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Hello, iam a Xperia-Z (C6603) User for a week or two and am now looking forward to a
Nice and clean custom-Rom without any bloatware which I hate(ultimate music Sony select,sonysocialfoo and Facebook and alike)
and I guess cm11nightly would fulfill my needs, as i would also really love a smartphone without gapps.
FIrst I thought it would basically be a decision between the to be flashed ROM but now
I read about the bravia-engine getting lost forever which would really suck, is this still
State-of-the-art? Or is there an Option to get it back, as far as I know the BE is basically still there but licensed over a key like the mpeg2-codec on the raspberry-Pi isn't there a possibility to back it up and still be able to use it when you revert back to stock for example?
You're in charge now, what do you suggest me? Iam still on 4.2.2 and would like to get everything up-to-date soon. Btw. I would want a Rom that is of the same color as stock 4.2.2 so basically black, a white theme would be hard to look at in dark conditions even when turned down to lowest brightness.
So to sum it up: NO bloatware (must), NO gapps(nicetohave), black theme like 4.2.2(must), still BEngine(nicetohave)
Btw. How's the image-quality with custom-Roms? It shouldn't get worse than it is in 4.2.2 stock if possible!
Thanks! :good::highfive:
luluchambler said:
Hello, iam a Xperia-Z (C6603) User for a week or two and am now looking forward to a
Nice and clean custom-Rom without any bloatware which I hate(ultimate music Sony select,sonysocialfoo and Facebook and alike)
and I guess cm11nightly would fulfill my needs, as i would also really love a smartphone without gapps.
FIrst I thought it would basically be a decision between the to be flashed ROM but now
I read about the bravia-engine getting lost forever which would really suck, is this still
State-of-the-art? Or is there an Option to get it back, as far as I know the BE is basically still there but licensed over a key like the mpeg2-codec on the raspberry-Pi isn't there a possibility to back it up and still be able to use it when you revert back to stock for example?
You're in charge now, what do you suggest me? Iam still on 4.2.2 and would like to get everything up-to-date soon. Btw. I would want a Rom that is of the same color as stock 4.2.2 so basically black, a white theme would be hard to look at in dark conditions even when turned down to lowest brightness.
So to sum it up: NO bloatware (must), NO gapps(nicetohave), black theme like 4.2.2(must), still BEngine(nicetohave)
Btw. How's the image-quality with custom-Roms? It shouldn't get worse than it is in 4.2.2 stock if possible!
Thanks! :good::highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend Cyanogen Mod to most people. Honestly I can't live without the features these days!
Regarding the consequences.. Well there aren't really any.. Kinda.. You may or may not lose your warranty based on how stingy Sony are feeling at the time. Most of the BRICK warnings are just to cover developers if someone does something wrong or if your phone just so happens to die of something completely unrelated while installing the rom.
I would recommend trawling this forum for at least and hour or two just reading the various guides; How to backup your phone, How to unlock the bootloader and, most importantly, how to backup your TA partition.
It's quite a pain free process. It's just better to be aware of what could go wrong, so you are prepared and can easily apply the fix before panicking and messing something up
Good luck and happy trawling!
You only have to learn these things once. Once your rooted, unlocked and running a custom rom updating is easier than sonys
Hi, thank you for your reply.
I just looked up what exactly the "TA-Partition" is and i guess the only thing that was worrying me (loosing Bravia) is not up-to-date anymore
So lets get started, i looked up what i need to backup the "TA-Partition" and if i understood everything its basically having a rooted Xperia-Z and a double-click on a .bat-file?
So i guess the best would to not upgrade any of the shown OTA-Updates by Sony, and root the 4.2.2-Stock ROM that is on the device right now?
As far as i know rooting 4.2.2 isn't really a problem right now, agreed?
So after sucessfully rooting the Sony Xperia-Z its just backing up the "TA-Par tition" with "TA-Backup"-Script?
After that, its unlocking the Boot-loader over the Sony-Website (IMEI, Name, Email....) so that they send you the Unlock-Code, after that you'll have to use fastboot to finally unlock it?
(If i check the Service Menu "Rooting Status": there is nothing behind it, but the bootloader-unlock allowed: says yes, so no problem right?)
After that you most likely are done for the moment, until you decide if it should be CM10.1Stable or CM11Nightly, rig
How's the status of CM11 right now, any known major bugs?
Thank you already for your help :good:
luluchambler said:
Hi, thank you for your reply.
I just looked up what exactly the "TA-Partition" is and i guess the only thing that was worrying me (loosing Bravia) is not up-to-date anymore
So lets get started, i looked up what i need to backup the "TA-Partition" and if i understood everything its basically having a rooted Xperia-Z and a double-click on a .bat-file?
So i guess the best would to not upgrade any of the shown OTA-Updates by Sony, and root the 4.2.2-Stock ROM that is on the device right now?
As far as i know rooting 4.2.2 isn't really a problem right now, agreed?
So after sucessfully rooting the Sony Xperia-Z its just backing up the "TA-Par tition" with "TA-Backup"-Script?
After that, its unlocking the Boot-loader over the Sony-Website (IMEI, Name, Email....) so that they send you the Unlock-Code, after that you'll have to use fastboot to finally unlock it?
(If i check the Service Menu "Rooting Status": there is nothing behind it, but the bootloader-unlock allowed: says yes, so no problem right?)
After that you most likely are done for the moment, until you decide if it should be CM10.1Stable or CM11Nightly, rig
How's the status of CM11 right now, any known major bugs?
Thank you already for your help :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using Cyanogenmod 11 nighties for months now, no obvious bugs
Some features aren't implemented yet and the occasional feature is broken.. Nothing really integral to the phone though
You've pretty much got the method down! Just ensure you use a root method for your sony firmware version (Android version). It should use some form of "Exploit" to avoid deleting the TA-Partition. Honestly I backed mine up and haven't ever wanted to restore it, the features are more of a gimmick than anything useful
Enjoy
A few more questions! (Iam sorry )
So as far as i can see, my smartphone is running "10.3.1.A.0.244" which is regarding to the post by DooMLord not exploitable.
I therefore have to flash the "10.3.A.0.423"-Kernel-Only so that the previously used exploit works again.
After that i'll have to restore the Kernel that was previously on the Smartphone therefore "10.3.1.A.0.244"
After that root should stay in intact, but what about the TA-Partion? Is it somehow affected by this?
Secound Question, is it crucial to have an micro-sdhc inserted to sucessfully flash CM11 onto the Xperia Z after backing up TA, or is it possible without?
And the Image-Quality (taking Pictures) should be kinda worse on CM11 than it is with Sony's Stock Firmware, is it possible to include(myself) the propritary firmware.blobs for the Camera as we do it with gapps, or will i have to live with the reduced image Quality?
Thanks!
So I'm currently on 205 Deodexed by Dipesh and I'm using the locked bootloader version. Things are working okay, but occasionally I get a 'screen dimming lock up' sometimes and poor chrome performance. Also, the recoveries are feeling a bit glitchy. I could just stick with it or try a new fresh install.
I'm not sure whether to unlock my bootloader and try a 4.4 ROM or another stock based one. The reason why I haven't unlocked already is because I'm worried about keeping my warranty on the phone, I've only had the phone for a few months really and I don't want it to be unlocked if I need to get it warranty repaired.
I could wait for a next update which probably won't be KitKat but it would be nice. Don't really know what future updates we will get.
I just want my phone to work properly without any issues / as stable as it can possibly be. I dont really use xposed, just root and titanium backup and a few other root apps.I also wanna keep the Sony features like the LED notifications/ U-disco, and Bravia engine.
What would you guys recommend I do?
Sent from my nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Stay locked and try CM11 or nexusPA LB kitkat roms.
You can unlock and keep warranty you just need to make sure you back up your TA partition, see the various guides on this. Unlocking would give you access to alternative Kernels like Williams with recoveries built in which is handy but these ROM's are fine without this.
I'd recommend you backup TA, make sure you have got it right (there is no way to restore TA without a backup, once you unlock it is lost forever; there is, however, a way to get Bravia Engine without TA, but it's better not to risk it), and unlock and try other kernels and ROMs until you find one that suits you best.
I have found CM11 to perform no better than stock .205.
I also feel that Firefox performs much better than Chrome (at the expense of a slightly higher RAM usage), in a few different devices, so you might want to try it out before flashing a new ROM.
Hello everyone,
after my last smartphone died, a Razr I (flashed with CM11), I am a bit confused about the situation with my new phone, the z3c.
I hate the Stock ROM and would love to get my hands on the new CM12 (or similar).
But I read that flashing/unlocking destroys the DRMs and makes the camera worse (among others).
Is there a way to get a Custom ROM without that drawback?
With my current Version 23.0.A.2.98 there is not even a exploit to root the system and make a complete backup (with DRMs), if i recall correctly. Or am I wrong?
Should I wait for a exploit in Sonys Lollipop ROM (if there will be any) or do i lose the Sony-DRMs nevertheless by flashing a Custom ROM?
Thanks and sorry if the questions are a bit confused, I am fairly new to all of this!
You're a little late to the party, aren't you?! Please, use the search function and it takes you to root, backup of your TA partition and everything else...
now you can root your z3c without unlock the bootloader,just try it
Sent from my D5833 using XDA Free mobile app
Hi,
While going through the threads, I was not able to exactly understand what is the difference between ROOTing a phone and installing a Custom ROM in it. (I'm new to this ROOTing world - only had a chance to watch a friend root Samsung Galaxy S3 long long time back ... Apart from that I do not have much knowledge). I'm planning to root my Sony Xperia Z2 and was wondering if ROOTing is enough or should I proceed further to install a custom ROM.
Rooting your device just gives you privileged access that permits you to modify the operating system.
A custom ROM is an entire Android operating system that has been customized or otherwise modified. Depending on the ROM, it could be stripped down or have all sorts of additional system apps and features. Custom ROMs generally include root access, though not always.
If you're going to start somewhere, you should probably just root your existing stock ROM. Though unless you have a specific need (e.g. per-app firewall, ad blocking, backup/restore) or just like to tinker with ****, I wouldn't bother.
DRM Keys are important.
srcm.ch said:
Hi,
While going through the threads, I was not able to exactly understand what is the difference between ROOTing a phone and installing a Custom ROM in it. (I'm new to this ROOTing world - only had a chance to watch a friend root Samsung Galaxy S3 long long time back ... Apart from that I do not have much knowledge). I'm planning to root my Sony Xperia Z2 and was wondering if ROOTing is enough or should I proceed further to install a custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before rooting or start tinkering your stock rom, make sure to backup your DRM Keys. They are very important for Xperia devices and are essential for proper functionality of Camera and Music applications (Stock ones).
srcm.ch said:
Hi,
While going through the threads, I was not able to exactly understand what is the difference between ROOTing a phone and installing a Custom ROM in it. (I'm new to this ROOTing world - only had a chance to watch a friend root Samsung Galaxy S3 long long time back ... Apart from that I do not have much knowledge). I'm planning to root my Sony Xperia Z2 and was wondering if ROOTing is enough or should I proceed further to install a custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend before rooting your phone you determine for yourself the purpose for which you are rooting, some people do for customisation via xposed and gravitybox, some do it for control e.g. removing stock apps, whatever the purpose, because rooting can cause your phone to stop working, it's a venture that's best taken with a purpose, my personal preference is to root a stock android environment rather than running ROMs
question
So im trying to make a "custom" rom but i want it to have root by default lke Cyaogen. Do i change something in build.prop or something else?
First of all, I have been using custom kernels and later rooting since Pocket PC 2002/Merlin, and I now have bought my first Sony (after just about every other brand of Android phone, no particular reason why I never had a Sony since the SE T68) because it's the only phone I can use with salt water spray on the screen and wet fingers. I do a lot of lobster, crayfish and crab fishing with traps and use an app called Fishing Poins to keep track of my pots and what I get where. Coming from Samsung (S5 was the latest I had) the rooting of a Sony seems rather cumbersome, but I have a few apps that need root access. LIke Air Audio to play music through an Airplay system. DLNA is useless to me, I want to stream the audio that I'm using on the phone directly to the whole house systen.
So can somebody please tell me what I do to get root access on Nougat (which my phone upgraded to before I saw that's what was happening, and no, I'm not big on reading long explanation screens, if it's a new phone and an official upgrade I am used to just doing it before I root on Samsung phones, since I have to unroot to install them later) and nothing else? For now I don't want to use any custom kernels or recovery, if I can avoid it. Just stock, rooted, like I could on my S5 (and Note 2, S4 Active and so on), please!
I did attempt the KingRoot app, but it didn't work. Also I have read a bit about that app that doesn't seem to good (Chinese spy fator app), so I did a full reset after the failed attempt. But if there's something similar that would be the perfect way of doing this. Of course I'm no stranger to ADB, so hooking it up to my pc is not a problem either.
1. Downgrade to any version of stock Marshmallow firmware with Xperifirm and Flashtool. Wipe everything and Exclude nothing (but *.ta - if any). Do not use FSC script! << FSC is now mandatory!
2. Backup your device's TA partition with Universal TA Backup tool.
3. Flash Nougat firmware (again with Xperifirm and Flashtool). Wipe everything and Exclude nothing (but *.ta - if any).
4. Unlock your device's bootloader
5. Follow this instructions to create/flash a custom kernel with root, and also DK.ftf (to fully reactivate sony's drm keys, which is wiped when bootloader is unlocked).
Anyway, try it at your own risk!
Thanks! So that's the method, which of course means deleting everything I've set up on the phone. Is there a chance there may be an easier, less destructive way during the next month or so? I can do without root access for that long.
oh, btw, by "custom kernel" do you mean that it will not be the original setup for the phone? I've been betatesting kernels on many devices, but nowadays I only want a phone that works without any hitches, and I want access to the official updates. That was easy on the Samsung phones, but maybe Sony is more different than I thought?
Oh, btw, maybe it is explained in the long post you directed me to, but I recently had an eye operation, and I would appreciate a shorter answer, before I get to the "how to", which takes me a while to read right now...
NEVER MIND THIS MESSAGE! Now I understand what Xperfirm is...
Also where would be a safe place to download ROMs from? Both the downgrade ROM and the Nougat ROM? I now really wish I hadn't let the thing upgrade before I took the TB backup (I'm still a bit unsure as to why I need that, I don't use any media with any form for DRM, but I guess better safe than sorry).
Mastiff said:
NEVER MIND THIS MESSAGE! Now I understand what Xperfirm is...
Also where would be a safe place to download ROMs from? Both the downgrade ROM and the Nougat ROM? I now really wish I hadn't let the thing upgrade before I took the TB backup (I'm still a bit unsure as to why I need that, I don't use any media with any form for DRM, but I guess better safe than sorry).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know there's no danger to download through Xperifirm, you need TA for guarantee reasons (if your phone need repair, not everywhere but for safety)
THanks, yeah. I have managed to read a bit and found out that Xperifirm downloads from the official Sony servers. Pain in the ass downloading, it breaks the download every couple of minutes. But that's probably Sony's servers, not the program. As for warranty, that's no problem in Norway since we have very strong consumer rights here. If an error can not be prooven to stem from rooting or other software stuff, it will be fixed. If I remember correctly Apple tried really hard to battle with the consumer rights officials about jailbreaking, but they had a very bloody defeat.
Seems like I have a problem. The Telenor Nougat ROM doesn't have a loader, according to Flashtool. Neither do the two other ROMs I have downloaded so far, but I'm trying again with a third, which doesn't have the "customised" moniker. So I hope that has a loader. But how do I upgrade again to Nougat, with the Norwegian version, when the Telenor ROM doesn't have a loader?
Mastiff said:
Seems like I have a problem. The Telenor Nougat ROM doesn't have a loader, according to Flashtool. Neither do the two other ROMs I have downloaded so far, but I'm trying again with a third, which doesn't have the "customised" moniker. So I hope that has a loader. But how do I upgrade again to Nougat, with the Norwegian version, when the Telenor ROM doesn't have a loader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if your phone is locked(Bootloader),fix it using Xperia Companion..that way it upgrades automatically to Nougat.
if not,lock it using Flashtool first.
Well, the message was kind of badly worded, because I need to downgrade first of all. So I'm at the moment trying to get it to MM without messing up the TA partition. So anyway, this thread has been followed by others, I think this can be considered solved since there is only one way to get root on these phones.
What would be the best approach to rooting if you unlock your bootloader before learning about TA backup? I have since downgraded, done TA backup, upgraded, flashed TWRP, flashed SU/Magisk/phhSu, and saw two green checks in Magisk. Tried to continue to get the three checks by installing Sony framework v1 through Magisk and then Andros plus kernel, but got stuck on Sony screen on boot up. So I repeated steps and stopped after I got two checks, however after long use and simple phone restart, I lost root. Please HELP!