Android Considering the Xperia Play

[Terminator02]

gotta agree it Originality here, i've never heard of anything like that before

 

[SifJar]

They're providing the tools to unlock the bootloader, which I guess roots it at the same time, but for the record rooting and unlocking the bootloader can be independent processes (by which I mean rooting a phone does not necessarily unlock a bootloader).

I believe unlocking the bootloader does NOT root the phone, but it makes it possible to flash any ROM you like, including a pre-rooted ROM. I think.

 

[ProtoKun7]

They're providing the tools to unlock the bootloader, which I guess roots it at the same time, but for the record rooting and unlocking the bootloader can be independent processes (by which I mean rooting a phone does not necessarily unlock a bootloader).

I believe unlocking the bootloader does NOT root the phone, but it makes it possible to flash any ROM you like, including a pre-rooted ROM. I think.

Probably doesn't; I've not unlocked my bootloader, so I don't know the specifics, but I keep my phone rooted anyway. If you're able to unlock the bootloader there's probably a high chance that the ability to root the phone also exists.

 

[SifJar]

They're providing the tools to unlock the bootloader, which I guess roots it at the same time, but for the record rooting and unlocking the bootloader can be independent processes (by which I mean rooting a phone does not necessarily unlock a bootloader).

I believe unlocking the bootloader does NOT root the phone, but it makes it possible to flash any ROM you like, including a pre-rooted ROM. I think.

Probably doesn't; I've not unlocked my bootloader, so I don't know the specifics, but I keep my phone rooted anyway. If you're able to unlock the bootloader there's probably a high chance that the ability to root the phone also exists.

Yeah, I believe its relatively simple to create a rooting ROM once the bootloader is unlocked. But GingerBreaker should work on most GingerBread (latest Android for confused readers) phones. It's an APK with an exploit for rooting most GingerBread phones, with a few exceptions, but doesn't require an unlocked bootloader.

 

[SpaceJump]

Finally I got an Xperia Play and you cannot believe what happened: Because it uses standard sized SIM cards I had to use one of those adapters for my microSIM card. So I pushed them in and it didn't recognize it. When I pulled it out, the adapter got stuck halfway in. When trying to get it out it broke off with a little part of the adapter still inside the phone

I really cannot believe this. Any idea what I can do?

 

[Terminator02]

get a new sim card

 

[SpaceJump]

I tried another SIM card but it doesn't work because of the little broken part of the adapter that's still inside the phone. The SIM cards now don't go all way in.

Somehow I have to get the broken part out, but how?

 

[Terminator02]

o, i thought u mean some of the microsim was left in the adapter, in that case you'd have to take it apart I guess, or get whoever you bought the phone from to fix it for you

 

[CarbonX13]

Just to clear up on the previous discussion on rooting, there are (currently) two ways to root the new Xperia Arc, Play, and Neo devices. One is by unlocking the bootloader, and then flashing a specific ROM onto the device. The alternative method, which doesn't require unlocking the bootloader, is by running the GingerBreak APK exploit.

 

[Foxi4]

Finally I got an Xperia Play and you cannot believe what happened: Because it uses standard sized SIM cards I had to use one of those adapters for my microSIM card. So I pushed them in and it didn't recognize it. When I pulled it out, the adapter got stuck halfway in. When trying to get it out it broke off with a little part of the adapter still inside the phone

I really cannot believe this. Any idea what I can do?

Cry because you were too lazy to ask for a SIM duplicate which would take you just a few minutes and you could deal with it prior to the purchase, instead you used the equivalent of a soggy toast on an expensive electronic device. Next go to a Sony Ericsson store and after paying some royalties they will remove the sim for you. Just tell them it broke off entirely on its own and the remains fell out of the slot.

Alternatively, you'll need a pair of twizzers and some spare time.

 

[SpaceJump]

I took the phone to a local store and they will send it so that piece will be removed. Hopefully everything will work fine after that.

Another thing that happened lots of times: I downloaded some games like Nova 2. Some of them go until the title screen and then just exit the game. Any idea?

 

[Originality]

There are a lot of apps on the Android Market that "force close", either instantly or with a "force close" popup. Usually it's because of bad coding, and that can often be reflected in the reviews. Sometimes it's because of a corrupted download, so try uninstalling and reinstalling the app.

 

[SpaceJump]

There are a lot of apps on the Android Market that "force close", either instantly or with a "force close" popup. Usually it's because of bad coding, and that can often be reflected in the reviews. Sometimes it's because of a corrupted download, so try uninstalling and reinstalling the app.

I will test this out when I get my Xperia Play back.

Can anyone some up what benefits one has when rooting the Xperia Play?

 

[Originality]

There's no difference to rooting the Xperia Play and rooting any other Android phone. Rooting gives you access to root functions (like being able to read/edit system files, which is useful for certain apps). That's it.

What you can after you root... well, that depends what apps you run. Personally, Xperia Play is one Android phone I wouldn't want to install CyanogenMOD on, for fear of losing the ability to play PSP games.

 

[SpaceJump]

So what are those apps that need a rooted phone? Just curious.

 

[Originality]

Ever explored the Android Market and found a bunch of apps that say "needs root" or something along those lines? Like those advanced theme managers and backup managers (system backups, not to be confused with piracy-enabling tools) and ROM managers (flashes new ROMs onto the phone such as CyanogenMOD). Those types of apps.

EDIT: I've also seen a couple overclocking tools and advanced task killers, but I've only heard of bad things about them.

 

[CarbonX13]

Can anyone some up what benefits one has when rooting the Xperia Play?

Rooting is basically like a "Run as Administrator" option equivalent on Android OS if you can say... You get access to a whole array of backup managers for your data, deeper theme modifications for your OS, and gain the ability to flash custom ROMs onto your system with ease (through backup managers). You've also got some over-clocking and under-clocking kernels that you can use to respectively effect your CPU performance. Obviously it comes at a cost to your battery life if you over-clock it, and you're going to have to be careful that you don't over-clock it so bad you melt your phone. You also can dive deeper into the Android OS, and delete any bloatware that your carrier may have included on your phone by default, and conveniently disabled your ability to remove such applications. Rooting also gives you the ability to install certain applications like AdFree, which functions as the AdBlock app for Android.

Most Android users root their phone to, arguably, get to the ability to flash ROMs onto their device with ease. Some users will choose to do so in order to de-brand their phone, others will want to get the latest and greatest custom ROMs from the modding community. Some custom ROMs, like CyanogenMod, are extremely popular alternatives to the stock Android offered by manufacturers due to their added features and settings.

But then it comes back to the Xperia Play. The problem with Sony Ericsson smartphones is that the modding community has kind of disregarded them, likely due to inferior designs and capabilities in the past. Despite Sony Ericsson coming up huge with their latest devices, Xperia Arc, Play, and Neo, these devices haven't received much, if any, attention from the developers of custom ROMs and such, which is why people have doubts you'll be getting custom ROMs for these devices anytime in the future, especially with the Samsung Galaxy S II's international release on the horizon. So while you can get many benefits of rooting an Xperia Play, you likely won't be getting much of a treat on the 'good stuff' like customizing your phone to the brink. Who knows, though, since Sony Ericsson did unlock the bootloader for developers, maybe these devices will receive more attention in the near future.

 

[SpaceJump]

Finally got my Xperia Play back. They didn't repair it, but they sent me a new one for replacement

Played a little with it and some questions came up. Would be nice of you to help me

Can anyone recommend me an easy to use and not too complicated task manager to stop programs running in the background (similar to SBSettings on iOS)?

Also I installed *snip and it runs very unstable. Sometimes it won't load pages, sometimes it even crashes. Is this normal?

I installed psx4droid v2 from *snip and tried Symphony of the Night. It runs ok, but not full speed. Is this to be expected or is there maybe a better version of it?

 

[Originality]

Don't use a task killer, they cause more problems than they fix.

As for the app you mentioned, remove the name from your post (its not allowed on these forums), and yes that behaviour is normal for their severely overloaded servers. Lots of pirates in the world, aren't there?

 

[SpaceJump]

I don't think naming something isn't allowed. We also name DS roms along explicit filenames.

What about psx4droid? Should it be full speed?