I would like to put in here a big UP vote for “yes, please” doing TWRP recovery for Teracube 2e. I am using the /e/ recovery with /e/ OS, and while I like many things about /e/, their recovery is extremely minimal. In particular, it lacks the ability to make backups, so lack of TWRP for Teracube means that I have NO ability to backup my phone in any sort of comprehensive way (since the promised SeedVault is not ready yet). I really like being able to take snapshot backups of my phone.
Curious, what reasons were given for the lack of relevance of TWRP? I know that I am probably more weird, atavistic and curmudgeon-y than the average user, but, c’mon, who doesn’t want local backups?
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It’s not as relevant since LineageOS has its own recovery for those just wanting to do a “basic” install, but it’s definitely still relevant for people who want the additional options TWRP provides (or just prefer it).
The other reason I can see for its waning relevance is the continued lack of Android 12 compatibility. If it’s ever officially released, it probably won’t be anytime soon based on the TWRP.me website.
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I bought Teracube because Fairphone doesn’t have a US presence (yet…?) and I was delighted to see that somebody in the US finally grabbed the money that was just lying there on the table. I love it - it’s a great little phone with a removable battery, replaceable parts, and an “it’s about time” model and philosophy. HOWEVER - dear lord, when will TWRP for the 2nd batch Teracube come out? Or from what I’m reading, when will it work for the 1st batch in the first place? I’m checking these forums weekly for any news or ray of hope. I’m trying to install microG and other mods, but every instruction I read basically says some variation of “you have to have TWRP for this to work”. I’m researching alternate ways of flashing zips, but most of them involve going around your rear end to get to your elbow and are pretty cryptic… any suggestions in the meantime from anybody who feels my pain? I mean, if it’s true that “TWRP is not as relevant as it used to be”, where are all the mods and instructables that should have filled in that supposed void by now? Or am I just not stumbling across any of the right articles or forums? To quote The Dude: “That’s just, like, your opinion, man…”
To clarify, I realize Lineage has its own recovery, but I flashed both it and /e/ to my new phone, and they both broke video calling and FM radio, so I decided to go with the solid de-googled stock ROM that came with the phone and install microG, so for what it’s worth TWRP is still relevant to me.
Just throwing my hat in the ring as another up-vote and to let the community know that solid working TWRPs for both batches are enthusiastically anticipated and hoped for by some people who will put it to good use.
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Hi @regzim - welcome to Teracube forums. TWRP is on our radar but not being actively worked on right now. I’ll check with the team on when we could start work on it.
Welcome! Thanks for posting!
Just curious, did you try confirming this with multiple platforms? I have a 1st batch 2e running /e/ that works fairly well with WhatsApp, Zoom and Element video chat.
Are you including using adb (android debug bridge) over USB here? I have found using their sideload feature to be fairly straightforward. If you post links to the cryptic instructions you have found here, someone may be able to help
As mentioned, I am running /e/ on my 1st batch phone (which I bought from /e/ with /e/ preinstalled), and I’ve found the community/leadership there to be pretty responsive to addressing bugs/fixes. I would definitely raise the “breaks video chat and FM radio” issue over there. I’m assuming they’re planning to sell the 2nd batch phone as well at some point, and they’d want to know about this issue if they haven’t identified it yet.
Thanks Sharad & ECS for your replies. 
Some caveats and updates to my post:
“Broke video calling & FM radio”: Sorry, I should have been more explicit in mentioning it most likely broke my PROVIDER’S (T-Mobile) “built-in” video phone calling features, or more likely its access to the stock ROM’s built-in video calling… Whenever I used stock ROM to video call my girlfriend’s phone (she’s on Mint which is technically T-Mobile), I had no problems (same with stock included FM radio app). However, whenever I installed Lineage and /e/ and tried same (using “video call” feature in contacts, etc), I could see her but she would just see a blank screen. Just conjecture on my part, but I’m assuming this might be due to any possible proprietary “closed source” nature of those services? Or perhaps T-Mobile just didn’t like the interface or lack of T-Mobile friendly Google Services or something? If there’s a simple fix to this I’m not aware of, please post it! I’m handy with hacking and some coding, but these questions are a little above my pay grade. Hoowever, if this is just a T-Mobile thing, I get that there’s probably not much anybody can do about it. Everything else I really liked about Lineage and /e/ for this phone, so if I could get both those features on those ROMs, that would be wonderful.
Also, both alternative OSs just didn’t even have an FM radio option pre-installed (I tried various 3rd party FM radio apps but no dice).
“Flashing zips”: Exploding forehead slapper here, but can you believe that in all the years I’ve been flashing ROMs and rooting my phone I never actually knew that you could use ADB to flash zips just like with TWRP because I never saw it EXPLICITLY mentioned on any forums or instructables as an alternative? I kind of suspected it, but since all instructions I’ve come across mention TWRP explicitly with no alternatives, I was too afraid to brick my phone to experiment around with it on such high-level system hacks without knowing EXACTLY what I was doing. I’m also the kind of guy who can prove you absolutely wrong when you’re giving me directions and say “you can’t miss it” - 
- I can and do.
Examples
*This article mentions only various paid apps but doesn’t mention ADB that I could see (they’re prob really just helpful looking ads):
*This instruction (as a generic example among many I’ve found) on how to install MicroG (scroll to end of article) only mentions TWRP:
says things like
"14. install SuperSu via TWRP
- or use
adb sideloadfrom theAdvancedmenu in TWRP
- install Xposed via TWRP (see 14.)"
and
“Once Google is cleaned up and the FakeGapps module is ready, reboot into recovery (see 12. and 13.) and install the NanoDroid zip via TWRP.”
After your post I did a search with the right terms this time and found a Quora article which says:
“Download adb driver and install
Put the Zip File in one folder…
Open Command Prompt…
Type adb devices
Your Device will listed
Then type adb sideload filename.zip
Your zip file will be installed…”
Easy peasy. So apparently I had to know the right answer before I searched for the answer I didn’t know. Super frustrating. To be fair I have done a LOT of searching and bookmarking and came up with bupkus on the subject - maybe just bad luck on my part. That’s really all that’s been holding me back - if I never needed TWRP to begin with, I’m okay with it since installing it has always been a bit of a pain in the butt anyway. Either way, your reply sent me down the right path, so thank you!
I’m going to try and install Xposed and MicroG, and if successful, I’ll post a full instructable on all the steps I followed to leave a breadcrumb trail for any other Teracubers interested in same. I’ll also take your advice and post up the video call/FM radio issue on the /e/ forums to put eyeballs on that as well.
Thanks!
Yes, this is a good general description of the process. A few tips:
- I have found this process easier to do from a Linux machine than a Windows PC, I think because of the way Windows handles USB. But I’ve used both in the past. I have heard Mac will work, but never used that myself.
- Put the zip file in the home directory of your command line terminal, otherwise you will have to type “adb sideload path/to/file/filename.zip” and this sometimes complicates things.
- You already know the phone has to have developer options enabled and Android Debugging enabled. But also, temporarily disable all screenlock security provisions on your phone before starting. You can re-enable them afterwards, but it can cause complications during the process.
- You have to plug in the phone to the computer with USB and authorize the connection with the computer on the phone. Until you do this, you will probably not see your phone when you type “adb devices”
- You have to boot the phone to recovery (“adb reboot recovery”) and ensure that the phone is prepared to sideload in recovery before you run the sideload command on your terminal. The exact path for doing this varies some by your recovery program, but is usually pretty easy to navigate to.
To separate out this topic, does the stock Teracube 2e OS have an operating FM radio app (I mean that receives actual radio signals from the air and not over the internet)? I also like to keep a working FM app on my phone, and have not been able to do that in several years, since my last phone didn’t have the hardware capability. Was FM radio working before you installed microG? It wouldn’t seem to have anything to do with that, but they don’t consult me on these things for some reason.
Yes indeed, stock Teracube 2e (2nd batch 2021) has the radio app preinstalled (true FM, not internet - it won’t work unless you plug in the headphones as an antenna) and it is working fine. I too have not had that handy functionality for years on my old phone (on Lineage OS which also made my GPS act a little wonky), and that plus the problems with video calls are the factors that just made me throw up my hands and give up on alternate OSes for now - with all their wonderful perks, some functionalities just can’t be duplicated and some are annoying little dealbreakers that have added up for me over the years…
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So it took me a minute, but I finally found it - the folder where stock OS stores the original stock .apk for the FM Radio. I have an idea that sometimes works that I want to try soon since I’ll be flashing my phone again for experimental purposes, so I’ll update this reply if it works:
*Using a root explorer, find the .apk in stock:
/system_ext/priv-app/FMRadio
*Copy the .apk (“FMRadio.apk”) to a separate location (desktop, SD card, etc), and any included files while you’re at it to be safe
*Backup anything important and Flash Lineage or /e/ or OS of your choice
*Load .apk on new OS, install it as you would any other .apk, and see if that crap still works…
Wish me luck. If someone beats me to it, so much the better - please share your results!
I unfortunately cannot give an estimate on how and when will TWRP will be supported for both units, but I can cook up a nice article on how to flash builds/mods using alternative AOSP/Lineage recovery.
Also, need to mention this: since A/B partitioning on the new batch, TWRP cannot be consistently supported since the recovery resides in the boot image and that is replaced on every OTA.
For flashing builds, we provide two major flashing methods - both fastboot update and SP Flash packages for LineageOS, and then it’s the ROM’s job to do OTA.
For the first units, TWRP works, just not decryption. Sideload works though, so flashing pretty much everything works.
I’ll still look into TWRP personally - and please note I cannot give you a concrete date as to when I will be able to release a build.
For your FM radio questions:
Do you use the 2021 batch or the 2020 batch T2e?
2021 T2e here.
I could roll out a beta with a few requests fulfilled, i.e. a fixed FM Radio app and increased space in root for flashing GMS, could you be willing to test that out? Device - emerald
Sorry took so long to reply - busy week.
Sure, I can be a beta tester! I’m re-flashing my phone for experimentation purposes soon anyways. Let me know when it’s ready and I’ll do it soon as I can and let you know the results.
Interesting, thanks for the link! this makes sense, as @ecs messaged me to send him the .apk of the FM radio app, and he tried just cold installing it on his TC with /e/ OS, but just got a parsing error for his troubles…
@Gagan
Hey, sorry took so long to reply-
I know this may sound like a niggling concern, but my personal and private information is very important to me (it’s the whole reason I even have such an interest in this phone and OS) - is there any way to become a beta tester without having to download an app on my phone that won’t work unless I give it my phone number? I don’t know if I’m the only one that sees the irony here, but this whole thread is about a phone and OS that values privacy, but the ability to beta test it here seems incumbent upon giving my phone number out to a software manufacturer. Personally I don’t care if they do nothing but honorable things with my personal info, I want to preserve the right to not have to give it out in the first place - I’m seeking to preserve my anonymity by not having to give it up.
From an article I found on the subject:
“The reality is your phone number isn’t the only thing that ties you to your Telegram account.
Another potential weakness in your anonymity [with Telegram] is the fact that your device’s unique MAC address is also stored in at least a couple of places along the network backbone. In theory, a sufficiently motivated government or law enforcement agency will have the resources to defeat your attempt at ultimate anonymity.”
Tyson
Hello all,
I would like to get the TWRP for Teracube 2e SN 2021 (emerald).
Is it available ?
Thanks !