How to Unlock and Root Lenovo Z5 Pro

The Lenovo Z5 Pro (and its GT variant) is the latest device from Lenovo, released quite recently. Normally devices don’t get rooted so fast, but people were waiting a while for this device, and wasted no time in developing for it. The Z5 Pro comes with a Snapdragon 710 SoC, and 6GB of RAM. The GT variant has the Snapdragon 855, and a whopping 12GB of RAM.

Rooting this phone is pretty simple, though we warn you that unlocking the bootloader will perform a factory reset on your device. Simply follow our Lenovo Z5 Pro root guide, and comment if you experience any issues. We are not sure if this root method works for the Z5 Pro GT variant. Its best to wait for an official TWRP release for the GT variant.

Requirements

Creating a Backup of your Lenovo Z5 Pro ROM

Because the Lenovo Z5 Pro is so new and things can go wrong with brand-new root methods, we highly recommend creating a ROM backup before continuing. Follow these steps to create a backup of all your data, basically your phone exactly the way it is right now in your hand. If something goes wrong during any steps of this guide, you can flash this backup ROM and go back to square one.

1. Download the RomDump .zip file to your desktop, and extract it. You will have a file named ‘install’.
2. Copy the ‘install’ file to the main folder of your ADB install.
3. Launch an ADB terminal on your PC (hold Shift + right click in main ADB folder, and choose ‘Open a Command Window Here’).
4. In the ADB terminal, type these commands:
   adb push install /data/local/
   adb shell chmod 04755 /data/local/install
   adb shell /data/local/install
5. You should see the following output from the ADB terminal:
   Android ROM dumper v0.72b
   (c) 2010 Sebastian404[*] Android local root exploid (C) The Android Exploid Crew
   [+] Using basedir = / sqlite_stmt_journals, path =/data/local/install
   [+] opening NETLINK_KOBJECT_UEVENT socket
   [+] sending add message …[*] Try to invoke hotplug now, by clicking at the wireless[*] settings, USB key plugin etc.[*] You succeeded if you find/system/bin/romdump.
6. When you see those messages, enable and disable Wi-Fi on your device.
7. Next in ADB terminal type: adb shell romdump
8. This will create copies of all the data from your phone onto your PC. You can then create a .zip recovery from the folders.

Unlock Lenovo Z5 Pro Bootloader – Fastboot Method

1. Enable Developer Mode (Settings > Device Info > tap Build Version 7 times) on your Lenovo Z5 Pro. Then go to Settings > Applications > Developer Options > enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking.
2. Connect your Lenovo Z5 Pro to your PC via USB, and launch an ADB terminal (hold Shift + right click in your main ADB folder and choose ‘Open a Command Window here’).
3. In the ADB terminal, type ‘adb devices’. If your device is recognized, a confirmation will appear on your Z5 Pro’s screen. Accept it.
4. Next type in the ADB terminal: adb reboot bootloader
5. Your Lenovo Z5 Pro will reboot into the Bootloader Mode. Here we can enter fastboot commands, similar to ADB commands.
6. In the ADB terminal, type: fastboot -i 0x2b4c oem unlock-go
7. If that command doesn’t work, try: fastboot oem unlock
8. If that also doesn’t work, try: fastboot flashing unlock
9. When the correct command is entered (it apparently depends on ROM / device version of the Z5 Pro), it will begin the unlock process. This includes factory resetting your Z5 Pro. When it is finished, your Z5 Pro will reboot to the Android system.
10. If none of those commands worked, skip down to the bootloader unlock method through the official Lenovo development program.

Unlock Lenovo Z5 Pro Bootloader – Official Code Method

1. You need to obtain an official unlocking code from Lenovo, through their developer page. The Z5 Pro is not listed in the drop-down menu, so choose the Z2 Pro instead.
2. You should obtain an email from Lenovo with an attachment, typically named “unlock_bootloader.img”. Download this attachment to the main ADB folder on your PC.
3. Connect your Z5 Pro to your PC via USB, launch an ADB terminal, and ‘adb reboot bootloader’.
4. Once your phone is in bootloader mode, type in ADB terminal: fastboot -i 0x2b4c flash unlock unlock_bootloader.img
5. ADB terminal should output something like this:
   target reported max download size of 1610612736 bytes
   sending ‘unlock’ (0 KB)…
   OKAY [ 0.031s] writing ‘unlock’…
   OKAY [ 0.063s] finished. total time: 0.094s
6. After you see that, type: fastboot -i 0x2b4c oem unlock-go
7. The ADB terminal should return:
   …
   OKAY [ 0.031s] finished. total time: 0.031s
8. So next type ‘fastboot reboot’, if the device did not automatically reboot itself to the Android system.

How to Flash TWRP on Lenovo Z5 Pro

1. Download the TWRP version from our links at the beginning of this guide, and place it in your main ADB folder.
2. Reboot your phone to bootloader mode using the same ‘adb reboot bootloader’ command we’ve been using.
3. In bootloader mode, type in ADB: fastboot flash recovery recovery-TWRP-3.2.3-0110-LENOVO_Z5PRO-CN-wzsx150.img
4. Once TWRP has been flashed, reboot with ‘adb reboot’.
5. Download and install the Magisk Manager APK onto your phone. You will probably need to enable “Third Party Applications” in your Settings menu.
6. After Magisk Manager has installed, launch it.
7. From the main screen of Magisk Manager, Tap on ‘Install’. You will see ‘Installation of Magisk, do you want to install Magisk-V…zip?
8. Tap on ‘Install’. You will be asked to select the method you want to install with.
9. Tap “Direct Install (Recommended)”.
10. When its done, you’ll see “All Done!” dialogue. You can then tap REBOOT.

Alternative Magisk Root Method

1. After installing Magisk Manager on your Lenovo Z5 Pro, grab the stock boot.img from your device.
2. You can do this either through ADB /pull method, though it’s a bit of a hassle. Alternatively you can just download a .zip for the original stock firmware here, and extract the boot.img from the firmware zip file.
3. Copy the stock boot.img of your device to your phone’s internal storage or SD card.
4. Launch Magisk Manager app.
5. If prompted to install Magisk, select NO THANKS
6. Select Install -> Install -> Patch Boot Image File -> Navigate to the location of the stock boot.img you copied earlier on, then select it.
7. Magisk Manager should begin downloading the magisk zip file used for patching.
8. Once download is complete, MagiskManager will automatically patch the boot file and store it under SDcard/MagiskManager/patched_boot.img[.tar]
9. Connect the phone to the PC via USB cable.
10. Start the Minimal ADB & Fastboot program from the PC.
11. In the ADB terminal, type:
    adb reboot fastboot
    fastboot devices
    fastboot flash boot patched_boot.img
    fastboot reboot
12. Your Lenovo Z5 Pro will reboot to the Android system, and you can confirm root status via the Magisk Manager app!

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