[Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo, Pro] Vorsprung:
Hello everybody!

I am starting this new thread to try compile a simple to follow and reasonably written complete guide for rooting an Xperia Neo 2.3.3. I am doing this because, although there are enough information and software on this forum and on the internet in general, these are not really structured and gathered in a way that a non-experienced user (a.k.a. "noob") can easily manage, and the process of rooting 2.3.3. is a bit more complicated than 2.3.2 with Gingerbreak for instance.

This guide is for Xperia Neo running Android 2.3.3 with locked bootloader. Other devices with 2.3.3. might be rooted in a similar fashion.

Update: 2.3.4. for the Neo is out. Everything here still works as described with the difference that you get the latest 2.3.4 when updating OTA.

WARNING: some users reported that after downgrading from 2.3.4 to 2.3.2 in order to root, the battery meter showed 0%. I am not yet aware of a solution to this problem. So beware if your Neo already has the latest version.

Warning: Neither myself, nor anyone else but YOU is responsible if you damage your phone in any way or lose any information after trying to root your phone by folowing this guide! Also note that your warranty will expire when you root.

However, unrooting should be possible, in principle.

--- Guide start ---

1. Back up your data. You could do this using an app called Backup Master from the Android Market. Additionally, I had my contacts and calendar synchronized with my Google account. SMS messages were not properly backed up, but I didn't care about them anyway. If you do care, you might want to save them to your SD card, using the built-in option or just use another app. Also make sure your battery is at least half charged before starting.

2. Download FlashTool from here or directly here. Install it by simply unpacking it somewhere.

3. Download the generic firmware 2.3.2 from here or directly here. You do this because Gingerbreak (will come to that) uses a security vulnerability to gain root rights in 2.3.2. that has been fixed with the new 2.3.3. Extract the .ftf file from the .rar archive you just downloaded to the sub-folder "firmwares" of your Flashtools installation from step 2. (You might need WinRar for extracting)

4. Go to your Flashtool installation to the folder "drivers" and install ggsetup-2.2.0.10.exe. Download the USB drivers for your Neo from here. Unpack the contents of the archived folder "amd64" (if on Windows 64) or "i386" (if on Windows 32) to the folder "amd64" or "x86" respectively of the installation folder of Gordons Gate. The path might be something like "c:\Program Files (x86)\Sony Ericsson\Gordons Gate\". Run DPInst.exe to install the drivers.

Alternatively to this step, I think you could install the drivers by just installing PCCompanion and plugging in your phone, but I did it the hard way. :D

5. Run the file X10FlashTool.exe; click Flash; you should see the firmware you downloaded in step 3 in the appearing window if you extracted it correctly; click OK (I recommend you leave the option "wipe data" checked, although some users reported that it worked for them even without wiping the data); follow the instructions (note that the back button on the Neo is on the other side as pictured); the flashing should take no more than a couple of minutes; start your phone - this will take a bit longer the first time. If after the reboot the battery meter is showing 1%, shut down and take out the battery for a minute, then boot up again.

6. Get Gingerbreak from here of directly here. This is the exploit that actually roots the phone. Copy it to your phone and install. You can do this a number of ways. For example: install ES File Explorer from the Android Market, access your PC via WLAN with it and install it directly from there. You will be prompted to change the setting to allow the installation of apps from unknown sources in case you didn't change it already. Also allow USB-debugging in the same settings menu under "developer".

7. Run Gingerbreak and tap "root device". This shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes, although some users reported it taking hours. If it is taking very long, you might want to try inserting another SD card and repeating the attempt. When it's done, it will reboot. Now you have a rooted 2.3.2. You can check this by installing the app "root checker" from the Android Market. When you start "root checker" you will be asked by an app called "superuser" if you want to grant root access to this program. This "superuser" app was installed by Gingerbreak after rooting and manages which program has root permissions.

8. Now before doing anything, go to settings>info>software update> update now and get the new Android 2.3.3 OTA (= over the air, i.e. via WLAN or 3G). Do not do this via your PC, because you will unroot the phone. There have been a lot of problems reported with this step. If right after you tap "update now" you get the message "unable to connect" try shutting down, waiting a minute and booting up again or also try setting the date and time to the correct values, in case you have something like 01 Jan 1980. Other users said, it just took a lot of attempts before it worked and that the problem might be with the SonyEricsson servers... If after the update was downloaded you get some kind of error message like "cannot update" it might be because you did some changes to system files or possibly you used a non-original firmware in step 3.

After the update was done, check again for root access with the "root checker"

9. Restore the data you backed up in step 1 and enjoy.

Update: I managed to update to 2.3.4. Unfortunately I could not simply update OTA from my rooted 2.3.3. I kept getting an error message after downloading the update, probably because I had changed system files. So I did all the above steps again, with the difference that in step 8 I got the 2.3.4. from the SE server.

--- Guide end ---

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