Enabling Chrome on My Custom ROM

On my latest ROM download, I found that Chrome wouldn’t work for some reason.  It said that it wasn’t compatible with my phone, but that really confused me.  I’ve had it running on my phone with no problem in the past.

I still haven’t gotten it to work.  If you know what I am doing wrong, please point it out.  Or, you might find a tip that will help you out.  In any regard, I can’t promise any answers.

The Problem

When I went to the Android Market, I got this message at the top:

“Your device isn’t compatible with this version.”

I restored my previously installed Chrome app with Titanium Backup, and this is what I get when I launch it:

“Critical functionality required to run Chrome is missing; either your Chrome installation is incomplete, or not compatible with this version of Android.”

The Fix

According to several sources, the fix is to change the /system/build.prop file.  The main setting listed is to change the “ro.build.id” to something like “IML74K”.

DDMS File Explorer

One of the easiest ways to update the build.prop should be the DDMS file explorer.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it to work, and it was easier to use the command line way instead.  Still, I’ll show how I think it should work.

If you open DDMS from the Android SDK, you’ll see a “File Explorer” option on the Device menu.

Using ADB from the Command Line

I used the following command to pull the build.prop to my computer for editing:

./adb pull /system/build.prop

Then, I used vi to make the changes on my computer:

Finally, I used this command to put it back on the phone:

./adb push ./build.prop /system

Uninstall Updates Step

I even went through the uninstall updates recommended on one of the XDA Threads.  It said to go into settings and open up the Apps section…

Then, find the Google Play Store app in the list…

Next, click the Uninstall updates button…

It asks for confirmation…

And, you get a second confirmation…

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