Tweaking the Sony Xperia Z

Recently i bought an android phone, after having used an iPhone 1 and 4 since their release. These days a phone is as complex as a pc, so it got its own documentation page here :)

Phone specs

• Sony Xperia Z

Unlock bootloader

• Go to the service menu (type this in the dialing pad):

  ##7378423##

• Get the IMEI code (Service Info > Configuration)

• Go to http://unlockbootloader.sonymobile.com/ and submit the IMEI code (skip the last digit).
• You should now receive the unlock code in your mailbox

Firmware upgrade

Instruction taken from: http://xperiafirmware.com/8-firmware/33-sony-xperia-z-c6603

• download and install latest Flashtool from here
• download also firmware image C660X 10.3.1.A.0.244 kernel: latest Android 4.2.2 for Sony XPERIA Z
• paste the ftf file to folder „firmwares“ included in the XPERIA Flashtool
• Install drivers for the Xperia Z from the drivers folder, included in the XPERIA Flashtool
  • Not sure which were needed, but i installed the Xperia Z, flashmode and fastboot mode drivers.
  • I also had to reboot my pc before the drivers worked.

The actual flashing:

• Turn the phone off and disconnect the usb cable from the pc.
• open the XPERIA Flashtool, click on flash and choose downloaded firmware, than click ok.
  • Important - if you do not want to delete any data of your phone, just uncheck flashing userdata.sin file. All data will remain in your phone, but sometimes it can cause additional troubles. So it is better (and I recommend that) to do the backup of your personal data, than proceed with clean instalation and then restore your personal data.
  • When Flashtool shows the popup window to connect the phone, connect phone to PC with holding volume down button.
• You'll see the light briefly show red and green, after the flashing begins.
• After a few minutes all is done and your phone gets the new firmware

Root

Instructions take from http://androidteen.com/how-to-root-xperia-z-android-4-2-2-jelly-bean-official-firmware-10-3-1-a-0-244/

Prerequisites:

• Sony Xperia Z with 10.3.1.A.0.244 Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean Firmware (Ensure correct device model and firmware; Check device model – Go to Settings -> About Device -> Model Number)
• Windows-based computer or laptop
• Download Sony Xperia Z USB driver for Windows and install in your computer.
• Connect device to computer with USB cable to complete installation.
• Enable USB Debugging on your device.
  • From: How to Enable USB Debugging Mode on Android Devices.
  • Go to “Settings” –> “About Phone”
• Go to “Build Number"
  • Tap on “Build Number” for 7 times to go to developer options
  • Go back to “Settings”, you should see Developer Option appear in the Settings list.
  • Go to “Developer Option”
  • Check the “USB Debugging” option
• Make sure your phone is charged to 60% to avoid battery blackout and interruption during this tutorial.
• We recommend you make a backup on your data and media files before the tutorial. You may restore the data and files if necessary. Download and install DooMLoRD Rooting Kit: http://bit.ly/ert_18

iPhone migration

To copy data from and to the phone, i use Sony Bridge for Mac

Addressbook: * With Sony Bridge, copy all your macosx addressbook contacts to your google+ account. * Via gmail.com webinterface, under contacts, you should now have a section called "other contacts" containing the contacts you just uploaded. * Move these contacts to your main contact list. These should now be syncing to your phone.

Music

A lot of my music was purchased via the iTunes store, with DRM on it. The only reliable way, without quality loss, i could find, was to purchase iTunes plus. It matches all your music with the music in the iTunes store, so you can download it again if you loose the songs. Luckily the new songs come without DRM.

• Find the songs which are protected: find ~/Music -name *.m4p

• In iTunes, add the "icloud" column to your music overview.

• Delete all the songs from within iTunes which are protected, but keep them in the iCloud. (When you delete a song, you get a popup asking you if you also want to delete it from the iCloud. Say No here)
• Now press the icloud-download icon which should show in the column you just added.
• This should have converted all m4p protected files to m4a files.
• Don't forget to cancel your iTunes Plus subscription.
• with the Sony Bridge tool you can now upload all music to your android phone.

Ingress

Performance of the Ingress app is horrible on the Xperia Z. Some things to improve this, is the Broot mod:

• http://ingress-apk-mod.o4kapuk.info/

Still, the remaining animations are like 1 frame/sec. How's that for a 600 euro phone with quad core cpu. :( Tried this for lowering the resolution:

• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nexter.miniscalerfree