Database Develop

[Q][SOLVED] New Z3C Owner Here, Just a few quick questions if your feeling helpful :)

Hi guys (and girls?)
Just picked up my Z3C yesterday. I am coming from a LG G2 and I had that thing rooted and running Slimkat within a few hours just because of the LG UI and stock kernel, not in such a rush with this phone as I quite like the UI and stock performance.
I've spent the day so far reading and reading and reading, I'm a bit rusty on my Sony rooting and flashing procedures (last Sony phone was the Xperia Arc)
For now all I am after is root access ( without unlocking the bootloader yet) so I can do a little debloating, install xposed etc while still enjoying the DRM related features (until I can assess if any of them matter to me enough to bother keeping )
Am I better off just rooting, backing up my DRM key (TA partition right?) and flashing a modified stock firmware from the start or can I achieve my goal just by rooting my current stock firmware?
I am currently reading through all the related threads and will probably work it out eventually but it would be pretty cool if someone could help me skip to the good stuff.
Anyway, enough story time, if you know of any good guides, tutorials etc that will help me achieve what I'm after just paste a link or whatever
And don't worry, I know how to use the thanks button

I am new user of Z3C as well, not expert by any means, to add my perspective to the same question asked by OP:
I just want to root Phone to add custom fonts and bold fonts, basically want to make it closer to iPhone 5s, which has bolder fonts. For me these fonts are too thin, if i make them large too large, thats the only thing i dont like about it.
So i want to root phone, just to change fonts and then unroot again, stock is sufficient for me and i feel i can have better battery with stock and stuff.
So can somone kindly guide me how to safely root, change fonts, unroot. I have no need of xpose and stuff at all.
Thanks in advance.

Hey get your own question thread lol nah I'm kidding, more the merrier!
I'm still reading everything and have found a few good tutorials. I'll post here anything I find that answers any of mine or your questions. But would still like to invite the users who really know this phone to share Thier opinions.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3013343
This is what you need.
Probably you can't "root directly" because your phone is updated with the last firmware version.
So, you need to downgrade to a version which has the exploit, root, backup DRM keys (for safety only) and update again with a pre-rooted rom.

fmlogin said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3013343
This is what you need.
Probably you can't "root directly" because your phone is updated with the last firmware version.
So, you need to downgrade to a version which has the exploit, root, backup DRM keys (for safety only) and update again with a pre-rooted rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually working my through that as we speak! (but totally appreciate you taking to time to point me there )
Just finished backing up my DRM keys (uploaded to mega and google drive, cus im careful like that haha)
just about to go through the PRFC part now.
Beginning to realise how spoilt I was with the LG G2 and being about to use towelroot.apk haha

usmanxhmed said:
I am new user of Z3C as well, not expert by any means, to add my perspective to the same question asked by OP:
I just want to root Phone to add custom fonts and bold fonts, basically want to make it closer to iPhone 5s, which has bolder fonts. For me these fonts are too thin, if i make them large too large, thats the only thing i dont like about it.
So i want to root phone, just to change fonts and then unroot again, stock is sufficient for me and i feel i can have better battery with stock and stuff.
So can somone kindly guide me how to safely root, change fonts, unroot. I have no need of xpose and stuff at all.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate, hopefully you have been doing your own research on the topic, but here is what I have learnt.
there is no simple root/unroot that doesn't require flashing firmwares etc.
but, if you do follow the instructions in the thread our helpful friend linked to you can create your own .ftf file with root included. The instructions also include a recovery in the ftf file but you opt to leave it out. (I actually made two custom ftf files, both with root but one without custom recovery).
I flashed the one without the custom recovery because for the time being I'm happy to keep the phone as stock as possible and simply don't need a custom recovery (I've got 2 phones and 2 tablets for tinkering with so I'm trying to avoid it with this phone which I use for work)
anyway, I have kind of answered my own question ultimately and will mark the thread as such.
but feel free to PM me if you need a hand with anything

Recover semi/softbrick, Downgrade, Lollipop Install -- Memopad 7 (ME572 only)

Hi All,
When I soft-bricked (long night and stupid choices of tweaking system files), I was unable to boot. Stuck at the Asus logo, at times not even the Asus logo would show. I took a few days but I finally figured it out.
After numerous methods tried and numerous failed attempts, I have narrowed down a successful process for recovering, downgrading and installing Lollipop. Please keep in mind that all cases are unique and this may not work for everyone. The zip folder contains all the tools and firmware builds needed to recover, downgrade, update your tablet.
Please note that this method was only tested on the non-LTE version of the tablet. This method may work if you substitute the firmware files. You can find links to these in the zip.
Another Note. To unbrick, follow the downgrade process. This should unbrick you.
By Clicking Download you agree that I in no way take any responsibility, liability either legally, morally, financially or any other way you could blame me for what you do or these applications do to your tablet or the opposite end of the spectrum, the amount of success to expect. This is at your own risk. I am only providing what I did to resolve my issue in hopes that it may help others.
IMPORTANT: You will lose all you data on the internal memory.
If you agree to the above please feel free to Download (1.87GB)
Key to Download:
!lZ51WKctjkd2v_mUGYz-TacrIResxm45yO5Ztl7k9-I
MD5 Hash
0722035687A42E0F3201147AAF238160
SHA-512 Hash to 100% verify it hasn't been tampered with since MD5 can be easily broken
FBF9C0B7CD88ABAB91B85C2E21B7694FD035D9E92ECE2FC54C6839C07D3FCDB1FAF9FE532920D9B63091412CE13DA9F50F507CC55B7206F516F8DFC8BC021DB5
A lot can go wrong if you don't know what you are doing. If you don't know what you are doing, stop to ask in a forum. You look dumber making a mistake by assuming than asking the most basic of question. So please don't feel embarrassed to ask what may seem obvious or simple. There is also a FAQ below which I will update as needed.
Unfortunately I have to throw this in here:Questions regarding the LTE version will not be answered as I do not have this device.
Huge Credit goes to 4pda members for creating some of these tools that helped me create this all in one zip.

FAQ
Q: Will this void my warranty?
Absolutely
Q: Can you upload only certain files? I don't want to download the large 1.87GB zip.
Sorry, I don't have time to dig through and upload specific folders/files on an individual basis. Someone else however may do so if you ask nicely.
Q: Do I have to install Lollipop or Xposed**?
No, once you are on KitKat, you can stay on KitKat. **Do not install xposed unless you are on Lollipop, won't work anyway since the KitKat image isn't rooted.
Q: Can I take OTA updates?
A: I would advise against it and it will most likely not work or corrupt the device. You should disable/freeze (do not remove) the FOTA Update apk and update apks to make sure you don't receive them by accident.
Q: Can I use this method to install a non-rooted Lollipop firmware image?
A: Untested. Since you can't take the OTA anyway, root shouldn't hurt anything. Just open the SuperSU APK and set it to Deny All if root makes you paranoid.
Q: Will this work for the LTE version?
A: As it is zipped, no. The tools however should work. When I was researching the tools seemed to be device unbiased (except for the firmware). Included in the zip are the original links I used for research. There you can find the LTE version of the firmware images.
Q: Can I share this on other forums?
Sure, just please be sure to keep the zip unmodified and not take credit. The guys on 4pda took a lot of time developing and posting these tools. It took me some time as well to create instructions and gather the required files.

Reserved.
For what I don't know, but just in case.

Successfully downloaded. Thx for the work.

Hello SyCoREAPER, where did you get the firmware and recovery files? I was thinking of using your method for ME176C but I don't have the necessary files. If you can provide some links on where you obtained the files I will search from there. Thanks

NoblyUntruthful said:
Hello SyCoREAPER, where did you get the firmware and recovery files? I was thinking of using your method for ME176C but I don't have the necessary files. If you can provide some links on where you obtained the files I will search from there. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was debating answering or not. If you bothered reading the above or downloading the files you'd see where they came from.

will give this a go when mine arrives in next day or two
just one question...
is this on the VERY LATEST LP firmware???

Hello. The key to download is not workin. I enter the key exectly as u have it and when I hit OK, it keeps popin back up askin for it again. Is there something I'm doin wrong?

Thank you !
Thank you !!! I've just bought this model ME572c a few days ago. My tablet was bricked (black screen) after OTA update to WW_V12.14.1.12. I've managed to flash with your instructions, but when i try again to OTA update to WW_V12.14.1.12, just after finishing the update, tablet reboots and remains with black screen. I ve tryed to update from SD card (with official firmware and your lollipop firmware) and the same thing happens. Do you have any ideea why is this happening. Thank you very much !!

File download link?
Hello,
Came across this thread as I was planning to revive my old ME572C (5.0.1, getting laggy). Download links no longer work. Any chance you'd reupload the files?
Thanks!

root

Hi,
How do I just root my OnePlus 3T? I want to keep everything the same but just be able to have root to install adblock.
Model - A3000
Oxygen - 4.0.3
Android - 7.0

Rob94 said:
Hi,
How do I just root my OnePlus 3T? I want to keep everything the same but just be able to have root to install adblock.
Model - A3000
Oxygen - 4.0.3
Android - 7.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlock your boot loader, flash twrp and install supersu to root. or you can also try dns66 to block ads, it works without root.
https://fossdroid.com/a/dns66.html

bonham1988 said:
Unlock your boot loader, flash twrp and install supersu to root. or you can also try dns66 to block ads, it works without root.
https://fossdroid.com/a/dns66.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm new to android, switched from ios. I'm not familiar with the terms, how would you do these? "Unlock your boot loader, flash twrp and install supersu to root."

Rob94 said:
I'm new to android, switched from ios. I'm not familiar with the terms, how would you do these? "Unlock your boot loader, flash twrp and install supersu to root."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
here a guide https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3t/how-to/guide-how-to-root-oneplus-3t-unlock-t3544391
but if you just want Adblock, I'd suggest you try dns66 instead of root.

bonham1988 said:
here a guide https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-3t/how-to/guide-how-to-root-oneplus-3t-unlock-t3544391
but if you just want Adblock, I'd suggest you try dns66 instead of root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed the adb program but where are the files? I'm stuck on this step 2:30 in the video.

Rob94 said:
I installed the adb program but where are the files? I'm stuck on this step 2:30 in the video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What files?
Sent from my OnePlus3T using XDA Labs

bonham1988 said:
What files?
Sent from my OnePlus3T using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got past that part but now im stuck. I'm trying to install supersu but my computer isn't finding the oneplus 3t in my computer so I can't drag supersu to my phone to install it.
Part 8:47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwd31NU7VC0&feature=youtu.be

Everytime I plug in my phone I see this in device manager. Even though I install the ADB.
site to upload photos

I got it to work, just had to manually install MTP driver.

Could you help me find a guide for adblock install and in-app purchases?

Rob94 said:
Could you help me find a guide for adblock install and in-app purchases?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google "AdAway XDA". The first result is the thread for the AdAway app.
And what do you mean in-app purchases? You install an app from the Play Store, tap the in-app button, add your gift card and/or credit/debit card (if required), buy.
If you're talking about circumvention, you are NOT going to get help here, AT ALL. This is not one of those places for that mess.

Rob94 said:
Could you help me find a guide for adblock install and in-app purchases?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ad block you don't need any guide. Just install the apk from f-droid. When you'll open the app it will prompt you to grant root access. Just click yes and you have to enable adblock from the app.
Sent from my OnePlus3T using XDA Labs

Rob94 said:
I'm new to android, switched from ios. I'm not familiar with the terms, how would you do these? "Unlock your boot loader, flash twrp and install supersu to root."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know you are new here, and here is some friendly advice:
1) Search before you post! Most of the info you want, and probably ever want, is already on XDA. It's probably been asked and answered before, probably numerous times. There are a number of guides posted for basic things, like how to root. Just using the search function, or for that matter just browsing through the thread titles will often yield a lot of the info you are looking for. Also, there are resource threads like the Index at the top of the 3T "Guides, News & Discussion" section, which organizes a lot of the useful threads and other resources (with links). Be sure to take advantage of these threads "sticky" to the top of each section.
Only after you have done your due diligence, and can't find what you're looking for, should you make a new thread. If every person who was wondering "how to root" made a new thread asking that, this whole website would quickly become a cluttered, useless mess. The folks here are happy to provide help and try to answer your questions, but only after you've taken at least a little time to try to find the answer yourself.
2) You need to slow down and do some learning and reading. This is something you should have done before starting to do any of the steps toward root. Halfway down the phone modding rabbit hole is not the time to be asking questions like "how do I put the SuperSU zip on the phone".
I've been around here a long time, and modded/rooted a lot of devices. Even so, every time I get a new device, I spend at least an hour or two reading about the root methods (plus possible pitfalls, issues, etc.) for that specific device (as every one has it's own peculiarities and nuances). I simply can't fathom jumping into the root/mod process without this minimum due diligence.
3) Make sure you understand the meaning and implications of an unlocked bootloader, root, etc. There are benefits, and there are also risks. When someone comes on here asking the questions you are asking, what often comes to mind is that a person with that lack of knowledge has no business having root. This isn't to be mean, it's just a fact (at least as I see it).
Side note: I'm not a fan of YouTube guides. They have a place, in conjunction with (but not a replacement for) proper reading and understanding. Just following one of those videos, without doing any other learning, is going to get you in trouble. You'll only know enough to get yourself into a jam (which is inevitable if you play with these devices), without a clue of how to get out. Know (at a minimum) how to recover or get back to stock. Case in point, the linked video skipped what is to me, a critical step. You should always make a TWRP backup before flashing any mods like root or custom ROM. It's not technically a "requirement" but to me, its a must. This gives you an easy way out, if anything goes wrong (and it eventually will). Sure, there are other ways to recover. But the simple step of making a TWRP backup is one way, that doesn't require any additional downloads, tools, etc. It's simply a no-brainer to me, to do this.

Unlock with fingerprint after lock screen with app

Hi guys, I'm pretty new to xda community, so I don't know if my issue is solved before or not but I can't find any.
As u know, when u use an app to lock the phone screen, u can't unlock it the next time with fingerprint. Is there any way, root or no root required to make it possible? And if it's root required, could u plz tell me how to do it or give me any tutorial on it?
Thanks in advance.

nokia8user said:
Hi guys...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well firstly, if no else has said so, welcome to XDA ?
Firstly, what your looking to do is definitely possible. But as you likely suspected, you will require root for it to work properly.
Once you have root access, you will just need to make sure that the app your using to lock the phone has the option to utilise root access to work.
Nova launcher for example allows you to choose root as the method of locking the phone.
As for actually rooting your phone, you will first need to unlock your phones bootloader, which although there is an official method for now, still comes with serious and permanent consequences.
I believe there are guides on how to unlock the bootloader and how to subsequently gain root and/or install TWRP, here in the Nokia 8 forums which I am sure you will be able to find yourself (rather then me redundantly providing you instructions here)
However, as a friendly warning to you (and any other users new to the forums who read this later) due to the consequences and implications of unlocking the bootloader (i.e. impact on device security, receiving OTA updates etc.) you should only proceed if:
- You 100% understand the steps involved (rather than blindly following them)
- You truely understand what they are actually doing to your device
- You are 100% aware the consequences
- You know how to, and are prepared to, recover your device if something does go wrong.
In the end, most of the issues I've seen on XDA over the years are the result of people not truely understanding what they were doing. You can never know too much.
Hopefully this answered your question?

ajgftw said:
Well firstly, if no else has said so, welcome to XDA ?
...
Hopefully this answered your question?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh god, you are so nice. I will absolutely try to follow the steps u mentioned above. Thanks so much.

The great adventure of rooting the XZ1C

Hello everyone,
I have to say I am completely lost regarding the whole rooting process for the XZ1C. I usually manage to get where I want just by carefully reading the forums, but with this device, I feel overwhelmed by information. And I sometimes feel like what I am reading contradicts what I though I understood from previous reads...
I will try to sum up what I know so far.
First of all, I have a just-out-of-the-box Sony model G8441 with firmware 47.1.A.12.179 / Oreo 8.0.0 (never been connected to the outside world yet), and I want to properly root the device and install TWRP with no loss of feature.
What I think I understand:
To root, I first need to unlock the bootloader, which seems to be a trivial operation. However, this will break some functionalities due to DRM keys being erased. Once it is done, there is no way, ever, to get them back. There are however ways to "trick" DRM-related functionalities into believing DRM keys are still there.
Alternatively, there seems to be a way to backup the DRM keys prior to unlocking the BL, and this backup can somehow be reused and injected back into the unlocked device. If true, then this would certainly be a preferable method than the previous one, which would then be obsolete. However, it obviously doesn't look obsolete when I read the related topics, so I must be missing something...
Another thing I noted (but do not quite understand): There are ROMs for this device that "include" a DRM fix.
Last important thing I read: there is a paid "do-it-all" tool which takes my locked device and, with one click, makes it unlocked - rooted - DRM-fixed - TWRP-enabled. Now that sounds really good! Maybe too good?
As far as i know (but I learn new stuff every day on this topic) this DRM stuff is the main difficulty here. I understand that the rest of the process (root + TWRP) will be much simpler (although I'm old-school and completly missed all this magisk trend...!)
What I don't understand:
I read that some people downgrade to Oreo to be able to root properly, and at the same time, I read that Pie removed the restrictions on unlocked bootloader. So I still have no idea if I should connect and receive Sony updates, or avoid them.
Another thing I don't get, is how many ways do we have to root this thing? In the past, I was used to see, for a specific device, always one major and widly used rooting method. Here I fail to identify it...
What I think I will do:
1. Backup TA partition with j4nn's tool. This will probably imply flashing an older firmware right? Is there any link that could help me with this flashing process? (I only know Odin - did I mention old-school?) I saw this page for generic sony Z devices, but the thread is from 2013 and now closed. Is it still up-to-date or is there a newer thread?
2. Unlock bootloader and restore TA partition.
3. Wait for Sony updates? Or should I first hide unlock status?
3bis. Alternaltively to waiting for updates, maybe I can just flash the latest build? (47.2.A.8.24 if I am not mistaken)
4. Flash modpunk's TWRP.
5. Flash janjan's Boot.img to get root functionalities?
Alternaltively to all the above (except maybe step 1 that I will probably do in any case), buy the paid all-in-one tool (Xperifix), plug, click and wait... But will I really end up the same as with the manual way?
I saw a few other methods in the forums but it seems my brain is currently refusing to bring them back...
That's all I have right now. I would really appreciate if you guys could share some insight and tell me what you think about this, whether there are missing steps, useless steps, incorrectly ordered steps, silly steps, or if I'm just completely wrong about the whole thing.
Feel free also to correct me on the assumptions I made at the beginning.
Thank you very much for reading this repulsive piece of text.

SunJu22 said:
I would really appreciate if you guys could share some insight and tell me what you think about this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the looks of it you have done a great deal of research on the project.
Yes, go down the route of backing up your TA partition first, but that is not a small step in itself, it's pretty complicated and if you get that working then the rest of the project will be a breeze.
You don't say what version of firmware you want to end up on. If you want to end up on Pie then forget the DRMfix . But if you're staying on Oreo and can't be bothered with lots of files & flashing, then this is the easy way out, I bought the paid version and can verify it works.
More recently I ended up janjan's kernel (Oreo build). Hidden root (Google Pay works), lots of performance tweaks, DRM completely working.
It's unlikely that anyone will bother making a DRM fix for Pie as the camera works and there are only a couple of other features that get disabled.
It sounds like you're not the sort of person who's only going to read the first couple of pages of a thread (or the last) flash the xxxxxx and then complain when it's broken.
The people on the forum here are very helpful and if you go into any of the threads you mentioned in your post with a question, you'll get a reply.
Good luck.

I agree, there is a lot of information out there and different methods of achieving what you want - very confusing if you have not been following the threads since the beginning.
In my opinion, the preferred method is j4nn's method outlined here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/xp...devonly-exploits-temp-root-to-backup-t3795510
Use that post as your main guide (the final step in that guide, #13, is how you will achieve root). You will use Newflasher to flash the various firmwares along the way (this is linked from j4nn's procedure in step #2). User munted made a very detailed pdf file that fills in some of the details on j4nn's procedure - see the following post and download the pdf attached: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78255334&postcount=382
Most of the other methods out there came before j4nn's work - they didn't include DRM backup/restore.
If you follow j4nn's procedure, you won't need to use the janjan kernel as you assumed - janjan method is different and does not overlap with j4nn.

SunJu22 said:
Feel free also to correct me on the assumptions I made at the beginning.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I didn't point out that I was one of the early 'jumpers' who unlocked their bootloader without any backups, so I have been forced into always using fixes and all the information I have is based on having to fix your phone for it to work, but that's all changed now. I'm so out of date :-/
 @camaro322hp is right, if you follow j4nn's method correctly you'll be rooted with no DRM loss. All of the other stuff is not required.

Thank you Digesteve and camaro322hp for your help.
From what I understand the XZ1C didn't get as much love as other devices, thus there was a long period of tinkering before a "do-it-all guide" could be considered "the" solution. That could explain all these different approaches that are proposed. Like you said camaro322hp it's rather difficult to jump on this train, and I can only guess how interesting this ride has been.
Anyway, I didn't see that the TA backup thread from j4nn also encompassed all the information I needed; I am glad to finally know that there is indeed a centralized "do-it-all guide" . To make it easier for XZ1C newcomers, I think j4nn should update his opening post to make this clearer.
Since I managed to grab the attention of 2 XZ1C power users, I would like to ask you: Did you keep stock? Did you try alternative ROMs? Do you like some of them? Do you prefer Oreo or Pie?
For information, the most up-to-date experience I have on a Android phone is my LG90 with CyanogenMod 11 (KitKat 4.4.4! Yes sir!). I heard that it's becoming less and less useful to flash a custom ROM due to major OS improvements, but I would still enjoy the simplest and lightest Android possible.

SunJu22 said:
Did you keep stock? Did you try alternative ROMs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've always been on stock, the camera is an important part of what I want from my phone and although there's lots of alternative camera apps, there's no competition to the stock camera app. Then I theme it black with swift installer and just uninstall or freeze any apps I don't want with Titanium Backup. I have stuck with Oreo, everything works perfect and I remember seeing so many people jumping to 9 then wanting to go back to 8 because they didn't like it. Something about changing the way the drop down menu works, among other things, but having never installed it, I'm not the person to comment on if it's any good or not.
I have been watching the XZ1c thread and Lineage is gaining ground, it even has a stock camera now. I would have thought something like that with miniGapps is going to be pretty lightweight and very similar to your carbon rom of before. At the moment this is based on 8, but is working well. Depends how keen you are to move to Pie.

Thank you Digesteve.
One thing I still don't understand. Part of the process is to hide unlock status. If I do this, FOTA will be applied and I will automatically end up on Pie, right? Should I skip this step if I want Oreo?
EDIT: when you say "a stock camera", you mean the Sony camera?

@SunJu22 I've stuck with the Sony ROM. A rooted stock ROM meets all my needs, so I've never felt the need to experiment with custom ROMs. There are some custom options out there that people seem fairly happy with, so if that's your thing, I'd encourage it.
Without going into too much detail, I'm still on Oreo for the moment, for a variety of reasons, but I don't know of anything that would keep me from recommending Pie.

One thing you should note is that once you unlock, there is no going back. AFAIK there is no known or working method to relock the bootloader.

SunJu22 said:
FOTA will be applied and I will automatically end up on Pie, right? Should I skip this step if I want Oreo?
EDIT: when you say "a stock camera", you mean the Sony camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I'm not entirely sure why having your rooted phone try and update itself is an advantage, but something I'd recomend avoiding.
Stock camera is the Sony camera, yes.

Thank you everyone, I believe I now have enough information to jump into this with confidence. The adventure begins, and will be reported in this thread for future reference, in the hope that it will help others like me!

Well, I am a bit sad... I wanted to report my "adventure" here in detail, but I'm afraid I have nothing to say.
Indeed, following the procedure from j4nn with a printed copy of munted's awesome guide, I managed to do all I wanted on the first attempt.
I don't have anything to add to this guide, everyone wanting to root their XZ1C can do it just by reading the opening post from j4nn and the mentioned guide. It takes a bit of time but nothing complicated thanks to the clear and detailed explanations.
I now have a fully functional rooted XZ1C (including camera) on Pie with Magisk root and TWRP.
Thank you all again from pointing me to the right direction.
I however have a slight disappointment. I wanted to start with Oreo and make an Nandroid backup before moving to Pie, but I didn't find Oreo builds on Xperifirm. So I jumped straight to Pie.
In case I want to test Oreo, I read that a downgrade is more complicated than an upgrade, but apart from the fact that a factory reset is needed for downgrade, I couldn't find an explanation for this. Any idea?
Last but not least: I looked for the latest Oreo build version number but couldn't find it. Do you guys know what it is and where I can download it?
I guess this will be all for this thread after this. Although it is very convenient to have my own thread to ask questions rather than finding the relevant page for each one, I don't want to annoy you too much...
EDIT: Please ignore the last question. I found out last Oreo build is 47.1.A.16.20, and I found the files via the download link in the opening post of the Lineage thread.

SunJu22 said:
In case I want to test Oreo, I read that a downgrade is more complicated than an upgrade, but apart from the fact that a factory reset is needed for downgrade, I couldn't find an explanation for this. Any idea? Lineage thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is an easy solution to downgrade:
Newflasher

Hi, I've been thinking about rooting my XZ1c for a long time now. So, do I understand correctly that the ONLY disadvantage compared to non-rooted device is not possible to receive the OTA updates from Sony anymore?

mEREHAIGE said:
Hi, I've been thinking about rooting my XZ1c for a long time now. So, do I understand correctly that the ONLY disadvantage compared to non-rooted device is not possible to receive the OTA updates from Sony anymore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you can flash a kernel to hide the bootloader unlock flag, this will mean that you will receive OTA updates, although depending on how you're rooted an update will most likely break your phone, so not that useful.

*made a thread*

Thanks--rooted withOUT adventure too
Very happily rooted now. Just wanted to say a quick thanks and add a few notes:
1. j4nn's renoroot to enable TA key backup and restore is fantastic. My advice: use and donate
2. munted's guide is excellent. clear and thorough...a rare combination.
3. do expect that renoroot may need to be restarted a couple of times. it took me 3 or 4 attempts to get temp root to pull the TA keys, although it took only 1 effort to get root back to restore.
4. topjohnwu's magisk is, of course, a key component to all this. Thx and $s there too.
I did a few things slightly differently/additionally than SunJu22.
5. I am on T-Mobile US, so I opted to create a hybrid Pie FW to get wifi calling and VoLTE. There are a number of discussions on this. I did it by combining the vendor**.sin and system**.sin files from custom-CH FW with the other files from custom-US FW. Of course (a) use IDENTICAL release numbers only, e.g. 47.A.2.10.28 w/ 47.A.2.10.28 and (b) you still need to delete .TA and persist files from the hybrid before you flash it.
Note: I don't really care about these features, but I have *heard* that T-mobile won't allow BYOD on their band-12 sites if they don't have VoLTE. Don't know if it is true (or where it is true) but figured why not?
6. I decided (for now, at least) to leave boot and recovery stock. So, I am using fastboot to run TWRP or a rooted kernel. Thanks again to j4nn for the method.
Note: I don't plan on allowing FOTA upgrades---I just like passing all the security checks and being able to *see* if updates are available.
That's all. Fine work in development and guides has made life simple and happy for me

kirkzp said:
Very happily rooted now. Just wanted to say a quick thanks and add a few notes:
1. j4nn's renoroot to enable TA key backup and restore is fantastic. My advice: use and donate
2. munted's guide is excellent. clear and thorough...a rare combination.
3. do expect that renoroot may need to be restarted a couple of times. it took me 3 or 4 attempts to get temp root to pull the TA keys, although it took only 1 effort to get root back to restore.
4. topjohnwu's magisk is, of course, a key component to all this. Thx and $s there too.
I did a few things slightly differently/additionally than SunJu22.
5. I am on T-Mobile US, so I opted to create a hybrid Pie FW to get wifi calling and VoLTE. There are a number of discussions on this. I did it by combining the vendor**.sin and system**.sin files from custom-CH FW with the other files from custom-US FW. Of course (a) use IDENTICAL release numbers only, e.g. 47.A.2.10.28 w/ 47.A.2.10.28 and (b) you still need to delete .TA and persist files from the hybrid before you flash it.
Note: I don't really care about these features, but I have *heard* that T-mobile won't allow BYOD on their band-12 sites if they don't have VoLTE. Don't know if it is true (or where it is true) but figured why not?
6. I decided (for now, at least) to leave boot and recovery stock. So, I am using fastboot to run TWRP or a rooted kernel. Thanks again to j4nn for the method.
Note: I don't plan on allowing FOTA upgrades---I just like passing all the security checks and being able to *see* if updates are available.
That's all. Fine work in development and guides has made life simple and happy for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now riddle me this cause I'm on Tmo USA as well and I did the hybrid work fine as well but heres the question, does googlepay and banking apps still work with a unlocked bootloader or did you flash a modified kernel to hide the unlocked status.
Sitting on the fence about unlocking mine so I can do a full nandroid before trying out some gsi pie roms infact this is the first phone I haven't unlocked or least put twrp on since my samsung sidekick 4g o.o

kernel with hide-unlock
T_Tank said:
Now riddle me this cause I'm on Tmo USA as well and I did the hybrid work fine as well but heres the question, does googlepay and banking apps still work with a unlocked bootloader or did you flash a modified kernel to hide the unlocked status.
Sitting on the fence about unlocking mine so I can do a full nandroid before trying out some gsi pie roms infact this is the first phone I haven't unlocked or least put twrp on since my samsung sidekick 4g o.o
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Full disclosure: I don't use Google pay or too many banking apps, so YMMV. But, I am using j4nn's kernel with unlock hidden. (See link in my note 6.) You can flash this, or you can leave in your stock kernel and merely fastboot to this. From what I have seen, it hides most - if not all -- indicators that the phone is rooted and the BL in unlocked.

Does somebody has :
G8441_1310-7123_47.1.A.16.20-R7B_Customized_CE1.ftf ?
Only backup i did not make, and its gone from XperiFirm.
Still have the feeling battery life was better in Oreo, and would be nice for experimenting.
Would be nice.
Thanks in advance.