Take risks but be Smart

I have always being fascinated by computers and smart phones. Particularly pushing the devices to the limits or making modifications, in more simpler terms tweaking. I remember tweaking my first PC in my final year at College. It was a fun experience till a particular tweak caused the PC to crash and it failed to boot which made me format it.

Fast forward to earlier in 2020, I had read some nice stuff about project treble and flashing of generic system images (GSI) to update Android devices running Android 8.1 to newer versions of the Android OS such as P and Q. After going through several Android forums, I was confident that I had the necessary information and tools to flash Android Q on my Chinese made device which was stuck on Android 8.1 but thankfully had project treble support. Initially I tried flashing the GSI image via TWRP recovery but that didn't yield results. I finally got the much needed breakthrough by flashing via Adb fastboot.

My heart was literally in my mouth as the new boot animation came up as there was still a risk of having a boot loop but luckily the device booted but with some issues. Something in my gut told me to wipe the system again and reflash the GSI and as you would have it, the gamble paid off and I have been enjoying Android Q ever since without the issues encountered after the first flash.

Both scenarios with my PC and smart phone involved taking risks but with the smartphone I did something different. I had made a complete backup of the entire system in case my little experiment with the GSI failed so that I could restore the smartphone. This was the lesson I had learnt from crashing my PC years back and hurriedly formatting in a panic losing data I had spent time gathering.

The point I am driving at is when taking risks which is actually necessary in life, it is important that they are calculated. Have a plan B just in case everything goes south and very importantly DO NOT panic rather be patient when things appear not to be proceeding as planned as I later learnt that t could have salvaged my broken PC without having to format it.

Please ignore all the technical jargons .I hope it was a nice read.