The Xperia Z is Sony’s flagship 2013 device which was announced at the CES last month. It is not officially available yet in most global markets with the exception of Japan and France, but is expected to be out starting later this week. Despite its limited availability at this point in time, the device has already been rooted, and that too remotely! Of course, we have Sony to thank for that as well, with then being so developer friendly and allowing bootloader unlocking from their official website. Once the device bootloader is unlocked, it allows for all sorts of development to happen, including root methods and custom recoveries for the device. The Custom ROMs soon follow, and with this beast of a device, we have no doubts whatsoever that it will enjoy a lot of developer attention.
How to Root Xperia Z
Root access to the Xperia Z has been achieved by Recognized XDA developer DooMLoRD. The interesting part is not necessarily that the dev has achieved root access, but more about how he did it. To start with, he doesn’t personally have access to an Xperia Z. So he connected with someone else in another region who owned one, and went about his stuff over Team Viewer, which is a remote-access tool! Achieving root access on a device is great, but being able to achieve it remotely, without actually laying your hands on the device – that’s priceless. This root exploit is based on the acclaimed Chainfire’s CF-Auto-Root exploit for the Nexus 4, which has been tweaked to work with the Xperia Z.
And if you happen to somehow own an Xperia Z, and are looking for a guide on how to root it, you’re in just the right place. Here’s how you can Root Xperia Z.
Disclaimer : Keep in mind that Bootloader Unlocking & Rooting will cancel out your warranty. Please proceed at your own risk. AndroidForest does not assume liability for any damage that may occur to your device during the process.
Pre-Requisites
- Unlocked Bootloader – You can unlock your device bootloader via the official Sony Mobile Bootloader Unlock Page
- Device Model number C6602 or C6603 – Don’t try this with any other device
- Firmware Version 10.1.A.1.350 – This guide will only work with this firmware version. Do not try this if you have a different one
- Modified CF-Auto-Root kernel
- Insecure Stock Kernel
- Fastboot
How to Root the Xperia Z
- Make sure you have the Sony USB drivers for your device installed on your PC. Installing Sony’s PC Companion software will usually do the trick for you.
- Download and extract Fastboot to the C: Drive on your PC.
- Transfer both the downloaded kernel image files to the Fastbot folder
- On your Xperia Z, go to Settings > Developer Options and Enable USB Debugging
- Reboot your phone to Fastboot mode by by turning off your phone first, then press the Volume Up key and connect the USB cable. When the Blue LED lights up, you should be in Fastboot Mode
- Open the Fastboot folder on your C: and while holding the Shift key down, Right-click anywhere in the folder and Click Open Command Window Here from the right-click menu.
- Now Type in the following command at the prompt and hit Enter
fastboot flash boot Z_DooMLoRD_CF-Auto-Root-ported_FW-350.img
- Once the flash is completed, type in this command and hit Enter to reboot your device
fastboot reboot
- Once your device has booted back up, unplug the USB cable and perform a Hard Power Off by holding the Power + Volume Up buttons pressed for about 15 seconds while the phone is ON, till your device vibrates three times.
- Now reconnect the device in fastboot mode and type in the following command and hit Enter
fastboot flash boot Z_DooMLoRD_insecure_FW-350.img
- Once done, reboot your device with the following command
fastboot reboot
- After your device has booted up, set up your Google account, and then download BusyBox from the Play Store and run the installer on your device to install BusyBox on your device
That’s it!!. Your Xperia Z now has full root access, and you can try out various root-only apps like Titanium Backup & SetCPU. Enjoy your rooted device