topic Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom? in Other/General

Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

shoeseat — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 06:39:00 GMT

Hello Guys, I have an xperia arc with SI number 1247-0087 which is not getting ICS 4.0.4 till now.I am tired of waiting and checking the list eveyday(almost 1 month now).It seems like there won't be update for my phone for some reason.

I am running out of patience so thinking of flasing my arc with rom discussed in this forum and xda developer but i have one problem.I live in Nepal, so when i bought my arc it has firmware 2.3.3, when i updated my phone to 2.3.4 i got O2 logo when starting my phone and there are couple of other apps like O2 priority members,wisepilot etc.I don't know whether these apps where there in my mobile when i bought it and the firmware was 2.3.4 cause i updated my phone to 2.3.4 within hours when i bought it and connected to my computer.

I am using the sim for my local country without any problem in this mobile so i guess it's ulocked phone which was brought here to sell as there isn't any authorised dealer on sony in my country.Now i want to know whether i can flash my phone with roms available for xperia arc?Will flashing lock my phone to O2 and i have to unlock again? As i said earlier i upated from 2.3.3 to 2.3.4 without problem.So will flashing rom causing any lock issue?Please guys help me on this.

Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

FrontierGate — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 07:07:52 GMT

Did you talk to your local mobile phone service carrier? Will they offer the update later? Considering you bought the phone locally in your country?

Yes, you can flash ICS 4.04 unofficially (it is really safe, don't worry), and it doesn't even matter if your phone is simlocked or not.

There are a couple of international and/or country-specific firmwares out here for you to choose from.

All your 02 apps supposedly come from an 02 priority branded UK firmware. You can flash a generic firmware or a carrier-branded firmware; it is all up to you.

A short list of generic firmware here:

http://www.wotanserver.com/en/sony-ericsson/se/xperia-arc-lt15/4-1-b-0-431/language-download

Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

shoeseat — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 08:01:21 GMT

Thankx for the reply but i bought this phone in store and my carrier is not related to phone.We only buy sim from carrier here and mobiles from local stores.

So you are saying it's safe to flash the rom in my mobile right?It will not lock my phone after flashing?How about moded roms from xda forum?will they lock my phone?If i am flashing my phone then i am thiking of flashing it with modded rom xda forum which looks better than default sony one.

Again i just want to make absolutely sure flashing won't lock my phone as i may not be albe to unlock my phone again here.

Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

Nabeel — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 08:25:17 GMT

Flahing won't lock your mobile again, infact you will get debranded. Means all the apps of orange will disappear

If you wan't to flash then follow the thread here

Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

shoeseat — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 13:43:25 GMT

Thankx for the clearification and the link.I will flash my phone if the update doesn't come in 2/3 days.
Hope everything goes well without problem.

Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

shoeseat — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:14:29 GMT

Do i need to root my phone ro do flashing? sorry but this is my first flashing :smileygrin:

Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

Nabeel — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:16:03 GMT

Nopes you don't need to root

Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

shoeseat — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:58:07 GMT

Hai Nabeel i was about to flash my phone when i saw simlock.ta on my firmware.I searched via google and found this thread with simlock problem http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1695380

That guy ended up paying some $20 to unlock his phone again.What are the chances it will happen to my phone cause i don't have credit card to buy unlock tool.

Please help me to know in what case the sim will be locked.

Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

Nabeel — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 06:11:36 GMT

i guess, only if you unlocked your phone before

During flashing with flashtool if you get the option to exclude SimLock.Ta then mark it

Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

shoeseat — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 10:00:14 GMT

Is there any way to know if the phone is unlocked previously as i don't know what the local store did to phone before selling it to me.It may have be unlocked or mey be it's free sim one.I did told them why there is O2 logo when starting phone but they don't give clear answer and said it came from Uk i think.Also there was 2 sms in the mobile when i purchased the phone from O2 uk but don't know if ti's for unlocked one as there is not code in sms.When i showed those sms to the guy on store he deleted them in hurry.i got very angry :smileyangry:. Althought they told me it won't get locked when i update(i did update from 2.3.3 to 2.3.4 without problem) i don't trust those guys.

can we know if the phone is unlocked one from say some IMIE numbers or any method?Thankx in advance Nabeel you are very helpful.I have attached

my mobile info,hope it helps also the bootloader unlock allowed: Yes.

Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

Nabeel — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 07:51:18 GMT

Since bootloader unlocked allowed = Yes. This means your phone is free from network operator

Do one thing, download the first link for arc from my guide above

When you are finished downloading, right click on that file and click open (with winrar)

Double click on the file and you will see it components

Select simlock.ta and delete it

done

then flash it using flashtool

although your phone is independent so no need to remove simlock.ta file, but to be completely sure do it

Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

shoeseat — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 10:11:58 GMT

Hello Nabeel i just flashed my phone.It got stuck on this

27/016/2012 15:16:16 - INFO - <- This level is successfully initialized

27/016/2012 15:16:16 - INFO - Flashtool Version 0.8.6.0 built on 2012-06-13 08:08:54

27/016/2012 15:16:16 - INFO - You can drag and drop ftf files here to start flashing them

27/016/2012 15:16:21 - INFO - Device disconnected

27/016/2012 15:16:24 - INFO - Selected LT15i_4.1.B.0.431_Generic Global World.ftf

27/016/2012 15:16:24 - INFO - Preparing files for flashing

27/017/2012 15:17:26 - INFO - Please connect your device into flashmode.

27/017/2012 15:17:44 - INFO - Device connected in flash mode

27/017/2012 15:17:44 - INFO - Opening device for R/W

27/017/2012 15:17:44 - INFO - Reading device information

27/017/2012 15:17:44 - INFO - Phone ready for flashmode operations.

27/017/2012 15:17:44 - INFO - Start Flashing

27/017/2012 15:17:44 - INFO - Flashing loader

27/017/2012 15:17:49 - INFO - Loader : S1_Loader_Root_773f - Version : R4A066 / Bootloader status : ROOTED

27/017/2012 15:17:49 - INFO - Disabling final data verification check

27/017/2012 15:17:49 - INFO - Flashing kernel.sin

27/017/2012 15:17:52 - INFO - Flashing fota1.sin

27/017/2012 15:17:53 - INFO - Flashing fota0.sin

27/017/2012 15:17:54 - INFO - Flashing adsp.sin

27/017/2012 15:17:57 - INFO - Flashing amss_fs_anzu.sin

27/017/2012 15:17:57 - INFO - Flashing amss.sin

27/018/2012 15:18:06 - INFO - Flashing vendor.sin

27/018/2012 15:18:50 - INFO - Flashing system.sin

27/020/2012 15:20:46 - INFO - Flashing userdata.sin

27/020/2012 15:20:55 - INFO - Flashing cache.sin

27/020/2012 15:20:57 - INFO - Ending flash session

27/020/2012 15:20:57 - INFO - Flashing finished.

27/020/2012 15:20:57 - INFO - Please wait. Phone will reboot

27/020/2012 15:20:57 - INFO - For flashtool, Unknown Sources and Debugging must be checked in phone settings

27/020/2012 15:20:57 - INFO - Device connected in flash mode

Then i restarted my phone and it worked great.But i am not sure if flashtool meant to stuck on that step.In tutorial it was said flashtool will ask you to reboot you phone so what went with my flash when it get stucked?I am just curoius so that i won't make same mistake in future when flashing.Thankx for the help man,really appreciate your work on this forum.

Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

shoeseat — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 12:41:25 GMT

hai Nabeel i have some questions about root.Is this {GUIDE} How to Root Xperia™ Smartphones root method for locked bootloader or i have to unlock my bootloader first?Also after rooting(locked or unlocked bootloader) can i use xperia s transformation pack? or i need root with unlocked bootloader?

Re: Can i flash my xperia arc with 4.0.4 rom?

Nabeel — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 18:57:33 GMT

shoeseat first of all great and happy that everything went as it was supposed to

Now regarding flashtool, we have to restart our device everytime flashing finishes

So wehenver you get the line

Ending flash session

Flashing finished.

You can remove your device safely

This mehotd is for both unlocked and locked booties For NXT transformation you don't need to unlock your bootloader as well

We unlock bootloaders only if we wan't to flash custom kernels