FP4 and (unofficial) LineageOS

Hey, I’d love to get in touch. I’ll be getting my Fp4 on Monday, and I’m kinda out of my league trying to build LOS by myself. However, i don’t ever want to install and use my personal apps on a phone that is contaminated with google services, so even if there isn’t a stable LOS version for the FP4 yet, i’d rather take my chances with a buggy, glitchy, unstable ROM. So if you’ve got a successful build, i’d love to test it.

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I’m on the same boat here. I’ll receive my phone this week, but have never installed or used Android or alike before (I’ve only used regular Linux on desktop, and Maemo / Meego / Jolla stuff back in the day).

I wonder if the guys at Fairphone would be willing to give some pointers (or even some for of consulting…?) with pointers on the topic – it’s a shame the Hardware is already shipping but there’s no OS ready to install on it.

Then again, responsibility for software does usually fall onto the community rather than the hardware vendor.

You have to be patient.
LOS, LOS4mg, /e/OS, etc…are already in pipeline.

counter already counting down…

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@AlphaElwedritsch hey, i do believe it is true what you are saying but do you have any specific sources to back up that claim? I would consider helping out where I can but I’m not super familiar with the android-os-dev community. thanks.

No OS apart from the Fairphone OS that already comes with the phone, that is.

In the smartphone world responsibility for software with a support responsibility chain lies with the hardware vendor. Meaning in case of a Google certified Android OS … hardware vendors are responsible for issues with their changes to base Android, and Google is responsible for issues in base Android, hardware vendors can turn to Google for that if they determine an issue is caused by base Android.

Communities can set up their own Android OS efforts based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) however they like, but they can’t expect support by hardware vendors or by Google. They might still get help in some way, but hardware vendors or Google have no obligations there.

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You are posting in the applicable LOS topic and for e/OS

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I think this does not count because of the mentioned google “infestation”. To be honest it strikes me as weird to manufacture a “fair” phone and load it up with software by the largest advertising company in the world…
Its like those fair trade soft drink companies that sell products with fair trade sugar. But this is only addressing half of the problem…
Anyway I don’t know any better alternative and really like the transparency of Fairphone so I bought one hoping that someday I can load LOS or similar onto the device.

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Yeah, I understand that’s very commonly the case, especially since it lets companies quickly ship phones without having to worry about maintenance. I’d like to think that’s not Fariphone’s mentality, if they’re aspiring to build sustainable phones and a sustainable business model.

That aside, the fact that Fairphones ships a Google-tainted phone gives me somewhat bad vibes. I really like and respect the idea of trying to build sustainable phones (and wish every else would follow), but I equally dislike everything that Google embodies and what honestly feel a lot better if my hardware supplier didn’t do business with such shady companies.

Sadly, there’s no better option floating around.

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I wonder whether Fairphone would still exist in any meaningful sense if only a niche audience (degoogling) in a niche (phone produced as fairly as possible) would consider buying their phones.
The reality is that most customers still either actively want the Google stuff, or need it for technical reasons (e.g. mandatory Apps for work relying on it) or just don’t care about it.
If not in the know already, then at least they will have a chance to encounter the degoogling aspect once they have the phone and browse the forum or other resources. That’s not too bad as a base to build awareness upon.

They still have to maintain their own OS first. And you will find in the forum that with every iteration from the Fairphone 1 on they very much had and have their hands full with software maintenance, either in-house for the Fairphone 1 in the past and for the Fairphone 2 still, or outsourced currently for the Fairphones 3/3+ and 4, and there’s almost always some reason for them to seriously worry. This is not a negligible matter for at least halfway credible vendors.

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Yeah, I completely understand the issue. But at least to me no google is an absolute necessity.

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Hi bliss, would you share your build? Did you manage to flash it?

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Darn, missed your post. You were probably one of the first to achieve that then. I suggest you do a pull request on the unofficial device tree here and share your work:

Kernel tree is here:

My FP4 is on the desk and waiting to be tried out.

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would you share your build?

Sure!
I’d love to.
I myself am by far not able to do a complete port.
I’m sure people somewhere are already working on it.
More knowledgeable people than me.
Will do on 27.1 / 28.1
Before there is too much traveling and family :slight_smile:

Did you manage to flash it?

I never tried.
I guess it is useless flashing a blank kernel without any custom device drivers whatsoever?
I’m also a little bit scared of bricking the new device :slight_smile:

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Super cool!
Always wanted to work on it collaboratively as I do not know enough about the topic.
Will definitely share as soon as Christmas holidays are over!

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For people also trying to build the kernel let me bump this thread again.

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My man. My FP4 is up and ready to get flashed the hell out of him.

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If you can wait until mid/late January, the issue is probably over anyway.
I assume that when /e/ brings out their FP, then also a LOS and shortly thereafter a LOS4mg is ready. Iodè is also on the way. They expect a device to port by January…

Success is with the patient :wink:

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To add to this, we now have the kernel pulled from official sources and available here: GitHub - WeAreFairphone/android_kernel_fairphone_sm7225 at staging/11/fp4

We can start building on top of this. But, this is still missing the dtbs which continues to be the blocker for us.

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Btw, looks like fairphone has started a lineageOS port GitHub - WeAreFairphone/android_device_fairphone_FP4

We are currently missing propriatary_files.txt but the fairphone has the same SOC as the Moto G 5G and someone has already created a file for that which it could probably be based off. This is it: android_device_motorola_kiev/proprietary-files.txt at lineage-18.1 · SyberHexen/android_device_motorola_kiev · GitHub

Though to compile we need to get the binary blobs to get it to run. I am trying to get the OTA files (posted here in the dev chanel about that) so that the device can work.

As soon as we have a lineageOS base we can start porting things like the microG lineageOS build and calyxOS port.

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Ah, it’s a community effort, I hoped for a second Fairphone would help themselves… :roll_eyes:
Still great it exists :smiley:

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