[XPERIA X1 ROM Development] J-Pro:
Good afternoon, people!

Yesterday I wanted to renew my Radio firmware in my X1 and found a thread about new 1.14 radio. But I've got a lot of questions about how to do it and do I need to patch something, why do I need some dll's, what NK.exe patching is, etc. I've asked fards and he kindly explained everything(thank you again, dear fards!)

So now I just want to share the experience. Just to make some people's life a bit easier ;)

Here it comes, the FAQ. It's 50% consists of fards answers and 50% of my knowledge. But my knowledge definitely owes this forum and fards :)

Q: What do I need to upgrade my Radio to the latest one? (it's for those who doesn't want to know technical details and wants just newer X1 radio, nothing more)

A:

1. HardSPL your X1.

2. Go here and get whatever radio you want, but ONLY from "XPERIA X1 RADIOS" section.

3. Remember three things:

- FLASHING A RADIO SHOULD NOT DELETE/RESET YOUR PHONE INFO

- FLASHING A RADIO LASTS APROX. 1 OR 2 MINUTES ONLY

- YOU ARE FLASHING THIS RADIO AT YOUR OWN RISK​

4. Go through one of methods below:

1) MICRO SD FLASH METHOD

FIRST:

- Charge Xperia X1 > 50% (100% if possible)

- Prepare a micro SD card: format to FAT32 with default block size

- USB cable must be disconnected from PC or power outlet (mains)

STEPS:

- Rename the radio file to KOVSimg.nbh

- Copy to micro SD card's root directory

- Insert micro SD card in the phone

- Remove and reinsert phone battery

- Go to bootloader mode (hold vol key + power key)

- Follow on-screen instructions

- When flash finishes remove/insert batter and power on

Not flashing?

a) Format another micro SD card (FTA32, default block size) and try again

b) Use the RUU method from PC

2) RADIO UPDATE UTILITY (RUU) FLASH METHOD

FIRST:

- Charge Xperia X1 > 50% (100% if possible)

- Be sure your phone is connected to PC

(XP: activesync, Vista: Windows Mobile Device Center)

- Win Vista: install latests .NET frameworks and WMDC 6.1

STEPS:

- Download the RUU FOR XPERIA X1

- Extract the RUU files to a folder

- Copy only one radio file to that folder

(renaming the *.nbh file is not required)

- Run Xperia X1 RUU app

- Follow on-screen instructions

- When flash finishes disconnect USB, reinsert batter and power on​

Q: Where can I view current radio version?

A: In Start->Settings->System->Device Information->Radio version.

Q: Where can I check and get latest radios for my Xperia?

A: In our forum's Xperia library at "III - TRANSMITTER RADIOS" section.

Q: What's the difference between "Xperia X1 Radios" and "RADIOS FROM OTHER HTC DEVICES", can I use it?

A: Just to make things clear: "Xperia X1 Radios" are taken from different X1 ROMs(so it's X1-compatible by default), "RADIOS FROM OTHER HTC DEVICES" are correspondingly from other HTC devices(so generally it needs things to be done with it to be X1-compatible). BUT there are already done those "things" with radios from different HTC devices(Hex-edited, adapted and tested on a security-unlocked Xperia X1) in our Xperia library, so those radios are already X1-compatible too.

Q: What radios can I practically(with or without damage) flash into my Xperia?

A: You always can flash your original(ROMs) radio. But to flash another radio(not from your current ROM) you need to change HardSPL on your X1 once. Then you can flash any radio you want, but with risk of doing much damage.

Q: Where 1.14 radio came from? Is this radio custom or "handmade"? Or it came from R3A? Where is it from and why SE isn't updating it?

A: Its from lantin american R2AA015 rom... Id expect a newer one with r3 when its released.

Q: What radio is the best one so far?

A: I think the 1.14 is the best radio so far, it is a bit battery greedy, but it does work very well.

Q: After I flash this radio(or the previous one - 1.11.25.76), do I need rilphone.dll to copy to my phone with R2A010?

A: Its not essential but as newer radios are released then different commands seem to added to the RadioInterfaceLevel hence RILphone so ireckon its a good idea.

Q: As I've understood, this rilphone.dll is not the same as patching radio and doing some magic with mysterious NK.exe, right? So even if I want to flash radio version 1.11.25.76, having version 1.06.25.29, I should change this dll? Where should I find it for any listed there Xperia Radios?

A: The rilphone is an translator from the standard windows RIL.dll to the new radio part.

as new radios come out they can (but not always) contain new commands, so it makes sense to use the new rilphone from the same rom as it has those new commands in it, so that the OS can make use of them.

This is why it seems it's best to use the same rilphone as the radio version. I'd imagine the rilphone would come with the rom that the radio was originally taken from.

For example the R2 roms have a new radio attached, so if you flash that rom you'll automatically get the correct rilphone.

Q: Do I need to make a hardreset after I flash the radio?

A: No, hard reset is only for full ROM not radio.

Q: I saw some info about mysterious NK.exe and some radio patching. Why do I need it? Only for making radios from another phones working with mine? For example, if I have Raphael radio and I want it to work on my X1 - I should patch it, am I right? But what if I have XPERIA X1 RADIO from this link? Should I patch it?

A: Patching the NK.exe is really for running unsigned Dll files and exes (from startup or during boot at least) as NK checks the intergrity of core system files I think.. It is just ones loaded during startup I think as When you're in windows the registry settings or certifcates (such as the ones skcert.cab installs) take over.

So you don't need it for just the radio part, but really for the rilphone.dll this stops it from being overwritten by the signed exisiting one in the rom. HOWEVER. using driverwiz (from chainfire) gets around this, as that prog signs the files with a "dummy" certificate, so windows recognises it's signed and uses it..

Most of the custom roms (even the ones that are done by people who don't know what they're doing and just press a button) should contain a patched NK as it's part of the kitchens. It's pretty much essential on a custom rom otherwise you couldn't add anything to it!