How to Flash a Custom Recovery on the Sony Xperia Acro S

If you have rooted your device, the next obvious step is of course flashing a custom recovery.  This will enable you to flash custom ROMs that are more to your liking than the stock ROM and offer a whole lot more functionality than the official ROMs do.  Ready to flash ClockworkMod Recovery on the Xperia Arco S, then?  If you said yes, then read on!

I.  Before You Begin

1.  This procedure will work even if you are not rooted.  If you want to root your device though, you can use our guide to help you with this.

2.  This procedure will replace your stock kernel with a kernel that comes with ClockworkMod Recovery included.  If you are not okay with this, do not proceed any further.

3.  You will need an unlocked bootloader to use this procedure.  If you don’t have an unlocked bootloader, head over to Sony Mobile to help you with this.

4.  This procedure will wipe your data, so make sure you have backed up everything important before you proceed.

II.  Necessary Downloads

1.  AcroS_Kernel_61A245.zip [Download link available in the first post of this thread)

2.  fastboot_with_Android_USB_file.rar [Download link available under the Before We Begin section of this thread]

III.  Flashing ClockworkMod Recovery Kernel on the Xperia Acro S

1.  Extract fastboot_with_Android_USB_file.rar to C:\ drive.  This should contain two folders named fastboot and usb_driver.

2.  Extract AcroS_Kernel_61A245.zip to the fastboot folder. Your fastboot folder should now contain the following files.

3.  Connect your device to your Windows PC in fastboot mode.  To do this:

i.  Turn off your phone.

ii.  Connect the USB cable first to your PC and then connect the microUSB end of the cable to your device while holding Volume Up.

iii.  Windows should now automatically install the necessary drivers; if not use the usb_driver folder to install the necessary them.

4.  Open up a command prompt window and type in the following commands.  You can open command prompt by clicking on the Windows icon on the left bottom of your Windows desktop and going to Programs > Accessories and clicking on the Command Prompt option.

cd c:\fastboot_with_Android_USB_file\fastboot

fastboot flash boot kernel-cwm.elf

5.  Restart your phone and tap on the Sony logo when booting and the blue LED comes on.  This will take you to ClockworkMod Recovery!

IV.  Flashing back to Stock Kernel

Follow all the steps in previous section but change kernel-cwm.elf to kernel.sin when running the fastboot flash command.

V.  Flash a Custom ROM (Optional)

If you are ready to flash custom ROMs on your device, head to the next procedure to learn how to do that.

If this procedure helped you please thank/donate to the original developers here.

If you need help with this procedure, please ask in the comments below or in the forums.

This is part of our Android How To’s. We have how to’s on rooting, loading ROMs, and tons of other tips and tricks for your specific device or for Android devices in general! For all of our Android How To’s, head here.