Issue: Unable to Access Fastboot Mode on Fairphone 4 After Installing UbuntuTouch

Help Fairphone 4
, , ,
1

Hello,

I’m encountering an issue with my Fairphone 4 after installing UbuntuTouch. My goal is to reinstall FairphoneOS from scratch, but I can’t access Fastboot mode.

What I’m stuck in

1 - Normal Startup
The phone starts up normally with the logo screen.

2 - Bootloader Warning
I then see the warning message that the bootloader is unlocked.

photo_2024-09-09_21-36-01 (2)
photo_2024-09-09_21-36-01 (2)350×618 28.9 KB

3 - Return to Startup screen
After the warning, it returns to the normal startup screen and vibrates briefly.

4 - Stuck on Final Screen
Finally, it gets stuck here in a black screen and doesn’t proceed.

what I did to get into that loop

I ran the following command from Windows 10:

adb reboot fastboot

The phone didn’t restart, and the command seemed to hang, so I manually restarted the phone after a long wait.

what I tried

  • Holding the power button + volume down, but it gets stuck on the bootloader warning screen (the screen above Screen ) and I never see the bootloader menu.
  • Running adb devices, but my device is no longer detected.

what I am trying to do

I need to access the Fastboot menu so I can reinstall FairphoneOS.
but I wonder if the UBtouch I previously is making it impossible to reach the fastboot menu

Thank you for your help,

2

So the phone was off when you did this?

And to understand: after installing Ubuntu it never booted correctly into the system?

3

  • yes I started the Phone using the power button and the plus volume button pushed together.
    (This combination used to work when I was installing ubuntu)

  • after installing ubuntu it used to work properly and boot nicely into Ubuntu. But I decided to revert back to another OS. I began following the FairphoneOS tuturial to instlal it back. the first step required me to go back into fastboot. I decided to do it using the comand line with ADB but it did not work.

4

Hello!
To boot into fastboot there is also another option that -from my experience- works better:

(Phone is powered off) Hold the Volume down button and then plug a USB-C cable that is connected either to a PC or to a power plug.

It should start on fastboot without using the power button.
Could you give it a try?

6 Likes
5

thank you, for your help, this was indeed the solution to my problem, I was able to get inside bootloader and flash back my phone to fairphoneOS.

I’ll try to remember this trick for later use.

1 Like