Same soft brick result. It has to do with the March update that is causing Xposed not to work.
Yes... Since upgrading the firmware, I've tried installing it with Magisk, TWRP, and directly through the Xposed installer app, all 3 ways result in a bootloop since I upgraded to the newest firmware.
Since this is my first Sony phone, I don't know if the same applies but I would guess that S-OFF is needed to fully downgrade the firmware, and who knows if anyone ever figures out a way to S-OFF it.Yes... Since upgrading the firmware, I've tried installing it with Magisk, TWRP, and directly through the Xposed installer app, all 3 ways result in a bootloop since I upgraded to the newest firmware.
I tried to downgrade, but the baseband is stuck on the newer version. i.e. it won't downgrade with the rest of the firmware, so I'm assuming there's some kind of write protection that won't allow it to be downgraded. I'm wondering if anyone knows how to get around it and force it to take the lower version of the baseband. The bootloader version downgrades without any issue, but it won't boot up with a mismatching baseband.
- Go into recovery and create a backup of the /system partition (if something goes wrong in the next step, just restore it)
I was actually using GravityBox and Xperia Home on 50.1.A.4.102 (first update; phone ships on 50.1.A.76), it's when I updated to 50.1.A.5.59 and flashed xposed framework again, it wouldn't boot.
That's because the March and April security updates have made Xposed useless due to how the system hooks work. Until a work around is found we are Xposed less right now.
according to this there is a workaround, made by @serajr, that can be done by deodexing (or de-vdexing since oreo is vdex?) the system/framework/services.jar file and then editing it, but I can't figure out how to deodex/de-vdex... But the good news is that the fix is reported to be working for the XZP, and if done correctly should also work on the XA2 also.
I was able to downgrade the baseband. I simply flashed back to 4.76. Xposed and Gravitybox works normal. Now will upgrade to 4.102 and stay there.
where did you download the firmware from? Xperifirm only has the latest...
I installed Sony flash utility EMMA, it found 4.76 and 5.59. You also can download it from Android File Host. Just searched for my model H3213
I have the H3123, but I registered for emma and verified my email address but it says my account won't be active until I contact a representative for sony mobile. I'm not sure how to do that... It doesn't give me any sort of link or address to email.
I did not mess with email and activation. For me, emma was free downloadable. Go to https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/get-started/flash-tool/download-flash-tool/ and download it. Maybe it depends on where you are at.
Is the one you grabbed H3223_Customized US_1312-1380_50.1.A.4.102_R6A.rar by any chance?
H3123
