I’m trying to put Fairphone’s OS on my FP4 that came with e/OS. I’ve gotten it rooted and booted into fastboot through the recovery mode. On my computer, fastboot says that it can’t find my phone. I’m stuck. How am I intended to flash e/OS? Thanks.
The Install instructions link to
With your phone in fastboot mode connected to the computer please see there, section Part 2: On your computer (Windows and macOS), expand and follow the Prerequisite for Windows - Update USB drivers part.
In case /e/OS is gone, here’s how to install it again on your phone via Easy Installer or command line … Install /e/OS on a Fairphone FP4 - “FP4”
You totally missed my point. My computer can use my phone. The fastboot program in the command prompt terminal does not identify the fastboot on the phone as the real fastboot, so it’s unable to send commands.I can have ADB send commands while the phone is in normal mode. It’s like e/OS uses a different fastboot than normal Android.
Perhaps you could post the exact error message the command line is giving you?
ADB uses a different driver in Windows than fastboot mode, so the computer could use ADB just fine while not being able to use fastboot mode with the respective fastboot mode driver missing or outdated.
In case this helps anyone else, I’ve found a Flash Tool from the maker of my phone’s Chip (Qualcomm). I’ll try it out when I get the chance.
There is also this
Thanks. That’s the sort of thing I’m looking for.
If you found solution mark it acsordingly and close topic
Neither option helped. I couldn’t figure out how to use the Qualcomm software. The Open Android Installer still needed Fastboot to be recognized, so the same problem happened. For some odd reason, it even quit recognizing my phone. ADB from platform tools still controlled the phone just fine. I’m stuck without Google’s Services. If I could just install that, I would be fine. I need it working to get money.
Are you using Windows on your computer?
When you enter the fastboot devices command with the phone connected and in fastboot mode, does this just result in an empty line, or is there an error message?
“fastboot devices” does not post any information. “fastboot flashing unlock” says that it’s waiting for a device and just hangs forever. I even tried downloading the Universal ADB Drivers and have that going. It’s no help. I dunno.
Thank you for confirming you are on Windows.
Once again, an ADB driver will not help you to get fastboot going. You have ADB working.
What you need to do is get a fastboot (or bootloader) driver working. For Windows this is a different driver, it’s not an ADB driver.
I already linked to the procedure. Here’s Fairphone’s animation there as a teaser …
Make sure you have a fastboot or bootloader driver not marked as malfunctioning or missing anything visible in Device Manager.
If fastboot is waiting then it doesn’t recognize the device. That is the reason why ‘fastboot devices’ doesn’t post information. Either you didn’t boot to fastboot or your cable/port is bad or a driver is not found.
ADB is working, though.
I know, just mentioned all the typical problems
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I must apologize. You are correct. In my decades of using Windows, I haven’t known it to not tell me about drivers for a device that I connect. Odd. (I’ve had a very stressful week.) After adding the drivers through Windows’ Settings, fastboot does function with my phone. Now, it’s telling me that every command I try from the “help” list is unknown. ???
EDIT: TWRP’s page for FP4 says that it uses Android Verified Boot and Dynamic Partitions. Could that be causing this?
EDIT 2: I just tried Fairphone’s flash program to install their OS. Some text showed up in white and then the window went away. ??? My phone looks the same.
I would simply (and closely) stick to the official install guides for either Fairphone OS or /e/OS, they know how to deal with the phone.
TWRP doesn’t come into play here (while the information is most probably correct).
What does fastboot --version say?
It says, “fastboot version 35.0.2-12147458”
EDIT: I even tried running the command prompt as an Admin.
Sounds good.
If you run the .bat file manually in a command line in the folder it’s in, you should be able to see what it says before stopping, as the window shouldn’t close this way.
Have you made sure you are operating in the folder with the extracted files, not in the ZIP file Windows presents as a folder?
I don’t have a Fairphone 4, but I’ve seen mentions of 2 fastboot modes it can be in … fastboot and fastbootd. Perhaps worth looking into if nothing else becomes obvious.
(I’ll be off for a while. Good luck!)
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Yes, I’ve unzipped the archive. My phone shows “fastbootd.” I can’t find any other way to enter fastboot mode. I can have ADB reboot to bootloader. The only useful option there is Recovery Mode. There, Fastboot is listed, where it shows “fastbootd.”
EDIT: I’ve gotten an old Samsung phone working so I’ll use it for my financial needs. This is no longer urgent. I’m very thankful for the help.
EDIT 2: I’ve tried rebooting into bootloader, again. On that screen, I can use fastboot functions just fine. I just hadn’t tried it since installing the Windows drivers. This should get me going. Thanks for everything.