Lock Bootloader again on FP5 after /e/os installation

Help Fairphone 5
1

I have installed /e/ os on my FP5 (successfully), but I had serious problems when I tried to lock the bootloader afterwards. Locking in fastboot went ok, but when I rebooted the phone, I was “welcomed” by a message that my phone was corrupt and would not boot. /e/ os was working previously with bootloader unlocked.

I could boot again into fastboot afterwards, but was locked into that - no recovery mode possible. After reading through lots of past posts (mainly about FP4) I have finally managed to get out of there. /e/ os is accessible and usable again, but with one little issue: every time I switch my phone back on, I get this screen warning me that my bootloader is unlocked. After a few seconds it disappears and the normal boot process continues. So far, so good.

I’d love to lock my bootloader again, but after all this hassle I am really hesitating out of fear that the same mess will happen again. Here is some more information: before flashing /e/ os I have updated the preinstalled Fairphone OS to Android 14 (patch level July 5, 2024), and I have flashed the community version of /e/ os onto my phone (IMG-e-2.2-t-20240717417775-dev-FP5.zip, unzipped before flashing, of course). According to the tutorials the dates of both the Fairphone OS updates and the /e/ os image would not trigger any anti-rollback mechanism, if I got this right.
I still do not really understand why this has hppened. But I hope that someone here who is more knowledgeable than me can explain. Otherwise, for the time being, I will leave things as they are, albeit not at all desirable from a security point of view.

Thank you for any good advice

2

What is the outcome of:
fastboot flashing get_unlock_ability

If it is 0 you will brick your phone, if you lock the bootloader.

3

not sure its possible as you downgraded the Android Version, or is e/OS already on Android 14? At the end I guess you was lucky you didnt brick it completely and I would not try this again till Android Version is the same.

Edit: are you sure that this e/OS Version was on 5th July security patch level? You can check in the settings about the phone - under Android Version

Edit 2: actually I think its June so def wait till you have at least July security patch level and if its June you are really lucky the phone isnt a brick…

This /e/OS v2.2 version includes the Android security patches available as of June 2024.

4

The result is:

fastboot flashing get_unlock_ability

(bootloader) get_unlock_ability: 1
OKAY [  0.000s]
Finished. Total time: 0.000s

So that looks good actually…

5

I am afraid that you assume the right thing unfortunately: Just looked in my /e/ os settings, and it says Android 13. That would mean indeed that I accidentally and unintentionally downgraded my Android version. Dang!
These tutorials are mostly accurate, it seems, but they are not a hundred percent accurate sometimes. In the process I missed for instance information on the moment when you are supposed to plug your phone into your computer. I guessed that this must be the case at the latest when adb comes into play. Obviously the author just forgot to mention this for the “dummies” like me, because he took it for granted.

And then the patch level. As for Android 14, this is easy. You just look it up in the settings of the phone. But the /e/ os patch level: I thought you can “read/extract” it from the date in the image file name, but obviously this is not the patch level date, but maybe the upload date. This is not mentioned in the tutorial, and neither is how and where you can find the actual patch level date. This is a bit tricky for people like me. Now, after looking further today, I have seen from a newspaper article that Android 14 is on patch level July 5, 2024, and that on the /e/ os site they say that the image patch level is “Security patch: 2024-06-05”.

Next questions:
Could I ga back to Fairphone OS with Android 13 with fastboot/adb? My bootloader is still unlocked, and the phone is new without any personal data on it, so I do not have to worry about wiped partitions.
And after that (if doable): could I start over ignoring the advice of upgrading my Android before installing /e/ os and just take Android 13 as a starting point?

6

Is this mentioned in the official install instructions? If so the downgrade of the Android Version might be no problem. Def a problem is the security patch level date, you will not be able to lock until e/OS is on 5th Jul as well. Just note locking will wipe all data again.

As long as get_u lock_ability stays 1 you will be able to unlock thr bootloader. Once it changes to 0 you could be in trouble when attempting to lock e.g. with wrong security patch level date.

7

So maybe the least uncomfortable path would be to wait for an /e/ os upgrade to the July patch level and lock the bootloader after that upgrade.
The quick but cumbersome path would be - as I see it - to go back to Fairphone OS first, leave it as it comes, and then flash /e/ os once more. Is this correct?

As I mentioned, I do not have to worry about losing data, because there is nothing on the phone yet. I have a Fairphone 4 which I still use as a workhorse. So I have nothing to lose. My only concern is not to run into this near-brick situation again.

After all they say in the Fairphone installation guide that the pro of using adb is that you can go back to whatever you want:

Pros

  • Works regardless of what version you are on.
  • Can be used to downgrade to an older version (e.g. Android 13 → Android 11).
  • Can be used to return to Fairphone OS from a custom ROM.

I am open to both solutions - what would you recommend?

8

Just for the records: fastboot not adb :wink:

As said I’m not sure if the Android Version downgrade has any influence, thats a rather rare use case in my eyes.

Maybe read this (Edit amd ask in this topic…}

Security Patch Level of last FPOS with Android 13 was also Jun, so the same as e/OS not sure you can trick the device by installing this and then again e/OS

9

Thank you very much for all this info. And yes, I meant fastboot, of course…
I think I can afford to be patient and take my time, since I have a phone - also with /e/ os - which works perfectly well. You do not always have to have the latest gadget :wink:
I have decided to put the FP5 in its box for now and take my time and wait for the next update. I’ll watch out for the patch level date, and if it’s higher than the Android 14 patch level date of the previous Fairphone OS, I will try and lock my bootloader, keeping my fingers crossed that I will not brick my phone. And if it happens, I’ll have Fairphone fix the mess. That’s not free, but sometimes you have to pay a price for your adventures…

Thank you anyway for your helpful comments - they put me on the right track.

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