Update Xperia S LT26i to Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with CM12 Custom ROM
This is an unofficial build of CyanogenMod 12 for Sony Xperia S, model number LT26i. The Android version of this custom ROM is Android 5.0.2 Lollipop. This is the latest version of Android available so far and it is indeed the best of the Android yet. Sony Xperia S has been officially updated to Android Jelly Bean. It is the final official update for this phone. This phone is powered by a Dual Core processor along with 1 GB of RAM. It can easily handle the Lollipop OS. To install Android 5.0.2 on Xperia S, follow the guide given below to install it on your phone. Make sure that you follow all the steps and pre-cautions given below.
Contents
Requirements
Unlock Bootloader of Xperia S. If you do not know how to do it or you have no idea about what it is, then follow this guide to unlock Bootloader of your phone. How to Unlock Bootloader of Xperia Smartphones
Install USB Drivers for Xperia S using the drivers installer from the Flashtool installation folder. Download Flashtool from here. After installing USB Drivers, connect phone to PC using the USB cable so that USB drivers are installed properly and connection is established properly.
Charge your phone up to 50%. It is very important because phone should not turn off during flashing process. If the phone turns off during the flashing process, it can damage the device.
Make a backup of all Contacts and Messages on phone. – Guide
Make a Nandroid Backup if any custom Recovery is installed already. If not, you will find a custom recovery later in this guide. – Guide
Copy all the media files and anything else stored in the internal memory to a PC before flashing to save this data.
Disclaimer
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.
Make sure that bootloader is unlocked and phone is charged to 50% at least.
Now turn off phone wait for 5 seconds.
Hold volume up button and connect phone to PC.
The LED should remain blue, which means that phone is in fastboot mode.
Now copy recovery.elf to Fastboot folder or Minimal ADB and Fastboot installation folder.
Open that folder, hold shift button on keyboard and right-click on mouse.
Click on Open Command Window Here.
Type fastboot devices and press Enter.
It should only one fastboot connected device in return. If it showing more that one, then disconnect any other connected device or close any Android Emulator. Also make sure that PC Companion is completely disabled if installed.
Now type fastboot flash boot recovery.elf and press Enter.
It will flash TWRP custom recovery on your phone.
Type fastboot reboot and press Enter.
Now use the guide given above to make the Nandroid backup if not made already.
Extract the downloaded custom ROM zip and copy boot.img to Fastboot folder or Minimal ADB and Fastboot installation folder.
Copy the ROM zip to phone’s internal storage.
Re-enter phone into the fastboot mode.
Type fastboot flash boot boot.img and press Enter.
Flashing will be done in few minutes.
Type fastboot reboot and press Enter.
While phone is booting up, press Volume up/down continuously to enter recovery mode.
In the recovery mode, select Install and navigate to the folder where ROM zip is placed.
Install the ROM zip and reboot the phone.
Performing factory reset and wiping Dalvik cache after installing ROM is highly recommended!
The phone will boot up to home screen in 5 minutes.
To install Google Applications, copy downloaded Gapps zip file to phone and flash it the same way as ROM. Factory reset is not required this time.
That’s all!
Got any question? Ask me in the comments below 🙂
This post was last modified on February 27, 2015 7:05 pm
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.
@shah this is a custom ROM. Please read the guide and do what you want..
i have follow your step, n now i have great lolipop for my xperia s. but it become unrooted device, n i can't boot in recovery mode. what i do to solve this ? "sorry 4 my bad english"
Well i installed pure aosp lollipop on my xperia s and its unrooted too like u said... Any solution how can i root it again? :/
@telendar:disqus that is not a stock ROM. You have installed a custom ROM, that is probably pre-rooted. You need to install a stock ROM and only then you can root your device according to your liking.
But how can i install stock ROM? And can i install cyanogenmod 12 then? Ty :)
and yes, you can install CM 12 after that as well.
Thankies a lot :*
Oh 1 more thing :D is it possible to give me link for that FTF file for my xperia s? :) it would help me a lot ^^
Wipe userdata, systemdata and cache before flashing the ROM and it should work fine then.
Type fastboot devices and press Enter.
----- After this step My device has gone in continuous reboot loop. SONY logo appears & reboots again with PINK LED on. I tried 2 times . Please help
@shahajipatil:disqus you haven't even flashed any file yet, the phone shouldn't go into bootloop. Can you provide a little more details of what you've done ?
its after flashing TWRP custom recovery
wow... im going to installed this on my xpedia lt26i ...i will review the result later
DONE. It works well. Thanks the guide.
One more question: I cant find walkman in this. Are there anyway to take it to lollipop?
i believe you got your problem when you had done at step 17 (flash boot.img). Custom recovery is not causing this issue. You can try to flash "step 17 fisrt", then do "step 10". After fastboot reboot, press volumn up down for sometimes to go to recovery. Flash rom.zip then let's enjoy yourself with lollipop...
Cheer ...
p/s: you have to wait more than 5 mins at the CM logo before go to the android installation.. Lets take the coffee and let your fone do it :)
wow..DONE
I got the problem with google services has been stopped...I only wipe the cache and david cache..
Maybe this processing the full wipe to work...let's try
My bad..i forgot wipe all before flash rom..that's why ...gapps JB cant run on lollipop .. lol...so google service fail for all for sure kakka...
It works well for now. I don't see any error...Maybe it will appeara in some next days hahah...thanks the guide
DONE... I dont see any bug for now. Maybe it will be appeare in some next days. Let's see :)
This is awesome...my xpedia is running lollipop now...
thanks guide
enjoying !!! :)
I'm thinking about installing this ROM, how is it working for you? I'd like to know your feedback. Thx!
How do you move the ROM onto your phone with TWRP on it? My comp wont recognize my phone...
I have the same problem and I dont know what to do
I used "adb push file.zip /sdcard/" I know It's an year since you asked but It could be userful to someone else
cant download the ROM ???? saying webpage not available
@disqus_jbV8QroH3Z:disqus Try again. Could be an issue with your internet. The link is working fine.
View Comments
@shah this is a custom ROM. Please read the guide and do what you want..
i have follow your step, n now i have great lolipop for my xperia s. but it become unrooted device, n i can't boot in recovery mode. what i do to solve this ? "sorry 4 my bad english"
Well i installed pure aosp lollipop on my xperia s and its unrooted too like u said... Any solution how can i root it again? :/
@telendar:disqus that is not a stock ROM. You have installed a custom ROM, that is probably pre-rooted. You need to install a stock ROM and only then you can root your device according to your liking.
But how can i install stock ROM? And can i install cyanogenmod 12 then? Ty :)
@telendar:disqus these guides will help you.
https://techbeasts.com/2014/08/26/how-to-download-sony-xperia-official-firmware-and-create-ftf-file/
https://techbeasts.com/2014/10/09/how-unroot-restore-stock-firmware-sony-xperia/
and yes, you can install CM 12 after that as well.
Thankies a lot :*
Oh 1 more thing :D is it possible to give me link for that FTF file for my xperia s? :) it would help me a lot ^^
Wipe userdata, systemdata and cache before flashing the ROM and it should work fine then.
Type fastboot devices and press Enter.
----- After this step My device has gone in continuous reboot loop. SONY logo appears & reboots again with PINK LED on. I tried 2 times . Please help
@shahajipatil:disqus you haven't even flashed any file yet, the phone shouldn't go into bootloop. Can you provide a little more details of what you've done ?
its after flashing TWRP custom recovery
wow... im going to installed this on my xpedia lt26i ...i will review the result later
DONE. It works well. Thanks the guide.
One more question: I cant find walkman in this. Are there anyway to take it to lollipop?
i believe you got your problem when you had done at step 17 (flash boot.img). Custom recovery is not causing this issue. You can try to flash "step 17 fisrt", then do "step 10". After fastboot reboot, press volumn up down for sometimes to go to recovery. Flash rom.zip then let's enjoy yourself with lollipop...
Cheer ...
p/s: you have to wait more than 5 mins at the CM logo before go to the android installation.. Lets take the coffee and let your fone do it :)
wow..DONE
I got the problem with google services has been stopped...I only wipe the cache and david cache..
Maybe this processing the full wipe to work...let's try
My bad..i forgot wipe all before flash rom..that's why ...gapps JB cant run on lollipop .. lol...so google service fail for all for sure kakka...
It works well for now. I don't see any error...Maybe it will appeara in some next days hahah...thanks the guide
DONE... I dont see any bug for now. Maybe it will be appeare in some next days. Let's see :)
This is awesome...my xpedia is running lollipop now...
thanks guide
enjoying !!! :)
I'm thinking about installing this ROM, how is it working for you? I'd like to know your feedback. Thx!
How do you move the ROM onto your phone with TWRP on it? My comp wont recognize my phone...
I have the same problem and I dont know what to do
I used "adb push file.zip /sdcard/" I know It's an year since you asked but It could be userful to someone else
cant download the ROM ???? saying webpage not available
@disqus_jbV8QroH3Z:disqus Try again. Could be an issue with your internet. The link is working fine.