[Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact General] D_JWhite:
Hi all,

As a long time Xperia user, I thought I'd share my experience in getting ADB, Fastboot & Flashtool working so you can all enjoy root-y goodness when ever you want.

ADB & fastboot are the basic tools for manipulating your device. They're command line based and can be a pain in the backside to get going, so here's how.

Let's get the drivers installed so when you connect your tablet you're good to go. Download the Doomlord's Flashtool driver pack from here and install. When installing and selecting options, choose the following; Fastboot, Flashtool and Shinano common; I also installed the drivers for the Z2 tablet, I don't know if the latter makes any difference but they're based on the same board so it didn't hurt.

If you're running Windows 8, check this page out and follow the instructions in this post or if you like screenshots, go here. You will need to restart so make sure you have everything saved!

While you're at it, I'd install Minimal ADB & Fastboot from here. It's not essential, but it gives you more options than just Flashtool.

Let's start at bootloader unlocking.

IF YOU UNLOCK YOUR BOOTLOADER, YOU ARE POTENTIALLY VOIDING YOUR WARRANTY. YOU WILL ALSO LOSE ALL DATA ON THE INTERNAL SD CARD AND THE DRM KEYS FOR THE PROPRIETARY SONY ALGORITHMS AND OTHER STUFF.

DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU ARE AWARE OF THE CONSEQUENCES AND ACCEPT I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY BRICKED DEVICES, LOST DATA, POORLY KITTENS OR THERMONUCLEAR WAR.

IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. DO NOT BLAME ME. IF YOU ARE NOT PREPARED FOR THIS, GO HERE AND DON'T RETURN UNTIL YOU ARE!

To install most custom roms (think CM12 when it gets released) you need that bootloader unlocked. Go to Sony's website and follow the instructions on there (this is where I find Minimal ADB & Fastboot handy).

Shut down your tablet

Hold volume up and connect the USB cable at the bottom

At this point you should get a blue LED on the front and a blank screen. From command line on your PC, run this command;

fastboot devices

This checks that your tablet is connected and responding and you should get a response with your tablet's ID, if you do, you're good to unlock. From the command line again, enter the command you were given, something like this;

fastboot -i 0x0fce oem unlock 0x68138B52822447FA

If you get a response saying something along the lines of "OK" your bootloader is unlocked and good to go.

Next is Flashtool. It's a great tool for flashing FTF files and custom kernels etc., a la TWRP. Go here and install it, download the *.img from here and follow the instructions here. This should give you root goodness but if, like me, you had problems updating the SuperSU binary, try this;

Download the SuperSU v2.40 update on your tablet from here

Power off your tablet, disconnect any cables from the bottom.

Power it back up and start pressing volume up until TWRP loads

Find the SuperSU flashable zip (should be in your /storage/sdcard0/downloads folder) and flash it.

Reboot to system and you should have working root

Now we're just waiting for the goodness of Lollipop to be released for our beautiful device.

Edit: see post #2 for lollipop and a soon-to-be-added section on DRM keys!

If you have any suggestions on how to improve this tutorial, feel free to reply :good: