Install PixelExperience on X01AD

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Basic requirements

  1. Read through the instructions at least once before actually following them, so as to avoid any problems due to any missed steps!
  2. Make sure your computer has adb and fastboot. Setup instructions can be found here.
  3. Enable USB debugging on your device.
  4. Boot your device with the stock OS at least once and check every functionality. Make sure that you can send and receive SMS and place and receive calls (also via WiFi and LTE, if available), otherwise it won’t work on PixelExperience either! Additionally, some devices require that VoLTE/VoWiFi be utilized once on stock to provision IMS.
  5. PixelExperience is provided as-is with no warranty. While we attempt to verify everything works you are installing this at your own risk!

Unlocking the bootloader

  1. Download the bootloader unlock app for your device:

    • Navigate to ASUS’ support site and go to your device’s page by entering its model number.
    • Click Driver & Tools.
    • Select Android from the drop-down menu.
    • Open the Utilities section.
    • Download the Unlock Device App.
    • If the downloaded file is packaged in a .zip archive, extract it.
  2. Connect the device to your PC via USB.
  3. On the computer, open a command prompt (on Windows) or terminal (on Linux or macOS) window and change to the location where the Unlock Device App .apk resides.
  4. Install the .apk by typing:
    adb install Name_of_unlock_app.apk
    
    • For example, on the ZE551ML device, it would be adb install UnlockApp_ze551ml_20150723.apk.
  5. Run the application Unlock Device Tool from the device and agree to the terms.

  6. Press the button to unlock your device.
  7. The device should automatically reboot into bootloader mode and the message unlock successfully...reboot after 5 seconds should be displayed. The device will then reboot and load Android.

Installing a custom recovery using fastboot

  1. Download the custom recovery.

  2. Connect your device to your PC via USB if it isn’t already.
  3. If your device isn’t already in fastboot mode, on the computer, open a command prompt (on Windows) or terminal (on Linux or macOS) window, and type:
    adb reboot bootloader
    

    You can also boot into fastboot mode via a key combination:

    • With the device powered off, hold Volume Up + Power. Keep holding both buttons until the word “FASTBOOT” appears on the screen, then release.
  4. Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC finds it by typing:
    fastboot devices
    

    If you don’t get any output or an error:

    • on Windows: make sure the device appears in the device manager without a triangle. Try other drivers until the command above works!
    • on Linux or macOS: If you see no permissions fastboot try running fastboot as root. When the output is empty, check your USB cable and port!
  5. Flash recovery onto your device (replace <recovery_filename> with the actual filename!):
    fastboot flash recovery <recovery_filename>.img
    
  6. Now reboot into recovery to verify the installation. Do not reboot into the existing OS, since it will overwrite the recovery you just installed!
    • With the device powered off, hold Volume Down + Power. Keep holding both buttons until the “ASUS” logo appears on the screen, then release.

Installing PixelExperience from recovery

  1. Download the PixelExperience installation package that you would like to install or build the package yourself.
  2. If you are not in recovery, reboot into recovery:
    • With the device powered off, hold Volume Down + Power. Keep holding both buttons until the “ASUS” logo appears on the screen, then release.
  3. Now tap Wipe.
  4. Now tap Format Data and continue with the formatting process. This will remove encryption and delete all files stored in the internal storage.
  5. Sideload the PixelExperience .zip package:
    • On the device, select “Advanced”, “ADB Sideload”, then swipe to begin sideload.
    • On the host machine, sideload the package using: adb sideload filename.zip.
  6. Once you have installed everything successfully, run ‘adb reboot’.

Get assistance

After you’ve double checked that you followed the steps precisely, didn’t skip any and still have questions or got stuck, feel free to ask on our Telegram group.