Xperia Arc/Arc S (LT15i/LT18i) can now be updated to Android 4.4.4 Kitkat firmware using Custom ROM. As Sony is not going to roll out the Android 4.4.4 Kitkat firmware for Xperia Arc/Arc S (LT15i/LT18i) devices anytime soon, till then you can make use of the Custom ROM’s to keep your device up to date. The ROM which we are going to use in this guide to update Xperia Arc/Arc S (LT15i/LT18i) to Android 4.4.4 Kitkat firmware is SlimKat ROM.
Pre Requisites:
- Make a complete backup of all of your data to a safe location, so that we can restore the data whenever the data is lost wiped.
- Charge your device to at least 75%. It is highly recommended, as if your device gets off in between the update process it may brick your device and leave it damaged.
- Enable USB Debugging on your device from the path “Settings > Developer Options > USB Debugging”.
- Backup TA partition.
- Unlock Bootloader on your device.
- Download and install USB Drivers for your device on PC from here.
- Setup ADB and Fastboot drivers on your PC from here and root.
Disclaimer:
We should not be held liable or responsible in any manner for any damage occurred to your Xperia Arc/Arc S (LT15i/LT18i). So understand the risk involved and proceed further at your own risk.
How to Update Xperia Arc/Arc S (LT15i/LT18i) to Android 4.4.4 Kitkat firmware using SlimKat Custom ROM:
1. Download the SlimKat Custom ROM package [Thread] and Google Apps package to your PC.
2. Extract the boot.img from the ROM package and copy it in Fastboot Folder.
3. Now copy the whole ROM Package and Google Apps Package in zip formats to your device’s internal SD card. Make sure to copy it at the root of your SD card, but not inside any folder. Power off your device.
4. Now connect your device to PC while holding the Menu button. To do so firstly connect the USB Cable to the PC, now hold down the Menu key and connect it to other side of the cable. Now the colour of LED turns Blue.
5. Now open CMD inside Fastboot folder. To do so Open the Fastboot folder and press and hold Shift Key and Right Click anywhere at the empty space inside the Fastboot folder. Now from the Options select Open command window here.
6. Now in CMD type: fastboot flash boot boot.img and press enter.
7. It will flash the boot.img to your device and might take some time.
8. Now in CMD type: fastboot reboot and press enter.
9. Now when your device is booting up, press power button or Volume Up/Down to enter into recovery mode.
10. Now in recovery mode select “Install zip from SD card” and choose the ROM package and install it. Now in the same way install the Google Apps package.
11. Now in recovery select actions to wipe cache and dalvik cache and data and perform the operations.
12. Once done select “reboot system now”, this will boot your device in normal mode.
