I am new to forum, new to FP5 and new to Android! (Only had feature phones).
I am trying to activate and set up my new FP5 so I installed a physical SIM card, a micro SD card and charged the battery.
On powering up for the first time, I was prompted to enter the PIN code for the SIM card, which I did successfully. Then I swiped up as suggested to unlock the screen and access all apps. This presented me with a request to enter my PIN code to unlock the screen. However, since it was the very first power-up, of course I had not set up a screen unlock PIN code.
In my ignorance of smart phones and Android, I did make a lot of effort to find a solution, possibly a default unlock PIN code, but failed. My sister is a user of Android phones and she told me I should have been presented with a first-use guide by Android, to help me set up the phone.
Can anyone let me know if there is a default PIN code or other way to unlock the screen? My old bar phone’s battery is dying on me and I badly need the FP5!
Where did you buy your phone? Are you sure it is brand new? As there is no default unlock code, as your sister said, it looks like this phone was already customized by someone else.
I bought it on line from Fairphone, but because they don’t ship to Cyprus, I had it delivered to my sister in the UK and she brought it to me after a few weeks, when she visited me. But the box was sealed and she did not use the phone at all.
So I guess the phone is now bricked? Or is there some way to unlock it?
Could someone at the Fairphone or the factory done this, somehow?
Yes, I did use the SIM card PIN the first time, then I realized (when it was not accepted) that the request for the PIN was not for the SIM. With a little research on Android docs I realized it was for the screen unlock. But I don’t think I was locked out on my first failed attempt.
Removing the SIM and SD card did not help - but the Factory reset did! Great! And thanks for the tip. I can now proceed with the guided setups I suppose. However, the reset probably wiped out any evidence of who might have locked the phone or even used it.
My thanks again - this forum is very helpful and friendly
When inserting the SD card again, make sure to use it as ‘portable’ not ‘internal’ or something similar. That might lead to problems in the future. But then be aware, that it is not encrypted and can be read by anyone with physical access.
