[UPDATED]Recover your dead X8/W8.

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dagger

Senior Member
Hello there fellow X8/W8 users!

This post is intended to point your attention to the simple fact that there's a hardware imposed danger to hard brick your Xperia X8 and W8, applies to E15i/a and E16i/a, at the attempt to unlock the boot loader!

The phones affected by the problem are units being manufactured at, and after, 11W29!

To check if your device is affected by the problem follow this simple steps:

  1. Turn off the phone and open it up
  2. Take out the battery
  3. Look at the sticker below

If the date code on the sticker reads 11W29, or any later date (11W30, 11W31, 11W32, 11W33, ...), DO NOT attempt to unlock the boot loader.

These phones ship with a revamped chipset configuration having the security hole the boot loader unlock uses effectively closed. This means that upon unlocking the boot loader your phone will end up as a hard brick - and you will have NO means to revive the phone yourselves. You either have to send it off to Sony for repair (recommended solution) or find a phone repair shop being able to resurrect shot devices!

The symptom you will experience when unlocking the boot loader on an affected device is like this:

  • The boot loader unlock will most likely go through fine
  • At restart the phone will show NO signs of life anymore.
    NO LED, NO LCD output, NO vibration.

This is the point where you can not do anything anymore yourself to resurrect the device.

You have been warned, DO NOT TRY to unlock the boot loader on phones manufactured PAST 11W29!

But it has been seen that there are few devices with manufacturing code above 11W29 have also successfully unlocked their bootloader.
For example me,i have 11W34 and unlocked the bootloader just fine..
But let me remind you again that this was just a matter of luck.
You might not be so lucky...

Also if you have manufacturing code above 11W29 and are desperate to unlock your bootloader then there are paid methods for it as reported by few users who had successfully unlocked their bootloader with manufacturing date above 11W29.


Update (2012/02/23):

To clear up the "no means to resurrect the phone yourself": This is true unless you are a experienced electronics technician. If you own a JTAG box (RIFF Box, Medusa Box) you may attempt to resurrect the device through JTAG. It may also be possible to resurrect the device through UART flash by using a test pin connection. Google is your friend here to dig up the required informations.

As posted by baiclark: There's an option to unlock the boot loader on 11W29+ devices, though this involves some Software (setool2) where you need to buy credits to perform the unlock. This is an untested procedure. If you decide to jump the gun please report your experience.

Update: Home-Brew unbricking with Omnius
Forum member aze2learn posted a guide about how to unbrick your hard bricked W8/X8 by using a modified Nokia CA-42 cable and Omnius. Find his valuable contribution at this post.

/!\ Be warned that this requires basic electronics skills to make it happen. /!\
 
Last edited:

dagger

Senior Member
Unbrick your briked X8/W8 via flashtools

Hi all
I made this thread since some guys were having trouble unbricking their X8/W8 via FLASHTOOLS...

And let me make it clear that the following post wont help you if your phone has bricked in attempt to unlock your bootloader when your phones manufacturing code was above 11W29.
In such a case the only (period) solution is to send it off to SONY to have it repaired.


How to unbrick your Soft Bricked phone..

What do you need?

Flashtools.(thanks to androxyde and bin4ry)
X8 stock firmware.
Or from here.
Or here.

X8 drivers installed.
WinRar
Your X8/W8 phone
A USB cable
A PC
Relaxed mind..:p

Now lets begin.

1.First of all download and install Flashtools from the link provided above.


2.Download SE firmware in *.ftf file format and put it in Flashtool/firmwares folder.

3. Now, run the FlashTool and click the
jEaM4pePdBtS6.png
Lighting bolt button to start flash.


4.Now click flashmode and choose Xperia X8 (E15i).
02_Flash_Firmware_Choose.PNG



4.Now wait for a while till it says you to "remove your phone,press the back button and hold it and install the USB".
04_Flash_Firmware_Back_key.PNG


Do it and wait for the flashing proceedure to finish...

05_Flash_Firmware_Flash.PNG



06_Flash_Firmware_Finish%20flashing.PNG


If everything works fine then CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! you have successfully unbricked your phone and installed the 2.1.1.A.0.6 version with 015 baseband, fresh and stock!


If your phone doesnt boots up still, then you might have gone wrong somewhere in the flashing process..
So read the steps carefully and do it again..



[OPTIONAL STEP]
Guide for installing the required drivers for flashing, skip this if you have PC Companion installed and connected your phone in flash mode at least once!


If your phone is not recognized by Flashtool that means you don’t have the required drivers installed.
Open folder /Flashtool/drivers and install ggsetup-2.2.0.11

If after the above Flashtool still doesn’t recognize your phone, do the following:
From Flashtool/drivers folder extract the zip file XXX_ADB_driver which corresponds to your phone model
Open “Device manager” on the computer and find the device which is with an exclamation mark on it (do this with connected to the computer phone)
Right click on the device and choose Uptade driver
Choose to find the driver manually and browse to the folder where you’ve extracted the zip file.
That should install the required drivers on your computer.

Now as you have successfully unbricked your phone, the first thing you would possibly do is rooting your phone...:p

So here i show you how to Root your phone with flashtools..



1.Start Flashtool

2.Connect the device to the computer and wait until it's recognized

3.Click the icon with the "Padlock [the second in a row]

4.FT will start pushing files, wait till it finishes. Meanwhile the phone will reboot once.
07_Root.png



5.When it's over Flashtool will notify "Root Access Allowed"


6.Open the application list on the phone and look for the app "Superuser".
08_Superuser.png



7.If "Superuser" is there you have Rooted your device successfully.
Congrats!

That's it...........

If you found this thread useful don't forget to click the THANKS button for me...

Thanks to
Bin4ry and androxyde..(for flashtools)
crowds for the original guide..
Leajian for allowing me to use content from his guide.
BlackRabbit1703 for the mirror of firmware.
And all the people who liked my work...

See ya..
 
Last edited:
B

B.Jay

Guest
um, mine's an 11W29 and it unlocked just fine. it's only the one's AFTER it that have issues.

We also had a few phones in the 11W3x region that unlocked perfectly, but the hard bricks we observed so far all start at 11W29 - and newer.

The source from where we got the information about the hard brick danger is a post of the_laser on setool.net ...

seems most of lately produced msm7227-based phones have chipset with FIXED security hole, which used to altbypass unlock.
(that is not 100% confirmed, we only have few reports, however better be warned)
such phones will DIE after successful unlock procedure.
such dead phones CAN NOT be recovered. ( perhaps, jtag can fix that, perhaps, qualcomm fixed jtag security hole too )

there is NO WAY to determine if phone has fixed chipset or chipset with security hole.

the ONLY safe way is to use unlock by resurrection cables.
if phone can be connected and booted by resurrection cables, phone is safe to unlock.
if phone can not be booted by resurrection cables, phone has fixed chipset and could not be unlocked.

you have been warned.
get and use resurrection cables.

update:
e16 phone with manufacture date 11w38 affected, i think we should care about phones which produced after 11w26

As you can see the_laser referenced 11W26 as the "threshold" where our observation is that 11W29 is where the trouble really starts.

EDIT: See this thread for reference - post #62 and #63 where we summed up a few hard bricks. But that's just the tip of the iceberg, there have been way more.

You're of course free to dismiss the warning and do as you please, just don't come ranting about your hard brick - you've been warned.
 
Last edited:

El Brillantinas

Senior Member
Sep 3, 2011
515
114
113
Vanaheim
Mine was 11W37, and I said "was" 'cause I just bricked it.

So Im reading this thread too late lol

However, this situation only hurries things because I'm getting Xperia Ray soon. Now I have to get it sooner.

For now, I have a fa(i)lPhone, wich was a present from my dad. So no worries at all. But having my X8 completely bricked will be a good challenge, as I'll try to bring it back to life no matter if you say there is nothing I can do.

Of course, in case I achieve it, I'll share it! If not, then I'll have a nice modern piece of decoration for my living room: a smartphone XD
 
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Johnny_CRO

Member
Jan 5, 2012
6
10
x8-11w37 new phone HARD BRICK!

I was lucky ennough they replaced my bricked x8. :). No unlocked bootloader for me.:(
 
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B

B.Jay

Guest
Mine was 11W37, and I said "was" 'cause I just bricked it.

But having my X8 completely bricked will be a good challenge, as I'll try to bring it back to life no matter if you say there is nothing I can do.

Of course, in case I achieve it, I'll share it!

To be precise - there is something that can be done, it's just not very easy.

On the one hand you can try to read up over at setool.net. The latest versions of SETool are able to resurrect shot W/X8's. However, you either need to know to which test-pins to you need to connect the cable from your computer or simply try to get one of the Qualcomm resurrection cables fitting the W/X8. Apart from that you need "credits" for SETool to actually perform the operation. This means you have to pry your W/X8 apart to gain access to the PCB - that's not exactly something everyone around here is able to do - and connect to the right pins to flash in UART mode.

On the other hand you can always try to find someone (private person / repair shop) having a RIFF Box to see if the phone can be resurrected by JTAG, though the way it sounds (the post I read on setool.net about UART resurrection) a JTAG restore seems to be impossible - but feel free to try.

If you can work out a working, and relatively simple to follow, solution to restore shot W/X8's be our guest to write up a post.
 
B

B.Jay

Guest
If the date code on the sticker reads 11W29, or any later date (11W30, 11W31, 11W32, 11W33, ...), DO NOT attempt to unlock the boot loader.
thks, for the info, My x8 manuf.code is 11W28, is it safe for unlock BL?
My W8 code is 11W25 can i unlock my bootloader??

So ... 11W28 and 11W25 are below 11W29, right?

No guarantee given as there's always the chance that you may mess up, but it should be safe to try and unlock the boot loader.
 

kust0r

Member
May 9, 2011
33
5
Mine is 11W21 (uhm semms a old version or something like that...?), soon I'll try unlocking...

But it has a f..... sinaptic touchscreen, damn...
 

panaut0lordv

Member
Feb 8, 2012
47
11
Lodz
11W48

Hi there,
actually I was following guides in the manner google -> blogs -> direct links to oneclickroot/roms -> direct links to bootloader unlocker and...
Well, unfortunately 11W48 (pretty fresh, huh?) got hard bricked xD

I understand it's motherboard failure now and we can do NOTHING more than sending my new paperweight back to SE?
Also I'm looking forward to finding another way to unlock bootloader with new chips in case the one I get back won't be <11W29

Thanks in advance for your reply
 

gdeliana

Senior Member
Feb 21, 2011
392
105
Tirana
Ahh i wish so much i had red this thread and didn't act too much excited about unlocking it.
 
Last edited:

Bravia4X8

Senior Member
Dec 29, 2011
73
6
Bandung
10W48 ---> unlock with flashtool!

Man.... You are exceptional on EARTH.....
You unlocked bootloader with 11w48 making. You have battery backup beyond 6 days.

May be you can overclock your X8 upto 1Ghz and have Multitouch instead of dualtouch even its also possible that SE will make a firmware 4.0 only for you....

Really, you are an amazing guy...
 

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  • 34
    Unbrick your briked X8/W8 via flashtools

    Hi all
    I made this thread since some guys were having trouble unbricking their X8/W8 via FLASHTOOLS...

    And let me make it clear that the following post wont help you if your phone has bricked in attempt to unlock your bootloader when your phones manufacturing code was above 11W29.
    In such a case the only (period) solution is to send it off to SONY to have it repaired.


    How to unbrick your Soft Bricked phone..

    What do you need?

    Flashtools.(thanks to androxyde and bin4ry)
    X8 stock firmware.
    Or from here.
    Or here.

    X8 drivers installed.
    WinRar
    Your X8/W8 phone
    A USB cable
    A PC
    Relaxed mind..:p

    Now lets begin.

    1.First of all download and install Flashtools from the link provided above.


    2.Download SE firmware in *.ftf file format and put it in Flashtool/firmwares folder.

    3. Now, run the FlashTool and click the
    jEaM4pePdBtS6.png
    Lighting bolt button to start flash.


    4.Now click flashmode and choose Xperia X8 (E15i).
    02_Flash_Firmware_Choose.PNG



    4.Now wait for a while till it says you to "remove your phone,press the back button and hold it and install the USB".
    04_Flash_Firmware_Back_key.PNG


    Do it and wait for the flashing proceedure to finish...

    05_Flash_Firmware_Flash.PNG



    06_Flash_Firmware_Finish%20flashing.PNG


    If everything works fine then CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! you have successfully unbricked your phone and installed the 2.1.1.A.0.6 version with 015 baseband, fresh and stock!


    If your phone doesnt boots up still, then you might have gone wrong somewhere in the flashing process..
    So read the steps carefully and do it again..



    [OPTIONAL STEP]
    Guide for installing the required drivers for flashing, skip this if you have PC Companion installed and connected your phone in flash mode at least once!


    If your phone is not recognized by Flashtool that means you don’t have the required drivers installed.
    Open folder /Flashtool/drivers and install ggsetup-2.2.0.11

    If after the above Flashtool still doesn’t recognize your phone, do the following:
    From Flashtool/drivers folder extract the zip file XXX_ADB_driver which corresponds to your phone model
    Open “Device manager” on the computer and find the device which is with an exclamation mark on it (do this with connected to the computer phone)
    Right click on the device and choose Uptade driver
    Choose to find the driver manually and browse to the folder where you’ve extracted the zip file.
    That should install the required drivers on your computer.

    Now as you have successfully unbricked your phone, the first thing you would possibly do is rooting your phone...:p

    So here i show you how to Root your phone with flashtools..



    1.Start Flashtool

    2.Connect the device to the computer and wait until it's recognized

    3.Click the icon with the "Padlock [the second in a row]

    4.FT will start pushing files, wait till it finishes. Meanwhile the phone will reboot once.
    07_Root.png



    5.When it's over Flashtool will notify "Root Access Allowed"


    6.Open the application list on the phone and look for the app "Superuser".
    08_Superuser.png



    7.If "Superuser" is there you have Rooted your device successfully.
    Congrats!

    That's it...........

    If you found this thread useful don't forget to click the THANKS button for me...

    Thanks to
    Bin4ry and androxyde..(for flashtools)
    crowds for the original guide..
    Leajian for allowing me to use content from his guide.
    BlackRabbit1703 for the mirror of firmware.
    And all the people who liked my work...

    See ya..
    27
    I hard bricked my friend's w8 last week by unlocking bootloader via mssm7227_semc because I forgot to check the manufacture date (clumsy me) .. it had 12W01 under the battery :silly:

    So, I search around the internet, digging and reading many forum posts and articles and finally I managed to revive it with omnius (just revive it - never want to try unlock bootloader again on this unit because have no credit on my omnius acct plus had to lend him my hd2 as temporary phone - ouch) .... I had to get a nokia ca-42 cable and build a UART cable out of it (my cable only has 3 wire so it helps me find the rx,tx and gnd quickly). With the help of omnius (I have one month license but no credit - so I guess one day license should be sufficient), I use repair s1-boot function with testpoint and manage to fix it after 2nd attempt. :victory:

    Therefore, if anyone had hard brick x8/w8 after unlocking bootloader, you can try repair s1-boot with omnius. The only difficult thing to do is to solder those wires to the board (I tried using tape but didn't work for me - suspect loose connection)

    below is the log from omnius (for safety purpose, I remove imei and device id from the log):

    Code:
    Action journal
    11:21:36   Repair S1-boot
    11:21:36   Repairs the S1-boot via UART.
    11:21:36   Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600)
    11:21:36   Application version: 1.38.4753
    11:21:36 . The action name is 'Repair'
    11:21:36   Selected phone type: W8 Walkman.
    11:21:36   Selected connection method: UART ROM
    11:21:36 i Instructions
    11:21:36 i 1. Make sure the phone battery is charged to at least 50%.
    11:21:36 i 2. Switch off the phone!
    11:21:36 i 3. Remove the phone battery and wait at least 5 seconds, then insert the battery back to the phone!
    11:21:36 i 4. Connect UART pins according to the documentation!
    11:21:36 i 5. Connect the testpoint to phone's ground (battery negative pole, metallic circuit shielding, GND) and leave it connected!
    11:21:36 i 6. (A connection to the testpoint (TP) is not needed when the boot is erased.)
    11:21:36 i 7. Shortly press the power button!
    11:21:36 i 8. Disconnect the testpoint!
    11:21:36 i 9. Click Activate next to the cable icon!
    11:21:36 . The action started waiting for the user
    11:22:07 . The action finished waiting for the user
    11:22:07   Connecting via PL-2303 USB Serial Port (COM24)...
    11:22:07   Device driver version: 2.1.30.193
    11:22:07   Establishing connection to the phone...
    11:22:07   Connection established.
    11:22:07   ID: 06010080900000
    11:22:08   Sending loader...
    11:22:12   Waiting for loader response...
    11:22:14   Sending loader...
    11:22:23   Waiting for loader response...
    11:22:24   IMEI: - remove -
    11:22:24   Device ID: - remove -
    11:22:24   Minimum loader AID: 0001
    11:22:24   Color: Brown
    11:22:25 i Waiting for connection to the server...
    11:22:29   Receiving news...
    11:22:29 i News
    11:22:29 i Omnius for Samsung v1.18 - Experimental unlock code read for Samsung Galaxy S II and similar, FREE
    during test period
    11:22:29 i Omnius 1 Year licenses purchased after 1st Oct 2011 now gained
    unlimited android unlocking!
    11:22:34   Writing S1 boot.
    11:22:50 s Successfully done.
    11:22:50 . The action entered shutdown phase
    11:22:50 . The action reported success
    
    Additional details
    ---
    16 40 F8 B0 DF 9A 0F B4 83 80 C5 D8 C9 16 E3 CD 
    E5 08

    only using 4 wires (3 from ca-42 and 1 loose wire for test point) + omnius account, no need jtag/box. no need micro usb too.

    4 - Testpoint - loose wire to ground (I tape it to sim holder and release after pressing power button)
    5 - ignore this - no need to attach wire
    6 - TX from ca-42
    7 - RX from ca-42
    8 - GND from ca-42

    Try disconnect the ca-42 cable from the usb first before removing the battery after it's finished because on my 1st attempt, the battery fell off while ca-42 cable still plugged in usb resulting no boot. (no idea if it was because of the battery or my mistake)

    Once the phone is detected after plugging in the micro usb cable, I simply flash the original 2.1 fw (can download from omnius server if you don't have it - need to use omnius acct detail to login and download). I did this to check if all the functions are good (wifi/signal/camera/gps/etc), then proceed with rooting and install recovery.

    Now the phone is alive again with locked bootloader (as long as it's not broken, it's good enough) and currently running gingerdx v028b fw .. horaaayyyy!

    My special thanks to Omnius for wonderful software solution and to gingerdx team for wonderful fw that can run on stock kernel.

    Wish you all the best in reviving your hard bricked x8/w8 :)

    attach is how to connect wires + test point :
    26
    Hello there fellow X8/W8 users!

    This post is intended to point your attention to the simple fact that there's a hardware imposed danger to hard brick your Xperia X8 and W8, applies to E15i/a and E16i/a, at the attempt to unlock the boot loader!

    The phones affected by the problem are units being manufactured at, and after, 11W29!

    To check if your device is affected by the problem follow this simple steps:

    1. Turn off the phone and open it up
    2. Take out the battery
    3. Look at the sticker below

    If the date code on the sticker reads 11W29, or any later date (11W30, 11W31, 11W32, 11W33, ...), DO NOT attempt to unlock the boot loader.

    These phones ship with a revamped chipset configuration having the security hole the boot loader unlock uses effectively closed. This means that upon unlocking the boot loader your phone will end up as a hard brick - and you will have NO means to revive the phone yourselves. You either have to send it off to Sony for repair (recommended solution) or find a phone repair shop being able to resurrect shot devices!

    The symptom you will experience when unlocking the boot loader on an affected device is like this:

    • The boot loader unlock will most likely go through fine
    • At restart the phone will show NO signs of life anymore.
      NO LED, NO LCD output, NO vibration.

    This is the point where you can not do anything anymore yourself to resurrect the device.

    You have been warned, DO NOT TRY to unlock the boot loader on phones manufactured PAST 11W29!

    But it has been seen that there are few devices with manufacturing code above 11W29 have also successfully unlocked their bootloader.
    For example me,i have 11W34 and unlocked the bootloader just fine..
    But let me remind you again that this was just a matter of luck.
    You might not be so lucky...

    Also if you have manufacturing code above 11W29 and are desperate to unlock your bootloader then there are paid methods for it as reported by few users who had successfully unlocked their bootloader with manufacturing date above 11W29.


    Update (2012/02/23):

    To clear up the "no means to resurrect the phone yourself": This is true unless you are a experienced electronics technician. If you own a JTAG box (RIFF Box, Medusa Box) you may attempt to resurrect the device through JTAG. It may also be possible to resurrect the device through UART flash by using a test pin connection. Google is your friend here to dig up the required informations.

    As posted by baiclark: There's an option to unlock the boot loader on 11W29+ devices, though this involves some Software (setool2) where you need to buy credits to perform the unlock. This is an untested procedure. If you decide to jump the gun please report your experience.

    Update: Home-Brew unbricking with Omnius
    Forum member aze2learn posted a guide about how to unbrick your hard bricked W8/X8 by using a modified Nokia CA-42 cable and Omnius. Find his valuable contribution at this post.

    /!\ Be warned that this requires basic electronics skills to make it happen. /!\
    3
    have any one know how to unlock BL 11w48?
    3
    I have my X8 12w05 with Android 2.1... and really need upgrade to any upper version. Somebody could post any rom (link) for install rom with locked bootloader.

    Thx

    Search in google:roms,kernels x8 xda.on the site there is a list of roms.on the right of rom name says(stock)-stock kernel-YOUR KERNEL,(nAa)-nAa kernel,...BUT FIRST ROOT THE PHONE,INSTALL CWM RECOVERY AND THEN TRY INSTALLING.NOO NEED FOR BOOTLOADER UNLOCK.

    EDIT

    Ok,download this http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=729395&d=1316853490 ,then download root explorer,install it and extract the downloaded zip,then go to extracted and open the folder of extracted zip.open the system,then bin folder and copy all three of them to system/bin and replace with existing files.BUT FIRST MOUNT R/W-LITTLE BUTTON TOP RIGHT.then long press on chargemon and select permissions.select:read,write,execute,read,execute,read,execute.save.DO that to other 2 you pasted witlh chargemon.after that,return to sd card,speed software,extracted,cwm folder and go to system,xbin and copy the sh to system/xbin and replace.you will have to copy sh again because system rejects it the first time:no free memory left.after you copyed sh again,change its permissions to read,write,execute,read,execute,read,execute.then reboot and rapidly press the back button when white Sony ericsson logo appears.

    PRESS THANKS BUTTON IF I HELPED YOU,IT ISNT HARD..