Having gotten a spare Xperia SP, I decided to venture into the realm of flashing custom ROMs. This was the first time I did anything of this sort with an Android device. So, here is what I did to it today:
At first, I successfully rooted, installed recovery and flashed CM12. After fiddling with it for about an hour and not finding anything super exciting, I decided to try out other ROMs. I did a facotry reset, wiped the data and cache, and was about to flash CM11 (I forgot that it required an unlocked bootloader, which I don't have, and the recovery console told me so). Maybe at this point I should have just reflashed CM12, but I chose (not even sure why at this point) to exit recovery instead. After this, the phone keeps getting stuck on the Sony logo (although on the second attempt to turn it on, it did display a screen showing that wrench icon, indicating some sort of configuration activity going on, but never moved past that either). I tried flashing two different stock ftf roms with flashtool, both fail with this error: Processing of system.sin finished with errors. One of them will cause the phone to shut off after about a minute on the logo instead of remaining stuck on it indefinitely.
Maybe I should mention that this phone did not exactly work flawlessly for some time, even before I started experimenting with it. Here are the main things that I can remember it doing:
-Lags on even the basic functions, apps often crashing, despite doing a very recent hard reset.
-Battery drains very fast sometimes (like going from 55% to 0 in about 2 hours with almost no usage).
-A few months ago, it would periodically freeze and reboot itself, but that problem seemed to disappear with time.
Did I do something stupid to that phone, or are there internal/hardware problems that have manifested themselves in this way? I won't be horribly upset if I killed it (after all, knowing that something of this sort may happen was exactly the reason why I was not doing all this on my main phone), but I certainly would like to get it back up and running.
Download Flashtool v0.9.18.6 from official site.
Option 1: Flash stock.
or,
Option 2: Flash tangerine-7.1.elf via 'fastboot mode' to directly get TWRP, then flash any ROM you want.
https://dl.cubeserver.eu/TechnoSparks/tangerine-stuffs/tangerine-7.1.elf
nandan21 said:
Download Flashtool v0.9.18.6 from official site.
Option 1: Flash stock.
or,
Option 2: Flash tangerine-7.1.elf via 'fastboot mode' to directly get TWRP, then flash any ROM you want.
]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your reply. I have a few questions:
I downloaded the flashtool version that you mentioned (from the official site), but avast detected malware in it. Should version 9.19.8, the one I tried yesterday, work fine?
What is exactly considered "stock rom"? Is it exclusively the version your phone came with, or is it firmware of any version/carrier branding, as longs as it is made for your phone model by the manufacuter?
It looks like my phone actually won't stay in flash mode. I select fastboot mode in flashtool, a window pops up asking me to plug in the phone. I press the volume down button and plug it in, the LED glows bright green, but nothing happens in flashtool. After a few seconds, the LED goes red and the Sony logo appears on the phones screen (as if it was going to turn on), and my computer makes a sound as if the phone was ejected. The phone shuts off a minute later, goes into flash mode again, and the cycle repeats.
UPDATE
Nevermind everything I wrote before, I was able to successfully re-flash stock. Turns out I did in fact have some crappy version of flashtool that didn't work, and I found anolder version without malware.
Strangely, the infected flashtool version was the one I dowloaded from the official site... Something is fishy here.
Anyways, thanks a bunch for your help!
MrDroid15 said:
Thank you for your reply. I have a few questions:
I downloaded the flashtool version that you mentioned (from the official site), but avast detected malware in it. Should version 9.19.8, the one I tried yesterday, work fine?
What is exactly considered "stock rom"? Is it exclusively the version your phone came with, or is it firmware of any version/carrier branding, as longs as it is made for your phone model by the manufacuter?
It looks like my phone actually won't stay in flash mode. I select fastboot mode in flashtool, a window pops up asking me to plug in the phone. I press the volume down button and plug it in, the LED glows bright green, but nothing happens in flashtool. After a few seconds, the LED goes red and the Sony logo appears on the phones screen (as if it was going to turn on), and my computer makes a sound as if the phone was ejected. The phone shuts off a minute later, goes into flash mode again, and the cycle repeats.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use flashtool 0.9.19.8 because that is what everyone is recommending now, Stock rom defines as what it originally comes from your phone which is manufactured by sony. To get into fastboot mode turn off your phone by taking off the cover off your xperia sp and use a pin or pen to press into a small dot and you will get 3 vibrations.
This guide is not written by me, so give credit to chris10286
Step 1. Download a kernel with twrp embedded im sure I used dooms kernel as far as I remember. There are many others just do a simple google of xperia sp kernel with recovery.
Step 2 . take phone case off the back hold button in on lower bottom for 10 seconds you will get 3 vibrations . good leave it at that.
Step 4 . open flashtool let it load completely. Now plug USB into your phone also have it into your PC ! Whilst plugging in hold down volume button to enter flashmode your phone should be green . hold up for fast boot mode which is blue either too let's you flash a kernel but fast boot mode requires "elf" kernel.
Step 5. Locate kernel install and then boot phone up whilst press the volume up button as its booting recovery mode will be accessed now flash rom of your choice or use Sony PC suite to go back to stock. Make sure you have stock kernel and bootloader locked or else it won't let you..
Use this thread to help you since i had the similar problem which involved my phone: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=63660062#post63660062
If none of my methods work please ask zenith to help you or ask anyone in the xperia sp forum to help you since im not a developer but ran into a similar problem to yours.
I hope this helps you out in someway as it did me good luck.
Thanks Nandan
Thank you, I very much appreciate that you took the time to write this long post to help me out. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I found a solution to my problem - by using flashtool 9.18.6 (the one that wasn't working was actually newer).
Warning: LONG POST incoming ***
So I think I'm having the worst brick I've ever encountered on this phone, had tons of softbricks before and I could almost always sort them out easily, this one I'm having right now unforetunately is not the same case.
Current situation, phone won't boot up, no logo, no nothing, pressing power on button gives two RED blinks, holding power on gives continuous red led blink, now, vol. Up + power wont work anymore, same as hard reset of vol up+pwr with 3vibrates, it does work a few days ago but not anymore (I'm thinking about the issue of hard reset that results in about 50+ hrs or battery draining and recovery but not so sure if thats the case right now).
I've tried going flashmode but it just wont remain in flashmode, I can enter on flashmode briefly, proceed to flash stock ftf then somewhre along the process, (system.sin i think) phone exits flashmode then red led will show up. Fastboot wont work either.
Last observation i have is during wall charging, initially, when I connect to charger, no led light will show for about 3sec, then GREEN led will show and blink around 5times in about 1min, led disappears for a few sec then straight RED led will show for about 2min, and the cycle goes on and on, been monitoring like this for about 3hrs now, will continue until tomorrow.
Note: worst case, I think battery is flat dead thats why it wont charge, or something got fried during usage, never flashed antything for a few months, last thing I remember is I'm having a series of reboots, during long hours of mobile hotspot. Also worth mentioning, this phone auto reboots when it overheats during charging.
This may be a long shot but if anyone miraculously knows a workaround here other than getting a new one, then that'd be a huge help.
That's all, Thanks!
hi
I'm having a similar problem on my Xperia TL (LT30at). It was running on android 4.1.2 and I tried to flash it with a 4.3 ROM (originally built for LT30p, customized for US). During the process, there was an error while the flashtool was processing system.sin. In my case, there's no LED indication, no vibration, no nothing. The phone just won't respond to any button press combo (the battery was about 80% charged).
Plz help.
RESTORED!
Update: After long hours of battling this bricked mode, I've finally restored my phone! Stock FTF won't go through flashmode no matter what I do but luckily "Fastboot Trick" did the work along with numerous Trial and Errors, basically I was able to access fastboot by following and READING all of the instructions on xperia recovery pages here on XDA, from charging cycles, battery disconnect via opening the phone, flashmode/fastboot access, rubber band trick and so on.
Tried flashing kernel.sin from stock FTF (got into boot logo/bootloops with this), system.sin (can't fastboot flash due to huge file size), and lastly using my current roms (CM12.1 by neo) boot.img and flashing it via flashtool fastboot.this one did the trick allowing me to use my previous kernel along with my still un-wiped ROM data resulting to booting into it's previous working state.
Credits to @gregbradley , @Toledo_JAB and all that contributed to their tools and recovery thread (link below)
ALL IN ONE THREAD[Updated 12/3/13]Read me first!
[GUIDE] Recover 2012 and newer XPERIAs from SOFT-brick
The Key is as long as you're getting a response(if you don't get any, wall charge your phone for 4 ~ 24 hours and see if you can get a red led which then means you can still save your phone), vibrate, led blink, then you can bet you can still recover your phone. You just have to try everything you haven't tried before. That's all!
I had my T also similarly "bricked" last summer. Flashing always resulted in errors. Rubber band while powering helped, but only worked with original Sony charger. No luck with a Samsung one. After several reboots flashing went ok. The phone was stable only with battery almost full. After I replaced the battery, everything works well again. I guess the battery has been damaged by different chargers - a Samsung 2A (for tablet), in-car, and external battery pack. Currently evaluating CM 12.1
LiudasP said:
I had my T also similarly "bricked" last summer. Flashing always resulted in errors. Rubber band while powering helped, but only worked with original Sony charger. No luck with a Samsung one. After several reboots flashing went ok. The phone was stable only with battery almost full. After I replaced the battery, everything works well again. I guess the battery has been damaged by different chargers - a Samsung 2A (for tablet), in-car, and external battery pack. Currently evaluating CM 12.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good thing replacing battery works for you, though I have recovered my phone, I think mines hotspot module got damaged already due to extensive usage and overheating from before (currently experiencing random reboots right now when data is on), gonna check to see if this is kernel or hardware related.
PS: WhiteNeo's NeoWave(KK) and CM12.1 ROM's(development stopped / best version though is 20151010 afaik) are the fastest I have tested yet. You should check them both .
Xperia TL (LT30at) Hard Bricked!!
Well, it’s pretty much obvious that I have hard bricked my phone.
I’ve been searching over the internet (especially on XDA) about this issue and I’ve realized that I’ve caused my phone’s bootloader to be damaged and that’s why it won’t boot at all. Before unlocking the bootloader, I did not make a TA backup (as I’ve seen in some posts that it is required to restore security units in case of boot failure) and now I don’t know how to fix my phone. Most likely, I need a suitable firmware for my phone to flash it with and hence to restore bootloader, but I haven’t found a firmware for my phone anywhere over the internet.
By the way, my phone is recognized as ZEUS flash device when I connect it to my pc, so I feel like there is a chance to recover it from this brick. I took it to a repair center, they tried JTAG but the guy said it didn’t work. The phone takes the dump but still doesn’t boot.
Could anyone help please?
kain_the_sly said:
Well, it’s pretty much obvious that I have hard bricked my phone.
I’ve been searching over the internet (especially on XDA) about this issue and I’ve realized that I’ve caused my phone’s bootloader to be damaged and that’s why it won’t boot at all. Before unlocking the bootloader, I did not make a TA backup (as I’ve seen in some posts that it is required to restore security units in case of boot failure) and now I don’t know how to fix my phone. Most likely, I need a suitable firmware for my phone to flash it with and hence to restore bootloader, but I haven’t found a firmware for my phone anywhere over the internet.
By the way, my phone is recognized as ZEUS flash device when I connect it to my pc, so I feel like there is a chance to recover it from this brick. I took it to a repair center, they tried JTAG but the guy said it didn’t work. The phone takes the dump but still doesn’t boot.
Could anyone help please?
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Click to collapse
Not that sure when it comes to bootloader errors but I'll try to help, if it's detected on your PC, then you might still be able to recover it (mine is not even detected on my PC the last time it got bricked, but I got it fixed(detected) with proper driver installation: [Drivers] FlashTool Xperia Driver Pack (v1.5) [20140318] by @DooMLoRD), check troubleshooting section if you are using Windows 8 as you might encounter driver signature error during installation .
Question: Does it respond to any action? eg, vibrate, pressing power button just once(if it blinks red LED twice = phone is still alive), soft reset & hard reset, wall charging, fastboot or flashmode when connected to PC?
zakcaree said:
Not that sure when it comes to bootloader errors but I'll try to help, if it's detected on your PC, then you might still be able to recover it (mine is not even detected on my PC the last time it got bricked, but I got it fixed(detected) with proper driver installation: [Drivers] FlashTool Xperia Driver Pack (v1.5) [20140318] by @DooMLoRD), check troubleshooting section if you are using Windows 8 as you might encounter driver signature error during installation .
Question: Does it respond to any action? eg, vibrate, pressing power button just once(if it blinks red LED twice = phone is still alive), soft reset & hard reset, wall charging, fastboot or flashmode when connected to PC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. It doesn't vibrate, no LED blink, no fastboot or flashmode. The phone is non-responsive to every button press. However, red LED blinks just for once when I connect it to my pc and when the battery is unplugged.
So far, I've a pretty sure idea that the phone is in "dead boot" and somehow I've to restore its security units / TA backup, as the boot partition is corrupted. Unfortunately, I don't have a TA backup. However, I could make use of TA backup from another working LT30at.
P.S. I'm using Windows 7 and there are no driver issues. The phone is recognized by my pc as an ZEUS flash device.
zakcaree said:
Good thing replacing battery works for you, though I have recovered my phone, I think mines hotspot module got damaged already due to extensive usage and overheating from before (currently experiencing random reboots right now when data is on), gonna check to see if this is kernel or hardware related.
PS: WhiteNeo's NeoWave(KK) and CM12.1 ROM's(development stopped / best version though is 20151010 afaik) are the fastest I have tested yet. You should check them both .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi guys.
I have the same problem i tierd flashing the rom stock..it does't work..flash aborted and phone disconnected avain and again.
But when i remove the battery..phone in wallcharger it shows sony logo and keep restarting..no blinking led no vibration.
Any idea???
Mizouradio said:
Hi guys.
I have the same problem i tierd flashing the rom stock..it does't work..flash aborted and phone disconnected avain and again.
But when i remove the battery..phone in wallcharger it shows sony logo and keep restarting..no blinking led no vibration.
Any idea???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try install stock without battery and then plug it in when u start
alial04 said:
Try install stock without battery and then plug it in when u start
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Click to collapse
Yes i did that...still have the same pb...end of flash session..phone keep disconnecting..and flash aborted!!!
Any advice?
Mizouradio said:
Hi guys.
I have the same problem i tierd flashing the rom stock..it does't work..flash aborted and phone disconnected avain and again.
But when i remove the battery..phone in wallcharger it shows sony logo and keep restarting..no blinking led no vibration.
Any idea???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bootloop usually means boot kernel problem, Can you fastboot? try to fastboot flash your previous ROM kernel and check to see if you can boot normally to your previous rom.
im not using an xperia tl but pretty much thw same issue with my xperia e3 d2212
red light keeps blinking its charging(no logo just saying) tried evry key combination triying to connect to pc says connected for a few secs n then it gets disconnected although i say that its connected im sayin it only based on the sound derz actually no new software or unknown software msgs popping plzzz help me out............ ty in advance
Sunderesh said:
im not using an xperia tl but pretty much thw same issue with my xperia e3 d2212
red light keeps blinking its charging(no logo just saying) tried evry key combination triying to connect to pc says connected for a few secs n then it gets disconnected although i say that its connected im sayin it only based on the sound derz actually no new software or unknown software msgs popping plzzz help me out............ ty in advance
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Click to collapse
You mean red LED blinks during charging? Did you flash anything before this occured? Try first charging it for 2~4hrs, (also check if red LED still flashes during charging after a couple of hours), then try powering it ON... does it boot? If not, try soft reset with your phone (hold vol-up + power button for a few sec), it will vibrate ONCE, that means soft reset, power it ON... does it boot? If not, try hard reset this time (same method as soft-reset, this time hold the buttons longer, you will first get 1 vibrate, just hold it still, then you wil get 3 vibrates = hard reset).. power it ON... does it boot? If not.. try charging it a little longer and repeat the process, see if you can get it to boot that way.
zakcaree said:
You mean red LED blinks during charging? Did you flash anything before this occured? Try first charging it for 2~4hrs, (also check if red LED still flashes during charging after a couple of hours), then try powering it ON... does it boot? If not, try soft reset with your phone (hold vol-up + power button for a few sec), it will vibrate ONCE, that means soft reset, power it ON... does it boot? If not, try hard reset this time (same method as soft-reset, this time hold the buttons longer, you will first get 1 vibrate, just hold it still, then you wil get 3 vibrates = hard reset).. power it ON... does it boot? If not.. try charging it a little longer and repeat the process, see if you can get it to boot that way.
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Click to collapse
I will tell u my problem in detail I have a Sony Xperia e3 d2212 running stock 4.4.2 I rooted it without unlocking bootloader with" kingoroot" later saw a few privacy issues with kingo super user and used "supersume pro" to get super su as superuser and to get rid of kingosuper user
then tried an boot loader unlock with an app named "ez unlock" then tried flashing cwm
the mistake I did was that I flashed the cwm file which was made for my phone running 4.4.4
and now if it is low on battery the red led blinks only when I hold the power button
if I put it on charge for a few hours and then unplug the charger the red led keeps blinking all day long
let me know if u understood
sorry for the confusion though
---------- Post added at 03:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:03 PM ----------
thank you for ur interest bro.......
zakcaree said:
Bootloop usually means boot kernel problem, Can you fastboot? try to fastboot flash your previous ROM kernel and check to see if you can boot normally to your previous rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks but i tried that...without result.cause the phone is not reconized and keep disconnecting
is that a driver problem??
Hey,
I spent 2 days trying to solve this, searching and reading this forum, using google, but with no success.
Cause:
I installed Kingo Root with Superuser (also installed Xposed) and deleted some obsolete apps from my Sony Xperia Z (C6603) with android 5.1.1 Lollipop, but accidentally removed 'contacts storage', so contacts stopped working. Stock firmware recovery was not helping, so I tried to use BusyBox which I gave root access to try and install root firmware (as far as i understood). It said something like "install successful", but after clicking on reboot, the phone got stuck in a bootloop.
Problem:
Phone is constantly switching on and off. The unfortunate part is that the USB connector to connect it to a PC is literally broken (charging is still possible with the docking/charging station), so I can't use PC/Xperia Companion or any flashtool.
I tried using hardware key combinations like power button + volume buttons to enter recovery mode, it vibrated very lightly one time, then three times, then switched on, but nothing changed - bootloop continued in the same way.
To be exact, the Sony Logo appears for about 5 seconds and then the phone/screen just turns off and starts over again.
After a while the battery was exhausted and it stopped, but docking it for charging made the same loop start again.
There is one post in this forum from 4 years ago with kind of the same problem, but it felt strange to use that post since it was so old and the replies suggested to use a flashtool which clearly is no option.
I am very helpless now and don't know what to do. The only thing I could think of is to somehow abuse/exploit the hardware (inside of the case) but that would be in over my head.
I really hope someone has some kind of answer that can help me get out of the bootloop!
Thanks.