Updating or downgrading Sony Xperia Android phone more easier with the flash tool application. This is an unofficial application for Sony. Periodically every mobile phone manufacture releases new update or new versions. If your Sony Xperia phone bootloader unlocked, you will not receive update notifications via OTA or you may can’t update it using the Sony update service application.
However we can easily update, our Android Xperia phone to the latest version using flashtool. Apart from that, this tool can flash custom kernel and basedband. Apart from that you can unlock bootloader, root and unroot and many more things. It’s a Windows and Linux based computer application, just like Samsung devices PC ODIN. After install flashtool, it can automatically identify any Sony Xperia phone, but when you’re installing flashtool, you have to install ADB and fastboot driver.
This tutorial I’m going to show you how to update and downgrade Android Sony Xperia series any devices with Flashtool. This post I use Windows OS based client, I think it’s completely identical to the Linux version.
Table of Contents
Install and setup Flashtool and drivers first time.
- First download official site from here. Its more than 100 MB. It’s better to use “JDownloader” for hassle free downloads. (In JDownloader go to “link grabber” and paste the download page URL and click OK)
- When the download has completed, install the application.
- Run the flashtool as an administrator.
- Go to the flashtool installed directory “Drivers” folder and double click “Flashtool-drivers.exe” file.
- In the “Choose component” window select your device. If you have multiple phone check all of them. If your device not listed in there, select “fastboot mode drivers” and “Flash mode drivers” and click “Next“. Like following screenshot.
- Now windows security window appears and click its “Install this driver software anyway”. Moreover if your computer security application alert, ignore that false alerts.
- When the installation has completed click “Finish”.
- Now you ready to flash.
How to Install or Downgrade Firmware.
You can install any firmware, baseband which compatible with your device using this method. Your device should not root or unlock its bootloader. If you flash the wrong firmware or baseband your phone can be bricked. If its display bootloop or not respond, follow this guide again. Because of this is the only method that you can unbricked your phone.
Requirements.
- Download firmware ftf file in here.
- Enable USB debugging on your phone.
- Charge minimum 60%.
- Backup and sync your phone internal memory.
Procedure.
- Close and exit all the computer applications that can make a connection with your phone. For instance Sony Update service, Sony PC Companion, Droid Explorer applications. Sometime they may run in the background, check if this application in the notification area.
- Download firmware, basedband or kernel that you want to install your Sony Xperia phone.
- If the downloaded files are compressed, extract until you got “.ftf” file.
- Copy “.ftf” file into the flashtool installed directory “firmware” folder.
- If you connect your phone to the PC, disconnect it and power off.
- Wait minimum 30 seconds.
- Press and hold “Volume Down” key and same time connect the phone to the PC. All the 2012 and some of the 2011 device use volume down key, but old phone such as Arc, user press and hold “Back” key instead of volume down.
- Now top LED should turn to green.
- Its main window you can see the menu bar and tool bar. To flash Sony’s ftf firmware or baseband click left side thunder symbol button. Like following screenshot.
- In the mode selector tick “flash mode” (normally its select default) for installing firmware, baseband. (Kernel installation guides available end of the post).
- Now you can see “Firmware selection window.” This window display “C:\Flashtool\firmwares” folder contains “FTF” files. So before run the application copy that file into this folder. However you can Inswse custom location for select firmware.
- Its main window has three columns “Select a Firmware”, “Firmware content” and “Flash options”.
- In the Select a firmware section chooses the firmware or baseband that you want to install.
- You can’t do anything, in the “Firmware content section”, it only displays the content of the selected file.
- In the right option section you can select available options. You can select “Wipe data, cache, app logs”, “Exclude System, Kernel, baseband, Fota, Ta” and “No final verification”. These options different file to file. For instance if you select the firmware you can see all of them, but if you select a bootloader relock file, you can’t see all of them.
- Finally click “OK”. Now “Firmware selection” window will close and you can see the installation progress on the flashtool main window.
- When it displays Installation completed or similar meaning message, disconnect the phone from the computer and power on.
- First boot takes a few minutes than normal.
If you face some installation abort issue follow this tutorial.
Sometime when the installation starts it automatically abort, it may be an adb command issue. If you experience such an issue follow this method.
- Close flashtool.
- Enable USB debugging on your phone. (“Settings>Developer option” or “Settings>Application>Development)
- Connect your phone to the PC via USB cable.
- Right click on the task-bar.
- In the context menu click “Task manager“.
- Go to the “process” tab.
- Check if there’s a “adb.exe” service.
- If there’s, right click on that service.
- In the context menu click “Open file location”.
- If that “adb.exe” file locates in other than flashtool installed folder, add “.bak” at the end of the “.exe” for instance “adb.exe.bak“. If you renamed this folder “C:\Flashtool\x10flasher_lib” contain “adb.exe” file, you can’t run flashtool.
- After firmware, system or kernel installation completed again rename that adb file. (Remove “.bak” name)
