Install /e/OS on Fairphone 2 running Android 10

/e/OS Devices Fairphone
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I recently replaced my 8 year old FP2 with an FP4, and would like to install /e/OS on the old FP2, to use this with apps I don’t want on my new phone.

On the FP2 I am running Android 10 with Fairphone Open build number 23.02.0-rel.0. I have enabled Developer options.

I have read the installation instructions for FP2 on both the e.Foundation website and this guide on the Fairphone site.

These are all slightly helpful, but also confusing, because they mix together instructions that are relevant for an installation using a Windows PC, and Linux/Unix instructions, so when I run into a problem, the solution generally involves Linux, which I don’t use and am totally unfamiliar with (also Unix coding replicators like Git Bash).

I am trying to run the installation from a Windows laptop. Initially I tried from a Windows 7 machine, with no success (phone not recognised using adb devices command).

I have now tried using a Windows 10 laptop, and got as far as the device being recognised with adb devices (I cleared the “unauthorized” status) and getting the phone to bootloader mode using the adb reboot bootloader command.

I am unable to get the phone recognised using fastboot devices at this point, and any other commands (e.g. flash…, adb reboot recovery) get a “no devices/emulators found” message.

I have tried downloading and installing USD drivers for the FP2 on my laptop, but Windows 11 insists I have the most up to date driver (MTP), and will not install any of the Google USB drivers I have downloaded.

I tried installing Git Bash but I have no idea how to get this to work, there is no adequate explanation of even basic commands (such as change directory), so this option is not worth pursuing.

I have installed e/OS on my FP4 and this was reasonably painless (still took 2 days and required me reverting to my Windows 7 laptop to complete the process), but this came with a Windows installer so not so hard.

Are there any unambiguous installation instructions written entirely for Windows machines (i.e. that don’t ask you to enter “subo” as part of a command line) that anyone could point me towards ?

As an alternative I could try and install the original Fairphone Google OS, which is not my preferred option, but if this is easier and doesn’t require extensive programming language knowledge, I can try that.

Any help gratefully received.

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Hi @ah8, welcome to this forum

Install /e/OS on a Fairphone FP2 - “FP2” from /e/ documentation describe a “new” method that is specific for this device, and look very simple and clear with only a few operations.

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Installing /e/ on the FP2 - Guides - Fairphone Community Forum look outdated as the file now foundable on the linked /e/ server (IMG-e-2.2-r-20240719418592-dev-FP2.zip) is designed to work using fastboot or Git Bash.
if you want to follow the “traditional way” described in this guide, like in Install LineageOS on FP2 | LineageOS Wiki or in [HOWTO] an Unified Install Guide Project for /e/, you need to use twrp-3.3.1-1-FP2.img, and e-2.2-r-20240719418592-dev-FP2.zip, that is designed to work using recovery.

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You need do the drivers search / update with the phone in Fastboot mode; then Windows will install the “combination driver”.

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Hi piero, thanks for the response.

I have downloaded the FP2 img file you provided the link for, thank you. But I am not clear on how to follow the Install instructions from /e/ documentation as I am not familiar with Git Bash.

Can I use the the command instructions on this documentation that starts “chmod +x flash…” from the command line in fastboot mode on my PC, or do I have to use Gi Bash to run this command ?

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Here you don’t need to be familliar with, but simply “copy / paste” the provided commands.

In this thread i discover the existens of Git Bash

In the /e/ documentation the word “advise” is used, so i understand you also can use fastboot,
try and see…

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The install instruction is

  • Boot into bootloader/fastboot mode.
  • Power OFF the device and press Volume Down + Power buttons simultaneously.
  • Run the installer script on Terminal(Linux) or on Git Bash UI(Windows).
  • Make sure you are in the current directory which contains the flash_FP2_factory.sh file.

So far so easy :slight_smile:

Git bash is better explained here: Git bash: Definition, commands, & getting started | Atlassian – but it just just makes Windows emulate Unix / Linux so that the commands are identical.

The command

 chmod +x flash_FP2_factory.sh && ./flash_FP2_factory.sh

… is two commands separated by && which means when that’s done do the next.

So separate them yourself

 chmod +x flash_FP2_factory.sh

… make that script executable.

Next, is it the same in Windows?

./flash_FP2_factory.sh

… run that named script in this folder – or just do that “the Windows way”. Does Windows recognise .sh? You might rename it to .bat.

I use Linux, but for another project I had a Windows user demonstrate Git bash and it did not look complex.

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Thanks everyone who provided support. I have finally managed to restore e/OS/ onto my Fairphone 2 running Android 10.

I have tried to post details of how I installed the e/os/ in the end, but the moderator bot does not like the links I have posted, or the post if I remove the links. So if you want to see the details, go over to the Fairphone forums and look for the same topic title.

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New users are limitated…