apparently, the web installer does not find the adb executable on my Ubuntu 22.04.5. I’m running the installer via chromium. adb is installed, and I can connect to the device via “adb shell” from the command line.
When I reach the step in which the web installer attempts to connect to the device, the following error message is displayed:
Error on step: device-detection
Cannot execute command connect adb
The device is not connected Failed to connect: Cannot connect ADB Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'deserial')
Proposal: Check connection and that no other program is using the phone and retry.
This happens also after rebooting the Linux machine and the phone (a Fairphone4 by the way). USB debugging is activated.
Chromium was installed via snap. Maybe the tools (adb, fastboot) need to be made accessible in the environment created by snap for Chromium?
snap has some degree of isolation. I wonder if something in udev goes awry, that issue here is old, but still has comments. Try any regular .deb chrome/chromium?
(Edit: chromium is not using your systems adb, but an in-browser typescript reimplementation)
Thanks. I replaced the snap version by a deb, and was able to run the installation… However…
Apparently, users of the web installer should better not just click on the the “Install” link of the device specific page (which directly goes to the web installer) but also read the instructions for command line install as well. There, they’d learn that the warning
Before proceeding with the installation, verify if the latest Android firmware is available for your device.
displayed in the web installer might have to be interpreted as “make sure that the security patch level of the intended /e/ installation is not older than the security patch level currently installed on your phone” (rather than “make sure that your phone is updated to the latest software provided by the manufacturer”).
The web installer happily installed security patch 2025-05-01 on the FP4 with security patch 2025-06-05
you can flash an older patchlevel, but wait to relock until an update down the lane in 1-2 months will move past. Maybe that is what the web-installer should show prominently?
Edit to add: but yes, this has multiple meanings… complicated: pls update your firmware, but you’ll be damned if you do
