this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2023
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Update from Asus

The service team reply misunderstood the situation. Unlock tool is unavailable at this moment but we are allowing the possibility to unlock, please stay tuned.

**TL;DR

  • ASUS has apparently withdrawn the ability to unlock the bootloader on its phones.
  • As per the company’s technical support team, Zenfone 10 and Zenfone 9 users won’t be able to root their phones.
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[–] dsmk@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Some here are mixing bootloader unlocking with rooting. They're not the same thing.

Asus broke bootloader unlocking, so you can only use the original ROM in the original state. You can't install a custom ROM or flash something like Magisk to root your device.

You can unlock without rooting or without installing a custom ROM. You can install a custom ROM without rooting. You can use stock and root. And you can use a custom ROM and root. But all this is only possible if you can unlock the device's bootloader.

[–] HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Also, something I don't see people discuss enough: for security, you also need to be able to re-lock the bootloader after installing a custom ROM. Otherwise anyone can inject code into the system partition if they have physical access to your device, which would also compromise your encrypted storage. So if there's no way to reverse the bootloader unlocking, that's also bad.

[–] GrodanBoll@feddit.nu 8 points 1 year ago

Don't these phones only have 2 years of security updates? I believe samsung S23 is a better choice as a small phone as it has 5 years of security updates.

[–] ryannathans@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Buy motorola edge 30

Put lineage on it

???

Profit

[–] hornedfiend@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 year ago

OK. Pixels forever it is.

[–] bappity@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago

welp, no chance I'm ever considering their phones in future

[–] CamileBlah@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have been thinking about getting the ZenFone 10 as well. I have seen a lot of similar posts here and on various google searches. In the XDA forum for the phone there also a topic about not being able to unlock the bootloader/root, but there is a bit more info on the reasoning.

"A moderator in the Asus ZenTalk forum posted that they are working on a new release of the unlock tool and that it should be available in Q3 2023."

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/unlocking-the-bootloader.4607595/

[–] fubbernuckin@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Very cool. But they removed it for now, so I'll assume it's permanent until proven otherwise. Not very cool.

[–] totallynotfbi@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago

I used to own a ZenFone, and Asus's technical support was awful. I guess I'm glad I don't use one now

[–] i_am_hungry@meganice.online 6 points 1 year ago (7 children)

What phone should I buy that is not complete trash and I can do what I want with? My Samsung phone is almost dying and I really don't want another Samsung, or Asus.

[–] kokesh@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Xiaomi flagships are easily rootable. If not anything else, you can install Xiaomi.eu roms

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[–] edgerunnergit@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

One less potential customer here then

[–] transistor@lemdro.id 4 points 1 year ago

This is sad to see. Replying from Lineage OS on Asus.

[–] KitsuneHaiku@ttrpg.network 3 points 1 year ago

Are they going to increase their abysmal security update support time?

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