Develop Bugs

Best way to Install CM 9 on locked bootlaoder

So I have a carrier branded (rogers) Xperia play build 4.0.2.A.0.42, it is "unlock able" through sony, what is the best way? paid unpaid? test point the only way?

EDIT: Wrong info. Sorry about that.

Test point is the only way for a Rogers one.
It's only available paid. You can have someone like Alejandrissimo help you remotely for $24, or buy an Omnius unlock credit and use that program yourself. I used Omnius, personally. Mine is also the Rogers one.
You'll need to use the test point method and unlock the bootloader for cm9.
Better off with JokaWild and an ICS theme though IMO
Sent from a Galaxy far, far away

rom
captain67 said:
Test point is the only way for a Rogers one.
It's only available paid. You can have someone like Alejandrissimo help you remotely for $24, or buy an Omnius unlock credit and use that program yourself. I used Omnius, personally. Mine is also the Rogers one.
You'll need to use the test point method and unlock the bootloader for cm9.
Better off with JokaWild and an ICS theme though IMO
Sent from a Galaxy far, far away
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To clarify to flash any ROM the unlocked boot loader is needed correct?

jul644 said:
To clarify to flash any ROM the unlocked boot loader is needed correct?
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There are two gingerbread roms that are stock-based and can be installed just by having root. Darkforest and T.E.A.M. The reason is because they don't modify any files that conflict with the bootloader.
Some others might work, but you'd have to experiment and it's very unlikely.
All others need an unlocked bootloader. Cyanogen, ICS beta, ICX etc. all need it.
Sent from a Galaxy far, far away

captain67 said:
There are two gingerbread roms that are stock-based and can be installed just by having root. Darkforest and T.E.A.M. The reason is because they don't modify any files that conflict with the bootloader.
Some others might work, but you'd have to experiment and it's very unlikely.
All others need an unlocked bootloader. Cyanogen, ICS beta, ICX etc. all need it.
Sent from a Galaxy far, far away
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Locked ICS roms will start showing up once the official R800i ftf comes out as well.

Moved to Q&A Section, please post questions there. Hope you got the answers you needed!

Cm7

Hey I've just been reading posts on the forums and I had to ask, I since the play now supports recovery on locked bootloaders does that make custom roms possible? Specifically will any version of CM7 or 9 work on my bootloader LOCKED R800a (previously carrier locked to Telstra australia) sorry im completely over stock but don't have the money for a bootloader unlock right now
Sent from my R800a using XDA

nogggin1 said:
Hey I've just been reading posts on the forums and I had to ask, I since the play now supports recovery on locked bootloaders does that make custom roms possible? Specifically will any version of CM7 or 9 work on my bootloader LOCKED R800a (previously carrier locked to Telstra australia) sorry im completely over stock but don't have the money for a bootloader unlock right now
Sent from my R800a using XDA
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Nope, never will either. Have to be able to flash a custom kernel which isn't possible without unlocking the bl. There's a thread around here talking about doing some backdoor crap to try and get around the bl, but it'll never happen due to lack of support for the xperia line in general. I'd say save that money up, it's so worth it

agraceful said:
Nope, never will either. Have to be able to flash a custom kernel which isn't possible without unlocking the bl. There's a thread around here talking about doing some backdoor crap to try and get around the bl, but it'll never happen due to lack of support for the xperia line in general. I'd say save that money up, it's so worth it
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Hmm okay, I thought I read in another thread that there were some roms that didn't require a custom kernel...

A couple of ROMs don't require a custom kernel like: Gin2ics, NXT and others.
However all Cyanogenmod ROMs require custom kernels.

CM7 or CM9 and a Story

Hey I've asked a similar question in the past although didn't ask it properly and I HAVE searched many a time so I thought I'd ask and a good answer would be extremely appreciated so here goes:
I bought my Play (R800a) the day before Ice Cream Sandwich was cancelled for the device *Sadface* and then I soon after discovered that without paying extra for a Test Point unlock I was stuck with a pesky locked bootloader. Now, I thought this was the end for me but then I discovered something amazing! I can still install CWM and flash firmware via Flashtool, So did this mean custom roms on a locked Bootloader?! Yes, yes it did! Now that wasn't the end of my hassles, I also discovered that flashing kernels was impossible with a locked bootloader but what did that matter to me? I just figured I'd ignore Kernels all together, I'm fine with that!
>So what that made me wonder was are there any versions of CM7 or (preferably) CM9 that do not require a custom Kernel? And if so what firmware should my phone be on for it? I am currently on .42 but If it means a custom rom I'm happy to change!
>Next, if there are no safe versions of CM7 or 9 for a locked Bootloader, what other amazing roms are out there that I can use?
>If I were to stay on the stock rom should I update to something else from .42 or stick with it?
ps. Please do not go and say I should just buy a Test Point unlock, I have absolutely no money, I'm 17 with no Job and my parents don't have money either (I just lent mum my money the other day to buy milk).
pps. Will updating the firmware via flashtool wipe my phones memory? If so is titanium backup the best backup tool? (I am rooted)

I am Carrier unlocked (Previously locked to Telstra Australia)

Unfortunately most of the GOOD roms use different kernels...especially the CM7 and 9....so you would more than likely have to pay to unlock your phone. Still reading you post, just though I'd put what I've read from the forums here.
Searching around the dev section is normally your best bet to find roms that run through locked bootloader. Make sure you do a nandroid backup before you restore using the rom you choose. Using Titanium Backup is good for backing up games, save data and the data for those games. In your case you should look for GSM locked bootloader roms in the Dev section.
Sent from my R800x using XDA

brsingr said:
Unfortunately most of the GOOD roms use different kernels...especially the CM7 and 9....so you would more than likely have to pay to unlock your phone. Still reading you post, just though I'd put what I've read from the forums here.
Searching around the dev section is normally your best bet to find roms that run through locked bootloader. Make sure you do a nandroid backup before you restore using the rom you choose. Using Titanium Backup is good for backing up games, save data and the data for those games. In your case you should look for GSM locked bootloader roms in the Dev section.
Sent from my R800x using XDA
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Okay thanks mate I'll have a look around!

[Q] In need of guidance :)

Hello, and sorry for bugging everyone, but I have somewhat of a problem. I'll just start from the beggining.
First of all I own a SGS II, so I'm used to flashing roms and kernels custom stuff and all...on that. My girlfriend is the one who owns a Xperia Arc S (LT18a, US version if it's relevant or not). And for the live of me, I can't summon the courage to flash it, the process being somewhat different than the flashing of a S2. That's just idiot proof in my opinion, can't go wrong. I'm seeing all over the place guides and stuff for flashing a Xperia Arc S, and don't really know wich one is good/bad etc. So...the actual questions :
1. Where can I find the stock firmwares for Xperia Arc S ? I was hopping on a website something like sammobile for samsung, where I can find every release etc.
2. She now has 2.3.4 (I think not 100% sure) build 4.0.2.A.0.62 and from what I heard that cannot be rooted, or it involved something like unlocking the bootloader or something like that, safe to say that kinda freaked me out a bit.
3. I'm guessing that this build 62 is like on my samsung, where different stock rom's are differentiated by letters (eg. XXLPG, XWLPQ etc) so, someone please confirm that.
4. Is there any noticeable difference between these gingebread builds, cause if build 62 can't be rooted, I'll downgrade to previous build that can be more easily rooted.
5. I really need a idiot proof guide to flashing this thing. She has no warranty on it and I really don't want to mess it up
6. And last (finally, I know ) some links for safe versions of flashtool (equivalent of odin from what I understand) and firmwares, stuff I need to root it etc.
I apologise for such a long post but this stuff is pretty overwhelming for me. Also I apologise for spelling errors (english is not my first language)

Wow, the things we do for love...
OK, here's a quick run-down of how it works.
Firstly the bootloader thing: -
The bootloader is where the "kernel" sits. If you unlock the bootloader then you can pretty much put anything on the phone.
You can flash a custom kernel, and from there on you can use ClockworkMod recovery the same way you do on your Samsung.
(
custom kernels have ClockworkMod recovery built into them since the XPERIA doesn't have a "/recovery" partition for the standard ClockworkMod recovery.
If that didn't make sense then here's a translation "There's no special space for CWM recovery on Sony phones! So custom kernels have CWM recovery built in for easy access."
When one of these kernels starts up the phone there's a point where the hardware buttons light up, and the LED flashes purple. If you press "volume down" at this point then the kernel starts up ClockworkMod recovery instead of booting the phone.
Most roms come with their own kernel that you can use like this. The XPERIA is different to the SGS phone because you can't flash a kernel from the phone itself. You need an unlocked bootloader and fastboot to flash a kernel.
)
So unlocking the bootloader is a good idea, but only after you've made a backup of all your stuff off the memory card.
Here's a really good thread that brings together all sorts of pieces of information that you might need to root the phone - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1653188
OK, so that's the unlock thing, and the kernel thing. Once the kernel has CWM recovery built in you can pretty much flash any rom you feel like flashing. There are already some JellyBean roms out that are fast and usable if you're prepared to read up on them and experiment a bit.
Next thing is the "BaseBand". This is the driver for the "cell phone radio". The part of the hardware that's actually responsible for behaving like a phone
Here's a thread where you can get all of the different base-band versions: - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1688049
Personally I know that base-bands 72 and 77 both work perfectly. Since they are the 2 newest versions you can choose which-ever one you want. The newer basebands give much better signal strength on the phone, and the call quality is really good.
Good luck with the experimenting - hope you enjoy.

Are you looking to upgrade her arc to ics? It is much easier to find the resources if that is the case
Sent from my LT18i using xda premium

navras1719 said:
I can't summon the courage to flash it, the process being somewhat different than the flashing of a S2. That's just idiot proof in my opinion, can't go wrong.
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So is flashing on the Arc/S, so long as you can read.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1304634

Thanks for taking the time to answer such a long and frankly, annoying post Seems I got a bit of homework, manny things to read, so...coffee and patience Hope everything will add up nicely

jman2131 said:
Are you looking to upgrade her arc to ics? It is much easier to find the resources if that is the case
Sent from my LT18i using xda premium
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Not really, from what I hear ICS dumbs down the phone sort of speak. Now I really can't say, but I would test it out a bit, as long as I learn how to go back to GB.
Another thing that I'm a bit concerned is that all the stuff I find are for LT18i and my gf's phone is a american model LT18a. Will this be a problem ? Or that's just to differentiate the hardware stuff in them ? I hope flashing a LT18i firmware doesn't screw anything up

navras1719 said:
Not really, from what I hear ICS dumbs down the phone sort of speak. Now I really can't say, but I would test it out a bit, as long as I learn how to go back to GB.
Another thing that I'm a bit concerned is that all the stuff I find are for LT18i and my gf's phone is a american model LT18a. Will this be a problem ? Or that's just to differentiate the hardware stuff in them ? I hope flashing a LT18i firmware doesn't screw anything up
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Yep, the differentiating factor is the hardware. the lt18i and lt18a roms are the same as far as I know. ICS does tend to be more resource heavy especially on the arcs but downgrading back to GB is basically the same method as flashing the ICS, just with another rom.
And also, in response to your first post, you can downgrade to the rootable build of GB, root that, and then flash the build 62 kernel back onto your phone so it's rooted and of the desired build
There's a lot of flashing guides on youtube regarding the arc s. I did a quick search and this one seemed pretty accurate and straight to the point.

Ok I pretty much understood the whole shabang, my last question is about the bootloader, if I unlock it once that's it ? I can flash whatever I want and not need to reunclock it...sort of speak. I read that for warranty reasons it can be relocked but that's not the case for me. Also for flashing a stock rom is it necessary to unlock the bootloader or that's just for rooting ?
Oh and almost forgot...if I understood right...I can downgrade...root...then upgrade to 62 and it will still be rooted ? On my samsung if it'a rooted and I flash abother stock rom...bye bye root, so pretty weird for me. Thank you again, I can't stress enough how helpfull you guys were.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

unlocking the bootloader allows a whole lot more things to be done with the arc, but does make some apps defunct such as track id and music facebook like (which many can do without). flashing and/or rooting a stock rom doesn't need an unlocked bootloader because it's stock and yep, you can downgrade/upgrade, root, and then go back to what build you want by flashing a kernel only

jman2131 said:
unlocking the bootloader allows a whole lot more things to be done with the arc, but does make some apps defunct such as track id and music facebook like (which many can do without).
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That only applies if you use the official method to unlock, use SETool and you'll retain DRM.
Sent from my CM9'd Ray

XperienceD said:
That only applies if you use the official method to unlock, use SETool and you'll retain DRM.
Sent from my CM9'd Ray
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Thanks for the clarification. I never knew much about bootloaders and all that

XperienceD said:
That only applies if you use the official method to unlock, use SETool and you'll retain DRM.
Sent from my CM9'd Ray
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If you could help me out with a SETool link and a basic set of instructions that would be awsome
LE: From what I've seen there are 2 versions of SETool and one's free the other is not. Can the free version be used to unlock the bootloader or do I have to get the full version ? Or even simpler, is there anyway to unlock it (LT18a) free and without losing DRM ?

XperienceD said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1304634
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So basically from what I read there, no way for free unlock and retain DRM.

navras1719 said:
So basically from what I read there, no way for free unlock and retain DRM.
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Follow the instructions up to the point just before patching and tell me what it says please?

if you unlock the bootloader NEVER UPDATE OVER THE AIR this will brick the phone.
The're 2 ways to unlock bootloader
1 via Sony web site but this only works for non branded phones,
2 is to pay if you use a service with setools this will unlock bootloader and make phone SIM free.
Xda member jinx13 offers this service contract him for more info.
Sent from my LT18i using xda premium

zolaisugly said:
2 is to pay if you use a service with setools this will unlock bootloader and make phone SIM free.
Click to expand...
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If SETool can unlock any handset I'm not sure why the S1Tool wouldn't, has anyone confirmed in the thread it doesn't work for the Arc S?

XperienceD said:
If SETool can unlock any handset I'm not sure why the S1Tool wouldn't, has anyone confirmed in the thread it doesn't work for the Arc S?
Click to expand...
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Since my bootloader was opened the setools has been upgraded to setools2 which now covers more phones but not sure which.
Sent from my LT18i using xda premium

XperienceD said:
Follow the instructions up to the point just before patching and tell me what it says please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry but what are you refering to ? The process that involves opening the backcover under the battery ?
Some additional info, it's not carrier branded, not sim locked...and using the service code in the dialer says bootloader unlockable : yes
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Should have had this done already.
Sent from my CM9'd Ray

[Q] Xperia Play r800at Troubles

Hello, I was posting here because I've been having a great deal of difficulty really getting anything done with it. What I'd like to do is either unlock the bootloader, or at least root it to my computer to flash on a new ROM.
In order to root it, I was told to put it in MSC mode, allow unknown sources, and enable USB debuggin, all of which I've done. However, when I go to root it using either SuperOneClick, Doom method, or flashtool, I continually get errors, either saying ADB server is out of date, killing..., or in the case of the doom method that it cannot write any files because they are read only. Somebody mentioned you an overwrite your r800at with an r800i rom to make this work, but the link in that thread lead to some virus (I assume it was taken down a while ago). I put it to a stock AT&T ftf, and still no luck.
My problem lies in the fact that some of the threads I'm looking at are YEARS old at this point, most of the links are dead, and some of the advice is contradictory. I figured then that I could just get somebody to unlock it for money, but all the threads point to alejandrissimo, who I believe is now inactive.
All I would like is to root my phone and put on a new rom, preferably of ICS, with minimal difficulty. I've sunk something like 10 hours into it at this point, and now am the proud owner of a phone with the exact same firmware I started with. I've wiped my contacts like 8 times, and to be honest I'm just getting frustrated with the whole thing. I hate the idea of having bloatware all over my phone though.
So if anybody knows a good way either to root the r800at (and if possible could provide active links to the software), or somebody I could pay to unlock it and skip all this work, I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks for reading, have a good one.

I can't help you with unlocking bootloader (i have r800i with unlocked bootloader), but maybe i can help you with root
You didn't say what firmware are you using, but in general use Doomlord's zergrush method v4 for firmware .42 and below or Eroot on newer firmware (it's on chinese but it have one big button with word "ROOT" on it :silly: )
That is only for rooting and with that you can debloat stock firmware or use ROMs for locked bootloader.
SWM_installer V5 , should work on locked bootloader (once you get root) so you can flash custom GB roms.
To be able to install ICS/JB/CM/MIUI ROMS you must unlock your bootloader because they all don't work on stock GB kernel, and you need unlocked bootloader to be able to flash custom kernels
Here is some links, but i hope R800a users can help you more with unlocking bootloader
Xperia Play Index - ROM'S, FIRMWARE, KERNEL'S, GUIDE'S, THEMES, MOD'S
[MEGATHREAD][GUIDES][18th Dec][4Noobs] All My Tutorials!
Cyanlabs ROM Kitchen & Windows Helper Application

Thanks
First, thank you for the very informative response. Here's some additional info, I am not sure if it will be helpful to you
My current Android version is the stock AT&T 2.3.3 and my build number is 3.0.1.b.0.285. I'm honestly not sure which of these things is helpful, but I'll try that Chinese rooting method. Got a long work shift tonight, but I'll report back later.
Thank you so much, I really do appreciate it!