How To: Use CM 13 To Install Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow On The Xperia Active, Xperia Live With Walkman

Use CM 13 To Install Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow

If you have a Sony Ericsson Xperia Active or a Sony Ericsson Xperia Live with Walkman, you can now update these legacy devices to Android Marshmallow by using CyanogenMod 13 custom ROM.

Previously, these two devices operated on Android 2.3 Gingerbread out of the box and the last official update they got was to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The CyanogenMod 13 custom ROM is based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and is a fairly stable and workable ROM with no mainstream bugs.  The only non-working features in this ROM include the Radio, 720P video recording, HDMI and ANT+. If you don’t really consider the non-working features essential or a big deal, you should be quite happy with CyanogenMod 13 on your phone.

Prepare your phone:

  1. This guide is only for use with an Xperia Actve or an Xperia Live with Walkman. If you try to use this with other devices you could brick the device.
  2. Your phone should already be updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich before you flash this ROM.
  3. Your phone should be charged to over 50 percent to avoid you running out of power before flashing ends.
  4. You should have an original data cable on hand to make the connection between your phone and a PC.
  5. You should have unlocked your devices bootloader.
  6. You need USB drivers for the Xperia Active and the Xperia Live with Walkman installed. Do so by downloading and installing Flashtool then using it’s drivers installed.
  7. If you are using a Windows PC, have ADB and Fastboot Drivers installed. If you have a Mac have the Mac compatible versions installed.
  8. Back up all important contacts, call logs, SMS messages and media files.
  9. If you have a custom recovery installed on your phone, make a Nandroid Backup.

 

 

Note: The methods needed to flash custom recoveries, roms and to root your phone can result in bricking your device.  Rooting your device will also void the warranty and it will no longer be eligible for free device services from manufacturers or warranty providers.  Be responsible and keep these in mind before you decide to proceed on your own responsibility.  In case a mishap occurs, we or the device manufacturers should never be held responsible.

 

Download:

  • The appropriate cm-13.0.zip file for your phone:

Install:

  1. Format your phone’s SD card to ext4 or F2FS format
    1. Download MiniTool Partition and install it on your PC.
    2. Using a card reader, connect your SD card to your PC, or, if you are using internal storage, connect your phone to the PC and then mount it as mass storage (USB).
    3. Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard.
    4. Select your SD card or your connected device. Click delete.
    5. Click create then configure as follows:
      • Create: Primary
      • File System: Unformatted.
    6. Leave all other options as is. Click ok.
    7. A popup should appear. Click apply.
    8. A popup should appear. Click apply.
  2. Extract the ROM zip file you downloaded. Copy boot.img from the extracted folder and put it on your desktop.
  3. Rename the ROM zip file to “update.zip”.
  4. Rename the Gapps file to “gapps.zip”
  5. Copy both downloaded files to the internal memory of your phone.
  6. Turn your phone off and wait 5 seconds.
  7. Keeping the volume up button pressed, connect your phone to the PC.
  8. After connecting, check that the LED is blue. This means your phone is in fastboot mode.
  9. Copy the boot.img file to the Fastboot (platforms-tools) folder or to the Minimal ADB and Fastboot installation folder.
  10. Open that folder and open a command window.
    1. Hold the shift button and right-click on an empty space.
    2. Click the option: Open command window here.
  11. In the command window, type: Fastboot devices. Press enter. You should now see only the devices connected in fastboot.  You should see only one, your phone.  If you see more than that, disconnect the other devices or close Android Emulator if you have one.
  12. If you have PC companion installed, disable it first.
  13. In the command window, type: fastboot flash boot boot.img. Press enter.
  14. In the command window, type: fastboot reboot. Press enter.
  15. Disconnect the phone from the PC.
  16. As your phone boots up, press volume down repeatedly. This will make you enter recovery mode.
  17. In recovery, go to format options in Advanced/Advance Wipe. From there choose to format system/format data and then format cache.
  18. Go back to main menu of custom recovery and this time select Apply Update> Apply from ADB.
  19. Connect the phone to the PC again.
  20. Go to the Command Window in the ADB folder again, type this command: adb sideload update.zip. Press enter.
  21. In the command window, type: adb sideload gapps.zip. Press enter.
  22. You have now installed the ROM and Gapps.
  23. Go back to recovery and choose to wipe cache and dalvik cache.
  24. Reboot the phone. The first reboot could take up to 10-15 minutes, just wait.

Have you installed this ROM on your device?

Share your experience in the comments box below.

JR

About The Author

One Response

  1. Murad February 23, 2023 Reply

Reply

error: Content is protected !!