Keeping their word on the mid-April release date, Sony started rolling out the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) update for the Xperia Arc S (along with the neo V and Xperia Ray). It is only available in a few countries for now, so in case you haven’t got the update in your country yet but don’t want to wait to try it out, don’t worry. The development community over at XDA, as always, has made available the firmware files for manual flashing.

You can flash the update on both the Xperia Arc and Arc S, as the Arc and Arc S are similar devices, so the firmware is compatible with both. We have a full step-by-step procedure that you can follow to update to Ice Cream Sandwich on your Arc/Arc S.

Read on to find out how you can install the official Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 on your Sony Xperia Arc/Arc S.

Compatibility

This ROM and the guide below are compatible only and only with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc and Arc S, model number LT15i/LT18i. It’s not compatible with any other device and may render an incompatible device unusable. Check your device model in Settings » About phone.

Warning!

The methods and procedures discussed here are considered risky and you should not attempt anything if you don’t know completely what it is. If any damage occurs to your device, we won’t be held liable.

How to Install Ice Cream Sandwich on Xperia Arc/Arc S

  1. Download and install Flashtool from → here. (Get the Windows version from the Installation section).
  2. Now, after installing Flashtool, go to the Flashtool folder (C:Flashtool by default) on your computer, and open the drivers folder. Double-click the Flashtool-drivers file to start the installation of the necessary drivers for the phone.
  3. In the drivers setup screen, click Next once, then on the component selection screen, tick the following two options:
    1. Arc-Play-Neo-Acro ADB Drivers
    2. Flashmode Drivers
  4. Then, select Next to start installing the necessary drivers. During installation of drivers, you’ll get a lot of pop-ups saying the drivers are not compatible or something. Just select Install this driver anyway on each pop-up. After driver installation is complete, proceed to the next step.
  5. Download the firmware file.
    Download Link  |  Filename: LT18i_4.1.A.0.562_Generic.ftf
    Note: Your browser/download manager might save the file as a zip file. If that happens, just change the .zip at the end of the filename to .ftf (if you can’t see the .zip in the filename, go to Control Panel » Folder Options, and under the View tab, uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types option, then click OK).
  6. Copy the downloaded .ftf file to the Flashtoolfirmwares folder.
  7. Now, double-click the FlashTool file inside the Flashtool folder to run the flashing program.
  8. Once the Flashtool program opens — click on the “Flash” button (the first of the seven buttons at the top of the screen).
  9. Select Flashmode on the screen that shows up, then press OK.
  10. You will see LT18i in the list of devices in the new window that shows up (as shown in screenshot below). Click on the LT18i entry in the list, then click OK.
  11. Now, after a few seconds, it should ask you to connect your phone to the PC. So first plug the USB cable to PC, then pick up your phone and hold the “Back” key (key at the bottom left on your Arc), and then connect the USB cable to your phone. Remember, you have to hold the “Back” key while connecting the USB cable to phone.
  12. Once the phone gets connected, Flashtool will automatically start the flashing process.
  13. Important! At the end of the flashing, instead of a Flashing Complete message, you might get an error message in red letters saying Error Flashing, in the Flashtool window, as shown below in screenshot. Ignore this error. The firmware has been successfully flashed.
  14. After the flashing is complete, just unplug your phone from the computer, then turn it on.
  15. On first boot, the phone will restart once at the Sony logo, then boot up into Ice Cream Sandwich.

Congratulations. You’ve successfully updated your Xperia Arc/Arc S to the official Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 update. Do let us know what you think of ICS, and whether you like it on your Arc/Arc S, in the comments below.