Need help with newly rooted Xperia Play verizon - Xperia Play Android Development

I know this isnt the place to post for help.. But I need a hand.
I have an Xperia Play newly bootloader unlocked and rooted.. I flashed the image in the root thread so now im running with Model Number: R800i, Android: 2.3.2. Build Number: 3.0.A.2.184.. I want to keep root and go back to the verizon Rom, Ive tried to use FlashTool, but it stops and tells me the whole USB debugging thing, which I know is active, meaning it does not work.. The Main issue is my phone does not make or can receive calls, I get force closes either way. Any help would be appreciated.

All of this is addressed as known issues with flashing a GSM rom (which you did) in the State of Development thread. It also appears that there is a lot of problems with using flashtool, which is why none of the instructions talk about it. You can use fast boot and flash the stock kernel.sin and the stock system.sin. You can get both of those files from the State of Development thread as well as read a bunch of user experiences doing the same thing.

FIXED! Thanks very much, went back to verizon. Reflashed recovery and Rootzip. Good to go. Much appreciated
Mills00013 said:
All of this is addressed as known issues with flashing a GSM rom (which you did) in the State of Development thread. It also appears that there is a lot of problems with using flashtool, which is why none of the instructions talk about it. You can use fast boot and flash the stock kernel.sin and the stock system.sin. You can get both of those files from the State of Development thread as well as read a bunch of user experiences doing the same thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Related

[Q] Help! First time rooting. Xperia bricked??? Have i lost phone for good?

Have an Xperia X10 with Android 2.1. Wanted to root my phone to upgrade to gingerbread. However i admit i got confused with the plethora of links and pages and 6 hours later i have a phone that only has "Sony Ericsson" written on it.
Here's how i started - based on DoomLord's instructions i installed Flashtool (from here) . HOwever I was unable to find xrecovery folders in the log messages.
Followed step by step procedure but realised that each time i upgraded the kernel, phone seemed to be going into some bootloop.
I realised that this may be due to my phone running on Android 2.1
SO i moved to another thread . Downloaded these files with the hope that they would work.
meanwhile was also following video through a similar page that was detailing the methods for installing custom ROMs. The reason i followed another source is only because the intsructions on all these pages seemed very confusing.
i believe i may have misled myself by following two different procedures here or the files i downloaded were incorrect.
After I upgraded the kernel as per doomlord's instructions, i went into xRecovery and formatted the data folders. I had already copied the ROM files provided by Doomlord in this thread onto my SD card under a new folder. However, xRecovery was asking for .Zip files while there were .7z .
Tl;dr - formatted data on xRecovery and did not have the correct updated files. phone is not functioning now
Tragically so, I am now left with an Xperia that only seems to be displaying the words "Sony Ericsson". I wish to learn from this experience but hope its not at the cost of a good phone!
Would the experts believe that this phone can be un-bricked now???
your phone is not bricked so dont worry. just make sure you have the newest flashtool. dont upgrade the kernel if you are staying on 2.1. if youhavent downgaded the kernel then do so. if it doesnt work, just download your baseband and firmware you want. as for rooting on 2.1, you can use super one click. for 2.3, you hav to use the flashtool
If you are on 2.1, then you don't have to go through all the downgrade/upgrade hassel.
Just turn on debugging and use flashtool/superoneclick to root.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
fcb1 said:
your phone is not bricked so dont worry. just make sure you have the newest flashtool. dont upgrade the kernel if you are staying on 2.1. if youhavent downgaded the kernel then do so. if it doesnt work, just download your baseband and firmware you want. as for rooting on 2.1, you can use super one click. for 2.3, you hav to use the flashtool
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
aR_ChRiS said:
If you are on 2.1, then you don't have to go through all the downgrade/upgrade hassel.
Just turn on debugging and use flashtool/superoneclick to root.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow... such a relief to know that. Was exasperated and down-beat to even look at my phone.
please help me in identifying the right version of softwares and protocols to follow. In the current state, i connected my phone and flashed it once using flash tool but there has been no progress. Am i missing out a few steps?
How do i upgrade to 2.3 eventually?
Thanks a lot for the support and motivation
ok if you want to go to 2.3 download the firmware from here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=936733
flash it through the flashtool but you have to be in flash mode.
fcb1 said:
ok if you want to go to 2.3 download the firmware from here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=936733
flash it through the flashtool but you have to be in flash mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reading this from office now. Shall check in a few hours once i'm back home.

Root/Unlock Xperia Neo (MT15i)

Hello,
Before you say "use search" function read what I have to say
I have an Xperia Neo for about 1 year but I didn't need to root it or anything, I was happy the way it was, I only did one update since I got it, minus the ICS 4.0.4 update from Sony. But after this updated, I have started to get really annoyed by the bloatware that the firmware comes pre-installed with, seems to me they put on even more stuff with every update, stuff that I really don't use.
So....I decided to root/unlock my phone but I don't have the slightest idea where to begin. I know that I will use flashtool and I already have that, but besides that I have no idea what I need. I've browsed these forums for the past day and I didn't stumble on anything that could help my situation (or lack of knowledge how some might call it).
I also know that I will need to use a "custom" firmware but I'm having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around these facts:
Do I need JUST the firmware?
Do I also need a ROM?
Do I also need a kernel?!
Whats up with these, I mean, I know what a kernel and a ROM and a firmware is, but what exactly do I need to root my phone and what do I have to do? Also, unlocking the bootloader?
Sometimes I wish there's someone out there that compiles a damn guide about these things, something detailed, explaining why he does what he does....or maybe I didn't search enough?
Anyway....any volunteers?
Erm, I will go with "you didn't search good enough" ....and now you can shoot me
Did you notice sticky thread in general section, which is about rooting ICS? If not, I will say you didn't search good enough.
Did you noticed sticky thread in Neo V dev section(yeah, mostly(99%) Neo and Neo V are same)? In one of the sticky thread you have compiled dame guide about these things If not..........
I'm not sure,so I won't blame you for this one but I believe in one of those few sticky threads there is also link to one thread/guide in Arc section, which is also compiled dame guide about these things
Did I miss anything?
Yep, I noticed all those threads, but somehow you missed the point of my thread.
First of all, the sticky thread about rooting ICS in the Neo General Forum is addressed to people who have done this BEFORE, and not people who have no idea where to begin or what do they need.
Second, If I don't know what I need to be able to root my phone safely, why the hell would I even bother looking at other phones? Even if they are the same. That would only increase the chances of me burning the phone because I have no experience with this.
Third, most of the guides I found, are either outdated or refer to specific stuff. I can't believe that Android is so "complicated" to root/unlock or whatever you wanna call it. I owned an iPhone once and it was very easy to unlock and jailbreak.....in like 1 click.
But the problem here is most likely the number of devices that run Android, and that's whats making it harder....
So I'm going to ask again:
What the hell do I need to be able to get this started?
Except flashtool.
What do I need to know? Do I need to have an unlocked bootloader?
And somehow you also missed my point.
Rooting android is mostly 1 click thing. BUT, sometime we need to mess a bit to get it root-ed. I didn't have much play with iPhone, but I'm pretty sure not everything was 1 click, so..
Now we get to one point, you say people who have no idea where to begin, I say read. Read before you start messing with something. I know you hate me now for that, but hey, I did the same thing. I read few days before I get a grip around all android things.
But actually, all you need to know is how to flash kernel in flashtool(actually even simplier, how to flash .ftf file), and how to run .bat file which will do everything.
Let's start with flashtool, in main thread, which you supposed to find by now, there is BIG tutorial how to use flashtool and how to flash with it.
In sticky thread in general section, you even have prepared .ftf files with kernels. So that's a no-brainer
.bat file, I really hope everything is clear about that..
About your questions, you need phone, PC, flashtool, few .ftf's(which can be found in tutorial), tutorial and that's it
It's not hard, aprox. xxxx people done it so far. I doubt they all were Android guru's
About bootloader, you don't need to unlock it just to root your phone. But in the case you would have unlocked BL, things would be easier, a bit.
Now on the job, follow tutorials and ask when you stuck somewhere.
Alright. I'll get on it.
Be back with updates.
Right, first try, managed to unlock the bootloader, root the phone, but messed up at flashing a custom ROM.
I tried installing this ROM: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1518563
It was only when the install finished when I noticed that the ROM had been discontinued.
My Android version was indeed 4.0.4. but I must have ticked something wrong, somewhere.
At the moment the phone is stuck at the SONY logo without the possibility of getting into CWM.
I have no idea what to do next, but my guess is, start the phone in fastboot and flash back to stock? But I don't know how to do that.
I'm thinking to try the latest Kormatoes ROM and Kernel but he doesn't post any installation instructions :/
justinhd said:
Right, first try, managed to unlock the bootloader, root the phone, but messed up at flashing a custom ROM.
I tried installing this ROM: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1518563
It was only when the install finished when I noticed that the ROM had been discontinued.
My Android version was indeed 4.0.4. but I must have ticked something wrong, somewhere.
At the moment the phone is stuck at the SONY logo without the possibility of getting into CWM.
I have no idea what to do next, but my guess is, start the phone in fastboot and flash back to stock? But I don't know how to do that.
I'm thinking to try the latest Kormatoes ROM and Kernel but he doesn't post any installation instructions :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fixed.
Used "fastboot" to flash a new kernel that had CWM on. Got into CWM but couldn't mount the SD card so I used
"adb push" while in recovery to transfer new ROM to sdcard, then installed the new rom and its over. After nearly 5 hours. lol

[Q} Reverting to stock rom/upgraded rom (modem worry)

Hi all
Recently I upgraded from Samsungs stock 4.1.2 firmware to CyanogenMod 10.2 Stable (based on 4.3.1) using their installer program. Since upgrading the Wifi has been unusable and I have not managed to get the problem resolved through their forums so I have decided to go back to the stock rom.
Now that Samsung have re-released 4.3 for the S3 in the UK (after the one from last month which was pulled for problems) I would like to use this one as it fixes a bluetooth streaming issue I have endured for a long time. I can't find this new firmware for download anywhere so wondered if it is feasible to download say the stock rom 4.1.2 and then upgrade somehow? I have a red line on the bootup screen which shows it has been modified (which triangle away won't remove due to custom rom/bootloader or something like that) so I believe this means I will be blocked from then upgrading from 4.3 OTA but able to do so with Kies?
Being a novice at this I am obviously worried about breaking my phone and I am not sure if having i9300XXEMG4 as a baseband version is an issue among other things after reading the forums. As much as I have read about EFS and the downgrading modem problems, none of it is making sense to me at the moment, even after reading all the documents. Brain freeze maybe!
The cyanogenMod also changed recovery and unlocked the bootloader going by what I have read, is this an issue I need to worry about?
Any advice that can take away some worries and get me on the right path would be muchly appreciated!
You are posting in the wrong forum .
UNDERSTAND FIRST
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2362743
Network IMEI EFS
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2393289
Downgrade and network problems .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2531221
JJEgan said:
You are posting in the wrong forum .
UNDERSTAND FIRST
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2362743
Network IMEI EFS
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2393289
Downgrade and network problems .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2531221
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your post. I did follow a link in the !!ALL QUESTIONS GO IN THE Q&A FORUM!! OR THEY MAY BE DELETED!! sticky thread which took me to the Q&A forum where I thought I was posting. It is possible a confusion happened during the sign up process.
After reading those threads, two of which I had already read before posting, I have more understanding than I did before. Somehow I missed about the S3 not having a locked bootlader to begin with. I have backup up the EFS using Ktool but also understand it would have been more useful to do before flashing CM 10.2 as I now only have a EFS v2 backup rather than a version 1. What I am unsure of is what is my best action to take at the moment, going by the information I have. I can it is best not to go downgrade to earlier firmwares unless I wanted an added headache of the modem workarounds but do not see the best way to get back to a stock 4.3 firmware still.
I am on Three mobile (H3G) in the UK but don't think my phone is actually locked to them and don't know if that means the BTU is the option I should be choosing. Even so, when I check the firmwares on http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/2/ I can only see a firmware added last month which I have to assume is the bad 4.3 update that hit the UK and was pulled after the problems it caused. If it was my best option for flashing, even with the problems it caused, how would I then go about getting the extra update that Samsung pushed out to fix the problem?
I saw the Korean factory flash in one of the threads too, not sure if this is too extreme (and potentially more dangerous) than the other options which may be available to me.
Obviously I would like to do this right the first time, rather than stumble backwards fixing all the mistakes I make at the time. So sorry if I am asking what may be simple to some. My knowledge of phones sucks and I wish I hadn't been tempted by the easy looking Cyanogenmod installer now!
Noticed after a few cache and devlik cleans and reboots that the wifi started working on the CM 10.2 mod but only for the main browser and hit and miss with google play. Every over app didn't work on wifi though, but did on cell. I googled all over to see many with similar problems, which suggested manually setting the time and date and static ip settings, clean davlik and updating play apps after deleting their cache.
None of them worked. So to potentially getting away from flashing, does anyone know any other ideas to resolve this? Wifi connects, stock google browser works, Play works flakey. Other installed browsers wont load any pages or connect to the net, such as speed testing app. The only unusual app that also works in a twitter app. Installed an app to see if there was a hidden proxy setting, but it found nothing, Really strange. All the apps work on cell.
Follow the guide in general forum, stickies, to flash back to stock BTU. Network lock is irrelevant to rom.
Choose either 4.1.2 or 4.3 but your baseband must be EMG or later as you now have efs v2.
Don't flash things you don't fully understand, any non Samsung rom has drawbacks you'll have to live with.
In the stickies is a world of information supposed to help you.
boomboomer said:
Follow the guide in general forum, stickies, to flash back to stock BTU. Network lock is irrelevant to rom.
Choose either 4.1.2 or 4.3 but your baseband must be EMG or later as you now have efs v2.
Don't flash things you don't fully understand, any non Samsung rom has drawbacks you'll have to live with.
In the stickies is a world of information supposed to help you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate you giving me a direction to go. It seems the problem I had finding firmwares the last few days were due to Hotfile going offline and Sammobile rebuilding their index of firmwares. I found through the forums 4.3 BTU I9300XXUGMJ9_I9300OXAGMJ9_BTU.zip which contained a 1.5GB file called I9300XXUGMJ9_I9300OXAGMJ9_I9300XXUGMJ9_HOME.tar.md5 which I think is the correct one which I will try and flash later using the guides. It's not the new fixed 4.3, it's the older broken one but I guess in time I can apply the fix that Samsung are pushing out. This was part of my original question and now i have seen from other posts in the last few days that there is no full copy of the 4.3 anywhere.
The timing of me doing this appears to have been bad for a few of the above reasons, making working it out more difficult to work out for someone who has not done this before.
I can see from your signature and also your post that you think questions such as mine are easily answered in the various threads and through search. Personally I did try all those options first but either my lack of understanding or the overwhelming amount of information meant I was unsure as to what I should actually be doing, let alone which guide to follow. Even googling for BTU or searching xda to try and find what it means was fruitless so trying to put the pieces together is not easy if you have no experience with phones. I have programmed a Pi to do many tasks, built mainframe>SAS gateways and various technical challenges but I still struggle with all the phone flashing info
Many thanks again. Even a few words have been helpful
If you flash the kernel from the Chinese ZCUBMK it will fix all the broken parts of the current uk rom, until the latest ota emerges on xda.
I don't mind helping people who have made a genuine attempt to help themselves, my signature is aimed at the those who flash anything they find then demand someone give them an instant fix.
Your only mistake seems to have been the depth of research before you started, which could have been fatal to your phone -many first time flashes end up with a new motherboard required.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
If the ota doesn't work in the next few day's I will try that kernel, thanks for that info!
I managed to flash the older official 4.3 firmware just now, so progress has been made A quick check shows me that the power on/lock screen lag problem is present so I assume the other issues will be there too. The red line showing the flash counter has gone and I got no modified phone error when attempting an ota update, as well as device status saying official, so I assume I should be able to upgrade that way when they allow more upgrades on the rollout server.
In case anyone else needs to do the same, this is what I did:
1) Downloaded https://mega.co.nz/#!DVxVgZZb!LIxKGA2Q_KbBH9APo_slOCdZNGJgfn1O6fxOF4C OkHA which I found via a thread titled [Official Firmwares] I9300XXUGMJ9 (Android 4.3) - Ireland (VDI) [04-11-13]
2) Followed the flashing instructions on this page
3) After flashing I got stuck at the Samsung boot screen with the blue light on, even after reseting a few times. So I powered off, held down the home button, volume up and then the power button which took me to the recovery screen where I chose the factory default option. All worked fine after that.
Thanks once again for your help with this boomboomer. A bit of direction was enough to give me the confidence to try it. It's nice to be back to a familiar interface (although it has changed from the 4.1.2 I had before) but the initial setup reminded me of all the bloatware installed. It's a fair bit slower than CyanogenMod was but it all seems to work ok. Once I get the ota update i'll root and freeze some apps to sort that out. Now to install TSF shell

Rooting Xperia Z2 (Sirius) and flashing Custom Rom

Hi all, i have been trying to root and install a custom rom for my Sony Xperia Z2, running stock firmware version 314. Previously i tried using the Dual Recovery that i found on this forum and using that to flash the rom, but it did not boot, so i had to use flashtool to restore my phone to a stock firmware, found on this forum as well. It is also the reason i am running firmware version 314, which i believe is not the latest version available, but i am unable to access OTA sony updates anymore.
I am still able to gain proper root access for my phone (verified using root checker from the play store), but for some reason am unable to flash in a working custom recovery that will help me install CM11 on my phone. I understand now that CM11 requires a custom kernel to operate, but am unable to flash one using Dual Recovery either. I am at a loss as to what to do. Any advice or help is greatly appreciated!
@Taeyeonist9 What did you use to root m8? I think you should read this first m8. You install dual recovery after rooting. If you have any more Q's I'll try and help you. Hope this helps a bit m8:good:
---------- Post added at 04:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:51 PM ----------
Oh, forgot to say that .314 is the latest firmware. May I ask if you have unlocked your bootloader, if you don't have OTA updates You wont get OTA updates if you are on the latest firmware.
Rooting Xperia Z2 Sirius
Hi its the same person here, i've no idea why i have two xda accounts and my desktop's browsers registers taeyeonist9 in chrome, while my laptop's registers taeyeonist, when both chromes are synced to the same google account. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to look at my issue!
So yea, i realised that 314 is actually the latest version. And ive rooted using the easy root tool in that very link you posted above, i believe. So root access is not the issue. After rooting, I flashed XZ's Dual Recovery ,which includes TWRP, CWM and another third recovery i believe was included in the package. The Dual Recovery as i understand is only meant for devices which run stock kernels, with locked bootloaders. however from my understanding, legal regulations in Singapore, my country of residence, forces telcos to sell their devices without locking their bootloaders. Hence my bootloader is already unlocked and I BELIEVE this is not the issue ( pls correct me if im mistaken).
So the issue comes after i've successfully flashed XZ's Dual Recovery. At first i went on to straightaway flash the corresponding CM11 package for my phone and a copy of Gapps for Kitkat, and my phone soft bricked. Had to use flashtool to restore it with a stock kernel that was obtained from this forum, which resulted in my current condition of the phone - running stock firmware 314, and i was unaware that 314 is actually the latest firmware release, my apologies for that. I've tried flashing a custom kernel package using XZ's Dual Recovery too, DoomKernel v10, DoomLord's Advanced Stock Kernel package that includes CWM in it, neither worked, i ended up in the same softbrick situation. I've tried using fastboot to manually flash the kernels as well, perhaps due to my incompetence, i was unable to get the flash to be successful, it fails no matter what i try. So I'm at a loss now.... my Question is, is there any way i can get CWM onto my Xperia Z2 easily without it softbricking, so that i can then go on to flash CM11 using custom recovery method successfully? It's really frustrating because i know it can be done, i've seen the videos on youtube with ppl using CM11 on their Xperia Z2 devices, and I've tried it out on my spare phone, a SGS3, on which CM11 works wonders, and i really want to experience the magic that is CM11 on my Xperia Z2.
Sorry for my lack of technical knowledge, please go slow on the explanations. And once again, i extend my sincere gratitude to you or any other kind developer here who is willing to shed some light on my problem. i apologise for the wall of text
Thank you!
To clarify, when i say softbrick, i was only able to get the device in fastboot mode, and through flashtool, flash a copy of stock kernel obtained from another xda thread to restore it to factory condition. Other than this restoration method, my phone was essentially a brick. Nevrvewrecking:/ Appreciate the advice!
newbe at XZ2
Hi!
May I include my understanding of the issue.
I will get in the same situation in a view days when my Z2 will arrive.
At first, you have already root rights (rooted device) this doeasnt meen that you can flash what ever you want. It only means that you have more access right to your system than normal.
Bootloaders are locked by default but in some special cases it is not allowed to unlock it. (check service menu to get the info if unlockable or not)
If you want to flash roms with locked bootloader be shore to use roms with are able to be flashed with locked bootloader (LB), because the didn't change your kernel.
If you want to flash roms with a different kernel than stock you have to unlock you bootloader first, than you can flash almost every rom also the one statet (UB).
BTW: I thougt CyanogenMod uses there own kernel so its necessarry to unlock your bootloader if you want to flash CM.
However if you need to unlock the bootloader at first get root rights and backup your DRM keys because if they are lost you are unable to restore them any more, and they are necessarry if you will recover your phone to stock.

[Q] Please help, new to rooting & confused!

Hi all,
Firstly sorry, you must get this all the time and be really bored of helping but i would be so grateful if anyone out there can point me in the right direction.
Firstly my phone details;
Model - Xperia Z2 D6503
Firmware - 1278-4770_23.0.1.a.3.9
Network - EE
Rooting status;
Bootloader unlock allowed: No
I want to root my phone but after reading what seems like thousands of web pages im more than a little confused. Does anyone out there have a step by step guide for beginners?
I want to use cwm recovery but don't understand how to get that on the phone as most guides say use it to back up before doing anything else but it isn't there to start with!
Also will installing cwm wipe my phone and sd card?
Any help would be much appreciated and many thanks in advance.
You can only install nuts dual recovery on a locked bootloader, proper recovery is included in the kernel and the kernel can only be changed on an unlocked bootloader, there was a a guide to rooting in one of the forums and I assume towel root will work, just search the z2 forum you'll find it
Sent from my Xperia Z2 using Tapatalk
Mr.R™ said:
You can only install nuts dual recovery on a locked bootloader, proper recovery is included in the kernel and the kernel can only be changed on an unlocked bootloader, there was a a guide to rooting in one of the forums and I assume towel root will work, just search the z2 forum you'll find it
Sent from my Xperia Z2 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response.
Is nuts recovery better or worse than cwm? Also i thought that towel root would not work with 4.4.4 at present?
Does the locked bootloader mean i cannot do certain things even after rooting my phone like install custom roms and kernals?
Many thanks
Faggy said:
Hi all,
Firstly sorry, you must get this all the time and be really bored of helping but i would be so grateful if anyone out there can point me in the right direction.
Firstly my phone details;
Model - Xperia Z2 D6503
Firmware - 1278-4770_23.0.1.a.3.9
Network - EE
Rooting status;
Bootloader unlock allowed: No
I want to root my phone but after reading what seems like thousands of web pages im more than a little confused. Does anyone out there have a step by step guide for beginners?
I want to use cwm recovery but don't understand how to get that on the phone as most guides say use it to back up before doing anything else but it isn't there to start with!
Also will installing cwm wipe my phone and sd card?
Any help would be much appreciated and many thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Faggy said:
Thanks for the response.
Is nuts recovery better or worse than cwm? Also i thought that towel root would not work with 4.4.4 at present?
Does the locked bootloader mean i cannot do certain things even after rooting my phone like install custom roms and kernals?
Many thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) You cannot root the firmware you are on with a one click tool (like towelroot) at present. You have to downgrade to a lower firmware like 17.1.2.A.0.314 first and then root that, install a custom recovery and install a pre-rooted firmware package.
2) Your bootloader is hard locked by EE, this means that you will never be able to unlock it and install custom kernels nor custom ROM's what require custom kernels.
3) It is more than recommended to install [NUT]'s dual recovery, this installs PhilZ recovery (a more advanced CWM in my opinion), TWRP and CWM (to use CWM you have to install dual recovery manager from google play AFTER installing the dual recovery).
4) Now to downgrading, you will need to download a program called flashtool (this can be found in the Sony Cross Device development section) and the .314 ftf file (not .tft, ,ttf, .fft or any other variation people mis-spell it as). You will then need to install the drivers for your phone (these can be found in the flashtool drivers folder in the location you installed it, also if you have Windows 8 or 8.1 check my signature on how to disable driver enforcement before attempting to install the drivers.) There are plenty of guides on how to downgrade, there is even one in the firmware collection thread what can be found in the Z2 general section. Side note, when downgrading you will HAVE to wipe data and the cache (this can be selected when you are selecting the firmware to flash) or else you will end up with a phone what is in a bootloop.
5) After downgrading you will need to root, the easiest and simplest way to root would to be use the easy root toolkit (this can be found in the Sony Cross Device development section).
6) After rooting you will have to install [NUT]'s dual recovery (Sony Cross Device development section, you will need the installer file and not the flashable file).
7) After installing dual recovery you will need to flash a pre-rooted zip file of the latest update (Z2 Android Development section, I think the one by @niaboc79 is the best one to use). Alternatively you could install a custom ROM what is based on stock, it will tell you if it is.
If you need any more help, just tag me in the post (by using the @ symbol and then my user name) or PM me. Also, @Envious_Data is a great help in this device forum, helped me when I had a few queries about the phone before I got it and I have seen them help a load of people in the Q&A section.
@gamer649 Thank you for taking the time to help me, that has explained everything perfectly. I do however have a couple more questions i think you'll know about....
1 - Is there a back up app available that will do a similar back up to that of "apple". I mean reinstall all the apps i currently have and keep the home screen layouts and all data etc?
2 - In the link to the firmware downloads you gave me there is only 2 UK .314 ones and none of them are EE, shiuld i just use the unbranded one and what are the differences?
3 - The main reason i started looking into rooting was that i heard about a tweak to increase the volume of the z2 notifications by forcing it to use both speakers. Have you had any expierience with it and what other tweaks would you recomend?
Thanks again and i look forward to hearing from you again
Faggy said:
@gamer649 Thank you for taking the time to help me, that has explained everything perfectly. I do however have a couple more questions i think you'll know about....
1 - Is there a back up app available that will do a similar back up to that of "apple". I mean reinstall all the apps i currently have and keep the home screen layouts and all data etc?
2 - In the link to the firmware downloads you gave me there is only 2 UK .314 ones and none of them are EE, shiuld i just use the unbranded one and what are the differences?
3 - The main reason i started looking into rooting was that i heard about a tweak to increase the volume of the z2 notifications by forcing it to use both speakers. Have you had any expierience with it and what other tweaks would you recomend?
Thanks again and i look forward to hearing from you again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) You could try using the stock back up and restore app for that. Also, if you have your data backed up with your Google account it will start to reinstall all your apps along with their data once you sign in once you downgrade. @Envious_Data any other suggestions for a non-rooted device?
2) I always go for unbranded software, the reason being that there are no carrier apps nor carrier boot logos installed into the ROM and it is how Sony intended it to be. Apart from that I don't think there are any differences.
3) I don't usually have my phone on sound mode, it is either silent or vibrate so I can't help you with that one. You could take a look in the Z2 android development section to see what mods are available, some ROM's may also include this feature.
gamer649 said:
1) You could try using the stock back up and restore app for that. Also, if you have your data backed up with your Google account it will start to reinstall all your apps along with their data once you sign in once you downgrade. Envious_Data any other suggestions for a non-rooted device?
2) I always go for unbranded software, the reason being that there are no carrier apps nor carrier boot logos installed into the ROM and it is how Sony intended it to be. Apart from that I dont think there are any differences.
3) I dont usually have my phone on sound mode, it is either silent or vibrate so I cant help you with that one. You could take a look in the Z2 android development section to see what mods are available, some ROMs may also include this feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. You can use root to copy all of your apps from /data/app and you can use flashtool to bulk install all of them
2. Branded firmwares occasionaly have some small changes for better reception on the selcted network but with 314 this doesnt actualy matter
3. Have a look around for some mods, and see if they are compatible with your current firmware version

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