Update Xperia Z C6602/C6603 to Android 5.0 Lollipop Using CM 12 Custom ROM
Sony Xperia Z is the pioneer of the most successful Android smartphones series by Sony. Sony introduced a completely new form factor in mobile market and because of the build quality, this phone was one of the most popular ones at the times of its release. Sony Xperia Z is officially running Android 4.4.4 KitKat. It is the latest firmware for Xperia Z by Sony yet. Official updates should be released for this device later on. Xperia Z C6602 and Xperia Z C6603 can be updated to Android 5.0 Lollipop using the infamous CyanogenMod 11 custom ROM. Android 5.0 Lollipop is loaded with Material design. It is the latest and most intuitive makeover of Android OS yet. Android 5.0 is both a good performer and battery-friendly. That is why this version of Android is one of the most awaited ones. Sony Xperia Z users can update their devices to Android 5.0 Lollipop with the CM 12 custom ROM. Make sure that follow each and every step while installing CM 12 on Xperia Z C6602 or C6603.
Contents
Requirements
Unlock Bootloader of Xperia Z. 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 Z 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.
Extract boot.img from ROM zip.
Copy ROM zip and Gapps zip to phone’s internal memory.
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 boot.img 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 boot.img and press Enter.
Type fastboot reboot and press Enter.
While phone is booting up, press Volume up/down/power to enter recovery mode.
In the recovery mode, select Install and navigate to the folder where ROM zip is placed.
Install the ROM zip.
Install Gapps zip the same way 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 March 1, 2015 6:28 am
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.