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.
