installing on sony phone: flashtool problems?

asked 2018-11-09 15:50:14 +0300

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updated 2018-11-10 10:57:55 +0300

julian
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Following the install instructions (https://jolla.com/sailfishx-macos-instructions/), I have encountered a number of problems, which boil down to the flashtool commandline app version.

1. Installation of fastboot via homebrew worked not as described

brew tap caskroom/cask brew cask install android-   platform-tools

… won't supply a linked and usable version of flashtool:

$>brew cask list
android-sdk
$> brew link android-sdk
Error: No such keg: /usr/local/Cellar/android-sdk

2. Commandline doesn't match default fastboot version

In any case, I just continued with the description Step 4. -> https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/get-started/unlock-bootloader/how-to-unlock-bootloader/ And downloaded the linked platform-tools.

The sony description is inaccurate: the fastboot version linked is not the fastboot version required for the command

fastboot -i 0x0fce oem unlock 0x<insert your unlock code>

I added the flashtool command line tool to the system paths (not described in the steps),

PATH=$PATH:<replace by path to platform-tools>

which made the script flash.sh correctly initialize.

Running the flash.sh returned this:

Searching device to flash..
Found 1 devices: BH9036CU5K 
Fastboot command: fastboot -s BH9036CU5K  
Flashing boot partition..
Sending 'boot' (11492 KB)                          OKAY [  0.365s]
Writing 'boot'                                     FAILED (remote: 'Command not allowed')
Finished. Total time: 0.375s

Finally, by chance I figured from the above description the command that was required:

fastboot -s BH9036CU5K  oem unlock 0x<insert your unlock code>

This worked, and all is fine (took about 4 hours searching around in forums).

So for improving the accessibility of Sailfish it would be good to:

1. show a simple way how to install fastboot
2. mention the incorrect commandline on the sony webpage and the correct one for the new fastboot version.