Which .zip file to sideload Fairphone OS or Fairphone Open?

Context

To perform a bit more testing in a script that (semi-)automatically switches between Fairphone OS and LineageOS on the FP2, I would like to revert back from LineageOS to FairphoneOS (or Fairphone Open), using TWRP.

Basically I use:

adb sideload <somezipfile>.zip

somewhere in the code to flash a different OS on the FP2 whilst booted into TWRP. For LineageOS this works, however, I am experiencing some difficulties going back to Fairphone.

Expected behaviour

I would expect sideloading either of the operating zip files using TWRP (with proper data erasing before and after etc.) would successfully flash the Fairphone (Open) OS on the phone.

Observed behaviour

For Fairphone OS I tried from this link:
fp2-gms-19.11.2-manual-v2.zip and verified the downloaded md5 as: e1601288869f99143b664ea98f825760.

For Fairphone Open (OS) I tried from this link:
fp2-sibon-21.03.0-rel.2-manual.zip and verified the downloaded md5 as: b3666e0a34efcec349f206f53ea98445.

For both files, I receive the error:

Invalid zip file format!

Hypothesis

I expect this might be because those files seem to be for updating the Fairphone (Open) OS from a situation that already has the Fairphone (Open) OS installed, instead of being intended for flashing the Fairphone (Open) OS newly on the device (without LineageOS installed).

This hypothesis is based on the usage of the words: upgrade and switch describing the used .zip files for Fairphone Open OS, and based on the term manually update for the Fairphone OS. I am not looking to update/upgrade/switch from an existing Fairphone (Open) OS. Instead I inted to flash/install the Fairphone OS regardles of its current/previous OS. This difference makes me think the provided .zip files might not just be an OS image but some form of script that builds on the previous Fairphone (Open) OS, which is non-existant in this case. This in turn might result in the used .zip files not being suitable for sideloading.

Question

Hence, I would like to ask: which .zip file should I use to sideload either the Fairphone OS, or the Fairphone Open (OS) using TWRP from a device that has/had LineageOS installed?

The answer to the question for the Faiphone Open OS seems to be the 19.11.2-sibon-24df0be9-ota.zip file from this link. (A reboot into the Fairphone Open OS recovery mode with a factory reset, or more patience, was needed for it to successfully boot into the OS), but it worked :slight_smile:

This only leaves the question open for Fairphone OS.

The zip files you’re downloading aren’t intended for sideloading in the way you’re trying.

Are you intent on using adb sideload? If you download the zips provided by FP (this file to install FPOpen or this file to install FPOS) and unzip, you just run flash-for-unix.sh (or the appropriate included file for whatever OS you’re running) in fastboot mode and it’ll take care of everything.

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Welcome to the community forum.

Correct.

There currently is no ZIP file to ADB sideload Fairphone OS, at least not from a public download location.
You already linked to the page which describes how to install it (using fastboot).

It is because the files with “manual” in the filename are using fastboot to install, they are not for ADB sideload.

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