Database Users

Noob has rooting questions about xperia play

Hi all im new to the forum and have a few questions about rooting my xperia play and wondered if some of you in the know could help?...
im interested in using gingerbreak v1.20 to do the root, i have read the tutorial and understand most of it and from what i have read on the forums other XP users have had varied success.
my questions are...
1. my phone is on a vodaphone contract and im not sure if its sim locked (to that specific network) and does this effect the root?
2. my phone had some kind of update downloaded to its software from vodaphone about 1 week ago gingerbread 2.3.2 build number 3.0.A.2.184 other people with this version root ok?
3. so just to clarify i was wondering if that update ive had has hindered my chances of the rooting also if my phone being locked to a specific network (e.g vodaphone) is a problem?
4. last but not least, if my phone fails to reboot after the rooting process, how hard is it to put it back to original version? (like do i need more software to fix the failure or can i just remove the battery wait 30secs and itll be back to normal)?
i know these may seem very basic questions to u veteran rooters, but id like to get involved i just wanna have more knowledge myself before i jump in, and would appreciate your feedback, loving my xperia play and i want to improve it and not brick it
cheers in advance

I am with tmobile and also received the ota update before I rooted.
SIM lock doesn't effect root.
I can tell you that the update won't effect running Gingerbreak at all.
You shouldn't have any worries using Gingerbreak as is.
It is purely an apk and will either successfully root your device or will not.
This is the easiest method of rooting i've ever used.
I was an android n00b when I got my hero & had to go through the method of creating a gold card & reverting to an older build & flashing flashrec!
To be honest, now my play is rooted in probably won't even bother using custom roms in the future.
I did all that with my hero and am happy with the plays UI.
I just wanted root to free up more space.
I'd also recommend researching setinstalllocation2 on here.
Doing this natively installs everything to sd and is worth the time.

cheers for the speedy reply DeadlyDazza, yeah id like to remove some of the stock rubbish to free up some space i was also hoping to do a small overclock, is this possible with a basic root? using the android overclocking apps?
im still nervous about the reboot and it not coming back on :S

@DeadlyDazza did you use gingerbreak on an empty/formatted sd card like described in the tutorial or does it also work with a sd full of installed apps? ( i really dont want to delete all my apps and data)
cheers covux

I have a fair bit of installing custom Roms on Android phones and i can honestly say this -
Unless you are rooting the phone in order to help develop custom roms and tweaks there really is no point in rooting it at the current moment.
Gingerbread is excellent at managing apps and the Xperia Play is designed so that games run independently from your homescreen.
"Trimming the fat" will offer almost zero benefit at the moment.
My advice is to wait a while, let the experts put together some custom Roms and gain access to the Kernel, allowing us to overclock.
Until then, i do not see a reason to root at all.

Unless you just, like me, wants to get rid of bloatware and ads in various apps and other benefits with root access
+1 on liking the XP UI and don't want to flash and mod this phone as I did with my HTC desire hd
If you just want that, root it now and keep your locked bootloader and enjoy the XP as it is
Regards Dousan...

Rooting does have many benefits, which mine was to free up more space on a device that, although is designed for gamers, seems to fall very short of.
Also to use root enabled apps such as cache mate.
Apart from the space issues, which have now been resolved by rooting & setinstalllocation2, I'm more than happy with my Xperia Play.
Will I be saying the same in 6 months? Probably not, I'll probably be wanting a fresher feel.
But that depends on how much support SE give the Play (my last device was the Hero & HTC was very slow with their support).
In answer to the question about running Gingerbreak with blank sd.
I had a spare 8gig that I formatted & used.
I didn't want to risk losing any data & couldn't be bothered to back up the 14gig on my card.
Although I have heard a few people say that running Gingerbreak is completely safe & won't erase any data.

Didn't erase anything on my sdcard when I rooted my XP, would still recommend a backup before using gingerbreak I was just lazy and went ahead without doing a backup. Did one today...
Regards Dousan...

@DeadlyDazza, @Dousan thanks for the info, i think i will also use a spare blank sd.

dsswoosh said:
IXperia Play is designed so that games run independently from your homescreen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How exactly?
Whenever I navigate home away from a running game (such as to check a text) my XP shuts down the game.

DeadlyDazza said:
How exactly?
Whenever I navigate home away from a running game (such as to check a text) my XP shuts down the game.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read in one of the reviews/specs for the phone that the homescreen and gaming operate independently meaning that when you play games, the homescreen sits in another part of memory or works in another processing thread or something.
The point being made was that whatever app you have open in the homescreen, won't make your games stutter or lag when you are playing them.
Maybe an expert can clarify this.
As for your problem, i can say that something is wrong with your setup for your games to be unloaded out of memory and shutdown when you navigate to the homescreen.
I would imagine you have an appkiller that is setup to close all running apps when you navigate to the homescreen.
I can't stress the importance of not using app killers with the gingerbread o/s. They are not needed, they will not improve performance of the phone, they will not make you battery last longer.
In fact, app killers will make your battery last SHORTER on gingerbread, since you will be using alot more processing power to load and unload them.

I don't use any app-killers.

Do you navigate to your homescreen with the back button, the home button or holding the home button and selecting a new icon?

Ok I have just performed 3 tests.
1) Emulator test - had tiger genesis running playing sonic 2. Hit the home button and navigated instantly to home screen. Tiger genesis happily sits in the notification bar. Navigating back to tiger genesis sees it exactly as before I left it.
2) Playstation pocket game crash bandicoot - loaded the game and hit the hom
e key. Same as above. The game sits in the notification bar and returns to the exact state you left it in when you return back to it.
3) Xperia play game Backstab - loaded the game and hit the home key. The game did not sit in they notification bar, but reselecting the game from the xperia play menu put the game onscreen at the exact position I left it from.
I can not re-create your situation where navigating to the homescreen makes the game unload from memory.
I made his post on my xperia play btw and performed each test while making this post. My browser doesn' t even unload from memory.

dsswoosh said:
Do you navigate to your homescreen with the back button, the home button or holding the home button and selecting a new icon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Usually just by tapping the home button. I only hold home for hotswitching & only navigate back to quit.

DeadlyDazza said:
Usually just by tapping the home button. I only hold home for hotswitching & only navigate back to quit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So does it only happen with a certain game? All games?
What about apps?
I find it hard to believe that hitting the home key unloads anything from memory unless you have changed some major settings.

Using Xperia Play games.
If I go to home when playing or paused the game unloads.
Not changed any settings at all.

DeadlyDazza said:
Using Xperia Play games.
If I go to home when playing or paused the game unloads.
Not changed any settings at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok try this and tell me what happens.
- Slide the phone open
- Load Bruce Lee
- Get into an actual fight
- Hit the home key
- Slide the phone down
- Slide the phone up
- Load Bruce Lee
After doing this, my game has paused, but is exactly where i left it. The game did not unload, and therefore did not reload. It was exactly as i left it.
If yours does not do the same, and you havn't changed any settings or are running any app killers, then i suggest you make sure you have the latest revision of firmware and try again.

Bruce Lee stays in memory ok.
Star Battalion & Dungeon Defenders quit as soon as you hit home.

DeadlyDazza said:
Bruce Lee stays in memory ok.
Star Battalion & Dungeon Defenders quit as soon as you hit home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confirm that Star Battalion stays in memory after i hit the home screen on my phone.
It shows identical behaviour as Bruce Lee.
When you hit home, and reload the game, the game has paused itself and when you unpause, the game is exaclty as when you left it.
Can't confirm Dungeon Defenders behavious since i do not own it.
If you continue experiencing problems, i would suggest you have faulty memory and request a handset replacement.

[Q] Best _vs_ Street Figher on Nook Color? (two player)

I'm guessing probably at least a few people have found the solution to my question, if there is an easy answer: which combination of emulator + ROM gives full speed gameplay for two players (w/bluetooth gamepads) in Street Fighter on the Nook Color (or, Nook Tablet)?
So, I've tried several emulators and several different versions of Street Fighter... I have not yet found one that both runs at full speed and supports two players .
FPSE w/Street Fighter Alpah 3 looks good and supports configuring the 2nd player's controller, but, it has a little slowdown on my Nook Color (which is running CM 7.1).
Tiger Arcade seems to support various versions of Street Fighter at good speed, but, I can't seem to find how to configure the second player's controller (WTF?)?
Mame4Droid seems to have very limited ROM support, I was hoping to have more options than just the couple of older Street Fighter II ROMs that it supports. I will go back to this emu and see how the performance is now that I've got both Sixaxis controllers and run into problems with those other two emus. Will update later...
EDIT: It looks like Mame4Android supports two players and runs at least a couple of Street Fighter II versions reasonably fast (still not a steady 60 FPS however), but, I'd really like some more recent version such as one of the "Alphas" or "Marvel vs Capcom".
Once CM9 "beta" is realeased for Nook Tablet, perhaps that will be enough of a speed boost to run the Street Fighter Alpha games at near steady 60 FPS (presuming the Bluetooth support is adequate by then)?

Well, I hope this works: I'm waiting for the 1.2GB "SF_IV_DATA" folder to finish copying to the SDCARD on my Nook... Maybe I should have taken the SDCARD out instead of copying over wireless (SAMBA) 'cause man this is slow...
Quite pleased I found the 600x1024 apk... Not sure if I need to install Chainfire?
Update: I found that I had to:
1) Titanium Backup restore "App+Data"
2) Then install the 1024x600 resolution one (as the restored app was wrong resolution)
Then, when I got an error message about the data being corrupted I checked to see what files in the SF_IV_DATA folder had been modified (sort by date) - only 1, good news! I just had to re-copy the res.dat file and now the game runs.
But, I've got the "white background" issue and white boxes... Looks like it won't work w/o Chainfire. Next to investigate is if Chainfire 3d is working on nook tablet yet (don't want to temp brick it and have to re do the whole root & setup all my apps again).

[help] Make me LIGHTWEIGHT.

Hello, As you all probably know the space for install files, basic settings etc is an issue for the Xperia PLAY; Other, newer phones out there have better space for installing applications, settings and images.
I use my phone for everyday use, along side another (X-Play) for my work life, (I love seeing peoples faces when they realise (If I can paraphrase) "I can haz games Consoole") I use my main phone, which in this instance is from herein "Phone-A" for every purpose from listening to music whilst jogging/at the gym, Texting, calling, "pinging" on various chat programs, editing documents, looking at pictures, surfing the net to Games and even occasionally taking photos.
Phone-B however is used solely used for making phone calls, emails and texting. Which Isn't much of an issue as its solely used for Work. I replaced that dreaded Wildfire when I had the funds, thank god.
My issue is that on Phone-A I'm having "Insufficient space!" messages almost EVERY SINGLE DAY. I've done everything I can bar deleting apps that I Use on a regular basis (Games, Music player etc) heres a list of the applications installed below;
ROOTED, 16GB Card
Homescreen - Nemus Launcher - 2.73Mb
Games -
SIMS 3
BRUCE LEE
CRASH BANDICOOT
BIA2
MODERNCOMBAT2
DRAG RACING
BIA2 FREE HD+ (??)
GT FREE+ HD
BLOOD AND GLORY
R6 HD
BFBC2
ASPHALT 6
NFS HOT PURSUIT
GTA3 10YR HD
ZOMBIEVILLE
MINECRAFT
Music - MIXZING - 8.11Mb
Web - DOLPHIN HD - 11.94Mb
I'm Rooted and not afraid to use it, if you can let me know of some files and applications to remove (Preferably non of the games, apart from GT,ZOMBIEVILLE & BIA) I don't mind doing it.
If you can also give me an alternative to the home screen, music player and webbrowser which are lightweight and yet still have full functionality that would be great! Music is a big part of my life, headphones go everywhere with my (I travel alot) I spend alot of time in the desert (Afg'n, iRagg) so these phones are sturdy and yet still VERY powerful in there capabilities.
I know theres alot of games but Hey, its a gaming phone why not game on it?
I have however removed some pre-installed crap that came on it but now I'm looking to lightweight my kit as I do my full kit when I'm working (I work in Close Protection, so a good phone is essential )

JackJack762 said:
Music - MIXZING - 8.11Mb
Web - DOLPHIN HD - 11.94Mb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the love of God, man... move them ****s to SD!
Also learn basic ADB navigation so you can move more to your SD card with the setInstallLocation 2 command.
Then check out THIS SAFE LIST so you can debloat your phone.
Do you have 2.3.3? If so, ditch that **** for 2.3.4. It's a difference as drastic as having a base of 250MB compared to 2.3.3's 180MB. It saves you a lot of pain in the ass dalvik-cache insanity, and FTF installers are too easy to use to take any BS.
With this checklist knocked out:
• Get FW 2.3.4
• ADB setInstallLocation 2
• Root
• Debloat
I've been able to cram 205 apps on this puny 400MB internal storage phone, and still have 140MB left.

Holy God damn, i'm running 2.3.2 I didnt even check :/
I just downloaded ZEAM which is 325Kb, which I'm happy with. But the above listed files, err Dolphin and Mixzing.. Err that is on Card!
I've DEBLOATED, Rooted but what is this ADB setinstall2? Is it moving apps from Phone to SD, like I can do in SuperManager?
If I update to 2.3.4 will I loose root?

JackJack762 said:
Holy God damn, i'm running 2.3.2 I didnt even check :/
I just downloaded ZEAM which is 325Kb, which I'm happy with. But the above listed files, err Dolphin and Mixzing.. Err that is on Card!
I've DEBLOATED, Rooted but what is this ADB setinstall2? Is it moving apps from Phone to SD, like I can do in SuperManager?
If I update to 2.3.4 will I loose root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ADB setinstall2 moves apps to SD automatically when installing i think
You will lose root if you use flashtool to update but OTA (over the air) you wont, even if you do lose root you can get it back easily using superoneclick
If your so worried about space why don't you partition 1gb off the card and use that for apps using Link2SD from the market, that saves phone memory and you'll never have to worry about space error messages again

I'll do a partition in a while, but at the moment I'm doing an OTA update.
I just had a Sh*t scare, looked down at my phone (On charge) and the blue update bar had disapeered and then the screen went black. Its back now though..
I always go with OTA, never touch flashtools unless I know what I'm truely doing (Give me a games console or PC any day!!)
Right so I've tried 3 times now Im getting a "Software could not update" message and its still not doing F'all So im stuck on 2.3.2 untill I can figure out why...

You probably deleted a system app/file. It won't update if that's the case. Just use flashtool. Get the .42 firmware put it in the firmware folder in flash tool, put phone into flash mode, flash, done. Easy

I ended up using the official Sony companion thingy bob, one word for this situation.
SNAFU.
Lost ROOT, added all sorts of crap included FIFA, star battalion, support etc ahhhh FUBAR.
Flash tool it is then if it can root..
EDIT:: I CAN HAZ R00T! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1312859, done done done! Thanks, Cool guys

Well done, pat on the back

Gratz to figuring it out. However, all this could be avoided in the future if n00bs would actually check out the threads already posted to see what options they have before posting. Just sayin'.

+1
Sent from my R800i using Tapatalk

How do I get the most out of the device?

So, I finally got back into my Xperia Play, but I have a rooted verizon version that was formally one of the more locked down ones before it was converted. I removed all the bloatware but sadly its still slow as a snail. I wanted to use it as a great media and gaming device, but its slow.
I disabled all google services (Because I simply don't use or need them, but I kept backups just incase) and I removed all the pre installed Verizon garbage (Especially VCast) but again, slow. Are there any ideas on what I can do to get the most out of my xperia? Its a really nice device and I want to make it even greater. I am looking for the following suggestions and ideas:
- Alternate Apps (Alternates to the stock Gui and google services are ideal)
- Alternate roms
- Games that are GOOD that make use of the xperia play gamepad
Ideally all suggestions are from people who have an Xperia Play and know how the games/apps/guis/roms/etc perform. Thank You!
If it helps at all I am running Android 2.0.4 I believe.

well get urself a speed rom, i m using xperia nxt gaming. using doomkernel for some unknown reason lupus is getting me boot loops sadly.

Hello guys,
I am still (!) using the Xperia Play as my main phone (!!!), with the stock GB rom. It's sometimes difficult, but I'm holding on. No real alternative anyway...
So I'd like to flash with one of the lightest GB custom roms possible, cause I'm fed up of my phone being so sluggish, having not enough ram (multitasking is terrible).
HOWEVER, this is my main phone : I need to keep the ability to send emails, messages, make phone calls, use the agenda with exchange active sync, access to google play, etc... Well, the basic phone use. I'm interested in NXT gaming, but I'm afraid it removed to many functions and core apps that I need...
=> Could you please advise me with some GB custom roms that are super light BUT still keep the basic phone functionnalities ?
Thanks and regards,

I'll bump this thread. i have a locked down roger r800a and all the super one click tool link is dead. and zerge rush is not working. i want to flash a custom rom but right now with the dead links and i am stuck with stock. playing a lot of snes and psx.

General recommendations for using Xperia Play in 2019?

basically I am taking of the dust of my xperia play after a few years... and I want to use it as a backup phone for social media in general (facebook, whatsapp, instagram, youtube) and some emulation and some old apk games.
The main problem after these years are limited internal storage space and compatibility.
- Is there any better rom or app that make it more usable?
- maybe make it "think" the SD card is the internal storage? It would fix many problems
- a 4.x android version rom, maybe?
- I would love to be able to use the touchpad in a n64 emulator or maybe make the controller recognized as a modern regular android game controller for other games, but no problem if not possible.
So, I would like to ask for recommendations to workaround these issues and make it usable again.
Thank you very much!
EDIT: I have a R800i model

i had been using the rom nexplay for a lot of time in my xplay, its 4.04 i think, no touchpads tho. you can use link2sd to use the sd as internal storage, but you need a fast card. as for social apps, if you have link2sd it could work, but nowday they are really heavy on the cpu and on the memory, so not sure how it would perform. the best rom is probably still stock debloated and with custom kernel

Good Evening!
Maybe, you can try to use a CM12 version suplied by Smokerman
you.be/watch?v=oIS9K8ytpPY
If you tried this rom, please, share your experience.

Hello,
I have been using an Xperia Play lately and it is very difficult to get something to work because of the poor memory size available for applications.
I tried CM13 (Android 6 Marshmallow) via the Legacy Xperia team and it worked somehow. But unfortunatly when Google Services are installed, the phone becomes somewhat unusable even through the OS is set to take the SD card as internal storage. Maybe my SD card is not quick enough... I tried John GBAC emulator with a GBA rom (Pokémon Emerauld) and performances were poor.
I sure will try again this rom without Google Services if I can find a better alternative (i.e good light store that contains social app and stuff).
Now I am running the CM11 rom (also Legacy Xperia one) and performance are a bit better once the Play Store and Google Services were up to date. Still, the internal memory remains an issue and App2SD (or similar) is pretty much mandatory in order to install more than 2 apps. I didn't try emulators yet, I hope it will be better than on CM13. You should note that on those roms, Bravia Engine and XLoud doesn't seem to be implemented.
I also tried an ICS rom (I think it was Ice Cream Speed) that was OK but after a bit it started rebooting after 2min using the phone. Finally, you have the Gin2Kitkat rom under 2.3.7 (limited for app installation) but it looked to be the snappier experience I could find.
I am looking forward to try this phone on other roms without any Google Services to see if I can run something like RetroArch to play games on the go. I really enjoy the controller for emulators.