mobile

Hi,

Up until this time yesterday I thought I was relatively tech savy... Unfortunately the last 24 hours have proved otherwise!

I received the notification from Sony PC Companion to update to Lollipop, and without thinking about backing up 4 months worth of pictures / videos of my baby son, went ahead...

Unfortunately the update failed, and I was left with a phone in bootloop mode... and the only solution I found was to use Sony PC Companion to 'repair' it (which installed Lollipop), unaware that this would wipe the internal memory including all of said baby photos / videos. I haven't dared tell my wife yet, and have been up all night trying to find a way to recover the data....

Totally unfamiliar with the concept of bootloaders, rooting, etc... I investigated some recovery software options, assuming they would work in the same way as normal hard drives. It would appear that is the case, but in order to access the internal memory I've opened up (ie. confused) my brain with the more technical side of the Android OS. I've tried and failed to root the phone, as that seems to be the fundamental requirement of the various data recovery programs.

Enough of the summary, here are a few basic questions...

1. Can I root the Z1C in its current state? It's running Lollipop, bootloader unlocked (as far as I'm aware), USB debugging mode enabled, etc... If so, and I understand this is a basic question for this forum, but can someone please explain how? I've tried numerous tutorials and am totally lost...

2. If I can't root the phone as is, am I right to assume I need to downgrade the OS to KitKat or similar? Again, can someone please explain, step by step what is required...

3. Is there a simpler way to recover the internal data, or am I at least in the right ball park?

I really appreciate any help you guys can offer...

Thanks,

Tim