[Xperia Play Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] MrBoard:
Hello... I have an r800at with generic r800i UK firmware on it... I have been using it rooted with this firmware for some time... but I wanted to install a custom kernel so I decided to unlock my bootloader...

Well... I have been having quite a time trying to get this to work... but I finally got everything working using s1tool... or so I thought...

Here is a quick run through on what I did... I downloaded flashtool, s1tool, and installed pc companion...

I checked to see if pc companion recognized my phone... and it did with no problems...

I installed all the Xperia Play ADB, fastboot, and flashmode drivers which came with flashtool...

I then went into s1tool and clicked "IDENTIFY" and received the following output:

5/28/2012 3:58:33 AM TO CONNECT NEXT PHONES

5/28/2012 3:58:33 AM X10 Xperia,E10 Mini,E15 Xperia X8,U20 Mini Pro

5/28/2012 3:58:33 AM LT15 Xperia ARC,MT15 Xperia NEO,R800 Xperia PLAY

5/28/2012 3:58:33 AM PRESS AND HOLD "BACK" BUTTON...

5/28/2012 3:58:34 AM

5/28/2012 3:58:34 AM ST18 Xperia RAY,ST15 Xperia Mini,SK17 Xperia Mini Pro

5/28/2012 3:58:34 AM PRESS AND HOLD "Volume Down" BUTTON...

5/28/2012 3:58:34 AM

5/28/2012 3:58:34 AM PLEASE ATTACH TURNED OFF PHONE NOW

5/28/2012 3:58:34 AM

5/28/2012 3:58:43 AM

5/28/2012 3:58:43 AM RUNNING S1_EROM VER "R9A021"

5/28/2012 3:58:43 AM SOFTWARE AID: 0001

5/28/2012 3:58:43 AM LOADER AID: 0001

5/28/2012 3:58:45 AM FLASH ID: "002C/00B3"

5/28/2012 3:58:45 AM LOADER VERSION: "R4A069"

5/28/2012 3:58:45 AM

5/28/2012 3:58:46 AM MODEL (from GDFS): R800i

5/28/2012 3:58:46 AM SOFTWARE VERSION: 1245-8821_4.0.2.A.0.42

5/28/2012 3:58:46 AM CUSTOM VERSION: 1247-6199_R7D

5/28/2012 3:58:46 AM FILESYSTEM VERSION: WORLD-1-8_4.0.2.A.0.42

5/28/2012 3:58:46 AM SERIAL NO: CB5A1HVLEE

5/28/2012 3:58:46 AM

5/28/2012 3:58:46 AM SEMC SIMLOCK CERTIFICATE

5/28/2012 3:58:46 AM Elapsed:12 secs.

It is to my understanding that since the line "5/28/2012 3:58:43 AM RUNNING S1_EROM VER "R9A021"" has a capital R... this means that my bootloader was locked at this point...

So I went onto prepare unlock the bootloader by shutting off my phone, removing the battery, and getting ready for the test point bootloader unlocking...

I went into s1tool again... and clicked on "Patch SEMCBoot"... I got the following output:

5/28/2012 6:31:47 AM Welcome to S1 tool.

5/28/2012 6:31:47 AM That is small and crippled subset of SETOOL2 service tool.

5/28/2012 6:32:02 AM

5/28/2012 6:32:02 AM DETACH USB CABLE FROM PHONE

5/28/2012 6:32:02 AM REMOVE BATTERY FROM PHONE

5/28/2012 6:32:02 AM ATTACH TESTPOINT

5/28/2012 6:32:02 AM PRESS "READY", THEN ATTACH USB CABLE TO PHONE

5/28/2012 6:32:02 AM

5/28/2012 6:32:35 AM PROCESSING ...

5/28/2012 6:32:36 AM REMOVE TESTPOINT NOW, THEN PRESS "READY"

5/28/2012 6:32:36 AM

5/28/2012 6:32:43 AM

5/28/2012 6:32:43 AM TO CONNECT NEXT PHONES

5/28/2012 6:32:43 AM X10 Xperia,E10 Mini,E15 Xperia X8,U20 Mini Pro

5/28/2012 6:32:43 AM LT15 Xperia ARC,MT15 Xperia NEO,R800 Xperia PLAY

5/28/2012 6:32:43 AM PRESS AND HOLD "BACK" BUTTON...

5/28/2012 6:32:43 AM

5/28/2012 6:32:43 AM ST18 Xperia RAY,ST15 Xperia Mini,SK17 Xperia Mini Pro

5/28/2012 6:32:43 AM PRESS AND HOLD "Volume Down" BUTTON...

5/28/2012 6:32:43 AM

5/28/2012 6:32:43 AM PLEASE ATTACH TURNED OFF PHONE NOW

5/28/2012 6:32:43 AM

5/28/2012 6:32:44 AM

5/28/2012 6:32:44 AM RUNNING S1_LOADER VER "R4A062"

5/28/2012 6:32:44 AM LOADER AID: 0001

5/28/2012 6:32:45 AM FLASH ID: "002C/00B3"

5/28/2012 6:32:45 AM LOADER VERSION: "r4A069"

5/28/2012 6:32:45 AM

5/28/2012 6:32:45 AM

5/28/2012 6:32:45 AM SEMC SIMLOCK CERTIFICATE, PROCEEDING

5/28/2012 6:32:46 AM FINISHED

5/28/2012 6:32:46 AM Elapsed:43 secs.

I then went onto check if the bootloader unlock worked... by unplugging everything... clicking IDENTIFY again and connecting my phone in flashmode again... And here is the output from that log as well:

5/28/2012 6:36:14 AM

5/28/2012 6:36:14 AM TO CONNECT NEXT PHONES

5/28/2012 6:36:14 AM X10 Xperia,E10 Mini,E15 Xperia X8,U20 Mini Pro

5/28/2012 6:36:14 AM LT15 Xperia ARC,MT15 Xperia NEO,R800 Xperia PLAY

5/28/2012 6:36:14 AM PRESS AND HOLD "BACK" BUTTON...

5/28/2012 6:36:14 AM

5/28/2012 6:36:14 AM ST18 Xperia RAY,ST15 Xperia Mini,SK17 Xperia Mini Pro

5/28/2012 6:36:14 AM PRESS AND HOLD "Volume Down" BUTTON...

5/28/2012 6:36:14 AM

5/28/2012 6:36:15 AM PLEASE ATTACH TURNED OFF PHONE NOW

5/28/2012 6:36:15 AM

5/28/2012 6:36:25 AM

5/28/2012 6:36:25 AM RUNNING S1_EROM VER "r9A021"

5/28/2012 6:36:25 AM SOFTWARE AID: 0001

5/28/2012 6:36:25 AM LOADER AID: 0001

5/28/2012 6:36:28 AM FLASH ID: "002C/00B3"

5/28/2012 6:36:28 AM LOADER VERSION: "r4A069"

5/28/2012 6:36:28 AM

5/28/2012 6:36:28 AM MODEL (from GDFS): R800i

5/28/2012 6:36:28 AM SOFTWARE VERSION: 1245-8821_4.0.2.A.0.42

5/28/2012 6:36:28 AM CUSTOM VERSION: 1247-6199_R7D

5/28/2012 6:36:28 AM FILESYSTEM VERSION: WORLD-1-8_4.0.2.A.0.42

5/28/2012 6:36:28 AM SERIAL NO: CB5A1HVLEE

5/28/2012 6:36:28 AM

5/28/2012 6:36:28 AM SEMC SIMLOCK CERTIFICATE

5/28/2012 6:36:28 AM Elapsed:13 secs.

Both "RUNNING S1_EROM VER "r9A021" and "LOADER VERSION: "r4A069" have a lower case r... which from what I have read means that I have done everything correct and the bootloader is unlocked... Right???

So I went on to try to flash Doomkernel... I downloaded fastboot and the kernel... held down shift in the directory... right clicked and selected "Open command window here"... cmd.exe opened up... I typed in "fastboot flash boot boot.img"... got the "waiting for device" message... and plugged my phone into the usb while holding down the search button...

At first the LED did not turn on any color... then I saw the Sony Ericsson logo and it turned blue for a couple of seconds... it then turned back to orange... and showed the charging screen on my phone... It was connected in ADB mode yet again!!! I tried holding down every other button one by one and connecting my phone... just to see what would happen... holding down any button other than the search button makes the LED turn green and the phone connects in flashmode every time...:confused::confused::confused:

Does anyone have any suggestions??? I am at a dead end... it seems like everything has gone smoothly... but I still can't do what I was trying to from the start...