Root [Guide] How To Root your ZTE Grand X Max+ & All Things Root Guide

[vejjfreshness]

Yeah I wont be using a custom rom unless the camera works. I take too many pictures of my family. I would be forever grateful to anyone who works on it. I wish I had the skills to do it myself.

 

[HMT Chryssi]

Yeah I wont be using a custom rom unless the camera works. I take too many pictures of my family. I would be forever grateful to anyone who works on it. I wish I had the skills to do it myself.

I am already looking into seeing what I can do to bring CM to the table. Not sure what the latest version for the ZMAX has but maybe I can look into some of the kernels and the build.prop just to see If we can replace the files of the ZMAX with the Max+.

 

[vejjfreshness]

I am already looking into seeing what I can do to bring CM to the table. Not sure what the latest version for the ZMAX has but maybe I can look into some of the kernels and the build.prop just to see If we can replace the files of the ZMAX with the Max+.

holy crud! that is the exact rom I have been pining for, im salivating. good luck. if you end up completing the project and have a donate button i would definitely throw a couple dollars in there for the hard work.

 

[TopherLee513]

Hey guys.
I've been a guest for a while, but just registered.
As soon as I got the phone, this forum helped me get my phone from stock KitKat, to rooted KitKat w/ TWRP.
Months went by, I never knew about the Lollipop update, until I decided to look around here again.
Three days ago I went back to stock KitKat (Thanks, Masterchief87) just to install the official 5.1 update.zip for v2.2.12, then install the OTA for v2.3.15.
About an hour ago I rooted it using KingoRoot's Windows Client, it worked great. Installed TWRP again.
Thank you everyone.
On a related note, if anyone is interested:
I'd like to make a flashable .zip with the v2.3.15 nandroid, then do an unrooted-stock version, and an unbloated version. Any help is appreciated.

 

[HMT Chryssi]

Hey guys.
I've been a guest for a while, but just registered.
As soon as I got the phone, this forum helped me get my phone from stock KitKat, to rooted KitKat w/ TWRP.
Months went by, I never knew about the Lollipop update, until I decided to look around here again.
Three days ago I went back to stock KitKat (Thanks, Masterchief87) just to install the official 5.1 update.zip for v2.2.12, then install the OTA for v2.3.15.
About an hour ago I rooted it using KingoRoot's Windows Client, it worked great. Installed TWRP again.
Thank you everyone.
On a related note, if anyone is interested:
I'd like to make a flashable .zip with the v2.3.15 nandroid, then do an unrooted-stock version, and an unbloated version. Any help is appreciated.

I think you should be able to backup a stock rom if you already installed TWRP.

Unbloated ROM you'll need to extract the dat file in the zip. Either that or edit your backup.

 

[vejjfreshness]

Hey guys.
I've been a guest for a while, but just registered.
As soon as I got the phone, this forum helped me get my phone from stock KitKat, to rooted KitKat w/ TWRP.
Months went by, I never knew about the Lollipop update, until I decided to look around here again.
Three days ago I went back to stock KitKat (Thanks, Masterchief87) just to install the official 5.1 update.zip for v2.2.12, then install the OTA for v2.3.15.
About an hour ago I rooted it using KingoRoot's Windows Client, it worked great. Installed TWRP again.
Thank you everyone.
On a related note, if anyone is interested:
I'd like to make a flashable .zip with the v2.3.15 nandroid, then do an unrooted-stock version, and an unbloated version. Any help is appreciated.

Thats really kool, dude! I'm glad people are still taking interest in this phone. I think it is kind of a gem among budget phones that most people just don't even know about. Everyone I know has never even heard of it but like it once I show them. I cant wait for these Roms that you and HMT are working on.

 

[TopherLee513]

I repacked my v2.3.15 Nandroid into a flashable .zip using Masterchief87's Rooted Lollipop ROM as a base (I hope that's okay ). I edited the updater-script and replaced the system.img and boot.img (just in case) with my nandroid images. If anyone would like to test it, I'll leave a link to MEGA here:
--- Z987 v2.3.15 Stock/Non-Rooted ---
To root, just flash SuperSU after flashing the ROM.
You shouldn't need to wipe since I did so just before the backup.
PLEASE, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BACKUP JUST IN CASE!
If this works good enough, I'll start on the rooted and unbloated versions (and maybe a dedicated thread).
Feedback is appreciated, just be gentle.

Note: I stripped most of the files like splash.img and a few others, so this should probably only be used on v2.2.12. Not sure what it will do trying to come from KitKat, although you're free to try, just don't blame me if it doesn't work.
Another Note: I intend to add a couple open-source apps to the unbloated version like Amaze File Manager and Terminal Emulator since removing the bloatware doesn't seem to effect the system partition size anyway, if that sounds like a bad idea, I'd like to know.
YAN: I found the source code to the KitKat kernel here. But I have no experience compiling kernels.

 

[big%boy%big]

Hello Grand X Max+ owners. I decided to post this since there does not seem to be an existing root guide for the Grand X Max+. Here, I will tell you step by step how to root your device the right way so that you don't end up with a shiny new paperweight.
EDIT: EVEN THOUGH KINGROOT HAS WORKED PERFECTLY FOR THIS PHONE FOR QUITE SOME TIME, PEOPLE ARE NOW REPORTING THAT IT HAS BRICKED THEIR PHONES. THIS COULD BE USER ERROR OR THIS COULD BE A SIDE EFFECT OF KINGROOT USING A DIFFERENT EXPLOIT THAN BEFORE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

[1] Download and install Kingroot.
You can get Kingroot from http://www.kingroot.net

Download and Install ZTE Zmax TWRP app by Hroark13. Be sure to hit the like button and thank him for his work. I promise you it's free!
You can get ZTE Zmax TWRP from http://goo.gl/WwJzYW

Download the SuperSU recovery zip from http://download.chainfire.eu/supersu
If you are running lollipop 5.1 then make sure the option to enable OEM unlocking in developer options is checked.

[2] Open and run Kingroot in order to get temp root (temp root means that as soon as you reboot the phone you will lose root). It may take several times to work. If Kingroot fails you need to open your app drawer and long press on the Kingroot icon and drag it up to the top of the screen where it says "app info" and then clear cache and data in that order then power off the phone and then turn it back on by holding the power button. Then run Kingroot again. Do this as many times as you have to in order to get temp root.

[3] Open ZTE Zmax TWRP app and press the button that says "Install Recovery". If you get a prompt asking for root access then allow it. You should then get a notification saying " Success". This means that you have now replaced your stock recovery with TWRP custom recovery.

[4] Now uninstall Kingroot and reboot into TWRP. You can reboot into TWRP by bringing up the power menu and selecting the reboot option, then confirm that you want to reboot, then hold the volume up button until you enter TWRP recovery.

[5] Once you have booted into TWRP, make a nandroid (TWRP backup) of system, boot, and data. This step is important.

[6] While you are still in TWRP recovery, go back to the main screen and select the "Install" option. Navigate to the Download folder on your internal storage and select UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.46.zip and swipe to install, then reboot system. Once you reboot you will have permanent root.(The exact version of SuperSU that you have may vary. At the time I wrote this post it was v2.46 but has since been updated to v2.76)

[7] Reboot back into Android and install Terminal Emulator from the Play Store and open it. You need to do 2 commands to remove the system write protection and gain full root capabilities. First, typeand grant root permissions to terminal emulator. Next typeand once the phone boots back up you will have full root without the need for switcher zips, apps, or scripts. All credit for this method of disabling the write protection goes to hroark13.

If I have helped you please hit the like button.

Just bought a beater Z987 and followed your instructions to the letter. Now, on to trying out those custom ROMs. You are the man!

 

[Bg260]

Just bought one for $40. Hopefully this thread isn't dead yet. It is always my Modus Operandi to show up late to the game. Has anyone tried Wondershare for root access?

 

[TopherLee513]

Just bought one for $40. Hopefully this thread isn't dead yet. It is always my Modus operandi to show up late to the game. Has anyone tried Wondershare for root access?

I used KingoRoot https://www.kingoapp.com for temp root and used the twrp installer from this site and flashed supersu.zip from twrp. I've also updated to lollipop and two ota's after that, I'm on v2.4.16 with twrp. These people are awesome.

 

[Bg260]

I used KingoRoot https://www.kingoapp.com for temp root and used the twrp installer from this site and flashed supersu.zip from twrp. I've also updated to lollipop and two ota's after that, I'm on v2.4.16 with twrp. These people are awesome.

Sweet. I've never used Kingo. Does it add it's own Superuser like Kingroot? I still can't figure out if Kingo and King are the same.
I'm already on Lollipop unfortunately. Sounds like it will still work. I hope....
I'm glad this place still has a pulse. I had no idea that ZTE produced such a beautiful device.

 

[TopherLee513]

Sweet. I've never used Kingo. Does it add it's own Superuser like Kingroot? I still can't figure out if Kingo and King are the same.
I'm already on Lollipop unfortunately. Sounds like it will still work. I hope....
I'm glad this place still has a pulse. I had no idea that ZTE produced such a beautiful device.

I used the PC app with my phone connected and it installed it's own SU app, it's very similar to King, except it worked. But root access doesn't work after rebooting, so use the twrp installer to get the custom recovery, download the supersu.zip of your choice and flash from recovery for perm root.

 

[Bg260]

I used the PC app with my phone connected and it installed it's own SU app, it's very similar to King, except it worked. But root access doesn't work after rebooting, so use the twrp installer to get the custom recovery, download the supersu.zip of your choice and flash from recovery for perm root.

That evicts the Chinese SuperUser then? Wait NM SuperSu is a Chinese Superuser app now

 

[blueeyiz702]

Masterchief87 so you can do the update from zte to 5.1 and still root?

 

[BobW55]

Had had all but given up rooting mine.
Someone needs to make a new step by step.
Good find Topherlee

 

[Greysworld007]

I'm sure Masterchief87 is happy right now