Sony Xperia V is among the Sony mid-rangers which will be remembered for long. The device was pulled out of curtains back in August, 2012. The device sported a 4.3-inch display with 342 ppi and 720 x 1280 pixels resolution. Xperia V was dust and water resistant with IP57 certification. Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus CPU accompanied by Adreno 225 powered up the Xperia V. A 13 MP shooter was fixed at its back. A RAM of 1 GB and internal storage of 8 GB was a part of this device. Xperia V ran on Android 4.0 ICS out of the box and it was updated to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean later on. Unfortunately, the device didn’t get any further version of Android after the Jelly Bean update.
After the full stop at Jelly Bean, Xperia V has been relying on the favours done by custom ROM developers only. A new custom ROM based on Android 7.1 Nougat is now available for the Xperia V. The ROM we are talking about is the CyanogenMod 14.1 custom ROM. If you are not already familiar with CM custom ROMs, you may want to know that it is the most popular and most widely used aftermarket Android firmware. CyanogenMod is already available for thousands of Android smartphones out there. This new CyanogenMod 14.1 gives you a chance to taste the sweet Nougats on your Xperia V.
CM 14.1 for Xperia V has already entered its beta stage. There might be a few bugs, but the ROM can be used as a daily driver. You will need a custom recovery to flash it on your phone. The guide coming your way will help you on how to update Sony Xperia V to Android 7.1 Nougat via CyanogenMod 14.1 Custom ROM. Have a look on the early preparations and then flash the ROM now.
Early Preparations:
- This custom ROM is only for the device mentioned above. Make sure that your model number matches the one listed above. To do so, go to Settings > About Device on your device and see your model number. Flashing this ROM on any other device will result in bricking it so make sure that you meet this requirement first of all.
- Make sure that your battery is charged enough to complete the flashing process. In case your battery is low and your device goes dead during the flashing process, you may end up soft bricking your device as it won’t complete the flashing process.
- Your device’s bootloader must be unlocked in order to flash this custom ROM. You can unlock it by using our Sony bootloader unlock guide.
- Just to be on the safe side, you may consider backing up each and everything from your Android device. This is highly recommended so that in case anything goes wrong, you still have the access to all of your data and you can restore it immediately. You may backup everything as listed below.
- Backup SMS Messages
- Backup Call Logs
- Backup Contacts
- Backup Media – Copy your files manually to your PC or Laptop.
- Titanium Backup – If already rooted, use Titanium Backup to backup all of your apps, system data and other important content.
- Backup Nandroid – If CWM or TWRP installed previously, otherwise skip this step and perform this at the end of flashing.
The methods involved in flashing custom recoveries, roms and rooting your phone are highly custom and may result in bricking your device, and has nothing to do with Google or the device manufacturer that is Sony in our case. Also rooting your device will void its warranty and you will be no longer eligible for any kind of free device services by the manufacturers/warranty providers. In case of any mishap we may not be held responsible. Follow these instructions to the letter to avoid any mishap or bricking. Make sure that whatever you do, you are doing it at your own responsibility.
Update Sony Xperia V to Android 7.1 Nougat via CyanogenMod 14.1 Custom ROM
- Download the CyanogenMod ROM.zip [ROM.zip] file.
- Download Google Gapps.zip (ARM – Android 7.x micro or pico).
- Place the ROM.zip file and Gapps.zip file on your phone’s internal or external sd card.
- Download Android ADB and Fastboot drivers, follow our full guide here to make it easy.
- Open the downloaded ROM.zip on your PC and extract the Boot.img file only.
- Now place the kernel file that is boot.img file that you extracted from the zip folder in the fastboot folder that you downloaded from the guide linked above.
- After placing the kernel file in the fastboot folder, open the fastboot folder. Press shift and then Right click on any empty area inside the folder, now select “Open command prompt here“. flash it using the command
“fastboot flash boot boot.img”. In case you are confused, follow the Android ADB & Fastboot drivers guide carefully.
- Boot into CWM or Cyanogen recovery. To do so, turn off your device, now turn it on and quickly press volume up key, you will get the CWM interface.
- In CWM wipe the factory data, cache and dalvik cache.
- Now select “Install Zip>Choose Zip from Sd card / external Sd card”.
- Select the ROM.zip file that your placed on your phone’s Sd card.
- It should take a few mins to flash the ROM, now once again select “Install Zip>Choose Zip from Sd card / external Sd card”.
- Choose the Gapps.zip file this time and flash it.
- As soon as done flashing, clear cache and dalvik cache again.
- Reboot system now, you should see the CM 14.1 ROM logo on the boot screen now, it may take upto 10 minutes in order to boot into home screen.
- Congrats! Enjoy unofficial Android 7.1 Nougat custom ROM on your Sony Xperia V now.
That’s all with the ROM installation. In case you’re stuck with anything or you’re facing any issues, feel free to drop your words in the comment box below. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
