There has been some very recent technical changes to the installation process of Sailfish X to Sony Xperia X. Sony has presented a new way of flashing software on their devices, which will bring us (and you) new opportunities for the installation, e.g. Windows flashing. Process-wise we need to take some time to test everything properly.
Because of the recent developments and testing needs, we have decided to change the Sailfish X sales start date by one week from September 27 to October 4. The postponing of the sales start does not change the target software release date, which remains at October 11.
We will provide you with more details closer to the sales start directly to all our Sailfish X subscribers and here in our official blog. Please subscribe to the Sailfish X email list if you wish to receive updates directly.
Your Sailfish X Project Manager,
Vesku
Hello,
cool!
I remember there should be some not working things like bluetooth, is it still actual? And if so do u know in wich update should be fixed those things?
Also my favorite question.. Do u know, when the next supported device will be chosen? O:)
Cheers
I’m also very curious about Bluetooth or any other non functional pieces of software of the release version of the software
What is timetable for getting bluetooth working and how much do we have to pay for such update? Is the the bluetooth non-function due to legal or technical reason?
Hi, I am pretty sure there will be updates for free when u will have paid license. And license should be 50€ per year.
Updates is not what’s been asked, bluetooth functionality is asked. People don’t want to pay for a “crippled” device. For me, I’ll just wait a bit, until the software isn’t crippled anymore 😉
And before people start responding that we need to have patience and Jolla doesn’t have the means, etc. etc.: the Xperia X is the first worthy successor to the Jolla 1, a successor should have been presented 2 years ago. Announcements of the Xperia X were already mad in February, it’s now more than a half year later. Maybe Jolla doesn’t have the means, it’s a valid reason, but still tastes like a bad excuse at the end. Xperia X without bluetooth = no successor for Jolla 1.
I also would like to ask, havent seen any information about that.. will be there also free SFOS for Xperia X without Android support and Office suport?
Thanks
Or at least cheaper.
Officially only windows flasher. Thank you Sony for you so called open platform. I will sell my phone.
Time to move on. Jolla should support Librem and FP2 phones/project instead!
https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/
Guys/Girls support Librem phone! They are needed!
Great to hear of the continued progress! Can you comment on the availability of Sailfish X for US / Canadian customers? Will they be able to purchase Sailfish X in time for the software release on Oct. 11th?
Oh, Jolla… My girlfriend told me they are going to postpone the release again. I said no, they’ll make it. She was right.
Why do you even bother telling concrete days for releases? Next time try something like ‘some time in Q4’ or something. We’ll see what mail we get on Oct. 3.
Hello,
The release is still on October 11th. It is the sales start day that is changed in order for us to do proper testings before we sell the software.
I cant see why the sales date was pushed out. This makes no sense. Selling and delivering are not the same thing. Surely this can’t have be fresh news delivered yesterday from Sony offering a new way to flash. Surely you have know about this for a while but once again are looking for an excuse to push things out.
It seems to me Jolla engineers make a great product, but Jolla management / decision makers are out of their debt making promises and promise and falling through on them all.
The news provided in this post should have no link to the pushing out of the sales date. In fact this should read positive **** Great news*** Flashing will now be available for other platforms apart from Linux (If any users still use these platforms).
When should we expect the notification that the 11th will no longer be the delivery date? I am trying to get my company (small business) to use the jolla sony phone but you don’t make this easy to sell.
Please Jolla get your act together and stop making promises you cant keep. You male a great product but your management team needs a change.
Sean
Hi, Sean.
The reason that the sales day is pushed out is that we want to make sure that everything works with this new implementation before taking people’s money for it. Secondly, if you check Sony’s open devices website, this change is on their very latest news. On top of that, we are working on solutions for tablet backers in order for them to purchase the OS with a part of their tablet refund while also working on a discount system for our community program pioneers (Jolla C). All of these + the new flashing tool needs thorough testing before we can just make them available o purchase. So unfortunately I have to inform you in a very honest way that your assumptions are incorrect about us looking for excuses.
I hope that cleared up your concerns.
Cheers,
James.
James please… Don’t lie to us, or be more precise… Which “change” is on their latest news?? If you look at Sony’s website, you’ll see that the last news was on June 27th, about Xperia XZ added to the Open Devices Program.
The “new way of flashing” presented in this blog exists for more than a year! https://developer.sonymobile.com/2016/09/21/updated-video-how-to-download-and-install-the-flash-tool/
I too would like to know the real reason, which seem to be the payment system + the tool to use the refund to pay for the image. If it’s that, no problem, but just say it instead of lying!! 😡
Uh oh… what a deep hit. 😉
I for myself guess this is a very special kind of let me say “Finnish humor”.
But hey… now we can bet on what will happen 10th of October, any suggestion?
@maennlein: 11th of October, and the hit wasn’t that deep because as I explained, it does not matter when the software/tool was released. The instructions for the new requirement from Sony to Jolla are brand new. That’s what really matters here.
I am not lying about any of this. This requirement was introduced to us very recently by Sony. It is completely out of contest whether the tool was introduced in 2012 or 1900! It is also out of our control whether we choose to use it or not. It is a new requirement from Sony’s Open devices to Jolla, that has to be taken care of by us, as the device is not manufactured by us and Sony is the rightful manufacturer which owns the right to their assets. I wish you could stop calling me a liar and making this personal, as I have no reason to lie. By the way, I don’t understand why this would impact anything as the release date is still the same, 11th or October. You still will have the software in your hands by the same date as before. Only the “paying the money to us” has changed and that’s only for the good.
Sorry James, I indeed made it sound personal but it’s not. “you” is for “Jolla’s communication”. I understand that you personally don’t have all the technical details. But the blog post obviously doesn’t explain the real reason.
So, if Sony is now forcing you to use this tool for whatever reason, ok, but why not saying so in the blog post?
Yeah it’s not impacting the release date (great), but it’s impacting once again Jolla’s communication image, which is also important.
No need to apologise, I understood you wrongly and I apologise if I were a bit harsh with my words.
The blog post says “Because of the recent developments and testing needs, we have decided to change the Sailfish X sales start date by one week from September 27 to October 4.”. That basically is telling you the whole story without spelling out the words. As someone who does this for a living now, I can tell you that spelling out every word will make very long and boring blog posts. When I (for an example) receive an order to write a very short blog post, I (again, I’m an example here) should make it as short as I can and at the same time make the reader understand why I’m writing this. That is why we have the comments section. People who have questions, will ask their questions which shows that they are more interested to know the exact words intended to use in the post. That’s when I come in and explain it if needed. The reason for this is both in terms of professional “blogging” and aesthetics.
Back to the quote I took from the blog text, it says that we are doing additional testings before we open our shop. That indeed means that we are doing additional testings with these new instructions we have received and we are potentially making it much easier for the end user to flash their device. But all of that needs to be working before we take your money from you!
I hope I was clear enough.
Cheers,
James
@maennlein Yeah, and even more.. funny when you dig a bit more and find out that the tool has been introduced in… 2012 😯
https://developer.sonymobile.com/2012/12/06/new-flash-tool-from-sony-for-unlocked-xperia-smartphones-video-beta-download/
What about a discount system for those of us who pre-ordered the very first Jolla and got the shirt, the “Poppy Red” back cover and took a chance on Jolla before everyone else? Are we going to be forgotten about? Seems hardly fair as there were only 1500 Jolla C devices available that sold out in hours. Not everyone had a chance to buy one.
It would seem only fair, but you need to consider that we are currently not making any profit on this product and giving even more discounts would have the potential of hurting us financially. Plus, digging that old info about who ordered the first Jolla phone would most probably be unfeasible for our team at the moment. Sorry about that.
Will Emma be the only way to flash the Xperia X?
Don’t anymore have “widows” om my computers since more than 5 years. And I was perfectly happy without it. And now i have to look for someone with a windows computer to flash Sailfish on my Xperia.
You’re kidding.
Pls note opportunity, extra chance.Linux also with, too.
I to hope that Linux will still be a possible way of flashing. Commandline or whatever, no problem.
I have no widows either and I’m not interested if that is required. Remember what happened to Nokia.
Don’t mix “using Windows as the OS for your smartphones” and “supporting a Windows version of your tiny software utility”.
It is inconvenience if it is true that official way is Windows only flashing. I don’t have Windows either.
Where did you all see anything about dropping Linux support?..
As James told (more below): “…the Emma tool is now officially a requirement for everyone in order to flash their devices. Xperia X is supported by that tool, more on that later.
So for further clarification (and maybe to repeat myself), the current official requirement from Sony is that everyone should use Emma tool in order to flash their devices. …”
At the minute this tool is available only for Windows OS.
Because the Linux way for flashing was announced and discussed widely I already prepared the new phone and already void the warranty by unlocking it. I’m wondering if there will still be a Jolla supported way to go on from this point and use Linux since Windows is no option for me. Am I stuck with an unlocked and still Android running phone without warranty? I would be happy for clarification on this too.
Great! Good New due to Windows flash. 🙂 🙂
Good luck! Take your time for this.
At this moment, Xperia X is not on the supported devices list: https://developer.sonymobile.com/open-devices/flash-tool/supported_phones/
Either the device really is unsupported and this will lead to yet another delay, or Sony has outdated information.
Good to hear you are still on schedule! Grab a mug of coffee and keep up the great work!
Hi Direc, I followed the link and see what you mean. I assume (someone from Jolla can confirm) that it means that it is possible to support it. Either way, we will have the linux-based tools to fall back on, rather than another delay.
And I agree with the coffee…:)
Hi direc,
Thank you for noticing this – we have now added X to the list of supported devices. It was indeed a case of us not having updated that web page.
regards,
Troed @ Sony
😉
Just for better understanding.
If that really doesn’t affect the delivery date (11th of October),
why do you postpone the sales start?
Do you fear the money? 😉
Hopefully you can tell us a way to unlock the device without having to download and install the 2 GB of Android Studio…
You only need to download the sdk file with platform tools. From there you need adb and fastboot for the unlocking process. The Sony tutorial is clear about that.
It’s clear in stating that the platform tools are enough. But the supplied instructions are only for the full SDK. I’m a bit disappointed that Jolla did not provide a guide here.
Thanks! Windows flashing is really good news!
Will there also come a flash directory for Mac ?
I hope so jolla put GNU/Linux to flash xperia x; I do not use windows-mac.
I hope after flashing with Emma the ugly Warning Message about unlocked boot-loader will not come anymore. In this case SailfishOS X will be “like” official Sony Xperia Firmware
Hopefully we can at least relock bootloader afterwards, be a bit more secure that way. Still waiting to unlock mine. be nice not to loose DRM keys. Did back up TA partition in case we can relock.
Any updates on taking payments from the US & Canada? I’m pretty excited for this, but have been waiting on pulling the trigger on an Xperia X until I am sure that I will be able to participate. Thanks for any updates!
I wasn’t aware I couldn’t buy it here in Canada? Is that 100% true?
The last post listed US & Canada as regions which you could buy it with the caveat “to be confirmed”. According to the comments this appears to have to do with issues taking American credit card payments. I still haven’t heard anything further, hence my asking for more information if it is available.
Hello.
Unfortunately I’ll have to inform you that on sales start day we will not have availability for US and Canada markets.
Is there any reason why? Even though Paypal is complete junk, there isn’t any reason why that can’t be used (other than the couple of percent in fees). Or a SWIFT/SEPA transfer? What is wrong with accepting the old VISA/Mastercard (other than the couple of percent in interchange fees)?
What about tablet backers from those countries? Jolla already has their money. If it is a payment issue then why can’t part of their payment for the tablet so many moons ago be used for Sailfish X?
Someone with a Paypal account in a supported country could likely make a little profit reselling the OS licence to the rest of the world.
Studies suggest that lack of availability leads to piracy. . .
Your concerns are understood, but there is more to it than just payment issues (which we thought at first that it only was that) but at least for the first release we won’t have the availability for USA and Canada market. No promises for later releases either but we will definitely work on the issues.
What??? OH NO!!!!!!! I have been waiting for literally years for a Sailfish phone that supports US bands. I have already purchased two Xperia X phones and thought a solution was finally in sight. Now I hear a week from sales start that the first release won’t be available in US & Canada and later releases might not either?! This is very different than the previous update that it was a minor payment processing issue.
I’m sure you guys are doing your best, but this is really disappointing. Can you please give me any additional details on this? Excluding the entire North American market isn’t a wise strategy for a relatively unknown (but great) product.
Is there ANYTHING we could do to purchase the software? Even if it requires special steps or extra fees? I’m willing, I just need some options. I suppose I can have a friend purchase it in my behalf in Europe, but seems a bit crazy.
At least I managed to get both of my Xperia X’s flashed with the community Sailfish port.. which is a huge improvement over my Aqua fish in terms of band, but I was looking forward to a stable, supported, and fully developed build with Android support.
P.S. I’m sorry for all the complaints, but this news hit me hard. I do want you to know that I appreciate the hard work the Jolla team has put into this. Sailfish is really the only Smartphone OS that is viable for those who care about security and pushing back against big companies tracking our every move to turn out bytes into profit.
I can imagine how disappointed you are. But James said that there will not be availability for the US and Canada in de first release. I guess you will get it later.
Sailfish is now the best alternative to Android and Apple. At the moment Pur.ism and KDE are crowdfunding for the Librem 5, a Linux phone. But they plan to release it in 2019. That ‘s a much longer wait than for this Sailfish!
I totally agree with your assessment!
It is definitely disappointing, but I don’t blame Jolla. Whatever it is, is probably out of their hands and I’m sure they will do their best to resolve. However, since this will probably take a long time, if it ever does happen, I’m just going to give up for now. I will try to be happy with the community version of Sailfish X that I have flashed. It’s not perfect, but is pretty stable and a big, big improvement in basic call & text functions (4G!) over my (2G) Aqua Fish. I’ll just carry two phones and move my SIM card between the Aqua Fish & the Xperia X when I need to use the few Android apps that I use, thankfully only occasionally. Not a perfect solution but better than going Android/iOS.
That is absolute absurdity. The blog post said “US and Canada TO BE CONFIRMED”, and the first update said “It’s just a payment processing issue, no worries!”…
So I bought an Xperia X. In the US. Where it works. And it works just fine on the community build.
What issues are Jolla having, and why are they alienating markets that LISTENED to them and trusted their posts to be accurate?
This is VERY bad news, and I’m two steps away from selling this thing and walking away.
What are the other issues?
I live in Canada but I’m Belgian and still own an European credit card. I guess I’ll be able to get it? I already bought the Xperia from a US retailer.
Hello James, can you explain a bit more what the reason for this exclusion is when it’s not just payment issues.
We are taking about software download, right? Delivery issues will not be a reason.
Are there legal issues? I’m asking because this would be a problem for those who consider an EU-friend purchase.
tough!
the only way you get a working Sailfish X is via the following procedure:
*Buy a brand new laptop (an existing laptop wont work)
*Laptop must be black in colour (not white or silver as these will cause flashing to fail)
*Install Windows
*Remove Windows
*Install Linux
*Remove Linux
*Reinstall Windows
*Ensure you are wearing one black sock and one white sock
*Drink exactly half a cup of black coffee (drinking tea, water or orange fanta will cause flashing to fail)
*Get on a bus
*Sit next to a red-headed woman (sitting next to a pretty blonde or brunette will cause flashing to fail)
*Get off the bus the stop AFTER the redhead
*Walk (dont run) to the nearest Ikea from that bus stop
*Use Ikea’s free wi-fi to begin the flashing process
*Once complete get back on a bus
*User MUST take a different route home (going back on the same route will cause flashing to fail!)
*Wait until night of a full moon
*Now start device
*If user finds that phone is bricked when attempting to turn on for the 1st time,user will have to wait for next full moon before trying above procedure again (attempting this procedure a 2nd time without a full moon will cause flashing to fail)
*Good luck Jolla users!
.
.
.
.
PS:No refunds! 😀
LOL … waiting for the next full moon in Finland or locally?
Is this the “brand new way of flashing” ???
Well, me too, but I wait until there is a decent directory for installing Sailfish on the Xperia with Mac or Linux as is promised.
Always love when something is released. Will there be any type of mass refund to give users access to it as a payment for sail X or will you continue as before with refund?
We actually are working on letting people choose if they would like to use a part of their refund money to purchase Sailfish X instead. It should be possible by the time of sales start.
Please I hope you can. Particularly for those countries currently not available for sailfishx.
I’m planning to use all my refund for this, and any future licenses from Jolla. I.E. leave all my refund with Jolla.
+
Since my Jolla phone stopped working in the summer and as it wasn’t 100% sure /there were no guarantees Sailfish on X would ever happen I decided to go for XZ Premium instead of X… I love the massive leap forward hardware terms but Android… God how much I miss Sailfish OS..
Solid. Would that affect the number of refund per month or will this only be a liquid priority lane for a select few?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARJ8cAGm6JE&feature=youtu.be&t=2m24s
Can anybody plz tell me that how to flash sailfish os in xiaomi mi max (hydrogen)?
Anybody ported yet? Thanks
加油，期待第三世界的系统
Can I expect to get my Xperia X flashed by the dealer who delivers me my new device? I’m a user of (Jolla phone) Sailfish OS and not desire to be a developer. That would be the way I desire.
Unfortunately that is not an option currently offered.
There’s plenty of exercise on this thread with people jumping to conclusions and fly off the handle.
I didn’t read that Windows was going to be the only flashing option but another flashing option.
So far as the Xperia X not being currently supported for Windows flashing. Sony say this is still in Beta mode. Doesn’t it seem likely more models will be added? Why would Jolla even be talking about Windows flashing for the Xperia X if it wasn’t going to be a option?
Why all the angst from some posters?
Thank you Alan for this comment. I would say that you are thinking correctly. This device is supported by that tool but not yet added to the list. It hopefully be, before you need to use it.
What matters here is the clarity of the fact that this tool is only available for Windows which means that even if you would like to use Linux for flashing the device, you would still need to use this tool first in order ro “prepare” your device for flashing. That’s why we are now working on a solution to make all of these easier. Testings are currently on going to smooth out the rough edges before we attempt on taking people’s money. Plus, the release date is still the same so it really did not affect anything in the process. Just a safety measure from us.
Hi James,
First of all thank you for all the efforts you are taking to reply to every comment in here, even if some of them are not what I would consider as pleasant.
May I ask for some clarification regarding the “new flashing method introduced by Sony” which is a bit vague in the blog post (and which is probably causing some confusion here):
After reading the blog post, I suspected that Sony recently contacted you, saying something like “We can / will add support for the Xperia X to our “Emma” Flashing tool under Windows. Use this to provide the possibility to flash SFOS under Windows (_additionally_ to the current Linux support)”.
But now, I understand your replies to the comments more like Sony recently contacted you, saying “We changed the conditions for our Open Device Program. You now _have to_ use our “Emma” Tool to flash images / unlock the bootloader.” This would mean, that everyone is required to use the Windows software at some point to flash the SFOS image.
If the latter is correct, I understand that this is a rather big change to the roadmap, especially this close to a release date (and, in my personal opinion quite some dick move by Sony). I’m also confident that Jolla knows us Sailors well enough to understand the disappointment that a constraint like having to use Windows to install an open system like SFOS would be causing.
Anyhow, I (and I’m sure a lot of other people here) would appreciate it if you could clarify this:
Will we be forced to use Sony’s Emma Tool to flash the SFOS images or is this only an additional option (and we can continue using the current method under Linux)?
Thanks already for your reply.
Hello, and thank you for your comment!
There is one thing to understand here first of all that I am not going to quote Sony here for anything. I will however say that the Emma tool is now officially a requirement for everyone in order to flash their devices. Xperia X is supported by that tool, more on that later.
So for further clarification (and maybe to repeat myself), the current official requirement from Sony is that everyone should use Emma tool in order to flash their devices.
I’m sure you understand that I can’t say anything on behalf of Sony or quote them without permission.
Thanks again and cheers,
James
Thanks James for this clarification,
(un)fortunately this sounds to me like I just can spent 50 Euros tonight at the pup next door to me.
This story is going more and more crazy…see how this is going on.
Hello James,
so from Sony side this is Windows tool is the official way. OK. Does this matter? If I unlock the phone I void the guaranty. So should I care about Sony?
What about your company?
I bought an X weeks ago and downgraded last weekend to Android 6 in order to backup the DRM keys and unlocked the phone. This is done and I waited for today.
Now this was all for nothing. I don’t own a Windows PC and have no access to one. Why not finished whatever was planned for Linux before from your side and have emma as alternative for Windows users?
I’m feelin’ a bit left in the rain. My N9 is end of battery life and I was so thankful to hear about this alternative although the X is bigger than what I was wanting.
Please reconsider and don’t block the Linux users.
Hello.
As communicated in our latest post, these instructions come directly from Sony and using their official tool (Emma) which is only available on Windows is the only legit way to go about this installation. However, as an end user, you are entitled to do as you wish, since we do not plan to control anything in that regard at all. We are not at all blocking Linux user but at the moment we are not officially providing any Linux solutions as Emma tool is unavailable on Linux.
Thank you James for this info – so unfortunately I’m out for this purchase because I only can provide macOS or Linux and don’t own a windows license (well I do for 3.11, 95, 98 and XP 😉 ) and I won’t buy one for running the flash tool 🙁
So my X will stay on Android – now guys please figure out a deal with Fairphone for an official SFOS version incl Dalvik and I’ll be glad to spend my money for that …
Hi James!
I’d like to add my +1 to thanking you for patiently wading through the questions which range from relevant to pitchfork.
As for my part, I’d gladly add my sincere hopes to get
* Linux support for flashing
* Bluetooth support
Thank you for your feedback, Kalle!
The Bluetooth module is going to be working when you install Sailfish OS on your device, but it is a community supported feature as we won’t be “supporting” it in case there were connectivity issues. Otherwise, I think you are going to be pretty satisfied with that!
About Linux support for flashing, it is unlikely that you will be able to officially flash your device using only Linux.
One comment, question though : Why is Sony releasing a new tool whereas they already had Flashtool?
What if we already unlock and flash image with FlashTool?
Hi,
This is not a new tool, as it has been available for a few years now. However, the requirement is new to us and we have to move forward with it. This tool will prepare your device to be flashed. In case you somehow managed to brick your device while flashing, this tool will help you to being it back to life.
Sadly, I haven’t backed up my drm keys before unlocking my xperia x. I hope the keys aren’t needed for Sailfish X?!
Why we can not do the payment in advance allready in good time before from now on? I am affraid of terrible rush hours if we are waiting for until next Wednesday Oct 4th? Thus the release day shall be Oct 10th. If there are not any changes in the given costs 49,90 euros, it is very difficult to imagine any reasonable reason.
Remembering how the Jolla Tablet was being sold, I am actually thankful to Jolla that this time they are going to prepare a complete and (somewhat) finished product before selling it
Hi! I’ve not get second part of refund and cant’t spent it on SFOS X. So i must pay another my money to jolla for this. Please make some program to it, for all tablet customers, that they will be able to spent there refund to SFOS X and remove themselves from the list of future refunds.
Seeing all this troubleshooting I believe it is better to wait until the software has reached the needed readiness.
Jolla is a small company, reduced to its’ bones, without any buffer to anything. The number of employees seems to be to low right now for the aim to become number 3 on the mobile software market. Jolla needs probably strong support from external developers, otherwise we will still have to … :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbsdwQ_6WAg
You can use Emma for flashing of device under Linux, such as Ubuntu, right?
Sure… if you use a VM on your Linux computer.
Emma is Windows only. (following the link from this blog post)
So if your nick is “Linux”, why do you ask such … questions? The file name is: Xperia_Flash_Tool_Setup.exe
And if you try WINE(wine-2.0-rc6), you get:”Sorry, Windows 7 or higher is required.”
Given all the uncertainties about Sailfish X, I think /me will ignore the so called “sales start” and will wait patiently until *after* October 11th, when the first users report their experiences. Which makes me wonder why there are different dates at all. How many of you intend to actually pay money in advance if they can as well wait until there’s an actual product and customer reviews? Especially if there’s no benefit for those who pay earlier and the time between “sales start” and “release date” is so short?
I think pretty much the same. Taking customer money before the product is released clearly benefits Jolla. It *could* benefit the customer if the product was in short supply – but as a firmware image, it’s not.
I got caught in the Jolla tablet debacle – fortunately paying in full with a credit card, once the product was announced as being on sale. So after waiting until it became clear that my tablet would never be delivered, it was relatively easy for me to claim a refund through my credit card company on the basis that the “goods have not been delivered”.
This time Jolla seem to be offering direct sales – so certainly for anyone in the EU, the buyer should be protected by their credit card company.
same
I’m sure as heck not doing anything at this stage
I’m giving Jolla a few months to look like it knows what its doing before I try and snap up a OnePlus handset during the Xmas sales
Tick tock Jolla!
Personally I wait for the refund script to pick me, refund available in my account before I join anything jollaish.
Considering that Canada isn’t apparently allowed to pay for this to start with (perhaps forever, I’m not going to assume anything until we’re supported), I guess I have no choice but to wait anyways!
This is getting boring….
It was back in Feb/March that this project was announced and now at the end of September dates are being pushed back?!
I never went for a tablet but can see why those that did feel sore with Jolla with the way it treats its customers
Its starting to feel a lot like Jolla over-promise yet under-deliver!
Just wondering if this new way of porting will still come with instructions for Linux or is this purely for window / mac.
Sean
The new way “Emma” is for Windows,
the old way via terminal is for Linux
and for Mac users there is hopefully a workaround …
I can understand the delay! The whole world will notice the sales start and it’s a good idea to have a second way to flash the image. This means a lot of extra work for Jolla – another description and test, test, test …
The target software release date one week later is also brilliant. The network will not be overloaded with purchases and downloads. And more important, people will flood the social networks again 😉
As a very satisfied Jolla C user I am looking forward to the new Sailfish X on October 11th 🙂
I can’t believe my eyes. Are you seriously telling us that Windows mustbe used?????? I’ve already unlocked the phone and flashed several Android images on linux. I don’t even own a Windows PC.
With Linux and the Sailfish OS HW Adaptation Source Code we can create a Sailfish OS image and _flash it_ to our own Sony Xperia™ X.
Is this allowed without “Emma”?
Btw, nice picture on the top. Is this a Windows PC behind the Sailfish X 😉
And if you read on Sony’s website “How to build AOSP Oreo for unlocked Xperia devices” they also use Ubuntu even for flashing!
I’m glad the delay is short, but I’m very sad of the new process. After the “Emma” requirement it now seems like I’d need to:
1. Buy XperiaX with Google’s Android
2. Buy Windows from Microsoft (Wine on Linux won’t do)
3. Buy Sailfish OS from Jolla
4. Install Emma tool from Sony
5. Flash Sailfish OS by *Myself*
Do I really need that many companies involved to enable this? Can you please come up with a better solution?
Yeah so in the attempt to have an alternative OS we’ll have to serve three major companies first 🙁 – that sounds like a brilliant plan 😉
When I’m reading the words of James right it seems Sony is pushing Jolla into this what leaves a bit of a bad taste behind … I really hope Jolla won’t take just every deal of a major company just to get a chance to bring the OS to their hardware – on the contrary that’s business of course and they want to survive…
Please Jolla put yourself together and try another deal with the fairphone guys – we would all be better off with that …. and you can still go with Windows tools and Sony hardware for the masses 😉
I feel very sorry for Jolla. Sony introduced the new flashing concept. And Jolla is not responsable for this. But for me it is clear, either I can flash the sony device from my linux or I am not using this at all. Would be extremely sad but I don’t buy a stupid windows OS just for flashing sailfish
Thats something what i absolutely can’t understand. I’m also Linux user, but there is always a possibility to flash the Xperia X from Windows of a friend, in the work or somewhere else. Even a Virtual Box with Windows inside Linux-PC would probably work. I can’t understand, why people are whining about that. Thats simply doesn’t matter, on which OS i need to use the flash tool. Sailfish X is something what i want. Iven, when it should be flashed from MS-DOS 3.30 on 5,25 Floppys – it would be ok 🙂
It’s not about whining it’s about freedom of choice – but I don’t want to start another FOSS discussion – at least it’s inconvenient to ask other people if you could use their windows PC,especially when you’re the one always trying to convince them to use another OS 😉 – and saying this – I’ve been very successful with that and even my elderly parents are on a Linux machine now – and most of the other people I know are on posh apple devices
… in fact the Xperia X is a nice piece of hardware but it seems as Sony wants at least keep a hand on the things and if there is any chance left of an officially Fairphone version – I tend to wait a bit longer before I go the Sony way … no offence so – I can clearly understand the need for Jolla to get this thing running and also everyone who wants better hardware (even the Fairphone is lower middle class for high end pricing 😉 ) – let’s wait what Jolla will present us in October – maybe I can’t resist when it’s available despite the hassle 😉
One other thing: thanks to Jolla for keeping the things running, thanks to James for at least the best community communication since Jolla started and thanks to this great community for being still around and for its diversity – we can only grow if we can discuss things from different points of view to reflect our one ones
https://jolla.com – Homepage
“Sailfish X – Sailfish OS for Sony Xperia X is launching in October 2017”
[ READ MORE ]
“Introducing Sailfish X and all the details you want to know”
…
“Remember that in order to get the software running properly on your Sony Xperia X device you will need to do some magic yourself on the device, i.e. you should be tech savvy and have a PC with Linux operating system to get through the process. Don’t worry though, we will provide good instructions for this.”
This tells me that I can use Linux!!
It looks that Sony has done something since that was written, that is making Jolla abandon support for the Linux method. It seems likely that there won’t be any instructions or support from Jolla for Linux flashing. We will see in mid-October if it will still be possible with help from the community, or whether Jolla is being forced to tweak their official image so that Linux flashing no longer works. (I understand that this won’t affect AOSP or SFOS community builds, but that is not the point.) I hope that it doesn’t work out like this, but if it does I agree 100% with @elastic about trying again with Fairphone.
…. and James, I understand your position, feel your pain, and I fully understand why you can’t respond to comments like this
I can not believe that Sailfish X is only available for Windows users! Many people who use Linux or Mac already have unlocked the bootloader.
This also means that PC Companion (Mac) and SonyUpdateService (Xperia X) cannot be used to install security updates for Android!
We will stick on Marshmallow forever :-((
Sorry, but this is simply not true.
You can always relock your bootloader, write back the TA-Partition and flash offcial Sony Software.
Android 6, 7 or 8 (when it coming out).
The dicission to use Windows Emma Software is coming from Sonmy. Thats because of the binary blobs. Jolla can’t deliver this blobs to the customer, so Sony need to put them on one special partition, which afterwards will be marked read only.
I haven’t backed up my DRM Keys before unlocking my Xperia X 🙁
Same here.
What recommends me Jolla now? In the starting campaign never saying about win flash tool, whole should be in Linux and I satisfied with it. I am disapointed. 🙁
EDIT: neither said
Ok, that brings some background information … thanks for that
Maybe a stupid question, but do we really need these blobs? Sony does not have these blobs on my Jolla 1 either, zo why?
Since I live in Canada, I feel pretty much as does @paulwk in my disappointment over the mysterious uncertainty around Sailfish X reaching this market. Just to be clear, I also do not think Jolla has been deliberately dishonest at any point. I have waited excitedly since the original announcement of Jolla being formed for the arrival of a successor to my N9 and after coming close to buying an Xperia X in recent weeks, now I learn that it’s time to sit back and wait, possibly forever. If only I had that long! 😉
I completely understand that Jolla is a software company offering services to phone manufacturers so that this is entirely a favour to enthusiasts. It’s tiresome to see endless complaints about what bad business decisions are being made with this product since it is not in fact a product but a special service. I get that. I must say though that the price per year is a shock and a hardship for some of us, so you might consider a deal for pensioners, especially ones who backed the tablet! 😉
I was given an iPhone 6 Plus which is nice, except for all the reasons I’ve wanted Sailfish. BTW, the IOS 11 UI is worse and also less attractive than earlier versions so it is not a pleasure to use the thing but it is pretty hardware.
After the Jolla 1 and the tablet, I can’t believe it’s now back to square 1 for the third time and hoping that we here don’t get pushed the last step to square zero. Oh well, life goes on and maybe one day something will be available here.
Yeah, as a Canadian (and worse apparently, as a Linux user) I feel pretty disappointed too. I has a First One t-shirt and even snagged an actual Jolla to play around with and briefly use on a trip to Europe, but this seemed like finally, finally I could get SailfishOS in a fully usable and practical state on a device that would work on my cellular network! Alas.
I bought a Sony Xperia and I have unlocked the bootloader in preparation for flashing with Linux according to the documentation provided by Jolla.
If I had known that I would need access to a Windows computer in order to flash the phone, I would probably not have purchased the phone in
the first place.
So, I have lost approx 260 Euros. Jolla still owes me money for the Tablet purchase. I am not happy.
Let’s all take a deep breath and put things into perspective. I think we shouln’t take the viewpoint of normal consumers who expect to buy a finished product/service for a certain price (although Sailfish OS is a really cool piece of software). At least what I want is a real alternative to Android and iOS, and Sailfish seems to be the only real alternative. But Sailfish is developed by a tiny company in a field dominated by big corporate bullies and information-hungry states. Things have not been easy for Jolla and will not be in future, either. Therefore we should see Jolla’s activities as a fight for a truly free smartphone environment rather than as an offer of a perfect product.
And because we as Jolla’s customers participate in this fight for freedom and privacy, we should lower our expectations of convenience we normally have as consumers of average products. I as a Windows user have found my freedom in using Linux (booted from a USB drive) to flash Sailfish (now plans have changed…). Linux users also can show a little flexibility: Surely every one of you has a friend with a Windows system. Visit him, bring him/her a present and have a nice flashing session!
Also I think the postings of James Noori should be read as coming from a diplomat:
=> “current official requirement from Sony is that everyone should use Emma tool”
=> Probably he makes a difference between “official requirements” and “unofficial possibilities”…
=> “but there is more to it than just payment issues (which we thought at first that it only was that)”
=> There must be an interesting fight going on in the background whith whomever… But perhaps outside the EU purchasing will still be possible with tricks like VPN…
I have two unlocked Xperia Xs ready to be flashed and I’m willing to go unusual ways to succeed in using Sailfish as my daily device.
Thank you for your comment!
Guys, what i want say – there is abig community behind Jolla and SailfishOS and there are always possibilities. I’m sure, who want to get Xperia X – WILL GET Xperia X. Even if he live outside of EU, even if he has no Windows PC.
Where the will is is also a way!
James, I suppose this changes were beyond Jolla’s power. Can you tell us if there will be an easy instruction to flash Sailfish on the Xperia before christmas? Or is it not even certain that it will ever come? I unlocked the bootloader with DRM, everything gone, because I do not want an Android phone. I hope it will not be a waste of money.
Doesn’t sound too encouraging … I use linux and buying a windows license to flash the sailfish image will not a viable solution for me!
go to an Internet Café, install Emma and flash your phone. Borrow a PC from a friend, your office and flash your phone. This is not a huge constraint and it is likely only needed once. I tested Emma and it supports Xperia X even if it is not mentioned in documentation.
It’s important to know that Emma works for X. Not being in the official list isn’t encouraging.
It definitely does work for X. Otherwise we would not mention it here!
It seems that the wonderful people at Jolla need to work on their communication a little. I d id not read this as: “Sorry, we said the install would be Linux-only, but now it’s WINDOWS only.. Thanks for waiting”. I thought they were looking at the possibility of adding AN ALTERNATIVE way of installing the OS. So that you did not HAVE to have Linux, but could also use Windows.. Let’s hope my reading was the intended interpretation! If not I am sure you have a close friend or family-member that can lend you a machine for an hour. 🙂
[SOLVED] Flashing with “Emma” on Mac (and Linux)
You need:
– VirtualBox 5.1.28 platform package + Extension Pack
(https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads)
– Windows 10 Enterprise (free evaluation version)
(https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/virtual-machines)
– Emma installed on Windows 10 (VirtualBox)
(https://developer.sonymobile.com/open-devices/flash-tool/)
Works great: https://image.ibb.co/mXWuJw/Emma.png
Happy flashing 🙂
Thanks for this Oulot! 🙂
nice work!
I haven’t tried it yet, but “Flashtool” seems to be an option:
Website: http://www.flashtool.net/
Source: https://github.com/Androxyde/Flashtool
Introduction on DroidViews: http://www.droidviews.com/download-flashtool-xperia-devices-flash-firmwares-manually/
XDA thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=920746
I see the Xperia X model F5121 is now listed as a supported model for the Sony Flashing Tool
I’m just gonna sit quietly with some popcorn and wait for the fireworks.
please tell me, if i lost my devicelock code, what can i do ? i miss it so long,how find it again?
So now we only need xposed and xprivacy for sailfish os or working in Alien Dalvik, otherwise the OS is also not different then Android, the apps will collect our data and send it home, there is no way in controlling or stopping that behaviour. The promised privacy of the OS was one of the main reasons for me to support sailfish. But what i read now, nobody was able to get to run xposed or xprivacy in Sailfish OS, and there is no privacy guard app like in Cyanogenmod or others. Couldn’t you get in touch with the developpers of that apps, and offer us working versions of it. Thanks really much in advance. A Sailfish OS fan.
Hey, Jolla boys, it is true??!! I need not fourth Android/IOS/Windows OS. My decision for SFOS was for independence and privacy. I believe you and waiting for your response.
This sounds alarming. I am keen on supporting an OS that breaks the surveillance system that we are trapped in now. I always thought that Sailfish was a safe option. So the apps still collect our data? If so, that would be rather disturbing news to me. Can you explain what xposed and xprivacy is and what it does?
To explain it in a simple way, xprivacy is an independant app developped by some people who really care for our privacy, every Android app that is proposed wether for free or against little money is not really free, you can see the rights they are asking for, while installing. Why does a pocket lamp app, has to access your phonebook, private messages and mails, take voice call samples,… Xprivacy has root access and can control every outgoing connection, you have a panel, where you can choose what kind of data an app can send out or not. When using Android, this is the safest way, also if i consider the OS itself as a big spyware, because of all the information Google collects and merges about you. But sadly, nobody was able to install xposed and xprivacy in Sailfish so far. Xposed is the base you need to install Xprivacy. But i also read that xprivacy would also just cover the Android site, and not the apps of Jolla, and apparently Jolla is still missing that kind of privacy guard. So we have to wait until Jolla or some developpers take on the task, and offer xprivacy for SFOS or adapt in, in a way we can install it in Alien Dalvik
Thanks! Yes, I remember that Jolla community members rebuked Artem for spying with his flashlight app. Therefore I supposed that Sailfish apps were in good hands. Now I read that this is not always true. Open source apps should be controlled! About Android: these apps are a sif. With Apple apps you don’t even see what apps do in the background, but at least with Android you get that list before giving your consent.
I also remember that Jolla wanted to coöperate with an SSL company. Did not hear anything about it anymore.
I am concerned about this and I sadly wonder if Jolla has lost its direction.
@Kea: Quite on the contrary: They find a new direction almost every month!
Haha. It looks like zigzag, Still hope it is going forward in a privacy respecting direction.
I am prepared to use Virtual Box or even install a real Linux in my Mac in order to be able to get Sailfish on the Xperia. Windows is problematic. So here my question again: will there ever come a directory for installing Sailfish with Linux or Mac?
Kea, I have a solution for Mac and Linux (September 29, 2017 at 7:55 pm) but my comment is still awaiting moderation.
I am glad that it is possible with virtual box. Is there a directory? Are you probably making one? I am not a developer.
I see no reason why Linux won’t continue to work for flashing. If it used to work it’s my guess it still does. All that’s changed is Sony are now making Emma on Windows the officially sanctioned method. Jolla as a partner with Sony has to support the official Sony method.
At first i was quite angry, but now that i’ve read a lot of unhappy, furious but also a lot of (i hope) reasonable explanations for this change (http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=99017&page=129) , i will still go on installing Sailfish. Therefore i will have to brake some rules, using the school laptop from my wife, who is a teacher. I like Sailfish very much. I flashed it on my Nexus4 and used it (with it’s limited possibilities and bugginess) for more than 6 months. I’ve bought the Xperia x and use it now, and still get confused using gestures that aren’t possible on Android. So for me it’s a go, not on the first day, but in a day of 2 after the launch. So for those who don’t have a “widows” computer, search for someone who has one and let them watch the flashing and also the result of it. Maybe their eyes will open. We are on the start of a new beginning. An opening maybe to get Sailfish on much more devices. Rome hasn’t been build on 1 day. So patience. If you’re not happy wait, i’m sure some alternative ways will appear.
Any news regarding refund game? Target date october 15th as usual?
Jolla, why are you not coöperating with other companies, like KDE? I hope this is not a threatening question. When you are small and cannot grow because of a lack of money, what about the future? The idea to port Sailfish to Sony is nice, but it should be planned aand prepared well. Now people get frustrated. Sorry, hope these words are not received as harsh words.
Why exactly would cooperate with KDE help in your opinion?
And about “the people get frustrated” thing, this is absolutely on those users. Sailfish X isn’t even released. It’s not there yet, there is noting to complain or be frustrated about really.
People should just wait until the 11th, then wait little longer until all the quirks are ironed out, and THEN decide if you’re going to buy a Xperia X.
Just a question, will it be possible to flash Sony Xperia X with Apple iTunes under M$ Windows? Of course I own a Google Gmail account…
Time’s up!
04.10.2017 09:48 here…..
I’m just wonder if the IDL (International Date Line) has changed to 24,941 last night.
Does anybody know more about? 😉
Fingers crossed that we can spend 49€ to JOLLA by today.
Past noon, no news, no comments, no sale start … 🙁
Guys you know what – I have a Jolla 1, a Xperia X and a Fairphone 2 here on my desk – Jolla 1 is fine and on 2.1.2.3 – Fairphone runs brilliant with community port on 2.1.1.11 and I’m still thinking about throwing my money in for an official SFOS for the X but you’re not encouraging me o do that – first delay in sale, then EMMA, then no news today?
I would recommend to get in touch with @mal, hire him, make a deal with myriad and licence an official Fairphone port – no need for a deal with Fairphone though – you’re just selling software … this could be done in days as you already know about the costs for the licensing you figured out for the X … you’ll get my money immediately and in addition you sell the SFOSX to the masses whenever it’s ready …
…Sailfish X sales start date by one week from September 27 to October 4… which is today. So far, nothing happened…
@Moo-Crumpus: Somewhat strange, yes. I hadn’t intended to be part of a fictional “sales start” when there’s nothing to download yet, but still…
OTOH, they also completely ignored the brand new SFOS 2.1.2 they released on Monday (!) for early access… so maybe there’s a general problem with news being published here, not one that’s specific to Sailfish X.
We already know Jolla’s awesome communication abilities… 🙂
Keep your eyes peeled for a new post shortly.
My eyes are getting weak more and more. 😉
And between the lines I saw that the sales start is now postpone for another week? New “public” sales start is 12th of October, right?
I have already bought a xperia x, I am waiting to give money to you, however, nothing happened …
What Sony binary blobs do we get?
Actually it did. In the homepage of Jolla you can introduce some kind of voucher code in relation to Sailfish X that redirects you to the shop. However, shop login data does not work. Maye Soon(tm)?
Perhaps something is allready happening in https://jolla.com/, but we can´t buy yet. The voucher required some password etc, but where they ar coming from?
Vouchers are tablet-refund volks only.
As I assumed on the Sep. 26, the Oct 4. deadline was missed too. Just a fake ‘sales start’ since only available to the tablet-backers.
No one said that in advance.
I’m literally 5 minutes away from dumping my three Jollas… This is soooo frustrating.
It is looking likely that the very latest over-the-air update for the Xperia X will enable very easy bootloader unlocking and flashing without using Emma. See the “Sailfish OS (officially) on Sony Xperia devices” thread on TMO, in particular these posts:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=1535970&postcount=1396
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=1536019&postcount=1408
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=1536023&postcount=1409
That is the case. We will come up with an update regarding that.
Dear James could you please document and explain this new way of unlocking the bootloader? I just bought a 50 € image, and am now blocked at the unlocking of the bootloader. Do you have to be rocket scientist for that? Had to Android SDK, etc. but now the explained way of unlocking is not working for, apparently there is no communication with the phone, even that the driver is installed, and the flashing tool recognizes the phone, and saying phone has to be unlocked. I used the terminal command but nothing happens. Question! Do i have to used the terminal command inside Android SDK or Windows terminal command? Thanks really much in advance! 🙂
Use the Windows terminal.
-connect the phone with USB, pressing volume up and wait for the blue LED
-go to the Sailfish installation folder in win command prompt, you should find fastboot.exe there
-enter “.\fastboot devices” should show your phone
-enter the command “.\fastboot -i 0x0fce oem unlock {your un locking code}″ from the Sony instructions just as it is on their website.
BTW: This is far away from “rocket science”. 😉
It may also be worth noting that the fastboot driver which sony delivers is unsigned. You may run into trouble if windows does not allow you to install it. What you have to do then is disable Windows Driver Enforcement by doing an advanced startup reboot from the control panel. You’ll find it by googling.
Hello James, I am afraid I have to sell my new Xperia X. The method of Jakibaki does not work for me. My mac refuses to recognise some parts of . Besides that it is too complicated for me because I am not a developer. I managed to unlock the bootloader (took at least a week, because there was not one guide without errors). It is a shame, for I really like Sailfish.