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How to Root the New Sony Xperia Z Android Phone

Feb 21, 2013 11:39 PM

Smartphone being held in a hand displaying a colorful home screen.

Sony's Xperia Z, which has generated quite a deal of excitement since its launch at the CES in Las Vegas last month, is already sold out in France with its expected U.S. release to be sometime in March.

Sony smartphone displayed in a hand at a tech event.

Image Credit wordpress.com

It's 5-inch, 1080p display puts it up there with some of the best smartphones in the market. It runs on Jelly Bean 4.1.2 and comes with expandable storage. Also, the Z comes with an incredible 13MP rear camera with the capability to dish out 9MP photos at 14fps, shooting roughly 999 stills in a whooping 68 seconds.

With all of these, it makes a great competitor for the Nexus 4, which if you remember, was sold out for weeks here in the United States. And like the Nexus 4, the Xperia Z has now been rooted by developers several weeks before its grand release in the United States.

How to Root the Sony Xperia Z

If you're thinking about getting your hands on the Xperia Z, or are already some of the lucky few to have it, this root by XDA Developer DooMLoRD is for you.

Requirements

Unlock your phone's bootloader. You can do this straight form the Sony Mobile website.
Firmware version 10.1.A.1.350.
Download this CF-Auto-Root kernel, modded by DooMLoRD.
Also, download this Insecure Stock kernel for the firmware.

Instructions

Reboot your device into the bootloader by turning it off and holding down Volume Up when you plug in the USB cable.
Open a Command Prompt window and flash the modded CF-Auto-Root kernel:

fastboot flash boot Z_DooMLoRD_CF-Auto-Root-ported_FW-350.img

Next, you'll want to reboot from fastboot:

fastboot reboot

After CF-Auto-Root reboots the device, disconnect the USB cable and do hard power off by pressing the power button and holding Volume Up for 15 seconds until the phone vibrates three times.
Connect the phone in fastboot mode like before and flash the Insecure Stock kernel:

fastboot flash boot Z_DooMLoRD_insecure_FW-350.img

Again, reboot:

fastboot reboot

The final step would be to download the Busybox Installer from Google Play and install it at /system/xbin/.

Your Xperia Z should now be rooted!

Error message displayed on a smartphone regarding ADB shell and permissions.

Did I also mention that it's waterproof?

Smartphone submerged in water inside a glass vase with bubbles.

Image Credit slashgear.com

Photos by Venture Beat, Slashgear

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