[Sony Xperia XZ Questions & Answers] simpleflips:
Hello XDA, longtime reader, first time poster.

I tried flashing a custom ROM the other day, but something went wrong, and I now have a device that bootloops (unlocked screen, SONY logo, followed by a "the software update failed" message). I think the cause of all of this came from a few missing drivers that Flashtool/Windows 7 didn't install properly. I'm not sure if this matters, but this happened after trying to update to the latest stock nougat firmware (downloaded via Xperifirm) from a custom 6.0.1 ROM.

I went through as many solution threads as possible, but I'm still having trouble. The last thing I did just before this post was create an ftf via Flashtool, added "41.fsc" script when asked, prepared flash with full wipe/no exclusions, connected phone to USB via Flash Mode, selected F83XX when prompted for device, and this was the log I received...

29/021/2017 00:21:58 - INFO - Device connected in flash mode

29/021/2017 00:21:59 - INFO - Opening device for R/W

29/022/2017 00:22:00 - INFO - Reading device information

29/022/2017 00:22:00 - INFO - Phone ready for flashmode operations.

29/022/2017 00:22:00 - INFO - Opening TA partition 2

29/022/2017 00:22:00 - INFO - Start Flashing

29/022/2017 00:22:00 - INFO - No loader in the bundle. Searching for one

29/022/2017 00:22:44 - INFO - No matching loader found

29/022/2017 00:22:44 - WARN - No loader found or set manually. Skipping loader

29/022/2017 00:22:44 - INFO - Loader : S1_Root_de8d - Version : 1299-4832_S1_Boot_MSM8996_LA2.0_40 / Boot version : 1299-4832_S1_Boot_MSM8996_LA2.0_40 / Bootloader status : ROOTED

29/022/2017 00:22:44 - INFO - Max packet size set to 4M

29/022/2017 00:22:44 - INFO - USB buffer size set to 512K

29/022/2017 00:22:54 - INFO - Parsing boot delivery

29/022/2017 00:22:54 - INFO - Found a template session. Using it : C:\Users\[name]\.flashTool\firmwares\prepared\41.fsc

29/022/2017 00:22:54 - INFO - Set loader configuration : [00 01 00 00 00 0C]

29/022/2017 00:22:54 - INFO - Flashing finished.

29/022/2017 00:22:54 - INFO - Please unplug and start your phone

29/022/2017 00:22:54 - INFO - For flashtool, Unknown Sources and Debugging must be checked in phone settings

Extra information...

PC

- Windows 7 64-bit

- Flashtool 0.9.23.2 installed

- As far as I know, every driver I need has been downloaded and installed (Sony's website, Flashtool-drivers.exe)

(↑ "Sony sa0115 ADB Interface Driver" under Device Manager reads "This device cannot start. (Code 10)", if that makes any difference)

- Xperia Companion doesn't detect my phone, so I can't use their "software repair" option

Phone

- F8332

- Bootloader unlocked

- *Backup TA missing*

- Device rooted

- TWRP 3.1.1-0 installed

- Android 6.0.1 (firmware unknown)

Files

- Latest Nougat firmware (F8332_Customized FR_1305-9679_41.2.A.7.76_R1D) -- folder only (ftf can be created anytime, just need to know what to keep/exclude. I've been seeing different answers regarding when to add "41.fsc" to ftf (before/after flashing, or adding at all), and excluding .sin files before flashing, so if anyone has a definite answer to these, I'd really appreciate it.)

Otherwise, if none of that matters and the problem lies somewhere else, I'm all ears.

Thank you in advance.