Beginners Guide to Rooting

So you are thinking about rooting your Xperia device, are you? Following our guide's, you could have your device rooted within the hour and ready for the next stages.( Please read this article before you start anything in this section ).

Before you do anything in our rooted zone please note ( WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR DEVICES BY WHY OF ROOTING OR ANY OTHER IN THIS WEB SITE ) its your choosing to do so.

We'll it is recommended that you understand exactly what this means before you start as there could be complications and we would hate for anyone to turn their beloved smart phone into an expensive paper weight. Effectively what you are doing when unlocking your boot loader and modding is your phone is removing the Sony Ericsson or Sony software and running different software packages which can improve certain performances and features but then take away some official ones. For example, some custom roms will mean that Android Market will not recognize your phone as an Xperia device and downloading optimized games might become quite difficult. This is just a summary of the good and bad points, perhaps to help you make up your mind.
The good -
There is a lot of perks to rooting our device though.  Unlocking certain features, new functionality and customizing Android like you probably hadn't even thought of. Some of tese in fact even sort out little things that I believe that Sony got wrong with the PLAY.  Like the lack of internal memory for a start, with a rooted device you would be able to transfer all apps to your micro SD, keeping that internal memory free'd up for performance.  You can overclock the processor to make it run faster, make that 1GHz restriction a run for its money.  There is even a whole library of applications available on Android market for rooted only devices, think of it like a members only club.  The greatest back up app 'Titanium' is there with a few others too.

The Bad

Loading custom roms could remove the cool Sony stuff like PS Pocket and the Xperia PLAY Launcher.  You could find it harder to get hold of Xperia PLAY optimized games and even worse you could lose Crash Bandicoot.  Even with the most popular custom Rom CyanogenMod, we have come across Xperia PLAY optimized games where the touch pads don't work and on Android Market games that should do are not available for yoru device.  Mainly this is because your Xperia PLAY has lost its identity so to speak.  When browsing Market the PLAY usually sends a signal sayign what hardware it is, with some custom software it could look more like a genric Android device.  This is where you will find Stock ROMs probably better.  These are just slightly modified versions of Sony Ericsson stock software with all of the original apps and functionality, but with the option to have a customizable Kenel and acces to the super user functions.  You won't be able to update your handset to the latest software using Sony Ericsson software either, you will have to wait for someone to make a customized version of it, If you try to update via sony ericsson you could brick your divice.

The Broken

The reality is, by loading custom roms and Kernels, there is every change you will brick your phone.  What does that mean?  Well your phone is as useless as a brick.  This is when the operating system becomes corrupt and nothing works, thus your Xperia PLAY is nothign more than hardware.  This is usually the result of neglegance as opposed to experimental attitudes.  Disconnecting your PLAY from USB whilst it is in the process of loading software, that is asking for trouble, so dont do it!  That is the worst case scenario mind you.  If that happens you won't be able to get it repaired or replaced by Sony Ericsson because you would have voided your Warranty when you unlocked the bootloader.

What do you think?

The important thing to remember is the Xperia PLAY is a gaming device not some generic Android touch screen but the worlds greatest open source games console. I would only recommend that if you are tempted to start joining the expanding world of moded DROIDs that you are atleast good with computers and file formats.  If you don't know how to install a non Market application for example, then you don't have a chance with this stuff.  But if you do fancy giving it a go, we have written some step by step tutorials and advice to help guide you through your baby steps of the modified world of Android.

---

Getting Started

There is several different stages to rooting your device and sever different ways to customise the original software.  First you can unlock your bootloader, which gives you then the ability to load customised Kernels, Roms and Tweaks.  This stage will void your warranty with Sony Ericsson, they are more than keen for developers and users to run altered software but they can't guarantee the quality and the results it will have on your hardware.  For example, if you overclock your device to higher speeds, it could melt your processor (that would be fun to see).  Below is just an explanantion of a few terminologies.
if this sounds too much for you there are new ways to root and semi mod your device for leaving your bootloader locked but you are restricted on what you can do. Please read through article's first to find out if that mod is compatible with your locked bootloaders just in case.

Definitions
Kernel - the kernal programs are like the brains of your phone, they control booting up, operating systems (os), programs and hardware. Sonys stock software will have them built in but some custom roms will need you to install one to install and run custom roms.
Stock Rom - Stock roms are offical Sony operating systems (os) software that come preinstalled on any out of the box sony ericsson mobile phone handset
Custom Rom - Custom roms are unoffical alternate operating systems (os) software made from other different devolpers for your sony ericsson mobile phone handsets. 
Tweaks - Are add on programs for stock or custom operating systems (os) such as system apps and system settings.
Rooted Apps - rooted apps are application programs which need root access to be able to work and run on your mobile phone handsets.
Bricked Device - If you can image your phone being a brick, that is it.  This is when your device has been screwed to bits software wise and will no longer function.  On the rare occasion, it can be saved by flashing it but that is rare.  When modding and customising with unofficial software for the play, this is always a possibility.
Flashtool - Flashtool is a program on your personal computers made for installing or flashing stock sony ericsson software plus other advanced tweeks to you sony ericsson xperia mobile phone handsets.
Bootloader - the key to properly modding this is a lock on your phone that sony ericsson has put on there to prevent you from modding you will need this unlocked to be able to do most of whats in our mod section see are guide for more info.
Fastboot - Fastboot is a program or (command line tool) on your personal computers for unlocking bootloaders, and for flashing or installing kernals (img files) and other types of software (img files) on you sony ericsson mobile phone handsets.
Super User App - this app you will get preinstalled on your system when you root your mobile phone handsets to give you the ability to grant super user (root access) to other mobile phone applications (programs).
Nandroid Back Up - Most accurate form of back up for Android.  Inside the recovery mode of the Kernel, you can do a back up which backs up EVERYTHING!!!!  Unlike apps from market whcih back up personal content, settings and apps themselves.  The Nandroid back up, duplicates the entire code to your memory card.  So when you restore everything is how it was before.