A few hints for kuyaDROID installation (for newbies)
Having some time during Easter Sunday I decided to upgrade my girlfriend's X8 to Gingerbread. The main motivation was the fact that Google Market stopped support for Android version older than 2.3 some time ago. Doing some research I was pleasantly surprised that there were even ICS (4.0.4) ROMs available and they were reported to be stable. However based on my experience with Xperia Active upgraded to stock ICS I was afraid X8 performance would be even slower considering X8 has even older hardware.
Why kuyaDROID? The developer obviously spent quite some time tweaking the ROM and being a newbie to Android ROM flashing I found a good article recommending this ROM. As there still might be some "late adopters" of kuyaDROID ROM I decided to post a few comments that hopefully can help the newbies like me.
The best starting point is this article on Chromloop: "How to Install CyanogenMod 7 Custom Rom on Xperia X8 / W8" (unfortunately I can't post links on xda yet). Read it at least once to have a rough idea what's expecting you.
The tools you'll need (look for the links in the article), make sure you are able to download them all before you start, as they might get removed any time:
- Sony PC Companion (this is not mentioned in the article, just use Google and download from SONY pages)
- Flashtool
- xRecovery
- kuyaDROID ROM v4.5.4 (or newer if available)
- Android aps: ES File Manager, Super Backup (or other tool to backup your contacts and SMS)
Note: As Google Market is no more supporting your X8 Android version, you have to use an alternative apk markets to download your apps (for example 1Mobile.com). Just use Android browser to access the alternative market page.
The steps and hints:
- Backup your data - typically you might want to backup your contacts and text messages (SMS).
- Run Sony PC Companion and check for a potential update for your X8. The latest is 2.1.1 A06 (check in your phone Settings). If your phone can get update you'll be notified by PC Companion and just follow the Sony upgrade wizard. This is important step as kuyaDROID requires the latest baseband version (015) which is bundled with the latest Sony stock ROM.
- Use Flashtool to root your phone. Choose SuperSU option (the other failed for me). Check the article for details.
- Install xRecovery - my version of Flashtool didn't have the xRecovery install implemented. Therefore you have to follow the article's alternative approach to installing xRecovery. ES File Manager will come in handy for setting the required execute permissions on the manually copied xRecovery files.
Now just follow steps 3, 4 and 5 in the article, everything worked flawlessly since then.
After rebooting I was able to connect to my google account and access the Market - mission accomplished. I haven't noticed any issues in KuyaDROID so far, no lag or connectivity problems. Good job, Kuya! :good: