HELP - FP5 stuck in Bootloop/Fastboot after update to 3.0.1

/e/OS Devices Fairphone
1
  • Vendor Name: Fairphone
  • Device name: Fairphone 5
  • Device CodeName: FP5
  • Version of /e/OS or Stock which existed previously: 2.9 Official
  • Is the device rooted: Yes

I downloaded 3.0.1, patched the boot.img with Magisk, updated my FP5 to 3.0.1, flashed the patched boot.img, and am currently unable to boot to system.

Flashing the stock boot.img has not resolved the problem. (I don’t know whether the system would have booted initially because after I installed 3.0.1, I rebooted straight to fastboot mode and flashed the patched boot.img immediately.)

I’ve tried flashing multiple versions of the boot.img, including the one taken from the Official file prefixed with IMG, the one without the IMG where you have to extract boot.img from payload.bin, and the Community version. I’ve tried all three both stock and rooted with Magisk, using two different phones. None are working.

I can get to fastboot, but trying to boot to system or recovery just bootloops. Really hoping to avoid nuking my device. Help?

EDIT - After systematically trying to flash multiple boot images, I flashed the extracted boot.img from the payload.bin file, and just let my phone bootloop for a while. It eventually rebooted to system - and thinks it’s on version 2.9 again, still rooted, with no updates available.

I’m up and running again so no harm beyond a stressful afternoon I guess, but I’d still like to know what happened. Did my phone fall back to the slot B boot.img or something? How do I upgrade without causing this to happen again?

EDIT 2

Last addition - it looks like the OTA updater pointed to the URL
https://ota.ecloud.global/official/FP5/e-3.0.1-t-20250606498724-official-FP5.zip,
but I was using the files at
https://ota.ecloud.global/official/FP5/e-3.0.1-a14-20250607498722-official-FP5.zip,
and at
https://images.ecloud.global/stable/FP5/IMG-e-3.0.1-a14-20250607498722-official-FP5.zip.

Should I maybe try flashing the boot.img from the OTA file instead? Not sure where to go from here.

2

Last addition - it looks like the OTA updater pointed to the URL
https://ota.ecloud.global/official/FP5/e-3.0.1-t-20250606498724-official-FP5.zip,
but I was using the files at
https://ota.ecloud.global/official/FP5/e-3.0.1-a14-20250607498722-official-FP5.zip,
and at
https://images.ecloud.global/stable/FP5/IMG-e-3.0.1-a14-20250607498722-official-FP5.zip.

Should I maybe try flashing the boot.img from the OTA file instead? Not sure where to go from here.

3

You realise the diff in Android version between e-3.0.1-t- and e-3.0.1-a14 ??

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… only you do not mention this in your text, only Edit 2.

I have no experience of sideloading an Android version upgrade [1] … but the official advice is to treat Upgrade as a fresh install.

You have a full reliable backup before proceeding … you don’t mention the status of bootloader lock.

[1] the OTA_PACKAGE will contain Meta information which will specify Android version.

4

I didn’t initially realize there were even two files, but yes, it now seems like the “a14” variant is for a clean install of Android 14m because the /e/ team is still working on an OTA. Are you suggesting I try upgrading again with the “t” version of the patched boot.img?

Fully unlocked. Been running my FP5 with /e/ and root for a couple years now. Usually an upgrade is easy - download the OTA update, patch the boot.img in Magisk, install the update, shut down, boot into bootloader, overwrite boot.img with the patched version, and boot up. Seems like the two different upgrade paths this time around may have confused me.

5

Slightly wrong conclusions … :slightly_smiling_face:

The convention in /e/ is that where there is the prefix IMG then this is an Install ROM where the install happens by an install script within the ROM. This is the method detailed in the device install page.

With an unlocked bootloader you can choose to stay on AOSP 13 (T) or Upgrade to a-14.

If you choose not to wait for OTA Android version Upgrade

Please check the install script within the Install ROM so that you confirm (as I believe) that the script will Format data.

6

Which would explain why they’re usually easier to pull the boot.img from. There currently is no OTA path to 14 though, so what is https://ota.ecloud.global/official/FP5/e-3.0.1-a14-20250607498722-official-FP5.zip ?

7

It is the OTA update which (for instance) would be used by those who had newly installed e-3.0-a14- official when it was briefly made available.

1 Like
8

Why am I still on Android 13? - #14 by piero

9

Hi @piero did you check the Meta info on the a-14 OTA_PACKAGE ? On a super partition device the chances are much higher that an Upgrade might involve remapping dynamic partitions but idk for sure.

10

no i didn’t. thanks to highlight it
i will check, but not sure i will understand it…

yes,
that’s what blocked me with the s4mini that don’t have dynamic partitions,
i don’t succeed to resize partitions…

1 Like
11

Yes you will; like here Upgrading to a new Android Version

I will look for my bacon source in case it might help.

12

the point was the presence of firmware related partitions,

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i can’t identify some partitions mapping in the values contained in those files…

13

The information is somewhat “coded” … (and I am not 100% confident) …

Source: FP5-a14/e-3.0.1-a14-20250607498722-official-FP5/META-INF/com/android/metadata

post-sdk-level=34

Source: https://apilevels.com/ Re Level 34

targetSdk must be 34+ for new apps and app updates as of August 31, 2024.

Clearly this does apply to apps … it seems not to define OTA_UPDATE.

14

partitions mapping table may be in a dedicated partition

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