I recently (re-)installed SFOS to an Xperia XA2 Ultra (H3213). No problems, everything seems to be working fine so far.
However… both Olf’s excellent guide and SFOS docs recommend upgrading to Android 9, which appears to correspond to baseband version 50.2.A.xxx, but I cannot find any justification for that.
Mine is still on 50.1.xxx.
Should I expect problems down the line? What are people’s experiences? What’s the reason Android 9 is recommended over 8?
The reason / justification for this is in the guide, but not explicit written:
Do not blindy upgrade Android!
Otherwise you may not be able to install SailfishOS or it might not run properly.Background: Because firmware blobs may become updated by Sony’s Android updates and these blobs cannot be updated through SailfishOS (yet?), it makes sense to update your Xperia to the last release of Sony’s Android, which is supported by SailfishOS, before flashing SailfishOS (Reference).
I am aware that “firmware blobs may become updated”.
I am asking for specifics, maybe also anecdotal evidence. Things that work better on SFOS with 50.2.A, compared to 50.1.A.
Are you pointing to anything particular in that chat log? It seems to repeat the same unspecific “we don’t know what Sony/Android may have put in their last update, so better use the newest that is known to work with SFOS”. I’m looking for reasoning that goes beyond that. Because nowhere does it say that SFOS will fail with the older Baseband version underneath. Both are listed as valid options afaics.
I guess in the end I’m asking if anybody has actually experienced anything that would justify the upgrade of Android & subsequent reinstall of SFOS. Or conversely, if people have been running SFOS based on the older Baseband without problems.