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Root ZTE ZMAX Pro (Z981) root discussion

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I hope y'all get this working. I got the grand max 2 (z988), (cricket),which I hear is basically the same phone. I been checking with kingroot every other day since I had this phone and I got it the first day it came out.King root would not let me even try to root. I tried today because I was bored and too my surprise it let me attempt root! It failed but I see progress being made.
 
Greysworld007 said:
I hope y'all get this working. I got the grand max 2 (z988), (cricket),which I hear is basically the same phone. I been checking with kingroot every other day since I had this phone and I got it the first day it came out.King root would not let me even try to root. I tried today because I was bored and too my surprise it let me attempt root! It failed but I see progress being made.
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I too have this new Cricket device (ZTE Z988). I too have tried several "one-click" root solutions (One-Click, KingRoot, Kingo, iRoot) the latter two I don't recommend. No root yet. In the mean time, I'm a returning noob who rooted LG70 with towelroot and read a lot about the basics then. Now, I'm trying to use ADB/fastboot cmds. I can reboot recovery and get the recovery menu. When I select reboot to bootloader, it simply reboots to regular Android. In a vain and naive attempt to unlock bootloader, I have begun an email exchange with ZTE. Maybe they'll throw me a "root". Doubtful. So, what can I do with the 120 MB kernel download?
 
Al Zed said:
I too have this new Cricket device (ZTE Z988). I too have tried several "one-click" root solutions (One-Click, KingRoot, Kingo, iRoot) the latter two I don't recommend. No root yet. In the mean time, I'm a returning noob who rooted LG70 with towelroot and read a lot about the basics then. Now, I'm trying to use ADB/fastboot cmds. I can reboot recovery and get the recovery menu. When I select reboot to bootloader, it simply reboots to regular Android. In a vain and naive attempt to unlock bootloader, I have begun an email exchange with ZTE. Maybe they'll throw me a "root". Doubtful. So, what can I do with the 120 MB kernel download?
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lambo352 said:
I got a response from ZTE 2 days ago. They said fastboot is up to metro pcs. From what I understand. ZTE makes the update rom for the device and give it to the carrier ( metro). The carrier adds the finishing touches like their system files and fastboot. Then we get our update.. anyone know the link to reach out to metro dev team? I want to request fastboot for the upcoming update. We all need to turn up the pressure on metro. If they really appreciate their customers they will grant this simple request..
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Please see this response above. MetroPCS is the one you should be messaging. Just don't want you to have to go through a long email exchange to get the same result :).
 
Jadezor said:
So ZTE has the Kernel source available for download for the Z981 listed on their open source website.
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Jadezor said:
http://opensource.ztedevice.com/dev...0160803_1/MPCS_P895T20V1.0.0B13_kernel.tar.gz
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yes we have Rom and Kernel the problem is eve though we can modified we can not flash with out root or License signature key. some how we need to either come out with a combo of mounting the device so we can overpass the signing key verification or go to data/dev so we can push to temp sbin or xbin it self cus bin its for drivers (.so) i have mount device as usb, ftm, dfu, or regular sideload but not as DFM which i believe its what we need to run fastboot and unlock bootloader .
 
and because we have a fingerprint sensor the phone its auto encrypted .
it doesn't matter if you do a factory reset or not this can only b disable by modifying kernel
 

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When this OTA update comes out, it might be a good idea to download it running through something like Wireshark. Or even Fiddler. Those two apps might help us understand a bit more about what is going on in this phone.
 
Masterchief87 said:
Not right now. We can't get a custom recovery without getting a copy of the stock recovery and we can't do that without at least getting temp root.
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Can you use stock recovery for the grand max 2 (z988)? Metro might not get fast boot but maybe cricket wireless will in the update,maybe this phone already has it
 
The ZTE ZMAX PRO will not be rooted anytime soon, if ever. So this thread is useless. Without fastboot there is no way to root.
Do yourself a favor and buy a Nexus/pixel device.
 
supergear said:
The ZTE ZMAX PRO will not be rooted anytime soon, if ever. So this thread is useless. Without fastboot there is no way to root.
Do yourself a favor and buy a Nexus/pixel device.
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If you could show me where we could get a comparably sized, equipped and priced Nexus or Pixel, it's game on.

However, I feel having a phone that is almost effortlessly rooted, unlocked and flashed kinda takes the thrill away from it. But I hear rumors... Google may not make Nougat equipped Pixel or upgraded Nexus devices easy to root, or may even make it impossible. Who knows.

I have a Nexus 5. It's easy, convenient, choose what OS works for you, tons of dev work etc... There's no challenge is all. Boring.

Lol speaking of not contributing.... Sorry haha.

--->STOP TROLLING<--- There you go ;)
 
Hey all, a little root story for you guys:

The HTC Droid Eris that originally brought me here to AF "got" root in March of 2010. The way root was achieved was due to a leaked 2.1 engineering ROM that was "S-OFF" and gave us an unlocked bootloader--at least those of us that flashed this early non-release version of Android 2.1 (eclair). Root, custom recovery, custom ROMs followed soon after.

[ ^^^ root method #1: leaked S-OFF engineering ROM ]

Shortly thereafter, a series of unofficial, non-engineering 2.1 ROMs were also leaked, the third of which ended-up the basically the final version that HTC/Verizon would officially release. Those that succumbed to installing one of those versions discovered that they would be unable to install the earlier rootable engineering ROM due to an hboot version incompatibility. Root for the "2.1 leakers" seemed like a far-away dream.

Some of you might be aware that the HTC Droid Eris was released at the same time as the Motorola Droid (i.e., the "OG Droid" :)). These were both VERY popular devices and had a lot of very bright and industrious folks using them. You might be familiar with a certain person who goes by the name "jcase" who also had an Eris and did root-related development for that device (he also created a few custom ROMs for the Eris).

Anyway, fast-forward past a few very frustrating months to July 2010 and a couple of very stubborn, enterprising guys at XDA (tereg / dc_striker / Hairson) figured-out a (very difficult) way gain root through a SD card / adb timing method.

[ ^^^ root method #2: SD card race condition -- VERY difficult ]

Also at about this time, the devs for the HTC Evo discovered a race condition that resulted in being able to root.

XDA member wag3slav3 had kept an eye on the goings-on for the Evo and tried basically the same method on the Eris. It worked, of course. Then jcase took note of the method and simplified the rooting method/steps, eventually releasing his own rooting app in the Market (back when Google didn't pull those types of apps). There was much cheering and rejoicing throughout the land :).

[ ^^^ root method #3: mid.txt exploit ]

Then, in November of 2010, XDA member SoSicWiTiT had a brilliant insight in trying to resurrect a broken Eris that resulted in yet another root method (this involved replacing the ROM.zip in the temporary directory that HTC's RUU created).

[ ^^^ root method #4: ROM.zip RUU replacement ]

It also turns-out that the same exploit that the rageagainstthecage exploit uses would also root the Eris (Ryan Za's Z4root, which uses that exploit, worked wonderfully).

[ ^^^ root method #5: rageagainstthecage exploit ]

That's at least five different methods for achieving root, albeit for an older device with more vulnerabilities than this one--I am positive that there are more that are would have worked--but you kind of stop looking for your car keys once you've found them, eh? ;)

Anyway, sorry for the long-ish post, but I wanted to point-out and give hope to folks that there's always a chance given the effort, desire, and insight invested. The "cracks" that lead to progress and root often appear on a totally different (but often related) device in totally unexpected ways.

So, my advice would be to keep looking for these cracks :).

Cheers!
 
Does this actually work? http:// www dot sadroid dot com/root-zte-zmax-pro-5-minutes/
 
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Corey681 said:
Does this actually work? <questionable site>???
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Hey Corey, welcome to AF...

Well, I can tell you two things:

1. That site hung my Chrome browser and would not let me scroll down to see any content past the first page displayed; I was able to view more details on it by pulling it up on my phone, though

2. That poot rooting method was created by giantpune (back in October of 2012) and was created for the LG Optimus Elite -- I would be more than a little surprised if it applies here--i.e., is that site you mentioned actually driving clickbait?

edit/followup: see this thread for more information on the poot exploit: http://androidforums.com/threads/optimus-elite-root-with-an-apk.612914/

:weird:
 
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I only wanted root for unlimited tethering and AdAway for YouTube via Xposed. Other than that I don't care. The stock ROM is plenty fast and the system is fine without root. So if we don't get root... I won't care that much because I don't need it... I'd love to have it though. lol
 
anubis2048 said:
I only wanted root for unlimited tethering and AdAway for YouTube via Xposed. Other than that I don't care. The stock ROM is plenty fast and the system is fine without root. So if we don't get root... I won't care that much because I don't need it... I'd love to have it though. lol
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How do you get unlimited tethering with a rooted phone? Do know any website link? Im asking because I was thinking to switch back to my rooted LG K7 and use this phone as a tablet.
 
Don't give up. I remember all the negative talk concerning the original ZMAX... but eventually it got rooted :)

But I think they created a reward. Maybe you guys need to start throwing some $ into a reward chest.
 
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