[Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking] domdomdom1993:
Hi all I'm a noob so apologies if this is the wrong place but Im having serious issues unlocking the bootloader on my xperia play. I want to unlock it as I'm having issues connecting to the wifi. A search of the internet shows no help as my wifi doesn't even turn on whilst my searches seemed aimed towards those whos wifi was on but not connecting to visible routers. I've done a factory reset and re installed up to date software using sonys pc companion but had 0 Joy. I've tried various routers such as those at works and cafe but nothing.

After a while of searching for answers I decide to try unlocking the phone for custom firmware just to see if it work but Im either overlooking something or am just a failure. I visit the unlockbootloader.sonymobile.com/ webpage and start to follow the somewhat confusing 16 steps.

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. I follow the instruction no problem and move to step 2.

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. I do and the phone says it can be unlocked. I do and the phone says it can be unlocked.

3. On your computer, click Continue at the bottom of this page to start the unlock boot loader process.

4. Read through the information in the pop up window and click Yes, I’m sure, if you are still confident you want to unlock the boot loader.

5. Read through and accept the legal terms. Click I Accept.

6. Enter your name, a valid email adress and the first 14 digits of your phone’s IMEI or MEID number (remove the last digit if necessary). Click Submit. You can view the IMEI or MEID number by entering *#06# on your phone.

7. The unlock boot boot loader key will be sent to your email. Save it for later use. I follow ructions and now have the unlock key sat in my inbox.

8. Download and install the latest Android SDK from developer.android.com. I followed the link downloaded and installed the program leaving its folder on the desktop but the folder it came is called adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20130219 not sure if that matters.

9. Download and unzip this file. This is the standard android_winusb.inf-file, with a few lines of code added to enable Fastboot to support Sony and Sony Ericsson devices. Make sure you are running Google USB Driver package revision 4 or higher in your Android SDK. You can see current Google USB Driver package revision in the SDK Manager. I followed the link and unzipped a sing file called " android-winusb.inf" and leave it on the desktop for safe keeping. Google usb is installed as revision 7.

10. Place the unzipped file in the usb_driver folder, located in the Android SDK > extras > google folder on your computer. Accept to replace the old android_winusb.inf-file with the new file. If you can't find the usb_driver folder, please install the Google USB Driver Packager using the Android SDK manager. I take the file from my desktop and drag it to theadt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20130219 folder go to sdk > extras > google and finalyy went in to usb_driver folder and pasted android_winusb.inf-file, there I was prometed and chose to replace the orginal.

11. Turn of the phone. So I did.

12. On your phone, push and hold the Fastboot button at the same time as you connect the phone to the computer with a USB-cable. The Fastboot button may differ between different phone models. See the Fastboot buttons page for more information on what button use on your phone. From research I figured the fast boot button was the search button. I plug in the cable and the blue led shows on the top of the phone. The computer also makes an unusual connection noise (beeps 3x) but shows no pop ups asking what I wanted to do with connected device.

13. On your computer, you will be asked for drivers. Point to the usb_driver folder where you placed the android_winusb.inf-file, and select the Android Boot loader Interface-file. [COLOR="Blue"]

This is the point where Im BAFFLED. I have no clue what to do. At no point was I asked for drivers. Looking online Im not the only one to have been confused at this point but Im yet to find an answer that I understand to solver the problem. Its something to do with using device manager to solect s1 boot fastboot and install the driver manauly by searching for it on the pc but I cant for the life of me figure the full process out.

[/COLOR]

Step 14, 15, and 16 seem self explanatory but if no one can help with step 13 I'm screwed. Any help would be appricated. I'll worry about the installation of custom firmware later, there are hundred of how instructions on how to do it so Im sure Ill have a bit more success if I can get that far. Ive been going at this all night so thanks in advance for any help.