Rom for after replacing play - Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Is there any speed/memory to be gained by removing phone, gps, sms, etc funtions on the play?
I think most of us understand we will use our plays long after we replace it as a phone i can give you a million reasons why but i dont have to, you already know.
So what about a rom that is for just gaming/wifi internet funtions only.
Think of it, your play is deactivated, you dont need the radio anymore and a bunch of other funtions.
Am i crazy about thinking of turning my play into an internet enabled gameboy? What are the possibilities?

That's what I did . Removing the phone apps would make the PLAY not even attempt to gain data access, so it likely will help with battery life (it actually auto-sets the phone to airplane mode so you could just do that if you don't want to mess with the phone app). You also cannot check the "Status" under "About phone" if you remove the phone app. After removing the phone app, your PLAY with hate you, so you'll likely have to do a battery pull. After it restarts, the errors will cease.
As for roms, I just use a tweaked version of the stock rom (best for audio quality to me) but CM7 might be faster

Just turn on airplane mode

Michealtbh said:
Just turn on airplane mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well yes but my question was if there was any memory to be gained by not having those funtions on the phone in the first place.

My cell is GSM, and i bought a CDM Xperia Play to use as a tablet device, i just use it with airplane mode.
I rooted it, removed all bloatware, and got a 64GB microsd for it.
I love it i use it for:
- Internet.
- Mp3 Player.
- Camera.
- Console Emulators.
- Scummvm.
- Android Games.
And i got it for $124 brand new in it's plastic bag with the factory seal intact, because it had a bad ESN. (Who cares i will never use it as a cell phone)

It could be interesting to develop a phoneless ROM. It's not an uncommon demand, so maybe something could be done about it.

Do all 64Gb work?

GetPatriotized said:
Do all 64Gb work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.xperiablog.net/2011/12/14/xperia-play-supports-64gb-microsd-memory-cards/

Related

Any way to use a Xperia Play as a game/media device with no phone/data?

noobish question I know, but I have an HTC smartphone complete with impossibly crappy bluetooth implementation (SIP only no gamepads or keyboards). I don't want to run a different ROM (such as CM7) at least until the phone is out of warranty.
So question is, is there any combination of roms/hacks/homebrew that will keep an Xperia Play functional for Emu's like NESoid and Genplus, and MP3's? Or will the lack of data and phone plan cause it to get bricked?
Dumb question I suppose but without actually canceling the data and phone plan on one it's hard to guess what functionality (if any) the phone would still have.
sciencestick said:
noobish question I know, but I have an HTC smartphone complete with impossibly crappy bluetooth implementation (SIP only no gamepads or keyboards). I don't want to run a different ROM (such as CM7) at least until the phone is out of warranty.
So question is, is there any combination of roms/hacks/homebrew that will keep an Xperia Play functional for Emu's like NESoid and Genplus, and MP3's? Or will the lack of data and phone plan cause it to get bricked?
Dumb question I suppose but without actually canceling the data and phone plan on one it's hard to guess what functionality (if any) the phone would still have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Given the strong price drops that this device had suffered, some people have actually bought the device as a console of sorts and asked the same as you, about using the device without phone capabilities. The result is affirmative: you can perfectly use the phone without a SIM card, or if you use CDMA you can flash a GSM ROM which will have neither phone service nor data. Wifi, Bluetooth and the rest of the phone's options are at your disposal, including running games and emulators. Some programs run license checks though, so they won't start if you're not online, and thus you will need to have a wifi connection handy.
XPlay-Swype
sciencestick said:
noobish question I know, but I have an HTC smartphone complete with impossibly crappy bluetooth implementation (SIP only no gamepads or keyboards). I don't want to run a different ROM (such as CM7) at least until the phone is out of warranty.
So question is, is there any combination of roms/hacks/homebrew that will keep an Xperia Play functional for Emu's like NESoid and Genplus, and MP3's? Or will the lack of data and phone plan cause it to get bricked?
Dumb question I suppose but without actually canceling the data and phone plan on one it's hard to guess what functionality (if any) the phone would still have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like Logseman said, this is possible. My Xperia Play is unactivated, and I just use it to play games and connect to WiFi. It worked out pretty well since I got it as a free Verizon upgrade.
You shouldn't need a plan activated to use the device in general. Only to make calls, text or use non-wifi internet. Emulators and Android games should still work.
Sent from a Galaxy far, far away
And well if you use dell voice and text plus, you can still have a phone and txt without any service at all
swebosdev said:
And well if you use dell voice and text plus, you can still have a phone and txt without any service at all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And Groove IP.
You don't simply brick a phone by using it without a SIM card
There already have been some complains about misuse of the word "brick". Bricking a phone does not mean it doesn't boot up Android, get boot loops or get force closes, etc. It means your phone won't start up at all, doesn't turn on, can't get into recovery and won't even show up the boot logo. Then there's the hard brick which means it won't even vibrate when holding on the power button and won't even connect to PC, making your phone a waste of glass and metal, which is probably impossible to happen to the Xperia Play. Soft bricking the Xperia Play is ALWAYS repairable, by flashing the original ROM via flash tool, meaning you won't never ever have to worry about the whole bricking thing.
Sent from the best gaming android smartphone in the world with the best forum android app in the world
Moved to Q&A Section, please post questions there, hope you got your answer!

Reusing an older phone

Hi all!
I've done a little searching and I'm not finding results that totally work for what I'm asking so if I miss something please don't hate me
Basically I recently upgraded to a Note 2, but I want to be a good cousin and replace my his recently destroyed Ipod (It wasn't his fault, he dad stepped on it whilst cleaning a the van one day.) basically I want to wipe it and put a clear os on it. I messed the headphone jack a little and I destroyed the orientation when I had it. So I can't give it to him on the OS it has. Every ten seconds with headphones in it tries to launch cybertron etc.
I've not flashed before, and I'm not sure what Rom would be best for his needs. Basically I want to (legally if at all possible) put on google play with a google account and buy him angry birds and some of those Kairosoft games, netflix, the whole Ipod jazz basically.
Is this viable? Or should I go to a pawn shop and find a cheap one for his birthday?
Thanks all!
Just flash a clean ROM, use the app Headset Blocker for the headphone problem, and download other apps you need for the Play store...
uros0104 said:
Just flash a clean ROM, use the app Headset Blocker for the headphone problem, and download other apps you need for the Play store...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will that remove the phone capabilities? I'd prefer to not have texting or phone apps there, as there is no sim card there.
themarker0 said:
Will that remove the phone capabilities? I'd prefer to not have texting or phone apps there, as there is no sim card there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess you could delete those from /system/app, but if there is no SIM card they won't work anyway.
Just buy an iPod..problem fixed....
Look around, I'm pretty sure you can find a 160 GB for cheap and BTW when you start deleting important system files like phone.apk,contacts/contacts storage.apk, etc basically any phone capability apps than you'll have force close after force close
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium

[Q] Best way to strip the phone components from the software

I am wanting to remove all the phone components to basically make the phone a portable media player.
What would be the best way to accomplish this. I am not sure what programs would need to be frozen.
slixzen said:
I am wanting to remove all the phone components to basically make the phone a portable media player.
What would be the best way to accomplish this. I am not sure what programs would need to be frozen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2344890
This basically strips the phone to just that a phone with text and internet. You don't have to activate the phone or use any of the 3 to 4 total features. However, I think you need these things to at least get the phone recognize anything. Try that first. If you want to try something different, you can delete these as you see fit.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spr...1gdDJRekl4QmkyNmIzUmRvX2h3UDVkQXc&output=html
bigmike6200 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2344890
This basically strips the phone to just that a phone with text and internet. You don't have to activate the phone or use any of the 3 to 4 total features. However, I think you need these things to at least get the phone recognize anything. Try that first. If you want to try something different, you can delete these as you see fit.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spr...1gdDJRekl4QmkyNmIzUmRvX2h3UDVkQXc&output=html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is here a simpler way? Wouldn't removing the radio from the phone solve the problem of it constantly searching for a signal (besides it being in Airplane Mode)? I appreciate the list, as that is useful, but, I am looking for more then just freezing/removing apks.
I basically want the phone to become a PMP without the ability to call, text, etc.
slixzen said:
Is here a simpler way? Wouldn't removing the radio from the phone solve the problem of it constantly searching for a signal (besides it being in Airplane Mode)? I appreciate the list, as that is useful, but, I am looking for more then just freezing/removing apks.
I basically want the phone to become a PMP without the ability to call, text, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then go with the spreadsheet and delete away. Careful not to delete the stuff to at least get the phone to the homepage. The best way is to make a backup first. Then delete one thing at a time and reboot to ensure the phone will still work the way you want to.
X'ed out the game
slixzen said:
Is here a simpler way? Wouldn't removing the radio from the phone solve the problem of it constantly searching for a signal (besides it being in Airplane Mode)? I appreciate the list, as that is useful, but, I am looking for more then just freezing/removing apks.
I basically want the phone to become a PMP without the ability to call, text, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't just remove the Modem... what more are you looking for? The only real way to do it is to freeze apps or remove them. Its not like we have a ROM for what you want. If you want it, you're going to have to do it yourself. If there is no service, it is useless for calling and texting. I suggest keeping the phone section active because it can still be used for emergency calls to 911. But as far as completely disabling call and text features, you will have to remove or freeze the apps. There is nothing to disable it from having a signal other than airplane mode. Wifi can still be turned on though.
Sent from my SGH-I337 using xda premium

T0ltecan phone kill?

It has come that time. my note 2 is getting very little use anymore. But I still have a user for it. But I want to kill the phone completely. And I mean completely, not just airplane mode or remove the apk.
It's only ever going to use WiFi now from time to time. so I want to maximize the shelf life.
Is this possible? Maybe flash an empty IMG over the modem?
Any other way?
Than you for any info..
A bare bones AOSP rom with a minimal gapps package for Google access could work. ..
Then use TIBU to delete all non essential apk's....
Pull the sim and done. ..
No network without a sim...and you should be able to kill the no sim prompt using TIBU as well so the nag screen won't function. ..
Just a few ideas for ya....
But you will need an OS for the chipsets to function and for sat locks and such if you want maps or something similar. ..
Just a few thoughts. ...g
Sadly modern phones still connect to the cell phone network even with out a sim, and still might allow an emergency call. But there should be a way to stop all that.
nutpants said:
Sadly modern phones still connect to the cell phone network even with out a sim, and still might allow an emergency call. But there should be a way to stop all that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can go into the system and delete the phone and contacts apk files.
Also I believe Wanam Xposed and Gravity box Xposed has options to disable the emergency call feature from the home/lock screen.

Learning My T-Mo D851 on ATT. Musings of a stranger in a strange land...

Hi everyone,
I'm the new owner of an unlocked T-Mo D851, and will be using it on AT&T. I bought the T-Mo version instead of the ATT version due to the unlocked bootloader and better Dev support. Love those Devs!
I figured I'd post a thread with the things I learn along the way, to help others that might benefit, particularly since I'm joining the G3 community long after the novelty has worn off. Folks like me that join have a lot of past experience to review here, and so much is out of date it can be intimidating, particularly when our new device acts a lot different from our old one. I hope this thread helps someone, but at minimum it will serve as documentation for me to refer back to, should I need that. I'll include links where appropriate.
I'm an intermediate level flasher, having worked with maybe 6-8 other phones/tablets. So, I know enough to be dangerous, but not enough to have an ego to bruise. My most recent phone was a T-Mo Galaxy S4. But I dropped it, and cracked the screen, just a few weeks after getting it all settled in with a nice 5.1.1 GPE ROM. Sigh.
I got the phone a few days ago but have just gotten around to working on it.
On day 1 I charged it up, skipped setup (touch corners, upper left, upper right, lower right above the softkeys, lower left above the softkeys... took 10 tries or so!), and connected the wifi (no sim card inserted yet). It immediately found update 20E (it shipped with kitkat). I let that update, but was surprised it didn't find the current 20G update. I want to make sure I start with the latest firmware/modems etc. installed.
In this thread, helpful user @mitbit2k3 pointed me to the online LG site that lets you download the LG Mobile Support Tool. It also gives instructions for installing the PROPER PC connection driver for the phone which works, versus the default Win7 driver that doesn't work for the purposes of the update. With proper driver installed, and with USB connection in the right mode (follow instructions to set the phone USB settings), I got up to 20G stock.
I exercised the phone a bit (still without SIM card) and made sure everything worked... cameras, GPS, wifi, etc.
Then I figured it would be time to install TWRP and take it from there. Much to my surprise, you need to root this thing FIRST. Even with an unlocked bootloader, you can't just fire up ODIN and flash TWRP.
I did my research on the forum and through Google... with all the versions of software since release there were numerous descriptions of how to root the thing, some of which were outdated. For me, on 20G software (5.01 Android), this worked fine:
https://www.reddit.com/r/LGG3/comments/3n0nk1/new_super_easy_oneclick_way_to_root_g3/
it references back to XDA of course:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g3/general/guide-root-method-lg-devices-t3129197
From this I learned to review the top level LG G3 subforums, not just the T-Mobile XDA subforums!!
OK, that rooted me just fine and installed SuperSU. I was able to use the "first way" which is super simple.
With that done, I was able to install TWRP. I went straight to the source for it:
https://twrp.me/devices/lgg3tmo.html
I used the "dd" method which involves running ADB on the PC. I use a version that is a "Minimal ADB and Fastboot" that works fine... I used it to mess around with my Shield tablet previously, so I was familiar with it. Basically you run the minimal ADB through a desktop icon, and it loads a command line interface. You type ADB Shell after plugging in the phone to the USB cable (it has to be on, developer options enabled, debugging enabled). Then you type the commands listed on the TWRP site. Pretty soon TWRP is installed.
Next I had to figure out how to get into download mode. Yeah, yeah... power plus volume down... been there done that, but on the LG you have to boot with power/down, then when the LG icon comes up you release for a second, then press the two keys again, then at the next screen tell it you want to wipe the phone, and confirm this again on the next screen. THEN it finally boots into TWRP. Kinda scary. And getting the keys right takes some practice.
Once in TWRP, I backed everything up (including EFS partition) to an external SD card, just in case I messed something up. I had previously erased the SD card from within the phone's SEttings/Storage mode, to make sure it would be able to be accessed. No problem.
So now I've got a rooted phone, with TWRP installed, and the next step is to figure out what I want to do ROM wise. I wish there were a 5.1.1 GPE stock + LG Camera ROM. But I haven't found one. I like plain ROMs. The default stock ROM, even if it were debloated, its a bit annoying to me (and just 5.0.1) so I'll probably move to BlissPop or Slim something, but I will research around.
It's time to stick my SIM in and see how the phone does on AT&T. I'd like to get a baseline before I go ROM-hopping.
I will say that on stock ROM, with no SIM but WIFI on, the standby power drain on this thing is incredible. It went overnight (7 hours) and was still reading 100%. A whole 24 hours in, it was only a few percent lower. Of course, I hadn't attached any Google accounts, so the phone was truly idle, but it's very impressive nonetheless.
Stay tuned. I'll be updating this as I go along.
OK, I'm a few hours in.
No problem with my ATT SIM card in the phone; the phone was purchased unlocked and everything hooked up fine as soon as I entered in the APN information for ATT (which you can get from here).
The phone gave me a warning about WIFI Calling invalid SIM; I went into the settings and turned off WIFI calling, since I'm on ATT and only T-Mo offers it.
One other problem I haven't sorted out yet is that I get a text each time I reboot the phone, apparently my phone is sending a text to a very long address 060504071000004163.... and the text I get back is an error message that this isn't a valid number. Not sure how to turn this off. Annoying, but once per boot won't kill me until I figure it out. Google will likely be my friend. EDIT: I think this relates to T-mo visual voicemail. I went into the T-Mo Visual Voicemail app and I immediately got another one of these texts. Time to remove this app...
Meanwhile I notice the WIFI reception of this phone is much stronger than the S4. On the other hand, it seems less likely to drop a weak WIFI in favor of a stronger one... I have several access points around my house, and I've found I've needed to switch them manually now and then. Haven't had to do this on the S4.
I'm also struggling to get restores to work from my Backup Your Mobile app. I moved the backup onto an SD card in the G3, but the app isn't recognizing it. Uh oh. That's got my MMS/SMS/Call log backups. So, I've still got things to work on.
I gradually entered my various Google accounts, and let Play Store download the updates needed for all the apps. I've got about 75% of the apps I use re-downloaded.
I've got one "serious" problem in that the Play Store says the ATT Visual Voicemail app, which is a cornerstone of how I use the phone (because it transcribes voicemails into readable text), isn't compatible with my phone. That's crap. It worked fine on my T-Mo S4 (running a generic GPE edition). I'll probably have to sideload the app, but it's annoying that it's locked out.
Making progress.
I still couldn't download the ATT Visual Voicemail app from the Play Store, and went stir crazy trying to find it on my S4 (which is rooted, so I should be able to find it, but...). I went haring off in lots of directions, including making a full apps backup with Helium, but then the G3 won't restore without using the PC app due to changes in 5.0... which is weird because my S4 (which is running a 5.1.1 GPE ROM) restores fine. I don't have the PC app installed so I tried using Backup My Mobile... but then eventually figured out that on the S4, with ES File Explorer, I not only had Root Explorer OFF (didn't know I had to turn it on), but it's easy to find apps with the APP Library. Once I found the app there, I uploaded it to my Google Drive, then downloaded it from there onto the G3. It installed fine.
I used System App Remover (which requires root) to get rid of all the T-Mobile specific apps and that annoying Lookout security program. Bah! This cured that spurious text message I get with each boot. It was definitely due to the T-mo visual voice mail. Problem solved!
In using the phone, I'm a bit bummed because it didn't occur to me that a big part of my bigger screen as compared to the GS4 would be taken up by the softkeys on screen. The S4 has a physical home button and capacitive keys to either side. So, my screen isn't effectively much bigger, when I account for dedicating some of it to the buttons. You can make the buttons autohide, apparently. One issue is I use my phone in landscape much of the time, and the buttons don't rotate to the new "bottom" of the screen when I rotate. Gotta figure that out.
This morning I installed the PC Helium App so I could enable backup/restore access on the G3. That worked fine, but Helium on the G3 still doesn't detect my external SD card, in order to restore from it. I could manually copy files over to the internal Carbon folder, and restores from there worked fine. Still, I'm not sure why I'm having so much SD Card angst. I know things change each version of Android wrt SD cards... maybe something is fixed in 5.1.1 (as I had on my S4) that is broken in 5.01 on the G3.
So, I've got some tweaking to do from here. The phone is basically set up and working fine except for some straggler apps that I won't bother with until I need them, with one major exception: I need to go in and set up Light Flow. That app is a big part of how I manage notifications on any phone...
If you rooted your phone, then download and run the SDFix app from the Play Store. Apps will then have the ability to write to the external SD card...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nextapp.sdfix&hl=en&referrer=utm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_medium%3Dorganic%26utm_term%3Dsd+card+fix+kitkat&pcampaignid=APPU_1_bJMtVsTJBoKajwP4noeABw
... and yes, it also works w/ Lollipop.
redduc900 said:
If you rooted your phone, then download and run the SDFix app from the Play Store. Apps will then have the ability to write to the external SD card...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nextapp.sdfix&hl=en&referrer=utm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_medium%3Dorganic%26utm_term%3Dsd+card+fix+kitkat&pcampaignid=APPU_1_bJMtVsTJBoKajwP4noeABw
... and yes, it also works w/ Lollipop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I'll give this a whirl!
EDIT: WORKED LIKE A CHARM. Thanks again! And thanks for the link, because there were several SDFix apps. The link made sure I got the one you intended.:good:
OK, I'm in a pretty good place after making some changes. Still plenty to tweak though.
First, I decided to abandon the stock Home launcher. It was a bit annoying with little UI tweaks LG made that make it just not how I expect it to look, but the kicker was that in landscape mode, the titles of the icons were not readable... they were mostly cut off. I use Rotate (Ultimate Rotation) so pretty much every screen including home is rotatable. But LG Home maintains in landscape mode the little dots representing the various home screen pages... these take up just enough room so that things get squished a bit and the titles cut off. Couldn't figure out how to disable that, so just bailed and installed Google Now Launcher which fixed me right up. That fixed the look and feel of the home screen, the apps drawer, and even reverted settings to the normal views I'm used to.
The only problem is that it kills double tap to sleep... or at least reduces the footprint of the double-tappable area to the notification strip at the top. Sigh. In another thread someone mentioned using Greenify to fix it. I'll try that when I get a chance.
Another weird thing I've got going on is that when I connect via Bluetooth to my car, it starts playing music. See this thread. That's pretty annoying... for now I deleted the default music that was playing, and with an empty directory nothing plays.
I put on a screen protector last night. I got the 0.2mm iCarez one. I performed the application in a steamy bathroom after running the hot shower for a bit, per some tips over in the Accessories thread. I left the backing on, positioned the glass on the screen, taped one side for the "hinge method" after getting it perfectly aligned and accounting for the eventual loss of thickness of the plastic underbacking, cleaned everything one last time with the alcohol wipe, peeled the backing, and plopped it on starting in the center. Got it perfectly positioned and no major bubbles. There were a couple of "spec sized" non-uniformities but they were gone by morning.
I'm gradually setting in... Still lots to play with.
I've noticed the WIFI, while it gets good reception, is a bit sluggish to drop a weak connection in favor of a strong one. Anybody got a tweak for that?
Frankenscript said:
I've noticed the WIFI, while it gets good reception, is a bit sluggish to drop a weak connection in favor of a strong one. Anybody got a tweak for that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this app for WIFI management. I have tried several and this is the best I have found. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.kman.WifiManager I agree completely that the wifi in the phone is very slow to drop a weak signal and grab a stronger one. But with wifi manager you can play with the sensitivity. Good luck.
Will do. Thanks for confirming it's not just me. Also on another note I just found the LG keyboard has lots of settings for customization. Not bad. May keep it!
Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk

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