Installing Paranoid Android on OnePlus 3
KM Thanks! I found another solution meanwhile. I cannibalized an USB-OTG cable from somewhere, and I can now read the relevant zip files from an USB stick.
However, the first attempt of flashing the custom ROM failed. I had ticked the two given options
1) Zip signature verification (no clue what it is)
2) Reboot after flashing
The signature could not be verified. Is it important?
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Okay, I succeeded! I just skipped the zip signature verification. Thanks a lot for your patience!
The OS looks quite unstable, though. For instance, when I select WiFi settings, Bluetooth settings open. Or, if I select a wifi provider, a different one is shown. Windows appear double or in multiple quantities covering the whole screen, and in some cases keep moving up and down. Have you experienced anything similar?
Do you know how to take a screenshot? If it works, I can show examples of what I mean...
Is there something I need to do at the end of the flashing, like locking the device again? Shall I use fastboot for that?
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AGI I never had such things before. The OS is pretty stable. You can take a screenshot by holding the Power button a little until a menu pops up.
You flash the ROM first, then immediately Gapps without a Reboot in between.
I'd wipe everything again (without the data partition), then use TWRP's file browser to delete all folders on the data partition, especially "Android", but leave the zips there. Make sure to clean the dalvik cache, too. I will tak a look into TWRP to remember if I skipped a step. And you did download exactly this file: http://download.paranoidandroid.co/roms/oneplus3/pa_oneplus3-7.3.1-RELEASE-20171030-signed.zip ?
Edit: OK I'd do the advanced wipe in which you select everything except for "Internal storage". It seems the standard wipe didn't include the system partition. The go in TWRP' main menu, Advanced - File Manager and delete everything in the /sdcard directory manually, except for your Paranoid Android and Gapps files or other downloaded stuff. Then you should be able to do a proper clean install.
KM I downloaded from http://paranoidandroid.co/downloads/oneplus3
I think I had a reboot between flashing the ROM and the Gapps.
You are suggesting to wipe everything but Data. Why is that? And via TWRP? So I should wipe twice?
Thanks. I will see if I can get some photos. The phone is unusable right now...
AGI I just confused the exact terms. When you wipe, data is different from internal storage. Internal storage is the /sdcard directory where you saved your downloaded files onto. Maybe the reboot did mess things up. I remember having frequent "play store has stopped" errors when I once flashed Gapps after using the OS. But not the things you describe.
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Just to make sure we are on the same page. My files are on an external memory stick which I connected to the phone via USB-OTG. I did not wipe the internal storage via TWRP before installing the ROM. That is what I read in multiple tutorials. Is that correct?
I watched a video in which both zip files, for ROM and GApps, were selected and installed together. I could try that.
EDIT: I saw your EDIT now. Thanks. I could not take photos to illustrate the issues. Funnily, whenever I pressed screenshot the anomalies disappeared. But believe me, everything is weird. For instance, upon shutting down, there were 4 "shutting down" windows, a big, central one, and three in a row at the top of the screen. Some for Wifi and anything else.
I have begun another install. This time I have got "Unable to mount storage" in red after each wiped partition wiped, but the wipe was considered successful. I could not delete files from the internal storage manually nor I could wipe it.
I re-installed loading both zip files, ROM and GApps, simultaneously. I am still facing the same troubles though 
KM I tried multiple times but no changes!
I would like to re-install OxygenOS, at least to see if I can revert. I found the below link.
https://www.oneplus.com/support/softwareupgrade/details?code=4
I would expect to download a zip file but my Mac extracts a folder, and TWRP does not like. I will try with a Windows PC. Is the procedure the same as for the custom ROM, is not it, except I will not have to flash GApps?
Thanks on that too!
Shame on me for making this a soap opera. At the end of the "successful" process, TWRP said: NO OS installed, do you still want to reboot? I did that, and the phone vibrated for a long while. Then nothing. Panic.
I waited a bit and got into fastboot mode, and started from there. The central red ball and the two white ball spinning around it went on for minutes, but finally I got Oxygen running! For now, the only differences are
OxygenOS version: OP3_O2_open_25 --> 5.0.8
Android security patch level: September 1, 2017 --> November 1, 2018
consequences of installing a fresher version of the ROM, I believe.
I did not take note of the Kernel version.
Now I will check if it works properly. Thanks a lot for guiding me!
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KM OK if they are on a separate stick you could safely tick everything in the Advanced Wipe dialogue (except for USB-OTG of course). Just to be sure there are not leftovers of any kind anywhere. That's what I'd do in this situation.
I finally managed to get internet data with my sim card, so I may keep the phone. It hurts but not as dramatically as other OLEDs I looked at, i.e., iPhone X and Samsung S10.
- Do you remember what is the latest version of OxygenOS which you could use no problem?
- I think once you said that previous versions of the OS are not available anymore, aren't they? And even if they were available, could I completely wipe everything and load an old OS? I am making confusion with factory-resetting, I believe. Is it correct that with a factory-reset I eliminate all data and downloaded apps, and restore stock apps to how they came, but OS, security patch and kernel do not change, whereas flashing an old ROM would change OS, security patch and kernel as well?
- I may want to try again to flash PA now that I am a bit more familiar with the process, and I know I can revert to OxygenOS. I still have one doubt. I noticed that I could not wipe the internal storage with TWRP. Its size remained the same after wiping, and I could still see files inside. You mentioned an Android folder I should get rid of. I wonder whether that is crucial? But are not the OS files contained in the System folder only?
Thanks! By the way, very low priority, no need to rush...
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AGI
1) yes, I still have it here if I'm correct, the file is "OnePlus3Oxygen_16_OTA_041_all_1702081756_f9fb218af59d4aa6.zip". It is Android 7.0. The previous versions were also good.
2) yes
3) Deleting the Android directory prevents Giigle's security mechanism from.kicking in, requiring you to enter your old Google account password before you can use the phone. So that's why I always delete it, to save time and to know the new OS is clean and not disturbed by any leftovers. You are right and the OS itself is not on this partition. But parts of it can read old data there.
KM "OnePlus3Oxygen_16_OTA_041_all_1702081756_f9fb218af59d4aa6.zip". It is Android 7.0. The previous versions were also good.
Thanks! Would you download such file from unofficial website, e.g, the first I found, https://androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=76191?
No problem to install that if the phone came with Android 8.0?
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AGI I wouldn't, but I can give you the md5sum so you can check if it's the same and then it means the bits are identical, regardless of where you downloaded from (even the most shady site):
45e55a87cfeb061319858f46ed6b6aab
No problem to install that if the phone came with Android 8.0?
Probably not, I think problems arise with new releases only due to TWRP compatibility.
Edit: OK it could be that Paranoid Android didn't work because the previously installed OxygenOS changed the device firmware somehow. But each OxygenOS comes with firmware, so they probably wouldn't have such problems ever. @degen said he had to downgrade his firmware before he could install Paranoid Android after trying the latest OxygenOS. I can imagine once you installed an older OxygenOS like this 4.0.3 version we are talking about, you would have an earlier firmware afterwards that is still compatible with Paranoid Android. Just speculation, but it could work I guess.
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KM I can give you the md5sum
Wow, never heard of this. You guys really know a lot 
️
However, on Wikipedia I read
The underlying MD5 algorithm is no longer deemed secure. Thus, while md5sum is well-suited for identifying known files in situations that are not security related, it should not be relied on if there is a chance that files have been purposefully and maliciously tampered.
What do you think?
If I am not too indiscrete, why did you move from the OxygenOS version that worked? Because you wanted to settle on something like PA which does not keep proposing updates? Did you try Oreo at all?
EDIT:
I see, makes sense. Cause even I am not an expert, I am not sure what I could do different to what I tried yesterday! Thanks for the heads up!
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AGI I think I tried to move because the old OxygenOS is still vulnerable to the KRACK Wi-Fi vulnerability. I wanted to make sure I could use Wi-Fi everywhere with no worries. It is patched in the final Paranoid Android ROM.
It would be hard to fake an md5sum and the data inside the zip to still make sense. But anyways, heres sha1sum and sha256sum, too:
SHA1: 455406c0babb23668540b493c24c9221c609a412
SHA256: 4f2e5549e31ef35b41f2977e167dc50217caf83c97ad35c4f5f262e97359e0db
Impossible to fake them all at once.
AGI Did you try Oreo at all?
Yes, Oreo gave me eye strain. And @degen recently tried Pie and it gave him eye strain.
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Another related anecdote...I have a Lineage 14.1 (highest it officially goes, haven't tried any XDA custom options) on a Moto G4 Play (no PWM) and in the few min at a time I ever use it it's ok. Not like a modern iPhone that can be triggering in seconds. But it's highly possible that extended use like browising etc could show it to be bad. I am not an intense phone user.
Honestly if security is your primary concern then you are not likely to find something that solves that AND eyestrain right now. iPhones are the only really secure out of the box devices, and Graphene OS (the evolution of Copperhead from it's creator) is the only android derivative I'd say is as safe, and it's Pixel only and those all have low freq PWM.