[Sony Xperia ZL] [NUT]:
Thanks go to [MENTION=2041245]butatx[/MENTION] and [MENTION=3193044]sig2k5[/MENTION] for their invaluable testing contribution and taking one for the team. :) They both pointed me to the TW release they found :)

Requirements:

Flashtool

A recovery (can be both CWM and TWRP)

NOTE: As some people have problems flashing the update, please update your existing recovery to the latest (BETA) recovery with XZDualRecovery

Current FW version: 10.1.A.1.350, 10.1.A.1.434 or 10.1.1.A.1.253: maybe others too, try and let me know!

From the users in the original thread I noticed people using CWM running into trouble because their cache partition is gone. See the 'Known Issues' in the OP of the XZDualRecovery link above for more info and links to a fix. Fix that first before you attempt this update using CWM!

Special features:

Superuser integrated in system, FULL root, no reboots when remounting /system RW!

XZDualRecovery 2.5 BETA (CWM 6.0.3.2 & TWRP 2.5.0.0) pre-installed;

Tailored FTF to minimize the chance of accidental system wiping!

No need to clear caches!

[MENTION=5107946]shem2409[/MENTION] created a nice youtube video guide to assist you in your work, be sure to check his post for it! Thanks m8!

TIP: This ROM and the integrated recovery are compatible with the reboot wrapper by [MENTION=2784807]DooMLoRD[/MENTION], get it here!

C6502: How to update to 10.1.1.A.1.307:

For C6502: Download C6502.flashable.307.zip (Bittorrent: 728MB) and Xperia_ZL_C6502_10.1.1.A.1.307_tw.ftf (14MB), save it somewhere you remember;

Put 'C6502.flashable.307.zip' on (the external) SDcard1;

Put 'Xperia_ZL_C6502_10.1.1.A.1.307_tw.ftf' inside the Flashtool/firmwares folder;

Create a backup of your phone in CWM or TWRP and don't forget to backup the contents of 'SDCard0';

Flash everything in 'Xperia_ZL_C6502_10.1.1.A.1.307_tw.ftf' to your phone and boot the phone straight to recovery after that;

NOTE: If you have an unlocked bootloader, you CAN flash the kernel, but you do not need to, to keep your custom kernel. DooMKernel v7 & v8 have support for this ROM version.

Flash 'C6502.flashable.307.zip' in recovery (Works in both CWM and TWRP!)

Reboot to system

without

clearing (dalvik-/)cache.

The first boot will be considerably slower and after a long wait at the boot animation you will see Android optimizing the apps on your phone, It might update your NFC with a firmware and after that, all is done!

IMPORTANT NOTE:

For some devices the first or second reboot after the successful upgrade may be used by the ROM/Kernel to upgrade some low-level firmware. This will be done from the screen which normally shows you the kernel logo. This upgrade flash will also happen when on a custom kernel by [MENTION=2784807]DooMLoRD[/MENTION].

DO NOT INTERRUPT THAT WHATEVER YOU DO OR HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES!

Just let it do it's thing and wait, your phone will continue boot as soon as it's done.

I have done this myself, using my own method on the Z and I have not found any problem yet. :fingers-crossed:

Enjoy! :victory:

Known XZDualRecovery Issues:

All known issues in TWRP and CWM on locked boot loaders apply, see their respective threads for more information.

Be especially careful with the cache partition when using CWM. Hopefully version 2.0 solved the cache issues but in case of problems with /cache use the FTF in my files to restore the cache partition if yours ever stops mounting due to the CWM issues, read this and this for more info on that. This FTF was created for .434 but as the cache did not change between .350, .434 and .253 you can still use it to fix the cache partition.

CWM Usage warning: Root can be lost (almost worst case), a bootloop can be experienced (worst case) or a reboot upon remounting /system to be able to write to it (most cases, relatively harmless) when using CWM and before a reboot out of recovery the 'ROM may flash recovery, fix it?' question is answered with 'yes'. This can be recovered from by opening a terminal app and typing the following commands:

su
/system/bin/stop ric
mount -o remount,rw /system
chmod 755 /system/etc/install-recovery.sh

Alternatively you can boot in to TWRP and go to the Advanced menu -> File manager and look for /system/etc/install-recovery.sh to set permissions 755 on it.

If even that is too much to handle for you, see the patch at the bottom of the OP to flash the fix. :p

TWRP Usage warning: It seems TWRP 2.5.0.0 has issues with the internal storage, which seem related to the changes made to support encrypted storage volumes... This means the internal storage sometimes shows up almost empty (just folders) and no files. Try to use CWM when that happens.

Busybox Updater/Installer: If you have XZDualRecovery installed, un-install any Busybox updating app/tool as most if not all of them will install a version of busybox which does not support the lzma compression applets XZDualRecovery depends on. The version installed together with XZDualRecovery is very stable and I have yet to hear anyone complain about it's stability.

How to report errors:

Please, before shouting out "It doesn't work!!1!" or "I lost root!" or even "My phone reboots when remounting /system RW!!" try the following:

Restore a .434 /system

ONLY

using any means you are familiar with so you can try again.

Root it using any means you are familiar with.

Install XZDualRecovery and then try to update again using TWRP. This time you can skip the FTF as it has already done it's job.

If it still fails something from there on: LOGS!!.

NOTE: The important ones can be found in /cache/recovery and in /tmp/XZDualRecovery, pack them up and send them to me.

Thank you :)

Flashable ROM Mutator:

Download AROMA ROM Mutator 0.13

This (former patch package) uses AROMA to create a user friendly menu to choose between updates to be installed.

If you want to switch from SuperUser (default in this ROM) to SuperSU you can use this to make the change.

If you have the reboot problem when trying to remount /system writable, you can reinstall the superuser app of your preference, it's installation includes the patch.

If you are missing /system/bin/chargemon.stock and you want to be able to charge your phone while it's turned off.

Flash using one of the recoveries!

Version 0.13 and upwards is using AROMA 2.70B1 or better, the below warning can be ignored for now. Let me know how it performs!

AROMA Warning: AROMA currently works best in TWRP but even there it has some issues on the Z/ZL. It sometimes does not start up correctly or it has a 'sticky button' issue. It makes it a little less easy to use but this will be fixed in time. It is a combination problem caused by the new hardware and incompatibility with it and the fact the recoveries both have been updated considerably to work on the latest phones, causing issues with some functionality of AROMA.

If it hangs when trying to start, reboot your phone and try again.

If it has the sticky buttons, press the button again to activate.

You can avoid the sticky buttons by pressing them for about half a second (that means not too short and not too long). It will work, it's just showing a bug associated with the latest recoveries.

The Samsung S4, HTC One and One X and the Nexus 4 & 7 show the same issues. For them AROMA sometimes crashes, this is an issue i have not yet observed on the Z/ZL.