Update Sony Xperia Z C6603 to Latest Android 4.3 10.4.B.0.569 Firmware

By
Usama M
-
41

Sony’s Xperia Z was launched at CES 2013, giving a start to Sony’s high end flagship series. The phone sported a beautiful 5 inch full HD display, 13.1 MP camera at the back that was the best smartphone camera at the time of its release, while a 2.2 MP camera at the front was fixed. Under the hood it has a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 600 Quad Core CPU along with Adreno 320 GPU and 2 GB RAM while a 2330 mAh battery was placed inside as well. Xperia Z was world’s first waterproof and dust proof phone as well.

Out of the box Xperia Z ran on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, Sony recently took the phone to Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and the plans for further upgrades on the Xperia Z to Android 4.3 and Android 4.4 KitKat were revealed as well. The good news is Sony has already released the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean for Xperia Z, Z1, ZR, ZL and Tablet Z. The update is on a slow roll out to different regions at the moment.Xperia-Z-front-40-wet-v2-1024x1024

As Over-The-Air updates take quite some time to hit all the regions, some you couldn’t wait enough to taste the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean on your devices, to overcome the need of latest firmware on your Xperia Z C6603, we’ve made a detail guide below that will drive you to the 10.4.B.0.569 firmware on your device. The new firmware comes with a lot of bug fixes, performance enhancements, new themes, camera app is improved and has new camera affects, and there is a lot more that you may test upon upgrading. Let’s move forward to the upgrade method.

Here are some pre-requisites:

      1. This guide is only for Sony Xperia Z C6603, even though this firmware works fine on C6602, perhaps it would not be wiser to flash it on C6602 to prevent any mishap. Please check your device model first in Settings > About Device > Model.
      2. You must have installed Sony Flashtool – Get the full guide here. Also Install drivers using Flashtool > Drivers > Flashtool-drivers > Flashtool, Xperia Z, Fastboot, select all these and install.
      3. Your phone’s battery must be charged at least over 60%. This is highly recommended in order to prevent any power issues during the process.
      4. Make sure that you backup your media content,contacts, call logs and text messages.  This is important and recommended so that in case you decide to wipe your phone during the flashing process, you can get all of your data back using the backup.
      5. Enable USB debugging mode on your device. To do so, tap settings>developer options>USB debugging. If you can’t find developer options in settings, then tap settings > about device and tap “Build Number” for 7 times and you’ll get em’ activated under settings.
      6. To flash this firmware, you do not need to root your device, you do not need to unlock the bootloader. All you need is, your device must be the one mentioned and must be running on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean or Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.
      7. Download the firmware file properly.
      8. Use the OEM data cable to connect your phone to your PC. Using any other data cable might cause connection problems.
      9. Alright! Follow this guide to the letter in order to prevent any mishap.

How to Install Android 4.3 Jelly Bean 10.4.B.0.569 on Xperia Z C6603:

    1. Before moving forward, please make sure that you’ve read the pre requisites and ensure that you are set to go ahead.
      1. Download the latest firmware Android 4.3 Jelly Bean 10.4.B.0.569 FTF file. | Torrent
      2. Copy the file and paste in Flashtool>Firmwares folder.
      3. Open Flashtool.exe now.
      4. Hit the small lightening button on the top left corner and select Flashmode.
      5. Select the FTF firmware file that you placed in the Firmware folder. 
      6. From the right side, select what do you want to wipe. Data, cache and apps log, all wipes are recommended, perhaps you may select if you don’t want.
      7. Click on OK, and it will start preparing the firmware for flashing. This may take a little while to load.
      8. As soon as the firmware is loaded, it will prompt you to attach the phone by turning it off and keeping the back key press.
      9. For Xperia Z, Volume Down key will do the job of back key, just turn off your phone, keep the Volume Down key pressedand plug in the data cable.
      10. As soon as the phone is detected in Flashmode, the firmware will start flashing, Do not leave the Volume Down key until the process is complete.
      11. As soon as you see “Flashing ended or Finished Flashing” leave the Volume Down key, plug the cable out and reboot.
      12. That’s All! Congrats! You’ve installed latest Android 4.3 Jelly Bean on your Xperia Z C6603. Enjoy
      13. Xperia Z 4 (7)Xperia Z 4 (6)Xperia Z 4 (5)Xperia Z 4 (4) Xperia Z 4 (3) Xperia Z 4 (1)Xperia Z 4 (2)

That’s All! In case you got any queries/suggestions or face any difficulties regarding this post, please feel free to stop by the comment box below and drop us your message. We will respond as quick as we can.

SHARE
Usama M
Usama is a software engineer by profession and at TechBeasts.com he uses his expertise to solve everyday consumer tech problems with his main areas of interest being Android, iOS and Windows.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

41 COMMENTS

  1. My bootloader was locked & i had root access. When i flash the commercial & journalist ftf 10.4.B.0.569 i lost root access. I would like to know how can i root it again. I’m using Xperia z c6603

    • @disqus_xSAPn2lrJx:disqus I didn’t hear any such things, that maybe possible or maybe not, because the new builds are always better than the previous ones.

  4. Hi. After i updated my Z to 4.3 (OTA) i noticed that my mobile data won’t disabled automatically on low battery mode (i set mine to 20% battery).

      • After the Update, i have this issues with xperia Z : first i can’t any more recorde voice msg in facebook messenger (it say unable to record voice), Seconde issu i can’t hear anything in VIBER and i can’t be heared, the same in WHATSUP can’t record voice message. plz post !

          • I can’t understand what did you mean by saying “but wipe your phone this time ” plz explain ….ty.

          • @disqus_Qe4p0eTrtK:disqus when you flash this firmware using flashtool, select wipe data on the right side inside the tool and then flash the firmware.

          • One more question: in this topic the android 4.3 file is 700mb, in the other topic the Android 4.3 file is 800mb. And they are uploaded in different source. Which one is the official and which one is the custom rom?

          • Dear ! it sounds bizzare to me, because you say this is an Official version. you mean the other is a custom one ? why then the topic there is called ”Install Official Android 4.3 10.4.B.0.569 Firmware…..”. What make me ask all this is the files sizes; the one here is about 700mb the other is about 850mb …..Please be clear on this. Because after i make deep search on the issues i have after i update it say that this kids of issues are caused when using Custum Rom. IF nothing here is not official OTA update Plz tell me that way you will help effectively. Thanks Usama

          • @disqus_Qe4p0eTrtK:disqus other may be for different model number. Please keep that in view. Firmwares are different for different origins and contain region specific apps that are called bloatware, these apps make it heavy. It’s just simple as the other may have less bloatware and the one with 850MB has more.

          • If you’re talking about the above two..one is a torrent and one is a mirror.. you may go with any of these. Both work fine with C6603 and it’s just a matter of pre installed apps that make it different in size.

          • Well, thanks a lot! Found a fresh RCT official ROM that was dedicated for Russia …. it works better for me and it resolved the microphone issue. The “commercial & journalist ” that you have here it’s from XPDA dev. Before Sony begging rolling out the updates in December of last year. For those how have issues like I had (read earlier comment) in my case that was Facebook causing it, when I try te record a voice msg it show recording & after I release the msg was not send and nothing happen. After this the camera was unable to record video because the mic was still blocked by FB, and all other app using mic like Google now, viber was unable to function correctly. I restart my phone and still iambic not trying to use voice msg in FB all is working well. Hope this will help.

  7. where do we find voice recorder ? if it’s not there then how are we gonna ge the previous recordings ?

  8. Good day Mr. Usama

    I’ve been making my researches over the internet until I stumbled upon your posts here at techbeasts. I have a sony xperia z phone and I have always wanted to update it to the latest android version but there aint OTA update yet, and kept trying with PC companion but to no avail. I am here in the Philippines and I am contemplating that that could be the reason why my phone isn’t
    getting the latest android version yet. However, I read some blogs of xperia owners here in the country saying they have already updated their units to the 4.3 jelly bean via PC companion, and what’s funny (dismaying for me) is that they said their phones are either xperia sp or other earlier/midrange xperia devices. I am not belittling their xperia phones or whatever but my point is,
    shouldn’t my Z could have at least been on top of the priority for android update, given that it’s the first high-end flagship phone produced by sony.

    Anyways, going back to my story, I am in deep desire to really have a taste of the latest android
    version as I have been reading a lot of good reviews from xperia owners on how their units have improved due to updating. My xperia z has a model no. c6603; runs android version 4.1.2 and build no. 10.1.1.A.1.253.

    I am not a tech wizard myself and I am new to techie terms like rooting, flashing etc., but I’m sure I can keep up, given the vast support, guides and explanations tech wiz like yourself, do provide us in the internet.

    Now, like I said earlier, I stumbled across this post and I am so close to following your guides to feed this update on my phone but I’d like to know a few things first:

    1. Is this above the official android 4.3 update for sony xperia z?

    2. Will updating thru this process void my sony warranty?

    3. Will I be able to receive additional updates as well as the android 4.4 kitkat soon, if I follow the above process?

    4. If I did follow these steps and let’s say some mishap happens within the process, will I be able to go back to my original android version? How?

    Pretty much, this are my questions (probably for now), and I do really hope you can help me with it.

    Thanks in advance.

    • @boyadobo:disqus thank you for paying us a visit.
      You may not worry about this anymore.
      The above guide is accurate.
      This firmware is official firmware for Xperia Z.
      You won’t loose your warranty.
      You will receive all future updates as well.
      Warranty is only void when you unlock the bootloader of your device, while the above guide doesn’t require an unlocked bootloader.
      If something goes wrong, you can easily start the whole process again and install the firmware from scratch.
      If you want to go back to your old firmware if something goes wrong,, you will have to create a Nandroid backup and for that you need a custom recovery, however there is no need to worry about it and you may update your device without any fear.
      I hope that this goes fine for you. If you got any further questions, please feel free to ask.

      • Hey there Mr. Usama.
        I’ve been busy for sometime until i had this chance and paid a visit here today and finally updated my phone.

        Wow! as far as right now i’d say the update is awesome. At this moment I’m typing I’m restoring my contacts, msgs etc but I cant wait to tell how glad i am for deciding to go for the 4.3. I hope there won’t be any issue at all after i did the update, though i know for sure you’d still help me if there would be any 😉

        Regards and big big thanks!

        Ps. the AR effects are not there (not a big deal though)

  9. hello Mr. Usama

    is it worked on all C6603? on all build numbers and regions? because my xperia is on Indonesia region and the android version is 4.1.2 and build no. 10.1.1.A.1.253

    Thank you 🙂

      • 1 more question Mr. Usama

        yesterday, i have downloaded the .FTF file that you mentioned above via internet download manager..
        but the format of the file that i download was .zip not .FTF
        but if i download it via chrome browser the format was .FTF..
        is it okay if i just change the format from .zip into .FTF? Bcause if i download it from the start, it will take more time..

        • @timothiusadrianadiwinata:disqus It’s kinda strange, the format actually is .FTF and Internet download manager shouldn’t make a difference. I’m not sure about this, I suggest you downloading it using chrome and then flash the FTF. Sorry for the delay in reply, I’ve been away for a while.

  11. Mr Usama want to ask something about this update.
    If i update with using this way, will i lost the warranty?
    And if KitKat 4.4 already out official.
    Can it be update without this way? (After updated to 4.3 using this).

    • @disqus_e2wdYeUXlZ:disqus no you don’t loose warranty. It’s official firmware.
      Yes if KitKat comes out, you can update through OTA.
      Good Luck.

  12. Thanks Usama it’s so ez to install. I’m in Pakistan and no region update her but you help me alto thanks man. 🙂

  13. hi mr Usama, is possible downgrade 4.4.2 to 4.3 with this procedure? thanks.
    the device is a c6603 no brand italy.

    • @disqus_7Y4KTLdMD9:disqus no, I do not recommend downgrading, it may cause serious issues with the device. Latest firmware is always better.

  14. thanks mr Usama, but I have really a lot of problems since I upgraded to 4.4.2 and so I just wanted to know if it is possible with the procedure and its File 4.3 flashtool to downgrade.
    Because I know, for example, that with Samsung s4 is not possible. This is the last file 4.3?

    • @disqus_7Y4KTLdMD9:disqus Nope. there maybe some other 4.3 firmware as well, I’m not sure if its the last 4.3.

Got a question/query or a suggestion? Drop it below.