Call for testing FP3 (also for FP3+) config for UBports-installer

Kjetil

I just tried the installer on a FP3+ tonight, and it worked
Before my install with the UBports-installer, I had tried to install using this guide: https://forums.ubports.com/topic/5373/fairphone-3-fp3-port
That was not successful, and left the phone without any working OS. In this state, I tried the new Ubports-installer, and all my troubles was gone ! Great work ! Thanks !

Luksus

@kjetil great that it works now.
I assume, you did forget to flash the android 9 vendor image before?

Kjetil

@luksus You are right: no flashing. I booted the vendor image to put the device in developer mode. Then I tried to install without the UBports-installer, but failed. The phone would not boot any image. Finally I tried the UBports-installer, and it installed, and worked !

Homer

@kjetil Hello,
for me the ubports installer worked, too! Kudos to you guys.

strangeli

Hi,

I am new to smartphones, tested the installer (version 0.8.9 on Ubuntu 18.04) with the Fairphone 3 (not 3+) and I got this error:

Error: adb:preparesystemimage: Error: {"error":{"code":1,"cmd":"adb -P 5037 shell mkdir -p /cache/recovery"},"stderr":"mkdir: '/cache/recovery': Required key not available"}

I reported the bug here: https://github.com/ubports/ubports-installer/issues/2155

I followed all instructions. Bootloader was unlocked, developer mode enabled, USB on debugging and file transfer. If I ignore the error, the installer shows success but the phone stays in Ubport Recovery and I can not boot Ubuntu Touch at all. I can reproduce the error, just installed /e/ now to have a break (since my old phone is broken).

I am interested but probably rather user than developer. But I switched to smartphones very late (due to all this OS mess) and had one year sailfish OS now. I chose FP3 to get ubuntu touch and really, really want it to work...

If you have any ideas, please let me know.

stanwood

@strangeli

Hi,

difficult to help you precisely.
But there are a few stuffs to explore:

Check your USB-C cable and try with another USB port. (preferably USB 2.0)
Check that you have the adb and fastboot packages on your computer:

sudo apt-get install adb
sudo apt-get install fastboot

Check that your PC has access to your device in fastboot mode:

fastboot oem unlock

In principle, the device must be in Android 9 version, because of the compatibility of firmwares. So you have to downgrade to an Android 9 version (or LineageOS 16 or /e/OS Android 9)
You can try to get the ISO of Ubuntu 20.04.3 and run it in a live USB session and then try to install it on Focal (I assume that the installer is configured for 20.04 and later)

Hopefully these hints will help you. If not you can also ask for help on the Telegram thread:

https://t.me/WelcomePlus

Hopefully these tips will help you. I wish you success in your installation.

strangeli

@stanwood

Ok, thank you, I will try soonish. I first asked in the telegram group and they referred me to this forum.

adb and fastboot was installed correctly and since I had no problem entering UBports recovery mode or flashing /e/, there should be access to the device. I thought I read that the installer is for Ubuntu 18.04+ and that I can depart from Android 10 but maybe it's worth trying from 20.04 and Android 9 then. I will check, thanks.

Good to have the live stick anyway for upgrading my laptop ;-), was next on the list.

Luksus

@strangeli @stanwood :
Downgrading to Android 9 is not any longer needed.
The phone should run with Android 10.

@strangeli: I don't remember if I gave you the advice already (edit: there was another user at the fairphone community forum), but did you choose the option "wipe" in the installer?

It sounds like the cache/userdata is still encrypted.

Also, it seems necessary, that the device is running a fairphone android version, before installing UT.
On my initial tests, it did not work with a previously installed eOS version.

rikisorsa

I have lineageos android 11 on my FP3, can I install Ubuntu Touch on this or should I install normal fairphone android 10 before?

Keneda

@rikisorsa
From what said @Luksus previously, i'd install FP OS 10 first.

Luksus

@rikisorsa yes, please install fairphone android 10 version first. I have no experience with LOS 18.1, but even a previous installed LOS 17.1 did not work for me.

strangeli

@luksus

Hi, thank you for the reply. It is a Fairphone 3 (not 3+), see my first post.

The first time it had Android 10 and the time(s) I tried after that I put Android 10 back on (from the link you provide in the UBports installer initial check and the offline instructions from Fairphone since I was stuck in fastboot mode once).

But the same error appeared each time.

I bought the phone second hand (only to finally get ubuntu touch ;-)) but it was hardly used and I assume that it was on factory reset. At least I had to start there from scratch (I skipped everything just to unlock the bootloader, dev mode, USB debugging). But I also read now that encryption is enabled by default in Android 10 so I should have turned it off? I am not familiar with this type of encryption. Is it a hardware thing or shouldn't it be "wiped" latest after I reinstalled Android 10 (the one you link in UBports installer is also encrypted by default?)?

strangeli

@luksus

Ok, sorry, I needed some time to process and remember... I did NOT check wipe in the installer because I thought there is no data anyway etc. (not knowing about the connection between decryption and wiping). Given the conditions above (starting from factory reset/new installation), it is worth another try then?

Luksus

@strangeli yes of cause gibe it a try with wipe please.
I am not an Android expert, but as I understand, as soon as Android is set up with a pin or similar, it encrypts your data partition.

So wiping/reformatting is removing the encryption. Also it makes sure, that the data partition gets a filesystem, where UT is able to write to.
I hope that this will solve the issue.
If not, I need to figure out what is going on by myself.

Homer

@luksus hi,
Installer and phone had worked fine except s slow charging behaviour. But the update from 2 days ago removed my sim card. It is not listed under network settings anymore. I tested both slots, also restarting without sim and then restarting with sim, still the issue remains.

FP2andFP3-User

@homer remove the battery short and then start again.....then you will see normally both sim cards again

Luksus

@homer @FP2andFP3-User
It is a general issue with current ofono package... not device specific. If you can wait until tomorrow, I would advice you to wait and install tomorrows OTA.
Hopefully then it is fixed again.

If you cannot wait, you could do the following:

Open Terminal app on the device
Make system writable: sudo mount -o remount,rw /
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
When it asks if you want to keep current ril_subscription.conf just hit "enter" (accept preselection).
reboot

Hopefully it is fixed then.

Homer

@luksus hi thanks for beeing so helpful and responsive. I can wait till tomorrow. Would be awesome to see behind the scenes, as this porting is just magic for me.

Luksus

@homer The thing with the current build is, that we use the "devel"-channel, which means it is the development channel. We get OTA updates every day, because everyday the developers of Ubuntu Touch are doing changes, to improve the system. And Things can break in the devel-channel, which is kind of normal.

Sadly we don't have a stable channel for Halium 10 builds (builds for devices, which are based on Android 10) yet.

So if you need a working phone all the time, I would advice you to not install the daily OTAs, until it is confirmed to not break things.

Homer

@luksus noted:-) wont do that anymore after phone calls work again.