Mounting NTFS in Xperia Neo V via USB-OTG (Read / Write both)

For newer devices (I don't know how to categorize them, maybe 2012 devices) it's easy to mount any filesystem in both R/W mood for Xperia series. But a little older devices (maybe all the others?) it's not so easy. Some support it partially and some don't (totally). My phone is Xperia Neo V and it doesn't seem to support that. Had a hard time to find this workaround but it's effective, FINALLY !!! :D
To mount NTFS in full support you need two things. A set of modules and the mount script. How to do that follows.
Pre-requisites:
1. Rooted device (you can find tutorials on that)
2. CWM installed (you can use X-Parts from Play Store
3. Script Manager

Steps:
1. First download this file. It is the ntfs-3g modules set compiled for Android.
2. Copy the zip to your SD-Card, in a folder that you can easily recognize by name
3. Reboot into recovery, to do this first turn your phone off. Then power it up and wait for the Sony Logo. When it comes keep pressing the volume down key repeatedly (the key maybe different for another device, do a little Googling to know which).
4. Now you're in CWM (hopefully, you'll see screen with a list of things). Choose 'install zip from sdcard'. Choose the zip file from the sdcard. It will show some messages. If all goes well the last line should be something like "....done"
5. Now supposing the modules have been installed correctly copy this script and save it with the name "MountScript.sh" in your SD-card.

#!/system/bin/sh
#
# Mount USB OTG NTFS Storage device - shardul_seth@xda
# Mount point checking added by - tafhim

# load fuse support
if [ ! -e /system/lib/modules/fuse.ko ]; then
 busybox echo -e "WARNING: fuse module not found!\nIs fuse built into kernel?"
else
 insmod /system/lib/modules/fuse.ko 
fi

# mount partitions
sdn=0
ls -l /dev/block/sd??
if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
 for sd in `ls /dev/block/sd??`; do
  if [ -d "/sdcard/usb_drive_$sdn" ]; then
   umount /sdcard/usb_drive_$sdn
      rm -R /sdcard/usb_drive_$sdn
  fi 
  if [ ! -d "/sdcard/usb_drive_$sdn" ]; then        
   mkdir /sdcard/usb_drive_$sdn
   chmod 777 /sdcard/usb_drive_$sdn
   ntfs-3g -o umask=0 $sd /sdcard/usb_drive_$sdn
   if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    busybox mount -o umask=0 $sd /sdcard/usb_drive_$sdn
    echo "$sd mounted on /sdcard/usb_drive_$sdn"
   else
    echo "$sd (NTFS) mounted on /sdcard/usb_drive_$sdn"
   fi
   sdn=`expr $sdn + 1`
   if [ ! -z $SM_VERSION ]; then echo showToastLong "$sdn Drives mounted!" >&$SM_GUIFD; fi
  fi
 done
else
 echo "No drive found! Exiting.."
 if [ ! -z $SM_VERSION ]; then echo showToastLong "No drive found! Exiting.." >&$SM_GUIFD; fi
 exit 1
fi
exit 0

6. Connect your drive using the OTG cable.
7. If not installed download Script Manager from the Play Store. Run it and browse to the place where you saved the script. Select it
8. You don't have to change anything just select the "su" option that has an Android Skull (Pirate-ish) over it. Now select "Run" from the top-most menu.
9. If you see the message "1 drive mounted" or similar, you're done. Just go to the SD-card and drag down and you'll see the folder "usb_drive_0". If you have multiple partitions, all will be mounted.

You need to do all these only the first time. From later on, you only need to follow steps 6-9 only :)

For help on rooting / CWM Installation / etc head over to XDA Developers Forum.
For help on using FlashTool in Linux read this.

Xperia Neo V specific stuff:
Some nice kernels for Xperia Neo V are the Suave Kernel, the Super Stock Kernel and the Alliance Kernel MOD.
You can download kernel .562 and kernel .587 for Xperia Neo V MT11i. You need these to root your device using this method
The DooMLord rooting kit (windows) is available here
The DooMLord rooting kit (linux) is available here
The CWM Installer (windows) is available here
X-Parts apk is available here

Installing and Configuring FlashTool for Xperia Devices in Ubuuntu

I've been constantly switching between my two OSs, Win7 and Linux Mint for just flashing a ROM to my Xperia device. And ofcourse, I hate being in Windows. So, I found this nice little method to do the same in my Linux.
Credits go to these two pages:
http://duopetalflower.blogspot.com/2012/08/flashtool-in-ubuntu-linux.html
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2084266
1. First of all go to

http://www.flashtool.net/downloads.php

and download the Linux version
2. Extract the 7z then the TAR somewhere and you find the directory FlashTool
3. Now some configuring, first of all you need a package called libusb. By the time you might come to this post the lib may get upgraded so just use your head to handle the scenarios a bit. First off, go to the site

http://libusbx.org

and download the latest tar.bz2 version.
4. Place it somewhere and cd into that directory
5. Type

sudo su

6. You're given root rights, type

tar xvf $(ls | grep "libusb")

This will extract the tar.bz2 file you've downloaded, considering that directory has no other file whose name contains "libusb".
7. Now type

cd $(ls | grep "libusb")

and you'll be inside the extracted directory.
8. Type

$ sudo su
$ ./configure && make && make install && sudo ldconfig

9. Now type this command the configure some USB settings for Flashing interface

sudo cp /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/80-persistent-usb.rules

10. Open that newly created file in nano using

sudo vi /etc/udev/rules.d/80-persistent-usb.rules

11. Add these lines to the end of the document

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ACTION=="add", SYSFS{idVendor}=="0fce", SYSFS{idProduct}=="*", MODE="0777"

12. Most of the hard part is done, now just a final installation of the ia32-libs using

 sudo apt-get install ia32-libs 

13. Now you're good to go just go to the directory where your Flash Tool executable is and just type

./FlashTool

XPERIA Full Root Tutorial

I've been trying to root this device (Xperia Neo V) and have done it several times and there are different scenarios for this. Whatever happens I always come across this guide in the end :) Nice work!!!

Ultimate (In my preference) guide to root XPERIA Devices

Use Laptop's Internet in you Android using WiFi

Been always a fan of Linux and Google. Of course I couldn't compromise with buying an Android for myself.  The XPERIA NEO V was undoubtedly making it's mark as my first Android. But downloading the huge sized apps from the Play Store was pretty not possible with the slow yet pricey EDGE service. Had to find a way into my Laptop's internet service. Well, a full guide to connect the Droid WiFi to your Laptop based hotspot. You need this because connecting to this network ain't as easy as connecting to normal hotspots.

[ PrioArena ]

One more thing of note, for some reason I couldn't do that using the default WiFi settings. I had to use an app called "WiFi Manager". It's available for free at Google Play Store.