How to Root the Sony Xperia V

Released in December 2012, the Sony Xperia V with its dual-core 1.5GHz CPU must be starting to feel slightly old now.  If this is the case with your device and you need something new on it, rooting the Sony Xperia V is the way to go.  The guide below should help you with that and in the process, also install a custom recovery (TWRP Recovery in this case) which will enable you to make/restore backups, flash custom ROMs and add other modifications to your Xperia V.

Rooting is the process of gaining administrative rights on your Android device. Once we root our Android device, we can then make changes to it to customize it well beyond what it normally can do.

Once you have root access on your Sony Xperia V, you’ll be able to:

  • Remove apps that were preinstalled by your carrier/manufacturer from your device.
  • Free up storage space (because of the above benefit).
  • Increase battery life (apps that might have been running constantly can be removed).
  • Increase performance (after removing apps that are always running, the device will be less bogged down and run smoother).
  • Update to a new version of Android (by flashing a custom recovery/ROM, see the end of this procedure for more info on that).
  • Tons of other customizations when you use your new found administrative rights to flash a custom ROM (again, see the end of this procedure for more info on that).

Interested? Here’s how to root your Sony Xperia V:

I.  Before You Begin

1.  Rooting your Sony Xperia V may void your warranty or damage your device.  You are solely responsible for using this guide.

2.  Charge your device to 75% or more before you begin.

3.  You Xperia V needs to be bootloader unlocked for this procedure to work.  If you haven’t done this already, head to the Sony Mobile site to do this.

4.  You should be running the 9.0.D.0.484 firmware for this procedure to work.

5.  Make you have the necessary drivers installed before you begin.

6.  Although data loss is unlikely, back up all data you care about before you begin the procedure.

II.  Necessary Downloads

1.  Xperia.V.TWRP.Kernel.9.0.1.D.0.10.elf [Download link available in this post]

2.  adb-fastboot.zip

3.  SU-Busybox-Installer.zip [Download link available in this post under the For 9.0.D.0.484 section]

III.  Flashing Unsecure Kernel/TWRP Recovery on the Sony Xperia V

1.  Extract adb-fastboot.zip to a folder on your desktop.

2.  Copy Xperia.V.TWRP.Kernel.9.0.1.D.0.10.elf to the extracted folder.

3.  Power down your device and put in fastboot mode.  To do this, with the device powered off, press and hold the Volume Up button and connect your device to your PC using a compatible microUSB cable.  You should see a blue LED light up, signifying that you are now in fastboot mode.  If there are any drivers being installed at this point, let them do so before continuing.

4.  Hold shift and right-click on any empty space in the extracted adb-fastboot folder, and then select ‘Open command window here.’

5.  Run the following command:

fastboot flash boot Xperia.V.TWRP.Kernel.9.0.1.D.0.10.elf

You now have TWRP Recovery installed on your device!

IV.  Rooting the Sony Xperia V

1.  Connect your device to your PC and copy the SU-Busybox-Installer.zip to your device’s internal SD card’s main folder (do not put it into any subfolders; just drag and drop the file on your SD card icon).

2.  Disconnect your device from your PC and power it down.

3.  Boot your device into TWRP  Recovery mode; to do this, press and hold the Volume Down button when you see the pink LED glow.

4.  Once in TWRP, tap on the Install button and navigate to the location of SU-Busybox-Installer.zip and select it.

5.  On the next screen, swipe the ‘Swipe to Confirm Flash’ button.

6.  Once flashed, reboot your device!

Once your device reboots, you should see the Superuser app in your app drawer, which means you are now rooted!

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