Jolla Phone (2026) + Windows 11: Has anyone successfully used USB Developer Mode (RNDIS)?

Platform Development
1

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to connect my Jolla Phone (2026) running Sailfish OS to Windows 11 25H2 using Developer Mode over USB, and I’d like to know whether anyone has successfully done this.

My setup

  • Device: Jolla Phone (2026)

  • OS: Sailfish OS (Developer Mode enabled)

  • Host: Windows 11 Pro 25H2 x64

Initial problem

When connecting the phone over USB, Windows detected the device as:

USB\VID_0E8D&PID_0A02&MI_00

but reported:

  • Code 28

  • No driver installed

  • RNDIS device not recognized

The built-in netrndis.inf did not contain this Hardware ID, so Windows refused to install the Microsoft RNDIS driver automatically.

Current status

After creating a custom INF that binds the Hardware ID to the built-in Microsoft RNDIS driver:

  • Windows now detects the device as Jolla Phone 2026 USB RNDIS6 Adapter

  • The USB network adapter is created successfully

  • The USB link is up

On the phone:

  • usb0 exists

  • ss -ltn shows SSH listening on *:22

The remaining issue turned out to be a network configuration conflict (USB subnet vs Wi-Fi subnet), which I’m still investigating.

Questions

  1. Has anyone successfully connected a Jolla Phone (2026) to Windows 11 over USB in Developer Mode?

  2. Did Windows install the RNDIS driver automatically, or did you have to install a custom/OEM INF?

  3. Which USB mode does the 2026 phone expose?

    • RNDIS

    • CDC ECM

    • NCM

    • something else?

  4. What IP address and subnet does your phone use on usb0?

  5. Is there any official Windows driver package for the Jolla Phone (2026), or is Microsoft RNDIS expected to work out of the box?

If anyone has this working, I’d really appreciate it if you could share:

  • your Windows version,

  • your Sailfish OS version,

  • whether the driver was installed automatically,

  • the output of ip addr show usb0,

  • and any additional configuration that was required.

Thanks!

; jolla-phone-2026-rndis-v5.inf
;
; Jolla Phone 2026 USB RNDIS6 Adapter INF for Windows 11 25H2 x64
;
; Hardware ID:
; USB\VID_0E8D&PID_0A02&MI_00
;
; v5: no CopyFiles / no SourceDisksFiles.
; It directly references the already installed Microsoft in-box driver:
; %SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\usb80236.sys
;

[Version]
Signature = “$Windows NT$”
Class = Net
ClassGUID = {4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}
Provider = %ProviderName%
DriverVer = 07/09/2026,1.0.5.0
PnpLockdown = 1

[ControlFlags]
ExcludeFromSelect = *

[Manufacturer]
%ManufacturerName% = Jolla,NTamd64

[Jolla.NTamd64]
%JollaPhone2026.DeviceDesc% = JollaPhone2026_RNDIS6.ndi, USB\VID_0E8D&PID_0A02&MI_00
%JollaPhone2026.DeviceDesc% = JollaPhone2026_RNDIS6.ndi, USB\VID_0E8D&PID_0A02&REV_0223&MI_00

[JollaPhone2026_RNDIS6.ndi]
Characteristics = 0x84
AddReg = usbrndis5to6Revert.Reg, usbrndis6.Reg, usbrndis6_AddReg_Common

[JollaPhone2026_RNDIS6.ndi.Services]
AddService = usbrndis6, 2, usbrndis6.Service, usbrndis6.EventLog

[usbrndis5to6Revert.Reg]
HKR, , Rndis5to6Conversion, 0x00000004

[usbrndis6.Reg]
HKR, , BusNumber, 0, “0”
HKR, Ndi, Service, 0, “usbrndis6”
HKR, Ndi\Interfaces, UpperRange, 0x00000002, “ndis5”
HKR, Ndi\Interfaces, LowerRange, 0x00000002, “ethernet”

[usbrndis6_AddReg_Common]
HKR, NDI\params\NetworkAddress, ParamDesc, 0, %NetworkAddress%
HKR, NDI\params\NetworkAddress, type, 0, “edit”
HKR, NDI\params\NetworkAddress, LimitText, 0, “12”
HKR, NDI\params\NetworkAddress, UpperCase, 0, “1”
HKR, NDI\params\NetworkAddress, default, 0, " "
HKR, NDI\params\NetworkAddress, optional, 0, “1”

[usbrndis6.Service]
DisplayName = %usbrndis6.Service.DispName%
ServiceType = 1
StartType = 3
ErrorControl = 1
ServiceBinary = %12%\usb80236.sys
LoadOrderGroup = NDIS

[usbrndis6.EventLog]
AddReg = usbrndis6.AddEventLog.Reg

[usbrndis6.AddEventLog.Reg]
HKR, , EventMessageFile, 0x00020000, “%%SystemRoot%%\System32\netevent.dll”
HKR, , TypesSupported, 0x00010001, 7

[Strings]
ProviderName = “Local INF”
ManufacturerName = “Jolla”
JollaPhone2026.DeviceDesc = “Jolla Phone 2026 USB RNDIS6 Adapter”
usbrndis6.Service.DispName = “USB RNDIS6 Adapter”
NetworkAddress = “Network Address”

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