Monday, March 19, 2012

CyanogenMod 7.1.0.1 on Xperia Arc S

You can find the update instructions from this wiki. I followed it and ended up in boot loop for CyanogenMod 7.1.0.2, so I went for 7.1.0.1 and no problem found. I post the steps and messages and hope you might find it useful here. Please note I installed CyanogenMod on Xperia Arc S (LT18i).



Pre-requisite
Download update-cm-7.1.0.1-XperiaArc-LT15i-signed.zip and validate its md5 checksum. You can find it here. Extract boot.img from the zip file and place it in your Android SDK directory. In my case I place it under dictory /opt/android-sdk-linux_x86/tools/. In addition, copy the zip file to the root of a microSD. A microSD is required for CyanogenMod installation.


Download gapps-gb-20110828-signed.zip and validate its md5 checksum. You can find it here. Copy the zip file to the root of a microSD.


Download fastboot for your respective platform from www.htcdev.com. Registration is required. Place the fastboot binary in your Android SDK directory. Same as where the boot.img is located.


Check if your device's bootloader can be unlocked by dialing *#*#7378423#*#*, select Service info, Configuration, you will find the following:
- IMEI, a 15 digits number, write it down
- Bootloader unlock allowed: Yes


Unlock Bootloader
Run the fastboot command from your terminal, it didn't work for me until I ran it from '../platform-tools' directory instead of '../tools' directory.

vpcp115kg platform-tools # ./fastboot oem unlock 0x{the key retrieved from Sony Ericsson}...
(bootloader) Unlock phone requested
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001300
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001400
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001500
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001600
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001700
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001800
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001900
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001a00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001b00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001c00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001d00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001e00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001f00
OKAY [  4.538s]
finished. total time: 4.538s




Flash...
Run the following command to start flashing your handset:
vpcp115kg platform-tools # ./fastboot flash boot ../tools/boot.img
sending 'boot' (5228 KB)...
(bootloader) USB download speed was 9375kB/s
OKAY [  0.578s]
writing 'boot'...
(bootloader) Download buffer format: boot IMG
(bootloader) Flash of partition 'boot' requested
(bootloader) S1 partID 0x00000003, block 0x00000280-0x000002e3
(bootloader) Erase operation complete, 0 bad blocks encountered
(bootloader) Flashing...
(bootloader) Flash operation complete
OKAY [  1.057s]
finished. total time: 1.636s

 

then reboot it:
vpcp115kg platform-tools # ./fastboot reboot
rebooting...

finished. total time: 0.001s

 

While your phone is rebooting, press the Volume Up/Down button few times to trigger the CWM-based Recovery. Use Volume Up/Down button to navigate and Home button to select item, choose 'backup and restore' option to backup current Xperia installation:
CWM-based Recovery v5.0.2.6
SD Card space free: 7712MB
Backing up system...
Backing up data...
Backing up .android_secure...
Backing up cache...
No sd-ext found. Skipping backup of sd-ext.
Generating md5 sum...

Backup complete!

 

Next, select wipe data/factory reset, navigate to Yes -- delete all user data and press Home button to confirm:
-- Wiping data...
Formatting /data...
Formatting /cache...
Formatting /sd-ext...
Formatting /sdcard/.android_secure...
Data wipe complete

 

Next, select  wipe cache partition, then select Yes - Wipe Cache, press Home button to confirm:
-- Wiping cache...
Formatting /cache...
Cache wipe complete.



Lastly, select advanced, then select Wipe Dalvik Cache, then select Yes - Wipe Dalvik Cache and press Home button:
E:unknown volume for path [/sd-ext]
Dalvik Cache wiped.



Install CyanogenMod
Select install zip from sdcard, select choose zip from sdcard, select update-cm-7.1.0.1-XperiaArc-LT15i-signed.zip, select Yes - Install update-cm-7.1.0.1-XperiaArc-LT15i-signed.zip and press Home button:
--Installing: /sdcard/update-cm-7.1.0.1-XperiaArc-LT15i-signed.zip
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Installing update...

Install from sdcard complete.



Select install zip from sdcard, select choose zip from sdcard, select gapps-gb-20110828-signed.zip and select Yes - Install gapps-gb-20110828-signed.zip and press Home button:
-- Installing: /sdcard/gapps-gb-20110828-signed.zip
Finding update package...
Opening update package...
Installing update...
GApps 20110828
 For Android 2.3.5
Mounting system...
Deleting old APKs...
Copying new APKs...
Unmounting system...
Installation complete!

Install from sdcard complete.



OK, you are done, select reboot system now from the main menu.



ICS 4.0 Beta from Sony Ericsson
This is a job log of flashing ICS 4.0 beta from Sony Ericsson about a month ago. You can just follow the instructions from their page. Oh, but it has no root, no wifi, no Google apps, uh-oh!
vpcp115kg platform-tools # fastboot flash boot ../tools/Xperia_arcS_ICS_beta/boot.img
sending 'boot' (4544 KB)...
(bootloader) USB download speed was 9381kB/s
OKAY [  0.503s]
writing 'boot'...
(bootloader) Download buffer format: boot IMG
(bootloader) Flash of partition 'boot' requested
(bootloader) S1 partID 0x00000003, block 0x00000280-0x000002e3
(bootloader) Erase operation complete, 0 bad blocks encountered
(bootloader) Flashing...
(bootloader) Flash operation complete
OKAY [  0.934s]
finished. total time: 1.437s
vpcp115kg platform-tools # fastboot flash userdata ../tools/Xperia_arcS_ICS_beta/userdata.img
sending 'userdata' (198 KB)...
(bootloader) USB download speed was 9216kB/s
OKAY [  0.025s]
writing 'userdata'...
(bootloader) Flash of partition 'userdata' requested
(bootloader) S1 partID 0x00000009, block 0x000012d0-0x00001fef
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001300
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001400
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001500
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001600
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001700
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001800
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001900
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001a00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001b00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001c00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001d00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001e00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00001f00
(bootloader) Erase operation complete, 0 bad blocks encountered
(bootloader) Flashing...
(bootloader) Flash operation complete
OKAY [  5.146s]
finished. total time: 5.170s
vpcp115kg platform-tools # fastboot flash system ../tools/Xperia_arcS_ICS_beta/system.img sending 'system' (229758 KB)...
(bootloader) USB download speed was 9367kB/s
OKAY [ 25.296s]
writing 'system'...
(bootloader) Flash of partition 'system' requested
(bootloader) S1 partID 0x00000004, block 0x000002f4-0x00000f73
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000300
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000400
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000500
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000600
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000700
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000800
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000900
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000a00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000b00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000c00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000d00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000e00
(bootloader) Erasing block 0x00000f00
(bootloader) Erase operation complete, 0 bad blocks encountered
(bootloader) Flashing...
(bootloader) Flash operation complete
OKAY [ 44.057s]
finished. total time: 69.353s
vpcp115kg platform-tools #