Hi and how to sim unlock Xperia Arc

[Guest frenchdroid]

Hi

Just bought an Arc and thought I'd post a hello and ask a question.

I'm coming from a humble ZTE Blade/Orange San Francisco and the difference in phone and the Modaco forum is huge. Where is everybody ? The Blade forums here are over active if anything so its a shame to see so little activity for the Arc.

Regarding the phone, my first impression is that I can't believe how light it is. And even though the back cover IS as insubstantial as everybody says, its actually quite strong and the phone seems solid, with no flex.

OK - time to beg for info:

1. how can I SIM unlock the phone. Its on Orange (France) and my Orange (UK) sim doesn't work without a code so now I know its not unlocked (I bought it new from the classifieds in France). The Blade was stupidly easy to unlock (and free) but I think I have a steep learning curve ahead of me with the Arc and I know I have lots to learn about what a bootloader is :D, why I might want to unlock it, and what all this has to do with getting the best out of the Arc.

2. by the way, my box didn't have the HDMI cable in (cheapskates) - can anyone tell me what the best cheapest cable I can buy for the HDMI out please. Is it just a standard micro HDMI cable with no proprietary bullshit ??

Thanks in advance - hope it isn't my last post here.

[Guest shingers5]

Hi

Just bought an Arc and thought I'd post a hello and ask a question.

I'm coming from a humble ZTE Blade/Orange San Francisco and the difference in phone and the Modaco forum is huge. Where is everybody ? The Blade forums here are over active if anything so its a shame to see so little activity for the Arc.

Regarding the phone, my first impression is that I can't believe how light it is. And even though the back cover IS as insubstantial as everybody says, its actually quite strong and the phone seems solid, with no flex.

OK - time to beg for info:

1. how can I SIM unlock the phone. Its on Orange (France) and my Orange (UK) sim doesn't work without a code so now I know its not unlocked (I bought it new from the classifieds in France). The Blade was stupidly easy to unlock (and free) but I think I have a steep learning curve ahead of me with the Arc and I know I have lots to learn about what a bootloader is :D, why I might want to unlock it, and what all this has to do with getting the best out of the Arc.

2. by the way, my box didn't have the HDMI cable in (cheapskates) - can anyone tell me what the best cheapest cable I can buy for the HDMI out please. Is it just a standard micro HDMI cable with no proprietary bullshit ??

Thanks in advance - hope it isn't my last post here.

i too am quite shocked at lack of dev for this device especially as bootloader can be unlocked for sim free devices. also the bravia tech used in graphics is very good and screen in my opinion is better than that of the galaxy s 2 which i also own. problem is that sony messed up wih the x10 and people wont forgive that! all this 2.1 nonsense and updates have made people shy so the arc will suffer

[Guest Seraphic]

Dev takeup on this device is really slow, there's a fair bit more over at XDA-Developers though so its worth a look on there.

I unlocked mine with cellunlocker.net - theres an IMEI checker as not all can be easily unlocked it seems. Cost me £25 and it took 5 days. Worth it though. Love the phone!

[Guest frenchdroid]

Dev takeup on this device is really slow, there's a fair bit more over at XDA-Developers though so its worth a look on there.

I unlocked mine with cellunlocker.net - theres an IMEI checker as not all can be easily unlocked it seems. Cost me £25 and it took 5 days. Worth it though. Love the phone!

Cheers for the reply.

Well, after trying with another UK unlocking service which didn't work but I did get a refund, I have gone with your suggestion, as I see a few others have had luck. Looking forward to unlocking it soon.

By the way, I assume you have an Arc that can't have the bootloader unlocked. How do you feel about this in terms of the limits this imposes on rooting, custom roms, apps that require root, etc.

What I'm really wondering is whether I want to upgrade to 2.3.3 and be able to root via Gingerbreak or whether the benefits of 2.3.3 are significant enough to just forsake rooting for now, and hope that a solution comes up. I mean, is it possible that by keeping rooted with 2.3.2 for now will allow us to use future custom roms that may be produced, and that these custom roms will be better than 2.3.3. Or is that a stupid idea because any decent custom roms will be based on 2.3.3 or greater, that will mean we can't keep root.

Confused !!

[Guest Seraphic]

Cheers for the reply.

Well, after trying with another UK unlocking service which didn't work but I did get a refund, I have gone with your suggestion, as I see a few others have had luck. Looking forward to unlocking it soon.

By the way, I assume you have an Arc that can't have the bootloader unlocked. How do you feel about this in terms of the limits this imposes on rooting, custom roms, apps that require root, etc.

What I'm really wondering is whether I want to upgrade to 2.3.3 and be able to root via Gingerbreak or whether the benefits of 2.3.3 are significant enough to just forsake rooting for now, and hope that a solution comes up. I mean, is it possible that by keeping rooted with 2.3.2 for now will allow us to use future custom roms that may be produced, and that these custom roms will be better than 2.3.3. Or is that a stupid idea because any decent custom roms will be based on 2.3.3 or greater, that will mean we can't keep root.

Confused !!

Indeed, even when you sim unlock it, you still can't unlock the bootloader - and thats annoying! I've no doubt that someone will come up with a solution soon enough. Think I'm going to sell my Xperia Arc though, can't justify keeping it when I've got the Desire HD.

[Guest frenchdroid]

Indeed, even when you sim unlock it, you still can't unlock the bootloader - and thats annoying! I've no doubt that someone will come up with a solution soon enough. Think I'm going to sell my Xperia Arc though, can't justify keeping it when I've got the Desire HD.

Cheers Seraphic. By the way, did Cellunlockers dick around for ages sending multiple emails requesting the IEMI and serial no ?? They asked me about 4 or 5 times and I then get an auto response back saying my code has been answered. I still have some faith that they will deliver as you and others have said it turns up in the end but they seem a weird outfit in the way they communicate.

Ahh - don't tempt me with the Desire HD. I had been thinking about selling the Arc to buy a Desire HD but don't think so now. I think I love the camera too much on the Arc and I'm dealing with my rom and modding addiction by keeping with the Arc :D What I mean is, I do miss the opportunity to mess with my phone as much as you can on HTC, etc, but in another way, its nice just to stick with what you have got without the constant checking forums to see what is new, spending ages figuring out how to do stuff, etc. In fact, I love the hardware on the Arc (screen, etc) and think its plenty fast enough for what I want.

Just updated to 2.3.3 but still waiting for the unlock code (only 3 or 4 days not counting the weekend).

[Guest trained_killa]

Cheers Seraphic. By the way, did Cellunlockers dick around for ages sending multiple emails requesting the IEMI and serial no ?? They asked me about 4 or 5 times and I then get an auto response back saying my code has been answered. I still have some faith that they will deliver as you and others have said it turns up in the end but they seem a weird outfit in the way they communicate.

Ahh - don't tempt me with the Desire HD. I had been thinking about selling the Arc to buy a Desire HD but don't think so now. I think I love the camera too much on the Arc and I'm dealing with my rom and modding addiction by keeping with the Arc ;) What I mean is, I do miss the opportunity to mess with my phone as much as you can on HTC, etc, but in another way, its nice just to stick with what you have got without the constant checking forums to see what is new, spending ages figuring out how to do stuff, etc. In fact, I love the hardware on the Arc (screen, etc) and think its plenty fast enough for what I want.

Just updated to 2.3.3 but still waiting for the unlock code (only 3 or 4 days not counting the weekend).

Completely agree with you on having to check the forums and apply updates etc. I am happy with the stock options now. By the way cellunlockers did deliver my code and it did work. I received quite a number of the emails you mentioned but I did get my code eventually. Albeit after I started my holidays which meant I had to use O2 sim which i had £10 prepaid on it. At the end it all worked out OK.

[Guest frenchdroid]

@trained_killa - thanks for the info re unlock code. Its nearly two weeks now so I'm keeping faith.

And yeah, I agree, stock Arc is fine for me. My old Orange San Fransisco was all about the flexibility to overclock it for the little bit of extra performance and I appreciated the opportunity to have the little tweaks with CyanogenMod 7 and other custom ROMS.

The Xperia Arc is about the screen and other hardware - I'm loving it so far, and its more than capable for what I need plus the camera and video is great. However, having root on 2.3.3 would be perfect.

In case anyone reading this thread isn't already aware of it, it is now possible to root the Arc while using 2.3.3 (previously, it was lost when moving from 2.3.2). Someone discovered and posted over at XDA that you need to do the OTA upgrade from a rooted 2.3.2 (not via SEUS, PC Companion or by flashing the firmware via Flashtool). Its possible to flash back to 2.3.2 using flashtool, then root and then do the OTA upgrade.

Apparently it works no problem, although I can't tell you for sure because I think I need a working sim in the phone to do the OTA - and as I don't have my code .... I can't get the OTA to work.

[Guest trained_killa]

@trained_killa - thanks for the info re unlock code. Its nearly two weeks now so I'm keeping faith.

And yeah, I agree, stock Arc is fine for me. My old Orange San Fransisco was all about the flexibility to overclock it for the little bit of extra performance and I appreciated the opportunity to have the little tweaks with CyanogenMod 7 and other custom ROMS.

The Xperia Arc is about the screen and other hardware - I'm loving it so far, and its more than capable for what I need plus the camera and video is great. However, having root on 2.3.3 would be perfect.

In case anyone reading this thread isn't already aware of it, it is now possible to root the Arc while using 2.3.3 (previously, it was lost when moving from 2.3.2). Someone discovered and posted over at XDA that you need to do the OTA upgrade from a rooted 2.3.2 (not via SEUS, PC Companion or by flashing the firmware via Flashtool). Its possible to flash back to 2.3.2 using flashtool, then root and then do the OTA upgrade.

Apparently it works no problem, although I can't tell you for sure because I think I need a working sim in the phone to do the OTA - and as I don't have my code .... I can't get the OTA to work.

Hey buddy,

I would say send him an email. He did reply to my emails. So he can speed things up for you. I am positive it has to be supplied by Sony (the code) so it maybe taking sooooo long to obtain. I am now fully unlocked and I can homnestly say it is reallyu a cracking phone. Connected to my TV HDMi and me and my missus watched a film straight from my phone. i didn't realize but I I could have controlled the mobile from tv remote so i am going to try that sometime. All in all really pleased. Hope you get the code asap.

thanks

trained_killa

[Guest wicksta]

I'm also waiting for an Arc unlock from cellunlockers - it seems the repeatedly asking for the same information isn't just restricted to me then! I've been asked three times for the same things now.

[Guest frenchdroid]

I'm also waiting for an Arc unlock from cellunlockers - it seems the repeatedly asking for the same information isn't just restricted to me then! I've been asked three times for the same things now.

Keep your faith in them ! I just checked my emails and found this topic notification and also, finally, the unlock code. It took over 2 weeks and I was really frustrated with the waiting. I emailed loads of times and half of the time I got a stupid response like "yes, it should be with us shortly", sometimes no response. I was on the verge of opening a dispute resolution but I realised that the code for the Arc is probably hard to get (or something like that ;) - I thought I heard that they can only get it via Sony Ericsson instead of the other methods that are often available, so I was prepared to wait a while).

Now I can attempt to flash back to 2.3.2, root, and then do an OTA to 2.3.3 - assuming that no working sim card was stopping me from getting the OTA update.