Sonim XP8 (Root?)

ctradio said:

Does anyone know how to use the ADB/Fastboot tools to unlock it? The standard commands do not work. My unit is personal and not under any "enterprise" restrictions. Thanks for any help fellow hackers ... some TWRP would be awesome.

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(Im)patiently waiting for this too. I don't care if it is single touch or long drawn out process involving a cauldron, hermetic circle, and a full moon. Root is sorely needed...

ctradio said:

I find the interface on that device to be awful and am in the early stages of fighting AT&T for my money back. .

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I am on T-Mobile and found the factory unlocked version with no bloatware (obtainable directly from the) to be rather refreshing, even if it did set me back an extra $100. I suggest do getting the refund, then turning around and getting the "clean" version. It may be more expensive, but considering how much it costs for monthly insurance, the overall price becomes somewhat more competitive with the 3 year "comprehensive" warranty...

ctradio said:

I was told there was no carrier unlocked variant of this thing. Didyou get it from Sonim? Also, any problems at all with it? I had two with touch issues along the right side of the screen (it perceives a light constant touch in various areas and it gets worse the longer the screen is on). The units would eventually start selecting things on its own and even deleting contacts. Also, the speaker phone is useless and the UI is horribly laggy at times (my mind operates fast and it screws with me). I presented them with a "laundry list" of the issues.

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Someone flat out lied to you. Go here: https://store.sonimtech.com/products/sonim-xp8-blk-nam
Well, maybe not lied at the time you were told... I waited several months for them to post it on their store page. In response to your concerns....

No issues with it going all AI on me. Speaker PHONE portion leaves a bit to be desired, but for audio books, this thing is damned awesome and really loud. Not sure how to reference the lag. My previous phone was a Note 4 with issues.
My own complaints. The lock screen is a pain. The default music program is broken in my opinion. I am suffering through with Musicolet for my books.

What sold me on this is that is is one of the last phones made today that has a removable battery (really my only requirement in a new phone), has both gps an glonass, and in a pinch I can use is an a hurled object to an opponents head. Someone complained about the camera, but it seems fine to me. Wouldn't matter much as I am partially colorblind and won't see any difference.

I have only had mine for a week, and am still tweaking the settings to how I want them. Honestly, I like it.

I would really love to see some support for this phone. Especially since the monsters at Telus have disabled the 2nd sim slot for no good reason. I have tried everything but without Root I am out of luck getting the dual sim feature to function. Is there anything I can provide to assist someone more knowledgeable in getting a root solution for this phone? Please let me know.

mertin said:

I would really love to see some support for this phone. Especially since the monsters at Telus have disabled the 2nd sim slot for no good reason. I have tried everything but without Root I am out of luck getting the dual sim feature to function. Is there anything I can provide to assist someone more knowledgeable in getting a root solution for this phone? Please let me know.

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Hello,
I just bought this phone. I use 2 sim cards at the same time but it does not work properly: I can receive and make calls, but I can not send or review sms / mms on 1 operator. I use the xp8800 in France, it is a Att model unlocked. to have the 2 sim cards at the same time I rebooted several times, cut the data, without really understanding how I did . is there a way to restart the network part of Android ?
Thanks
Pascal S

I take it we are still coming up snake-eyes when it comes to someone being able to root the XP8. I am rather surprised with the fact it is on 7.1.1. Is this still an unbeatable task to overcome?

The thread is closed, this is the tested version of the firmware



Unlock fastboot
Step 1, open the developer mode

Go to “Settings” → “About Phone” and click “Version Number” 7 times to open Developer mode.

Step 2, open oemlock

Go to “Settings” → “Other Settings” → “Developer Mode” and open the OEM to unlock;

3 START mode
flash <partition> [ <filename> ] Write a file to a flash partition.
flashing lock Locks the device. Prevents flashing.
flashing unlock Unlocks the device. Allows flashing
any partition except
bootloader-related partitions.
flashing lock_critical Prevents flashing bootloader-related
partitions.
flashing unlock_critical Enables flashing bootloader-related
partitions.
flashing get_unlock_ability Queries bootloader to see if the
device is unlocked.
flashing get_unlock_bootloader_nonce Queries the bootloader to get the
unlock nonce.
flashing unlock_bootloader <request> Issue unlock bootloader using request.
flashing lock_bootloader Locks the bootloader to prevent
bootloader version rollback.
erase <partition> Erase a flash partition.

Firmware update soon.. ??

In May, I sent of another email to Sonim Tech support asking about firmware. I did get a response back. Granted it was rather vague, but it was an answer. Further granted, is is now mid June and no updates in sight including one that allows the viewing of PDF's. grrrr.

The support guy did mention that AT&T is going to be one of the first providers to get the update. That sucks for me because I got my unit direct. He also said the month of May was a non-official time frame.

So still waiting and no success story yet posted of anyone unlocking this little beastie.

https://www.att.com/devicehowto/tutorial.html#!/stepbystep/id/stepbystep_KM1259507?make=Sonim&model=XP8XP8800

No idea how to update manually, though...

Phuhque said:

In May, I sent of another email to Sonim Tech support asking about firmware. I did get a response back. Granted it was rather vague, but it was an answer. Further granted, is is now mid June and no updates in sight including one that allows the viewing of PDF's. grrrr.

The support guy did mention that AT&T is going to be one of the first providers to get the update. That sucks for me because I got my unit direct. He also said the month of May was a non-official time frame.

So still waiting and no success story yet posted of anyone unlocking this little beastie.

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No idea how to update manually, though...[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the news , but no working to ATT from France , until in OTA .
Wait and see if dual sim working clean ....

Has anyone seen this video? There's a part in the video where as the guy turns it on, and there is a prompt to re-lock the bootloader(which, of course, implies that the bootloader is unlocked); I don't know how this really helps, but it might give someone more experienced than I something to grab at. I should mention that it is mentioned as a pre-production model of the Sonim XP8, so it probably won't apply to models that most people have, but it's something to look at.

Sonim XP8

I know that Verizon is now selling the Sonim XP8. Does anybody happen to know if it is possible to use both SIM card slots with this device after it is unlocked?

Being able to use BOTH AT&T AND Verizon would be a huge benefit to me.

is there any root yet ive tried about every root apps i cant even find working drivers for this phone

Thecctech said:

is there any root yet ive tried about every root apps i cant even find working drivers for this phone

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Drivers are not an issue.. It's using Qualcomm reference designs from the S660 dev kit where most generic Qualcomm drivers should work with minimal modification.

This is a good thing! Most of the root apps are using a collection of known exploits where only vulnerable devices would fall victim. You would have to use an exploit that's more recent then the security patch level installed but you also have to remember - if you can do it that easily then an attacker can do it just as easily too! I personally believe that the association between root and device/firmware level vulnerabilities is the reason why most see root in a negative context today.

As far as I'm concerned - we only have 2 "correct" ways to achieve root.
1. Obtain (or compile) either a Debug or Engineering firmware variant from AT&T that includes the native su packages for adb root. This is usually not an option for us individuals.
2. Unlock the bootloader and use a patched boot image.. Works great! To unlock the bootloader takes a bit of work though and flashing still requires EDL so with that I have not been able to make a public instruction set yet.

Could be in the next few days.. Could be in the next few months.. I'm honestly not sure. Mostly just a matter of collecting images, testing, and finding time.

Enjoy!

XP8 Android Root Theory - DEBUG or Magisk over EDL
EDL is a must since Fastboot cannot be unlocked initially from standard "user" builds.

One option is flash a userdebug image (below) allowing for adb root, fastboot unlocking, and other useful features.
or
Without unlocking the bootloader - Similar flashing methods remain valid when standard magisk powered root is desired. This method allows preservation of all current system data aside from boot.img. All is covered since Magisk works with AVB and we have EDL as a flashing alternative. Please see Android Boot Flow > LOCKED Devices with Custom Root of Trust for more information.

Recommend method ..
It's up to you.. If you want OTA updates and your planning to use root apps then go with Magisk. As of today we have current debug images available and I personally prefer isolated adb root access only however future availability of updated Debug images cannot be guaranteed.

Disclaimer
-Devices with locked bootloaders will display a custom OS warning at boot
-Tested on AT&T branded devices only - please provide system dump for validation on other builds
-I have not identified any JTAG procedures and I can not help if you hard brick your device!
-This guide only touches boot_a and should be relatively safe since boot_b remains unmodified. I'm pretty sure this is enough to restore the original boot.img to boot_a under a failure scenario.. But I'm not really qualified enough to say definitively either.
-Take great caution - this is raw emmc access and critical system data! You are proceeding at your own risk!

Magisk Root

USERDEBUG Flash

Images and OTA Files

XP5s
Sprint Image: XP5SA.0.2-03-7.1.2-29.03.00
Works the same. Tested with unmodified Sprint firmware. Like most other apps, the Magisk manager app is unusable since the XP5s has no touch screen - I had to patch the boot image on another device. You can plug in a USB mouse however the cursor does not seem to invoke in-app tap's.

Need to use the appropriate Firehose loader (prog_emmc_firehose_8920.mbn) and replace the boot image location according to the XP5s GPT (start_sector="790528").

Great, thanks alot for instructions, @smokeyou!

In order to be able to boot into patched boot image, does it require to have unlocked bootloader? Assuming I can upgrade my phone to build 8A.0.5-10-8.1.0-10.49.00, but have my bootloader locked, can I still use your instructions? Can you clarify it?
-albertr

albert.r said:

Great, thanks alot for instructions, @smokeyou!

In order to be able to boot into patched boot image, does it require to have unlocked bootloader? Assuming I can upgrade my phone to build 8A.0.5-10-8.1.0-10.49.00, but have my bootloader locked, can I still use your instructions? Can you clarify it?
-albertr

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Untested but should not be a problem. Bootloader unlocking only allows Fastboot flashing where this method uses EDL only.

Basically the same outcome though just without the option to use TWRP or custom recovery (easily).