yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lightningdude:
I'm on an R800x, which doesn't have sim card anything, so I'll just answer the questions I know.

1. Unlocking the bootloader allows you to install 3rd party software that overwrites the stuff that is part of the boot process. This pretty much refers to the kernel, for the Play. Certain roms, such as MIUI and CM7 require you to use a kernel different from stock, and since you need a different kernel, you must have an unlocked bootloader. As far as I know, that's the only real benefit for an unlocked bootloader, from a user standpoint.

4. There are many things that custom roms offer, as opposed to the stock your phone came with. This can range from a new UI, new apps, tweaks to system files, etc. Generally speaking, developers strive to make their custom roms operate better than stock. For more information on this point, I would suggest you check out some of the custom rom threads, just to see what they've changed from the stock rom.

5. You will need root, but you will need something with which to remove the apps. The best app to use, in my opinion, is Titanium Backup. Not only will it allow you to remove system apps, but it will also back up those and user apps, all for free. Unless you buy the pro key, that is.

6. As far as specific tips for the Play, I would recommend rooting so that you can disable the auto brightness. While auto brightness is desirable in most phones, the Xperia Play (And other Xperia devices, I think) are almost constantly shifting the brightness, to where a slight tilt of the hand can make the screen dim or brighten. I'm sure that can't be good on the battery. Generally speaking, though, apps such as Juice Defender and Battery Defender have profiles or just general settings to adjust data flow and many other options that can significantly increase battery life.
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Asked Man:
To the best of my knowledge

Yes, IMO.

No, but you can check if you can unlock following the instruction on SE's site:

1. First, you should confirm that it is possible to unlock the boot loader of your phone by checking the service menu. In your phone, open the dialler and enter *#*#7378423#*#* to access the service menu.

2. In your phone, tap Service info > Configuration > Rooting Status. If Bootloader unlock allowed says Yes, then you can continue with the next step. If it says No, or if the status is missing, your device cannot be unlocked.

Note that unlocking void your warranty.

Not that I know of.
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SirRudolph:
Awesome guys, Thanks a bunch.
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] julianpaul:
Unless you're really tight on space (which shouldn't normally happen if you've done the adb setinstalllocation trick and moving apps to sdcard), i would suggest freezing the apps instead of removing them especially if you're sticking with stock. This would make it a lot easier to move to the next official OS upgrade instead of a mad scramble to find the stock apps and reinstall them. The pro version of Titanium backup and SystemCleanup has the freeze function. I've freezed a lot of crap on my phone and it makes a world of difference wrt. boot time and general performance.
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Vabene2002:
Unlock boot loader is very good allows you to flash custom kernel and overclock
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SirRudolph:
@JulianPaul/Vabene2002: Not sure if im sticking with stock, My model is R800AT. So not sure of my options yet. Im still trying to absorb as much as I can.

Wonder if I asked some more questions if they'd be answered.

8. Is there any recovery utility WITHOUT unlocking the bootloader? Say I mess something up with my root, Can I recover back to an original ROM?

9. Can I back up my current running ROM as soon as I get my phone so that I may return it to that state?

10. If you need to change your kernel to match a modified ROM; Your current ROM wont support it, so you need to change kernel AND ROM at the same time? Otherwise your phone wont boot?

11. Any decent links for rooting an r800at?

12. Is gingerbread the latest version of android an xperia play can run and have jailbroken?
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] UndisputedGuy:
Would having root access void the warranty? I want to remove some pre installed apps so is there a way to do this without voiding the warranty?

Thanks
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SirRudolph:
Yes, it will.

But if you just recover to a stock ROM, then its like you never rooted.

Thus, warranty reinstated.
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] UndisputedGuy:
Nah, don't want to risk it yet. May never root this phone actually...
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SirRudolph:
Im going to root mine as soon as it arrives. Lol.

Not to diminish your opinion, If you dont know exactly what you're doing, it could get ugly.
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] UndisputedGuy:
I rooted my old ZTE blade but this phone is just... different. I mean it's probably gonna Get ICS anyways and if I were to root I'd probably need a very simple guide.
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Trygon:
SuperOneClick is about as simple as one could imagine.
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SirRudolph:
Do you know the latest version of android this works on? Looks like 2.2.2 to me.
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fma965:
like 4.0 it uses different exploits for different versions. gibgerbreak and zergrush are 2 of them

Fma965 - Forgottencoders.co.uk

Want to make me a banner? PM me
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Asked Man:
Yes, you can install Clockworkmod recovery from the market, there is an auto installer for xperia. That can be done without unlocking the bootloader but you must be rooted.

I believe a nandroid backup on CWM would do the trick, but I am not sure. I simply made backups of everything I uninstalled so I could revert it.

Yes. kernel flashing on locked bootloaders brick your phone. and AFAIK, no custom rom except those based on stock have touchpad support.

I have an r800a, not sure about the differences regarding r800at, check this thread:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1294129

If you keep it stock, yes, 2.3.4. There is FreeXperia rom that is 2.3.7 as well.

On the forum you will find links to ICS based roms, SE leaked and AOSP. Both are WIP, I believe.

I've read somewhere that Sony will release ICS for the xperia 2011 line around April.
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fma965:
pretty sure flashing kernels on locked bootloaders doesn't BRICK your phone. It won't allow the kernel to be flashed as you can't use Fastboot only flashmode (official signed Roms only )

Fma965 - Forgottencoders.co.uk
[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Asked Man:
Doesn't brick as in "turns your phone into a very expensive paper weight", but your phone will not boot anymore and you will have to flash a stock rom with flashtool to recover.
[AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket SGH-I727] noodl3baka:
Had anyone else gotten throttled without getting the "Top 5% of users" message?
[General Questions and Answers] karanpradhan:
hi

i have motorola charm with motoblur . i have no idea about its bootloader.can anybody help me root it with some walkthroughs.. and i want to intsall cyanogenmod 7 too!!
[General Questions and Answers] For[s]aken:
just now i installed ROM leedroid flyer HC V4.1.0 after installing 1st boot got stuck on white screen HTC .help me dudeeeeeeeeeee
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] kiyo21:
Just got the Galaxy Nexus (Canadian version) and was comparing the screen to my old Nexus S. One thing I notice immediately was how low the brightness was at max brightness on the Galaxy Nexus when compared to the Nexus S. The whites where noticeably duller on the Galaxy than the S. For people with both devices, should that be normal. I was hoping that the Galaxy Nexus brightness would be comparable if not better than the older Nexus S. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] CuraeL:
My sister had the Nexus S, and I have had it in for some fixing a few times.. What's important to mention in this comparison, especially for the white's, is that on the Galaxy Nexus, the "factory" white isnt really "white".. (At least that's what I see when I look at the screen.) This have been fixed in various roms and stand-alone fixes in these sites.. If I turn my Galaxy Nexus to full brightness, it is deffo better and crisper than on the Nexus S. (I might have been too busy checking out pixels on the Nexus S to realize exactly what you mean.)

What I mean is that, on the Samsung Galaxy S II, I got a headache from looking at full brightness, on the Galaxy Nexus, the brightness is lower, this might have something to do with the small "+" behind the name of the LEDscreen name of the SGS2, but I find the Galaxy Nexus to be very soothing to look at. And I think it is a matter of "reproducing colors" you're finding yourself in. The Nexus S might be able to do "brighter/more vivid" colors, but if you compare the Galaxy Nexus' screen to "any" other screen on the market, it is capable of reproducing colors almost perfectly, (when it has the color fix, - mostly noticed in low brightness tho.)

Congrats on your new Galaxy Nexus. I'm sure, with time, you will see that the screen is a different technology than on the Nexus S, and.. Thus the brightness is "different", but I won't say lower.

Just my 5 cents.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] kiyo21:
So I just compared my galaxy nexus with a Verizon one at the store and noticed that the Verizon nexus screen was more brighter and vivid at max brightness than mine. Right now, mine is still on stock v4.0.1 while the Verizon model was at v4.0.2. Did they change the color temperature with the newer update. The screens hopefully should be the same between all galaxy nexus models, right?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] CuraeL:
Unlock bootloader, update to 4.0.3 of your choice, see if the screen seems better.. If not.. reload bootloader, return phone, get a new one with a display that's not assumingly.. "bad"?

I dunno man, it sounds strange, no where I have gone, I have heard anything of any upgraded specs in the Galaxy Nexus. I don't know alot about the structure of LED screens.. But maybe some liquids in it, is bad or wrong.. I dunno man.. Sorry. But try to unlock, root, update and then turn the brightness to full? If you do so.. You can always lock again and get rid of the traces of flashing stuff. And just.. Get a new phone, showing it against another one. In Denmark, 7 days is the MAX you can have a phone before it can't be returned and exchanged, 7 days, and it will be a repair, instead..
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] kiyo21:
Over the weekend, I went ahead and unlocked the bootloader and flash the stock image on Google's website to 4.0.2 since the Canadian version I had was still stuck on 4.0.1. Brightness issue is gone. Seems that the max brightness level on 4.0.2 is brighter than on 4.0.1.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Buddy39914:
I am looking to replace my galaxy SII for two main reasons.

The battery- I got, perhaps a faulty battery, but you can fully charge it and 1 hour later it has no battery left. Does the Note have a better battery life than the SII?

Runs warm- does the Galaxy note run as warm as the S2 while doing normal tasks, like using 3g and browsing?
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] exceluk1:
The note does not run warm when doing normal tasks. The only time mine gets hot is when its been running satnav for 30mins.

You will love the nite.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Grr_Badger:
Perhaps you had a faulty battery? I think you know you had a faulty battery.

Yes the Note has got better battery life than the SII.

I have noticed the Note does get a little warm sometimes. But not overly. Nothing that would bring concern.

It sounds like your SII is fried the heat and battery problems are most likely linked. The reason the phone gets so hot is because the battery is discharging so quickly.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] myshadowsss:
Battery life greater than s2
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PoisonWolf:
Im only at 35% after 1 day and 14 hours of normal use, texting, surfing, gaming. Im on 0% brightness. Take what you will from that.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] k1ng617:
Something IS faulty, whether it's your battery or not. No phone should only last 1 hour. Even the worst performing smartphone being tortured will last 3+ hours. And I'm talking about rebooting, flashing, streaming HD video over LTE etc.

The Galaxy Note is very similar to the S2 same cpu/chipset etc. If you do a search for something like "hot" in the Gnote forums you will find many posts. But, that doesn't mean it should be of much concern. If those are really your only two reasons why you want to upgrade then I suggest trying to replace/refund/repair the phone you have know, because the battery loss & heat are probably related issues. But, if you want a larger screened phone then by all means upgrade to the Note.
[HTC Rezound] SamXp:
Now that an unlocked bootloader is an option, do you think the Rezound will ever get S-OFF?

For most, it seems that foregoing a warranty and unlocking the bootloader through htcdev doesn't present any issues. But many of us simply don't want to get exposed to that risk.

Question came up in this thread:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=22105407#post22105407
[HTC Rezound] GordoGuapo:
We already have permanent root. Are you talking about S-OFF?

From the Rez Beast
[HTC Rezound] SamXp:
Talking about the ability to load a ROM.
[HTC Rezound] racinwarrior:
really? do you not see the 10 ROMS listed in the same section that you posted incorrectly in?

the rezound is/was rooted like 2 months ago
[HTC Rezound] icy1899:
If you read the forum your in you would know we already can load ROMS and kernels, we just can't touch radios
[HTC Rezound] nitsuj17:
well as to whether or you will be able to ever root your phone with htc dev unlock....probably not

it didnt seem like there was a huge effort made to s-off the rezound prior to unlock (aside from evil fake dev null's bs)

now that there is a way to flash roms, i doubt anyone is bothering

hopefully this is not the future of htc devices on vzw going forward, as personally ive used og inc and inc2 fully s-off and would probably think twice is my next htc phone was dev unlock only

but this should be in general anyway, not development
[HTC Rezound] SamXp:
Obviously, ROM's are available.

Obviously, you can flash them with an unlocked bootloader.

If you don't unlock the bootloader, you are saying there is a Root method available that will allow you to flash a ROM?
[HTC Rezound] tekhna:
No. Why would you think that was on option? Just unlock the effing bootloader. There will probably never be s-off.
[HTC Rezound] SamXp:
Because that has been the case for every phone I've owned. Did you even take the time to read the original post? Maybe my English wasn't plain enough? Unlocking the bootloader

simply isn't an option

for some people.
[HTC Rezound] tekhna:
Then don't do it. It's that simple.

This isn't every phone you've ever owned. This is the culmination of every HTC phone released for the last few years. They've learned how to plug nearly all, or enough, of the possible exploits to unlock the bootloader while offering a way to unlock it that doesn't require devs beating their heads against a wall, perhaps fruitlessly for months. The devs aren't going to bother, because why would they? HTC's given us a perfectly reasonable way, and credit to them.

The fact is, we simply don't know what will happen to phones returned under warranty. Plenty of people have returned unlocked phones with no problems.
[HTC Rezound] SamXp:
Thank you for your contribution. This is information I would like to have had before buying this phone. Obviously, it is a gamble to unlock. They make it very clear that it voids your warranty. If there are reports of people getting warranty service in spite of the phone being unlocked, then that is pure luck.

Some of us prefer not to rely on luck.

Never imagined I'd see this type of animosity for a simple question. Especially one as important as this, in relation to this phone.
[HTC Rezound] derek4484:
It appears to me that there's not a large quantity of devs supporting this phone. Hopefully more get the Rezound. I came from the AT&T Captivate and there were tons of devs cooking up ROMS for that one. I had always heard that HTC phones had great dev support on XDA so I didnt really do my homework before buying the phone, it was more of an impulse buy once I saw the large beautiful screen.

All I've done so far is unlock and root my phone. Still running stock and so far I like it a lot. Havent really felt the need to drop a different rom on my phone, or even flash a different kernel. One reason I guess is, the phone works really well as-is, and seems like each kernel or other rom seems to have a good many noted issues.

I hope this improves over time. I loved flashing different roms on my Galaxy S and they were extremely high quality with basically no issues at all. Matter of fact I had been running ICS since back in december and using it as my "daily driver" and it worked extremely well. I believe the only issue was it wouldnt do video recording.
[HTC Rezound] tekhna:
They make it very clear it MAY void your warranty. Go check the page. Nowhere does it say "your warranty is now void."

I think most of the animosity is from posting about something that has been beaten to death, in the wrong forum.
[HTC Rezound] derek4484:
I'm new to HTC phones...but what is S-OFF and what is the difference between that and unlocking the bootloader via HTCdev.com.

I've unlocked my bootloader, just for the sake of doing it. It was simple. What extra benefits would S-OFF give?

---------- Post added at 11:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:49 AM ----------

I think the website just says that if you unlock your bootloader HTC may charge you more if you require factory servicing.
[HTC Rezound] SamXp:
Fair enough.

Help me out here. I've searched about this topic. I referenced the one other thread where the question was asked. There was very little discussion.
[HTC Rezound] WasabiWa83:
S-Off makes it easier to flash kernels and ROMs. You can flash them together with s-off.

This may be a dumb question, but can a Mod please close/move this thread? It's extremely pointless and definitely in the wrong section.

EDIT: and to the OP, THIS is what tekhna is talking about.
[HTC Rezound] SamXp:
I'd hoped this would improve, over time, as well. I don't get that impression, judging by the reaction in this thread.
[HTC Rezound] localceleb:
What is ROM? is that an internal component of the phone? Like memory? Is there soldering involved to load a ROM? :D
[HTC Rezound] SamXp:
If the thread is in the wrong section - I can see the need to move it. But closing it would prevent would-be buyers from obtaining valuable information that could be critical to their purchase decision. No reason to hide the truth that

the Rezound will probably never get S-OFF.
[HTC Rezound] mjh68:
I think the reaction your getting is because this has been hashed and rehashed alot and putting topics in Development is a big no no . HTC has said they will still honor the warranty related to hardware as long as customizing isn't the cause of the failure..ie overclocking and burning up processor etc.. Verizon is the one that voids the warranty which is understandable after reading the threads of people that do stuff without reading prior to messing with the phone.
[HTC Rezound] derek4484:
It'd be a shame if it doesnt as the Rezound is a truly great piece of hardware. It's got a really fast processor, the screen is amazing, it's 4G. I think its the best phone on the market right now. I went to Verizon with the intention of buying a Galaxy Nexus. But when I got there and saw how big it was and right next to it was the Rezound, I immediately put the GN down and bought the Rezound.
[HTC Rezound] blestsol:
Closing the thread doesn't get rid of the info in it
[HTC Rezound] confused2much:
One large solder blob on the back of the board that bridges all components together.....that should work right! :D
[HTC Rezound] WookieFan:
That would make at least 3 votes for S-OFF. I understand that unlocking the bootloader allows us to load dev ROMs, but I think we can agree that not having S-OFF is limiting development on a great product.

I think one of VZW's points in keeping S-OFF on this device was to limit the amount of man-hours devoted to returns from people who messed up their phones. Judging from the number of returns listed in many posts as a result of unlocked bootloaders, I'd like to see if that decision is paying off for VZW.

I'd still love to see S-OFF since fewer backflips are necessary to get a new ROM working for devs and flashers alike.
[HTC Rezound] I Am Marino:
I'd still like S-OFF as it's a total unlocked phone, rather than getting halfway there.

I'm not complaining about what HTC has given us but you get the idea.
[HTC Rezound] SamXp:
Manufacturers have been in a continual struggle to remove every exploit that developers have found, but S-OFF always seemed to eventually be achieved. Offering an unlocked bootloader now seems like a brilliant move on hTC's part, if it turns out that S-OFF is never achieved for the Rezound.

They may service a phone with an unlocked bootloader as a courtesy, but they have eliminated any liability on their part if a phone is truly bricked.

They win. We lose!
[HTC Rezound] superchilpil:
You do know that s-off is still possible right? The only issues that posses a problem is unlocking the emmc to overwrite the bootloader

Or the possibility of a xtc clip compatable with the rezound

- this part isn't directed at you SamXp -

Regardless I'm flashing roms back and forth like I always have with ease and its simple enough for everyone :)

If you don't want to possibly void your warranty then you shouldn't be in these forums! Nuf said
[HTC Rezound] jmorton10:
LOL, I agree.

I always figure I will void the warranty on any phone 10 minutes after I take it out of the box.........
[HTC Rezound] Cares:
I haven't found a ROM that has compelled me to root yet. Still waiting for full S-OFF.
[HTC Rezound] jmorton10:
Don't hold your breath waiting for that
[HTC Rezound] MrSmith317:
How is not having S-Off limiting anyone? The devs can do exactly what they would for any other phone. Very few if any devs ever screw with the radio. I do agree that it would make flashing easier but most if not all of the devs now have a method for automatically flashing the kernel along with the ROM. I'm missing where anything would be different with S-Off other than people having to dodge another OTA bullet(that would most likely close the S-Off exploit)
[HTC Rezound] EmerikL:
There is the mainver issue, but most of, if not all, the devs have set their mainver to the OTA mainver anyway.
[HTC Rezound] MrSmith317:
I've never had that issue. I have always flashed my kernel in fastboot...what else ya got?? lol
[HTC Rezound] EmerikL:
I didn't have a problem with mainver, but from the number of threads and the post counts in such threads, it would seem that alot of people are running into the issue.
[HTC Rezound] SamXp:
I did not know that. Doesn't seem to be a popular option so that might be why it isn't talked about much. I need to dig a little deeper.

Obviously, S-OFF isn't exactly by the book, either, but all other things being equal, ask a perspective buyer if they prefer having that option.
[HTC Rezound] nbhnohome:
S-OFF should help you get into recovery without having to take out the batter or a computer and should help in Rom Development.

No wonder why all the ASOP ROM for the Rezound is still sucked compared to Samsung phones. My Vibrant is running ICS smoothly despite the fact that it does not even have Gingerbread leak.
[HTC Rezound] mjh68:
How does S-off or on affect getting into recovery ? I think it is more of a driver issue and kernel issue more than S-on affecting Asop development.