New install of 4.1 - Networking is not available

REPRODUCIBILITY (% or how often): 100%
BUILD ID = OS VERSION (Settings > About product): 4.1.0.24
HARDWARE (XA2, X10, X10 II, …): Xperia 10 Plus
UI LANGUAGE: English (UK)
REGRESSION: (compared to previous public release: Yes, No, ?): ?

DESCRIPTION:

Pretty simple, am completely new to SailfishOS (so don’t have a paid account yet), bought an Xperia 10 Plus, followed install instructions (I hope) seemed to install ok (inc. image downgrade from Android 10 to 9), 4.1 is now on the phone, tutorial was fine, phone seems great, but WLAN won’t come on and I get the old “Networking is not available. Please restart device.” message, and lots of restarts don’t change anything. Phone is effectively useless, as it doesn’t have a SIM card in it (I am testing SailfishOS to see if I might like it, hence wanting Wifi and not mobile networking for now).

Sad, as it means the phone is now basically useless ?

PRECONDITIONS:

STEPS TO REPRODUCE:

  1. install 4.1
  2. restart
  3. no WLAN

EXPECTED RESULT:

WLAN to be available

ACTUAL RESULT:

WLAN not available - inc. no “WLAN MAC address”

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

(Please ALWAYS attach relevant data such as logs, screenshots, etc…)

Only marginal deviation from the absolute install README was that on the Sony binaries page there were multiple “4.9 Ganges” install options, so I went with “latest” = “SW_BINARIES_FOR_XPERIA_ANDROID_9.0_2.3.2_V9_GANGES.ZIP”, otherwise install seemed smooth (once I used my Ubuntu box to install, Windows box didn’t seem to want to play, oh well).

you might have to revert back to android9 and make sure everything is working ok before re-flashing to sfos.

Did you test WLAN on the Android side before flashing?

I had to flash my X10II twice in order for it to boot correctly at all. A simple reflash might fix it.

Hi - I didn’t (think to) test Wifi when it was stock Android, and I am sort of resigned to a reinstall; would people think that a SailfishOS reinstall would be sufficient (if possible ?); or should I do a full Android reinstall, test Wifi there, then SFOS reinstall after that ?

Am grateful for the various replies / messages though, many thanks.

Well, here’s my current status…

  • reinstalled SFOS - rebooted, worked my way thru the tutorial again
  • no change - still no WLAN, still no MAC address
  • tried flashing it back to Android 9.0 (failed)
  • tried the Sony instructions, my PC doesn’t want to install Java 8 (I am “stuck” on 11), so cannot seemingly reinstall back to Android

…so, current status is I have a non-WLAN-ed SFOS 4.1 Xperia 10 Plus.

Only remaining option appears to be list it on eBay as “not working” and take the hit.

I will admit to being disappointed.

I’ve wanted to really de-Google my little world for a few years, and lockdown gave me the chance to experiment - in recent months I have installed and used as a daily driver without issue, GrapheneOS (Pixel 3aXL), CalyxOS (Pixel 3aXL), /e/-Foundation (Nexus 6), Ubuntu Touch (OnePlus One), I even bought a PinePhone (OS was already installed though). Only SFOS has broken me; which is a shame as I’ve read really nice things about it.

I’m a competent IT person, but by no means an “elite hacker” person (I do SQL / SSRS for a living !) - maybe I’ll try again in a year or two.

Thanks to those who replied, the community here seems nice.

hello,
please check which wifi you have, 2.4 ghz or 5. I have xperia 10 II and it did not connect to 5 ghz at all , no wifi. only 2.4 was ok. There are some channels on 5 to which SFish can’t connect. If on 5 ghz please change channels and test.

You can do this maybe with a virtual machine, exp. VirtualBox. Easy to setup up and should work then.

Hi everyone - so, here’s an update on this problem…

  • spent a lot of time going nowhere, so sat in a big fat sulk for a few days
  • popped my normal SIM into it, to see if that did anything, nope (though mobile data works, so I could briefly play with the browser), WLAN still missing, stupid SFOS
  • read all your comments, and against my better judgment decided to play along with the various suggestions
  • downloaded Emma, reinstalled phone back to Android 9
  • tested Wifi (which I hadn’t done previously when it was an Android device), worked lovely; at this point had even less faith in SFOS, Android works lovely, it must be stupid SFOS
  • reinstalled SFOS 4.1
  • it works ! spotted my WLAN fine this time, all good !

So, the summary is that I now have a nice working Xperia 10 Plus, running SFOS 4.1, all lovely !

First impressions are good, looks smooth, device works nice, gestures work well on a big 6.5" screen, internet is fast, happy days !

Thanks to all for the comments, and the encouragement to continue.

:slight_smile:

3 Likes

“…so sat in a big fat sulk for a few days”

:smiley:

It’s great that you admit as much, I have been there a number of times with this whole SailfishOS ‘thing’.