How to Enable Dual Sim on Single Sim Moto Z

The Motorola Moto Z was shipped in single SIM and dual SIM versions. Ironically, both versions use a dual-SIM support tray. There is zero physical difference between the single-SIM and dual-SIM version of the Moto Z! In the single-SIM version of the Moto Z, the second SIM slot is locked via the phone’s internal software. In a nutshell, Motorola shipped a phone that is perfectly capable of dual-SIM support, yet charged consumers extra to have both SIM slots unlocked.

The purpose of this guide is to unlock the second SIM tray, therefore bypassing the software lock.

Warning: The following steps were performed on a Moto Z running LineageOS 14.1 which is based on Android 7.x. LineageOS is a highly developed custom ROM that was forked from CyanogenMod.

Before following this guide, read through completely to the end. No matter which method you follow, there is a specific final task you must do, which is at the end of this guide.

Installing LineageOS on your Moto Z:

1. Download LineageOS 14.1 here
2. Reboot to your recovery (Volume Down + Power)
3. Format your /system, /data, and /cache.
4. Flash the LineageOS .zip file.
5. [Optional] Install a Google Apps package of your choice, such as Open GApps.

Unlocking the Dual Sim Support

There are several methods which I will detail below.

Option 1 – TWRP Terminal

1. Boot into TWRP and open a Terminal
2. Type the following command into the TWRP Terminal:
   setprop persist.radio.multisim.config dsds

Option 2 – MultiSIM Toggle app (Root Required)

1. Download the MultiSIM Toggle .apk from here and install it on your phone.
2. Open the app and grant it SuperUser permission.
   
3. Your device will automatically reboot if the operation is successful.

Option 3 – Via Command Line Interface

1. Activate developer mode on your Moto Z (Settings > About > tap Build Number 7 times)
2. Go into Developer Options and enable the terminal app
3. Launch the terminal app and grant it root access
4. Type the following commands into the terminal:
   su
   mount -o rw,remount /system
   cd /system
   cp build.prop build.prop.orig
   echo ro.hw.dualsim=true >>build.prop
   mount -o ro,remount /system
5. Reboot your device.

Option 4 – Root File Explorer method

You need a root file explorer app on your device – ES File Explorer, FX, Root Browser, etc.

1. In your explorer app, make sure that /system is mounted as writable (steps may vary depending on app).
   
2. Navigate to /system and make a backup copy of your build.prop file.
3. Open build.prop with a text editor and find this line:
   hw.dualsim=false
4. Change the false to true
5. Reboot your device

After Following Any of the Above Steps:

1. Open your root explorer app and navigate to the “fsg” folder.
2. Depending on your regional firmware, you will see a bunch of img.gz files. You are looking for either griffin_2.img.gz and griffin_row.img.gz, or Addison_ROW and Addison_2.img.gz
   
3. Make a backup of those files, and then delete the originals.
4. Now find files with a similar name but with the addition of “dsds”, example: img.gz
5. Rename the dsds files to the original files you deleted earlier (example: rename Addison_dsds_2.img.gz to Addison_2.img.gz, and Addison_dsds_row.img.gz to Addison_row.img.gz)
6. Connect your Moto Z to your PC via USB, and reboot to your bootloader (Volume Up + Power)
7. Open an ADB terminal and type the following commands:
   fastboot erase modemst1
   fastboot erase modemst2
   fastboot erase cache
   fastboot reboot

**Known Issues**

• Dialer may have limited functionality, such as not being able to save contacts to SIM 2
• SIM 2 may display IMEI 0
• Your SIM 1 IMEI may be lost if you follow these steps incorrectly

If you need to revert to original settings, you can flash the fsg.mbn file found in your original firmware.