[Xperia Z5 Compact General] agnath18:
=========================How To Backup/Restore TA Partition And Root The Device?=======================

=========Basic Questions/Answers Related To Sony Mobiles=========

1) What Is TA Partition?

A) Sony Xperia devices store all the precious information regarding warranty status, DRM keys, etc. into a partition called Ã¢??TAÃ¢?Â, and fortunately you can backup this TA partition before unlocking the Bootloader on your Xperia device and restore it when needed.

2) What are DRM keys?

A) DRM keys are the unique keys that enables advanced technologies like the BIONZ image processor ,X-Reality Engine etc..

3) What Happens If You Unlock Bootloader?

A) When you unlock Bootloader,the TA Partition is formatted as a result the DRM keys are lost thus we will lose technologies like the BIONZ image processor ,X-Reality Engine etc..

4) What Is DRM Fix?

A) DRM Fix is a tool that to restore the lost functions.

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===================================How To Backup TA Partiton==================================

"iovyroot" A developer has developed a tool for backing up the TA Partiton. Unfortunatly it works only on Lollipop Kernel so you will have to downgrade to Lollipop.

Downgrading To Lollipop

* Download Flashtool and install it

* Download firmware from below link :

https://goo.gl/MJSEJd

* Start Flashtool

* Click on the lightning bolt icon

* Select "Flashmode"

* Locate the Lollipop firmware you have downloaded and select it.

* In the Wipe Option Select all the partitons. (Otherwise things will crash a lot and you won't get into the phone properly.)

* Turn off the phone.

* Wait for Flashtool to finish preparing the files.

* When prompted, hold "volume DOWN" button while plugging in the USB.

* Wait for it to finish.

* Once finished reboot the device.

Backing Up TA Partiton

Now that you're on Lollipop, you can use iovyroot. With this we can gain temporary root access and dump the TA partition to a file. This file is what we use to restore the DRM keys to your device after it's been wiped by unlocking the bootloader.

*Extract iovyroot_v0.4.zip and run "tabackup.bat"

Once it's done, you should have a TA-####.img file which sorta looks like "TA-16042016.img" and is approximately 2mb in size. That's your TA backup done and dusted!

Keep it safe somewhere.

===================================Unlocking The Booloader======================================

* Go to Settings > Developer options

* Tick "Enable OEM unlock"

* Open up a browser on your computer and follow the instructions at Sony's developer website.

* After receiving your email, entering your IMEI number and accepting some user conditions will provide you with an unlock code.

* Turn off your phone.

* In Flashtool, click on "BLU"

* Hold "volume DOWN" on your phone and plug it into the computer.

* When prompted, release volume down and unplug.

* Hold volume UP and plug it back in.

* You should now get a dialog which lets you enter an unlock code.

* Paste in the unlock code and click "Unlock".

* Wait for the phone to finish doing it's thing and restart.

===================================Rooting The Device==================================

* Download Latest AndroPlus Kernel From The Below Link:

https://goo.gl/mHJOFN

* Extract the zip file and find boot.img

* Flash the boot.img using cmd and fastboot.

Then,

* Download TWRP Recovery from Below Link :

https://goo.gl/AQ9Edi

* Flash the TWRP Recovery using cmd and fastboot.

* Now Download Latest SuperSu From Below Link :

http://download.chainfire.eu/supersu

* Transfer the file in to the device.

* Now Reboot the device.

* When booting press the volume rockers to access TWRP Recovery.

* Click Install and Flash the SuperSU zip file.

That's It ! You have rooted your device ! :)

===================================How To Restore TA Partiton?==================================

Note : Restoring TA Partiton Will Re-Lock The Boot-Loader And You Will Loose Root Access.

* Copy your TA partition backup to the TA tool's extracted folder.

* Connect your device with USB Debugging Enabled

* Open up a command prompt to the extracted folder and type in the following:

tarestore.bat {Your TA Backup File}

Example :

tarestore.bat TA-14102016.img

This new restored TA partition should persist across device wipes and Android upgrades.

===================================How To Upgrade Your Device?==================================

* Download and install Flashtool.

* You will find a XperiFirm icon on the tool. Click it and download the latest firmware of your device.

As your download completes the tool automatically creates ftf file.

* Now click on the lightning bolt icon on the Flashtool.

* Select the Flashmode.

* Now,Select The Firmware.

* Tick all the boxes under Wipe.

Note: If you don't want to wipe user data then exclude userdata from ticking.

* Click on Flash

* Connect your device in flashmode when prompted.

* Wait for the firmware to flash and reboot once done!

That's it.

Please Hit Thanks If Helped :o

Thank You! :)

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Thanks iovyroot for the tool.

Thanks XperiaBlog for the firmware.