Sony had been quite generous last month when they promised the Android 5.0 Lollipop update to the entire Xperia Z family which includes a hell lot of devices. Sony Xperia users were struck by surprise of this announcement as some of the devices in the Xperia Z line-up are pretty old and not eligible for the 18-months update policy from Google.
Meanwhile, the Sony Xperia Z users can cherish their joy with the unofficial Android 5.0 Lollipop ROM based on the AOSP sources which were released a few days back. thanks to thomas1991_12 of XDA, the Xperia Z owners can now test drive the Lollipop awesomeness on their devices before they go on for a wild safari with the official update.
Just like the other AOSP 5.0 builds we’ve seen earlier, the Xperia Z 5.0 build is also in the beta stages and is still unstable. However, it is not a total loss and you can get everything working except for the camera and RIL (Calls+Data) which in our opinion is great for an early build. unfortunately the ROM doesn’t come in a flashable zip format, so you have to get your hands dirty with a few fastboot commands. If you’ve made up your mind, let’s go on with the guide to install this ROM.
Warning
This guide is intended only for the Sony Xperia Z, not for any other device. Be extra cautious when you choose the ROMs as flashing wrong ones might result in a bricked device. You alone are responsible for any consequences that might occur during the process, we shall not be held responsible for any damage to your device.
Prepare Your Device
Charge your Xperia Z above 60% battery level to avoid shut downs during the process.
Backup your device storage, Contacts, SMS etc. using Google Sync service or any third-party app.
Download and install Sony Xperia USB drivers on your PC.
Enable USB Debugging on your Xperia Z. read our guide to get instructions on how to do so.
Unlock bootloader of your Xperia Z.
Downloads
Fastboot file: Download
Install Lollipop based AOSP ROM on Xperia Z
Download and extract the fastboot file on your PC. You’ll get the following file:
Download the ROM and extract the files to the same folder where you extracted the fastboot files. You’ll get these three files after extracting the ROM.
boot.img
system.img
userdata.img
Now boot your Xperia Z into Fastboot mode:
Power off your Xperia Z.
Connect your device to your PC using a USB cable while holding down the Volume Up button.
The notification LED light will turn into blue once you boot to fastboot mode.
Navigate to the fastboot files folder and open a command prompt inside the folder by pressing shift key + right click in the empty space inside the folder, and select Open command window here option from the Windows context menu.
Execute the following commands in the command prompt one after one and wait until the process finishes successfully.
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash userdata userdata.img
Now you can reboot your device by using the following command:
fastboot reboot
The reboot may take time for the first boot, so be patient and excited at the same time.
The ROM doesn’t include the Google apps and services, so you have to flash the Android 5.0 Gapps from the link below. However, we’re not sure this package will work for you but it’s worth a try.
Android 5.0 Lollipop Gapps
Share how the ROM is working on your Xperia Z in the comments section below.
Source