Unlock Bootloader, Install TWRP Recovery and Root ROG Phone 2 using Magisk

Today, we are going to share a detailed guide on how to unlock bootloader, install TWRP Recovery, and root ROG Phone 2 via Magisk. You can use this guide for the ROG Phone 2 but make sure that it’s running on Android 9 Pie and Android 10.

The ROG Phone 2 was announced in 2019 and got popularity over other gaming phones like BlackShark and Razer Phone 2. Asus’ ROG is a gaming phone and specially designed for games that come with amazing performance, software, and design.

Being an advanced Android user, you can install custom ROMs, mods, kernels, etc to get much of your phone. When we talk about the customization that you may want to perform, the first thing that comes in our mind is, installing TWRP recovery and the other is Rooting Android phone.

TWRP (TeamWin Recovery Project) enables you to install custom ROMs, kernels, mods, wipe/reformat partitions, and creating NANDroid backups, etc. Thanks to XDA Senior Member and developer mauronofrio for developing and sharing the official and unofficial builds of TWRP for ROG Phone 2. These both build support decryption of data partition and are compatible with both Android 10 as well as Android 9 Pie.

Once the TWRP recovery is successfully installed on the ROG Phone 2, you will need to root ROG Phone 2 via Magisk. Rooting allows you to get Superuser permissions to modify any part of the software you want. Magisk is a special and most popular rooting tool that comes with a lot of features. With the help of Magisk, you can install Magisk Modules to customize the software systemless-ly, hide root from particular apps, and the most important thing that you can even take OTA updates on your rooted phone.

Follow the given instructions below on how to unlock the bootloader, install TWRP recovery, and root ROG Phone 2.

Pre-Requirements:

• First of all, take the full backup of all your required data like backup your apps, contacts, messages, photos, videos, documents. In case anything goes wrong then you will be able to get your data back. Keep in mind that unlocking the bootloader will erase all the data stored on your phone including everything on the internal storage.
• The battery level of your phone should be at least about 70 to 80% before going ahead to the installation instructions to avoid unexpected shutting downs while performing the process.

Downloads

Here in the download section, we have listed all the files that you will need during the process ahead. All you need to download them before proceeding to the given instructions. Please note that below we have given both of the official and unofficial builds of TWRP. We recommend (as developer quoted) using the latest version of the unofficial build of TWRP.

• Unofficial TWRP for ROG Phone 2 (ZS660KL)
  • Android 9 Pie Image: twrp-3.3.1-14-I001D-Pie-mauronofrio.img
  • Android 10 Image: twrp-3.3.1-14-I001D-Q-mauronofrio.img
  • Installer ZIP: twrp-3.3.1-14-I001D-installer-mauronofrio.zip
• Official TWRP for ROG Phone 2 (ZS660KL)
  • Image: twrp-3.3.1-0-I001D.img
  • Installer ZIP: twrp-installer-3.3.1-0-I001D.zip
• Magisk Installer ZIP: Magisk-20.4.zip

How To Unlock Bootloader on ROG Phone 2

Before starting to apply to flash the files on to your ROG Phone 2 or any kind of modifications, the bootloader of your device must be unlocked. We normally use the fastboot method to unlock bootloader on Android phones. But the fastboot method is not applicable to ROG Phone 2 and here we’ll use the Asus’s official easier and quicker tool which is on-device unlock tool provided by Asus.

Step 1:- Download the official Asus Unlock Tool to unlock bootloader on ROG Phone 2. We have given the download links for both Android 9 Pie and Android 10 OS running on the ROG Phone 2.

• For Android 10: YODA_SIGNED_UnlockTool_9.1.0.11_190708_fulldpi.apk
• For Android 9 Pie: ZS660KL_SIGNED_UnlockTool_9.1.0.10_190702_fulldpi.apk

Step 2:- According to the OS running on your phone, downloaded the APK file on your phone’s internal storage.

Step 3:- Then, install the tool’s APK file on your phone by following this guide.

Step 4:- After successfully installing the tool, navigate to the app drawer to launch the ‘Unlock Device Tool’ app, and just check the box to agree and tap on ‘OK’.

Step 5:- The main screen of the app will appear and tap on the ‘Press to Unlock your Device’ button to unlock bootloader on ROG Phone 2.

Step 6:- After that the phone will automatically reboot and the bootloader will be unlocked.

Step 7:- Finally, when the phone boot into the OS, follow the on-screen instructions, and set up your phone.

Steps to Install TWRP Recovery and Root ROG Phone 2 via Magisk

The bootloader is unlocked now on your ROG Phone 2. Now you can install TWRP recovery on the phone and then root ROG Phone 2 using the Magisk tool.

Step No 1:- First, set up Android Platform-tools on your PC. You will need to Android fastboot tool to flash TWRP recovery. This tool comes as a part of the complete Android SDK platform-tools package. [How To?]

Step No 2:- Next, launch PowerShell/Terminal in the ‘Platform-tools’ folder depending on your OS where the Android platform-tools are installed.

Step No 3:- In order to flash TWRP, boot your ROG Phone 2 into Fastboot Mode.

Step 4:- Connect your phone with the PC via its USB data cable and make sure that the USB Drivers are properly installed on the PC.

Step 5:- To boot the phone into Fastboot mode, turn OFF your phone completely, and after a while, hold the Volume Up and Power keys of your ROG Phone 2 at the same time until you see the fastboot screen.

Step 6:- The next step is flashing TWRP and Magisk. Temporarily boot the TWRP image on your ROG Phone 2 via fastboot. Follow the given steps to flash the TWRP image via Fastboot.

1. 1. 1. Download the TWRP recovery image (.img file) on your computer from the Downloads sections.
      2. Move the downloaded file (e.g. twrp-3.3.1-14-I001D-Q-mauronofrio.img) to the ‘platform-tools‘ folder on your PC.
      3. Open the terminal shell and type the following command to make sure that your phone is properly detected over fastboot:

         fastboot devices

      4. The phone’s unique device ID will appear if the USB drivers are correctly installed on the PC.
      5. Next, enter the following command to temporarily boot the TWRP recovery image on ROG Phone 2. Please note that replace “twrp-image-filename.img” with the full filename of the TWRP image file you have downloaded. For example, if you download the Android 9 Pie TWRP image, the command should be:

         fastboot boot twrp-3.3.1-14-I001D-Pie-mauronofrio.img

      6. Once done, your device will reboot automatically and will enter the TWRP recovery mode.

While your phone is now in TWRP, the ‘Unmodified System Partition‘ prompt on the screen will be displayed. Choose an option on the screen depending on your requirements.

• • • Select the ‘Keep Read Only‘ option if you want to run the stock ROG UI firmware with just Magisk root.
    • Choose the ‘Swipe to Allow Modifications‘ button if you wish to flash a custom ROM or updating your stock ROG UI firmware by manually flashing the full OTA packages.

Step 7:- Finally, you will have to flash TWRP and root Asus ROG Phone 2 with Magisk. First, download the TWRP Installer and Magisk ZIP files on the PC, from the ‘Downloads’ section above.

Step 8:- In the TWRP, go to the ‘Mount‘ menu on your phone and press the ‘Enable MTP‘ button on the bottom right. Now, connect your phone to the PC by plugging in the USB cable to the side port.

Step 9:- Transfer the downloaded TWRP installer and Magisk ZIP files to the root folder of your phone’s internal memory. Disconnect the phone from the PC after the files have been successfully transferred.

Step 10:- Go back to the main menu of TWRP and press the ‘Install‘ button.

Step 11:- Now, browse the location on your phone’s internal storage where you copied the ZIP files. First, choose the TWRP Installer ZIP file (twrp-3.3.1-14-I001D-installer-mauronofrio.zip). Tap on the ‘Add more Zips‘ button and select the Magisk ZIP file (Magisk-v20.4.zip as well to add it to TWRP’s flashing queue.

Step 12:- Flash these files on your phone by swiping the button on the bottom of the screen. The flashing process should take a few seconds to finish. Once the flashing process completes, press the ‘Reboot System‘ button to reboot your phone.

Done! You have successfully unlocked bootloader, installed TWRP recovery, and root ROG Phone 2 using Magisk.

Go to the app drawer and launch the Magisk Manager app to verify if Magisk was installed properly after the phone boots. Let us know in the comments area below if you have any issues or queries regarding the detailed guide.