Here is my experience after installing /e/ (and also a few questions at the end!!)
Recently I bought the fairphone 6 that had Android 15 pre-installed. I wanted to get rid of it and so I ended up on this website where I found great tutorials for installing /e/OS.
Now, let me tell you that I am in no way experienced with software and especially on smartphones. For that reason I started with the semi-automatic install helper. Unfortunately I got stuck at step 7 where laptop (Windows 10) and smartphone should connect with each other.
I still encountered some problems while following all the steps because although the guides are written as simple as possible, I had the feeling that some steps were still too vague or missing information.
Here are some things i had to deal with:
My laptop and Fairphone were able to find each other on Windows explorer (I could browse maps for instance) but through cmd.exe I repeatedly got the message âno devices foundâ. I am not sure what the issue was exactly but I did found out that my Windows 10 was not supported anymore so I joined the extended support program (you do this at Windows Update) and I also installed additional drivers for Android (Also through Windows Update, under âview optional updatesâ). After that i was able to use platform-tools and Git Bash correctly.
Another issue I had was that after the factory reset my fairphone constantly went back to the first setup instead of going to the bootloader. I am not sure if this is supposed to happen but what I did was try to use only the command lines through my laptop and try to not touch my smartphone at all.
The biggest risk I think is the anti-rollback feature because thatâs a bit more difficult to understand. As far as I know itâs important to always double check if your phone is unlocked. You do not want to accidently âbrickâ your phone. I updated my Android software to the most recent one and checked the date. It said February 5. The Murena version I downloaded is from March so I guess I was in the clear. Although I do think there was a factor of luck for me because I still dont understand it all clearly. For that reason I have not locked my phone yet.
i want to lock the phone again but I am afraid to do so. Is there still a way to check which security versions of Android and /e/ my phone has? What would you do in this situation?
is there software on the phone that I have to delete manually? I can see there is still 32GB files for Android 15. Is this map actually /e/ because nowhere in my storage I can see where that OS is actually stored?
the release notes link the android security bulletin patchlevel date. For 3.6 that is 2026-03-01, putting you ahead of 2026-02-05. Relocking will reset your user data. You can use Seedvault to save to sdcard to transition, but not everything will get backed up.
32GB for Android seems excessive, can you post a screenshot? was âmapâ a typo?
Iâve had almost the same experience as you : wanting to switch to a de-googled ecosystem, but without being an expert, and /e/ seems the best alternative for this !
I didnât check the rollback date of the original android version before switching to /e/, so I have not relocked the bootloader yet, because Iâm not sure about these rollback things and I wouldnât like to brick the phone. I think I will wait for the next update, install it, and then relock bootloader. It seems a safer option !
Except one must bear in mind that the action of locking the bootloader, in order to confirm the system is âas originâ, âmustâ force the device to confirm that the system is effectively signed and ânot interfered withâ.
At some time in the past I used the expression âlate lockerâ to describe your proposal. âNot alteredâ is a different hazard from anti-rollback.
I am not sure I understand all of your message (Iâm not an expert). Are you saying that relocking bootloader after applying the next update will result in bricking the phone, because it will be considered as âalteredâ ? Is it considered âalteredâ the same if we already installed some apps ?
This fairphone belongs to my wife. We have moved all her data and apps on it so now I understand that just relocking like this can also be hasardous. Therefore we will have to make things carefully, being sure of what we are doing. I was thinking about :
make a complete backup
reset /e/ or even reinstall through TWRP
reboot to the âfreshâ /e/ and relock
reinstall apps and restore data
But still Iâm worried about the anti-rollback bricking the phone, as I did not know the rollback date of the original android OS. Maybe doing the above procedure with a fresh install of the next /e/ update is released will solve both the rollback and the ânot alteredâ problems ?
The install / locking instructions tell us not just to lock after Fresh install but to lock straight after install from original install over stock Android. Perhaps read the case studies I linked as âlate lockersâ.
Hello @aibd .
Ok I understand the âfull safe advice shown in this guideâ, to lock straight after install from original install over stock OS.
But I also read about not relocking the bootloader being a minor threat, unless we are personnally targeted : Custom rom vs stock rom
I think I understand your point of view, about the system being altered between flashing and relocking, which can lead to problems. As this phone stays at home it is not exposed to physical access so unlocked bootloader is a minor concern I think.
Anyway, things being what they are, the âmistakeâ is already done, for the phone has been flashed 2 weeks ago, and I am trying to balance the risks of relocking now. This is why I was asking these 2 questions in my previous post, which unfortunately I have no clue
The goal is to better understand what can lead to problems and try to minimize the risk if I re-lock now.
Maybe this is just me using âloosely speakingâ (intended practical) language.
I will try again, but this is totally a laymanâs POV.
Maybe apps installed and uninstalled might be forgiveable, but what about, for instance, change Developer options?
Android employs Boot verification. In an ideal world the boot mechanism would refuse to allow unverified boot with a nice error. Within Android it seems that manufactures may deploy this âbarrierâ in different ways.
It seems to me non optimal that the Fairphone SoC treats meeting this barrier and attempt to pass as worthy of âtripping a non user recoverable toggleâ â requires EDL / Firehose type reimaging.
We see in the Fairphone forum users better informed than me complain about this.
It seems that when /e/ is installed after some use then Format data then at point of locking âget_unlock_abilityâ is zero. Why does this matter? It will not necessarily block locking at that point but that âzero unlockâ state may persist and be non recoverable.
What if a user were to manipulate get_unlock_ability to 1=OK; then lock? There is the hazard that the system is still noticeably altered, idk. I guess ârevert to Fairphonesâs Android originalâ trumps that suggestion.
from the given informations it seems that the bootloader was already relocked. Maybe I forgot that I did, or maybe it was relocked automatically by the e-3.6 OTA update ? (I flashed the e-3.5 from 2026-02-11 on march, 12th, and the current software is 3.6 from 2026-03-12)
Another possibility to check, if your phone is locked, is to simply reboot it. If it is unlocked, you will get a warning message, which tells you about the phone being unlocked and the security issue. If it locked, it will just boot straight into the system.
now that bootloader is well relocked, Yes you can disable the âallow OEM unlocking / lockingâ option.
fastboot flashing get_unlock_ability should now return : 0
to close your install operation in confidence for the future, please check that you can immediatly re-enable the option, and also after disable âDev Optionsâ, re-enable it to check that the âallow OEM unlocking / lockingâ option is still there and not greyed.
thanks for the reply. Sorry for the late response of mine.
âmapâ wasnt the correct word indeed. There is a map that is called Android when i browse files via computer but that seems to be used for apps based on Android if i am correct?
Attached is a screenshot from my Fairphone that says Android15 uses 32gb for system. Is this actually /e/ ?
May I suggest (avoiding use of your PC for this) are you able to see the files and folders on your phone using the file manager app which is called Files?
In this app top left 3 bar menu moves to a different view where the hierarchy of folders should start from the named phone about â down the page.
Except one must bear in mind that the action of locking the bootloader, in order to confirm the system is âas originâ, âmustâ force the device to confirm that the system is effectively signed and ânot interfered withâ.
