Flashing SailfishOS following EXACTLY the steps provided by Jolla results in different OS behavior (different bugs, or sometimes no bugs at all)

Gd morning ppl.

I have spent the last couple of days trying to end up with a flawlessly working Sailfish OS on my Xperia 10 iii.

Long story short, I have performed the whole flashing procedure (flashing Android 11 from EMMA, flashing SFOS 4.6 and updating to 5.0) 2-3 times.
The result was never the same.
-First attempt resulted in issues with audio when using the GPS.
-Second attempt resulted in issues with Mobile Data not always activating (restart required in order to fix this)
-Third attempt (using it as we speak) resulted in issues with phone calls. When receiving a phone call, my phone rings with huge delay, or sometimes does not ring at all, while audio seems to be OK. Trying to make a call also delays sometimes, and the ring from my speaker is muted (sound comes OK when the other side accepts the call)

In all above cases, battery drain while idle was NOT the same.

What is the main cause of this change in behavior, since the flashing procedure is always exactly the same? Is there anything I can to do get the best possible result?

Thank you in advance!

Hi.

You can use Android 12 or 13 as a base for flashing SFOS, it have been tested by other users in this forum. 11 have some issues with echo cancellation and screen tint.

Use EMMA and go to the latest 12 (62.1.A.0.675) or 13 (62.2.A.0.533)

5.0 is early access so it is best to wait a bit before it is released to all. 2-4 weeks or so.

There is also a (more comprehensive) flashing guide by olf here: olf (Olf0) / Installing Sailfish OS · GitLab

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All knowledge concentrated in 1 webpage.

Very useful, thanks for the find! Will try flashing Android 12 for start and see how it works out.

Thanks again for the link!

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I observed inconsistent results on a laptop PC after installing Debian repeatedly with the identical install image. No other alterations, no different partitioning or other OS present. Feels irrational, but repeatedly observed on a PC. Sounds similar to your observation…

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If online updates while installing are active then some differences are a given. If not it’s time to scan the RAM for problems, have a look at the kernel ring buffer (dmesg).

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I had all of these on my 10 III in a single “install” and with random appearance. So i would call all of them known issues and wouldn’t assume a connection with the flashing and expect them to just appear sometimes.

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I noticed that many bugs got solved or "better: after using Android 13 as base and SW_Binaries_for_Xperia_Android_12_4.19_v2a_lena.img

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Gd morning!

Thank you guys for your replies!

@fridlmue with my previous Xperia 10 iii device, I faced the “pulseaudio collapse after using GPS” after initial flashing, but after re-flashing the device the problem was solved, and had absolutely no issue what-so-ever for long periods of time. Now, as I mentioned earlier, I always get at least one of the mentioned bugs, sometimes get a combination of the bugs, and cannot get a bug-free installation, no matter what flashing methods I try (and combinations of base Android and binaries). I also tried different PCs.

@explit thanx! I will give it one more try, and then give up. Tired of hunting my tale 2-3 days now!

In general, I start thinking if there could be some kind of hardware issue with my device.
Whatever flashing combination of Android version and binaries I tried (following @olf guide), either with SFOS 4.6 or 5.0, I always get a non-usable device. It either (a) freezes audio after GPS use (yes, I also tried to isolate lines in default.pa with no result), or (b) delays to notify me for incoming calls (5-10 seconds, varying), or, in some cases both.

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Did you test with CSD and all passed?

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The audio loss after GPS is present on my Xperia 10 iii in all constellations irrespective of the underlying Android version. Never got rid of this annoying bug, after GPS use I need to reboot to be sure not to miss any calls because of this audio loss bug, really annoying…

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@filip.k yes, I did all HW tests from SONY prior to flashing SFOS, with no errors.

@MeeGo-Junky the pulseaudio & GPS bug is indeed really annoying, and this time (I changed to a new Xperia 10 iii, different hardware), I cannot get rid of it! On my previous Xperia 10 iii, this bug showed up once, and after re-flashing it was gone.

Update: I used newflasher in order to flash 62.1.A.0.675 EEA Europe variant instead of the Global version flashed by EMMA, just to see if there is any difference. And everything works now for the time being (fingers crossed in all hands and feet!). Phone rings immediately at incoming calls, and GPS does not affect audio. Also, no problem with Mobile Data activation getting unavailable after initial activation.
@MeeGo-Junky I will test it for a couple of days and let you know of the results!

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Oh, from where did you get it?
I always thought the only way to get these images was through Emma.

From XperiFirm (v.5.7), available at xda for download. You can download any firmware variant you want for Android 12 and 13 (final releases).

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Great, that is much appreciated, looking forward for your results

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And XperiFirm can be executed under Linux, e.g. Debian, the documentation for this is good

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OK, so, mystery solved BY REMOVING MY MICROSD card and inserting my SIM to tray 2… :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Now experiencing a smooth SFOS 5.0.0.55, flashed on top of Android 12 (62.1.A.0.675), with Android 11 v9a binaries.

And a comment/observation from my last-days experience.

Flashing my Xperia 10 iii with the EEA using newflasher (instead of EMMA), solved the issue with the GPS conflicting pulseaudio. From the moment I quit EMMA and used newflasher, I never had this issue again. But the delayed incoming call notification (which was getting worse by the minute, until I had no notification at all) persisted.
Removing the MicroSD card and inserting the SIM to tray 2 did the trick for the rest. All smooth now for the last 1,5 days, with all my apps installed, data restored, and AppSupport. And battery life quite good also.

Also, currently using the device with Android 11 v9a binaries. When flashing Android 12 (v1c or v2a) binaries, camera does not work on AppSupport (if anyone knows a walk-around for this, please comment).

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Removing the SD card and putting the SIM into that tray, is an , aeem, unconventional solution. I don’t know if that would be something that would come to my mind easily.
Great that you found this solution. Getting SFOS running smoothly on a specific device can be a process of picky choices, far from being robust…
Interesting that the GPS interference with pulseaudio is solved by your way

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Well, I did not improvise by doing this “trick”.
I remembered that, in the past, when I had issues with a Vodafone SIM that I was using back then, I used this solution from someone else in the forum.
So I thought, “What the h#$%^, nothing else works, so lets try this.”

In the meantime, my Xperia 10 iii is still super stable, with absolutely no problems, and an above-average battery life.
I am now tempted to place the simcard to slot 1, but at the same time I am afraid that this could cause h3ll to brake loose again…

There is a voice from the IT professionals that I know, and it whispers
… Never, really never change a running system, unless you have a very good reason to do so…
But, I would be curious enough to try at some point.
Be prepared for hell to break loose…
[Reminds me to Joy Divisions Colony track from the Peel sessions]