Hi there!
I just installed /e/ on my “new” Samsung S10. I would like to know whether it is possible to relock the bootloader.
Where would I find that information?
there is no Device list for phones that support relocking the bootloader.
there is not one hint about relocking bootloader in the Installation Guide.
There are some rumors about a bricked phone after relocking bootloader, so this information might be quite an important thing to add in every(!) installation guide. As I see now, in FP3 and FP4, relocking is explained.
For example with my S10, it is not really funny to switch on - a lot of warning symbols and an extra confirmation that this device is NOT SURE (what an irony), and relocking would be quite interesting for me - but is it possible? Who knows?
The installation guides are accurate – when you can re-lock the bootloader after installing /e/ it will say so in the instructions ! On your Samsung S10 please do not attempt to lock your bootloader, the ROM is not built to be locked.
Thanks for that post. Actually i searched, but i wanted to find a not phone specific title/question.
Well, i disagree, and apparently i’m not the only one: there is no “caution” or “warning” at the end of the installation guide that the bootloader can’t be locked again and that this bootloader message is not of relevance and has to be ignored. This could be a very simple thing to add in every installation guide.
And actually I’m surprised that murena sells phones hat have such a warning at startup (e.g. teracube 2e), without telling in advance. People who buy a preinstalled phone (for example because they don’t know how to) could be very shocked first boot and disappointed by the service.
Or in direct words: The attempt of selling google-free but noob-friendly phones fails before the phone has fully booted first time. (If it’s not a FP)
At least @marcdw agreed that they’re going to change something. Thanks for that!
you still don’t think that it would be good, to include this information in the installation guides?
what do you mean with “boot time”? you mean the stock warning?
Just compare those two scenarios (out of the view of a noob):
Scenario 1:
Installation guide: “Congratulations, you have successfully installed /e/ and everything is all right.”
User: “Yay, let’s start the phone!”
Phone: “WARNING: you installed a software that is not safe. Don’t trust it.”
User: “WTF? What happened? is something wrong with the installation guide? Let’s switch off the phone and check whether I made something wrong! Oh wait, I didn’t lock the bootloader again. Let’s just do that. Maybe the community knows something about it? I might send an E-Mail to the support…”
Scenario 2:
Installation guide: “Congratulations, you have successfully installed /e/ . Don’t worry about the warning when starting the phone, they just don’t like non-googled-software. More information about Bootloader Lock/unlock/relock: [Link has to be created]”
User: “Ok, I see. Let’s start the phone and see what it shows.”
Phone: “WARNING: you installed a software that is not safe. Don’t trust it.”
User: “Ok, an ugly boot screen. Well, I’ll have to deal with it.”
My replies do not include whether I think the larger situation is right or wrong.
The significant thing the open issue refers to is that different users see different negative warnings (not generated by /e/). (Interestingly, Samsung in the past was quite gentle in their warning, now perhaps are more challenging.) Delivering an alternative “Orange warning for /e/” seems a good way to go.
Hello, I totally agree with the proppositon of leaving it clear wether if it’s possible or not, 'cause in xiomi A1 instrucions it’s not said, and it’s what I have wondered: shall i relock it? I’ve searched for this topic, asked in the model community section, but got no answer.
thanks for a specific answer for me and a generic one for the rest.
personal recommendation: never relock your device!
pros:
you can rescure your data if the system fails for whatever reason.
you can downgrade via Recovery/TWRP/ADB/Fastboot if an update failed.
you can install root if you need to anytime after, without data loss.
cons:
this ugly boot screen, you haven’t been warned about in the first hand.
it’s possible to get into your data if it gets stolen - but what thief is an android hacker as well? anyway, you should make sure in forehand that a thief only finds an empty phone.
I want to add another scenario that is not being addressed anywhere else.
I purchased my fairphone and was excited to get degoogled. I was extra happy to hear eos provides a perfect system for that, including already microg. Easy installer says everything is fine and not worry about the unlocked bootloader, this is OK. As I dont know better.
Only after going down a rabbithole wondering why netflix isn’t working, I find that even though I’ve managed to get banking apps with nfc working, at the end of the day, some apps will still refuse to work whenever they detect and unlocked bootloader, which seems to be a consistent conclusion from my last 2-days research.
This was a deal breaker on using eOS as I was happy about degoogling my phone and making use of the alternatives, but, not it’s not just degoogling, by having an unlocked device I’m saying no to several other apps it seems.
The easy installer makes no mention of the consequences of not being able to relock your device, and neither do the instructions to install yourself without the easy installer.
In both the easy installer and the step by step instructions, the locking is expected to happen. In the installer some message saying “its fine” shows up, but the step by step has no info about it. Even though it seems known that relocking is NOT possible for the fp4.
This is clearly an error on both the documentation and the disclaimer about that it means to have an unlocked phone.
Sadly I can’t go on using a degoogle phone after learning about this. Quite a sad day.
I don’t see how your issues with locking your bootloader affects the problem that you can’t use degoogled phones. that’s two totally different things.
fact 1: there ARE a lot of degoogled systems that support relocking the bootloader for a lot of devices.
fact 2: FP4 is in fact relockable, and /e/ as well as divestOS and iodéOS support it to be locked according to their installation guides.
I don’t know about your issues with netflix (i don’t use netflix) but it actually really seems to be related to an unlocked bootloader. Luckily, this can be fixed by locking it, at least with your FP4.
see this topic for example.
If you have issues with relocking, please ask for help in another topic. Good luck…
As the OP mentioned, the installation guide indeed suggests it is possible to relock and even marks it as the final step when following the manual instructions. Following those steps: fails. Easy installer: fails but says it’s ok.
The thread you link, had you read it, suggests indeed that the solution to some of the issues I listed is to lock the device, sadly they do not mention how to achieve it. But AGAIN that’s what we’re mentioning here. Regardless how the people in that thread did it, it’s not achievable either by the easy-installer not by following the steps on the documentation. The documentation currently suggests BOTH that the relocking is the final step, AND that it’s ok to leave it unlocked.
More information for new users clarifying this “missmatch” , or rather, this awkward phone state, on what it means and what are the consequences of leaving it locked or unlocked, and specially making it clear in the docs that it’s currently not possible to re-lock the fp4 following the install instructions, would be much appreciated.
I do so too.
again: it is possible to relock the FP4.
Please create a new topic, if you fail to relock your FP4, since this is not at all related to this topic. If you fail relocking it, even if you exactly follow the explained steps, there is something wrong and that needs to be changed, either with your phone (pretty unlikely), with the guide (likely) or with your drivers/tools/routines (very likely).
and you are one of the (theoretically) lucky ones, where it in fact is mentioned wheter it’s (theoretically) possible to relock the bootloader. in contrary to a lot of other phones. so, you’re exactly not concerned with the Issue I claimed in the OP.
Again: For other phones should be a warning indeed, but NOT for phones where it’s (theoretically) possible to relock the bootloader. A list of relockable phones would be nice as well (as the OP tells), but the FP4 would be on this list.
(If it’s not a FP)
[LIST] Devices where bootloader can be relocked