How to Flash Project Elixir GSI ROM on any Android

Sadique Hassan•Updated Jun 27, 2023

In this guide, we will show you the steps to flash the Project Elixir GSI ROM on your Android device. There are still a few devices out there that don’t have active support for custom ROMs. There could be quite a few reasons for the same, from the lack of popularity to complications involved. Fortunately, even if you own one such device you sure wouldn’t return empty-handed, all thanks to Generic System Images.

Whether it’s Pixel Experience, crDroid, or LineageOS, each of these popular players has its set of GSI ROMs as well. And when it comes to their features, well, you could the near about same set of goodies that their counterpart has to offer. The only and rather major difference is in their installation steps, and this is where this guide will come in handy. In this tutorial, we will show you the steps to flash the Project Elixir GSI ROM on your Android device. Follow along.

Table of Contents

How to Flash Project Elixir GSI ROM on any Android

The below process will wipe off all the data from your device, so please take a complete device backup beforehand. Droidwin and its members wouldn’t be held responsible in case of a thermonuclear war, your alarm doesn’t wake you up, or if anything happens to your device and data by performing the below steps. Before starting, verify that your device is Project Treble supported using the Treble Check app.

STEP 1: Install Android SDK

First and foremost, you will have to install the Android SDK Platform Tools on your PC. This is the official ADB and Fastboot binary provided by Google and is the only recommended one. So download it and then extract it to any convenient location on your PC. Doing so will give you the platform-tools folder, which will be used throughout this guide to install Project Elixir GSI ROM on your device.

STEP 2: Enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking

Next up, you will also have to enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking on your device. The former will make your device recognizable by the PC in ADB mode. This will then allow you to boot your device to Fastboot Mode. On the other hand, OEM Unlocking is required to carry out the bootloader unlocking.

So head over to Settings > About Phone > Tap on Build Number 7 times > Go back to Settings > System > Advanced > Developer Options > Enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking.

STEP 3: Unlock Bootloader

Next up, you will also have to unlock the device’s bootloader. Do keep in mind that doing so will wipe off all the data from your device and could nullify its warranty as well. So if that’s all well and good, then please refer to our detailed guide on How to Unlock Bootloader of Any Android Device.

STEP 4: Download Project Elixir GSI ROM

Grab hold of the GSI ROM for your device from the below link.
```
Project Elixir GSI ROM: DOWNLOAD LINK
```
Now extract it via 7-ZIP to the platform-tools folder on your PC.
This will give you the system.img file, which will act as our GSI ROM.
Reference Image

STEP 5: Download vbmeta

First off, download the stock firmware for your device from here.
Then extract it, go to the Images folder, and copy the vbmeta.img.
Now transfer the vbmeta.img to the platform-tools folder on your PC.

STEP 6: Boot Device to Fastboot Mode

First off, connect your device to the PC via a USB cable. Make sure USB Debugging is enabled.
Then head over to the platform-tools folder, type in CMD in the address bar, and hit Enter. This will launch the Command Prompt.
Type in the following command in the CMD window to boot your device to Fastboot Mode
```
adb reboot bootloader
```
To verify the Fastboot connection, type in the below command and you should get back the device ID.
```
fastboot devices
```
If you are not getting any serial ID, then please install the Fastboot Drivers on your PC.

STEP 7: Disable Verity Check

Type in the below command to flash the vbmeta and hence disable the verification check of the vbmeta partition on your device

fastboot --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta.img

STEP 8: Flash Project Elixir GSI ROM via Fastboot

As of now, your device will be in the Fastboot Mode. So type in the below command to boot to FastbootD Mode
```
fastboot reboot fastboot
```
Now delete the logical partition to free up some space on your device:
```
fastboot delete-logical-partition product_a
```
You may now flash the GSI ROM via the below command [system.img is the name of the GSI ROM]
```
fastboot flash system system.img
```
Once done, you’ll now have to do a format data, so use the below command
```
fastboot -w
```
Finally, reboot your device to the newly installed OS via the below command
```
fastboot reboot
```

That’s it. These were the steps to install the Project Elixir GSI ROM on your device via Fastboot Commands. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest. And do check out the below-linked guides to fix numerous GSI-related bugs and issues.