Xperia Qualcomm Modes

[tonsofquestions]

I'm having some trouble with the modem (and LTE compatability) on my XZ1 Compact, and I was wondering if anyone has experience with the different kinds of boot modes and/or Qualcomm transfers.

There's some Qualcomm software (QPST) that supposed to let you write to the modem partition. There are some instructions here

Modify Sony XZ, XZs, XZ Premium, XZ1 and XZ2 LTE-A band combos - MT-TECH.FI

On this instruction we will modify on Sony smartphone band combo profiles with Qualcomm software. Sony smartphones have software limitation and we will unlock this. We have tables of supported CA combos per group: Sony XZ(s) Sony XZ Premium Sony XZ1 & XZ1 Compact Sony XZ2 & XZ2 Compact We will...

mt-tech.fi

and here

Getting VoLTE and VoWiFi on unlisted carriers by flashing mbn file

I live in Canada and I have a BC72 (Asian version). I am struggling to get VoLTE and VoWiFi working. I know that mbn file is the key to getting IMS support and sony seems to block some carrier mbn files (only mbn in sales areas are available). So...

forum.xda-developers.com

That I was trying to follow along with, but doing the setopt doesn't seem to change the mode of my phone/usb connections, and so I can't update the drivers or connect the QPST software to read or write the filres.

There's also supposedly an EDL mode that Qualcomm phones can get into, which should also connect to the software

What is EDL Mode and How to Boot your Qualcomm Android Device into it

Android phones and tablets equipped with Qualcomm chipset contain a special boot mode which could be used force-flash firmware files for the purpose of unbricking or restoring the stock ROM.

www.thecustomdroid.com

but those instructions don't work either - adb reboot edl just reboots the phone back into the rom, and fastboot oem edl tells me that's not a supported function.

Does anyone have experience getting either of these to work and/or updating the modem software?
I can't follow these steps:

XZ1 Compact - MetroPCS VoLTE + Latest Pie + Fingerprint + Wi-Fi Calling Step by Step Guide

Overview: This guide provides step-by-step instructions for flashing any existing Sony stock rom Android 8 or 9 to the latest Sony stock ROM Android 9 Build v47.2.A.11.228 for use on the MetroPCS network. The finalized flash is a hybrid of Sony...

forum.xda-developers.com

since I don't seem to have this overlay functionality baked into my rom.

I recognize that part of this might be something to do with my ROM - which I believe is AOSP based instead of stock based - but even in the worst cast scenario it seems like I should be able to override whichever default mbn file the phone is deciding to use (perhaps set from a partition flash?) with whichever one I'd like it to use, instead. I just can't figure out how to determine what my phone is currently picking, or how to correct it.

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[tonsofquestions]

I'm having some trouble with the modem (and LTE compatability) on my XZ1 Compact, and was trying to experiment with adjusting the files manually.
Does anyone have experience with the different kinds of boot modes and/or Qualcomm transfer?
I've tried on both an XZ1c and a Z5c, both of which result in similar behaviors.

Extra context:

There's some Qualcomm software (QPST) that supposed to let you write to the modem partition. There are some instructions here

Modify Sony XZ, XZs, XZ Premium, XZ1 and XZ2 LTE-A band combos - MT-TECH.FI

On this instruction we will modify on Sony smartphone band combo profiles with Qualcomm software. Sony smartphones have software limitation and we will unlock this. We have tables of supported CA combos per group: Sony XZ(s) Sony XZ Premium Sony XZ1 & XZ1 Compact Sony XZ2 & XZ2 Compact We will...

mt-tech.fi

and here

Getting VoLTE and VoWiFi on unlisted carriers by flashing mbn file

I live in Canada and I have a BC72 (Asian version). I am struggling to get VoLTE and VoWiFi working. I know that mbn file is the key to getting IMS support and sony seems to block some carrier mbn files (only mbn in sales areas are available). So...

forum.xda-developers.com

That I was trying to follow along with, but doing the setopt doesn't seem to change the mode of my phone/usb connections, and so I can't update the drivers or connect the QPST software to read or write the filres.

There's also supposedly an EDL mode that Qualcomm phones can get into, which should also connect to the software

What is EDL Mode and How to Boot your Qualcomm Android Device into it

Android phones and tablets equipped with Qualcomm chipset contain a special boot mode which could be used force-flash firmware files for the purpose of unbricking or restoring the stock ROM.

www.thecustomdroid.com

but those instructions don't work either - adb reboot edl just reboots the phone back into the rom, and fastboot oem edl tells me that's not a supported function.

Does anyone have experience getting either of these to work and/or updating the modem software?
I figured I'd try asking in the cross-device forum since most of the Sony phones use a Qualcomm modem, so it seems like it should be applicable to more than just one model.

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If I get it working, I'll happily follow up with a guide for others.

 

[laojiefang]

Unfortunately, SONY seems to have banned edl from the factory. Unless your phone is an engineering sample.

 

[cuynu]

Unfortunately, SONY seems to have banned edl from the factory. Unless your phone is an engineering sample.

NO, My xperia xz2 detect as edl mode

 

[laojiefang]

NO, My xperia xz2 detect as edl mode
View attachment 5774603

Can you use the public version of elf files to read your phone partition? Like this?

 

[cuynu]

Can you use the public version of elf files to read your phone partition? Like this?View attachment 5774611

No, qfil say timeout error

 

[laojiefang]

No, qfil say timeout error

First of all, according to your screenshot, you don't seem to have the edl driver installed. Second, your xz2 is a retail phone, which cannot use edl mode for all operations.

 

[tonsofquestions]

Sorry for the delay; it's been a weird week.

Unfortunately, SONY seems to have banned edl from the factory. Unless your phone is an engineering sample.

Interesting, thanks for this info! It at least explains why I was unable to get into it, despite the Qualcomm modem.

Do you have any experience with the "setprop persist.usb.eng 1" setting, and what it's doing?
As far as I can tell that's sometimes doing triggering a similar mode for folks, with some ROMs, but I don't understand it enough to grok why it's not doing the same for my device, and if it's even possible to get it working or if I need to switch to a completely different ROM.

It seems like the modem configuration should be independent of the ROM, but I have a sneaky suspicion that backing up, switching/re-configuring, then restoring my current one won't end up with it working any better.

a retail phone, which cannot use edl mode for all operations.

Do you know anything about which operations are or aren't possible? The Xperia 1 III post suggests that some of them are possible - at least to download and upload files, which is hopefully enough here to tweak my settings so I'd have better LTE/VoIP compatibility.

Thanks again for your insight!

 

[laojiefang]

Sorry for the delay; it's been a weird week.


Interesting, thanks for this info! It at least explains why I was unable to get into it, despite the Qualcomm modem.

Do you have any experience with the "setprop persist.usb.eng 1" setting, and what it's doing?
As far as I can tell that's sometimes doing triggering a similar mode for folks, with some ROMs, but I don't understand it enough to grok why it's not doing the same for my device, and if it's even possible to get it working or if I need to switch to a completely different ROM.

It seems like the modem configuration should be independent of the ROM, but I have a sneaky suspicion that backing up, switching/re-configuring, then restoring my current one won't end up with it working any better.


Do you know anything about which operations are or aren't possible? The Xperia 1 III post suggests that some of them are possible - at least to download and upload files, which is hopefully enough here to tweak my settings so I'd have better LTE/VoIP compatibility.

Thanks again for your insight!

Do you mean that you can use certain ROMs to trigger edl mode? (I'm sorry that I'm Chinese, and I can't understand your words with machine translation.)

 

[tonsofquestions]

I don't know if it's the same as EDL mode, but it seems like certain ROMs (likely stock at least) can get into some kind of Qualcomm mode by following the instructions outlined here:

Modify Sony XZ, XZs, XZ Premium, XZ1 and XZ2 LTE-A band combos - MT-TECH.FI

On this instruction we will modify on Sony smartphone band combo profiles with Qualcomm software. Sony smartphones have software limitation and we will unlock this. We have tables of supported CA combos per group: Sony XZ(s) Sony XZ Premium Sony XZ1 & XZ1 Compact Sony XZ2 & XZ2 Compact We will...

mt-tech.fi

Otherwise, the instructions probably wouldn't exist.
I just can't get it to work on _my_ ROM.

Happy to try and rephrase if you can point out what wasn't clear in the translation!

 

[laojiefang]

I don't know if it's the same as EDL mode, but it seems like certain ROMs (likely stock at least) can get into some kind of Qualcomm mode by following the instructions outlined here:

Modify Sony XZ, XZs, XZ Premium, XZ1 and XZ2 LTE-A band combos - MT-TECH.FI

On this instruction we will modify on Sony smartphone band combo profiles with Qualcomm software. Sony smartphones have software limitation and we will unlock this. We have tables of supported CA combos per group: Sony XZ(s) Sony XZ Premium Sony XZ1 & XZ1 Compact Sony XZ2 & XZ2 Compact We will...

mt-tech.fi

Otherwise, the instructions probably wouldn't exist.
I just can't get it to work on _my_ ROM.

Happy to try and rephrase if you can point out what wasn't clear in the translation!

Oh I see, this mode is not edl mode, it is Qualcomm diag port, it is used to modify the xml configuration file of the phone to remove some software level band restrictions. For example, in mainland China where I live, LG mobile phones cannot use 5G. By this method, you can use 5G in mainland China by brushing the xml file of the Chinese version of LG mobile phones

 

[tonsofquestions]

OK, that makes sense.
In my research to be able to do this, I saw mentions of both the diag and edl modes, but nothing highlighted the distinctions, so I thought they were different names for the same thing.

So if edl mode is disabled by Sony for these devices, perhaps the correct question to ask is "how can I enable this diag mode/port", if this command is not available? Is it part of the ROM, or available in some other way?

For that matter, if it's a software level-band restriction, is that software itself in the ROM or the modem files? Do changes persist across ROMs?
For example, if you fix the 5G settings in one setup, then switch to a different OS build/version, will you still be able to use 5G, or would you have to reconfigure again?

 

[Elen_Danillova]

thanks!

 

[laojiefang]

OK, that makes sense.
In my research to be able to do this, I saw mentions of both the diag and edl modes, but nothing highlighted the distinctions, so I thought they were different names for the same thing.

So if edl mode is disabled by Sony for these devices, perhaps the correct question to ask is "how can I enable this diag mode/port", if this command is not available? Is it part of the ROM, or available in some other way?

For that matter, if it's a software level-band restriction, is that software itself in the ROM or the modem files? Do changes persist across ROMs?
For example, if you fix the 5G settings in one setup, then switch to a different OS build/version, will you still be able to use 5G, or would you have to reconfigure again?

edl mode is disabled at the factory. diag port is not disabled. I have never seen a phone with diag mode disabled.

 

[laojiefang]

OK, that makes sense.
In my research to be able to do this, I saw mentions of both the diag and edl modes, but nothing highlighted the distinctions, so I thought they were different names for the same thing.

So if edl mode is disabled by Sony for these devices, perhaps the correct question to ask is "how can I enable this diag mode/port", if this command is not available? Is it part of the ROM, or available in some other way?

For that matter, if it's a software level-band restriction, is that software itself in the ROM or the modem files? Do changes persist across ROMs?
For example, if you fix the 5G settings in one setup, then switch to a different OS build/version, will you still be able to use 5G, or would you have to reconfigure again?

LG mobile phones need to be re-cracked after changing the SIM card in mainland China, because the carrier_policy.xml file will change with the change of the SIM card, but after the cracking is completed when the SIM card is inserted, the third-party ROM such as MIUI does not need to be re-cracked. However, after replacing the SIM card, it cannot be cracked through the diag port again, unless the original firmware is flashed back. Sony I'm not sure if that's the case.

 

[laojiefang]

OK, that makes sense.
In my research to be able to do this, I saw mentions of both the diag and edl modes, but nothing highlighted the distinctions, so I thought they were different names for the same thing.

So if edl mode is disabled by Sony for these devices, perhaps the correct question to ask is "how can I enable this diag mode/port", if this command is not available? Is it part of the ROM, or available in some other way?

For that matter, if it's a software level-band restriction, is that software itself in the ROM or the modem files? Do changes persist across ROMs?
For example, if you fix the 5G settings in one setup, then switch to a different OS build/version, will you still be able to use 5G, or would you have to reconfigure again?

If you want to enable diag on a phone that is disabled by default, you must root the phone and then open it using adb shell command in the Android debug bridge (like the link you sent me).

 

[j4nn]

Sorry for the delay; it's been a weird week.


Interesting, thanks for this info! It at least explains why I was unable to get into it, despite the Qualcomm modem.

Do you have any experience with the "setprop persist.usb.eng 1" setting, and what it's doing?
As far as I can tell that's sometimes doing triggering a similar mode for folks, with some ROMs, but I don't understand it enough to grok why it's not doing the same for my device, and if it's even possible to get it working or if I need to switch to a completely different ROM.

It seems like the modem configuration should be independent of the ROM, but I have a sneaky suspicion that backing up, switching/re-configuring, then restoring my current one won't end up with it working any better.


Do you know anything about which operations are or aren't possible? The Xperia 1 III post suggests that some of them are possible - at least to download and upload files, which is hopefully enough here to tweak my settings so I'd have better LTE/VoIP compatibility.

Thanks again for your insight!

here is my post with info about persist.usb.eng:

[DEVONLY] LineageOS 16

This is the development thread for Lineage 16. Everyone who knows C, Java and strace is welcome to participate. Please send git formatted patches! Device Trees https://github.com/cryptomilk/android_kernel_sony_msm8998...

forum.xda-developers.com

[DEVONLY] LineageOS 16

This is the development thread for Lineage 16. Everyone who knows C, Java and strace is welcome to participate. Please send git formatted patches! Device Trees https://github.com/cryptomilk/android_kernel_sony_msm8998...

forum.xda-developers.com

and this one in particular:

[DEVONLY] LineageOS 16

This is the development thread for Lineage 16. Everyone who knows C, Java and strace is welcome to participate. Please send git formatted patches! Device Trees https://github.com/cryptomilk/android_kernel_sony_msm8998...

forum.xda-developers.com

concerning EDL mode (as discussed a different thing to diag mode) - you can boot into EDL with retail xz1c using a kernel patch which re-adds support for 'adb reboot edl', but it is not useful, because it needs sony signed EDL image that is loaded via usb (I happen to have it, but all interesting commands are protected by sony authentication, so it is not useful anyway)

 

[tonsofquestions]

LG mobile phones need to be re-cracked after changing the SIM card in mainland China, because the carrier_policy.xml file will change with the change of the SIM card, but after the cracking is completed when the SIM card is inserted, the third-party ROM such as MIUI does not need to be re-cracked. However, after replacing the SIM card, it cannot be cracked through the diag port again, unless the original firmware is flashed back. Sony I'm not sure if that's the case.

If you want to enable diag on a phone that is disabled by default, you must root the phone and then open it using adb shell command in the Android debug bridge (like the link you sent me).

Yes, the phone is rooted (thus the custom ROM, though I guess you could unlock and not root, but that just seems silly).
Thanks for the context on changing the SIM card, perhaps that's my underlying issue, and I'll just have to bite the bullet and go back to the original firmware.

here is my post with info about persist.usb.eng:

[DEVONLY] LineageOS 16

This is the development thread for Lineage 16. Everyone who knows C, Java and strace is welcome to participate. Please send git formatted patches! Device Trees https://github.com/cryptomilk/android_kernel_sony_msm8998...

forum.xda-developers.com

[DEVONLY] LineageOS 16

This is the development thread for Lineage 16. Everyone who knows C, Java and strace is welcome to participate. Please send git formatted patches! Device Trees https://github.com/cryptomilk/android_kernel_sony_msm8998...

forum.xda-developers.com

and this one in particular:

[DEVONLY] LineageOS 16

This is the development thread for Lineage 16. Everyone who knows C, Java and strace is welcome to participate. Please send git formatted patches! Device Trees https://github.com/cryptomilk/android_kernel_sony_msm8998...

forum.xda-developers.com

concerning EDL mode (as discussed a different thing to diag mode) - you can boot into EDL with retail xz1c using a kernel patch which re-adds support for 'adb reboot edl', but it is not useful, because it needs sony signed EDL image that is loaded via usb (I happen to have it, but all interesting commands are protected by sony authentication, so it is not useful anyway)

Ah, this is super interesting info, thank you j4nn! I am on Oreo, so maybe it's just as easy as setting a few of the extra props. I'll read through the read more later this evening.
Very neat about being able to custom-patch in the EDL reboot, and it makes sense that it wouldn't support random unsigned flashes, even if the phone is bootloader unlocked.
Do you have any additional experience with unlocking additional bands from the diag mode? I'm not sure what you were experimenting with at the time - if it was for your root exploit or something else.

 

[j4nn]

no, I do not have any experience unlocking additional bands, I do not know any other stuff about that diag apart from what has been posted there
but I find following thread very interesting and I guess it might be related to what you want too:

XZ1 Compact - MetroPCS VoLTE + Latest Pie + Fingerprint + Wi-Fi Calling Step by Step Guide

Overview: This guide provides step-by-step instructions for flashing any existing Sony stock rom Android 8 or 9 to the latest Sony stock ROM Android 9 Build v47.2.A.11.228 for use on the MetroPCS network. The finalized flash is a hybrid of Sony...

forum.xda-developers.com

 

[tonsofquestions]

Yup, I'm well familiar with that thread. I helped eparr with the guide a little, and gave him the older stock image that he couldn't find online anymore.
We also had a separate conversation about a similar problem I was/we were having (relevant to this discussion) here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/carriers-for-xperia-xz1-compact-in-us.4477627/ where we talked about his guide, custom flashing, the Sony CustomizationSelector app, modem overlays, and a few other things.

I think because I'm running an AOSP-based (rather than stock-based) ROM, some of these options aren't available to me, which is why I was trying to investigate EDL and diag modes to connect with and adjust the modem configurations directly.

I should probably explore some alternative ROMs but since this phone is also my daily driver, there's a high cost/interrupt to wiping, reinstalling, and repeatedly experimenting, so I've been reluctant to do anything too extreme until the holidays.