Develop Bugs

[Q] Can't hard reset Xperia PLAY and isn't detected by flash tool

I had LauncherPRO, I tried switching wallpapers and everything froze so I did a battery pull and now it gets stuck on the "ROGERS" boot up screen or goes to a blank and no keys work. If I slide out the gamepad while its blank, the screen will turn on and it'll be a black screen with the time and the slideout bar but the touch screen doesn't work for some reason. It also says I have no service.
Here's a list of what I've tried so far -
- Holding the left and right D-Pad keys while starting the phone
- Holding the back and search button while starting the phone
- Using Sony Ericsson Update Service but it won't even detect it
- PC Companion won't detect it either
I've had so many problems with this phone, I was hoping to exchange it for a different phone if possible. I got it from Rogers on May 30th, and I didn't really realize it had problems till this month. Thing is, I have installed APK's from 4shared that you'd normally have to pay for and since it seems to be bricked now, I don't know if it's safe to bring it in.. It's not rooted. I'm pretty sure most of my downloaded apps were on my SD card but I"m not 100% sure. The phone isn't functional at all if I manage to get it to that black homescreen.

As simply as flash with flashtool.
All you need is in the dev forum.

Alejandrissimo said:
As simply as flash with flashtool.
All you need is in the dev forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. This won't void warranty, right?
Edit: Flashtool doesn't seem to recognize my Xperia PLAY when I boot it in flash mode. The green LED is lit, and it shows a battery logo when I start it up so I assume that means it's in flash mode, but flash tool wont recognize it. I've tried on a windows 7 and a windows vista computer

BlueLemming said:
Thanks for the reply. This won't void warranty, right?
Edit: Flashtool doesn't seem to recognize my Xperia PLAY when I boot it in flash mode. The green LED is lit, and it shows a battery logo when I start it up so I assume that means it's in flash mode, but flash tool wont recognize it. I've tried on a windows 7 and a windows vista computer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you install the gordons gate drivers that come with flashtool??

AndroHero said:
Did you install the gordons gate drivers that come with flashtool??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't before but I did just now, no difference. Are there Xperia PLAY gordon gate drivers I need to install?

Are you using flashtool 2.9.1?
Sent from my Xperia PLAY R800i using XDA App

Cat_On_Droid said:
Are you using flashtool 2.9.1?
Sent from my Xperia PLAY R800i using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am, yes.

I read somewhere that problems with pc companion not regonizing the play can be resolved by umounting the sdcard and then conecting it to pc companion again.
Regards Dousan...

Dousan said:
I read somewhere that problems with pc companion not regonizing the play can be resolved by umounting the sdcard and then conecting it to pc companion again.
Regards Dousan...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried it after restarting my computer, still no luck but my PC Companion seems to start up everytime I plug it in while booting in flash mode.. which is odd
Edit: Nevermind, it's detected it now. Thanks!

i read that you said the battery logo shows up. that's not flash mode. you enter flash mode by ONLY holding back and plugging in USB cable. but i see you solved it now.
Sent from my R800i using XDA App

Blagus said:
i read that you said the battery logo shows up. that's not flash mode. you enter flash mode by ONLY holding back and plugging in USB cable. but i see you solved it now.
Sent from my R800i using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah before I had read that it was different for Xperia PLAY, that you had to hold search. Since before I wasn't holding the "back" button long enough and I didn't think it was working. Anywho it's all fixed up now! This doesn't void warranty right?

Just wanted to add as i just spent hours figuring this out and its really stupid and simple but may help other people. When you connect the phone in flash mode. Connect it in FLASH mode. Do NOT hold the search key button as this is for FASTBOOT MODE. You need to hold the back button on the Xperia play to launch into flash mode instead.
Hope this helps someone =)

Apologies for the necro, but just in case anyone else is having this problem and comes here.... i spent an hour reinstalling drivers, holding different keys without flashtool detecting the phone in flash mode & searching through vaguely related results in google.
In the end nothing was wrong, I was plugged into usb 3.0 and whilst the drivers were installed and the device was showing up in device manager, flashtool simply wouldn't detect it. The moment it was connected to a usb 2.0 socket it immediately worked.

HELP!
Deagon said:
Apologies for the necro, but just in case anyone else is having this problem and comes here.... i spent an hour reinstalling drivers, holding different keys without flashtool detecting the phone in flash mode & searching through vaguely related results in google.
In the end nothing was wrong, I was plugged into usb 3.0 and whilst the drivers were installed and the device was showing up in device manager, flashtool simply wouldn't detect it. The moment it was connected to a usb 2.0 socket it immediately worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Xperia Play is not being recognised by the FlashTool (I've installed the Gorgon Drivers and it is detecting as ZEUS USBFlash...). It is not responding, I tried pressing the search button, the back button, but I got nothing. I am not getting any light neither. Do any of you have any idea about what I could be doing wrong?
Thanks in advance

[Q] bricked my phone updating. cant do a thing

edit: fixed

chronopolis said:
Hey guys, I have a sony xperia play and I recently rooted it and was in the process of updating when it shut off (I have a bad battery). Now, I cannot do anything on it...no flash mode, no fastboot, no hard reset, no anything. When I plug it into flashtool it just says device not found. I have also had no luck with wotanclient or pc companion. Please tell me there is a way I can fix my phone?
EDIT: managed to connect to flashtool in adb and fastboot - still cannot get in flash mode however
this is as far as i can get in pc companion
i.imgur.com/wjiGb.png
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Start up Sony Ericsson PC Companion, dont put in your phone, click on support zone, phone software update, repair phone (highlighted in blue), let it download some stuff, select xperia play. Follow instructions

I am not able to do that, pressing back+plugging in the phone doesnt do anything besides show my sony ericsson logo. No green light or anything. I can get it into fastboot (which i dont think will help, my bootloader is locked) and ADB. Right now it looks like if i have a chance of saving my phone, it is through ADB using some sort of command

chronopolis said:
I am not able to do that, pressing back+plugging in the phone doesnt do anything besides show my sony ericsson logo. No green light or anything. I can get it into fastboot (which i dont think will help, my bootloader is locked) and ADB. Right now it looks like if i have a chance of saving my phone, it is through ADB using some sort of command
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you hold back first, then plug in phone (still holding back), you get a green light, this happens even if you brick from bad updating

ff7fan4eva said:
you hold back first, then plug in phone (still holding back), you get a green light, this happens even if you brick from bad updating
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im definitely holding it, it just isnt working. It still just boots to the "Sony Ericsson" screen and stays there.
Is there a way I can force my phone into flash mode, either with adb or with fastboot? If I had it in flash mode I could just install a new stock firmware with flashtool

sigh...it wasnt really bricked. well it was, but i can get into flash mode...my usb cord was broken(it would only recognize if i wiggled it). I am running SEUS now and crossing my fingers

[Q] Xperia S HARD Bricked!!! Need Help

Hello guys.
My Sony Xperia S got Hard bricked after i tried to partition my SDcard from TWRP recovery which unfortunately failed due to some reason.....
I had boot manager installed for dual boot and i had sony stock firmware 6.1.A.2.55 on the native and CM10 on loop ...
The partition was tried in TWRP for loop in Ext4 format
My Xperia S now does not respond to fastboot buttons as well as all other combinations ...
It doesnt light any LED not even while its connected to the charger..
The only thing that happens is when i connect it using USB cable without any combinations and the computer detects it as SEMC flash device..
Is there any method to flash using this mode?
I have tried every method on all the forums.(flashtool,fastboot,taking battery out ,power+vol up,everything )
Guys please i need serios help any experienced suggesions would be helpful ...
Please help :crying:
PS: i had never thought that trying to partition the SDcard would brick my phone..

Did you leave your phone connected to wall charger? How many hours you leave it? Mine SONY logo appear in 8 hours. Try it. It may help. Leave your phone connected yo wall charger for sometime.
Sent from my Xperia ion using xda app-developers app

pharix said:
Did you leave your phone connected to wall charger? How many hours you leave it? Mine SONY logo appear in 8 hours. Try it. It may help. Leave your phone connected yo wall charger for sometime.
Sent from my Xperia ion using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay ill try that for sure and let u know

Wow i don't know how ...but just as i connected it to the charger the orange LED shows up .....But there is no sony logo anyway ...lets wait

nope nothing happened except the LED that glows :crying:

How the duck did you take your battery out? It has an INBUILT one, why would you take apart the entire phone?
Then, after telling you how stupidly you did that;
can you go back into the recovery? (probably yes, but it's weird)
Did you ACTUALLY take apart the phone to take the battery out? (probably not)
Do you have an unlocked bootloader? (i think you do, but not sure...)
Do you still have warranty? (probably yes)
Try again, because if the orange LED showed up, it's probably not too late...
Now go and use FlashTool once more...

someone755 said:
How the duck did you take your battery out? It has an INBUILT one, why would you take apart the entire phone?
Then, after telling you how stupidly you did that;
can you go back into the recovery? (probably yes, but it's weird)
Did you ACTUALLY take apart the phone to take the battery out? (probably not)
Do you have an unlocked bootloader? (i think you do, but not sure...)
Do you still have warranty? (probably yes)
Try again, because if the orange LED showed up, it's probably not too late...
Now go and use FlashTool once more...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes i took the phone apart took the battery out ...waited long enough for the capacitors to discharge and then again put it in...
no i can't get back into the recovery ...i can't even boot the phone and no combination is working
yes i have an unlocked bootloader
no on't have the warranty..
The orange LED glows up while charging only
the phone does not go to fastboot or any other mode so i can't use flash tool
the only thing that comes on the computer when i plug the USB is "SEMC flash device" ....which non of the tools recognise

Guys please ...is there anyone out there who can help me? :crying:

I do believe you DID have warranty up until the moment you took apart the phone (I think the repair service guys would fix your phone without chacking for a locked BL...)

someone755 said:
I do believe you DID have warranty up until the moment you took apart the phone (I think the repair service guys would fix your phone without chacking for a locked BL...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They wont know you took it apart. There is no tamper protection.

mrsatan said:
They wont know you took it apart. There is no tamper protection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly they dont have any protection against that.....and i dont think any phones with an inbuilt battery would have such protection....

Hi mate, try some tips that some members gave me on my topic...
I don't know if those tips will work for you, but maybe yes! ^^
My phone stills bricked, but maybe work in your case!
Thread link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1968735

Carcass.br said:
Hi mate, try some tips that some members gave me on my topic...
I don't know if those tips will work for you, but maybe yes! ^^
My phone stills bricked, but maybe work in your case!
Thread link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1968735
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanx mate for ur reply ...but unfortunately i have tried all those methods , none of them seems to work for me either

PhoenixDD said:
Thanx mate for ur reply ...but unfortunately i have tried all those methods , none of them seems to work for me either
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm starting to think that my case could be a corrupted bootloader, where I have to use JTag to try to save, but I don't know anyone who have a JTag, neither in my country.
I don't know what could be, but I still entering in flashmode or fastboot and my PC recognize my phone with testpoint, so I think that maybe is not a hardware problem...

Carcass.br said:
I'm starting to think that my case could be a corrupted bootloader, where I have to use JTag to try to save, but I don't know anyone who have a JTag, neither in my country.
I don't know what could be, but I still entering in flashmode or fastboot and my PC recognize my phone with testpoint, so I think that maybe is not a hardware problem...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even i think i might have to do that ...u r stil very lucky to be able to get into fastboot and flashmode....i can't get into those too...
The only 1 option i haven't tried is using testpoints .....ill try that out after i get all the tools required

Hi, I decided to post it here because it seems that anything I post on Xperia Ion forum is not read, it is inactive.
I already searched everywhere and I'm loosing my hopes. I'm trying to revive an Xperia Ion and this is what I get:
When I plug the phone in the wall charger the red led turns on for some minutes and then turns off.
The same happens when I plug on PC, when the led turns off it is detected as "Somc flash device" in windows device manager and this shows in flashtool:
INFO - Device connected with USB debugging off
INFO - For 2011 devices line, be sure you are not in MTP mode
Nothing changes if I plug in pc with volume + or - pressed, it don't goes into fastboot or flashmode.
I hope you could help me. Thanks

Hi, I decided to post it here because it seems that anything I post on Xperia Ion forum is not read, it is inactive.
I already searched everywhere and I'm loosing my hopes. I'm trying to revive an Xperia Ion and this is what I get:
When I plug the phone in the wall charger the red led turns on for some minutes and then turns off.
The same happens when I plug on PC, when the led turns off it is detected as "Somc flash device" in windows device manager and this shows in flashtool:
INFO - Device connected with USB debugging off
INFO - For 2011 devices line, be sure you are not in MTP mode
Nothing changes if I plug in pc with volume + or - pressed, it don't goes into fastboot or flashmode.
I hope you could help me. Thanks

[Q] Is my Ion dead or bricked?

Hello, I'm a noob at phone rooting/modding, so I don't know if my phone is dead or just bricked.
Basically, yesterday at some point in the afternoon my phone stopped working. I had charged and used it in the morning as usual. I did not use my phone for like 5 hours and when I tried to turn the screen on, nothing happened. I tried holding the button down, and nothing. I tried connecting it to the charger, but no charging light came on. So it seems that at some point when I was not using the phone it either died or froze in some way and it's now unresponsive (even to holding the power+vol button). To be clear, I was not flashing anything or modifying the phone in any way.
My phone is the ATT Ion updated to the latest official firmware with superuser installed. But I installed superuser almost a year ago and have had no problems since then.
Any help is appreciated!

wtfsnowman said:
Hello, I'm a noob at phone rooting/modding, so I don't know if my phone is dead or just bricked.
Basically, yesterday at some point in the afternoon my phone stopped working. I had charged and used it in the morning as usual. I did not use my phone for like 5 hours and when I tried to turn the screen on, nothing happened. I tried holding the button down, and nothing. I tried connecting it to the charger, but no charging light came on. So it seems that at some point when I was not using the phone it either died or froze in some way and it's now unresponsive (even to holding the power+vol button). To be clear, I was not flashing anything or modifying the phone in any way.
My phone is the ATT Ion updated to the latest official firmware with superuser installed. But I installed superuser almost a year ago and have had no problems since then.
Any help is appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check if you can get into flashmode, if you can then you can flash stock firmware and then your phone should be good to go.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

Mufrad said:
Check if you can get into flashmode, if you can then you can flash stock firmware and then your phone should be good to go.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this is how you get to flashmode, then no I cannot get to it: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1816396
My PC does not detect the phone. Neither does Sony PC Companion. All Windows recognizes is an Unspecified device called QHSUSB_DLOAD.

wtfsnowman said:
If this is how you get to flashmode, then no I cannot get to it: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1816396
My PC does not detect the phone. Neither does Sony PC Companion. All Windows recognizes is an Unspecified device called QHSUSB_DLOAD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you plug in your ion to the pc in flashmode does the led on your ion turn green? If it does then your phone does go into flashmode but your pc doesn't recognize it for some reason, download the new flashtool for xperia, install it, there will be a driver folder in flashtool directory, install all the drivers from it, then check again by connecting your ion to the pc in flashmode again and see if your pc recognizes it.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

No the LED never comes on; neither when it's connected to the PC nor when it's charging.

wtfsnowman said:
No the LED never comes on; neither when it's connected to the PC nor when it's charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok ?
What did you do ?
Did you try to install any MOD or anything of that sort ?
Give some details and i will try to HELP

Like I said in my first post, I wasn't using the phone at all. I charged and used the phone for a couple hours earlier in the day, then I left it for like 5 hours without using it all, not even checking the time or anything. Then I tried to turn the screen on to check the time and it didn't come on. Held the power button to see if it was off or something, but no response. At no point have I installed any mods, CFW, or anything; other then almost a year ago when I rooted and installed superuser.

looks like hardware issue then
well if you didn't do anything then its an hardware issue most likely...try holding the power and volume up rocker for 10 secs..else you might have to visit the service center

I tried holding the power+vol button, but there was no response. I took it to the service center and they will ship me a new one. I assume it was hardware failure as well, since it just died so suddenly. Too bad I can't retrieve some photos and delete my synced passwords.

Same problem with my first XS,good that I had warenty and gave it back, even ppl from Sony didn't know what the problem is so they gave me a new one.
Sent from my Xperia S

Swapped motherboards now phone won't boot

Hello, I've been searching for a situation like mine for a while and was unable to find it.
My phone had the screen destroyed over the weekend and I purchased one that would not turn on to replace the broken screen. I swapped the motherboard from my working phone into the broken phone.
When I hit the power button, it vibrates and the screen will get power (no display, just a blank backlight) and the phone will power back off.
It will not boot in safe mode either.
Is this a symptom of a broken motherboard? Or are there other things I can try? I have not had a chance to hook it up to try the pc companion.
I have the old screen assembly (with the flex cable and such, digitizer and LCD are shot)
My phone is not rooted, and it is unlocked.
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you for reading!

Update:
Connected to Sony pc companion. Pc companion recognized that there was a phone and allowed me to run a repair.
Charging light came on during process (was not responsive previously).
Still will not boot. Only charges when hooked up during repair.
Still no recovery mode :/
Are there any secondary recovery programs available that you would recommend?
Sorry for the double post.
Sent from my SK17i using XDA Free mobile app

Mattsand89 said:
Update:
Connected to Sony pc companion. Pc companion recognized that there was a phone and allowed me to run a repair.
Charging light came on during process (was not responsive previously).
Still will not boot. Only charges when hooked up during repair.
Still no recovery mode :/
Are there any secondary recovery programs available that you would recommend?
Sorry for the double post.
Sent from my SK17i using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm thinking that you might have a hardware problem rather than a software problem, but if you want to try to play around some more with possible software fixes... you'll want to learn how to use Androxyde's Flashtool program. It allows us to flash firmware onto the Xperia Play, with both locked and unlocked bootloaders. (Also, I'm not sure if you are trying to get the phone to boot into a stock recovery, but the Xperia Play does not come with a stock recovery like most other android phones. If you want a recovery on it, you would need to install one).
Here's the site where you can grab the most recent Flashtool: http://www.flashtool.net/index.php
---------------------------
Here are some links to Flashtool Tutorials:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1384535
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2054486
---------------------
Here's a thread where you can find FTF firmware files to flash with Flashtool:
"Xperia Play Index - ROM'S, FIRMWARE, KERNEL'S, GUIDE'S, THEMES, MOD'S" - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2184897
----------------
For hardware issues.... here's a thread that I had bookmarked that gives good tips for repairing the hardware on the phone: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2332296
Good luck!

Thank you! I spent the whole weekend trying the software fix. It had no result so I tried the hardware like you suggested. I swapped the ribbon cable and it did the trick!

Mattsand89 said:
Thank you! I spent the whole weekend trying the software fix. It had no result so I tried the hardware like you suggested. I swapped the ribbon cable and it did the trick!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:good: That's good to hear. Good work with sticking with it until you got it fixed.