Install LineageOS on channel

Basic requirements

1. Make sure your computer has adb and fastboot. Setup instructions can be found here.
2. Enable USB debugging on your device.

Unlocking the bootloader

1. Connect the device to your PC via USB.
2. On the computer, open a command prompt (on Windows) or terminal (on Linux or macOS) window, and type:

   adb reboot bootloader
   

   You can also boot into fastboot mode via a key combination:

   • With the device powered off, hold Volume Down + Power.
3. Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC finds it by typing:

   fastboot devices
   

   check

   Tip: If you see no permissions fastboot while on Linux or macOS, try running fastboot as root.

4. Follow the instructions at Motorola Support to unlock your bootloader.

   info_outline

   Note: If your device is not supported by the Motorola Bootloader Unlock website, you may be able to use an alternative bootloader unlock method like SunShine, though they only support some devices/firmwares.
5. Since the device resets completely, you will need to re-enable USB debugging to continue.

Temporarily booting a custom recovery using fastboot

1. Download a custom recovery - you can download Lineage Recovery. Simply download the latest recovery file, named something like lineage-18.1-20211202-recovery-channel.img.

2. Connect your device to your PC via USB.
3. On the computer, open a command prompt (on Windows) or terminal (on Linux or macOS) window, and type:

   adb reboot bootloader
   

   You can also boot into fastboot mode via a key combination:

   • With the device powered off, hold Volume Down + Power.
4. Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC finds it by typing:

   fastboot devices
   

   check

   Tip: If you see no permissions fastboot while on Linux or macOS, try running fastboot as root.
   check

   Tip: Some devices have buggy USB support while in bootloader mode, if you see fastboot hanging with no output when using commands such as fastboot getvar ..., fastboot boot ..., fastboot flash ... you may want to try a different USB port (preferably a USB Type-A 2.0 one) or a USB hub.
5. Temporarily flash a recovery on your device by typing:

   fastboot flash boot <recovery_filename>.img
   

   info_outline

   Note: Outdated fastboot releases dropped legacy A/B support, so it might attempt to flash to boot__a / boot__b rather than boot_a / boot_b if you try to flash boot. In this case, you must update fastboot to a release newer than or equal to 31.0.2. Alternatively, you can manually specify which slot to flash to based on what slot fastboot failed to flash to. For example, if fastboot fails to flash to boot__a, you must flash to boot_a.
   check

   Tip: The file may not be named identically to what stands in this command, so adjust accordingly.
6. With the device powered off, hold Volume Down + Power, then select “Recovery mode” using Volume keys.

Pre-install instructions

In some cases slot b can be unpopulated or contain much older firmware than slot a, leading to various issues including a potential hard-brick. We can ensure none of that will happen by copying the contents of slot a to slot b. This step is NOT optional.

To do this, sideload the copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip package by doing the following:

1. Download the copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip file from here.
2. Sideload the copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip package:
   • On the device, select “Apply Update”, then “Apply from ADB” to begin sideload.
   • On the host machine, sideload the package using: adb sideload copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip
   info_outline

   Note: The copy-partitions script was created by LineageOS developer erfanoabdi and filipepferraz, but isn’t signed with LineageOS’s official key, and therefore when it is sideloaded, Lineage Recovery will present a screen that says Signature verification failed, this is expected, please click Continue.
3. Now reboot to recovery by tapping “Advanced”, then “Reboot to recovery”.

Installing LineageOS from recovery

1. Download the LineageOS installation package that you would like to install or build the package yourself.
   • Optionally, download an application package add-on such as Google Apps (use the arm64 architecture).
2. If you are not in recovery, reboot into recovery:
   • With the device powered off, hold Volume Down + Power, then select “Recovery mode” using Volume keys.
3. Now tap Factory Reset, then Format data / factory reset and continue with the formatting process. This will remove encryption and delete all files stored in the internal storage, as well as format your cache partition (if you have one).
4. Return to the main menu.
5. Sideload the LineageOS .zip package:
   • On the device, select “Apply Update”, then “Apply from ADB” to begin sideload.
   • On the host machine, sideload the package using: adb sideload filename.zip.
     check

     Tip: Normally, adb will report Total xfer: 1.00x, but in some cases, even if the process succeeds the output will stop at 47% and report adb: failed to read command: Success. In some cases it will report adb: failed to read command: No error which is also fine.

6. (Optionally): If you want to install any add-ons, click Advanced, then Reboot to Recovery, then when your device reboots, click Apply Update, then Apply from ADB, then adb sideload filename.zip those packages in sequence.

   info_outline

   Note: Add-ons aren’t signed with LineageOS’s official key, and therefore when they are sideloaded, Lineage Recovery will present a screen that says Signature verification failed, this is expected, please click Continue.
   info_outline

   Note: If you want the Google Apps add-on on your device, you must follow this step before booting into LineageOS for the first time!
7. Once you have installed everything successfully, click the back arrow in the top left of the screen, then “Reboot system now”.

Get assistance

If you have any questions or get stuck on any of the steps, feel free to ask on our subreddit or in #LineageOS on Libera.Chat.