The Bootloaders Of A Huawei Device

Huawei locks the bootloaders of their devices.  The reason for this is to make sure that their devices stay safely and securely in their users hands.  A bootloader is the architecture that allows your device to boot up and, if this partition malfunctions a device will end up bricked.  Another reason for locking the bootloader is to prevent software vulnerabilities in a device.

So a locked bootloader is a security feature, it does however, also restrict you from taking advantage of the open nature of an Android device.  Having a locked bootloader prevents a user from flashing custom recoveries, custom ROMs, custom kernel images and zip files. Unlocking your bootloader also allows you to flash custom recoveries which allows you to create backup Nandroids and back up partitions of your phone as well as wipe your devices cache and dalvik cache.

Manufacturers allow the unlocking of a bootloader officially, but having their devices come with a locked bootloader is a way to warn users that they tweak their devices at their own risk.  Manufacturers such as Huawei, LG and Sony require their users to accept terms and agreements that make the user responsible for unlocking the bootloader.  Unlocking the bootloader will also void your devices warranty.

So after hearing the pros and cons of an unlocked bootloader, if you are still looking to unlock the bootloader of a Huawei device, follow our guide below.

NOTE: Make sure that you save any important data you have on your device as, after your bootloader is unlocked, your device will automatically preform a factory reset and any data on the phone will be lost.

1. Get your Bootloader Unlock Code

• Go to Huawei’s official page . Click on register and do so for free.

• On the next page that appears, click on Register Email Address.
• Enter your e-mail address and other details.
• If you have a Google Chrome browser, you should click on the translate page, otherwise the pages will be displayed in Chinese. However, we have also translated the page and as such, this tutorial is in English.

• Open the email inbox of the address that you used to sign into the Huawei site. You should find an email from Huawei with a verification link that you should click on to activate your account.
• After verifying your account, return to Huawei’s official page to sign in with the account you made.
• After signing in, you should be redirected to an agreement page for bootloader unlocking.

• Go to the bottom of the page and check the small box signifying you accept the agreement.
• Click “Next” button.
• On next page, select smartphone from the product category. Enter all the details of your phone.  You can find most of the details you need by going to Settings> About Device.
• After you have added your details, click the submit button that is located on the right side of the screen.

• You will now be given a 16 digit code which you can use to unlock your device. Save it somewhere you can easily access it.

2. Unlock Bootloader

• If you are using a windows PC, install Minimal ADB & Fastboot drivers. If you are using a Mac, install ADB & Fastboot for Mac.
• Enable the USB debugging mode of your device by taking the following steps:
  1. Turn off your device.
  2. Press and hold down the volume down key.
  3. Keeping the volume down key pressed, plug in your data cable to connect your device and a PC.
• Open the Minimal ADB & Fastboot.exe file on your desktop. If you don’t have this file on your desktop, take the following steps:
  1. Go to your windows installation file
  2. Go to your program files and look for the Minimal ADB & Fastboot folder.
  3. Open the folder and look for the file py_cmd.exe and open it.
• You should now have a command window opened. Type in the following commands.  Press enter after typing each command.
  1. Fastboot device (to verity that your device is connected in fastboot mode)
  2. fastboot oem unlock xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (replace the 16 x’s with the 16 digits of your unlock code)
• After inputting your unlock code, your bootloader should now unlock and your device should automatically reboot.

Have you unlocked the bootloader of your Huawei device?

Share your experience in the comments box below.

JR

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