Android 11 updates: Do I need to unlock the bootloader?

Help Fairphone 3
12

There is now a new support article for this problem, also see the original solution post by @anon64862762. However, as noted by some members of the community, that support article still has some rough edges.

I tried to add all enhancements discussed here and some more to the installation guide to create a more complete set of instructions (a mod may convert this to a wiki post if they want so that other users can add enhancements):

  1. Download and locate the file that you need to sideload:
    1. Go to the heading named “Download the correct file” in the support article and download the file for “OTA Sideload”
    2. Extract the downloaded .zip archive
    3. The file is a .zip file located in the ota-packages directory (there may be one additional file named .gitkeep, you can ignore that. Otherwise, that folder should be empty)
  2. Connect your Fairphone to your computer using a USB data cable.
  3. Download the Android platform tools on your computer.
  4. Extract the .zip you downloaded in the previous step and move the unarchived folder to your desktop.
  5. Open a Command Prompt (Windows) or a terminal (macOS). You’ll use this to send commands to your Fairphone. For starters, navigate to the platform tools folder.
    • On Windows, type the command
      cd C:\Users\[YOUR USERNAME HERE]\Desktop\platform-tools_r34.0.4-windows\platform-tools
      and press Enter :leftwards_arrow_with_hook:.
  • On macOS/Linux, type the command
    cd ~/Desktop/platform-tools_r34.0.4-windows/platform-tools
    and press Enter :leftwards_arrow_with_hook:.
  • Note that the exact name of the platform tools folder may be different from the example above.
  1. Put your Fairphone in Recovery mode.
    1. Power off your Fairphone.
    2. Press and hold the Power and Volume up buttons at the same time.
    3. When the phone vibrates, release both buttons and wait for a picture of an android with an opened belly and the text No command.
    4. Press and hold the Power button, press the Volume Up button and immediately release both buttons. You should now see the main Recovery mode screen.
  2. Use the Volume buttons to navigate to the option Apply update from ADB. Press the Power button to select the option.
  3. Confirm that the phone is identified by your computer
  • Type adb devices and press Enter :leftwards_arrow_with_hook:.
  • Note: If a command doesn’t work, try prefacing it with ./. For example: adb devices → ./adb devices.
  • If everything goes well, your phone’s serial number as well as the text sideload should appear on the computer screen.
  1. Type adb sideload [FILE PATH], using the path and name of the OTA file downloaded from step Download the correct file.
  • For example, for Windows:
    adb sideload C:\Users\[YOUR USERNAME HERE]\Downloads\FP3-8901.4.A.0025.0-gms-b182be55-user-ota-from-8901.4.A.0023.0-manual-sideload\ota-packages\FP3-8901.4.A.0025.0-gms-b182be55-user-ota-from-8901.4.A.0023.0.zip
  • or Linux/macOS:
    adb sideload /home/[YOUR USERNAME HERE]/Downloads/FP3-8901.4.A.0025.0-gms-b182be55-user-ota-from-8901.4.A.0023.0-manual-sideload/ota-packages/FP3-8901.4.A.0025.0-gms-b182be55-user-ota-from-8901.4.A.0023.0.zip
  • Press Enter :leftwards_arrow_with_hook: to confirm.
    (Note that the filename may vary)
  1. Wait until your phone is done installing the update (it should show the text Install from ADB completed with status 0. when done – this may take a few minutes)
  2. Again using the Volume buttons, select Reboot system now and press Power to confirm. Your phone should now reboot into the updated OS version.
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