Sony Ericsson declared

that X10 Mini and Mini Pro will not be getting further updates. It means we all are stuck with 2.1 Eclair. Good news is custom rom development is going with great pace. This are all CyanogenMod projects. Thanks to owain94, doixanh, nobodyatall, zdizihu, jerpela, DaRk_dOg, thespak101, and all the DEVS who are working hard for it. You all ROCK… If you want 2.2.1 Froyo or 2.3.1 Gingerbread on your Mini or Mini Pro, you will have to go with custom firmwares/Rom.

 

NOTE:

1. This post is written for X10 Mini and Mini Pro but holds same nearly for all Android Phones (except xRecovery file)
2. If you already have xRecovery and want to install ClockWorkMod then go HERE.
3. If you want to install Custom / Cyanogen ROM’s on X10 Mini and Mini Pro using xRecovery then go here. (being written)
4. Taking Full backup of your phone is your responsibility. Check out this post.

UPDATE: Install xRecovery only you want to install ROM cooked for it. CWM can be directly installed now without need of xRecovery. ROM’s comes for both recoveries but I think xRecovery will be discontinued. So fresh install of ClockWorkMod is preferable.

However, for installing custom Rom you need to ROOT your Xperia and also install xRecovery. xRecovery is like pre-boot environment which is used to install all these ROM’s, New features, tweaks and Updates. This may sound hard but it is really very easy.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Rooted phone. If you have not done it yet. Read this and get it done.
2. Busybox must be installed. If you have Titanium  Backup (root) , then you already have it. Do it as shown below.
3. Root Explorer. Get from Android Market.
SuperManager (Free) also have file/root explorer & works great. Just set Root permission in settings of SuperManager and restart it before use.
4.  xRecovery: Two ways to install and little difference between Mini and Mini Pro.
For Mini & Mini Pro : – As an application – D4 Recovery Installer APK 
For Mini Pro : – Manually – Zip File.

INSTALLING Busybox:

If you have Titanium Backup (Root) installed, then you already must be having it. If not you can click the problem button in Titanium Backup and it will automatically do installation for you.

For user who don’t have Titanium Backup or other things installed, follow this:

Needs BusyBox from Market:

1. Start Market and find “busybox”. Download & install the Busybox Installer.
2. Open application and select “Allow” when you are prompted for SuperUser access.
3. Let it complete the download and installation.

INSTALLING  xRecovery:

As said, there are two ways to install it. As an application is easy process and in manual you need to unzip the contents. For Mini, the application method will work without hassle. For Mini Pro, it may give problem (at least it gave me some)

METHOD 1: As an Application using APK:

1. Transfer the downloaded D4 Recovery APK file to SD Card using computer. Copy it to root. Don’t make any folders.
2. Download and install Root Explorer or Super Manager Free, if you have not done it yet.
3. Run it and navigate to Root (one level up to SD Card). Find “system”
4. When prompted by Explorer or File Manager press “Mount r/w"
5. Now go back to “/sdcard" and find "apkrecovery-release.apk". Click to install.
6. Exit Root Explorer and then open D4 Recovery Installer. Run it to Install xRecovery.

METHOD 2: Manually:

I don’t know why people call it tougher one as I found it much easier than above.

1. Download  and unzip the above Zip File xRecovery contents on system.
2. Transfer it to root of your SD Card. There will be 3 Files excluding “read me”.

3. Get Root Explorer or SuperManager if you have not done it yet.
4. Go to SD Card root and select all 3 files and selectMove (not Copy, there is difference in operation).
5. Go to Root (one level up to SD Card). Find “/system”  and then “bin”. Path is “/system/bin”
6. If  prompted then press “Mount r/w"
7.Paste all three files here and overwrite if prompted.
8.Select each file and Change attributes to “777″ (chmod) one by one.

9.Exit. You are done!

USING xRecovery:

1. Reboot your phone. When you see white Sony Ericsson logo start pressing Back Key 3-4 Times. You will enter xRecovery.

2. In xRecovery use volume buttons to Up and Down. To select press Home button (Centre).
3. Back button takes you back. Lol!

Now, you are ready to install Custom Rom’s and other tweaks.
If you now want to install ClockWorkMod using xRecovery then go here.
If you want to directly install Custom / Cyanogen ROM’s using xRecovery then go here.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

Install xRecovery on Xperia X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro by Mrinal Buddekar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.