Create a backup image from recovery

Step 1: Enter recovery mode 

 (see also here ) 

 Step 1.1: Turn your phone completely off and disconnect any USB cables 

 Step 1.2: Install fastboot drivers on your computer (for instructions see  here ) 

 Step 1.3: Force your phone to the fastboot mode 

 

  Hold the Volume Up key down and connect a data-connected USB cable (a charging cable would not work)

 

 Ensure that the LED at the top of the display area is lit in BLUE colour (if not, disconnect the cable, release the key and try again) 

 

 Step 1.4: Boot into recovery with the recovery image you got when you downloaded SailfishOS. 

 Attention: This should be of the same SailfishOS version as your phone  

 Execute the following commands in the same directory as your recovery image (on Linux and macOS with sudo): 

 For Xperia 10 II and Xperia 10 III: 

 fastboot flash boot_a hybris-recovery.img

fastboot flash boot_b hybris-recovery.img

fastboot reboot 

 For Xperia X, Xperia XA2 or Xperia 10 : 

 fastboot boot hybris-recovery.img 

 Step 1.5: Connect to your device with 

 telnet 10.42.66.66 

 Step 1.6: Type in "3" to open a shell. You will be asked for the security code/password of your phone 

 Step 2: Mount microSD-card 

 Mount your microSD card with the following command. Your SD-card needs to have at least 105GB of free space. 

 mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt 

 Step 3: Do the backup 

 Execute: 

 dd if=/dev/sda79 of=/mnt/backup.img bs=1M 

 Note: This can take 40+ minutes. During this time, no progress is shown. If you would like to see progress, open a second telnet connection and execute watch -n5 'kill -USR1 $(pgrep ^dd$)', which will show progress (in the original telnet session) every 5 seconds. 

 Step 4: Unmount the memory card 

 Once the backup is finished, unmount the microSD-card with: 

 umoumt /mnt 

  Step 5: Exit recovery mode 

 After unmounting, first, exit the shell environment by typing 

 exit 

  This will bring you back to the recovery menu. Here, now select "6" (Exit) which will close the telnet session. 

 Next, disconnect the USB cable from the phone. After that, you need to force power-off your device by pressing the Vol Up key down, keeping it pressed and pressing the Power key, too. When you feel the vibrator play once and soon after three (3) times (this should happen in about 20 seconds), release both keys. In this way, we ensure that the phone is completely turned off before we proceed to the next step. 

 Step 6: Reverting the phone back to normal (For Xperia 10 II and Xperia 10 III only, other Sony phones don't need this step) 

 (see also here ) 

 Step 6.1: Force your phone to the fastboot mode 

 

 Hold the Volume Up key down and connect a data-connected USB cable (a charging cable would not work)

 

 Ensure that the LED at the top of the display area is lit in BLUE colour (if not, disconnect the cable, release the key and try again) 

 

 Step 6.2:  Reflash the normal boot image 

 Attention: This should be of the same SailfishOS version as your phone  

 Execute the following commands in the same directory as your boot image (on Linux and macOS with sudo): 

 fastboot flash boot_a hybris-boot.img

fastboot flash boot_b hybris-boot.img

fastboot reboot