Sony Xperia Bootloader Unlock Tutorial

Sony just like many other manufacturers has there own Bootloader Unlock program.  This program is designed for Developers but can be used by anyone to get greater control over there Android device.  In most cases unlocking the bootloader on your Sony Xperia device will void the warranty. The best practice is to fully test the operation of your device before you unlock the bootloader. Most of the time when you unlock your bootloader it will wipe data factory reset the device so make sure you backup everything of importance before starting this process. Now that the WARNINGS are out of the way lets get into this tutorial.

Directions you will need to unlock the bootloader on your Sony Xperia device

Install the Android SDK or just the ADB and fastboot files extract the adb and fastboot files to a folder.

If you are on windows you may need the drivers for your device also and HERE is a great place to look for them

 

In your device, open the dialler and enter *#*#7378423#*#* to access the service menu.

Tap Service info > Configuration > Rooting Status. Check if Bootloader unlock allowed says Yes. Also write down your IMEI from this screen.

Now that you have your files setup and your IMEI number written down you can go to the SONY DEVELOPER UNLOCK BOOTLOADER SITE. 

Select your Sony Xperia device from the list at the bottom of the site and click continue.

On the next page you need to enter your email address so that Sony can verify that you arent a bot and sent you a link with your unlock code.

Open your email account and look for email from Sony with this in it. “You have requested to unlock the boot loader of your Xperia™ device. To verify this, click the following link: Click Here To Proceed”

Once the website loads up you will need to enter your IMEI number that you wrote down earlier or dail *#06# from the phone dailer to view your IMEI number.

Once you submit your IMEI you will get the rest of the directions to unlock the bootloader like below.

Now that you have the full directions from Sony its time to unlock the bootloader on your Xperia device.

These direction will be for windows but it is basically the same for mac and linux.

1. Turn on developer Options on your device and enable adb debugging. outlined in picture above.
2. Open your adb and fastboot folder. Then with your mouse right click and select open a command window here. Alternative is to open command prompt and CD to the adb and fastboot folder.
3. Now enter this command ( adb devices ) in the command window. you should have a popup on the phone to allow adb from this computer. allow it
4. run command ( adb devices ) again this time you should see your serial number followed by the word device. if you get this far it means that your drivers and adb are working properly.  See picture below

5.  From here lets reboot the device to bootloader mode with command ( adb reboot bootloader ) or follow sonys lead by powering off the device then press the Volume up button at the same time as you connect the other end of the USB-cable.  Either method will reboot the device to bootloader mode.

6.  Now run command ( fastboot devices ) again this will return with your device serial number and say fastboot after it.

7.  Finally we can send the Unlock command that we got from Sony. Mine is ( fastboot -i 0x0fce oem unlock 0xE30FD3E75A61F33C ) but yours will very.

8.  look at your phone and follow any directions that come up on the screen and then thats it your done.

Once the process has fully finished then you can send command ( fastboot reboot ) to boot the device back up again. First boot up will take much longer then normal, it could take as long as 10 minutes to boot up.

Now that you have unlocked your bootloader you can easily install custom roms with cool hacks and mods. Root access and using root apps is in your near future. If you want to learn more about your sony device check out some of my video tutorials HERE

RootJunky Out