Unofficial Iodé 5 builds are now available for the the Sony devices that are officially supported by LineageOS but are not supported offically by Iodé. Currently this list includes the following devices
a .zip file that can be installed using recovery, via adb sideload, or the recovery’s ‘Install’ function if it has one. e.g iode-5.3-20240718-pdx203.zip
an -img.zip file that can be flashed with fastboot, e.g. iode-5.3-20240718-UNOFFICIAL-pdx203-img.zip
(Note that , despite the .zip file names, these builds are all unofficial)
None of these builds have had any form of testing, so use at your own risk.
My plan is to
make updated builds for these device, shortly after updates are released for the Iodé officially supported devices
try and move to the point where updates can be delivered OTA via the Update app. (Note that is not the case yet: updates will need to be installed manually, rather than using Updater).
An OTA update is convenient, but the manual update is also very easy to perform. Manuel update can be carried out very easily without a PC and without data loss directly on the device via local update. The *.zip file downloaded directly to the ‘kirin’ is imported by the system and the update can be started. The procedure is as simple as with the OTA update. Screnshots see here
Wow… super-cool.
Can you please let me know if I can pass from /e/ OS T to your unofficial build or do I need to get back to stock before flashing the ROM for one of my XZ2 premiums?
Thank you!
You should not need to reinstall stock before flashing this build. Bear in mind that you will be upgrading to a higher version of Android (/e/OS T, Android 13, LOS 20.0, Iodé 4 to Android 14, LOS 21.0, Iodé 5). This should not cause any problems, but you won’t be able to go back without formatting your data partition and losing all your user-installed apps and data.
It may be possible to ‘dirty flash’ this build over your existing /e/OS installation. The /e/ system apps will of course be overwritten, but you may get to keep your user-installed apps and data. However, there is a risk that some or all of your use-installed apps won’t work correctly after a dirty flash and may need to be uninstalled / reinstalled. Worst case is that you may end up needing to format your data partition anyway.
If you are not bothered about your user-installed apps and data, then just factory reset / format your data partition before you flash this build.
If your user-installed apps and data are important to you, think about backing them up before moving from /e/OS. See this wiki page for suggestions how to backup your current setup.
Thank you for your reply. I was aware of most of your points… I don’t have much data and I back it up anyway.
I’ll get back after doing it (hopelfully today). I hope I won’t brick my phone (that would be a first).
Just noticed there are many files. Can you please let me know which one(s) you advice me to download? I would choose the 1.3 Gb zip (without the unofficial in the file name).
I have no idea - sorry. I don’t own any of the devices, I’m just building from the LineageOS sources. Checkout the LineageOS device wiki pages for information about each device
Edit: All of those devices are Dual SIM, and Lineage only make a single build for each, so I assume the builds will support both SIMs. Looks like they’re not like the XZ1 family where there are separate buids for single and dual SIM variants
Beast of a phone you have there @Cooler. Keep saying I will buy one if I happen to stumble on to one at a good price but I’m not a big fan of big phones. Which brings me nicely on to my latest purchase. An XA2 Ultra (another big phone), that I managed to steal away for £28 on ebay whilst lazing by the pool last week. In very good overall condition, complete with original box and rubber case.
The only downside is that it’s FRP locked to an unknown Schmoogle account and also has a PIN screen lock on too. I can do an FRP bypass job on the earlier xp’s but this one has received the November 2019 security update which I have never managed to crack yet. So I thought I might do a flash recovery job on it when I get back and add my findings to the thread. Can always go Lineage/MicroG if the iode flash turns out to be incompatible.
How is the XA2 Premium build going so far @Cooler ?
Well seems you have “stolen” it from a thief… I don’t buy stolen phones no matter the price (because I’m a moral person).
I have not yet manage to install the custom ROM from lack of time, but I’ll be able to do it this week-end and for sure I’ll report back. Still if there are some issues it’s not really Iode’s fault as this is an unofficial build. There are great chances that the ROM will inherit all problems of Lineage OS build (muting of mic if I activate the speaker on a call).
I bought the phone in a bundle of six phones on ebay, (the rest of them were old pre-android devices), untested and sold as seen by the seller. He also claimed that they were donated by their owners to be sold for charitable purposes. I can only take his word for that but I find it hard to believe they were stolen unless he has kept them in a drawer for an awful long time. It would be hard to find 5 pre-android phones out on the street these days never mind stealing them off their users.
The Sony also came with its original box. Thieves don’t usually waste their time looking for the box to put it in either.
Well… I’m really glad they are legit then… My post was not an accusation but merely an observation…
I cannot guarantee that all phones that passed trough my hands have no bad past but I do my best to avoid anything suspicious. I have never bought phones locked or with google accounts… Most of them have original boxes and accessories, though some people tend to trow away boxes after the warranty expires (or sooner) and sometimes accessories either get lost or they break.
Sorry for the off-topic…
Just wondering if anyone has actually tried installing the iode XZ2 compact version into the standard XZ2 @petefoth ? Only reason is I have one here that I forgot to mention in my latest inventory. Reason being I lent it to my partner when she lost her works phone and they took longer than expected to sort out a replacement. It’s a very nice phone, in very good nick, it’s only downside is that it’s G android and it’s locked to O2’s PAYG service. Another whim buy, only this time it was Gumtree for £15. ‘Might be of use to someone as parts’ said the seller. What are these people like???
Not gotten around to doing anything with it yet but it would only cost me £10 to free it from O2, so has to be worth doing something with it surely.
That may be a problem: with devices that are locked to a network, it is often not possible to unlock the bootloader, even after removing the network lock. The easy way to check is via the service menu
dial *#*#7378423#*#* (that’s ‘service’ spelled out with the numeric keyboard) and wait for the service menu to appear
choose ‘Service info | Configuration’
check the ‘Rooting status:’ - if it says ‘Bootloader unlock aollwed: Yes’, you’re in luck. If not, you’re stuck with Sony’s stock version of Android, with all the built-in Google goodness!
It’s on my ‘To Do’ list. I have two second-user devices from Ebay, waiting to be unlocked. One will get the official Lineageos4microg build and the other will get IodéOS. But there is quite a lot of other stuff on that list, and I don;t know when I will get round to unlocking abd flashing these phones. I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has tried it (though that’s unlikely looking at teh download numbers on pf-custom-roms - Browse /IodeOS/xz2c at SourceForge.net )
I will check it out when I get back. One thing that struck me the other day is that on ebay, iode phones are priced between £300 and £700, all new devices that are iode supported as you would expect. It’s a lot of money for most non techies to lay out without trying it first and too much for techies that generally prefer to flash their own sytems anyway. So might just try knocking a few cheap and cheerful (but supported), iode phones together and see if they create any interest.
Now I’m retired I need to keep finding things to do and at least it will stop me buying them just to keep them in my drawer.
My main motivation for working with these custom ROMs is to keep these older phones working, so that people don’t need to buy the latest new device, when the one they have is perfectly capable of doing everything they need. Makes more sense, both economically and environmentally.
When I’m contemplating a purchase to Ebay, I generally ask the seller to run the service menu check described above. If the device is described as ‘Factory unlocked’ - rather than just ‘Unlocked’ or ‘Network unlocked’ - then I’m pretty confident that the service test will show the bootloader is unlockable. If it didn’t I would be quite happy asking for a refund because, at least for these Sony devices, if the bootloader is not unlockable then the phone is not ‘Factory unlocked’ and the item is not as described. It’s never been a problem yet though
Had another idea last night @petefoth . Inspired by my partner when she reminded me of another phone I had forgotten about. A pink XA2 with a cracked screen that I gift wrapped and gave her as a spoof birthday present 18 months ago. Been hidden in her sock drawer ever since because she refused to give it me back as a penalty for spoofing her. Now the thing about that phone is it cost me £9.99 in an ebay auction that no one else bid on. In every other respect it’s excellent just a small crack in the bottom corner. These have been coming up fairly regularly recently as the cost of the screen isn’t worth the time spent replacing it as good one’s are only fetching £25 - £30 at the moment.
So my idea is to flash this phone when I get back with iode 5.4 and put it on ebay for £30 who ever wants to try iode can buy it on the basis of it is sold at the price so long as they sell it back to me for the same price after the 30 day free iode trial is over. When the phone comes back in I put it back up on ebay and hopefully they find their own device in the iode list or they like it so much they buy a phone that is on the list.
Ebay has to be the place to promote OSS alternatives to IOS and Screwgle as it’s the only place in Britain you can find them and it’s most unlikely you will be seeing them in your local Car Phone Warehouse any time soon. It’s a volunteer effort on my part as it is likely that some of them won’t be returned or returned incomplete, but you never know. If it takes off maybe some kind of niche marketing opportunity might surface for recycling the older less saleable phones at the kind of prices some people cannot afford to turn down.
Manuel update can be carried out very easily without a PC and without data loss directly on the device via local update. The *.zip file downloaded directly to the ‘kirin’ is imported by the system and the update can be started. The procedure is as simple as with the OTA update. Screnshots see 
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