yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] ganeshbiyer:
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Flashing latest firmware (upgrading & updating) and rooting

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For Sony Xperia ION LT28 Series – Locked and Unlocked Boot loaders.

This guide is for everyone who wishes to flash the latest ION firmware and then proceed on to root it.

Though this guide is for Xperia ION, but I suppose, this is quite universal and applicable to all Xperia Phones.

Read carefully and understand clearly the process before starting the actual process of flashing. When in doubt, ask your queries in this forum and wait for it to get answered.

The Xperia ION Lt28 exists in 4 variants.

AT&T version with LTE. ( Lt28at )

Rogers Version with LTE. ( Lt28rogers )

International Version with LTE. ( Lt28i )

Version without LTE. ( Lt28h )

Getting Ready

There a a few very essential things that need to be sorted out before you could flash a firmware. I am listing them below.

Connecting the phone to the PC and making it recognize the phone.

Download and Install flashtool and Drivers:

Download and Install Android Sdk.

(Not Mandatory)

Proceed to POST#2 for FLASHING Steps.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] ganeshbiyer:
Flashing and Rooting ICS on any Xperia ION

Flashing Firmware:

Now comes the easiest part.

So if you have completed the steps from post#1, then you are ready to flash the firmwares. It does not matter if your ION is on Gingerbread or Ice Cream Sandwich, the process of flashing remains the same. Flashing firmwares does not require Bootloader's to be Unlocked.

First and foremost you need to downlod the latest firmware for your Phone. So you head over to this site.

Firmware Links ( http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1752345 )

After downloading the firmware, follow the Screen shot attachments with the steps below:

Proceed to POST#3 for ROOTING Steps
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] ganeshbiyer:
Rooting:

LINKS
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] killerskincanoe:
very well put together guide. thx
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] vladvertigo:
now need root instructions for ICS
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] ganeshbiyer:
Rooting method of Xperia S works on our phone.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1742992
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] phillip zanders:
This should go in a sticky as installing ice with LTE too many threads and right now.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] ganeshbiyer:
Updated Post 2 with rooting method for ICS.:)
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Recon Freak:
I used this to root before you posted it but it slowed ICS down to point out was almost unusable. Any thoughts on why? Did I screw something up maybe?
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] ganeshbiyer:
I followed the above instructions as it is. I had pre-rooted gingerbread.

ICS is pretty fast, not as fast as Gb, but no lags either.

May be some problem with the ICS Rom zip. Try downloading it again. None have reported this problem.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Recon Freak:
I'm running it now and it flies. But as soon as I root it happens. I tried it twice from stock ATT and generic .111.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Deleted member 1483200:
Am I reading wrong? But I currently have ICS. So do I need to like re flash gingerbread then go back to ICS?

Sent from my Sony Xperia Ion
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] ganeshbiyer:
I think You will need to. Both the batch files need to be executed, to be able to get root.:)
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Deleted member 1483200:
That's just annoying haha. I'll wait :P

Sent from my Sony Xperia Ion
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] vpllover:
So I want to make sure I have this straight!

I have a stock ATT Ion 2.3.7

3. Application Settings: [Unknown sources] checked {Allowed}

4. Application Settings: Development [USB debugging] checked {Allowed}

5. Run Step 1.bat

6. Install Ice Cream Sandwich without wiping anything.

(wipe data, wipe cache and wipe apps log are not selected).

Once flashing is done, start the phone manually. It does not reboot automatically.

7. Application Settings: [Unknown sources] checked {Allowed}

8. Application Settings: Development [USB debugging] checked {Allowed}

9. Run step 2.bat

And this will give me ROOTED ICS 4.0.4 with locked bootloader?

Then what do I flash to get my LTE radio back? Just the Stock ATT baseband?

Sorry for the noobish question, my Ion is less than a week old and I havent picked insurance through best buy yet so I don't want to brick before I insure it
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] accts:
Download the stock GB AT&T, when flash de-select all wipes. Checked everything esle below that Except baseband.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] popfan:
Thanks for the guide. I had to do it solo, You might want to add in to guide for the noobs how to get into flash mode.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] erichall82:
Where is the att ftf files located? Just in case something goes wrong
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Spectre51:
Firmwares are stickied at the top of the ion General forum.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] popfan:
FYI - this does have CWM in it, but because it was designed for the Xperia S it doesn't work completely. If someone would be so kind to redesign the CWM in that file for us that would be awesome!
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] popfan:
The ATT GB works also if that is what you like.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Saigonian:
It took me about a day to finish! Thanks to this post and special thanks to the video clip creator, without it, I'll never can do it!
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] x016x:
I keep getting an error every time I try to flash the LT28i Gingerbread ROM. Flashtool keeps saying that "Drivers need to be installed for connected device" even though I have Sony PC Companion and it reads it just fine whenever I plug it in. Which driver specifically do I need to have installed from the drivers folder from Flashtool?
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] ganeshbiyer:
install drivers from flashtool/drivers folder.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] x016x:
Got it. After a long night's battle, I finally got my LT28H Ion Rooted and running ICS. Hello Titanium Backup.

Probably a minor amendment that should be added to users with the LT28H Sony Xperia Ion: Since it's already running ICS, a way to flash the LT28i Gingerbread ROM via Flashtool without running into errors would be to flash it and checking the "Exclude Baseband" box on the right. I tried flashing the same LT28i Gingerbread ROM file to my phone 3 times last night before realizing that I should check the "Exclude Baseband" box on the right of Flashtool. I installed every driver available in the drivers folder of Flashtool and I was still running into errors when trying to flash my phone. Checking the exclude baseband really solved everything and Flashtool flashed my phone right away. So far, after coming from an LG Optimus 3D, I'm very happy with my new Sony Ion. The phone is beyond fast even on T-Mobile 3G. I don't have 4G service but with T-Mobile 3G, I'm not even sure I need it.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] albuah:
hi, this method need to unlock bootloader too ?

---------- Post added at 05:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:45 PM ----------

hi dude, are u unlock your bootloader ?
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] popfan:
If he is on T-mobile, then his bootloader is unlocked.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] albuah:
Thx dude, already flashing ics+rooted :D time to remove bloatware wieeee...
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] x016x:
Indeed, I do have an unlocked bootloader. Strangely, the seller I bought the phone from on eBay sent me the phone with the bootloader already unlocked. The phone was listed as brand new so I don't exactly know what to make of it. Nonetheless, the phone is rooted now and a lot of the bloatware is officially gone.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] adix82:
Is there any solution for LT 28H? It comes with ICS installed.. THere is no room to downgrade to GB...

Any expert can help?
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Spectre51:
Have you tried flashing the ftf for the .111 GB firmware but exclude baseband then start the rooting/upgrade process?
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] albuah:
I flash my lt28h ics to gb with exclude baseband tick, with no problem & can rooted. You should try ;)
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Toledo_JAB:
This is from 4 posts above yours :(

Got it. After a long night's battle, I finally got my LT28H Ion Rooted and running ICS. Hello Titanium Backup.

Probably a minor amendment that should be added to users with the LT28H Sony Xperia Ion: Since it's already running ICS, a way to flash the LT28i Gingerbread ROM via Flashtool without running into errors would be to flash it and checking the "Exclude Baseband" box on the right. I tried flashing the same LT28i Gingerbread ROM file to my phone 3 times last night before realizing that I should check the "Exclude Baseband" box on the right of Flashtool. I installed every driver available in the drivers folder of Flashtool and I was still running into errors when trying to flash my phone. Checking the exclude baseband really solved everything and Flashtool flashed my phone right away. So far, after coming from an LG Optimus 3D, I'm very happy with my new Sony Ion. The phone is beyond fast even on T-Mobile 3G. I don't have 4G service but with T-Mobile 3G, I'm not even sure I need it.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] adix82:
Thank you for the advice

I have downgraded to 111. Gingerbread.

Next problem is.. when I run step 1,

It says,

Rename /data/local/tmp to be able to create a symlink.

Trying to create /data symlink

Then it stop there. Is it the path variable setting is wrong?

Latest update..

When I try flashing back to ICS.. flash tool stop at reading device information.

Error flashing. Aborted.

I can't get back to ICS nor I can flash GB thru flash tool.. device keep DC after getting into flash mode for a min..
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] oddioguy45:
Device not listed in adb

Hi I am getting stuck on step 1 of this method.

After I installed the SDK and enabled USB debugging and non market sources when I run the first check this is my output

"C:\>adb start-server

* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *

* daemon started successfully *

C:\>adb devices

List of devices attached

"

Also in Flashtool when I connect my device it says

"12/025/2012 15:25:23 - INFO - Device connected with USB debugging off"

even though I have it enabled.

I have an L28at on ATT. I also installed PC Companion and Update Service. Also this is a 2012 device so it is using MSC not MTP.

Thanks

EDIT: This was just a permissions issue on my work machine. Its working at home.

EDIT: Back at work after successfully rooting and flashing ICS at home. I am an administrator on my PC at work and there was a registry entry disabling writing on all usb ports which I switched back to enable writing but I'm still having the same problem I described above. My phone just isnt listed under attached devices no matter what I do. :(
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] popfan:
You need to get your phone to move over to ADB USB composite driver - google it - I don't remember where the link is at.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] shironguyen:
Pls help

i rooted 4.0.4. But i can use recovery. When i use "install zip form sdcard"-> "chose zip from sdcard" recovery said "can`t mount /sdcard/" i try root again but i don`t work too. pls help me :(

How to reinstall recovery :(
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] popfan:
Just rerun the XperiaIonforRecoveryv4.zip from Windows.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] trung1214:
Thanks this is very helpful.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] albuah:
Anybody have try this for rooting?

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1886460
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] shironguyen:
how. can u lead me :(
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jeriku:
Search this Ion forum for recovery, specifically CWM. Read the instructions. Not to be a douche, but there's enough redundancy in this forum already.

Current Phone: LT28 - Sony Xperia Ion | Rooted ICS

Retired Phone: HTC Inspire 4G | IceCold 8.2 / dual pane - 160DPI
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] shironguyen:
i search but recovery always add with flash tool....

i use file

RECOVERY_for_XperiaIon_v.4 in topic http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1830170

but it don`t work :(
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] q-and-p:
Yes, very simple.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] albuah:
And it works??
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] q-and-p:
Sorry. I used to adb-restore as XPERIA GX(mint) rooting kit (post#158)

But i think this same way.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jeriku:
Downgraded from .233 (ICS) to .111(GB) successfully, fully wiping everything.

Upgraded from .111 (GB) to .19 (ICS) successfully, fully wiping everything.

Rooted using the new ICS root method from this thread successfully.

Installed BusyBox and Init.d successfully.

Confirmed tethering is still available.

Awesome.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] accts:
Now my phone is back & running again. Will flash .19 tomorrow - and root :)
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] x016x:
Apart from using SetCPU and Titanium Backup, is there any real use for a rooted Xperia Ion right now? ROM Development seems to be pretty slow. What's the status on it? I'm happy to have my ICS ROM rooted but will there be better custom ROMs coming out soon?
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Toledo_JAB:
Check out the themes and apps forum. A lot of neat things to play with while waiting on bootloader unlock.:D

~Jaramie

From my XPERIA ION LT28at, rooted, customised & eating an Ice Cream Sandwich
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] albuah:
U can change status bar with quickpanel setting, new icon for all in status bar hehe...
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jeriku:
Plus init.d and deodexing which gives mods and performance tweaking ability. Root for root's sake is enough of you ask me.

The more interest and more headway we make the better for development to start.

Current Phone: LT28 - Sony Xperia Ion | Rooted ICS

Retired Phone: HTC Inspire 4G | IceCold 8.2 / dual pane - 160DPI
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Spectre51:
ganeshbiyer Can you update the original post with the new method: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1886460 Might want to change the topic too as the GB to ICS and root procedure really isn't needed now.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] ganeshbiyer:
Sure
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] androitri:
Your Ion is at&t ?

It's okay to flash at&t version with .19 (international version) ?
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jeriku:
Someone said they did it, but I don't now. I would definitely do a full wipe.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Spectre51:
Yes it is fine to use the international version.

Sent from my Sony Xperia™ ion
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jeriku:
I'm sorry I was thinking he was asking flash ATT ics over international ics. My bad.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] naplesbill:
I did exactly that yesterday. Have not had any issues. I did not wipe anything beforehand.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jeriku:
Good to know. I guess I'm just over cautious from switching roms.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] androitri:
Why do you prefer Intl. firmware instead of att firmware ? there's any issue with att version ?

I've LT28at, which is better .19 (rogers) or .105 (att) ?

Sent from MIUIed Shooter
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jeriku:
I'm preferring 233(Chinese). You get tethering, no bloat and it's smooth. I doubt there's any real difference, besides carrier crap.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] pdasch02:
Step1 & 2 .bat files?

I think I read earlier in this thread that the .bat files simply prepare the phone for the next step. Is that right?

Could I just turn on USB debugging and Unknown Sources and flash without running the .bat files?

I have no interest in rooting my phone, just flashing it to lose the att apps and use tethering...

thanks
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jeriku:
Yes, you don't need to root to flash fw.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] pdasch02:
thanks for clearing that up.

I flashed the hong kong ICS and then GB .111 like the instructions say but I still dont have LTE. I did not use the .bat files listed in the instructions. Any idea what I may have done wrong? Are those .bat files absolutely necessary for getting LTE back?
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jeriku:
4G= LTE

H= 4G

On everything but ATT fw.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] accts:
If you flash ICS HK, LTE baseband already included. Flashing .111 probably caused the problem.

Maybe OP need to update this, since alot of people just following words and not really understand what they are doing.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Alliesz:
how to root xperia ion LT28h

plz help me how to root lt28h
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] ganeshbiyer:
since in my country there is no LTE, i would not know which firmware has it. But my view is that the LT28i firmwares which include generic international and the at&t and rogers have LTE, and LT28h does not have it.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] notnowme01:
How do i unroot? I also noticed I lost the abitlity to assign mp3 to my ringtone and personalize my contacts with mp3 ringtones.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Spectre51:
Reflash ftf to unroot.

Sent from my Sony Xperia™ ion
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] ganeshbiyer:
Flash this from CWM recovery

UnRoot_For_Xperia_ION.zip - 142 KB
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] notnowme01:
Thanks, but I don't have CWM recovery, I will just reflash ftf, does anybody know if build 107 fixes the ringtone problem?

Cause it works pretty good with GB. And by the way how do I flash back to GB if I have to? Thank you!
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] notnowme01:
The music library button on ringtones no longer appear
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] notnowme01:
Would 107 build have this? I hope so!
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Asiansniper911:
On the AT&T ICS build 105, it gives me a music note leading to my sdcard music which can be used as a ringtone or message notification. Also noticing that holding down power button doesn't give you the option to screenshot anymore so Power+Volume Down lets you screenshot.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jeriku:
Yup, click the music note for library picks. This is using 233 fw.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] drgato:
Recovery flashable ATT ROM

Can somebody please just make an ATT ROM that I can flash through Recovery, of course, without the ATT bloatware?

The thing is that I am already on rooted ICS (233 version), but I would like to have the English - spanish keyboard (instead of the chinise - english I have now) because my first language is spanish. Ah! And also to see the LTE on the status bar again.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Enzopreme:
So I got root working on my LT28AT with ICS .105, anyway to get CWM now?
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Toledo_JAB:
First watch this and pay attention to the part about searching

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmvCpR45LKA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Then read this thread about cwm, that you would have found had you searched the ion forum :(

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1830170

You need to follow the XDA rules or a moderator will get involved.

~Jaramie

From my XPERIA ION LT28at, rooted, customised & eating an Ice Cream Sandwich
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] albuah:
All stock ics only use power+ vol down button for screen shot ;)
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jeriku:
Good god man! Did you even bother to look just a little???

And before you say you did, or you wouldn't have posted that.... you didn't.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] lignite:
I have followed the steps to the dot. However, when I start the flashing tool and connect my XPERIA S , with teh volume down button pressed, the phone is not flashed. I have tried this option about 20 times so far.

Any help ?

Thanks

Lig
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Spectre51:
Missing a link to 3. Flashing ICS and Rooting - The New and Easy Way. in the OP

Also can you add a link to the Backup & Restore apps: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByrrmqPijqISWElSQjV1aWVkMVk

For AT&T users as they have to manually install the apps before doing the root procedure as AT&T removed them from the firmware.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] ganeshbiyer:
Sure, I will add it.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] Spectre51:
NM on the missin glink part. Was confusing how the quoted section was actually for number 3.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jylee1997123:
How? Dosent Seems Working...

Hello , Anyone?

I Seems To Get This .. Not Working T.T

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\AlvanLee>cd C:\Users\AlvanLee\Desktop\Rooy\RootingkitforXperiaIonv4\Roo
tingkit1.0.3

C:\Users\AlvanLee\Desktop\Rooy\RootingkitforXperiaIonv4\Rootingkit1.0.3>step1
This is an adapted idea from the methods of
Dan Rosenberg (vulnfactory.org)
-Script by Bin4ry-

C:\Users\AlvanLee\Desktop\Rooy\RootingkitforXperiaIonv4\Rootingkit1.0.3>echo off

Please plug the device in ADB-Mode
* daemon not running. starting it now *
* daemon started successfully *
Rename /data/local/tmp to be able to create symlink
failed on '/data/local/tmp' - Permission denied
Trying to create /data symlink
link failed File exists
Press any key to continue . . .

C:\Users\AlvanLee\Desktop\Rooy\RootingkitforXperiaIonv4\Rootingkit1.0.3\data>cd.
.

C:\Users\AlvanLee\Desktop\Rooy\RootingkitforXperiaIonv4\Rootingkit1.0.3>step2
This is an adapted idea from the methods of
Dan Rosenberg (vulnfactory.org)
-Script by Bin4ry-

C:\Users\AlvanLee\Desktop\Rooy\RootingkitforXperiaIonv4\Rootingkit1.0.3>echo off

Please plug the device in ADB-Mode
wait for device
* daemon not running. starting it now *
* daemon started successfully *
Trying to write qemu value to prop-file
/system/bin/sh: cannot create /data/local.prop: Permission denied
Rebooting
Waiting for device to reboot again
Try to remount /system
remount failed: Operation not permitted
Pushing su and Superuser.apk
failed to copy 'su' to '/system/bin/su': Read-only file system
Unable to chmod /system/bin/su: No such file or directory
failed to copy 'Superuser.apk' to '/system/app/Superuser.apk': Read-only file sy
stem
Unable to chmod /system/app/Superuser.apk: No such file or directory
Cleanup of the Stuff created while running
rm failed for /data/local.prop, No such file or directory
rm failed for /data/local/tmp, Permission denied
failed on '/data/local/tmp.old' - No such file or directory
Rebooting
The system cannot find the path specified.
* daemon not running. starting it now *
* daemon started successfully *
=============================================
Step1 : Waiting for Device.
=============================================
OK

=============================================
Step2 : Sending some files.
=============================================
24 KB/s (875 bytes in 0.035s)
1016 KB/s (63512 bytes in 0.061s)
3333 KB/s (2437120 bytes in 0.714s)
2592 KB/s (735308 bytes in 0.277s)
83 KB/s (596 bytes in 0.007s)

=============================================
Step3 : Setting up files system partition.
=============================================
/system/bin/sh: su: not found

Finished!

Press any key to continue . . .

C:\Users\AlvanLee\Desktop\Rooy\RootingkitforXperiaIonv4\Rootingkit1.0.3\data>
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] ganeshbiyer:
Why are you using this method, when there is an easier method of rooting ICS.

Check point 3 on OP.
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jylee1997123:
Huh? Where? Wheres it?
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] vladvertigo:
dont be too lazy

http://clip2net.com/s/2mUSD

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1812168
[Sony Xperia S, Acro S, Ion] jylee1997123:
Owh? U mean that one?

Its Running Forever for me ..

T.T