[Q] How to unlock bootloader 2014 (R800X)

[Crossvxm]

Yeah I'm a bit confused at the methods. One guide tells you to use the official website, other threads take you to that same one. I havent had an Xperia Play since late 2012 - early 2013 and I found this one back in my old stuff. Sony website tells you to check with the dialer and see if it says yours is allowed to be unlocked. Mine has NOTHING. So what I'm supposed to suffer about 3-4 years later in the future because Verizon still decides they want to continue hiding whatever secrets this device packs?

I'm trying to experiment with custom roms. Stock is boring and would also love to root (which I can't because I'm on 2.3.4 since I'm an idiot).
We didn't even know about jellybean when I first had this thing. Now we have KitKat which is also aimed and claimed to run on a minimum of 512mb ram.

Any help?

 

[Crossvxm]

Anybody? Its very frustrating as this phone has some potential.

 

[mattnmag]

Anybody? Its very frustrating as this phone has some potential.

Hi Crossvxm,

You can definitely unlock the bootloader on your phone. The Verizon Xperia Play doesn't show the bootloader unlock status in the service menu, but it's been confirmed in lots of other posts where R800x owners have unlocked their bootloaders. I have also done it personally with the Sony Official method. Here's the link to the Sony website if you want to give it a go: http://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/

You can also root your R800x while it's still on 2.3.4 using the Eroot method. See this thread for more information on Eroot: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2240285. Please make sure to hit the thanks button for Nabeel, wym986, Vokal1992, and any others who helped bring this root method to us. The direct download link for the Eroot version that I have used is: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jnwl5r3fnsssbuu/Eroot_V1.3.4.exe. If you want to check the MD5 checksum after downloading it, it should be: 459d8bdda203a5f5e9d28231fa6df6b0

Here are some instructions that I made for my friend to help him root his R800x, but the thread mentioned above also has instructions...

-Eroot Instructions-
1. Disable the anti-virus software on your computer to prevent it from stopping the root exploit
2. Go to your phone Settings/ Applications/Developer Options and Make USB Debugging is enabled. (I don't know if it's necessary, but I also check the box to allow Unknown Sources).
3. Plug your phone into the computer with a USB cable and make sure your phone is recognized by the computer before proceeding
4. Right click on the Eroot application and run it as Administrator
5. Eroot should recognize that your phone is connected and after a brief moment, it should prompt you to click on a green “Root” button. Click that button and it will show steps 1-4. Once it completes its process, your phone should be rooted with the Superuser app installed.

(PS: After it roots the phone, it will turn off Wifi. Just go back into your phone's settings and toggle the Wifi back on to get it working again).

I had some trouble getting the Superuser binaries to update after completing the above steps... so I used Titanium Backup Pro to wipe data/clear cache and uninstall the Superuser app. I then went to the Play store and reinstalled it. (This is the Superuser version I am using and it works fine: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.koushikdutta.superuser&hl=en ).

Good luck.

 

[Crossvxm]

Hi Crossvxm,

You can definitely unlock the bootloader on your phone. The Verizon Xperia Play doesn't show the bootloader unlock status in the service menu, but it's been confirmed in lots of other posts where R800x owners have unlocked their bootloaders. I have also done it personally with the Sony Official method. Here's the link to the Sony website if you want to give it a go: http://developer.sonymobile.com/unlockbootloader/

You can also root your R800x while it's still on 2.3.4 using the Eroot method. See this thread for more information on Eroot: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2240285. Please make sure to hit the thanks button for Nabeel, wym986, Vokal1992, and any others who helped bring this root method to us. The direct download link for the Eroot version that I have used is: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jnwl5r3fnsssbuu/Eroot_V1.3.4.exe. If you want to check the MD5 checksum after downloading it, it should be: 459d8bdda203a5f5e9d28231fa6df6b0

Here are some instructions that I made for my friend to help him root his R800x, but the thread mentioned above also has instructions...

-Eroot Instructions-
1. Disable the anti-virus software on your computer to prevent it from stopping the root exploit
2. Go to your phone Settings/ Applications/Developer Options and Make USB Debugging is enabled. (I don't know if it's necessary, but I also check the box to allow Unknown Sources).
3. Plug your phone into the computer with a USB cable and make sure your phone is recognized by the computer before proceeding
4. Right click on the Eroot application and run it as Administrator
5. Eroot should recognize that your phone is connected and after a brief moment, it should prompt you to click on a green “Root” button. Click that button and it will show steps 1-4. Once it completes its process, your phone should be rooted with the Superuser app installed.

I had some trouble getting the Superuser binaries to update after completing the above steps... so I used Titanium Backup Pro to wipe data/clear cache and uninstall the Superuser app. I then went to the Play store and reinstalled it. (This is the Superuser version I am using and it works fine: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.koushikdutta.superuser&hl=en ).

Good luck.

Giving this a try right now

 

[mattnmag]

Cool man. I hope you can get the bootloader unlocked and get rooted so you can experiment with some of the newer ROM'S. I recently bought my Xperia Play really cheap off eBay and I'm having fun playing with it. I'm really only using it as a gaming device because I have a rooted/ROM'ed Samsung Note 2 as my daily driver.

Let us know how things turn out.

 

[Crossvxm]

Cool man. I hope you can get the bootloader unlocked and get rooted so you can experiment with some of the newer ROM'S. I recently bought my Xperia Play really cheap off eBay and I'm having fun playing with it. I'm really only using it as a gaming device because I have a rooted/ROM'ed Samsung Note 2 as my daily driver.

Let us know how things turn out.

It worked, my bootloader seems to have successfully unlocked. I also used the root tool you mentioned and in about 3 tries it actually rooted it! And BTW, i found this Xperia Play in a box from when I moved to NYC and i forgot all about it. I also use it for games that cant be playes on a touchscreen like Megaman X4 and Super Mario World. But I use my G2 for everything else. Its just hard to run and jump on Mario with touchscreen buttons when you have to use your entire thumb for both of those and your other thumb to move.

Now my question is, how do i install a custom recovery? I used the X-Parted apk and a CWM installer apk from the same dev, and it seems to flash the recovery, but when i click for it to reboot into recovery the device reboots normally. Also, when I try to manually reboot it into the custom recovery, it just powers off after the android symbol and restarts normally. Has me stumped as to why.

 

[mattnmag]

... Now my question is, how do i install a custom recovery? I used the X-Parted apk and a CWM installer apk from the same dev, and it seems to flash the recovery, but when i click for it to reboot into recovery the device reboots normally. Also, when I try to manually reboot it into the custom recovery, it just powers off after the android symbol and restarts normally. Has me stumped as to why.

Cool man. That's great that you can ressurect your Xperia Play and enjoy using it again. I'm having a blast with using emulators. My friend recently introduced me to Quake and I've been playing it a lot lately. (If you have any interest in Quake, I just started a thread in the Theme and Apps section with instructions on how to get it running on the Xperia Play using the FTEDroid port and Gamekeyboard+, which allows you play it with the phone's hard key controllers). .

Anyway... I also had trouble using the Xparts app to install CWM. I found another thread that provides a command script to install it, and it's worked perfectly for me every time.

Here are some instructions that I typed up a while back when I was helping my friend root his R800x... The credit for this should go to the original poster in the thread and to all of the people who helped develop the CWM .

--------------------------------------------

INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS FOR CWM

**I believe that around 2 MB of Internal Storage is needed to install this CWM version on the Xperia Play

1. Go to this thread ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1390771 ) to find and download the file "CWM-Install.rar"

2. Unzip the contents of the downloaded package into a file folder where you can find it later

3. Make sure USB debugging is enabled on your phone and plug your rooted R800x into the computer via USB cable

3. Navigate to the folder on your computer where you unzipped the .rar file. (Per the above thread's instructions, you need to run the command script for "install-cwm1.cmd." You can do this by locating that file and double clicking on it. This should start a command terminal window to install CWM...just follow the prompts in the command terminal and you should have CWM installed on your phone

**In order to boot into the CWM Recovery on the Stock Kernel, you need to press the phone's Power Button and then repeatedly tap the Volume Down button as it boots up. Once you are in the CWM recovery, use the Volume keys to navigate up and down, the Home key to select, the Back key to return to the previous menu.

 

[Crossvxm]

Cool man. That's great that you can ressurect your Xperia Play and enjoy using it again. I'm having a blast with using emulators. My friend recently introduced me to Quake and I've been playing it a lot lately. (If you have any interest in Quake, I just started a thread in the Theme and Apps section with instructions on how to get it running on the Xperia Play using the FTEDroid port and Gamekeyboard+, which allows you play it with the phone's hard key controllers). .

Anyway... I also had trouble using the Xparts app to install CWM. I found another thread that provides a command script to install it, and it's worked perfectly for me every time.

Here are some instructions that I typed up a while back when I was helping my friend root his R800x... The credit for this should go to the original poster in the thread and to all of the people who helped develop the CWM .

--------------------------------------------

INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS FOR CWM

**I believe that around 2 MB of Internal Storage is needed to install this CWM version on the Xperia Play

1. Go to this thread ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1390771 ) to find and download the file "CWM-Install.rar"

2. Unzip the contents of the downloaded package into a file folder where you can find it later

3. Make sure USB debugging is enabled on your phone and plug your rooted R800x into the computer via USB cable

3. Navigate to the folder on your computer where you unzipped the .rar file. (Per the above thread's instructions, you need to run the command script for "install-cwm1.cmd." You can do this by locating that file and double clicking on it. This should start a command terminal window to install CWM...just follow the prompts in the command terminal and you should have CWM installed on your phone

**In order to boot into the CWM Recovery on the Stock Kernel, you need to press the phone's Power Button and then repeatedly tap the Volume Down button as it boots up. Once you are in the CWM recovery, use the Volume keys to navigate up and down, the Home key to select, the Back key to return to the previous menu.

Worked 100%! I owe you big time! I am now running Super Jellybean 8.0 along with Turbo Kernel and honestly the performance on this rom alone is "godly!" I first tried Racing Speed rom but reading on the features of Super JellyBean made me want to try it out. Although the touchpad support breaks (no more Mario 64...) its overall performance makes up for the loss. Either way i do use the buttons more anyways on ps1 and snes games.

I now feel like the Xperia Play "caught up" with my other devices, it was the only Gingerbread device i have touched in a year.
I would love to see the KitKat rom thats currently a work in progress someday work completely.
Since KK was said to be able to run on 512mb ram, i think it would further improve this device's potential.

 

[mattnmag]

That's good to hear you're rooted and unlocked and glad I could help. I know that I found it frustrating when I was trying to figure out how to root and unlock the bootloader for our Verizon version of this phone. I kept reading that you couldn't root it on build 2.3.4, but finally stumbled onto Eroot. It seems there's not a lot of Verizon R800x users in the Xperia Play threads... so we got to stick together, lol.
:thumbup:

 

[alfredox123]

if i unlock the bootloader i can install twrp with problems? im thinking og buying an xperia play r800x to install twrp and android 4.4.4 with cm 11 designed for xperia play

 

[Dhennick99]

Crossvxm, can I mail you my xperia play? I wanted to know if you'd unlock the bootloader and install a custom rom. I want a more modern version of the android os running on the play. Please help