(potential) work-around for Playstore authentication issue

[NexusDude]

LOL @Stilton Helmet. No blame is needed.

For affected users, it doesn't appear to be a settings issue. No matter what the settings

Are all Android/Remix users affected? Or do we have something in common? (See my signature for my setup.)

(Sent via Debian on Pine64+.)

[Luke]

Indeed NexusDude, @Stilton Helmet no blame is needed as we are all just trying to get to the bottom of this and find a viable temporary solution.

[CypherColt]

My solution was to uncheck the Sync for apps and check it again, without even exiting the Google Play app. Worked right away for me.
Hope this helps!

Edit: (to specify)
I went into Settings, Accounts, Google, my email, i disabled App Data sync, and then enabled it again.

[Luke]

My solution was to uncheck the Sync for apps and check it again, without even exiting the Google Play app. Worked right away for me.
Hope this helps!

Edit: (to specify)
I went into Settings, Accounts, Google, my email, i disabled App Data sync, and then enabled it again.

Im sure it will help someone, thanks

[birdcatx7]

I was pretty worried about this not working for me. My board came in yesterday, had it running in a few seconds. Didn't have any issues using the Play store (apart from typing shit in with the crappy media remote)

[NexusDude]

This continues to be an issue for my Pine64.

For my Pine64, it occurs consistently, sort of.

• Affects all Android images -- rooted, so-called "un-rooted", RemixOS
  
• GP Store will always work, initially, upon booting for the first time
  
• GP Store will eventually stop permitting app downloads and app rating submissions. Even if it's working now,  give it time...
  
• Once it fails, it continues to fail, until you apply a work-around fix, or re-image.
  
• Once a workaround fix stops working, it continues to fail. You must try a different fix, or re-image.
  

(The DD images of Android all test as rooted.)

What varies:

• The length of time that GP Store works. When you boot for the first time, or succesfully apply a workaround fix, it will work... but eventually it stops. You may get downloads & rating submissions working for hours, or only seconds. Typically, you can get in a few installs, while it's working, before it quits again. You many only get 1 install in, though, or none at all. In a one hour session of Android, you may apply fixes several times, without rebooting.
  
• Sometimes, workaround fixes stop working. 
  
• Pop-up vs. Notification. How the app informs the user of failure varies. A pop-up error message likely mentions DF-DLA-15. An Android notification always mentions authentication failure.
  
• Multiple notifications vs. 1 notification maximum -- sometimes, you must clear the notification to be informed of future errors; other times, you can get multiple notifications
  
• Various fixes, sorted by speed:
  

1. Settings / Accounts / Add New Account / Google
   
2. Settings / Accounts / Add New Account / Google / enter gmail of existing Google account
   
3. Settings / Accounts / select account / Remove Account / Add New Account / Google / enter gmail of account you just removed
   
4. Clearing GP Store and GP services caches, rebooting
   
5. Wiping the Dalvik partition, rebooting
   
6. Reimaging your microSD card, booting
   

Other things I've tried, that never helped or seem unrelated to this issue:

• Gmail accounts with 2-step verification, vs. those without
  
• Using only a single Gmail account, vs. using multiple Gmail accounts
  
• Using Gmail accounts with Play Store credit, vs. those without a payment method
  
• Rebooting
  
• Using other images of Android
  
• Using a time app to document time clock differences
  
• Turning account syncing off/on
  
• Various power adapters
  

What I have not yet tried:

• Heat sinks / fans / cooling my house more
  
• RTC battery
  
• Shorter Cat6
  

What I've had trouble trying:

• Wi-fi dongle
  
• Mock Location -- there doesn't seem to be a way to set this
  
• Using a time app to reset the time from NTP
  

Few have voiced their frustration on pine64.pro, which seems odd, considering the various threads on this issue. Maybe they didn't want to bother registering a new ID there?

[Danja]

Since I did the account reset and have the onboard clock battery I've not had this issue back btw.

[NexusDude]

Since I did the account reset and have the onboard clock battery I've not had this issue back btw.

That's great. 

After I installed a 3V battery to power the RTC, and doing Settings / Accounts / New Account / Google, the authentication issue was gone... for about 8 hours. I was just about to report my success, when it returned.  


The Clock Sync app shows that the clock gets off sync with NTP, despite the RTC powered by 3V battery.


My testing suggested that this isn't a clock issue, but I'm not sure now. Maybe it's a clock issue, plus something else? I'll use Clock Sync and the RTC battery together, to try to keep my Pine's clock synchronized with pool.ntp.org. We'll see...

[tllim]

Since I did the account reset and have the onboard clock battery I've not had this issue back btw.

That's great. 

After I installed a 3V battery to power the RTC, and doing Settings / Accounts / New Account / Google, the authentication issue was gone... for about 8 hours. I was just about to report my success, when it returned.  


The Clock Sync app shows that the clock gets off sync with NTP, despite the RTC powered by 3V battery.


My testing suggested that this isn't a clock issue, but I'm not sure now. Maybe it's a clock issue, plus something else? I'll use Clock Sync and the RTC battery together, to try to keep my Pine's clock synchronized with pool.ntp.org. We'll see...

I plan to make a new Android code release on next two days with GSM 5.1r4 package, and this include latest App Store code. hopefully this can resolved the Play Store mystery.

[Raslin777@gmail.com]

I plan to make a new Android code release on next two days with GSM 5.1r4 package, and this include latest App Store code. hopefully this can resolved the Play Store mystery.

I would bet this definitely will fix some issues. Is there any documentation on how to build the android os from scratch. I would love to check out some stuff as well. Is there a git somewhere?