In another pleasant display of showing the big corporations that, in the world of Android, nothing stays locked down for too long, clever minds have finally broken through the locks Sony has put on the bootloaders of the Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact, making it possible for you to finally gain root access to these devices. In their defense, Sony has been one of the more lenient manufacturers when it comes to tweaking their devices for AOSP (Android Open Source Project). Well, there are just some locks that are meant to be broken down.
XDA developer “serajr” revealed the secret formula behind the Sony locks, thanks to the tireless probing of fellow developer “zxz0O0”. The process, however, is not an easy one, and like any modification, this has the potential to turn your Z3 handset into a complete brick. For starters, current firmware is not compatible with the mod, so this means you will have to roll back your unit to version 23.0.1.A.5.77 before you can do anything. Once this has been achieved, it’s on to creating a pre-rooted version of your device’s hardware, flashing a recovery image, and applying the root exploit to your device.
It should be noted at this point that this mod applies mainly to US handsets locked down by their carriers. It is not worth trying on the international versions of the Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact, as these already have unlockable bootloaders and can be easily fiddled with to suit your custom requirements. The hack largely does not apply to Sony devices offered by Verizon either, as these may come with already-modified hardware.
With quite a number of restrictions, it may also help to ask yourself if rooting your Sony Xperia Z3 or Z3 Compact is worth the trouble; Sony is set to release updates to enable its devices to run on Android Lollipop soon, anyway. Still, if you’re intent on getting the most out of your (locked) device, check out the XDA forum thread to try and set free your Sony Xperia device on your own.
VIA: Android Authority
The article is good but the information is a little off. I just rooted my international Xperia Z3 (D6603) this morning using the method provided by “zxz0O0”.
It works on all Z3 but the 23.0.1.A.5.77 firmware version is actually the version that the exploit will NOT work on. It must be downgraded the .93 version, which is what I had to do.
Otherwise, I can confirm that it DOES work, and I am now rooted with a locked bootloader. For anyone looking to go ahead with it, back up everything on both your SD card AND your internal storage, and read the instructions twice over