I’ve been using my FP3 since 2020 and am mostly happy, but it has now entered some sort of terminal death spiral and, although I am lining up to get the FP6 (great timing), I am not sure how to extend the life of the FP5 as a backup phone…
Is there anyone here using Fairphone in Sweden? I have had no reply in the Fairphone angels community, other than getting a copy of my email, so I am assuming that is no longer a thing? But if there is anyone here that can either help me troubleshoot, or even better, recommend somewhere in Sweden that might be able to troubleshoot what the issues are, so that I don’t waste money on replacing the wrong things…
…
Here are the issues:
Since the update to Android 13 was forced, the platform seems unstable - I am not getting complete bricking, but I am getting a very long startup, and random crashes of some combination of the system/interface programs quite regularly, forcing restarts. This has been going on for ~6 months.
The killer problem, though, is that it has become increasingly hard to charge the device. At first, I thought it was an issue with cables wearing out, but now it is very clear that it is an issue with the phone. I can still charge it, but almost always only slowly, and the method left to do so is accelerating its demise, since I have to wedge it in a space, forcing the USB to contact. I have disassembled the modules and checked for wear on the USB or any dirt or dust on the contacts. None in evidence. I even opened the bottom module to check further in detail, as much as I can see, the USB seems to be a little wobbly, but no obvious breaks.
I have read around a lot about people’s various issues, and at this point, I am not sure if the problems are a) on the mainboard (power regulator IC issue), b) with the battery, or c) with the bottom module.
At some point during this process, the power LED stopped lighting up (even with the phone working), unless the phone is charging or below 15%. > mainboard or battery?
The battery self-test returns no problem, but the power tracking settings don’t make sense - for example, with 50% battery gone, it is telling me that the main power drains are 3-4 programs, totalling below 10% each. > mainboard or battery?
Charging requires the USB cable to be pulled towards the front in a certain way. > USB module or main board?
I can only now charge by wedging the phone under a shelf at a slight angle, resting between the top edge and the charging cable bent nearly 90 degrees towards the front. With this, I can get slow charging, or occasionally and for no reason, rapid charging. But clearly this is not sustainable, and it will finally die through the death of the bottom module.
Naturally, I am out of warranty, and I don’t just want to send off for a new battery/bottom module if it is the main board that is fried. There is a community-suggested solution to this that I don’t want to try unless it is the last chance for the phone. Sending in the phone is not a solution since I am unable to transfer all critical functions from it, and my current backup is an older Android with a cracked screen, which rules out using the important payment ID and ticket apps, which is not ideal.
Anyone with some good advice? Particularly in the Swedish user community?
I had charging problems similar to what you describe. These were resolved by replacing the bottom module. (I ordered a spare as my partner also has an FP3 and the problem with the module also made Android Auto pairing with the car to display Googlemaps from the phone on the car screen erratic.
The charging is the problem, and using a powerbank I cannot achieve the right pressure to force the contact to stay, without sitting there holding it in my hand for the 12 hours or so it would take to recharge fully on low charge rate, unfortunately.
I am packing a fully charged powerbank and the reserve, cracked screen bulk standard old Android phone with me wherever I go, just in case…
If I get the phone up to near fully charged, I will have the juice to make the (presumably, android) backup. Also not to forget my previous experience with the forced reset, where I lost my what’s app hiistory.
Is there a good way to do a full backup? Or is it just a case of copying the file system over to my also dying laptop and from that to the backup hard drive?
Will an android backup work with a hopefully inbound E/OS?
Without root there is no good way to do a full back-ups. Due to encryption TWRP back-up isnt working anymore for the system, as far as I know. So copy important data (inkl WA) to your PC/back-up drive
For me, this release can decrypt the Android 13 /e/OS data partition, but not the Android 14 /e/OS one.
(Reminder: TWRP needs an unlocked bootloader to be booted in fastboot mode. Locking as well as unlocking the bootloader will force a factory reset, wiping user data.)
Looking at the state of things overall, TWRP sadly is dying as a backup option.
Did you try writing to Stockholm
@fairphone.community? This should get you through to the FP Angel in Stockholm (though no guarantee that they would be available or able to help).
See fairphoneangels
I had the charging problem with my FP3. Resolved by replacing the bottom module. Very easy to do using the screwdriver supplied with the phone. Mine has now been going for longer since the repair than it did before the problem first arose.
Not an option, given there is no way to wedge the phone to create a solid data transfer connection with the laptop, and the laptop WiFi is dead.
I don’t suppose there is any viable backup-via-bluetooth option?
So I am left with Android sync and moving things to the SD card if the phone stays up long enough…
But I thank you for the info. I think this would benefit from having a working usb data connection to my laptop, right now I can barely managed slow charging via non sustainable ‘wedging’, data connection will require a new bottom module at least.