Apologies, but there appear to be problems with the Iodé Browser app constantly crashing after a dirty install. I have no idea why this is happening, but the solution / workaround is to backup your apps & data, format data, install, restart, check Browser works, restore apps & data.
I have a used SGP611 arriving soon, which I had intended to use mainly for satellite navigation in my car, but I’ve been reading on XDA-developers that GPS wasn’t working. Is that still the case, or has someone figured it out?
Also, is it true that TWRP doesn’t work on the device?
As far as I know, that is still the case. Nothing recent in the XDA Forum thread to suggest anything has changed.
The recovery specified in the XDA Forum thread is ’ Pitchblack Recovery Project (PBRP, and the second post in the thread has links to downloads for both devices. I think I remember TWRP not working, but it was a long time ago PBRP appears to a be a fork of TWRP - at least it seemed to hae most f the functionality that TWRP has - and it has always ‘just worked’ for me (once I installed the correct version for my device :smile )
Same crash behavior for me on the original iodé install (z3tcw). I tried clearing cache and storage, uninstalling, then reinstalling after reboot, but it still crashes. For now I’ve switched to Fennec, but may reflash at some point to try and get the iodé browser working.
I confirm that GPS is not working, as has been extensively reported. I’ve tried a couple of different gps.conf versions, with no success so far.
Just received my z3tc-LTE, which has Android 4 installed, no upgrade offered from the settings. Is it necessary to get stock Android 6 before installing the ROM? (I’m guessing yes. Lol.)
Finally succeeded in installing iodéOS (on SGP621). After an initial manual upgrade of the stock ROM, trying to install a recovery resulted in a soft-brick. After I started over with a fresh stock install using this guide, I was finally able to install the recovery and custom ROM.
On the SGP621, I’ve tested Osmand + eSpeak + a magnetic mount (cupholder-type) for navigation in my car, and it works great.
RE eSpeak, based on info from some internet searches, I first installed the app from F-droid, then installed Termux. In Termux, I also did a pkg install espeak, which added a lot of supporting packages, and then a pkg update and pkg upgrade.
I set eSpeak as the TTS engine in Osmand’s Navigation settings, also confirmed it was set as the preferred TTS engine in the device’s “Languages & input” settings, adjusted the default voice, pitch, and speed in the eSpeak app until it had a tolerable, intelligible sound, and set the preferred “Repeat interval” (1 min) and “Announcement time” (Early) in Osmand’s Navigation settings. There are other settings there, too, that can be adjusted as desired.
Say “buh-bye,” out-of-date (and closed-source) TomTom device!
With the Transistor internet radio app (or my own music library), I can also listen to music through my car’s audio system via a connector from the headphone jack.
I also installed a Vegolink international SIM card for cheap data roaming as needed.
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A couple of malfunctions I’ve found in the iodé build:
The iodé browser crashes on launch, as previously reported. Recommended fix didn’t work, so I installed Fennec instead.
After setting a screen lock PIN, trying to select the screen lock settings (e.g. “don’t lock on power button press,” etc.) results in a crash every time.
This device is awesome with iodéOS installed; it’s a shame it likely won’t get any more updates/upgrades. Many thanks to @petefoth for the iodé build!
Hi Pete!
Is there a chance you make a final update to you IODE build for the Z3 Tablet?
The LOS4microG build has a kernel and safety update from 2024, the IODe build is 2023. Might not be worth the work and make no relevant difference, but I thought I’d asking anyway, just feels a little better to have the OS update to the last version.
Thanks for all you efforts!
Edit: I just saw there is a 2025 build for the Z3tc for LOS4microG, thats incedible!
I guess you know something about it @petefoth , right?
Hi Max
I can’t really do a new IodéOS build for z3tc and z3tcw as they are 32-bit devices, and Iodé don’t make32-bit builds of their apps (Iodé App and Iodé Browser). Vincent did a ‘one-off’ build for the original builds in this thread. But I think there are no plans to do another, particularly as these devices are pretty much ‘end-of-life’. I think the best solution to keep using the tablet is the new build of LineageOS for microG. It has the necessary patches to work with Google’s latest changes to how their apps are signed, and I think that is the most up-to-date OS you’re going to get for this device.
Sorry!
Pete
Please dont apologize Pete, your answer is great and I am so thankful for all the work you put into the Xperia devices I like and use so much!
Whats the new signing method about, or what will be the consequences for users, eypecially for legacy devices? Is there a link that explains it for non-technical people maybe?
The problem is how the signature spoofing in LineageOS worked: To minimize potential security impact it would only spoof the signature for a single specific API that is used by the Google Play Services client library to discover if Play Services is signed using Google’s key - which is what microG needs to work. But there is more than one API to request the signature (or precisely the signing certificate) of an app, and the new version of the Play Services client library uses a newer API that was not handled by the signature spoofing feature in LineageOS (and others).
The necessary changes were made in the LineageOS code, but only in the 19.1, 20.0, 21.0 and 22.1 branches, but not in the 18.1 branch. This meant that the affected Google apps would stop working on 18.1 builds (and on Iodé 2 builds like this one, based on the LOS 18.1 branch), until they could be rebuilt with the patch to fix the issue.
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PBRP appears to a be a fork of TWRP - at least it seemed to hae most f the functionality that TWRP has - and it has always ‘just worked’ for me (once I installed the correct version for my device :smile )
