Notification bar, home button not working, system ui tuner not visible

Ok, I tried this myself just now, and it worked. Try the following with the restored backup which doesn’t boot …

  • Connect your phone to a computer via USB.
  • Boot TWRP (in case it isn’t installed, see twrpwoflashing).
  • Make sure you can see the folders on the phone on your computer to copy stuff over later. (Or skip to my Edit below.)
  • In TWRP:
    • Advanced
      • File Manager … this should display the folders in the root directory.
      • Navigate to /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases
      • Tap on the file calllog.db, it should be there.
      • Copy File … this should display the folders in the root directory again.
      • Navigate to a destination folder which can be accessed from the computer, i.e. something in /data/media (that really is “Internal Storage”), e.g. /data/media/0/Download
      • Tap the checkmark icon in the bottom right corner
      • Swipe to Confirm … The following screen should be titled with the two lines “File Operation Complete” and “Successful”. Don’t mind the other output there, it’s just the log TWRP keeps in the background after booting, it has nothing to do with the file copying just now.
  • Copy the file calllog.db from the accessible folder on the phone to the computer to somewhere you can find it.

On the computer:

  • Install DB Browser for SQLite … Downloads - DB Browser for SQLite … because calllog.db is a database in SQLite format.
  • Start the program.
  • In DB Browser for SQLite:
    • Open Database
    • Navigate to where you copied calllog.db to and open the file
    • Go to the “Browse Data” tab (instead of the “Database Structure” tab).
    • Set the displayed table to “calls” (instead of the “android_metadata” table).
    • The “number” column should then have the number you’re interested in somewhere.

Edit:

If somehow the file can’t be copied to a computer, you can have a look at it in TWRP.

  • In TWRP:
    • Advanced
      • Terminal … execute the following commands (type them into the command line and then tap the checkmark icon to run them)
      • cd /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases
        (changes the directory to where calllog.db is)
      • cat calllog.db

This will dump the raw content of the file onto the command line, and it will look messy (and the phone will perhaps vibrate from non-displayable characters).
But take your time, you can scroll up and down with the slider on the right side, and the number you’re interested in will be visible in this mess somewhere.

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@AnotherElk : You are a genius!!
After several manual Fairphone OS attempts without success I tried to reformat the system partition (!) with TWRP and then I could install Fairphone OS.

Thank you very much.

At least we have a virgin Fairphone which works. Even without most of the settings.

@AnotherElk where do you want your statue of heroism and helpfulness to be built?

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Did you get the desired number in the end?
I just was struck by this lightning here …

Shows you what I know, really. I didn’t realise the file format of the backup was simple to deal with.

So, if you wiped the phone before dealing with the calllog.db, and if you have your TWRP backup on a computer, then just open data.ext4.win from the backup with e.g. 7-Zip (Edit: for Windows , the tar command works for Unixoids) … this should show only a folder (without a name in my case, but this could perhaps be different), open that … and there you are … data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/calllog.db.

I learn every day :slight_smile: .

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Yeah, in the calllog.db (opened via a DB Browser for SQLite) we found all called numbers.

Was quite an Odyssey and we nearly gave up when the FP OS flashing failed. But now everything is fixed, all contacts found, alle messages restored and even the notification bar and home button work correctly.

1000 thanks

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That’s Fairphone - yours to open (also software wise :wink: )

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Thanks Johannes. I’m willing to try and I still have access to Parameters but can’t find how to do this on FP2. Do you know how to do it?

same here…:raising_hand_woman:

I’m not sure what the exact steps are on FP2, as I don’t have one to play with. I have read about people using different user accounts on the FP2, so it has to be possible. The closest I have here is an Android 8 device, where it is under Settings > Users & Accounts > Users (where the instructions I linked to above also suggest it can be found). The last step is maybe counter-intuitive, as the Users & Accounts screen mainly shows a list of accounts (‘Accounts for …’). Above this list is a line ‘Users’, which can be tapped to access a list of users which includes an option to set up a guest session.
The alternative location suggested online is Settings > System > Advanced > Multiple Users. As said, I’m not sure what the exact menu structure is for the FP2. If anyone can find it, please let us know.

This is what Settings > Users looks like on the FP2 (Fairphone Open OS 19.08.1):

I guess the separate “Accounts” settings aren’t relevant in this context, but for completeness’ sake:

Settings > Accounts | Settings > Accounts > + Add an account

Tapping guest where it’s shown in the image should start a guest session. On my test phone it takes a while to start (and at first it seems nothing is happening). Switching back is a case of going to the same menu and choosing ‘remove guest’.

Tapping “Guest” remains without a response of the device. I guess “+ Add User” is the path? (Sorry for the orange bars, I activated Battery Saver in the meantime)

Thanks a lot to @urs_lesse and @johannes but I can’t access the Settings > Users screen
My FP2 is in French but I think I found the setting:
Paramètres > Utilisateurs (between Mémoire (Memory) and Gestes (Gestures?)).
Under Utilisateurs, it’s written “Connecté en tant que “David”” (Connected as “David”, my name)
BUT when I tap on Utilisateurs, no new screen opens, so I don’t have the screen you show.
Maybe another side effect of this wide-encompassing bug…

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It is enough, to just tap on “Owner” again. You can keep the “Guest” account; at least on my outdated Android 6.0.1.

In such cases I always change the language setting, to find the correct path/setting.
But you are right (I checked the French version), it is Utilisateurs
If you don’t get that screen, where you can select users, that’s strange.
But since you get the info, that you are connected as the owner, there seems to be some response.

Have you tried searching?
In the systems screen, there is a magnifier in the top right-hand corner.
Tap on it and enter “utilisateur”
You should get a list of results.
One should read: “Ajouter un utilisateur
Tap on that and you should end on the screen shown above.
Instead of “Guest” it says “Invité
Tap on it and there you go.

If you don’t get that option, there really seems to be something wrong, and I have no clue.

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I seem to have the same problem. Under Settings>Device I have “Users” (also between “Memory” and “Gestures”) where it says: “Signed in as Owner”. When I tap on it nothing happens.
Also I remember having the magnifier in the top right-hand corner, but it’s gone now…

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Here is a source how to remove a guest account and disable the multi-user option.
Did anyone of you do some “hacking” by using adb etc.?
Then this is where the solution might be located.
As I am no techie, this is absolutely beyond me.

No, I never did such a thing.

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When I try to open data.ext4.win, I get a warning that this type of archive is not supported. I use Linux Mint and I have P7zip-full installed. Any suggestions what I can do to open that archive?

I solved the problem by renaming the archive into data.ext4.tgz. Now can open everything…

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tar -xvf data.ext4.win in a terminal would also work. I just tried.

Me neither. That’s not the reason why I can’t access the users screen anymore. And I don’t have the magnifier either.