Develop Bugs

r800x CWM problems

Hey guys,
I am new to the Xperia Play and am having trouble with installing CWM on it. It is the r800x model (CDMA, Verizon) and I have a locked bootloader.
I first rooted the phone using the ZergRush method with SuperOneClick (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1312859) and used the phone on the stock ROM a little bit. I did some research on the phone and decided I wanted to flash a ROM, so I went on to the next step to put CWM on the phone. I then searched around the forum awhile and found a method to install CWM through an autoinstaller app on the Market (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1437840).
The autoinstaller worked and I made a nandroid backup of the phone and then proceeded to flash the GBtweaked rom (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1416470). I wiped data and cleared cache and dalvik and went through all the proper steps to ensure it was a clean install and everything worked fine. Then when I tried to flash the Wifi modules for the ROM the phone would not boot to the recovery that I had installed. I tried doing it when you boot up the phone and press a hardware key repeatedly and I also tried to boot the recovery through the app, but it would just reboot my phone normally. I looked through the forums and could not find the answers I needed so I decided to use flashtool to bring my phone back to its original stock ROM.
I rerooted the phone using SuperOneClick again and downloaded the same app that installs the recovery and while the app says the recovery is installed when I use the app to try and boot into the recovery it does not work and just reboots my phone, and when I try to boot into recovery by tapping a hardware button repeatedly at bootup I cannot get into it either. Can anybody help me figure out whats wrong and also help me get the recovery back on the phone??

Tap the Volume Down rocker on the device
Sent from my Xperia Play using xda premium

dude.....i feel like the biggest idiot on the face of the earth right now..
thank you man haaha
i mut have searched for hours trying to figure out what was wrong when there was nothing wrong at all

okay well that worked until I flashed the GBtweaked ROM again and now I cant reboot into the recovery to flash the wifi modules I need which was my problem that I started with....

black.v00d00 said:
okay well that worked until I flashed the GBtweaked ROM again and now I cant reboot into the recovery to flash the wifi modules I need which was my problem that I started with....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's because when you flash the GBTweaked ROM, it formats /system, which is where CWM is installed. Download it from the market via 3G or whatever and reinstall it. You should be good after that.
Next time, flash the ROM and wifi modules before you reboot if possible. That's why I have to do with some of the ROMS I use.

I just got my r800x and followed this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1439474 and I can't boot into CWM. I'm installing it via Xparts but I can't boot into CWM. I'm pressing volume down, and it just boots. Help?

Pokestory1 said:
I just got my r800x and followed this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1439474 and I can't boot into CWM. I'm installing it via Xparts but I can't boot into CWM. I'm pressing volume down, and it just boots. Help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you really install CWM from Xparts? I just used it and I don't have a problem with it. On the app itself did you go to "INSTALLS" and click on the Install CWM button? Once CWM is installed boot your device powered down. Then press the power again as it boots up keep pressing the volume d rocker down and you would get yourself into recovery easily.

same issue
Pokestory1 said:
I just got my r800x and followed this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1439474 and I can't boot into CWM. I'm installing it via Xparts but I can't boot into CWM. I'm pressing volume down, and it just boots. Help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm having the same issue. Tried holding vol down while rebooting through XParts, just boots normally. Tried powering off then powering up manually and holding vol down, just boots normally. XParts said successful install of 5.0.2.7. R800X on 2.3.3 stock.

I used that before getting mine unlocked. I always had to move the files manually & fix permissions in order to get it to stick, I haven't used new app tho.
R800x
Unlocked
Running AOKP milestone6 4.0.4

To get into CWM you cant just simply hold volume down. You have to keep pressing it over and over at the Sony screen till it goes in.
Edit: Ok so I ran into this issue today while flashing some stuff. X-Parts does not seem to be loading CWM properly or something as I could not get into recovery at all. So I went looking for the original method and all fixed now. Link below.
Recovery Instaler

LT15i: kernel resets back to stock after rebooting the device

Hi,
I would like to ask how can I fix this problem. Whenever I fastboot any kernel (tried on ArcKnight and Trinity), sometimes it wont install. After trying 2-3 times, it will install normally. But, whenever I restart my phone, the kernel returns back to stock ICS kernel. I don't know what to do.
The things I've done before flashing the kernel:
~flash stock ICS rom
~then fastboot recoveryarc.img
~wipe everything
~install jelly sandwich rom
~fastboot custom kernel
Thanks in advance.

When you do fastboot, check what you are typing...
fastboot flash boot boot.img
-- or --
fastboot boot boot.img
The 1st one should make the new kernel stick around. The 2nd one is to test the kernel, so the new kernel is forgotten after 1st boot.
Good luck
sent from my supercharged LT15i using xda app

oh i see.. haha.. i was confused between flash and boot
and to follow up, can i install CMW using recoveryarc.img using that method?

Deicidium said:
oh i see.. haha.. i was confused between flash and boot
and to follow up, can i install CMW using recoveryarc.img using that method?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you should not flash recoveryarc.img to install CWM.
If you do, then you will only be able to enter recovery, and not be able to use your phone as a normal phone
(until you flash a custom kernel to replace recoveryarc.img)
This is the way you get CWM on your phone permanently...
When you fastboot the custom kernel (last step in your initial post), then you should flash it to make it permanent.
Most custom kernels have CWM recovery built-in, and here's the trick to enter recovery -
After you turn on the phone, wait for the hardware keys to light up.
Just in case you miss this, the coloured led will light up purple at the same time :cyclops:
When this happens, press (and release) the "volume down" button once or twice.
Then you should see CWM recovery in a few seconds.
Enjoy your new freedom

oh thanks a lot.. will try this when i get home..

ha ha, i lost many times for stupid flashing method: fastboot boot boot.img
TKS so so much!

HELP xperia play kernel bootloops and freezes

hello there my names kyle and im new here but you can call me sangy, anyway i have joined the site to post this
i have had my play now for 6 months and i want ics and a new kernel, i heard lupus was the best one so i flashed lupus using fastboot and the correct rom. i have followed all steps correctly and the dam thing just boot loops after 1 min of booting unless i have my usb in my pc at which point the phone will stay on like it should without a single bootloop. so with a potentially bricked phone i flashed the stock firmware back v4.0.2.A.0.58 and re flashed a different kernel and rom still the same issue so i flashed back to stock again. if anyone can tell me how to solve this weird ass issue i will rate you +1 because im getting sick of having no cwm and incompatibilities with apps and i want to overclock
ps im planning on flashing doomkernel v14 hope this problem is gone but i know it will have the same issue.
my phones current state is this
xperia play r800i
stock kernel(2.6.32.9-perf) [email protected]#1
FW 4.0.2.A.0.58
baseband 64
android 2.3.4 ginger bread with root and unlocked boot loader
thats everything i know thanks for reading and helping in advance
edit: sorry if im not been precise but by boot loop i mean hot boot where the phone will run fine for 3 min then freeze and reboot on its own until i pull the battery or plug in usb in pc upon hard reset it even does this in kernel boot up

vampyregaming said:
hello there my names kyle and im new here but you can call me sangy, anyway i have joined the site to post this
i have had my play now for 6 months and i want ics and a new kernel, i heard lupus was the best one so i flashed lupus using fastboot and the correct rom. i have followed all steps correctly and the dam thing just boot loops after 1 min of booting unless i have my usb in my pc at which point the phone will stay on like it should without a single bootloop. so with a potentially bricked phone i flashed the stock firmware back v4.0.2.A.0.58 and re flashed a different kernel and rom still the same issue so i flashed back to stock again. if anyone can tell me how to solve this weird ass issue i will rate you +1 because im getting sick of having no cwm and incompatibilities with apps and i want to overclock
ps im planning on flashing doomkernel v14 hope this problem is gone but i know it will have the same issue.
my phones current state is this
xperia play r800i
stock kernel(2.6.32.9-perf) [email protected]#1
FW 4.0.2.A.0.58
baseband 64
android 2.3.4 ginger bread with root and unlocked boot loader
thats everything i know thanks for reading and helping in advance
edit: sorry if im not been precise but by boot loop i mean hot boot where the phone will run fine for 3 min then freeze and reboot on its own until i pull the battery or plug in usb in pc upon hard reset it even does this in kernel boot up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which lupus kernel, ics+gb v7 or lupus ics beta v12. have you tried flashing through flashtool because it always works for me and which ics rom as their are tons.

hello thanks for the quick reply
ive tryed the lupus ics+gb kernel latest version with the ics beta rom for xperia play and ive also tryed the lupus gb kernel latest version
and yes i have flash tool and all the drivers but a nice reccomendation on what to flash next based on my phones spec at the moment would be nice
also why am i the only person on the internet with this problem? ive heard of having 60+ apps on the sd to cuase hot booting but for me this is just out of the ordinare, particulary when ive whiped all the phone and flashed a new kernel.

vampyregaming said:
hello thanks for the quick reply
ive tryed the lupus ics+gb kernel latest version with the ics beta rom for xperia play and ive also tryed the lupus gb kernel latest version
and yes i have flash tool and all the drivers but a nice reccomendation on what to flash next based on my phones spec at the moment would be nice
also why am i the only person on the internet with this problem? ive heard of having 60+ apps on the sd to cuase hot booting but for me this is just out of the ordinare, particulary when ive whiped all the phone and flashed a new kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With Lupus kernel, use R800i_4.0.2.A.0.79 firmware

will be flashing that stock firmware now over my other one then put lupus gb+ics over the stock kernel
will let you know if it goes well and fixes this

unfortunatly it did not fix it rom loads up, gets to the regular sony setup then freezes and hot boots. did this with lupus kernel ics+gb and the 4.0.A.0.79 firmware you linked me to. its either the kernel or my phone

just tryed doomkernel v14 with your FW kernel still crashes and reboots, is there something i have to do in flashtool because
every kernel ive flashed yet has the same issue.
note i can get a catlog app whilst it is plugged in then unplug it and wait for the crash and send it to you and you can see where its going wrong with the kernel and tell me what to do
thanks for reading these updates and sorry its taking this long to find and fix a big bug :good:

vampyregaming said:
unfortunatly it did not fix it rom loads up, gets to the regular sony setup then freezes and hot boots. did this with lupus kernel ics+gb and the 4.0.A.0.79 firmware you linked me to. its either the kernel or my phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you tried any other ics/gb rom? Wipe your system/data from recovery before installing (and by installing i mean install from recovery with "install zip from sdcard")
Ps: maybe its stupid question, but is your sdcard full??? How much free space on it?

what recovery? this is an xperia play they dont have a recovery on stock kernels thats why im flashing one and no my sd card is not full
literally after i flash the kernal and boot up it will freeze and hot boot. the rom doesent factor in this. ive tryed 4 kernels so far the one that comes with cyanogen mod 9 and the 3 mentioned above
would flashtool logs be helpful if so tell me how to record them to a clipboard and you can see whats going on during the flash

vampyregaming said:
what recovery? this is an xperia play they dont have a recovery on stock kernels thats why im flashing one and no my sd card is not full
literally after i flash the kernal and boot up it will freeze and hot boot. the rom doesent factor in this. ive tryed 4 kernels so far the one that comes with cyanogen mod 9 and the 3 mentioned above
would flashtool logs be helpful if so tell me how to record them to a clipboard and you can see whats going on during the flash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For Lupus kernel - when powering on, keep pressing volume down for clockworkmod recovery or volume up for TWRP recovery.
Flash ROM from recovery that match kernel. Lupus ICS/GB V7 is for ics/gb roms based on stock (Sony) roms. Read in ROM's thread which kernel is recommended
With flashtool you can only flash .img files and in Xperia Play case, that is ONLY ics beta rom (but almoust all kernels come in .img format - so Flashtool is used to flash kernel). From recovery you can flash every other rom that you can find (just make sure that kernel match rom or else you'll get kernel bootloop)

ok this will be crystal clear
i can flash the kernal but even when booting the kernal and going into recovery to even flash a rom it will freeze and hot boot
meaning i did everything correctly with flashtool to do the kernel and with just the kernel installed (no rom) it still freezes and hot boots
as soon as i can stop these kernels from freezing i can flash whatever ics or gb there is in recovery
note: what are your settings for your flashtool as i might be missing a setting also the info from flashtool says at startup to disable MTP for 2011 devices, would this be my problem?

vampyregaming said:
ok this will be crystal clear
i can flash the kernal but even when booting the kernal and going into recovery to even flash a rom it will freeze and hot boot
meaning i did everything correctly with flashtool to do the kernel and with just the kernel installed (no rom) it still freezes and hot boots
as soon as i can stop these kernels from freezing i can flash whatever ics or gb there is in recovery
note: what are your settings for your flashtool as i might be missing a setting also the info from flashtool says at startup to disable MTP for 2011 devices, would this be my problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what kernel are you trying to flash? Be specific!
What rom are you trying to flash?
Disconnect phone from PC after you flashed your rom (any one, first boot must be done while disconnected)

the kernel i would like mostly is the lupus kernel
i can flash every kernel no problems, its the fact that the kernel crashes etc i can also flash the correct rom using flashtool the same thing happens
the case im trying to make is that you first install the kernel then flash your rom in recovery then the extras like wifi modules to the kernel
the kernel (dosent matter which one i try for my device ) has the hot boot issue happen to it no matter what i do before i even have a chance to install the rom(again the correct rom stock or not).
and yes i know you have to wait for boot ups on new roms and kernels, this isnt the first time i have flashed roms as i have a galaxy tab 2 running cm10 for the most part.
again thanks for the quick replys but i think this will require more technical solutions or debugging with my phone or software.

Install cwm on your phone. Search xparts on play store. Go into recovery and wipe system and wipe data and cache then turn off your phone. Open flashtool. Hold search while plugging your phone in and then flash kernel
Sent from my LT30p using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

FaiselW said:
Install cwm on your phone. Search xparts on play store. Go into recovery and wipe system and wipe data and cache then turn off your phone. Open flashtool. Hold search while plugging your phone in and then flash kernel
Sent from my LT30p using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you for for saying that after 1 hour, will try that now and test the kernel for 20 - 5 min
if this works tell the kernel devs to make proper instructions on this

FaiselW said:
Install cwm on your phone. Search xparts on play store. Go into recovery and wipe system and wipe data and cache then turn off your phone. Open flashtool. Hold search while plugging your phone in and then flash kernel
Sent from my LT30p using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did these exact instructions but the new xparts dosent work so luckily the community had the older version that works,
followed everything buy the book installed cwm using xparts after root went into recovery, wipe data factory reset, wipe cache partition and i even wiped the dalvik cache, flashed the lupus ics+gb kernel booted into the custom lupus recovery (scrolled through the menu a minute) then as expected kernel crash followed by hot boot
any other ideas?

vampyregaming said:
did these exact instructions but the new xparts dosent work so luckily the community had the older version that works,
followed everything buy the book installed cwm using xparts after root went into recovery, wipe data factory reset, wipe cache partition and i even wiped the dalvik cache, flashed the lupus ics+gb kernel booted into the custom lupus recovery (scrolled through the menu a minute) then as expected kernel crash followed by hot boot
any other ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fully working steps:
-download eraser.zip in attachment, unpack it somewhere in pc
-Start flashtool, enter flash mode, hold back button on phone, connect to pc and flash .79 firmware. DO NOT BOOT INTO ROM!
-Disconnect phone and connect again in fastboot mode (hold search button while plugging it back)
-Flash Lupus ICS/Gb 480p or 720p kernel
-While still in fastboot mode, double-click file name "start.bat" from where you unpacked file in attachment.
-Disconnect phone, power on and keep pressing volume down untill you enter recovery
-Install rom and reboot

Bakisha said:
Fully working steps:
-download eraser.zip in attachment, unpack it somewhere in pc
-Start flashtool, enter flash mode, hold back button on phone, connect to pc and flash .79 firmware. DO NOT BOOT INTO ROM!
-Disconnect phone and connect again in fastboot mode (hold search button while plugging it back)
-Flash Lupus ICS/Gb 480p or 720p kernel
-While still in fastboot mode, double-click file name "start.bat" from where you unpacked file in attachment.
-Disconnect phone, power on and keep pressing volume down untill you enter recovery
-Install rom and reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will try this now hope this one works as were running out of solutions will post again in half hour

Bakisha said:
Fully working steps:
-download eraser.zip in attachment, unpack it somewhere in pc
-Start flashtool, enter flash mode, hold back button on phone, connect to pc and flash .79 firmware. DO NOT BOOT INTO ROM!
-Disconnect phone and connect again in fastboot mode (hold search button while plugging it back)
-Flash Lupus ICS/Gb 480p or 720p kernel
-While still in fastboot mode, double-click file name "start.bat" from where you unpacked file in attachment.
-Disconnect phone, power on and keep pressing volume down untill you enter recovery
-Install rom and reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
followed the instructions to the word kernel still crashes in lupus recovery

vampyregaming said:
followed the instructions to the word kernel still crashes in lupus recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what you mean by "kernel still crashed in lupus recovery". In wich step you get that?
Try pressing volume up when powering on to enter twrp recovery

ION broken volume rocker HELP, cwm/flashmode/tix

Hi there I have quite a problem on my hands. It has been awhile since working with this device so I'll try to provide as much info as possible.
Device: lt28i ion
Firmware: 6.1.E.3.7
Kernel: (I'll have to check after work)
Bootloader: locked(not unlockable)
Rooted
Cwm installed with issues
Volume rocker broken
Phone still boots to system no issues
OK to start off with about a year or so ago I was active in Modding and development on the ion. I updated to ics first version and rooted with cwm(tap screen version). I then stopped at that point with no further updates or changes except for supersu updates and busybox.
I then dropped the device in water in witch it vibrated while plugged in,sitting in rice for about a week. The result was a working device with decreased vibration and volume up not working. This is the main reason for not updating or further use of flash tool or cwm..
I now have.the Z1 and want to customize the hell out of my old ion.
I was able to backup via cwm that was already installed because it was the tap screen version. I then flashed an update process here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2055043
All went well until attempting to flash the kernel via flash tool and flash mode. When I attempted this my ion would not enter flash mode or not fully. Flash tool recognizes the device as USB debug off and upon flashing flash tool does not see the ion in flash mode. I also get no led on boot to confirm flash mode. This I find Strange as it is thevolume up that is not working.
I booted the phone up and ensured I had usb debugging on and attempted again. Same result.
So I figured I would restore my cwm back up and attempt a different method but my new firmware install I had mentioned above removed my cwm so I installed the dual boot recovery here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2634375
And this failed as volume up and down won't respond while booting.
Attempted using different boot apps to reboot to recovery and it would not boot to cwm or twrp.
Then reverted back to my old cwm here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1939875
And it will respond to my screen tap and boot to cwm for a few seconds and then reboot to system.
My error was.not ensuring flash mode worked before attempting this process,
I'm not at a complete loss as the phone with still operate but I'm sure certain aspects will not work (I have not tested the current working conditions volume down works once at launcher but volume up is still a no go)
So I'm stuck with a mismatched kernel and firmware. And no way to restore back.
Current state:
-Boots to system
Will boot to cwm with screen tap for 5 sec then reboot to system
-Mismatched kernel and firmware.
-Need to at least get working cwm to restore back up
-Hope to find work around for flash mode
Any help would be extremely appreciated.
Sent from my C6906 using XDA Free mobile app

So a really good update...kind of...
I was able to get a working cwm install and it booted correctly into recovery.
I was able to restore the data but decided to keep the rest.
To fix:
-Connected to flash tool while phone on.
-Log stated rooted but no busy box.
-Installed most recent version of busy box via flash tool
-Rebooted
-Cwm and flash mode still not working
-Downloaded and installed most recent cwm recovery
-Recovery now boots with volume down(really weird as it wasn't responding prior)
-Kept rom, did not restore to backup
No issues so far.
-Will restore if any fc issues ect...
!! Flash mode still not working.!!
If anyone has a workaround for flash mode not responding to volume down please help me out.
Sent from my C6906 using XDA Free mobile app

Q Xperia S rooted and bootloader unlocked but cant get in to recovery mode

Hi all
Finally got round to rooting my xperia s and unlocking bootloader with view to installing 4.4.4
Everything has gone fine to the point i tried to install a recvoery
First tried to install TWRP recovery which install went fine but i couldnt get phone in to recvoery so i then installed clockwork mod recovery and still cant get phone in to recvoery.
I installed ROM manager and it shows under recvoery already installed clockworkmod recvoery & TWRP recovery but even when i select boot in to recovery from that phone just turns on as normal.
Have tried holding volume up/down button on sony flash but no good
Have tapped screen when sony logo showing and phone just seems to lock
Anyone got any ideas what i can do?
Thanks

freejack2k said:
Hi all
Finally got round to rooting my xperia s and unlocking bootloader with view to installing 4.4.4
Everything has gone fine to the point i tried to install a recvoery
First tried to install TWRP recovery which install went fine but i couldnt get phone in to recvoery so i then installed clockwork mod recovery and still cant get phone in to recvoery.
I installed ROM manager and it shows under recvoery already installed clockworkmod recvoery & TWRP recovery but even when i select boot in to recovery from that phone just turns on as normal.
Have tried holding volume up/down button on sony flash but no good
Have tapped screen when sony logo showing and phone just seems to lock
Anyone got any ideas what i can do?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which ROM are You trying to flash? If it is a Kitkat ROM as You mentioned, then first copy the ROM and gapps to phone for flashing purposes .
Now, on PC, extract the boot.img from rom zip and flash it via fastboot. Then flash the ROM via twrp which would be installed from that boot.img!

Mirhawk said:
Which ROM are You trying to flash? If it is a Kitkat ROM as You mentioned, then first copy the ROM and gapps to phone for flashing purposes .
Now, on PC, extract the boot.img from rom zip and flash it via fastboot. Then flash the ROM via twrp which would be installed from that boot.img!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks m8
Could you tell me what i should type in command prompt for fastboot of the boot.img
Thanks

freejack2k said:
Thanks m8
Could you tell me what i should type in command prompt for fastboot of the boot.img
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First connect Your phone to pc. Then type this command:
Code:
adb reboot bootloader
Then Your phone will reboot in fastboot mode(The blue led would be lit.)
If the blue led does not lit up, then disconnect Your phone, power it off. The press volume up button and connect the phone the pc. The phone will have the blue led now.
Then type following command to flash the boot.img:
Code:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
Do note copy the ROM.zip to phone first and then perform above steps.

Mirhawk said:
First connect Your phone to pc. Then type this command:
Code:
adb reboot bootloader
Then Your phone will reboot in fastboot mode(The blue led would be lit.)
If the blue led does not lit up, then disconnect Your phone, power it off. The press volume up button and connect the phone the pc. The phone will have the blue led now.
Then type following command to flash the boot.img:
Code:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
Do note copy the ROM.zip to phone first and then perform above steps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well did that and phone will now only boot to Sony image and just sits on it.
Still cant get in to recovery but can get in to flash mode so tried reflashing this and original firmware but no matter what it just sticks on Sony and wont boot any further than that.
Looks like i got a brick :crying:

freejack2k said:
Well did that and phone will now only boot to Sony image and just sits on it.
Still cant get in to recovery but can get in to flash mode so tried reflashing this and original firmware but no matter what it just sticks on Sony and wont boot any further than that.
Looks like i got a brick :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must have not flashed the rom after flashing the boot.img. That's why it used to get stuck on boot logo of Sony. The kernel(boot.img) of any Kitkat ROM won't with JB ROM as far as I know.
Don't worry, there is still hope since You can at least get it to boot up halfway.
That flashing the original ftf is weird. Are You sure the ftf file is proper? Try downloading a new one. or if You were able to successfully able to flash the original firmware according to flashtool, try flashing it again using Sony Update Service(SUS). Can't guarantee the SUS will work or not.

Mirhawk said:
You must have not flashed the rom after flashing the boot.img. That's why it used to get stuck on boot logo of Sony. The kernel(boot.img) of any Kitkat ROM won't with JB ROM as far as I know.
Don't worry, there is still hope since You can at least get it to boot up halfway.
That flashing the original ftf is weird. Are You sure the ftf file is proper? Try downloading a new one. or if You were able to successfully able to flash the original firmware according to flashtool, try flashing it again using Sony Update Service(SUS). Can't guarantee the SUS will work or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it all up and running again!!
Used to update service (emma think it was called) and got phone to install recovery then got in to recovery and installed kitkat.
Very happy
Thanks for all the help folks

Mirhawk said:
First connect Your phone to pc. Then type this command:
Code:
adb reboot bootloader
Then Your phone will reboot in fastboot mode(The blue led would be lit.)
If the blue led does not lit up, then disconnect Your phone, power it off. The press volume up button and connect the phone the pc. The phone will have the blue led now.
Then type following command to flash the boot.img:
Code:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
Do note copy the ROM.zip to phone first and then perform above steps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello.
I'm trying to get this **** working as well, but even though it seems like you gave some crystal clear instructions I still manage to not understand it. I unlocked the bootloader on my S and downloaded. All I really wanted to do was get a good 4.4 ROM running, any chance you could toss an idiot some help?
From what I understand:
1. copy the ROM zip-file over to phone
2. connect phone to pc and fastboot it
3. flash the boot.img from the rom zip-file
4. flash the ROM (how?)
I did a quick google on twrp but don't quite understand what I need it for or if I need it.
EDIT: After a bit of looking, apparently the ROM I'm looking to flash (Paranoid Android) installs twrp when you flash the boot.img. Just in case that changes anything.

Brick?
Hi. So I just tried to flash the boot.img from the latest Paranoid Android, got 0 errors or bad blocks, succesful flash according to cmd. I did fastboot reboot as the guide here says: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1526866
LED notification goes pink for a few seconds, I get the Sony logo then just an infinite black screen. Left it on for about 15 minutes with no success. I tried force rebooting/shutting it down with volup+power for 5/10 seconds, but both of them just result in the phone getting instantly turned back on and going pink LED->Sony logo->black screen. This means I can't (from what I can tell anyway) boot into fastboot (vol-up+connect to USB does nothing, vol-down+connect to USB gets me a green LED for a few seconds but then goes over to pink LED, Sony logo and then black screen).
I would really appreciate any kind of help right now, even just advice on how to turn this phone off would be fantastic, because right now that also seems impossible.

Adyzz said:
Hello.
I'm trying to get this **** working as well, but even though it seems like you gave some crystal clear instructions I still manage to not understand it. I unlocked the bootloader on my S and downloaded. All I really wanted to do was get a good 4.4 ROM running, any chance you could toss an idiot some help?
From what I understand:
1. copy the ROM zip-file over to phone
2. connect phone to pc and fastboot it
3. flash the boot.img from the rom zip-file
4. flash the ROM (how?)
I did a quick google on twrp but don't quite understand what I need it for or if I need it.
EDIT: After a bit of looking, apparently the ROM I'm looking to flash (Paranoid Android) installs twrp when you flash the boot.img. Just in case that changes anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries! If You were able to perform upto step no.3 properly, then when You boot into twrp(Press volume up button 2-3 times while booting up), there is an option there called as "Install". In that You select the zip file of the ROM and slide the bar to install it!

Mirhawk said:
No worries! If You were able to perform upto step no.3 properly, then when You boot into twrp(Press volume up button 2-3 times while booting up), there is an option there called as "Install". In that You select the zip file of the ROM and slide the bar to install it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy **** this might have just done it! It wasn't actually twrp but CWM I believe, but I did manage to successfully flash the ROM. Seems to be working as of right now so fingers crossed and a massive thank you!