How to install Android Q GSI on Android device

Contents

Google has rolled out Project Treble support a couple of years ago with Android 8.0 Oreo. So, the Android Oreo higher version running devices to be compatible with a generic system image (GSI) of stock AOSP Android. It helped many developers and smartphone OEMs to create Custom ROMs and provide faster updates for certain devices easily. Currently, Google officially supports GSI and allows you to install Android Q on any Project Treble compatible device. That’s great. Isn’t it.

The GSI will always be able to install the latest stock Android officially from the manufacturer directly and quite faster as well. You don’t need to depend on any Custom ROM developer for upgrades. The Stock Custom Skins like One UI, MIUI, OxygenOS are quite stable and keeps updated every time for better user experience.

Android Q GSI

A generic system image (GSI) is a system image with adjusted configurations for Android devices. It’s considered a stock Android implementation with unmodified Android Open Source Project (AOSP) code that any Android device running Android 8.1 or higher can run successfully.

Disclaimer: Installing a custom ROM on your device requires unlocking the bootloader. Bootloader unlocking voids device warranty. GSI is still not officially supported by some of the device OEMs. So installing a GSI may void your device warranty and improper method will brick your device. Do it at your own risk. TheDroidGuru won’t be responsible for any kind of damage or error occurs to your device before or after the installation.

The method works fine but we will recommend you to take a complete backup of your device data at first before doing anything. But in your case, it may result differently. Therefore, you need to follow the process properly.

Pre-Requirements:

Your phone should have comes with Android 9.0 Pie out-of-the-box. (Important)
Your phone must be Project Treble compatible.
Backup your device at first.
You’ll need an unlocked bootloader to start the process.
Enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking on your device as well.
A Windows PC/Laptop to install ADB and GSI.
You need to download and install the ADB & Fastboot tool on your Windows PC.
A USB Cable.

Downloads:

You can download the Android Q GSI from Google via the following link. Go for the Android Pie version with ARM64 bit architecture. Once you’ve downloaded the GSI, extract the zip file on your computer and you will get two image files: system.img and vbmeta.img.

Download Android Q Generic System Image

Steps to install Android Q GSI on Android Device

In order to install Android Q GSI on your Android device, follow the steps given below:

First, you need to connect your device to a PC with a USB cable and launch the command prompt from the installed ADB & Fastboot folder.
Next, reboot your device into fastboot mode by entering this command.

adb reboot bootloader

You may need to grant ADB debugging permissions to the computer on your phone before you can proceed. A pop up will appear on your device screen. Simply grant the permission by tapping Yes.
Copy both the extracted image files (system.img and vbmeta.img) to the installed ADB folder on your computer.
Once the files are placed in the folder, use the command below to flash the ‘vbmeta’ image and press enter: