Xperia X10 Blog

Custom Android 2.1 now available to download for all tinkerers

Custom ROM Xperia X10A week ago, we reported that the gurus over at xda-developers were well on their way to getting a custom Android ROM working on the Xperia X10. Whilst the bootloader hasn’t been cracked, they’ve managed to get a new ROM on the existing kernel.

This morning, the devs have released the firmware that will allow all of you to run vanilla Android 2.1 (Froyo is promised at a later date). One of the biggest benefits is that it removes the Sony Ericsson layer and hence means the phone is very fast. How fast you say? Well check out the quadrant benchmark score below (1,882), significantly bearing a Nexus One running Android 2.2.

There are a number of things that the devs have said aren’t working including no 3G data, no video playback and a black & white camera. Also there are some additional bugs, with some users saying that calls cannot be made. No doubt, these bugs will be sorted in due course. The 62MB file can be downloaded from here and instructions are here. If you appreciate the devs efforts please make a donation to help fund their efforts.

Xperia X10 Quadrant score with Custom ROM

Xperia X10 Quadrant score with custom ROM

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53 responses to “Custom Android 2.1 now available to download for all tinkerers”

  3. i just read the article and its frikken amazing, how the specs which are the same as most of the phones in the list, it can perform faster.
    What is sony ericsson doing to the phone!! they are killing and removing its potential of performing to the best of its abilities..
    and sixth!!!

  9. Get Froyo sorted with no bugs and you’ll get a £20 quid donation from me! Great work guys. That speed test is scandelous. WTF are Sony doing?!!?!?!?!?!

  10. Wow this looks amazing. Can’t wait for a stable version with bugs fixed.
    Unfortunately, i’m sure, that when all these “unneeded” things like camera and 3g are sorted, the phone wont be this fast, but hey even 1000 points is superb.

  11. @Tarek – The comparison benchmarks that Quadrant uses are way off. Both the Nexus One and Galaxy S can get well over 2000 in Quadrant. Still impressive in comparison to the performance when loaded with SE bloat and a great day for X10 owners.

  12. Excellent news! Hopefully the trend continues and a stable version is released with full functionality of vanilla Android. NO TO MEDIASCAPE AND TIMESCAPE! Sony Ericsson lost loyal customer to their antics with the lackluster X10 implementation, delayed Eclair, still lack of multitouch & 64k limit and the upcoming Anzu. Boo to SE for not taking care of the people who took a chance with the X10!

  13. No 3G, no video, no colour camera and possibly no calls…what CAN it do?
    Think I’ll wait for the SE updates.

  14. You see these are the news are i have been waitig for.. i have nordic 2.1 but once they sort out the issues i’m on it.. the devs are awesome!!

  15. If this works for the mini/mini pro, I’ll get it when the bugs are fixed and Froyo is out.
    And of course I’ll donate as well. I’d love to support this project, since I hate waiting for SE’s updates. And if I can get rid of the SE layer, I’ll be very happy 🙂
    But it has to wait, since my X10 mini pro is getting fixed after the microphone stopped working.

  16. If they manage to release stable version of it then SE will be left red faced as till now they have not even thought about giving 2.2 update 🙂

    Get a stable version and I will donate for sure

  17. Right Bill,
    Xda guys will come thru i’m sure making sure the calls and 3G at least work, then i’ll consider upgrading and donating…

  19. think I’ll wait until the next SE update X10 (or when we know their roadmap is dried up) then dive in. Hopefully by then the Xda project will be mature enough to install without any worries!

  21. se just found out that its phone supports multitouch!!!!!!
    they are unbelievable!! never mind better late than never. its a good phone nevertheless and i love it.
    By the way no updates for Greece so far,still waiting 🙁

  22. FOR THE MULTITOUCH TOPIC linked by masoud

    Why the hell did sony ericsson lie to us for!?
    They said that there would be no multitouch for the x10 becasue not only the software, but most importantly, the hardware.
    Then they go on to say in the linked blog that they gone to “change the driver and firmware”….so its not the hardware then!!
    its the frikken software thats ruining it for us, the software lags our phone and stops us using the damn multitouch.
    The specs of the x10 are great, so that made me wonder why it performed so slowly, its the damn software, frikken software engineers are useless. They mustve recruited 16 year old summer placement students to do thier job.

  24. Definitly donating when they have clear sense if 2.2 is possible.

    I know its against the android philosophy but i think updates should cost 5 or 10 bucks anyways, that would motivate people to get them out on time

  25. X10 @ “First!” comment were as useless as his other comment, should just delete that as well

    in topic – I believe that score is 2.1 score (with JiT enabled) as 2.2 I’ve seen some can go beyond 2.5k mark

  26. I can’t believe we will get multi touch on the x10 !!!
    It’s confirmed from Se themselves, just check their blog.

    Another reason to love se! They do listen to their customers indeed.

  27. This is wonderful news/Wikus

    Leave it to the good folks at XDA to get the job done.
    Leave it to the asshats at SE to ruin a decent phone with their garbage software.

    Make.Believe.

  28. x10 @ “X10 @ “First!” comment were as useless as his other comment, should just delete that as well” 25

    This comment is as useless as his next comment since he’s commenting about my commenting which is just useless.
    You should just delete his comment as well.
    And of course its a 2.1 score you dimwit, its says so in the article above, duh!

    in topic- i tried the download and to reiterate, the things that dont work are:

    -Camera is black and white
    -Image rendering seems to be low quality, hence low quality pictures
    -No calls incoming and outgoing
    -no data traffic
    -force closes most of the time

    BUT, it is frikken fast. x10 ftw! and…..27th!

  29. @tarek ali

    im with tarek, @ EiN, your comment is crap.

    Anyways, cant wait till alpha comes out, then beta, then a complete and completley free x10, free of any lag

  30. WoW what work by all the guys on XDA!!! Cant wait for the minor bugs..audio / video to be sorted then will definatelly give this a try! Always said dreams come true and you devs are certainly making us X10 owners beleive in dreams hehe Bring on the X10 the way it is meant to be 😀

  31. Interesting, but I will pass it for now as I really MUST have 3G data and color camera for my job.

  33. LOL @Bill0151 “No 3G, no video, no colour camera and possibly no calls…what CAN it do?”

    hahahaha i have to say, based on the first glance quadrant scores I was VERY VERY impressed, but the excitement only lasted for a few seconds as i read that nothing seems to work properly. I’m quite happy with the 2.1, although the low benchmark (i got about 590 on a rooted 2.1 with setcpu pushing the cpu to max) is embarrassing when compared to my friends’ androids.

    well, once the bugs are sorted out it’s gonna be fun.

  35. “No 3G, no video, no colour camera and possibly no calls…what CAN it do?”

    I agree. It seems that the speed comes from nothing else being enabled…

  36. Just amazing. Very nice. Keep up the good work.
    When they release 2.2 and bugs are fixed.
    I WILL DONATE.

    THHIS so dat xda devs!

  37. @steve : my score on quadrant is 745 withwith xda optimizer jit. Setcpu sucks and is forfor children :))

  38. ooh @Cocomo

    Thanks, I wouldn’t mind trying it out haha, got a link or any further info on where i can get the app?

  39. Morning all
    I’ve been a reader here for a while but only now feel moved to comment. I’ve owned and loved an X10 for a while now – very happy in all respects. What puzzles me is the concurrent floods of praise for XDA and vitriol against SE. Fair enough the official updates have been slow to roll out, but aside from a few minor quibbles I’ve got to admire the user experience offered by SE’s software.
    And now XDA have released (much too early – appears to be a very shaky alpha at best) this custom ROM with astonishing gaps in functionality (no calling or 3G – sounds more like a netbook than a phone). I release my work as unpolished beta so that the functions can be tested before proper go-live. However if the functions just aren’t there then what value can there be to such a release other than an infantile “look at me – i iz l33t”?
    Fanboy? Of course I am. In these days of converging hardware what other driver is there than personal preference? Having used SE since the venerable T610 (still going strong bless it), I’ve always been impressed with them, and am loving the work they’ve done on the X10 since launch.
    We bought a package of hardware and software. If you’re going to whine from the outset then why did you buy it?
    Cheers
    J

  41. this proves that this phone could have been the BEST phone of the year if they knew how to handle its capabilities from the first time! X10 could have been the best phone in the market for 2010!

  43. was this rom just from benching? i mean no 3G data? why even put up the rom in the first place if one of the most important things for a phone isn’t ready to be use?

  44. I would love to use this or the Nordic Rom but have tried flashing on several pc’s running vista and windows 7 and get the java error every single time. Have followed all steps 100% and tried all suggestions from forums without any luck. Have X10a here in Oz branded with 3 mobile. Have tried flashing rooted and unrooted but no difference get java error every time.
    Just wish the carriers would hurry the fu@k up

  46. XDA FTW

    My hat goes off to those guys. If they can release a stable 2.1 with everything working, no SE layer (and therefore high speed), then I will happily pay £20 to them when I update.

    SE have really let the X10 down. It had so much potential. It reminds me of the Sega Saturn and Sega Dreamcast… a fantastic bit of hardware, but let down by dodgy software.

  47. @Maturin’s Friend

    You sound like your working for the marketing departement of SE. Seriously if your not, you should go and give them your credentials. They need people like you. SE is slow with updates, they put ton’s of crap into the phone (i.e. Timescape & Mediascape) and it’s sluggish even tho i customize the settings and uninstalled half of the crap on the machine.

    The people have spoken and in majority they say that SE sucks and XDA is doing hell of a good job. Even tho they’re a small community, living off donations from the public, it’s better then NOTHING AT ALL would’nt you say? What’s wrong with custom rom’s not yet ready? It’s not as if they’re asking us to buy the stuff… IT’s free for crying out loud.

    What’s wrong with dev competition?

    Isn’t ironic to see you whine about the whiners? How bout’ me whining about a whiner who whines about whiners?!? Intense…

  48. It looks like they have made some big leaps forward on this and from what I can make out froyo should be ready for release soon with almost full functionality plus you’ll be able to dual boot. Once it’s released they’ll be getting £20 from me

  49. It’s not exactly the SE “layer” that slows it down so much that linpack is showing higher scores.. this ROM has JIT enabled.

  52. Are these guys making any design changes as well?

    The top drop down bar is only in one color (blue shaded to black) and it would be sweet with that one in different color shades like black to white (metal look), and even just pure black or white to fit background images better.

    The thing they are working on seems amazing. More speed in the OS can never hurt. 🙂 Great work! Thanks.