yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Xperia Z3 General] habibby:
Optus 4G/LTE

To those on Optus (and specifically in NSW), I ordered a Z3 from a HK reseller (T-Dimension: D6653 model) and my phone is having issues getting on the 4G network. I have checked the Optus 4G coverage map and I am certain that in some places that are listed as covered my phone sticks to HSPA+. I also have friends on the Optus network that can connect to 4G in similar places to where my phone struggles to.

More often than not, when it can connect to 4G, the reception is fairly weak (1 bar or so), however in some places (Sydney, Pitt St Mall) the 4G reception was fine at full bars. I am wondering if anyone else is experiencing any issues and if anyone knows of any fixes.

Regions where my 4G is 50/50: My house (Kings Langley), on some roads as I drive such as the M4, areas around Blacktown.

Regions where my 4G is poor to non-existent: my work (Penrith area), places around Bankstown and Lidcombe.

P.S. I also suspect that constant poor reception is responsible for less than stellar battery-life as well.
[Xperia Z3 General] Huey85:
Probably better off getting it using Xperifirm and then flashing with flashtools
[Xperia Z3 General] Brendo:
I'm on optus with hk d6653. I haven't had any problems with 4g, but does seem weaker signal than my s4. Been running a d6603 rom, but not noticed any difference
[Xperia Z3 General] DarkRyoushii:
If it matters at all, on Vodafone and comparing with a HTC One M8 I'm getting exactly the same 4G speeds - I guess expected because the 801 chip should theoretically be the same,

but far faster 802.11ac speeds. Wireless Optimization disabled on both I consistently hit 867Mbps on the Z3 but only 433Mbps on the One M8.
[Xperia Z3 General] folliclekev:
I just bought a Z3 for my son and an M8 for myself. The M8 is slightly better on Antutu benchmark so I will show him the Antutu results and not the wireless download speeds.

---------- Post added at 03:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:07 PM ----------

I got mine from Yatango as well but they sent an Asian plug and US adapter. Just as well I have loads of android chargers.

The new adapter is in the mail.
[Xperia Z3 General] mickstarify:
Virgin mobile's bootloader status

Hi could anyone who got a z3 from virgin tell me the status of the bootloader, as I am very keen to unlock it

Any help will be much appreciated
[Xperia Z3 General] sephstyler:
Mate, mine is a Sony Store Z3 - if you instruct me on how to extract the FTF without borking my phone, would be happy to oblige.

---------- Post added at 11:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:22 AM ----------

Dark,

Yeah, I've bought 3 from that seller now. First one was fitted to the Z3 i returned to sony due to battery, I then applied the second onto my second Z3. it may just be an illusion but it was easier to fit the second one, still pretty much edge to edge, perfect fit.
[Xperia Z3 General] iBuzman:
[MENTION=1630221]sephstyler[/MENTION] nice to offer but ftf cannot be extracted from phone; you can capture and convert an ota update to ftf or download from xperifirm. Cross dev thread has ftf capture intructions somewhere (you do it through flashtool)
[Xperia Z3 General] buellersdayoff:
Anyone get their ps4 yet, I thought they sending them out last week? Gotta say I'm extremely happy with this phone coming from the original Z.

PS4 DELIVERED[emoji2]
[Xperia Z3 General] mickstarify:
In case anyone is wonderig , my virgin mobile z3 is Sim unlocked and boot loader is unlockable :)
[Xperia Z3 General] iBuzman:
^^ sorry to hear that.. with this device a bootloader unlock is probably not ever going to be desirable as it disables stuff.. as long as you can root (once we get root) you'll probably be in same situation as us with unlockable bootloaders anyway :)
[Xperia Z3 General] uggies:
Hey guys, I am really interested in Magnector X202 cable. Does anyone know how to get one near Brisbane CBD?

Cheers,
[Xperia Z3 General] mickstarify:
I bought one off dealextreme for $4, its cheap but 3 week shipping sucks
[Xperia Z3 General] iBuzman:
^^ I bought 4 from them (lounge, bedroom, shed, work desk) - <$20 (but 4wk shipping lol)
[Xperia Z3 General] danw_oz:
Yeah this issue was not specific to Z3, I had this issue with the Z and the Z1 with certain firmware versions. And as you state it is WIFI and 4G.

What I would recommend is to factory reset the phone, and or reflash the latest firmware.
[Xperia Z3 General] Huey85:
Done all that and even tried other firmware but still having the issue
[Xperia Z3 General] danw_oz:
Wow, Interesting, let me think what else I did previously.

Have you tried to download the internet and mms again?
[Xperia Z3 General] Huey85:
Yes
[Xperia Z3 General] fonetalk:
Hey can anyone using Vodafone in Sydney post their battery stats.

I'm an getting average battery life and the last thing I can put it down to is network.
[Xperia Z3 General] danw_oz:
Change to 3G and or 2G and see if the problem still exists, if not it is your network.
[Xperia Z3 General] fonetalk:
Yes I have tried that, didn't make much of a difference. Also I've done a factory reset.

The drain seems to be when I'm using the phone. I turned flight mode on last night and it didn't use any battery over night. So there something with the data and screen combination.

It's not that bad as I can get up to 5 hrs sot. Just I was expecting much more as many of the ppl on here are getting.
[Xperia Z3 General] danw_oz:
To be honest, I would be taking it back for replacement. Because it is advertised for normal usage up to 2 days. And I would get close to that even using it quite hard. Today down to 54% and I have been playing a game and screen on for just over 4 hours.

Something not right if even other bands are terrible. Was your other phone similar on the same network?
[Xperia Z3 General] fonetalk:
This is the current discharge cycle, second charge after factory reset. Ill give it done time to adjust.

I don't know how responsive the shop will be with me claiming the battery isn't good enough when it still lasts a full day.

I'm with Vodafone, coming from Virgin with a lg g2 which had great battery life.

So can't compete Vodafone on it.
[Xperia Z3 General] danw_oz:
Oh yes you can Vodafail is the worst network for coverage and signal strength.

That now looks pretty normal.
[Xperia Z3 General] fonetalk:
Yeah I finding that. In within the month network guarantee so might go have a chat to then. This is just last night

View attachment 3022182
[Xperia Z3 General] sephstyler:
That blanket statement may ring true for certain areas but is certainly not guaranteed to be correct.

I'm on VF and I live and work in the North Shore, both my home and work place has excellent VF reception. I am a heavier user than most, with 2 push email accounts (1 Gmail and 1 Exchange), multiple push IMs, lots of wakelocks as a result. Plus I wear a moto360 all day (bluetooth on). On LTE all day. I can usually get about 16-17 hours of standby, with about 4.5 hours of SOT.

That result is about 25% - 30% better than my HTC one M8 in the same conditions, roughly where the phone should be performing.

This is my 3rd Z3 (first had battery issue, second was a glass fitment issue). I bought mine from Sony at one of their stalls, and they were happy to replace my first unit due to battery issues. The battery on that unit was lasting about 8-10 hours, with less than 2 hrs SOT.
[Xperia Z3 General] danw_oz:
Well you are lucky then that you are close to their towers, for the rest ...
[Xperia Z3 General] fonetalk:
Were you syncing everything to get that shorter battery life, how does your battery perform now, do you use stamina mode. My vf is usually on 1 bar.
[Xperia Z3 General] jezphillips:
Hi guys

Is there a non-root method of moving app and games/data to the sd card?

Cheers,

Jez
[Xperia Z3 General] sephstyler:
Hi, Yes, I have sync and push turned on for a bunch of things.

I do have stamina ON, with 7 apps allowed to still connect (Mailwise, Gmail, Whatsapp, Telegram, Hangouts, Line and weChat)

Extended Usage is OFF and Stamina Clock is ON.

Are you on 1 bar for LTE or 3G? If you are getting only 1 bar on LTE, it may be worth your while to bump it down to HSPA speeds if you can get better strength on that
[Xperia Z3 General] iBuzman:
no
[Xperia Z3 General] jezphillips:
Cheers, thanks for letting me know.

Doesn't rooting the Z3 affect the camera or something else though?
[Xperia Z3 General] Brendo:
Yep. You need unlocked bootloader. Unlocked bootloader means degraded camera. Hopefully we'll get a root with locked bootloader option soon
[Xperia Z3 General] marshalleq:
Try turning off excluded stamina apps. In particular mailwise. Gmail would be my second choice.. If it works without those you'd have your answer....
[Xperia Z3 General] sephstyler:
I assume this was aimed for me (due to the apps listed). If so, whats the question?
[Xperia Z3 General] jezphillips:
oh yeah, that's what I thought. thanks very much for the reply.
[Xperia Z3 General] cheetah2k:
Anyone on Optus or Voda get update 108 yet? Looks like Telstra has released it already
[Xperia Z3 General] danw_oz:
I don't think so, Telstra launched with it. Seems to be the only one using this version.
[Xperia Z3 General] cheetah2k:
Hi mate

If you can connect to the Sony Update Centre, and download the update without wiping, the ftf file will be downloaded to your hard drive and can be found using search. This might be the only way. I think FW 108 should be available too, so if you can get this ftf that would be awesome :)
[Xperia Z3 General] DarkRyoushii:
I don't suppose anyone here could share their experiences running a Baltic lollipop while we wait for the software to arrive.

Vodafone is now showing that they have a copy too which is great news!
[Xperia Z3 General] mick353:
Im using the Baltic version.. no issues whatsoever.. root is working r/w etc.. didn't delete data just cache and dalvik.. All good mate! I'm with Virgin (Optus) and a happy camper.. waiting on NUTS recovers for lollipop then we're fully up and running..!!
[Xperia Z3 General] DarkRyoushii:
Thanks for that confirmation! I flashed Baltic this morning running on Vodafone perfectly okay. There is a weird bug that the 4G icon in the status bar looks weird and not aligned, but I assume that's actually a problem with Sony's firmware and not the flashing method.

I will probably replace this with customized Australian after it comes out too, just to make sure it's all up to date with modems and all that jazz.
[Xperia Z3 General] bplogan:
Also using the d6603. No issues at all, flashing was very easy
[Xperia Z3 General] cheetah2k:
I went with Nordic FW on my Optus Z3 as it has a later build date, and none of the force closes I was having on the Baltic.

Works really well :) Battery seems pretty good, heavy user here, about 5hrs SOT on 100% brightness in auto.
[Xperia Z3 General] Brendo:
Same here. Optus. I posted in one of the other threads my process. 6603 on 6653. Battery isn't as good, but that's expected side effect of dirty flash

Not a bug. It's more that it is separate to the signal icons
[Xperia Z3 General] Huey85:
hoping the AU version is rolled out soon. Seeing a huge difference in signal quality using the Baltic LP ROM. AU Radio should hopefully mean better reception here down under.
[Xperia Z3 General] danw_oz:
Working well for me as well on Telstra, wifi and phone signals stronger. Not experiencing the alignment issue mentioned. Only had a battery issue yesterday night when the phone did something real strange and got pretty warm, after the change over night all has been back to normal today.

Battery life is not as good as previous in certain situations and better in others. Yesterday night when I had the issue the phone was showing 3 days remaining battery life after a full 12 hours at work.

Was streaming TV since 3.30pm from 90% and just stopped now at 8pm and still have 34% battery, so the screen battery consumption seems pretty good, also 100% brightness.

Really liking the interface, the notifications etc really nice IMO
[Xperia Z3 General] mrossi24:
What cases are you all using? I need to get a decent case incase my kids get hold of it
[Xperia Z3 General] DarkRyoushii:
No case, but a tempered glass screen protector is a must if you want this slippery device to survive. I managed to throw my belt across the room and have it land directly on my week old Z3.. screen protector took the full force and my phone lived another day. I also have a dbrand skin on the back to stop minor scratches and dents

Brand pictured: Orzly Tempered Glass $20 on eBay.
[Xperia Z3 General] Huey85:
so where's our lollipop? lol
[Xperia Z3 General] grungypoo:
^ Ya gotta wait until each respective company put their bloatware on it mate! LOL
[Xperia Z3 General] Huey85:
Lol. Nah man, for non-carrier branded Z3's, the update will come earlier. Well, SHOULD come earlier lol
[Xperia Z3 General] DuckDodger70:
Well Telstra customers are gonna have to wait an other week now because of "Test submission received however Telstra resource constraints have delayed testing on this device"

knew i should have bought the thing outright...
[Xperia Z3 General] xyzulu:
How would that have helped? Generic au lollipop is not released yet either. I suspect even that is waiting for carrier confirmation before they release it.
[Xperia Z3 General] Huey85:
I don't think carrier confirmation is required for generic AU as there are no carrier specific software additions to it. But what do I know? Lol.. All speculation ATM.
[Xperia Z3 General] lu99ke:
Did you buy your phones from OS supplier or have you flashed the 6603 .690 FW? ( like me!! :) )
[Xperia Z3 General] mrrflagg:
It's available on the 5833 Z3C. The Mrs has the full size and no update for hers yet though

Zurgthe3rd
[Xperia Z3 General] Huey85:
Already flashed .690 for Generic USA. But would prefer to use a version specific to our region as the radio would generally give better cellular reception.
[Xperia Z3 General] lu99ke:
I hear ya... There have been a couple of more updates put out...thinking perhaps 6653 was held off until they were ready.
[Xperia Z3 General] OrangeRafi:
I wonder when are they going to rollout update for the Z3, the Australian unbranded z3 compact is already receiving the lollipop update while we still haven't received anything yet.
[Xperia Z3 General] nic85:
omg really, I just bought a z3.. I can't wait the update so I'll flash an European rom with flashtool
[Xperia Z3 General] shubu000:
Anyone know any sony repair shops in melbourne?

i just bricked my z3 dual :(

it doesn't even boot to the splash screen right now

edit:thank you God for flashtool + windows 7
[Xperia Z3 General] lu99ke:
Was going to say can you get into flash or fastboot mode? But sounds like you sorted it...
[Xperia Z3 General] Huey85:
Looks like the generic unbranded Australian lollipop firmware has finally started rolling out this morning per XperiFirm. However, the carrier specific firmwares are still yet to be released. But then who wants branded firmwares anyway lol.
[Xperia Z3 General] lu99ke:
bam...downloading now.
[Xperia Z3 General] morgy59:
Does the customised AU work with Optus 4G LTE Network
[Xperia Z3 General] Huey85:
Yes. Works with all AU carriers on 4g/LTE... apart from Telstra I believe.

Also, just a heads up for those who can't be bothered downloading the 5.0.2 update bundle through XperiFirm, create the FTF and then create a pre-rooted version, I'm currently uploading my pre-rooted 23.1.A.0.726 firmware to Mega at the moment, so give it some time.
[Xperia Z3 General] DuckDodger70:
any idea which one will work with Telstra?

sick and tired of their "showstopper" crap, time to root this bloody thing.
[Xperia Z3 General] lu99ke:
I am on Telstra and the generic AU is working fine... LTE speed is working just fine...... Getting 50mps download at the moment.. But will try when I get home as I get 4GX and got over 100 on the Telstra 4.4.4 FW... But so far absolutely perfect.

---------- Post added at 07:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:13 AM ----------

Awesome - I would love that ... Was searching where I could get someone to do it for me as I have no idea how... Thanks in advance!
[Xperia Z3 General] nic85:
in xperfirm,the customized au means the unbranded/generic rom?

which setting i have to choose in xperfirm to flash the rom with flashtool?

"unpack automaticlly" has to be blank or need the v on it?
[Xperia Z3 General] Huey85:
Alright folks, here's the pre-rooted lollipop (D6653 Generic AU) firmware with ZXDualRecovery included.

https://mega.co.nz/#!V8d1mJQK!DKMbnAMIQUSBZ5PbXSxUbFSkQaNInBR-W_nWX8QTL9c

Please note:

1) if you're currently rooted and have a custom recovery, you're good to go with flashing the zip

2) if you're currently rooted but have no custom recovery, please go to http://nut.xperia-files.com/ and install the ZXDualRecovery Z3 INSTALLER (not flashable zip), then you will be able to flash this via one of the custom recoveries installed (TWRP or CWM)

3) if you're not currently rooted and have no custom recovery, this will be useless for you.

3a) if you're on firmware build 23.0.A.2.93 – download Giefroot from XDA Dev forums and root, then go to http://nut.xperia-files.com/ and install the ZXDualRecovery Z3 INSTALLER (not flashable zip), then you will be able to flash this via one of the custom recoveries installed (TWRP or CWM)

3b) if you're not on firmware build 23.0.A.2.93, you will need to downgrade by flashing the 23.0.A.2.93 FTF (you can find this also on XDA Dev forums) and then run the steps mentioned in 3a) above
[Xperia Z3 General] lu99ke:
yes - customized AU is the generic unbranded australian FW.

I use flashtool to download the firmware... it is all rather easy.

1 - open flashtool and select "devices" then "check updates"

2 - go to 6653 and double click the customized AU and then double click on the firmware no. and flashtool will download the firmware - it will take some time.

3 - The BUNDLER with then open. Select all the items from folder list and move them into the firmware content and then hit CREATE - flashtool will then create the FTF for you.

4 - once done, go into the flash menu, use flashmode, select your new FTF, ensure you have the data wipe selected as you will get bootloop if you try to do a dirty flash ( note!!!!! you will lose all your data so back up anything you don't want to lose ) ... then hit flash and follow the prompts.

Note - to enter flash mode in Z3 you need to power off, then holding volume DOWN connect the usb cable to PC

NOTE - make sure your phone has USB debugging active.

The process will take some time.

Apologies if I am telling you how to suck eggs!! :)

any q's or concerns let me know - happy to help.
[Xperia Z3 General] nic85:
amazing reply thank u!!!

so i dont need the xperfirm? i;ve already downloaded the rom with xperfirm,so i guess i have to start from the step 3?
[Xperia Z3 General] lu99ke:
I have never used xperifirm to download a FTF but assuming If you have the full FTF, correct you don't need to download it through flashtool.

Firstly save the FTF that you want to flash in the "firmwares" folder in your flashtool folder.

then just Start at step 4 - your FTF that you saved should then pop up in that list for you to select.
[Xperia Z3 General] nic85:
I have a folder So I have to build the tft with flashtool
[Xperia Z3 General] lu99ke:
So yes use the bundler to compile you ftf ... Let us know how you go!
[Xperia Z3 General] tatsu91:
Thanks a lot man!!!!

I'll try it after work! and let you know how it goes!

---------- Post added at 09:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:49 AM ----------

I did a dirty flash from kk to lollipop, and a crossflashed fw I mean a 6603 firm in 6653 and didn't have a bootloop so it's not always that you are going to have a bootloop
[Xperia Z3 General] lu99ke:
true to don't always need to...but it is best to.
[Xperia Z3 General] lu99ke:
Hey Huey - thanks heaps man - worked like a charm.
[Xperia Z3 General] nic85:
at the end I flashed the ftf of German Telekom, can I flash another rom without losing data?
[Xperia Z3 General] lu99ke:
the general rule of thumb is if you are sticking to the same version of android (ie 4.4 to 4.4 or 5.0 to 5.0 ) you should be fine with not wiping your data....but people generally do suggest to wipe as it gives best clean install.

However, as above - there are users that change major versions and do not wipe data and it still works... all you can do is try and if it doesn't work, then reflash with wiping data.
[Xperia Z3 General] nic85:
okay so to do that I have to deselect wipe data in flashtool
[Xperia Z3 General] lu99ke:
leave cache and appslog ticked - just untick data.
[Xperia Z3 General] cokebotle:
I noticed yesterday that I have a System Update ready on my unlocked Z3, however I have to connect it to my computer to install. Does Sony Australia not do OTA updates? :confused:
[Xperia Z3 General] noodlecore:
Is it deodexed? btw, thanks a lot dude.. :good:
[Xperia Z3 General] Huey85:
Nah its stock so odex still. Didint have time to deodex and for me I didnt really have the need.
[Xperia Z3 General] hinrg:
Anyone one else having issue with video play back after updating using the Generic version??

Seems to be a common issue with lollipop 5.0.2 :(

I have tried disabling and enabling NuPlayer / clearing the cache with no luck works for a bit after a reboot but fails again after a few hours.
[Xperia Z3 General] DarkRyoushii:
Sony doesn't do OTA at all for Lollipop according to online sources, but I think they do, just not for some models/regions. I also had to connect my Z3 to the PC to update for a previous build

This time around I just used flashtool to move from Generic Baltic to Customized AU without wiping data.
[Xperia Z3 General] cokebotle:
Ah, fair enough. I'll keep that in mind for any future updates.

I had a few issues getting it to work due to a really weird driver/device issue but finally got it sorted out. Now just trying to troubleshoot an issue with the new Smart Lock feature. Stupid thing recognizes the right location in Maps, but keeps prompting me for my PIN. :rolleyes:
[Xperia Z3 General] DarkRyoushii:
All I can say in response to that is Smart Lock is working perfectly with my Moto 360 Smartwatch, so persevere because it's a really nice feature to have!
[Xperia Z3 General] xyzulu:
It's a known issue.. Google need to fix it.
[Xperia Z3 General] cokebotle:
Yeah, I have some bluetooth headphones I have added for now. I used to use an app to get this functionality via WiFi and bluetooth, but the name escapes me.

I actually find that it just takes a little time to for my phone to recognize my location. I may have to enter my PIN once or twice, but if I leave my phone sitting for a while it'll start to work. So far, at least!