Sony Xperia 10 IV (pdx225): Loop

[steffenetz]

Hello,
I tried to flash my Sony Xperia 10 IV (pdx225) with Sailfish OS. I followed the instructions at How to install Sailfish X on Xperia™ 10 IV on Linux - The Privacy Respecting European OS and AI Solution Provider .

When I first started it up, I assigned a 4-digit access code and was able to try out the OS a little. When I started it up for the second time, the access code was not accepted because at least 5 digits were required. So I tried to reset the smartphone: I tried the instructions at Recovery Mode | Sailfish OS Documentation . Since then, I always end up in recovery mode: After switching it on (regardless of how), the device doesn’t boot up past the Sony logo and I always get the message “RECOVERY: Connect USB cable and open telnet to address 10.42.66.66”.

In recovery mode, I tried options 1) Reset device to factory state and 4) Perform file system check. Unfortunately, this did not result in any improvements or changes.
What else can I try? Is there a helpful command for the shell (option 3)?
I only have Linux computers (Ubuntu) available.
Many thanks!
Best regards, steffenetz

[steffenetz]

Here is the result of option 1. Reset device to factory state:

ALL DATA WILL BE ERASED! Clears everything from the device and reverts the
software back to factory state. This means LOSING EVERYTHING you have added to
the device (e.g. updates, apps, accounts, contacts, photos and other media).
Are you really SURE? [y/N] [y/N] y
2 logical volume(s) in volume group “sailfish” now active
Mon Nov 10 21:59:14 UTC 2025

Type your devicelock code and press [ENTER] key:
(please note that the typed numbers won’t be shown for security reasons)
[OK] Code accepted.
0 logical volume(s) in volume group “sailfish” now active
[ERROR] Factory reset failed.
Connection closed by foreign host.

[steffenetz]

Here is the result of option 4. Perform file system check:

2 logical volume(s) in volume group “sailfish” now active
e2fsck 1.47.0 (5-Feb-2023)
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information
root: 27442/320000 files (0.7% non-contiguous), 579531/1280000 blocks
Opening encrypted filesystem, you will be prompted for your security code.
Enter passphrase for /dev/sailfish/home:
e2fsck 1.47.0 (5-Feb-2023)
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information
/dev/mapper/luks-home: 351/6512640 files (4.8% non-contiguous), 566431/26029568 blocks
0 logical volume(s) in volume group “sailfish” now active
Done
Press [Enter] to return to recovery menu…

[pherjung]

I’m not sure if it’s even possible, but instead to reset your device couldn’t you flash your device again?

[miau]

[Release notes] Tampella 5.0.0.71

No, it might not be valid for Xperia 10, need to get the correct partition there, but I don’t currently have that device available. You can find the correct partition number in the recovery shell with grep 'PARTNAME=misc' /sys/block/mmcblk0/mmcblk0p*/uevent which should output something like /sys/block/mmcblk0/mmcblk0p64/uevent:PARTNAME=misc where mmcblk0p64 is the partition, with possibly different number at the end. You can then verify it with hexdump (replacing the correct number in the …

[Keto]

Did you revert the phone back to the normal boot mode like instructed at the end of the article?

https://docs.sailfishos.org/Support/Help_Articles/Recovery_Mode/#reverting-xperia-10-ii-10-iii-10-iv-or-10-v-to-the-normal-mode

[Keto]

The issue in 5.0.0.71 release does not affect Xperia 10 IV, as it does not have the combined boot image yet.

[steffenetz]

OK, thank you very much for the initial tips and thoughts.
Here are a few more facts:

• I tried to flash version Sailfish_OS-Jolla-4.6.0.15-xqcc54-1.0.0.26.
• I also tried to revert the phone into normal state, but unfortunately without success.

Is there a way to (re)flash in recovery mode (e.g. in the shell)?

My main goal: to make the phone usable again, if necessary with a different OS.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Regards, Steffen

[filip.k]

Oh, 4.6 is ancient. Did you tried to flash it with the latest SFOS version according to the all steps in the instructions?

[direc85]

Creating the device security code with less than five characters was fixed in Sailfish OS 5.0, so please download the image from shop.jolla.com and use that for flashing the device (which will erase all user data from the device). Reflashing Xperia 10 IV and V needs to be done a bit differently from the initial flash from Android to Sailfish; please see this post for details:

Fastboot flashing of Xperia 10 IV and 10 V

The initial installation (flashing) of Sailfish OS is done according to the instructions in the Jolla Shop. This is based on using the flashing script in a similar way to the earlier Xperia phones. The script is included in the downloadable zip package. There is, however, a problem (in OS version 5.0.0.61) with the subsequent flashing of Xperia 10 IV and Xperia 10 V phones: flashing them the 2nd (3rd,…) time does not work with the flashing script. Instead, the following set of manual commands s…

[steffenetz]

@direc85: Thank you very much! That’s the solution. I was able to successfully restart the phone, and Sailfish OS is running.