How to install Sailfish X on Xperia™ 10 III


The instructions provide you with step-by-step guidance on how to install Sailfish X on Xperia™ 10 III.
During this process, you will install a fastboot driver, download Sailfish X and necessary software binaries, unlock the bootloader of the phone, and last but not least, flash Sailfish X to your phone.
The process will take an average of 25 minutes.

1   What you need to begin

      • Xperia™ 10 III, the dual SIM variant XQ-BT52.
      • Please ensure your phone has Android version 11 (recommended) or Android version 12. You can see the Android version in Settings app > System > About Phone. Use the suitable method from below to get your phone to version 11 (if not already):
        • Update the Android OS version using Settings app > System > Software update
        • Flash Android image using EMMA tool by Sony following instructions in this article 
      • Computer running Linux (e.g. Ubuntu, Red Hat, Fedora)
      • Internet connection for your phone and computer
      • USB-C data cable, with one end of it always connected to the computer
      • Purchased Sailfish X licence.

2 Test the key functions of your Xperia 10 III when running Android

      • Please use your Xperia™ 10 III running Android for a while prior to flashing Sailfish X.
      • Use the same SIM card(s) as you will use with Sailfish X. Check that you can make and receive phone calls and that you can hear the other person speaking and you can be heard during a phone call.
      • Browse a few web pages using mobile data connection while the WLAN is turned off.
      • Browse also web pages using WLAN as a data connection.
      •         Use GPS and find the location of your phone on a map.
      • Open the camera app and shoot a few photos.
      • If everything works normally then please proceed.

3   Install the fastboot driver to your computer

Here is how to install fastboot tools on different Linux distributions using terminal:

Debian/Ubuntu/.deb distributions:

sudo apt-get install android-tools-fastboot

Fedora:

dnf install android-tools

OpenSUSE:

zypper install android-tools

4   Get Sailfish X

4.1  Get the latest Sailfish X software from Jolla’s software download page. There, look for your phone, Xperia™ 10 III, the dual SIM variant (XQ-BT52) and then download the related software. Download from Jolla Shop.
4.2  Extract the contents of the zip file to a folder.

5   Get the Sony software binaries

5.1   Download the Sony Software binaries for AOSP
SW_binaries_for_Xperia_Android_11_4.19_v9a_lena.zip
Download Sony Developer World.
5.2   Extract the contents of the zip file to a folder
5.3   Copy the resulting ‘.img’ file to the same folder as in chapter 4.2

6   Enable developer options on your phone

6.1   Ensure that the phone has an internet connection.
6.2  On the phone, go to Settings app > About Phone, and write down the IMEI number for later use. If there are two IMEI numbers, use IMEI #1.
6.3  Tap on the Build number multiple times to enable Developer options.
6.4  Go to Settings > System > Developer options, and enable OEM unlocking (use the slider even if it appeared greyed out) and USB debugging.

7   Unlock the bootloader

7.1  Take your computer.
7.2  You need an unlock code from the Sony web page. Please read the instructions of Sony carefully. See this web page.
7.3  Proceed to the bottom of the page where it says “Select your device”.
7.4  Select your phone, Xperia™ 10 III.
7.5  Enter the IMEI (from chapter 6.2) into the web page’s input field, acknowledge terms and click Submit.
7.6  The unlock code will appear. Write it down (copy to the paste buffer) for later use (at step 7.10).
7.7  Switch off your phone and wait until the LED is off (at the top right corner of the phone).
7.8  Press and hold the Volume up button and connect the other end of the USB cable to your phone and wait for the LED to light up blue. If it turns green then disconnect the cable and try again
7.9  Open Terminal, and use “cd”  to proceed to your Sailfish OS folder – the same as in 4.2.
7.10 Enter the following command into the terminal app. When typing the command, you need to replace all characters after “0x” (zero ex) with your unlock code from step 7.6. Do not type the brackets.  See step 7.11 for an example of the actual command.

sudo fastboot oem unlock 0x[insert your received unlock code here]

7.11 On the terminal, you should see the output similar to this:


sudo fastboot oem unlock 0xF6147ED3A507FBAD
OKAY [ 1.716s]
finished. total time: 1.720s

7.12 Disconnect the USB cable from your phone. Then, turn the phone on and let it boot up to the UI. No need to run the “Get started” phase. Just turn the phone off. This will complete the unlocking session.

8   Flash Sailfish X

NOTE:
If you did not yet restart the phone at step 7.12 do it now or else you will need to do the flashing (chapter 8) two times!

8.1  Make sure your phone is powered off.  The LED must not show any light.
8.2  Hold down the Volume Up button and connect the other end of the USB cable to the phone. The LED should light up blue.
8.3  On the terminal,  use “cd” to proceed to your Sailfish OS folder the same as in 4.2
8.4  Launch the flashing script by entering the command:

           sudo ./flash.sh

8.5  Follow the instructions in the console window. The last two lines at the console should be:

Flashing completed.
Remove the USB cable and bootup the device by pressing powerkey.

8.6  Detach the cable after the flashing has finished.
8.7  Reboot your phone into Sailfish X!
If the phone keeps the blue LED lit (so it doesn’t turn off) use forced power off. Then use the Power key to turn the phone on.
8.8  First, you will see a reminder of an unlocked bootloader, which can be ignored, and then the Sailfish OS logo.
NOTE: A sine sweep sound is played, unfortunately, when booting up this first time.
8.9   Sign in to your Jolla account to get the Android AppSupport and other licensed content. The Jolla account must be the same as used when purchasing the Sailfish X licence.
8.10 Next, you can install more Sailfish apps from the Jolla Store or Android apps from stores like APKPure or Aptoide.
8.11  Please restart your Xperia 10 III once to activate all services and complete the installation.

Happy flashing!