This Guide:
Simply put, I didn't enjoy the fact that the N10 was not only getting Android 11 as its only update, but also the fact that custom rom development is slow for this device.
Therefore, I wanted to make a guide informing my fellow N10 owners how to get Android 13 on their N10 devices!

DISCLAIMER:
Please do know that you, the reader, are responsible for what you do with your phone.
I'm simply providing the instructions which worked for me.
I also can't dive in too deep in code as I'm just a dude with a phone who likes to do cool stuff with it.
I also would like to point out the fact that I did NOT make any of the attached files here OR the GSI itself. I am simply gathering them here for the purpose of easier availability for the people who wish to follow this guide. Thanks to the people that I've credited in the main post along subsequent updates who've uploaded these files around different threads.
Also think of this guide as how I, mouseracer, successfully flashed the GSI. I don't know the best practices of flashing a GSI. I am simply sharing what WORKED for me.

Extra Info:
This is being done with a BE2029 OnePlus Nord N10 5G.

Pre-requisites:​

• An updated, stock N10! (11.0.13 as of typing out this guide.)
• A laptop/desktop with android tools (incl. fastboot) on it.
• A USB cable
• The Pixel Experience GSI itself: https://github.com/ponces/treble_build_pe/releases (I USED THE ARM64 -- NO VNDKLITE AND SLIM -- VERSION OF THE GSI) (In other words, I used the first option out of the three versions of the GSI.)
• The Provided Recovery (It is attached at the very bottom of this post. It is named "recovery.zip". Shouldn't be hard to miss.)

First of all, unlocking the bootloader WILL erase your data! (Your photos, videos, et cetera!). Thus, make a backup of EVERYTHING.

Now, grab a cup of coffee and let's get right to the flashing!

The first thing you need to do is open your preferred terminal (cmd, linux terminal, anything that allows you to use fastboot) and check if fastboot is working for you.

Then, after the GSI image has been downloaded to your PC, you need to unzip it and retrieve the IMG file.

Now, hop over to your phone and enable developer options and then enable OEM unlocking.

Then, reboot your phone and hold the VOL down button to enter recovery. Enter your passcode (I hope to GOD that you are securing your phone with one) and tap on advanced -> reboot to fastboot.

Your phone will now boot to the bootloader and this is where you connect your phone to the PC and enter the following commands on your PC:

fastboot oem unlock

On your phone, you will see a warning message followed by two options. Use the vol keys and select the UNLOCK option for the bootloader.

Now, your data will be wiped.

After it is wiped, reboot to the recovery again and this time, reboot to fastboot mode. You will now be at the bootloader and this is where you unzip the recovery zip file ("recovery.zip") that I have provided at the bottom of this post.

After the recovery zip file's unzipped, enter the following:

fastboot flash recovery [recovery file you have unzipped]
fastboot reboot fastboot

Your phone will now reboot to fastbootd mode.

Once it does enter fastbootd mode, type in the following commands now:

fastboot erase system_a
fastboot delete-logical-partition product_a
fastboot delete-logical-partition system_ext_a
fastboot flash system (ENTER GSI YOU UNZIPPED HERE)
fastboot -w

Once it's done, do not reboot just yet. While in fastbootd mode and using the volume keys of your N10, enter recovery and factory reset your phone from there.

AFTER factory resetting your phone from the recovery menu, Press VOL UP to get to the back arrow symbol and reboot your phone.

( Also, sometimes, the phone may get stuck on the "bootloader unlocked" message. Keep calm and reboot your phone again. The Google 'G' SHOULD come on after some seconds of the warning message.)

And it is here that your phone now has the Pixel Experience GSI!

(btw, if this is your first time flashing a GSI on a phone, pat yourself on the back! )

Root it (via @andreas__ 's guide), use it, do whatever!

I'll add some general optimizations later.

For now, you should know that you need to enable some Fixes in the Phh Treble Settings menu.

PHH Treble Settings Options You MUST ENABLE (includes calling and other things)

• Qualcomm features --> Enable both (Use Alternate audio policy & Disable stereo support on VoIP)
• Misc features -> Force FPS (CHOOSE 90 FPS and then tap on RESTART SYSTEMUI), Enable (Use System Wide BT HAL)
• IMS Features -> Install IMS APK from the notification bar after tapping on the Install IMS APK option (After which, enable both request IMS network and Force presence of 4G Calling and FINALLY create IMS APN. Reboot your phone afterwards)
• OnePlus features -> Optionally, enable (Enable DT2W) for that cool double tap to wake feature.

I also recommend that, once your phone has rebooted after doing IMS changes, to change from 3G to LTE!

You can also have a go at Wifi Calling as well!

Now, since this is a GSI that you -- the reader -- are flashing, please know that it will have some bugs since it wasn't tailor-made for our devices.

For some reason, battery life has been good for my usage. (Sometimes watching yt vids and general tasks)

...and there we go!
You've just flashed the Pixel Experience GSI on your Nord N10 phone!
Both Play Integrity and Safetynet pass on this GSI, even when rooted! (at the time of typing this guide out, at least.)
Incoming calls and outgoing calls work well!

====================================================

If you successfully followed this guide, let me know how helpful this guide was and give some feedback as well!
That's all for now!
Good luck!

- Mouseracer

ISSUE 1: SIM OPTION STUCK/NOT WORKING IN GSI
==================================
TEMPORARY FIX: REBOOT THE PHONE AND CHECK THE OPTION AGAIN. IF OCCURS AGAIN, REPEAT (worked for me.)

IMPORTANT UPDATE 1: AUTO BRIGHTNESS
This is for the current users of the GSI who want to use Auto Brightness function on the GSI.

Please enable USB Debugging in the settings and download the overlay file by @Generic123. below.

Enter the following code:

adb root
adb shell avbctl disable-verification --force
adb reboot

The phone will now reboot and after reboot, enter the following code again after unlocking the phone:

adb root
adb remount
adb push (overlay file I have provided) /vendor/overlay
adb reboot

The phone will now reboot again for the final time and after the reboot, you should now see a big auto brightness button near the brightness slider.

CONGRATULATIONS, you now have the auto brightness function in the GSI!

Thanks @Generic123. for the overlay file!

Enjoy!
- mouseracer

 

[pxxell]

is this rom better than stock rom ? ( like smoother or smth )

 

[mouseracer]

is this rom better than stock rom ? ( like smoother or smth )

Hey there, @pxxell . That's a great question!

So, I've been using this GSI for some time now and have not noted any significant breakage of daily functions.
Sure, you may face some issues, but those are usually minor.
Compared to stock? Oh man, call me biased but I love it!
On stock, there was this one issue that bugged the ever loving heck outta me. That being the share function between work profile and personal profile.
This GSI, doesn't have that.

Also, if your talking about the "Smoother" display rate (90hz), unlike stock rom, you can force the phone to operate at 60fps or at 90fps. At 90fps, it won't switch between 60 and 90. It'll just stay at 90.

Of course, compared to Stock Rom, your camera may be affected on this GSI. And also, since this is a GSI (Generic System Images. Basically, you can flash them on ANY Treble Supported Device but this is sort of like a GENERAL rom. Unlike Custom Roms made for a particular device, GSIs are made for a wide variety of devices so they may be lacking in a few aspects when running on some devices. Some GSIs may not even boot! However as we've established, this Pixel Experience GSI does boot and also works.), there may be some issues.

However, I just use the GCAM I've talked about and it works well provided I don't need 4K video. (1080p@60fps seems to be the highest for that gcam before it just doesn't work while recording.)

And of course, you get the newest Android 13 on your phone. No more will your phone be capped to a version that OnePlus gave us with this phone (Android 11).

I obviously have also rooted my phone (Magisk Delta) using @andreas__ 's rooting N10 guide (first flashed Magisk then Magisk Delta. For process simplification, made some boot patches. If you need guide then I'll make one later) and EQ apps like Viper4Android REALLY make me love listening to music! I also am using shelter to isolate those apps which seem to detect root at all stages.

(I also use my phone for watching YT videos and listening to music and etc.)

Since this GSI tries to be like a Pixel, it passes SafetyNet as well as Play Integrity (obviously, you can't pass STRONG yet bc your bootloader's unlock but up till now, most banks dont seem to check for it..)

TLDR: I daily drive this GSI and like it a lot.

Sure, it may have some bugs (battery drain may be higher. Don't know how or why I don't have it but eh.) But, compared to other GSIs (no incoming call/outgoing calls, stuttering videos, other issues), this is a bit more stable. At least for me, that is.

and it makes apps that were inoperable on stock to run on this GSI!
Take for example, CAPods, an app which essentially shows you battery info and helps to give you functions for your airpods such as pausing when you take out airpods and tapping on one of them to stop music and more.

On stock, you would see none of the airpods you've paired show up. (at least, for me!)
On this GSI, you see the paired AirPods, just like you were always supposed to but couldn't!

It's so cool that we can run GSIs like this and keep things fresh for our phones and even experience updates that, while our phones can run them, we wouldn't even get at all. Especially when you consider this phone has 6GB of RAM!

Even WhatsApp and other essential apps run!

And this is why I wanted to make this guide, so I can share this knowledge with other people who also feel the same as me and also want to try the latest version of Android!

You are welcome to try flashing the GSI on your phone. Personally, I love it!

and remember...

Have Fun!

- mouseracer

 

[pxxell]

Hey there, @pxxell . That's a great question!

So, I've been using this GSI for some time now and have not noted any significant breakage of daily functions.
Sure, you may face some issues, but those are usually minor.
Compared to stock? Oh man, call me biased but I love it!
On stock, there was this one issue that bugged the ever loving heck outta me. That being the share function between work profile and personal profile.
This GSI, doesn't have that.

Also, if your talking about the "Smoother" display rate (90hz), unlike stock rom, you can force the phone to operate at 60fps or at 90fps. At 90fps, it won't switch between 60 and 90. It'll just stay at 90.

Of course, compared to Stock Rom, your camera may be affected on this GSI. And also, since this is a GSI (Generic System Images. Basically, you can flash them on ANY Treble Supported Device but this is sort of like a GENERAL rom. Unlike Custom Roms made for a particular device, GSIs are made for a wide variety of devices so they may be lacking in a few aspects when running on some devices. Some GSIs may not even boot! However as we've established, this Pixel Experience GSI does boot and also works.), there may be some issues.

However, I just use the GCAM I've talked about and it works well provided I don't need 4K video. (1080p@60fps seems to be the highest for that gcam before it just doesn't work while recording.)

And of course, you get the newest Android 13 on your phone. No more will your phone be capped to a version that OnePlus gave us with this phone (Android 11).

I obviously have also rooted my phone (Magisk Delta) using @andreas__ 's rooting N10 guide (first flashed Magisk then Magisk Delta. For process simplification, made some boot patches. If you need guide then I'll make one later) and EQ apps like Viper4Android REALLY make me love listening to music! I also am using shelter to isolate those apps which seem to detect root at all stages.

(I also use my phone for watching YT videos and listening to music and etc.)

Since this GSI tries to be like a Pixel, it passes SafetyNet as well as Play Integrity (obviously, you can't pass STRONG yet bc your bootloader's unlock but up till now, most banks dont seem to check for it..)

TLDR: I daily drive this GSI and like it a lot.

Sure, it may have some bugs (battery drain may be higher. Don't know how or why I don't have it but eh.) But, compared to other GSIs (no incoming call/outgoing calls, stuttering videos, other issues), this is a bit more stable. At least for me, that is.

and it makes apps that were inoperable on stock to run on this GSI!
Take for example, CAPods, an app which essentially shows you battery info and helps to give you functions for your airpods such as pausing when you take out airpods and tapping on one of them to stop music and more.

On stock, you would see none of the airpods you've paired show up. (at least, for me!)
On this GSI, you see the paired AirPods, just like you were always supposed to but couldn't!

It's so cool that we can run GSIs like this and keep things fresh for our phones and even experience updates that, while our phones can run them, we wouldn't even get at all. Especially when you consider this phone has 6GB of RAM!

Even WhatsApp and other essential apps run!

And this is why I wanted to make this guide, so I can share this knowledge with other people who also feel the same as me and also want to try the latest version of Android!

You are welcome to try flashing the GSI on your phone. Personally, I love it!

and remember...

Have Fun!

- mouseracer

Thanks for helping me, btw how can i contact u if i faced any error when i install this rom, like telegram or discord.

 

[mouseracer]

Thanks for helping me, btw how can i contact u if i faced any error when i install this rom, like telegram or discord.

Hello, @pxxell .
I don't exactly have telegram or discord.

But feel free to post issues you may have and I'll attempt to diagnose or find a fix for them.
But ultimately, just know that I'm a guy with a phone along with some ambition but not a developer. I don't delve deep into code and just use what options I am provided with to try to find a workaround of sorts.
I may NOT be able to fix your problem 100% and if that problem is a massive deal to you, I recommend you to be on stock as even though I have a tendency to sometimes be a bit frustrated with stock, it is at least made for this phone as opposed to this GSI which isn't.

Ultimately, stock is the best at reliability. If you have to make critical calls or are using the phone as your only phone, I recommend to be on stock since at least OnePlus is giving N10 owners the occasional security patch update for the next year or so.

However, if you do know that ultimately there'll be a few issues and are still willing to go for it, then its up to you. Sometimes incoming call audio stays blank or smth. For that, I restart the phone and call works.

Other than those hiccups, I generally have minor issues.

But yeah, if you are giving your phone for repairs or something of the sort, I'd recommend flashing the stock rom back using MSMDownloadTool as provided by some of the folks here for this phone.

Ultimately, I'd also say that you don't need root nowadays. (unless you are on a custom rom for which you may need to have some sort of play integrity bypass). If debloating is your question, ADB is the answer to it! (Even works on NON ROOTED phones and doesn't trigger any bad things to happen on your phone as long as your smart about it and not uninstall System Webview or Android System or some other important component like them.)

Personally, I just root my phone for systemwide ad blocker, audio tweaks and for having the option to do some other things not possible without root.

So yeah, that's all.
Hope you got some questions of yours answered!
- mouseracer

 

[mirzanuman6612]

I have the metro variant, will it work with that?

 

[mouseracer]

I have the metro variant, will it work with that?

Hello there, @mirzanuman6612!
Now, I don't know about the metro variant or other variants. But, if possible, make a backup if you do want to try it.
I'll state again though that my phone model's a BE2029 non carrier version of the phone.
I do think that it may work, but please do make a backup and try. Also, please lmk if it does work.
I hope that it goes well for you!

-mouseracer
(ps, love the meme as your dp. )

 

[mouseracer]

IMPORTANT UPDATE 1
I've added an additional tutorial on how to enable AUTO BRIGHTNESS in the GSI.
Check the main post.

 

[pxxell]

Hello, @pxxell .
I don't exactly have telegram or discord.

But feel free to post issues you may have and I'll attempt to diagnose or find a fix for them.
But ultimately, just know that I'm a guy with a phone along with some ambition but not a developer. I don't delve deep into code and just use what options I am provided with to try to find a workaround of sorts.
I may NOT be able to fix your problem 100% and if that problem is a massive deal to you, I recommend you to be on stock as even though I have a tendency to sometimes be a bit frustrated with stock, it is at least made for this phone as opposed to this GSI which isn't.

Ultimately, stock is the best at reliability. If you have to make critical calls or are using the phone as your only phone, I recommend to be on stock since at least OnePlus is giving N10 owners the occasional security patch update for the next year or so.

However, if you do know that ultimately there'll be a few issues and are still willing to go for it, then its up to you. Sometimes incoming call audio stays blank or smth. For that, I restart the phone and call works.

Other than those hiccups, I generally have minor issues.

But yeah, if you are giving your phone for repairs or something of the sort, I'd recommend flashing the stock rom back using MSMDownloadTool as provided by some of the folks here for this phone.

Ultimately, I'd also say that you don't need root nowadays. (unless you are on a custom rom for which you may need to have some sort of play integrity bypass). If debloating is your question, ADB is the answer to it! (Even works on NON ROOTED phones and doesn't trigger any bad things to happen on your phone as long as your smart about it and not uninstall System Webview or Android System or some other important component like them.)

Personally, I just root my phone for systemwide ad blocker, audio tweaks and for having the option to do some other things not possible without root.

So yeah, that's all.
Hope you got some questions of yours answered!
- mouseracer

can you create one ? Cuz we have a telegram channel but only @kronflux dev rom, maybe u can be second dev for our phone.

 

[mouseracer]

can you create one ? Cuz we have a telegram channel but only @kronflux dev rom, maybe u can be second dev for our phone.

Oh yeah, @kronflux .
Ngl, I also was going to use his ROM after @jnelle stopped development of official roms for this phone.
But I eventually decided to stay put and figure out how to run a GSI on this phone.
I think the unofficial recovery rom came from his thread.
Sometime later, I did but had several issues with the way I was going about it.
This is now my other attempt at flashing this GSI and this time, I haven't seen much instability.

I doubt that I'll be a second dev for this phone. Unlike devs like @kronflux or @jnelle, I don't know much coding aside from tinkering around with my phone with adb and fastboot and some good ol' Stack Overflow. I also don't really know how to port roms and I've a low RAM HDD laptop.

I, however, can volunteer as a rom tester of sorts. So if any developer for this device wants to test a Custom ROM, I'll try to run that on my phone.

I, like other people on XDA, like having the newest features and also dislike the fact that phone manufacturers keep doing this trend of either discontinuing updates or having a VERY short update cycle (except for security updates) for a clearly capable phone.

So, out of frustration, I decided to post any information about this device having A13 that I could try on my own on this device's forum. (GCam post, asking about running GSIs and etc.)

I also would like to point out that I did NOT make any of the items in the main post by myself at all. (I simply get the attached files from around different threads for this Device's Forum and gather them for availability for people to use them. I do not take credit for any of the things which help people flash this GSI or improve their experience using it. I credit the makers of these files in the main thread itself.)

I am still thinking about trying other GSIs as well and sort of ranking them based on how well I found them to be (severity of the inevitable bugs on the GSIs, etc)

About the telegram thingy, I may consider it but for now, I am happy to discuss any potential issues which do arise from using this GSI on this thread itself.

Btw, lemme know how was the experience of using the GSI?

Bye!
- mouseracer

 

[redabrao]

Does your phone have poor wifi connection on this GSI PE rom? I remembered last time I flashed it with @twindragon6's guide and daily drove it for a while, my wifi connection was really bad like, when I'm on the first floor of my house, stock rom would have excellent or good signal strength, while on this GSI rom, it dropped to only poor and sometimes fair.

 

[mouseracer]

Does your phone have poor wifi connection on this GSI PE rom? I remembered last time I flashed it with @twindragon6's guide and daily drove it for a while, my wifi connection was really bad like, when I'm on the first floor of my house, stock rom would have excellent or good signal strength, while on this GSI rom, it dropped to only poor and sometimes fair.

Hello there, @redabrao .

No, not really. Either I don't notice it or something but for me, I don't have poor wifi connection on the GSI PE.
I find it almost similar to stock, if I have to compare it to stock.
Now, if the problem persists, I highly recommend you root and flash the "Wifi Bonding" magisk module if you can. Just follow the instructions while doing so.
It claims to improve wifi bandwidth for phone. Haven't tried it but seems safe to use.

But please do test it out and see if the connection's better.
Also, remember to backup!

Personally, I don't really game on my device apart from sometimes emulating some old game.
But eh, that's my experience using this GSI.

Good Luck!

 

[redabrao]

Hello there, @redabrao .

No, not really. Either I don't notice it or something but for me, I don't have poor wifi connection on the GSI PE.
I find it almost similar to stock, if I have to compare it to stock.
Now, if the problem persists, I highly recommend you root and flash the "Wifi Bonding" magisk module if you can. Just follow the instructions while doing so.
It claims to improve wifi bandwidth for phone. Haven't tried it but seems safe to use.

But please do test it out and see if the connection's better.
Also, remember to backup!

Personally, I don't really game on a device apart from sometimes emulating some old game.
But eh, that's my experience using this GSI.

Good Luck!
- mouseracer

Thank you very much for your experience. I guess I might give this another try using your method.

 

[mouseracer]

Thank you very much for your experience. I guess I might give this another try using your method.

No problem, man!
It makes me happy that we can prolong the use of this device through GSI like Ponces' Pixel Experience.
We've had custom roms that were at one point in development but which are now either N/A or not being developed at all.
This GSI, while it has its quirks, feels like an almost good custom rom alternative to this phone.

That being said, it is still up to you if you wanna decide to flash Ponces' GSI.

If you ARE going to go with it, then good luck bro!
Also, lemme know if it worked for you!

 

[AliEmara]

i have wifi issu its not working at all

 

[pxxell]

Can i install gsi roms via twrp ?

 

[pxxell]

what to do ?
Nevermind, fixed it by chaging system_a to b

 

[JazzieBoi]

I wanted to give this a shot but wanted to backup everything first. I know I can copy everything from my internal storage to my computer but as far as my system and other files to backup could I just use TWRP? Or should I manually grab my .img files through fastboot isn't that another way? Sorry it's been awhile since I've messed with Android need to brush up lol. If anyone can point me in the right direction for backing up would be appreciated. I am sick of obsolete Oxy OS 11 11.0.6. Edit: Also any additional tips for getting magisk working would be nice if there's any... Hopefully it goes smoothly I may try tonight. Appreciate you taking your time to make this guide and share this GSI with us @mouseracer

Edit #2: Oof I see now I should be on 11.0.13 or something? Isn't the only thing that's changed is the Android security version right? I hope it's not necessary to update because it's a bit of a pain in the bum for me since I have Magisk and TWRP I have to work around usually uninstall both before even trying worked the best for me... Had to go into the Settings app and install the OS update manually by choosing the file through the Oxygen OS updater app. Idk why I always have to do this or else my updates fail.

Edit #3: Now I see you're using Magisk Delta from @andreas__ 's. I've never heard of this is it specific for GSI roms I am assuming?

 

[mouseracer]

i have wifi issu its not working at all

Hmm..
Did you modify modem or any other partition before trying out this GSI?
For the cases where you haven't or you did, I strongly urge re-flashing back to stock with your device model (BE-Some number-) specific MSM tool and re-upgrading it back to the latest update and then unlocking bootloader and retrying the guide again.

 

[mouseracer]

Can i install gsi roms via twrp ?

I don't know, really.
Up till this point, I've only really flashed with fastboot and haven't bothered to use the unofficial TWRP recovery at all save for the one time I was testing installing magisk from it. (Spoiler alert: Yeah, it worked. xD)
But hey, if it happens that we can do so, we may be able to simplify this process a LOT.