Install TWRP and Root Xperia XA1 Ultra G3221/G3116/G3125

Back in February 2017, Sony introduced its new smartphones. The new devices included Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra. This phablet-type smartphone from Sony sports a 6-inch full HD display. Xperia XA1 Ultra is powered up with MediaTek Helio P20 Octa Core 64bit CPU and a RAM of 4 GB. The internal storage is 32 GB or 64 GB. Xperia XA1 Ultra has a 23 MP shooter at its back and a 16 MP shooter on the front. A battery of 2700 mAh is fixed inside. The phone runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. Xperia XA1 Ultra does have a fingerprint scanner and the phone is also water and dust resistant.

In the good old days, development for the Xperia smartphones was rapid. As Sony discontinued its original Xperia lineup and started the new Xperia X series, things slowed down. For the new Xperia X smartphones, not a lot of modifications are available. Xperia XA1 Ultra happens to be a lucky device in that regard. A TWRP recovery is available for almost all the variants of the Xperia XA1 Ultra. You can flash the TWRP recovery and root your phone as well.

Flashing TWRP recovery on your Xperia XA1 Ultra requires unlocking the bootloader of your phone first. Unlocking the bootloader is quite an easy process. Once you have it unlocked, a few commands will do the job of loading in TWRP on your phone. In this guide, you will first learn to install TWRP custom recovery on your Xperia XA1 Ultra G3221/G3116/G3125 and then flash SuperSu to root it.

Preparations

• This guide is only for the Xperia XA1 Ultra G3221, G3116, G3125. Do not try this on any other variant or phone. Check your phone’s model number under Settings > About device section.
• Backup your Contacts, Call Logs, SMS Messages and Media Content. This is very important as we have to unlock the bootloader and it will wipe your phone.
• Charge your phone good enough to ensure that it lasts during the recovery installation process.
• Enable USB Debugging mode on your Xperia XA1.
• Enable OEM Unlocking on your Xperia XA 1.
• Unlock the bootloader of your Sony Xperia XA1.

Required downloads & installations

1. Download and install Sony USB drivers.
2. Download and install Minimal ADB & Fastboot drivers.
3. Download latest SuperSU.zip file: SR1-SuperSU-v2.82-SR1-20170608224931.zip
4. Download the recovery and boot file according to your phone.
   1. XA1-Ultra/XA1-Ultra Dual SIM[G3221]
   2. XA1-Dual-sim[G3116]
   3. XA1-Single-sim[G3125]
5. Extract the downloaded.zip file to get the boot.img and recovery.img file.

How to install TWRP Recovery on Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra

1. Make sure that you’ve downloaded and installed Minimal ADB & Fastboot drivers on your Windows PC or installed Mac ADB & Fastboot for Mac.
2. You will get a Minimal ADB and Fastboot folder in your Windows installation drive’s Program Files. Navigate to the Program Files or Program Files x86 > Minimal ADB and Fastboot > copy the boot.img and recovery.img files here.
3. Connect your phone to your PC now.
4. Now open Minimal ADB & Fastboot.exe from your desktop. If you do not have this file on your desktop, then go to your Windows installation drive i.e. C drive > Program Files > Minimal ADB & Fastboot > Press and hold Shift Key + Right-click on an empty area with the open folder > click “Open command window here”.
5. Connect your Xperia XA1 Ultra to your computer now. If the phone asks for any permission, allow it the connection with your computer.
6. Now in the command window, enter the following commands one by one.
   1. adb devices
   2. If the phone is connected successfully, you should see a code here with the list of devices attached.
   3. adb reboot bootloader
   4. This will reboot your phone into the bootloader mode.
   5. fastboot flash boot boot.img
   6. This will flash the boot.img image on your phone.
   7. adb reboot bootloader
   8. This will once again reboot your phone in the bootloader mode after you’ve flashed the boot.img file.
   9. fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
   10. This will flash the TWRP recovery.img file on your phone.
   11. adb reboot recovery
   12. This will reboot your phone into the newly installed TWRP recovery.

How to Root Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra

1. Copy the downloaded SuperSU.zip file to your phone’s internal or external SD card.
2. Reboot your Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra into TWRP Recovery.
3. In TWRP Recovery, tap Install > Locate the SuperSU.zip file and flash it.
4. After flashing the file, you can reboot your phone. Find SuperSU in the App Drawer now. That’s all.

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