Develop Bugs

[Q] Recovery

Hi guys
I just receive my xperia play and i have some questions about rooting and istalling new roms
I already root the device by using zergRush method http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1093 soi can use apps such as titanium
But now i can't get to recovery because after installing rom manager, clockword for xperia play is not there. I was looking the dev section and i saw the clockworkmod recovery of team freexperia but i have no idea on how to install it because they said not to flash it http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1130639
Can someone please help me, i am a newbie with the phone and i rally dont want to mess things up. Also when i hold down vol down with power on my evo 3d and inspire it gots me to the Hboot i think, but on the play even after the root i have nothing
Thanks guys

Recovery is part of the kernel (boot partition) in the PLAY, so you can't install the recovery by itself. You have to unlock the bootloader then install a custom kernel that contains the recovery. The image that people say not to flash is a kernel that ONLY has the recovery and no boot, so you're only suppose to fastboot boot from that image (meaning you must be connected to the computer every time you want to use it).

jacklebott said:
Recovery is part of the kernel (boot partition) in the PLAY, so you can't install the recovery by itself. You have to unlock the bootloader then install a custom kernel that contains the recovery. The image that people say not to flash is a kernel that ONLY has the recovery and no boot, so you're only suppose to fastboot boot from that image (meaning you must be connected to the computer every time you want to use it).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for clearing that up. Quite different from my HTC Z and I wondered how to get recovery on the Play. Don't feel the need to unlock bootloader quite yet though. I'm happy with the stock launcher.

How should I do it?

Edit: Wrong section, can anyone move it to Q&A?
Hello everyone, I'm relatively new to this kind of stuff but I need help. Recently with CWM I installed ROM "icebean". I installed it successfully but since I had to wipe everything I also lost CWM, I need this to reinstall Google Now and if I may want to switch to other ROMS. The only problem is that I can't get CWM because I have a locked bootloader and I used something called recoverX to install it. Apparently I need the stock ROM to install it but I'm using icebean, so what do I do? I cannot unlock my bootloader because it says "not allowed". Is there a work around this? Also one more thing, the Google Now file is a flashable zip, so does this mean I can use flash tool to install it? Thanks.

You don't need bootloader unlocked for cwm install, you install like Normal app.
Look in theme/app thread for post by pvyparts suggest you use v5 not Latest xparts.
once installed open app and then install cwm in to system.
Once this is installed you get into recovery by powering down phone then restart it but start pushing the back key When you see the Sony logo this will take you to the recovery where you can then install all types of mods etc but they must be flashable zips.
If not then cwm will give you an error.
This requires root which I assume you have as you installed custom Rom.
Sent from my LT18i using xda premium

Hi, thanks for responding quickly. I did what you said and downloaded x parts v5, I managed to download CWM but the only problem is that I cannot access it. I tried you method and the method I had to do before which was repeatedly press the volume down button, I also tried x parts' method by using their boot to recovery. Before when I installed recoverX I tried using x parts which did not work like now. I would use recoverX but I'm unsure about it, it says to use a stock ROM which I don't have anymore. One thing if it might be useful is that when I flashed the ROM my phone changed from lt15i to lt18i, could this have interfere with anything?

[Q] Phone went does not boot up after rebooting

Xperia Arc LT15i, last installed was FXP150 - CyanogenMod 10 Android 4.1.2
- which I was using for almost 2 weeks without any reboots or crashes nor any setting tweaks.
Yes, I have tried checking through a lot of searches and googling, haven't found any solution so far.
I had initially rebooted my phone to recovery using the option within the OS. It went on and loaded CWM, there I just looked around the menu, and clicked "reboot system now". After that the phone started booting, but after the FreeXperia screen, just displays a blank screen and gets stuck there. I re-entered CWM, and tried rebooting, still won't boot the regular OS. I tried re-installing FXP from sd-card (the same one that I had installed 2 weeks back) but now it won't install that release either. I tried toggling signature and re-installing, it still doesn't install.
I tried connecting the phone as mass storage through CWM, but my laptop won't detect it. The adb drivers don't work despite being installed correctly. Fastboot is the only thing that seems to detect my phone. But I cannot install new ROM using fastboot.
Please help.

Switch off your phone (if you can't try battery pull)
Use flash tools and install stock firmware and follow onscreen instructions
(Search and download ics stock firmware
Connect phone in flash mode by pressing back button and connecting)

sakthi444 said:
Switch off your phone (if you can't try battery pull)
Use flash tools and install stock firmware and follow onscreen instructions
(Search and download ics stock firmware
Connect phone in flash mode by pressing back button and connecting)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cant I use the tool SONY has launched for this purpose ?

Ya it'll install stock firmware... Then you have to start all over again
Sent from my Ultimate Arc S

sakthi444 said:
Ya it'll install stock firmware... Then you have to start all over again
Sent from my Ultimate Arc S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there no way to make it work on FXP from this point itself ?
I was kinda hoping I could get it to run FXP directly....

If you can access Cwm get a complete back up and then after installing stock after installing Cwm you can restore...
But the best way is to flash stock and install fresh to avoid problems
Sent from my Ultimate Arc S

sakthi444 said:
If you can access Cwm get a complete back up and then after installing stock after installing Cwm you can restore...
But the best way is to flash stock and install fresh to avoid problems
Sent from my Ultimate Arc S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, will do that ofcourse. But was wondering if there was any way to get it to work as it is.
CWM is already working, and the sd-card already contains the package too.....

[Q] .62 rooting instructions unclear

I've had my phone for a year now. I've hit the internal memory limit thanks to the app updates and I'm getting really sick of the performance issues.
I've been wanting to root for a while but thanks to .62 being nigh unrootable by normal methods (including unlockroot.com), I'm stuck trying to figure out the instructions for flashing which for some reason are incomprehensible to me. I appreciate FMA965's efforts to explain things as much as possible, but I'm still lost on a few things and hope you guys can help.
My first attempt at using Flashtool nearly ended in disaster. There wasn't anywhere mentioning specifically what flashing is and that flashing the firmware wipes the phone. I did back up so the losses were minimal (just my notes and some progress on a game in FPSe either because I forgot to backup or the backup function was screwy). I tried flashing a second time and that seemed to have bricked the phone somewhat, but I managed to restore it back to stock.
It seems the stock firmwares I downloaded weren't properly recognized by Flashtool. I thought I was flashing into .42 or .58 but only the .62 I got for recovery was being recognized.
Also, how do I know if I have the correct USB drivers installed? Currently all the softwares I tried (Flashtool, unlockroot, SuperOneClick and the SE PC Companion) recognize my phone. Am I done with that part or am I missing something? Also, how do I know which stock roms are compatible with my phone? I'm not very knowledgeable about custom roms, so I'd rather just stick with a rooted stock so I can at least get rid of the bloatware and free up precious memory.
After tons of google searching in and out of the board I've seen several methods but there's always one or several steps that I have no idea how to do (for the record, I checked and it seems I can unlock the bootloader or my R800i):
1- Clockwork Recover Mod before FMA965's guides a lot of people were pointing to this as the way to root the Play 0.62. I can't find any instructions on how to apply this thing.
2- The ADB/SDK force SD card install method. Does this method make anything get installed on the SD card regardless of root? Or does it just put the stuff that can already be moved so you don't have to do it manually?
3- How to root 2011 Xperia range. "For this guide i will be using official firmware xx.xx.xx.62 which will be flashed via wotan."<-- I do not understand this step. Why does .62 need to be flashed and why by wotan? What is fastboot and why do I need to do that?
4- Doomlord's Advanced Stock Kernel. When everyone is talking about Doomlord's ASK, is that what they are referring to?
5- Root and Install CyanogenMod7 after Unlock Your Bootloader. Does this method still work?
So right now that's about 3 methods to root but I unsuccessfully tried one and can't figure out the other two.
Appreciate any help in sorting out this confusion.

If you can unlock your bootloader, I think the easiest way is probably to go ahead and do that first, then you can follow the instructions to install the Gin2JB Rom here which I find is the fastest one around and the process is very simple. You will need to install the Lupus kernel here.

Thanks, but that step requires flashing, which is still a process I'm having trouble with due to incompatible stock firmware roms.

AceWhatever said:
Thanks, but that step requires flashing, which is still a process I'm having trouble with due to incompatible stock firmware roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you mean you are having troubling flashing kernel or flashing the stock image using flashtools ?

The easiest way to root ANY Android device, running ANY verison / firmware, is to boot into recovery and flash a superuser.zip
In the case for the Xperia Play, you can easily have your bootloader unlocked, and use fastboot to flash a custom kernel and boot recovery or use fastboot to boot a recovery.img , either method , then just flash the superuser .zip like normal and BAM your rooted

216Monster said:
The easiest way to root ANY Android device, running ANY verison / firmware, is to boot into recovery and flash a superuser.zip
In the case for the Xperia Play, you can easily have your bootloader unlocked, and use fastboot to flash a custom kernel and boot recovery or use fastboot to boot a recovery.img , either method , then just flash the superuser .zip like normal and BAM your rooted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's what I would do.
Sent from my R800i using Tapatalk 2

See, this is why it's so confusing.
You guys just mixed steps from like 3 different tutorials. Will this wipe my phone like flashing a rom? And can I use a custom kernel with a stock rom?
Lemme try to piece this together:
I unlock the bootloader. Then I grab the fastboot package from this thread and extract it to the PC. Shift + Right Click the folder and press "Open Command Window Here", then I run the run_me.bat file then I turn off my phone, plug the USB and hold the search button to go into fastboot. Did I get that right so far?
Where do I get recovery.img and superuser.zip and where do I put them? The SD card?

Here are some instructions for if you want stock firmware, kernel and all. If you want to change the kernel and/or rom, I'll add such instructions upon request.
Turn your phone off with the battery intact.
Go download an older firmware from here (you'll have to scroll down quite a bit).
Place the .ftf file in "C:\Flashtool\firmwares" or wherever your flashtool installation is.
Open Flashtool (as administrator if option is available).
Click on the lightning icon and click 'OK' on the following pop-up.
On the left of this new menu, highlight your downloaded .ftf (it should read somewhere along the lines of "|R800i |4.0.2.A.0.XX | -Name of vendor or region goes here- ). On the right, leave all settings as they are except "Wipe data" which you must uncheck. Now click 'OK'.
Wait for the menu instructing you to plug the phone in. Do so: insert the usb of the turned off phone while holding down the back (leftmost) key. Please note that if the menu does not vanish upon doing this then you do not have the required drivers.
Wait while Flashtool does its job. You will know that it's done when the text "Device disconnected" appears in the program window.
Disconnect the phone and turn it on.
If you followed the instructions properly, the phone should boot into the older version with all downloaded apps, data and settings intact.
Insert USB.
Follow instructions here.
There you are. It's rooted. There may be certain apps missing; these are usually preinstalled apps that were on your system partition which was formatted during the flashing process.

AceWhatever said:
See, this is why it's so confusing.
You guys just mixed steps from like 3 different tutorials. Will this wipe my phone like flashing a rom? And can I use a custom kernel with a stock rom?
Lemme try to piece this together:
I unlock the bootloader. Then I grab the fastboot package from this thread and extract it to the PC. Shift + Right Click the folder and press "Open Command Window Here", then I run the run_me.bat file then I turn off my phone, plug the USB and hold the search button to go into fastboot. Did I get that right so far?
Where do I get recovery.img and superuser.zip and where do I put them? The SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have it right indeed. First thing i would flash the 4.0.2.A.0.62 FTF file using FlashTool (flashtool can be found in the development section, first or second thread) after it is done and If your boot loader is unlocked, go to the LuPus v7 for Gingerbread thread (also in the development section) download his kernel, then to make it easier, rename the file "boot.img" now plug your phone in USB for fast boot mode, and in the command window type " fastboot flash boot boot.img" When it is done unplug and power it on, when the notification lite turns blue press up or down (up or down will indicate which "recovery" version you want to enter) once in recovery choose "instal from SD card" and select the superuser.zip and instal it. You can find the superuser.zip in a few places, but Wedgess made it easy, its also in the LuPus v7 for Gingerbread thread so you can download it from there. Then reboot and your rooted with running 2.3.4!
It seems like a lot I suppose but once you a familiar with it, it becomes second nature, once you get that down, your ready to give some custom roms a try, the developers in the xperia play forums have done some nice work!
Sent from my R800at

Thanks, but like I explained before I don't understand why the .62 needs to be flashed and I'm having trouble finding stocks that are recognized by Flashtool on my R800i. Is there a region independent .62 or .58 I can use?

Flashing the stock ROM (.62) will wipe everything, it's more like a factory reset and will make it the pure original Xperia Play ROM, meaning that there will be nothing that could cause problems when installing custom ROMs on top of it. There's a link of stock .ftf files in the "official firmware" section here, see if you can flash R800i_4.0.2.A.0.62_phoenixvendor.ftf onto your Play with flashtool, as when you also flash a custom kernal later, this will unlock some hidden internal space.
On the other hand, have you managed to unlock the bootloader using Sony's official method (that you linked in #7)?

Yes. That was luckily the easiest step.
After much fidgeting around and cross comparing instructions, I finally managed to root the damn thing. I would have preferred not install a custom kernel without fully understanding what it does but I was getting impatient and everything seems to be working fine so far so no problems there. Feels good to finally be able to use Titanium Backup to toss all that stupid bloatware out.
Thanks to everyone who helped! :good:
So I'm assuming that in the future any updates or replacements to the kernel or the need to install a custom ROM will require wiping everything all over again? It's not a huge hindrance to me since I don't have a lot of apps and data restoration is simple, but I figure that since this is an almost weekly/monthly thing for some people here is there some kind of method to batch restore all your data and settings in a few steps?

Xperia Arc Stuck in Loading

Hey guys! Today I rooted my device, installed CWM and installed a ROM onto my Arc device today. It all went fine but when I rebooted after the install the device seems to be stuck at the "Sony" logo. I cant seem to boot it into CWM (tried it couple of times). I'm new to this so does anyone know what the problem might be?
Thanks in advance

Did you unlock the bootloader? Flashed the right kernel? Explain a bit what did you flash and how.

troubled_android said:
Did you unlock the bootloader? Flashed the right kernel? Explain a bit what did you flash and how.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm kinda new to this and I just did what the guide told me to do , which is the following:
For Locked Bootloaders: Root your phone using this tutorial, than install CWM using this app
Place ROM on SD-Card
Back up user apps and data. (Various apps available, search Google Play. This is a popular one)
Power off phone.
Boot to CWM (Keep pressing the Volume Down key after the Sony logo appears)
Wipe Data/Factory Reset
Mounts and Storage --> Format /System
Advanced > Wipe Battery Stats
Install zip from SD card > Choose Xperia Ultimate HD
Follow on screen instructions on AROMA.
After Complete Installation untick "reboot" and select reboot in CWM
Give the phone a good full charge, and enjoy your brand new phone!

Okay I suppose you flashed this rom and installed it with aroma installer. And you can't boot into recovery mode when logo appears (by pressing vol down button?)
Argh I had the same problem when using different rom with aroma installer and I couldn't boot in recovery mode. The main problem was not getting into cwm so I had to flash the stock rom (ftf file) back on arc using flashtool and I rooted the phone and unlocked BL again. Then I restored the previous backed up rom.
Is there any particular reason to have locked BL? You can do it with flashtool.
I don't know what the problem would be since I don't have enough experience with aroma installers, I just know the basics of flashing, installing and I can solve problems on my own arc when I f*** up something but I'm a bit confused here so you better wait for someone who has more brains than I do.

troubled_android said:
Okay I suppose you flashed this rom and installed it with aroma installer. And you can't boot into recovery mode when logo appears (by pressing vol down button?)
Argh I had the same problem when using different rom with aroma installer and I couldn't boot in recovery mode. The main problem was not getting into cwm so I had to flash the stock rom (ftf file) back on arc using flashtool and I rooted the phone and unlocked BL again. Then I restored the previous backed up rom.
Is there any particular reason to have locked BL? You can do it with flashtool.
I don't know what the problem would be since I don't have enough experience with aroma installers, I just know the basics of flashing, installing and I can solve problems on my own arc when I f*** up something but I'm a bit confused here so you better wait for someone who has more brains than I do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just want to put my standard rom on there atm, can you link me to something that tells me how to do that?

Ok, so here's thread with stock, custom roms, kernels etc. here find the stock rom and choose version (lt15i or lt18i depends on which phone you have and where you're from) and download the ftf file.
Then go to this link where you'll get direct instructions on how to flash. It's really not that complicated. Just open flashtool, choose flashmode and browse for the ftf file, then flash it.
Good luck.

If you wish us to help you, at least tell which ROM you installed.

For a locked bootloader, flash the original TFT through Flashtool.
Root.
Install CWM.
Reflash ROM.
If your bootloader is unlocked, just flash a kernel with CWM included.
Mount your SD Card.
Put the ROM on it.
Flash.
Hope I helped you !
Cheers.