Fairphone 6: Display lock, Fingerprint sensor an Face ID dosent work!

Hi Community,

i have buy just a Fairphone 6 with Android 15, but it was not Possibility to ignore the Screen from Gemini i don´t want it and i hate Google. So i changed to /e/OS. So that feels better.

But I can´t enter a PIN or a pattern for the screen lock; the process repeats endlessly because it does not accept the PIN. In Settings → Privacy & Security, the message “Device may be compromised” remains. The fingerprint sensor or the Face-ID dosen´t work too.
In Android had it works. Have anyone an Idea where i can activate the fingerprint sensor?

Greetings and thanks for Help

Christofer

Did you have a google account on the fairphone 6 before you moved to /e/OS? Did you remove that account properly from the phone before the switch? If not, then it is a security measure of some sort of. FRP or so i’ts called.

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As said by @mihi this sounds very much like Factory Reset Protection. Other threads from users with the issue have the hashtag frp. The fix is to go back to Fairphone Android (avoid any locking of the Bootloader in the process) remove any pertinent items (Google account, passwords, PINs, that is anything “secured” or otherwise “secret”) and try again.

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Thanks, I was looking for the fingerprint sensor, not the PIN, so I couldn’t find it.
It looks like I’ve destroyed my smartphone. I flashed Android back onto it, removed the Google account, and wanted to flash /e/OS back onto it. Unfortunately, the copying process for flashing /e/OS for the second time didn’t complete and got stuck halfway through. However, I already had this problem when flashing Android and /e/OS for the first time, so I had to cancel it and start several times. Eventually, it ran through. But since I couldn’t get any further, I logged into Fastboot Mode, and now I can’t get out of Fastboot Mode. I can only mount it under Linux when the OS is running.

Christofer

Did you do manual or web install?

I performed the first flash process from Android to /e/OS manually, as I was not yet familiar with the automatic installer. I had to start the flash process several times before it ran through. To return to Android, I then used the web installer. Up to this point, everything ran smoothly, and the smartphone could be operated normally. It was also no problem to start it; as long as the copying process was not complete, you could always start the old OS.
Then I wanted to use the web installer to flash back to Android, but I couldn’t get any further after connecting in the Fast Boot menu. I tried manually, but again it stopped while copying the first file. I canceled and restarted several times. Then I closed the bootloader with fastboot because I saw no other alternative, and that was probably the final nail in the coffin.

It is not a final nail if you have working fastboot. Boot into Fastboot and send

fastboot devices

Please share the reponse.

ok, thanks, it recognizes it:

❯ ./fastboot devices
49befdf4 fastboot

(The smartphone displays DEVICE STATE - locked)

~/Dokumente/Fairphone_6/platform-tools
❯ ./fastboot flashing unlock
FAILED (remote: 'Flashing Unlock is not allowed
')
fastboot: error: Command failed

~/Dokumente/Fairphone_6/platform-tools
❯ ./fastboot flashing unlock_critical
FAILED (remote: 'Flashing Unlock is not allowed
')
fastboot: error: Command failed

~/Dokumente/Fairphone_6/platform-tools
❯ ./fastboot flashing get_unlock_ability
(bootloader) get_unlock_ability: 0
OKAY [ 0.001s]
Finished. Total time: 0.001s

As it stands, it can no longer be unlocked.

So we know that locking can be a hazard if anti-rollback rules are not followed.

In your story so far (I do not see ??) you do not mention at what stage you locked the bootloader.

At that stage were you aware of the hazard?

Certainly not, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it. It was only your feedback “(avoid any locking of the Bootloader in the process)” that gave me the relevant information.
However, I updated all operating systems to the latest version before performing the rollback.

If the flash process had been completed, the problem would not have occurred.

Is there any way to send it in and have the manufacturer fix it?

I am sorry to hear this.

Yes you can contact Fairphone support. The last mentioned price on the forum for reimage was ~60€, I think

Thank you both for your help. 60 is 10% of the price of a new cell phone. That’s a fair price.

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Another method could be to test the installation of another Custom-Rom (e.g. IODE-OS). I had the same problem and it worked (with an FP4). And after installing IODE, I started the procedure with e/OS and it worked. I don`t not why - but it worked.

The problem is, that the Bootloader ist locked and i can´t write anything on it when its locked.

Indeed. Maybe then sending it to FP directly would be the best method for flashing it back :-(.

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