Yesterday, I received my brand new FP3 and I wanted to install /e/OS on it. However, I have some struggles with enabling fastboot on Windows 10. Hopefully someone can help me.
First, it is important to state that I was able to unlock the bootloader with fastboot on Windows 10, by following the official Fairphone guideluines; I unlocked dev settings and enabled usb debugging properly.
Next, after resetting everything to factory settings, I was able to boot in fastboot mode, whereafter I was trying to run âfastboot -wâ (which is the first step in order to flash /e/OS, according to the docs). After this, the terminal session hanged on â< waiting for any devices >â. Also, âfastboot devicesâ did not reveal anything.
The following things I have tried to fix fastboot -w (all without success):
Trying to change the driver in device settings. Even after removing the driver and rebooting Windows 10, the driver pops up as âFP3â when I plug in the phone by usb (I do not understand why, maybe Windows is installing drivers in the background?)
Installed the SDK 9.0 via Android Studio. After this, the phone is known as Samsung device (?)
Toggling USB Preferences in Android between File Transfer and PTP
Ok, since unlocking the bootloader worked we can assume the cable is a working data cable (you could try a different one to make sure it didnât break just now).
Maybe thereâs driver trouble. Hereâs a generic driver and ADB/Fastboot repair âŚ
Disconnect the phone from the computer.
In Control Panel - Programs and Features:
Uninstall the Android SDK (if installed) and everything with âMTPâ or âADBâ in its name.
Reboot Windows.
In Control Panel - Device Manager:
Enable View - Show hidden devices, and then uninstall every possible ADB, MTP and smartphone device, hidden or not.
Reboot Windows.
Connect the phone again. (Windows should install the necessary drivers then automatically. They can be named after a different device, this doesnât matter.)
Thanks for your thorough reply! I followed all your instructions, but without success.
I also tried adb reboot bootloader, and that works. However, fastboot is still unable to find any device. I have tried Powershell and Git bash, just to make sure it is not editor related. Furthermore, I have tried File Transfer and PTP modeâŚ
With adb devices I can see the device. Is this information that is usable?
By the way: when I select File Transfer and PTP the file browser pops up with FP3 > Internal shared storage.
Just to make sure, when you boot your FP3 into fastboot mode, the phone shows a screen like this (with device state âunlockedâ, as you already did the unlocking):
The only time I remember not being able to see the phone with fastboot devices was when I was trying to add FP3 support to the /e/ installer. It turned out the running installer still had some fastboot command active while I tried to execute a second fastboot command in a terminal for debugging purposes. But your case sounds different.
ADB seeing the phone and Fastboot not seeing the phone doesnât make much sense using the same setup.
However, Iâm finding (mostly older) mentions of this in the internet. If you want to try some things, thereâs a collection of possible solutions here (for a different device, but once the phone drivers are installed itâs not much device-specific as far as I see briefly browsing through it) ⌠https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3/help/fastboot-devices-adb-devices-t3485186.
If you can handle Linux, a live Linux DVD or USB stick could be promising, too. To perhaps move forward with installing the phone ⌠or (if fastboot on Linux would fail, too) to see that itâs not the OSâs fault.
Just very recently, I have tried KDE 's Neon distro to set up fastboot to detect the Fairphone. Although I was able to install Android SDK Platform Tools and I was also able to use the adb and the fastboot terminal commands, there was still no phone discovered via fastboot. Again, adb and the ânormalâ file browser - Dolphin in this case - worked.
Just to make sure it is not the usb cable as well, I have switched it with another cable, but still no result. I have tried to revoke all usb authorizations in Androidâs usb debugging settings, but this was fruitless too.
It seems there is something wrong with the phone itself, 'cause fastboot is not able to detect it on multiple machines, multiple operating systems, and with multiple usb cables.
For clarity: first I start the computer. Next, I boot the FP3 in fast boot modus. And lastly, I put in the usb cable and connect it to the desktop machine.
Is there something I can do next? And, Plan B: is it possible to lock the bootloader again via Android itself, or do I have to do that with terminal as well?
Update the OS to the current A.0120 version (it says A.0110 in your screenshot)?
Updating switches to the other boot slot in the phone, so updating would have to set up the bootloader there from scratch ⌠so perhaps this new bootloader might be in the mood to work with fastboot then.
I donât think this can be triggered from Android.
No, this does not work either (installed A.0120, and rebooted the system completely).
I think I will stop trying to migrate to /e/. It is really hopeless, I guess⌠It is too bad since I really wanted to install /e/ to get rid of all the Google stuff.
Just to check: was it needed for you guys to install a custom Android driver on Windows? And if so, did you also only see âMTP usb deviceâ (or something like that) as the only option that you can select? When I then click next, I get the notification that the driver already is installed. Also after I removed all drivers from device management (as was mentioned by AnotherElk above).
This morning, I tried to use fastboot on my Macbook. Although I can use fastboot in terminal, âfastboot devicesâ is not recognizing any device - even with âsudo -sâ. Is it possible that the bootloader is not quite in unlocking state?
Furthermore, to be sure, I post the usb cable that I use now (on my Macbook 2019, with adapter, and my Windows desktop). It is just a ânormalâ USB 2.0 USB-A/USB-C: https://www.belkin.com/nl/p/P-F2CU032/
Fastboot should work nonetheless.
Regardless of the bootloader being locked or not, fastboot would see the phone. If the user would try to do something which a locked state would forbid, fastboot would then just say that it wasnât allowed to do that.
In my experience fastboot is the most robust thing in dealing with a phone, itâs the last thing that fails to work. If you went through the XDA thread I linked to and tried the possible solutions which worked for people there, I really donât see what could be wrong or missing here.
Believe it or not, but it was something stupid⌠I did not know that it was forbidden to click on âselectâ after adb bootloader reboot. To me, it was logical to click on it since it was a selection screen. However, suddenly, I stumbled upon an old forum topic from a guy that was having the same problem. So, for future reference: do not select anything after rebooting with adb!
It might be handy to add this to the /e/OS manual, since for flash newbies like me the step to not select anything after rebooting may not be clear enough.
You should probably post that in the /e/ forum (or otherwise contact the /e/ foundation) as I doubt someone able to change their instructions reads along here.
Out of curiosity: what kind of âselectâ are you talking about? Do you have a screenshot by chance?
It is just the selection screen after booting the phone in fastboot mode (with âStartâ in green on top). You can see a picture in the forum topic that I have linked.
I assummed incorrectly that pressing on the power button on the selection screen was starting fastboot mode, but it was nog needed to do so, I discovered later.
I will ask the foundation to add this to the manual.
Funnily, I never identified that screen as a selection until I accidentally used one of the volume buttons and saw that the âstartâ changes to other options
But that was probably because the fastboot mode of the FP2 had no interactivity at all.
