Asus Zenfone 2 is a pretty interesting device, firstly because it targets much wider price points than probably any other smartphone in the market and secondly it packs much varied (but still great) specifications which make each variant a good buy at the price that it targets. Anyways, if you own one of the Zenfone 2 variants (ZE550ML or ZE551ML) and want to gain root access, this post provides detailed instructions for that. So, let’s get started.
Rooting the Asus Zenfone 2 (ZE550ML & ZE551ML)
There are two methods to root the Asus Zenfone 2. Please follow the instructions step by step so to eliminate any chances of phone getting bricked. And even though the rooting process will not affect your user data, you should still backup any important data if something wrong happens. Also, if you want to take OTA updates seamlessly, DO NOT alter (add/remove) any system apps.
Method #1 – Using Temporary CWM
You should follow this method to root the Zenfone 2 device because firstly it is easy, secondly it requires minimal downloading. You can also install OTA updates on your device if you follow this method to root your Zenfone 2 device (after un-rooting). CWM is only temporarily loaded and your stock recovery is not replaced.
- Download and Install the USB Drivers.
- Download THIS zip file containing temporary CWM package and extract the contents to an accessible location.
- Turn on USB Debugging and then connect your phone to the PC.
USB Debugging can be accessed by going to Settings> About> Software Information> Tap Build number 7 times. Then go 2 steps back and choose Developer options> USB Debugging. - Copy SuperSUxxx.zip (xxx is the SuperSU version) to the root of your SD card.
- Run cai_dat_CWM.bat. In the command window, type ACCEPT (in capitals) and hit Enter.
- Type T4 and hit enter again. Your phone should restart infastboot mode, take the commands and then load the temporary CWM. It will take about a minute for this to complete.
Fastboot Commands being Paased - When the phone boots CWM Recovery, you can disconnect the device from the PC. Then select Install Zip by using Volume Keys to highlight and Power Key to select.
- Select choose zip from external sdcard and then select the SuperSUxxx.zip file copied to the SD card in step 4. Select Yes – Install SuperSuxxx.zip to start flashing. It will take a few moments for theSuperSU to be installed, so be patient.
Installing SuperSU - When done, reboot your phone and that’s it. Verify the root by installing any root checker app from the Play Store.
Method #2 – Flashing the Pre-Rooted ROM
If for some reason the previous method fails or you just want an alternative way, you can download and flash the pre-rooted firmware. Disadvantages here are that first of all you need to download the full fimware (about 1GB in size) and secondly, OTA updates cannot be installed if you update the SuperSU binaries.
- Download and Install the USB Drivers.
- Download and Install ADB (if not already installed).
- Download the pre-rooted firmware files (about 1GB). Please choose the files for your device as mentioned below. If the latest firmware is not available, wait a few days as the files are regularly updated. Also choose the correct localized version (WW/CN/JP etc). Flashing an incorrect version might brick your phone.
ZE551ML – Z00A
ZE550ML – Z008 - Download and extract the Flash Tools zip file to an accessible location.
- With WinRAR/WinZIP installed, open the firmware folder double-click the Z00x_WW_x.x.x.x_system_w_root.zip file and extract it. The smaller files will be combined and the complete system.img will be available.
- Move system.img, boot.img, droidboot.img and recovery.img to the folder where you extracted Flash Tools.zip in step 4.
Flash Tools Folder - Turn off your Zenfone 2, press and hold the Volume Up & Power Key together till it vibrates.
- When the phone gets into fastboot mode, connect it to the PC.
- Open the Flash Tools folder. Right click while holding down the shift key and choose Open command window here.
- Pass the following commands in the command window one by one after the previous is finished. The last command will take a few minutes to complete so do wait till finished shows up before disconnecting the phone.
fastboot flash fastboot droidboot.img fastboot flash recovery recovery.img fastboot flash boot boot.img fastboot flash system system.img
Flashing Zenfone 2 - Reboot when done and you’ll have a rooted Zenfone 2.
If you’re new to rooting, you might get confused with the procedure. If you come across any such confusion, do not make any guesses with a certain step unless you know what you’re doing. If you don’t understand something, please leave a comment below and we’ll try assisting you with that.
Hi, do I need an unlocked bootloader for the first method of to work? Thank you.
You do not need an unlocked bootloder 🙂
how i can go to stock rom
it Started restarting and error and it does nothing
help pls
help please 😀
i updated my zenfone ze550ml from 5.0 to 6.0 then after flashing a rom via TWRP, and now my phone is dead hahaha
can’t even connect my zenfone to pc, it keeps on disconnecting -_- PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!
Hi mate, you’ll mostly probably be needed to use the Asus Flash Tool to recover your device.
How if just the Asus logo android only pop up after i do flash boot my device actually not finish flasbooting ..can u help pls?
Hi I have digitizer failed ZE550ml in stock condition.. Can I unlock the bootloader and install twrp and flash CM ROM? Should I flash the pre rooted firmware from your link to unlock bootloader the unofficial way as mentioned on xda?
What I mean is,”Is a pre rooted ROM necessary to unlock bootloader? “
If I’m guessing it tight, the digitizer on your phone is not working. In that case, I’m unsure how would you even run those commands or use TWRP since there is at least some level of touch usage required to reach out to the various functions. The most basic one being enabling USB debugging without which you probably cannot run the bootloader unlock commands.
And yes, you need to have it rooted before you start following the unofficial method for bootloader unlock. This is because you need ADB with SU (superuser) privileges. You can also just flash an older version of the stock ROM and then root it using the 1st method in this article.
Thanks for your quick responses narendra modi ??i like ur name tho ??
Hahaha! Woops. Thanks bhai 🙂
everything goes well…that cmd process also goes well…what after that…should i do anything to get me phone into cmw recovery?? or it will load itself?
It should be loaded by itself actually.
ITs not loading by itself..i waited 10 mins..is it because i have android 6?
Right. Marshmallow isn’t supported by this. Please look elsewhere for a tutorial around Marshmallow 🙂
Help-me! Hello everyone, Method 1 does not work. Now I do not know if it’s because I tried WITHOUT SDCARD or went wrong for my smartphone is a little different: Asus Pegasus 2 Plus CPU Snapdragon 615 (Qualcomm MSM8939) without CPU INTEL. I even installed SDCARD and did factory reset but Method 1 does not fully wheel (only ran until the end of the first time with several error msg warning that can not partition). Then the last step after the T4 command is hours waiting for the phone and it remains locked with the ASUS logo. The notification of Windows 10 shows android connected. I look for the specific USB driver for Snapdragon / windows or try the method 2? I’m afraid. Help-me!
Eduardo, these files are model specific and will only work on the Zenfone 2. You should not try these on a different model or you risk bricking your phone.
Please look elsewhere for a guide which specifically applies to your phone model.
It s true! My model don’t exist method to gain root access. Model is X550. Is sex. Thanks
hello , is there any way to root Zenfone 2 ZE551ML running Marshmallow ??
thx
Is rooting necessary for installing a custom rom like Cyanogen?
No rooting won’t be. But you probably need to unlock your bootloader first.
Two asus2 ZE551ML 6.0.1 hanging on the white screen sits minute Atefa and back of the screen and the white Thanita Hecda three almost died and then Atefa and Makedr prejudice put a bot or Recovery
Couldn’t understand you mate. Did you use a translator or what?
Hello i used the first method and i did exactly what you write in the steps everything went fine its nicely written, but when i checked the root after rebooting with help of app from googl play it says the device is not preperly rooted any ideas, please ? 🙂 I am new to rooting so maybe you would know more 🙂
well, i’m sorry for english i can’t see on keyboard, it’s too dark here 😀
No issues. Please confirm that your device is one of the ZE551ML/ZE550ML variants and that you successfully flashed SuperSU without any errors.
Hi I have ZE551ML and SuperSU was no problem i found it in external sd and i installed it without any problems or errors maybe the last reboot could occure some problems it rebooted on its own after the installing SuperSU after minute or two when i forgot on my phone ? 🙂
Rebooted itself? Maybe that’s the issue. It should ask you whether you want to reboot or do additional tasks :/
Hi ,
how to install files present in Z00A_WW_4.21.40.134.zip for Zenfone 2 ZE551ML running marshmallow(NOT ROOTED & NOT UNLOCKED)?
thx
Please don’t try this on Marshmallow as the files are from Lollipop.
OK. how to root having marshmallow?
thx
I am unsure. The update was never received on my Zenfone 2 and I couldn’t find time to do a manual update. Please search elsewhere 🙂
ok. if i downgrad to Lollipop how can install files present in Z00A_WW_4.21.40.134.zip??
Thx
you go to asus official web and download the Lollipop Downgrade ROM ‘WW” version and flash through ADB method. You should success and backed to Lollipop version. Now you can do Unlock boot loader, root and what ever you want with Lollipop version. This method tested with ZE551ML only and I dont know about other models of Asus. One more thing root and unlock methods are still not came for this model with marshmallow. Wait and see.
Hello,
Thank you for this kind tutoriel, but in MEGA cloud, I don’t find a file named …_w_root.zip.
For information, my version is Z00A_WW_4.21.40.134.
Have a nice day.
Hi,i have zenfone 2 ze551ml running marshmallow NOT ROOTED ant NOT UNLOCKED .i see there is a new file with new img Files.How to proceed the rooting procedure??
Thx
Hi admin, thank you for the step by step guide. I did Method 1 and got my Zenfone 2 (ZE550ML) rooted on first try. Thank you.
Hello guys…..i have ASUS ZENFONE 2 ZE551ML….and its running on mrshmellow…will “method 1” work for marshmellow….or you need lollipop version???
Hey there! Does method 1 still work with the Android M update?
It should, but will not vouch for it. Try at your own risk please.
I tried method1 with my zenfone2 Marshmallow, but failed.
>writing ‘/tmp/recovery.zip’ (3477 KB)…
>FAILED (remote: not allowed to f lash this partition)
recovery.launcher has the same result. And fastboot oem stop_partitioning does not start cwm recovery.
What should I do???
Hi i have all the USB drivers installed. but im still stucked coz my pc is not detecting my phone. It should show on the cmd like yours “Device Status: FASTBOOT-ONLINE” so on and so forth. but all it shows are red error things. TIA
Firstly how would I backup my data. Stock rom
Asus includes a backup utility to backup most parts of it. Then copy the other important data from storage to SD card.
I tried the 1st one after accept.. and t4 my phone goes into black screen showing normal boot on top, then few lines of data below ending into continue fastboot…. and on my pc it shows wait for the device… 10 minutes waiting for next info it might show but nothing follows..
Hi,
I followed the second method with adb (because in recovery mode I don’t have the saying “install zip from sd card”), I rebooted the phone at the end of the procedure but when i use Root Checker to see if I have the root access it says “Sorry! Root access is not properly installed on this device”…what should I do?
Was it successfully completed, I kinda doubt it. What Zenfone 2 variant did you try that on? You should go with the 1st method 🙂
NOT WORK. ROOT CHEAKER SAYS. DEVICE NOT ROOT
Tried both methods but I’m getting an
Remote permission FAILED error
please help!
When I get to step 6 in method 1 this is what happens:
***********************************************************************
FASTBOOT TETHERED RECOVERY LAUNCHER 05-16-2015-PTR
***********************************************************************
REBOOT
=======================================================================
DEVICE STATUS: ADB-ONLINE
DEVICE INFORMATION: adb server
=======================================================================
adb server is out of date. killing…
ADB server didn’t ACK
* failed to start daemon *
error: unknown host service
and then nothing happens. Do you know what’s going on?
Guess you need to update the ADB version installed on your system.
My Pc is not discovering my device…
What do I do now…
Will this wipe the internal storage ?
And if I make a 3rd party app as system app using lucky patcher, can I still unroot and claim warranty ?
It should only rewrite your system partition so I believe internal storage will be preserved. Don’t forget to backup in any case though.
Warranty will be available when you unroot unless you have an unlocked bootloader as well 🙂
I TRIED METHOD ONE AND WHEN I TYPE “T4” COME OF THEM ARE “FAILED” AND SOME ARE “OKAY” AND MY PHONE STUCKS ON FASTBOOT MODE AND ASUS LOGO, IT DOESNT OPEN CWM RECOVERY MODE, HELP ME PLEASE, ALL DRIVERS AND EVERYTHING IS INSTALLED, BOOTLOADER IS UNBLOCKED, HELP ME PLS
Hi,
Someone else has asked the same question as I’m going to, so I hope you don’t mind me repeating it.
Basically when you say use the root of the SD card (for copying the zip) do U mean internal or external storage ?
Also is there no need to unlock the Bootloader?
And daft question, does the method you show still work, I’m up to date on all Asus updates.
Your tutorial is one of the clearest iv’e found online, I’ve rooted devices before but for some reason the Zenfone 2 looks and sound more daunting!
I’m happy to hear that you find it the clearest 🙂 The method should work since the core is still the same, even if updated. Use the method 1, not 2.
I meant the external SD card there, but you can place it on either. Both storages should be accessible while choosing the zip.
Yes there is no need to unlock the bootloader here. Good luck!
I TRIED METHOD ONE AND WHEN I TYPE “T4” COME OF THEM ARE “FAILED” AND SOME ARE “OKAY” AND MY PHONE STUCKS ON FASTBOOT MODE AND ASUS LOGO, IT DOESNT OPEN CWM RECOVERY MODE, HELP ME PLEASE, ALL DRIVERS AND EVERYTHING IS INSTALLED, BOOTLOADER IS UNBLOCKED, HELP ME PLS
I m not able to get .IMG files plzz help me with that .thnxx
Why don’t you follow the first method instead?
Thank you very much :D, works Method #2 to me 😀
is this available in latest system update?
I have tried both methods to the letter and neither times did it work. I flashed all the files in fast boot and still it is not showing it is rooted. I have the ZE551ML. . . I even went so far as to get the features on the root checker that shows you all the SuperUser APP and SuperUser Binaries. It says I have both of those SuperUser apps/binaries. But it says it’s not rooted.
EDIT: I now just thought to reinstall the SuperSU app and now it is showing it is rooted. Now I just rebooted and all is as it should be. I am leaving this up here to serve as a reminder for people like myself who may or not be in the same boat with this stuff.
Hi there.
Still hesitating rootin / not rooting.
Anyway, want some clarifications:
* by SD card (for copying the zip) do U mean internal or external storage ?
* when talking ’bout software update, is it Android OS or any apk update ?
Thnx all for a fast answer.
How to Root ASUS Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
These methods still work?
Device : Asus zenfone 2 laser ze550kl
Android version : 5.0.2
This was never written for the Zenfone Laser. This might work, but chances are that it won’t. Please check elsewhere 🙂
THX VERY MUCH!
great tutorial and it works perfectly on my zenfone 2.
but i forgot to unroot my phone before installing new update. now i got bootloop. can you please help me?
Did you try checking out this article to unbrick? – https://www.techmesto.com/recover-bricked-asus-zenfone-2/
I dont have root in my sd card
Root directory is the starting directory of the SD card. So paste it into the SD directly and not into a folder.
hi
i have problem with method 2 number 9
i have asus zenfone 2 deluxe
i download all file
and all level are right
just level 9 is not working
the cmd window will close a second after i open it
can any body help me?
Why don’t you follow method 1 instead? The 2 is no longer maintained with latest ROMs, AFAIK.
hi thank you for answer me
as it is clear first i tried method 1
but
number 6
Type T4 and hit enter again
when i done this step in cmd
an screen with a red error on it apear
and there were no way to continue
then i tried method 2
i download any thing
all thing are right
but lelvel 9 is not clear
holding down the shift key and…………………..
i don’t know what this mean
it will be great to define me what u mean on that
may be a video clip on youtube
or private message at my viber,whatsapp,telegram to my phone +98 935 965 0 789
thanks alot
i rooted my zenfone 2 (551) thrice. all the time, the phone bricks within a month and I’ll have to flash it to the basic version. plz help me. I don’t know where it goes wrong all the time. I lose all data when the phone is restored. somebody plz let me know that what is wrong here. Thanking you in advance
Most probably you or somebody else is installing a software update which shouldn’t while the phone is rooted. Unrooting and then installing updates is the way.
Hi Narender,
I did follow your method 1 and work like a charm. After few days i noticed i cannot use the screenshot
ie Press power + volume button, and also using the long press to screenshot method on my asus 4gb (ZE551ML).. Any recommendation how to fix this?
Hi Hector. I’m unsure about this as rooting shouldn’t cause it. You just seem unlucky here and probably resetting your phone will help. I don’t know of any reason why screenshots would stop working.
How to recover the phone back up if something goes wrong.
please share the process
Works like a charm!
How to load the temporary CWM after restarting into fastboot mode ? I cant enter any commands on that screen.
DEVICE STATUS: UNKNOWN
DEVICE INFORMATION: UNKNOWN
installed intel drivers,enabled USB debugging still the same, cant able to root using CWM “Failed to communicate Device”
pls help
recently unrooted via SuperSU and updated to lastest firmware..usually this method works perfectly but now not working.
pls help buddy
Disable either MTP or PTP mode in USB settings to let the device enter install mode. Dw
Hello Narender Singh … I excidentally update software and when my hp reboot, it stuck at asus logo .. what should I do ?
You can follow the unbricking tutorial that we have published at TechMesto.
i tried this steps but now my phone isnt starting
n when i start display just flickering
pls help me and also first command showed error while doing
My phone doesnt go into fastboot mode after entering T$ in cmd !! It says communication error !! please help on this!!
Please check that the ADB drivers are installed on your PC.
after this my screen is flickering ????”
please help me
This is the first time I’m hearing this. Please try resetting the device to factory.
can i change zenfone 2 data usage from sim1 to sim2 after rooting
No. That is not possible.
I’m hiasus zenfon 2 zoo8d (ze550ml) phone that pale boot and boot it does not find that in my country if anyone can help?
METHODE 1. ITS WORK. NICE
Couple things to note:
the bat file is in german? maybe
also when it went to load cwm it had some weird line stuff going on that made me think for a moment that i might of borked my phone but having rooted a few times i left it alone for like 15 seconds and it booted into cwm.
Thank you for this guide.
Well i have tried practically everything. steps i have been taking since the device goes right back to the usb sign on restart.
step1 xfstk 3 files without dnx push to get the boot and im in fastboot
step2 reset.bat as it gives error otherwise if i push any of these files under fastboot
step3 follow your files and push them and they all go in perfectly.
step4 reset as normal boot – and im right back at the usb sign…
side step: tethered cwm recovery pushes even after all files successfully installed… i try pushing in a new clean version of system from asus website and it take it proper or even tried pre rooted custom roms… regardless after restart..
BACK TO THE DOG GAM usb Sign again.. any help would be appreciated. \\
[email protected]
I didn’tgot.img files whatshould I do
Narender Singh Please Help,
I accidentally pressed on wipe partition cache after installing SU.ZIP, the device hanged at wiping cache log and i forced turned off the device.
When i turned it back on, the device stucked at Asus Logo, any suggestion of how to fix this?
Thanks
I tried the “How to Recover Bricked Asus Zenfone 2 Smartphone”, and im currently stuck at doing the Recovery Mode, somehow my device shows an Error Screen whenever i chose “Recovery Mode”.
Thanks
Please tell me how to update su binary in asus zenfone 2 after rooting, becouse it always failed to update su binary in superSU
Why would one like to root the phone? What are the advantages?
I can’t turn off the screenshot sound. What can I do about that?
Depends on one’s needs and requirements. To know the advantages, refer to the Wikipedia section for the same.
Screenshot sounds are combined with the camera sounds. You can turn off camera sounds and the phone will stop making sound when you take screenshots as well.
Sorry, I typed that comment with Windows Phone in my mind. You need to put your phone into silent mode if you don’t want the sound during screenshot.
Hi!
I rooted my ZE551ML WW US versioin and it worked like a charm back in June!
After that, I was not able to update the phone via automatic updates, so I went to Asus website, downloaded the firmware and manually updated the phone from the phone’s internal memory.
Now the Root is gone. Root checker says its gone. Apps that need root do not work as well.
What did I do wrong? Any help would be appreciated!!!
Cause youve flash new firmware try to root it again..
Root is lost as the update restores the /system partition from the stock ROM. You need to root again after the update.
Your article references MANY items and processes that only Computer Wizards would understand. Can you tell me where there is a guide that explains EVERYTHING from unlocking my zenfone2 to rooting to where to get image files and ALL necessary files, so i can actually feel secure in understanding wtf i will be doing? Thnks Your frustrated friend and want-to-be modder,
Neil
Hi Narender, if you could lend me a hand I would greatly appreciate it please !
I have some trouble with my 551ML, I rooted it once before and had a bootloop, after a big fear and some anger out of the way, I managed to install a new system and started an unroot on SuperSu, but now I can’t install normal updates anymore, I thought the system I took was the original one, and I forgot how I did install it … 😡
It seems that some parts of the rooting still remains and won’t let me update my phone, on top of that, I encounter occasional bugs like the names of my contacts dissapearing and replaced by their numbers. nothing really important for now, but I really would like my phone to update on Android M when it comes out, any advice that can help ? :/
I’m unsure why your comment was flagged as ‘Spam’. LOL
Anyways, which software version are you running right now? If not the latest, you are not receiving the update to the latest, right? It might be because you didn’t install the proper files last time, but I can’t say for sure.
Also, where did you purchase your 551ML, from an Asus store? eBay? Did it come in an unsealed package? What variant is it? WW/CN/TW/JP; etc?
If it is an original WW variant and you’re running a WW software (firmware) on it right now, you should be able to take it back to track by following these steps.
Thank you, method 1 worked perfect.
Dude…. i have problems with updating my ota… i have follow ur instruction to fully unroot before the update but when it try to install it show error .. idk why.. but i think it is because i install busybox…does updating busybox cause this error??
As said any changes to /system will cause the updates to fail. If you have made changes, you need to manually update by downloading the full image file from ASUS website.
Hello Narender! what do you mean about altered system apps from your older comments. It’s about unrooting to update OTA. Tanks
If you’ve made changes to system apps (the ones pre-installed on the phone like Asus Browser) such as Uninstalling or Modifying them, it is a problem and can cause the update to fail.
i have do that flashing but i got problem about system.img.. after i type fastboot flash system system.img “invalid sparse file format at header magi.. and zen2 cant in recovery mode.. please help
alguém me ajuda como faço para tirar o enraizamento do meu zenfone 2?
Didn’t following the article help you?
I tried without doing full unroot in supersu app and my ota update got failed.then i did unroot in my mobile through supersu.now i tried to checksystem update because im running in 2.13.40.13 but latest is 2.20.40.97 how can i get this laltest one?
Because it failed, you’ll probably be needed to download and flash the Full Package from the ASUS Website which will be around 1 GB in size.
Thanks for your response
Hi narender,
I tried to install some custom Rom and ended with some bootloop problem after that I degraded my custom Rom and I entered into my mobile that time it’s telling to update firmware.I downloaded it then while installing again it went to recovery mode so I did normal boot then I went to supersu it says some binary files missing then I did full unroot.wat will if I do full unroot?and can I get any update from ASUS here after?
Yes you can. If you’re back to the original ROM, you will get any updates that Asus pushes 🙂
Hi Narender,
yesterday i did rooting in my asus zenfone2 4gb ram and 64 gb rom by using your post.could you help me to install lollipop 5.1.1 update.And also i am new for rooting and give some suggestion to use this rooting effectively
Hey Sakthi
Happy that you managed to root it successfully. Unfortunately, Android 5.1.1 is not yet officially available for Zenfone 2. Some custom ROMs do have it, but there are other bugs which make it better to wait for the update rather than getting a custom ROM.
Narender, you were so much help getting my phone rooted I thought maybe you could help me with parting the SD Card. I bought the SanDisk Ultra Plus 64GB microSDXC UHS-I card with adapter as my external SD card.
When I initially tried to part it with Aparted I told it to make 2 partitions the first as Fat 32 and the second smaller one as Ext 4 but it would only part it as Ext2. So then I went to Link2SD Plus and tried to add it as Ext2 and it would not read it correctly.
I then went back and tried to redo it as Ext 4 and it always made it Ext2, so then I tried to make it a Swap file and I always had the same problem. I tried also to copy the original files that were in the SD card back to the card and that still didn’t help.
Now in AParted it shows it as having 63 GB but in the Settings/Storage it only shows it as ONLY having 33.45 GB.
I have displayed here all three of the screens from the Computer and the Zenfone and what they look like at this time without the original files that were on the SD card,
http://i369.photobucket.com/albums/oo138/hwsiii3/Computer%20SD%20Card.png
http://i369.photobucket.com/albums/oo138/hwsiii3/Asus%20Aparted%20Showing.png
http://i369.photobucket.com/albums/oo138/hwsiii3/Asus%20Settings%20for%20Storage.png
Hopefully you can help me, back in the late 70’s I was a certifed IBM, Texas Instruments, Apple and Compaq technician, but that was MANY moons ago, and I remember VERY little as I get Older. LOL
This is my first smart phone as I am retired and the stock market mainly wiped out all my savings so I am on a limited budget and very limited knowledge as well. I am just trying to copy what everyone else is doing to personalize my phone and I would rather leave it as a CWM, so later if I have a problem I can use the warranty.
HWS
Does the method 1 will unlock bootloader??
No. This post does not deal with bootloader unlock and as such none of these methods unlock your bootloader.
Nice job dude…. i just root my phone and its work fine on my zen2 1ml….but i have a problems with my phone….my android version is already 5.0 and it prevents me from accessing most of the cheating tool…any suggestions??
I want to thank you very much for your timely assistance with my problem. If I had not been able to communicate with you Narender I probably would have not ever rooted my ZenFone. I was SCARED silly that I might BRICK it, and I am retired and cannot afford to throw money away like that. But your dialogue convinced me to keep trying.
Sincerely,
HWS
Thank you! That’s so nice of you. I’m happy that I was helpful, even though partially.
One warning though. You need to make sure that you do not remove/delete/alter any system (preinstalled) apps. Also, do UNROOT your phone before installing an OTA phone update. Because, if you alter apps or don’t unroot, there are high chances that the phone will be soft-bricked after installing the update and won’t boot up.
Narender, I found a video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLp1qpG1D5I that actually shows it being done on screen. It helped me feel more comfortable in doing this.
Thanks for all your help. It is now rooted.
HWS
Yep. Have seen that vid. Its good and I’d agree that Video shows a better path than the written text. Will consider developing some videos in the future 🙂
I’m however glad that your issue is finally sorted.
It does NOTHING, it won’t try to open it. It just sits there.
HWS
That is certainly strange because the LOG needs to drop an error or better, flash the zip file. Does it reach to the step where you select YES (as a nod to flash zip) from multiple entries with all NOs and 1 YES? Or it stops accepting input even before that?
Because it is failing for you, your next option would be to either go with Pre-Rooted (Method #2 in the post) or install permanent TWRP and the try flashing the SuperSU zip file.
Narender, I have tried using the temporary CWM over and over again, but it never finds the Super .zip file, it just keeps making me issue the comand over and over until I say no and it reboots just fine with no change in the root. I read your posts and I saw where you recommended placing the zip file in internal storage as well, so I did that and I was about to start over when I remembered this.
But then I REMEMBERED that I bought and UNLOCKED phone from Amazon, will that make a difference, and will I lose the unlocked capability of my phone?
HWS
First, which Zenfone 2 is that? Because Asus has a lot of variants of the Zenfone 2.
Next, I didn’t get what really happens when you load CWM. Does it get loaded and you fail to browse to the SuperSU? Or does it not load at all?
The device being unlocked should not affect it any way as this is just ROOT. We are not changing anything in the phone.
I have the model Asus Z00AD (ZE551ML) Unlocked, with 4GB of ram and a 1.8 GHz quad core clock speed and 16 GB of storage with the dual sim cards.
I installed a Sandisk 64 GB Ultra Plus UHS-1 class 10 MicroSDXC card internally as well. I also updated the software to V2.20.40.97 for WW SKU only. I also show build number LRX21V WW- on my ZF2. I did NOT install all the updates between the version that was on my phone and the V2.20.40.97, would that matter at all.
It loads the CWM and I am able to connect with the fastboot and i then say ACCEPT and T4 and then it boots to fast boot and I tell it to install the SuperSU246.zip file from the external sd card and it will NOT do it, so i have to back out to save the phone.
Does this help you more.
HWS
Noted. It seems everything is fine till the step where you choosse SuperSU246.zip. If it is okay for you mention, what exactly happens when you browse to SuperSU and select it to install it? It does nothing or drops some error?
Neither method worked for me. Method 1 produced an error and left me in a boot loop.
Error: http://i.imgur.com/uSbVFNZ.jpg
Method 1 left me in a boot loop.
Hi Narender,
I can’t get past Step #6, i get everything correctly but Command Window stopped at .
The device restarted and also stuck at command screen where you have various options.
I may have possibly did something wrong, please help.
Thank You
Nevermind, sorry for double post.
I waited longer and the command window starts its magic lol.
Thank you so much for such a great yet simple rooting tutorial.
Wonderful it is! Glad that it finally worked out. Enjoy 🙂
can i root asus zenfone 2 deluxe with this method? thx
As Zenfone 2 Deluxe is the same ZE551ML with a slightly different design, it should work. Haven’t tested this though.
Thanks
i rooted my phone using the 1st method it work just fine
my brother updated it without unrooting it now it STUCK ON ASUS LOGO.
WHAT CAN I DO TO MAKE IT BACK TO NORMAL?
Please check THIS post.
Hi, Can i update after the pre-rooted firmware?
Good method with nicely written steps.
I flashed my CN version phone with above steps. I used 4 images list from the same WW package. Everything worked without issues. Interestingly, it did not lose my data (like WiFI). I am wondering if I do the standard Asus system update will I still get the WW version of the update. Just concerned as to what happens after such update. I cannot test this since I used the latest WW update for flashing.d
i typed T4 but nothing happened
Hi,
I bought asus zen phone 2 2 weeks a ago. When I try to install whatsapp, viber imo or messenger. I stuck and cont. messages are coming whatapp tries to read contact, tries to see location ,tries to write contacts.
so I am using this mobile but cannot install these software. If I want to root the mobile what is the procedure for that.
how to check whether my mobile is rooted or not.
After rooting the mobile can these software works on my mobile.
The rooting procedure is mentioned in the post, but the issue is more likely because your phone is flashed with a different version than what came pre-installed. Probably a Chinese version flashed with the worldwide ROM. Consider checking XDA for some solutions.
I am not able to surpass the
Choose zip from external sd card window’
When i click on it , it displays the same menu over again
Please reply Asap
Try placing it to the internal memory and choosing from there.
install adb many times and now it does not copy any file when insatalling
then ADB in the cmd window is not recognised as an internal or external command…
thanks for your help
M
If you happen to have TeamViewer on your PC, how’d it be if we collaborate together to fix that?
I have TeamViewer… let me know
Mail me the details anytime after 4:30PM IST 😛
THanks for your answer Narender but what’s your email? 😉
Sorry for the miss – [email protected]
hey I had un-rooted my phone, and didn’t face bootlopp after updating ota. I’m about to root again but there’s notif that said if usb device not recognize. what should I do? I’ve turned on the usb debugging. please tell me how to re-root again. thx.
Dude I had to unroot my device for system update but now I am again trying to root fastboot.exe is crashing device can’t be able to continue the process.pls suggest. Thanks
Hi, thanks for your tutorial.
Does the software version installed on my zenfone 2 needs to be equal to the downloaded root-software version?
Equal or newer than the one already installed. Older won’t be picked up for flashing.
Narender, thanks for your reply. My goal is to activate google play store, since the app crashes at start up (because of chinese firmware?).
I tried method 1, where i passed all steps succesfully. After the final reboot, google play store appears on the phone. But after opening the app, it crashes directly. Any advice?
Dear Tom, I’m sorry but have no idea about that. Probably browsing XDA will be helpful?
Hey,
Does it matter if the image is WW and my phone is originally CN? As I cannot find a pre-rooted CN image that is equal or newer.
My bro has a rooted CN phone of the same code as mine, if I cannot use a WW image is there anything he could do?
Only fastboot is recognizing my device now (ADB is not)
My phone got bricked. Google apps are not working. What should i do? :3
If its bricked or in bootloop, the only way you can restorecit is by flashing a pre rooted rom. Same procedure as given above
i can’t get past Step 5, the command window turned red and this message is shown
Device : Unknown, did i miss something? please help
sorry i wasn’t clear, what i meant was Method #1 Step 6 where we type T4, and theres’s an Error Message
“Failed to communicate with device [Unknown]…”
Did you enable USB Debugging on your phone? If you did, try getting to Device Manager to confirm that the Driver for the ADB Device is installed.
I enabled USB Debugging on my device, and please explain in detail about using Device Manager to confirm ADB Driver installation, im sorry im not very computer savvy.
so sorry to ask again, i get the ADB Driver working and now im stuck at Method #1 Step 6,
where im supposed to load the temporary CMW, i can only find [Normal Boot], [Recovery Mode] and [restart Boot Loader] options
Did i miss anything?
tried recovery mode ,and it shows an error
No No No. When you type T4 and hit Enter, the phone will be restart to Fastboot mode, and then you’ll see that there are commands being sent in the Command Prompt window. The phone will then load the CWM by itself in a few more seconds. You just need to let it complete.
i got it working now, I’m so sorry to trouble you so :D, turns out i didn’t install the ADB Driver properly
and after everything is done do i need to choose Fix Root when restarting?
thank you so much
Yes. You gotta choose Fix Root 🙂
do I need to copy SuperSUxxx in SD card or Internal storage..I am confused
You can choose either of the two. Just browse to the location within CWM and flash it 🙂
Hi narender, please help my zenfone 2 has bootloop after update firmware through ota to 2.20.40.40, i complete agree cause of the problem is i has rooted and update it, im try to find version of pre-rooted that same with the firmware version. How i can solve this? Thank a lot for ur reply, i still wait for u 🙂
Hey kitahara. I’m afraid that there is no pre-rooted for 2.20.40.40 maybe because the 2.20.40.59 was offered soon after the 2.20.40.40. I guess you should just flash latest stock and root it.
hi bro,
new update for 551ml is WW_2.20
di this root process still can be applied?
hi bro,
just my phone 2 weeks ago (ze551)
im quite new to the android world and I wanna try ROOT my phone..
Yes. You can simply follow the method 1 and your phone will be rooted 🙂
Hi Narender,
To update the Asus driver via OTA, firstly need to unroot the phone by going to SuperSU> Settings> Full Unroot.
Once update installed, how to re-root it? Is it simply go back to SuperSU?
No. After the OTA is installed, you will be needed to follow the method 1 again – Boot CWM and flash SuperSU.
Wow! Narender! Thanks so much! such a fast answer also, congrats! you’re a pearl ! 😉
Happy to help, Matt 🙂 Do note that the phone will not accept a software version below the currently installed one (OTA version) and download the correct version for your phone Worldwide == WW and China == CN.
Hi,
After Method 1 and i guess an OTA the phone is not starting anymore … only showing the turning circle below ASUS…
tried recovery mode When device is off, press (also hold) volume up key and then press (also hold) power key.
but finaly the recovery mode is saying “Error!”
Let me know if there is another way…
Thanks
OK.. finally managed to wipe data/factory reset… when you have Error you have to press again on the 2 keys mentioned earlier… and keep the power key down while volume press one time only…
BUT! same problem after factory reset… the phone stops starting with ASUS logo and the circle turning around…
please help! 😉
Thanks
You need to flash the Stock ROM. If the ROM ain’t available yet, wait for a few more days. Instructions here – https://www.techmesto.com/recover-bricked-asus-zenfone-2/
I doing method 1,my phone is Z550, after installing the driver, I started run the cai_dat_CWM.bat, after type ACCEPT it’s say my phone is undetected and all going red, I do the debugging, it’s still same, help me please, thanks
Go to Device Manager and install the ADB driver manually by right clicking and choosing from a pre-installed driver.
By using method 1, can we copy Google apps to System folder later and get OTA update? (Chinese version of Zenfone 2)
Possibly not. You will be needed to restore the factory image to get the update and re-root the phone.
its works man…thanks a lot.
can u teach us how to retrieve back deleted pictures and videos??thanks.
I am not certain how to copy the .zip file to the “root of my sd card” I have tried copying the file to various folders in my sd card and I cannot find the correct .zip file in step 8.
Root meant the home directory. You can place it anywhere though, even internal memory. You just need to browse to that location and select it.
well I feel foolish… I was selecting ‘choose .zip from SD card’ instead of ‘…from external SD card’.
Thanks so much for putting this together!
What do you call “key system apps” ?
Thanks
The pre-installed apps actually 😛 Sorry no removing them lol
hey friend, my mobile is having 2.19.40.23 version of software information..
which method can i use..
are all the methods are updated to latest version ???
as we cant take out the battery, i m not so techy to fix things if it goes wrong. please guide me
i have a doubt..after rooting my zenfone 2 ze550ml and removing all the invilt apps…is battery backup increases..????
Only to a marginal extent.
Hi! In Method 1 Step 6, when my phone reboots and it shows the image of android with some code, my phone then just got hanged. Please help thanks!
How long did you wait? It would take upto a minute before the CWM is booted up.
Hi I just have a newbie question, I have a new ZF2 but I’m curious if it’s easy to unroot the phone just in case I need to send it to warranty. Will they be able to detect that it has been rooted before?
Yes it is super easy as SUperSU includes an Unroot option. I don’t see any possibility of them finding that it was rooted after you’ve unrooted it (unless you’ve removed key system apps which are impossible to remove itherwise).
Sir i am using method 1 but when i type T4 after typing ACCEPT in fastboot tethered recovery launcher it do nothing to my phone i am stuck i have enabled debugging mode and also copied the super su zip to my phone my model no is Ze551ml . It shows device status unauthorized and it is written in red colour
For unauthorized status, you need to accept the access request which pops up on your phone when ADB detects it.
Method 1 worked on ZE550ML ASUS_Z008-2.19.40.23 , thanks alot bro 🙂
Hey is it ok if i update system apps via playstore without unrooting?
Yes. Updating the apps is not a problem.
ok thnx 🙂
hey sir. i got my zf2 z00A.WW.2.19.40.22 last week and id like to root it. method 2 is more understandable for me. and looks more easy. does the 2 methods results the same? im confuse on method 1.. from step 3 to step 8. i wondering where to find the super su zip. hehe sorry im just a newbie.. pls help. but on the previous comment u say that method 1 is more easy.
SuperSU is included in the zip of Temporary CWM which you download in step 2. I’d again recommend you to go with Method 1. When you start, you’d come to know how easy it is.
why i compress the zip file it not change and combine all firmware file to make it img?
Are you following the method 2? You better try the Method 12 cause that’s much easier.
Method 1 worked on ZE550ML ASUS_Z008-2.18.40.23 , thanks alot 🙂
is its in method 1 can be used at zenfone2 ZE550ML ASUS_Z008-2.18.40.7?
please ineed to know it..
Yes it can be used on the ZE550ML.
Method 1 will work on ze551ml 2.19.40.22?
Yes. It works fine 🙂
you mean z00A is for 551
and z008 is for 550…
wtf… if the wrong firmware can brick your phone, you’d at least expect this tutorial to get that right….
hah awesome.
Apologies. That’s one creepy mistake. I’ve corrected that now. Sorry again and thanks for mentioning.
Thank you very much! I proceeded with the first method and it WORKED!
On searching on google the other wesites have the secend method of rooting the Zenfone 2, Only this wesbite has this Easy & Eficient way.. You are awesome. Thanks Again.
Hye there.. Do you know how to restore stock ROM?
I’ve deleted some system apps, and right now when I want to go back to stock,
I tried the sideload method. But unfortunately it looks like nothing happened.
The ROM is still the same after finished booting.
Are you sure that it is sideloading? Because when that happens, your device would reset to factory state with all user apps and data removed.
Yeah, that’s what I think.. Maybe there was something wrong that I made.. I will try it again when new update come to the Zenfone 2..
I am unable to boot my ASUS Zenfone 2 after OTA update as I forget to unroot it. Now I one again hard reset the phone by wiping data and cache through fastboot but still my phone not get started. Please help.
You need to flash the latest stock ROM onto the device.
Good to know Narender. Saw the Changelog. Doesnt look like anything major has changed or been fixed. So I think I will wait till next update comes out. In such a scenario, OTA Update will work directly rite i.e from 2.18.40 to a future release say 2.20.40?Or would it have to compulsorily pass through 2.19.40 and then 2.20.40? Any idea on this? Thanks once again.
Depends. They generally only provide direct migration for smaller releases. For bigger, they require you to install them in increments. So most probably you’ll still be needed to go through 2.19 when 2.20 comes out (possibly around 15th)?
Hey Narender,
Looks like the same 2.19.40 update is out again. Perhaps they fixed the loophole which allowed to unlock the boot loader. Have you updated to this one? If yes how good is it over the earlier one?
Thanks,
Kiran.
Heya. Yep I updated my phone last day, but it essentially feel the same as the previous. I have some complaints about the battery life but because they improved network compatibility, it is a welcome update.
Hi Narender,
Asus recently added WW_2.19.40.22 update to the official site but system.img didn’t update and it’s still Z00A_WW_2.19.40.18_system_w_root. As I used your second method to root my phone, is it possible to install again stock ROM and how? thanks in advance
If you haven’t altered the system apps, simply uprooting and then installing the OTA update will go good for you 🙂
I took your advice and unroot the phone , so using “adb sideload file.zip” and then my phone upgraded to the latest framework. thanks again
Dear Narender, as I bought my Zenfone 2 to watch the transmitted Video of my CGO2 cam which transmits in 5.8GHz, I was disappointed when I realised it did not work. There are some people that say I would have to Root the phone to change country settings for getting 5.8 GHz WLAN to work.
I nowhere found specs that say it works in 5.8. May be you know it? If its not in the Hardware I don’t need to Root the phone.
Thanks in advance
Wolfi
AFAIK, only the cellular bands are determined by country configurations. WLAN, is the same receiver and won’t be affected by country configuration. So, I don’t think you’ll have any luck whether you root it or not.
Thank You for your reply, Narender!
This is a great post, but I am stuck on the commands steps. Everything is fine until I hit T4, in which it says:
adb server is out of date. killing…
ADB server didn’t ACK
*failed to start daemon*
error: unknown host service
At this point, I can’t type anything in the command window and nothing happens in my phone. I can’t find anything I have done wrong so it would help a lot if you can figure something out. Thanks for your help. 🙂
Sounds like an outdated ADB is being used there. Did you install/run ADB for some other device on your PC?
ADB? Forgive me, but I’m not so good with technology. Are you referring to the drivers that were in step one? Those seemed to have installed fine. Was the ADB in the instructions, if not could you explain how to get up to date ADB? Thanks for your help.
Try installing THIS and copy over the files from the created folder (c://ADB) to the folder where you extracted the files as in STEP 2 of the 1st method of above post. Overwrite files which already exist and then try again. It shouldn’t have called it out of date, but because it did, I believe overwriting will sort that out.
Hi, i tried method #1 and it failed at step #5 (it says UNAUTHORIZED when i enter T4). How do i fix this?
On the device, did you see an authentication request? You need to approve that. If you missed it, you should try disconnecting and reconnecting the phone to the PC and re-running the command.
Testing now :p
Thank you for this wonderful post 🙂
OMG. OK. Now it all makes sense. So then from now on we really have to wait a while before updating OTA. Coz if you say it is giving issues like battery drain, etc then that’s a huge negative. 🙁 Only after people test it out properly and confirm of its stability should it be applied.What say? 😉
Yes, that should be the right thing to do, but with ASUS, which is adding 2 more bugs for every 1 bug they fix via an update, it is hard to say. If you’ll wait for the users’ feedback, you probably will never want to update anymore 😛
I’ve been contacting ASUS teams recently and they seem confident that the next update will bring in solution for the networking issues and the battery drain. Let’s see when it comes out and how much they stand by their words 😀
GR8 Narender.Thanks for that update. I will try it out and keep you posted. However as of this post, Im still unable to find the update via OTA when I check from the System>> Updates section. Did you manually download and update your phone or via OTA itself?
I did update manually, but the official word is that the update is discontinued and pulled back. Why? Nobody knows cause they didn’t explain. Users faced some extended battery drain (me included :'( ) and developer guys found a way/loophole to Unlock the Bootloader. So maybe that’s the reason 😛
Hi Narender, Im back to bug you. It is that time when the new OTA update has come out. 2.19.40.18. Please let me know if just Unrooting the phone + having all System apps intact will allow for OTA update to install without any issues or it will result in bootlop? Thanks,
Kiran.
Woops. Missed your comment. Unrooting + System Apps Intact did the work for me. It updated fine without any problems 🙂
Turn off your Zenfone 2
Go to recovery mode (Tutorial HERE)
Select apply update from ADB
Connect your Zenfone 2 to your PC with USB cable
Open command prompt in Windows (in the same folder where ADB is located)
Check connection by type adb devices if connection successful will be a list of Zenfone 2 device
Type adb sideload file.zip (file.zip=adjust the filename, asus zenfone firmware that you download earlier)
Wait until the process is complete
Zenfone 2 will flash to clean thoroughly
This method can be used to downgrade, or that an error while installing root (root will disappear completely)
Also i can confirm that if you disturb the system apps(i rooted my phone and removed asus configuration app…dont remember the name) then OTA update will not be installed properly and you will see a dead BOT. To reach recovery at this point just PRESS power button and at the same time press volume up and release volume up before releasing power button.
SHOULD I UNROOT OR WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW? UR REPLY WILL BE OF GREAT HELP
REGARDS
SAI
Hello Narendar,
i rooted my asus zenfone 2 using super su.apk as you have mentioned. but by mistake yesterday i clicked on system update. now i am not able to log into the ui. it hangs at the start only. when i tried entering the recvoery mode it gives a dead android icon. now tell me what should i do please let me know. very urgent. mOB:09900890382
Hello Sai
Sorry to hear that. If the phone is stuck at the loading screen with Asus logo and still doesn’t boot up after removing SD card, you need to download the system.img file as mentioned in the Method 2 of the post. Once you have it, go to Fastboot mode and throw the command fastboot flash system system.img. It will take a while to flash the system.img, so be patient. Once that is done, your phone will boot up normally. However, because it is a pre-rooted system.img, be sure to unroot before you proceed with the OTA again.
When you see the dead bot, press and hold the volume up button and then press power key. You will then go past the dead android bot.
Method 1 didn’t work. I am using Win. 8.1. I disabled the security and Win. script (F7). Downloaded drivers and all that was required by this method and after typing T4 nothing happens. So I will try method 2 now.
The command window would definitely throw some error. What do you see under Device Status? Is it in red color?
I have the same problem, yes it’s red and it shows Device Status: UNAUTHORIZED
edit: I managed to root using method 1, but how do i unroot?
That’s good to hear. Still, it’s unauthorized when you do not allow the debugging access on the phone. Unroot is easy. Just open SuperSU, do full unroot and restart when it quits.
Hi narinder. Can I do following steps & then apply ota update
root using first method
Disable system apps not uninstall them
Unroot
Do an ota update
Will the system apps be still disabled after update.?
Also mine is ww 2.18.40.12 how to write image from zip to phone if some issue like bootloop etc occurs?
I have not done this , this is my first andriod kindly comment.
Hey Pradeep
That’s how it should be, but I still need to confirm if this will go fine. I’ll be able to do that when the next update comes (should be around).
If the phone gets into a bootloop, you can either flash the system.img (ONLY) after putting the phone into fastboot mode or you can flash the full factory image from Asus’s website via ADB while the phone is in recovery mode. Doing system.img will however keep all your user data and apps while the latter will give you a phone as clean as coming from the factory.
can it be rooted using older methods like motochopper?
Haven’t seen any success with those. Haven’t heard any of those working on Lollipop.
oh… But that method was easier and safer…
Thank you dear this root (Method 1) works absolutely fine. Please do a post on how unroot the phone and get update from asus again.
Thanks & regards
Thanks for the suggestion. I, for sure will try to make a post on that 🙂
Thanks Narender for your useful tips,
My zenfone 2 original ROM was CN, so I followed your second method and updated the phone to the latest WW firmware without any problem. But how can I unroot the phone ? Because I heard that after rooting the phone, it cannot receive OTA updates. What is your suggestion? Waiting for updated system.img or un-root the phone to get new updates ? thanks again for your help.
I’m not sure if CN to WW converted phones will get OTA updates or not, but I’ll go with latter. Root actually won’t stop your phone from receiving OTA. Only place where it will fail is Installation, the notification and download goes well. So, if you don’t get a notification of update, un-root won’t help either. Better wait for updated system image.
By system apps do you mean the preinstalled asus apps such as the file manager and asus support apps?
Really want to root the phone but its gonna be such a pain if i have to flash in order to update because i removed the asus bloat :/
Anyway, great article
Yep that’s true. But do wait for the next update. I’ll re-confirm it all this time.
Thanks for this useful guide. I would also like to know exactly which apps are considered systems apps and should not be deleted. My main reason for wanting to root is to clean out in all the bloatware, so I’d like to know what I safely can remove…
Since my last comment I’ve already updated to the newest firmware 2.18.40.12 without any problem. i was a little bit scared because the blue marker on the first screen was stacked at 25 percent and hasn’t moved 15 minutes. I’ve thought now I’ve bricked my phone but after 15 minutes the device was restarted and Android updated normally and now I have a latest software and i can update now from the official ASUS site.
So a Big Hug and Thanks again for your help. Without this topic I would be an angry disappointed ASUS owner but now… 😀
Thanks, it worked (Method 1)!
Glad to hear that. Enjoy! 🙂
YEEES!
It works! Updated to 2.17.40.12 and all the annoying pop ups are gone! I’m really appreciated and I’m so grateful all of your help! Now I have a great mobile! THX a lot! 😀
Awesome that is and LOL I just finished replying to your earlier comment. Was just following the order as comments appeared here. That’s very good and I’m glad that you have a happy phone now, but maybe you should follow it once more. Probably the thread owner at XDA forgot to update the links. Firmware WW_2.18.40.12 is already out. See if you wanna update already or wait a while and update when the next update comes? You might be able to get OTA updates now though. Fingers crossed!
Thank you for all the answers! I guess I’ll try to flash my unit. I’ve already found these sites. I have only lack of my courage but the risk of that will get bricked much less than I’m owner of a brand new unit and I have to use paralell an old Sony Xperia because when these pop ups occurs all the programs freezes.
And yes! I am in fastboot mode! So This is strange… This state here:
Bootloader version – unknown
HW version –
signing – ?
Secure_Boot – ?
And the funniest: Serial Number – 0123456789ABCDEF
I think this is not exactly the factory preset…
What if I tell you that it is normal? Haha I see the same values in the 2 Zenfone 2s that I have at home 😛 Probably that’s just demo data and fastboot doesn’t actually read it from where it should. Not a problem for us though.
Sorry but i have another problem. i can’t do the fastboot mode. If I press the Power and the Volume up button together does the phone nothing just switch off. No vibrate. After I press the power button again the phone switches on and thats it. So what is the problem?
Actually, you do that in switched off mode. Turn it off, hold down volume up and then press and hold Power button till it vibrates 🙂 You can leave both buttons a short while after the vibration,
I think maybe you have right and I shouldn’t root my phone but since I’ve got the phone I can’t use normally. I got always Notifications from the system that this or this program tries to read Contacts or read Call Log or does something and I have to always allow or deny it even if I choose the Remember the choice option. Sometimes I have to do this step 25-30 times otherwise i cannot use my phone. So this is a reason why I want to update the firmware..
Agreed! Many faced a similar issue and AFAIK, all those were the ones who imported their phones which was a CN version loaded with WW firmware. The popup occurs because the recovery doesn’t actually belong to the WW version. You can see others with same issue on Asus forums – http://www.asus.com/zentalk/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=6511&extra=&page=1
The only solution to this is that you manually flash the WW recovery and fastboot and then flash the full latest WW firmware (about a GB or so) so that your device starts running the latest version. Will be a bit of mess to explain here in comments, so XDA has a nice tutorial on how to do WW on a CN version. You can read it here – http://forum.xda-developers.com/zenfone2/help/how-to-upgrade-cn-version-to-ww-t3101556?nocache=1
If you don’t get something, you can ask me here. I’m only worried because you aren’t into technical things and maybe it will be quite hard for you to recover your phone in case it gets bricked 😐
I don’t know how I got it. I’m leaving in Germany and in a custom procedure was already opened. I think it’s a CN modell because on the box state C.P/N:ZE551ML-6C115CN. Maybe somebody in the origin location did something with my phone before sold it to Europe. I bought it on internet and not via official seller.
Yep sounds like it. Yours is a CN model flashed with the WW firmware because the CN version won’t use the cellular bands used in Europe. So, it was a pre-opened unit and maybe the customs checked it, maybe not.
Thx a lot Narender. Actually I don’t know yet how will I do all the procedure. I haven’t done it before and I’m totally beginner in this topic. Just hoping that I do everything well and I will not destroy my new phone. I try to get information as much as I can and after I jump into the “deep water”… 🙂
I understand. First of all it would be nice if you figure out if rooting is actually your solution. If you need root access for a specific app, only then proceed with it.
Also, did your phone arrive in an unsealed box? Because otherwise, how were they able to load WW on a CN unit? What variant does the box packaging state it to be?
Super Narender. Thanks for that tip too. Plus the confidence you show in this method working for OTA after a full Unroot. Will keep my fingers crossed. Hope to hear from you again when the next update is out! Will keep checking this site for more updates.Thanks a lot for everything.
You’re welcome, buddy. Hopefully things will just go as expected 😛 See you soon 🙂
Hi Guys,
I’ve bought a Zenfone 2 ZE551ML from Hongkong. I have WW 2.13.40.13 firmware on it with some annoying problems. I’d like to root the phone because I could’nt update the firmware from the ASUS site. I’m afraid of maybe my phone is a cn modell with ww firmware. If I root the phone will be bricked in this case or not?
Root shouldn’t brick your phone because the rooting procedure is similar for all of the Zenfone 2 variants, but you should definitely take a Nandroid backup of your entire system in case something wrong happens.
BTW how are you planning to update it after rooting? Its better if you flash the full factory WW firmware and it will hopefully just be as fine on your CN model as it is now?
GR8 News Narender. Thank you for that update.Im currently on ver 2.18.40.12. When the next OTA Update comes out, I will definitely check with you before performing the usual[not using ADB method] OTA update after unrooting the phone.
One other doubt I had was w.r.t Reboot Recovery. So when I perform the usual Power On + Volume Up key, I reach the stage when the different modes to boot are shown in Rectangle Boxes. Normal Boot, Reboot to Bootloader, Reboot Recovery etc. When I choose “Reboot Recovery”, it just shows a Dead Android Bot. My question is that if I followed your guide, I should have CWM recovery installed right? Or was it only Temporary? Now if I want to take a Nandroid Backup of the phone, how can I do it? Thanks once again for your patience and sound advice.
Thanks,
Kiran.
Sure. I’ll be able to check it as soon Asus pushes a new software update. I’m confident that unroot + system intact is enough for the phone to boot up after an OTA. When you go to the fastboot mode and select Reboot Recovery (I think it is now called ‘Recovery Mode’ directly), the dead Android icon is an issue affecting a lot of Zenfone 2 devices. All you need to do is to Press and hold the Power key and then press the Volume up key and you’ll be inside the recovery. The issue happens because recovery is configured to look for OTA update file in the SD card and start flashing it. When it can’t find it, it shows the error.
The CWM was entirely temporary and you can run the same procedure to boot CWM and then choose Backup instead of Install Zip.
Hi Narender,
Thanks for the tip. In your second attempt, you mention that you unrooted the phone + did not have any system apps altered but still it showed “Update Failed”. So does this mean that once the phone is rooted OTA update will never be possible? 🙁
Thanks,
Kiran.
Sorry for the cunfusion. I meant, I did not unroot it 2nd time as well. The OTA didn’t show up after that failed update even after restoring back the full system partition (didn’t wanted to do full ROM flashing because of important user data), so I just went ahead, unrooted it, downloaded the OTA update package and flashed it via recovery. It installed fine and the phone booted up.
So, that’s how I came up to the conclusion that altering the system apps will put it to bootloop, not removing root will end up in a failed update. Unrooting and unaltered system worked best for me and OTA got installed. I’ll confirm it more when a new OTA comes 🙂 This time I do not have any system apps altered, I’ll just try unrooting and installing the update. All depends on when Asus pushes a new system update.
Hi Team,
Thanks for the wonderfully detailed step by step procedure. If I followed “Method #1 – Using Temporary CWM” to root my phone and lets say I found an OTA update and I went ahead with it without actually unrooting the phone. Will my phone enter a bootlop mode or what exactly happens in such a scenario? Thanks for your time.
Kiran.
Well, won’t make a guarantee, but it should get stuck at the booting screen. For me I tried it two times. Once with root and some system apps altered and it failed to boot after the update and I recovered it by flashing stock ROM. The second time I tried, I did unroot it and no system apps were altered yet and it did boot up, bit showed an ‘Updated Failed’ error. So, goo is if you remove the root and don’t have any system apps modified before installing OTA.