Hello,
I have a Fairphone 5 running /e/OS 3.0.1. With version 2.9, I was able to connect the FP5 to a PC running Windows 11 without any problems. This is no longer possible.
The FP5 does not appear in the file explorer or in the disk manager. However, it does appear in the W11 Settings (“Bluetooth & Devices > Devices”), where I can eject it.
You don’t mention Android version, the exact Settings may be different. Use Settings > Search facility > USB. (It used to be USB Preferences, now renamed.) Do you have data transfer enabled? The settings can be changed only with a “live” data cable connected.
Developer options > Default USB configuration also exists.
I think you already tried the obvious troubleshooting …
Maybe you could try to connect the phone to a computer of a friend, work, local library or photo print kiosk especially if this had its own built in USB connection.
You might try a compressed air can to blow out the USB port even though you say the port was tested by Ethernet adapter. (Twice I had a faulty USB module, both times some tasks would work before total failure.)
Maybe try to uninstall the universal adb drivers and instead let windows update offer you the drivers through the optionnal updates of “windows”.
Windows will offer the drivers corresponding to fairephone 5 once it is connected with a cable
I had a similar issue with my Fairphone 5 with adb drivers.
The connection works perfectly on another PC! The 2 PCs are running Windows 11 and have a USB-c connector. On the 1st PC (my PC), I tried again after uninstalling the universal ADB driver, same problem.
Maybe it’s due to this difference: on my PC I have version 23H2 of W11, on the other it’s 22H2 (this one is never connected to the internet and isn’t updated). On my PC, there’s this update that won’t run (it’s blocked): ‘2025-06 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5060999)’. I’m going to try to do it manually… even if, the USB drivers seem to be up to date.
I’ve also contacted support (Murena).
Thanks to both of you.
I continued to make a few attempts, such as:
– BIOS update.
– Windows update.
– Windows update (optional updates). Not a good idea unless you know exactly what it is (in my case, for one of the updates, it ended with ‘Unknown device on ASMedia USB3.0 eXtensible Host Controller’).
– Reinstall USB Root Hub driver in Device Manager
– Reinstall USB Host Controller driver in Device Manager
– Etc.
Fairphone support (https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/9425348234513-How-to-connect-to-a-computer-with-a-cable) recommends installing Universal ADB Driver (https://adb.clockworkmod.com). Is this really a good idea? Furthermore wouldn’t it be better to use the original (https://universaladbdriver.com) – which, in my case, gives me the following message: Error: Device not found. As I mentioned before, I tried, but without success.
I’ll stop here, waiting for a response from support (Murena).
In my view extra drivers do no harm. I see your mention of a hub … you really don’t need exact drivers just ones that work. You may be connecting though an unsupported (by fastboot) hub (as you say the phone is not seen) always best to connect your best data cable to USB ports which are soldered to the motherboard. I am pretty sure Fairphone emulates some Google device in Fastboot mode – hence this Google driver sometimes being offered.
indicates unsuitable driver.