Xperia Ray ICS Update

Xperia Ray ICS Update

A description of upgrading the Xperia Ray
from Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) to Android
4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Last updated: 28 November 2012

Disclaimer
Lets start with the usual disclaimers. This document was written based entirely on my own experiences. I make no
guarantees that the procedures outlined in this document will work for you. It is entirely possible that you can
damage your phone by following the steps in this document. I accept no liability if you damage your phone or in
any way render it unusable or unfit for purpose. Any loss of data, money, or time incurred due to actions taken after
reading this document are solely your responsibility. If you perform any (or all) of the steps described in this
document, you agree to absolve me of any and all liability with respect to any damages or penalties incurred
(including, but not limited to, financial loss, data loss, inability to use your phone, or other damage to your phone).
Perform the actions outlined in this document AT YOUR OWN RISK!
In addition to the above, I do not accept responsibility for any of the content that is linked-to from this document.

References and Thanks

I would usually put this at the end, but then I fear that people would not read it, and thats not fair on the people
without whom this document would not have been written.
There are no doubt more people to thank than just the people I have listed in this section. It seems like every forum
post related to phone flashing links to other peoples forum posts and they link to others etc. It becomes a very large
web of information that can be hard to navigate (which was really my main inspiration for trying to bring all the
information together into this document). So if I have missed out any credits here, then I apologise. If you are reading
this and feel that you ought to be credited, then let me know and I will add your name.

Upgrading
Thanks to uliwooly-wooly for this thread, which was the source of all my information (albeit, information collected

from other threads, with thank-yous going out to all the other contributers): http://talk.sonymobile.com/thread/38251?
start=0&tstart=0

Rooting
Thanks to Anicane for this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1854415
Thanks to zstoichev for this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1682224
Big thanks go to [W]ar[H]ead for his little nugget of information contained in this post: http://forum.xdadevelopers.com/showthread.php?t=1898236. I spent around 1 hour trying to find out why the kernel on my phone had
not been downgraded on my phone after I flashed it with Flashtool. I kept checking in the About phone section of my
phone and the kernel had not changed. Then I stumbled on this post and read; Even your build number, android
version won't change. Everything would remain same. So please don't go to phone settings to check anything - it
turned out that my kernel was flashed and I had wasted an hour chasing my tail!
Thanks, of course, to DooMLoRD for his script and instructions here: http://forum.xdadevelopers.com/showthread.php?t=1601038
A belated thanks to Nabeel, whose detailed guide is posted here (unfortunately I did not find it until after writing this
document):
http://talk.sonymobile.com/message/178992#178992

Preamble
This document was written based on my experience of updating my Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray from the official
Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread - Sony Build Number 4.0.2.A.0.62) to the official Android 4.0.4 release (Ice Cream
Sandwich - Sony Build Number 4.1.B.0.587). My phone has the notorius (in the UK) SI number of: 1252-368. If you
believe everything you read, this will never be updated to ICS officially by Sony.
The update was carried out on a Windows PC running Windows 8 64-bit. Whether it will work using other PCs is, of
course, unknown to me. I believe the Americans like to say your mileage may vary... ;-)

Recommendations
I always recommend you do the following (unless you dont really care about your data, or your phone is virgin and
you have nothing to lose!)
1. On your phone, go to Settings > Privacy and ensure that Backup my data and Automatic restore are
checked.
2. Backup your SMS, MMS, Call Logs, Settings, Apps & Contacts.
(Apps are automatically remembered by Google Play, so there is not really a need to back these up.
Contacts can also be backed up with Google if you are using your phone with a Google account.)
I have read that it is possible to use the Sony Ericsson Backup and Restore utility from the previous generation Xperia
devices on 2011/2012 devices. See here:
http://talk.sonymobile.com/thread/36355

And see here for instructions on installing it:

http://talk.sonymobile.com/message/186671#186671
However, I didnt like the idea of running an APK from an unknown source with access to everything on my phone.*
This is no reflection on whoever posted the APK as they are quite possibly well known and well respected within the
scene, but I am not part of the scene, so I decided to play-it-safe and, since I only wanted to backup my SMS
messages, I downloaded SMS Backup & Restore:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riteshsahu.SMSBackupRestore&hl=en
which is also linked to in the thread above.
Read the whole thread for any extra information you might need. I wont re-invent the wheel by repeating what has
already been said here. I assume that if you are not entirely sure how to backup your data and sideload apps, then
maybe you should not be reading documents about flashing phones... ;-p
* But I do like installing a complete Android 4.0.4 ROM from an unknown source, yes, life is full of contradictions...

Backing-up Current Firmware

I felt very strongly that I should backup my firmware. If I have any problems, or decide I dont like the ICS update or for
whatever other reason, if I have a backup, I can easily go back to the official firmware that came with my phone. I
didnt like the prospect of having to take the phone to a Sony Service Centre, or use another firmware from the internet
somewhere, should I want to revert back to 2.3.x from ICS...

Downloading and Installing Sony Update Service

Firstly I downloaded and installed Sony Update Service (SUS) from here:
http://www.sonymobile.com/gb/tools/update-service/

Downloading and Installing Flashtool

For a discussion about Flashtool and how to use it, see here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=920746
For information about the program itself and to download, visit here:
http://androxyde.github.com/Flashtool/
Now I downloaded and installed Flashtool following the instructions on the Flashtool website.

Reseting Phone to Factory Defaults

I thought it would be best to ensure there was nothing strange happening when performing the repair and making a
backup of my firmware. I believe the repair operation will wipe your phone clean anyway, so I certainly didnt see any
harm in doing this.

Running Sony Update Service and Making Backup

At this point, I performed the following steps.

1. Ran Sony Update Service (SUS) and followed the instructions.
2. When I got to the screen with the option to re-install the software for my phone, I selected Install.

I followed the instructions to the end and once the re-install was complete, closed down the Sony Update
Centre.
3. Created a new folder in the C:\Flashtool folder. I called it RayFW (the name was not important, knowing
where to find it was).
4. On my PC, I navigated to the following folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony Mobile\Update Service\db\13740270\blob_fs
(It is Program Files (x86) for 64-bit Windows. There is only one folder - Program Files - in 32-bit Windows.)

5. I copied the two largest files in that folder (named FILE_<something>) to the folder that I created in
C:\Flashtool RayFW.
6. Because Im a better safe than sorry kind of guy, I copied all the files from the Sony Mobile directory to
a separate backup directory on my PC.
7. Then I ran Flashtool and selected Tools > Decrypt Files

8. On the following window, I clicked the button with three dots to open the Folder Chooser window. I
navigated to the folder I created, C:\Flashtool\RayFW, and clicked the Open button.
9. I selected the two files in the Files box (clicking on the first file, then holding CTRL and clicking on the
second) and clicked the -> button to move them to the Files to convert box.
10. I then clicked OK and waited patiently for Flashtool to convert the files.
11. Next I was faced with the Bundle Creation window. I selected all the files in the Folder list (easiest way
was to select the first file, scroll to the bottom, hold the Shift key and click the last file) and clicked on the > button to move all the files over to the Firmware content box.

12. Once I had copied over the files, I entered some information in the Device, Version and Branding boxes. I
think that what is entered here is not too important, though I could find no confirmation of this. (I took
inspiration from another guide that I found here: http://mytechencounters.wordpress.com/2012/06/12/how-to-

create-an-ftf-file-of-your-xperia-ics-firmware/)

Apparently, if backing up ICS, the Disable Final Verification Check box should be selected. I dont know
about this as I have not backed up ICS, so I left it blank.
13. Click OK
14. I selected my phone model from the window that appeared and clicked OK.

15. Now I waited again for Flashtool to do some data-crunching and everything was complete. I navigated to
C:\Flashtool\firmwares\, and could see my backup firmware file there.

Flashing New Firmware

At this point, I started to see the point of no return approaching. This is where things got exciting! :-D
Just for completeness, at this point, I entered the service menu on my phone (dialing *#*#7378423#*#*) and selected
Service info > Software info from the menu. I took a screenshot of this screen and saved it to my SD card. That way I
had a record of my phones software as it stood.
Now I needed a firmware file (*.ftf file) from somewhere. There was a nice list of where you can download one here:
http://talk.sonymobile.com/message/198480#198480
Once I had downloaded my chosen firmware file, I copied it to the C:\Flashtool\firmwares\ folder and did the following:
1. I had closed Flashtool, so I re-opened it and clicked the Flash button.

2. From the following window, I left Flashmode selected.

3. I selected the firmware that I wanted to flash and clicked OK (leaving all the Wipe boxes checked).

4. I ignored the advice to hold down the back button (it doesnt apply for the Ray) - I held the volume-down
key (as for the SUS utility) and connected my phone.
5. Now I made a cup of tea (though I considered a shot of brandy to calm my nerves) while Flashtool did its
thing.
6. When it was finished, I did as it said and unplugged the phone and turned it on.

7. I then considered again pouring myself another shot of brandy as I waited for a very long time for the phone
to do something and began contemplating whether or not Id bricked it, and whether I should have even
embarked on this mission (did I really want ics on my phone that badly?)

8. Finally, the phone booted and all the hours I spent reading and digesting information on the SE and XDA
forums paid off!

Rooting
I spent a great deal of time researching this as I was interested in using link2sd in order to free up internal memory on
my phone.
At this point, I was running stock ICS. In Settings > About phone, the Build number was reported as 4.1.B.0.587.
In order to root, I learnt that I needed to downgrade the kernel to 4.1.A.0.562, root and then upgrade the kernel back to
4.1.B.0.587.
In retrospect, the process was quite simple, but the challenge (as with upgrading from GB to ICS) was in finding the
right information and getting an understanding of what was going on.
I had already backed up my data when upgrading the Android version. Data should not be lost when rooting, but as
with everything in life, there is no guarantee and I felt more comfortable rooting my phone knowing that everything was
backed up - its better to be safe than sorry...
The first step was to flash the 4.1.A.0.562 kernel with Flashtool.
Anicane has kindly made the kernel available here: http://www.mediafire.com/?gbs29dw3tzx765k. I downloaded this
file and copied it into the C:\Flashtool\firmwares\ folder. I already had a copy of my existing (ICS) firmware in the
same folder, so I did not need to download the 4.1.B.0.587 kernel which Anicane has provided for download here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?1pthkluxcsjkp5k.
Before I started, I downloaded the DooMLoRD rooter script. The link for the download was in the first post here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1601038. I downloaded it to my C:\ drive and extracted the files.
Once Id done that, I was ready, so I got to it:
1. On my phone, I navigated to Settings > Developer options and enabled USB debugging. I then went into
Settings > Security and enabled Unknown sources. When enabling these settings, I got security warnings.
I figured if I wanted root, then I had to take some risks... ;-)
2. I opened Flashtool and selected Flash.

3. From the following window, I left Flashmode selected.

4. Now I selected the 4.1.A.0.562 kernel and ensured that No final verification was selected.

5. I clicked OK and again held the volume down button while connecting my phone to the PC. At this point,
according to the guides I have read, there may be errors reported - I did not see this. The guides I have read
tell you to carry on regardless, if this happens! Not sure Id like to do that myself, but still, maybe I was just
lucky!
6. Then I disconnected my phone and turned it on.
7. At this point, according to other users, I may also have seen errors on the phone, or it may not have booted
properly. Again, I did not experience this and again, I have read that you should carry on if it happens, but Im
not sure Id be comfortable with that personally.
8. At this point, I went to Settings > About phone and saw that nothing had changed! I discovered that it is
normal to see that the version and kernel numbers have not changed - you just have to trust that it has
happened.
9. At this point, I increased my phones screen timeout to 10 minutes (Settings > Display > Sleep) in order
that the phone stayed awake for the next steps.
10. I connected my phone to my PC with the USB cable and ensured that no other ADB server was running
in the background (e.g.: Flashtool, PCC, SEUS) - DooMLoRDs advice. He also advised to disable any
antivirus software, but I dont have any (Im walking on the wild side with Windows 8 and Windows Defender,
which I made no changes to).
11. On my PC, I navigated to DooMLoRDs script on my C:\ drive and double-clicked on runme.bat, which
brought up the following DOS window.

12. I pressed any key and the phone rebooted 3 times. The ouptut from DooMLoRDs script for each reboot
was as follows.

13. I did as it said and pressed any key!

14. Then I re-flashed my original ICS kernel... I disconnected my phone from the PC and turned it off.
15. I re-opened Flashtool and clicked on Flash.
16. From the following window, I left Flashmode selected.
17. Now, if I had downloaded the 4.1.A.0.587 kernel (and only the kernel) earlier, then I could have simply
selected that firmware and selected OK. However, I wanted to restore the kernel from the original ICS
firmware that I downloaded and flashed the phone with.
18. I selected my firmware then de-selected everything in the Wipe box (i.e. Wipe data, Wipe cache,
Wipe apps log) in order that I did not delete any of my data (which was backed up anyway ;-)). Then I
ensured that I had selected everything in the Exclude box except for the kernel (which seemed obvious,
since if I excluded the kernel, I would not flash the kernel!) - I was left with only kernel.sin and loader.sin in
the Firmware Content box.

19. I clicked OK and again, held the volume down button while connecting my phone to the PC.
The kernel was now flashed back to 4.1.B.0.587, or at least, so I hoped! I have no idea how I can verify this. Searching
with Google, I cant find an answer, so this may be a question I have to post in the forums. The important thing was
that after doing all that, I had root access, so now I could install and use link2sd! :-)

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