Install /e/OS on a ASUS ZenFone 8 - “sake”

The instructions in this guide will assist you to install /e/OS on your sake. Please read through the instructions at least once before actually following them, so as to avoid any problems later.

It is important that you know that downgrading Smartphones on OS versions greater than the /e/OS OS version you plan to install, can cause instability or at worst brick some devices. We recommend that you check your current OS version, before attempting the installation.

It is advisable to flash your device only if you know what you are doing and are ok taking the associated risk. All /e/OS builds are provided as best effort, without any guarantee. The /e/OS project and its project members deny any and all responsibility about the consequences of using /e/OS software and or /e/OS services.

Requirements

If required take a backup of all important data from your phone on an external storage device before proceeding.
Do not take a backup on the same device as some of these actions will format the device and delete the backup.
Ensure your phone is charged more than 50%
Check that adb and fastboot are enabled on your PC. If not you can find the setup instructions here
Download all the files and images mentioned in the download section below before starting the installation
Make sure you have a working data cable to connect your device to the PC. There are cables which are only for charging and do not transfer data.
Enable USB debugging on your device. You can find the instructions here
Make sure that your model is listed in the Smartphone Selector. Check the model supported. Where available, information on the model supported should show as a pop-up when you hover the cursor on the Device name. The model number supported should be the exact same.
Boot your device with the stock OS at least once and check every functionality.

Warning: Make sure that you can send and receive SMS and place and receive calls (also via WiFi and LTE, if available), otherwise it will not work on /e/OS as well. Additionally, some devices require that VoLTE/VoWiFi be utilized once on stock to provision IMS.

Please share your experience , suggest tips or changes to this install guide documentation by visiting the ZenFone 8 specific topic on our community forum.

To report issues in /e/OS please refer this guide

Downloads for sake

/e/OS Recovery for community build
/e/OS build : T community

To understand the difference between /e/OS builds check this guide

Before following these instructions please ensure that the device is on the latest Android 12 firmware.

Unlocking the bootloader

Tip: The steps given below only need to be run once per device.

Warning: Unlocking the bootloader will erase all data on your device! Before proceeding, ensure the data you would like to retain is backed up to your PC and/or an online drive

Please note ASUS bootloader unlock App service are not functional for the past couple of months. Only users with devices which are already unlocked should proceed with the installation as the instructions in the Unlocking section may not work .

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.
Connect the device to your PC via USB.
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.
Install the .apk by typing:
```
adb install Name_of_unlock_app.apk
```
Run the application Unlock Device Tool from the device and agree to the terms.

Follow the steps as given on the ASUS support site to complete the unlock process
Press the button to unlock your device.
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.

Flashing the vendor boot partition

Warning: This platform requires the vendor boot partition to be flashed for recovery to work properly, the process to do so is described below.

Download vendor_boot file from here. Download the file named vendor_boot.img from the directory named with the latest date.
Power off the device, and boot it into bootloader mode

Halte Lautstärke lauter + Lautstärke leiser +Ausschalten gedrückt.
Flash a the downloaded images to your device by typing (replace with the actual filename!):

fastboot flash vendor_boot <vendor_boot>.img

Temporarily Booting a custom recovery using `fastboot`

Connect your device to your PC via USB.
On the computer, open a command prompt (on Windows) or terminal (on Linux or macOS) window, and type:
```
 adb reboot bootloader
```
Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC finds it by typing:
```
 fastboot devices
```
Flash a recovery image onto your device
```
 fastboot flash boot recoveryfilename.img
```
Ersetze den recoveryfilename mit dem Namen des Wiedherstellungsimage (recovery image), das du im vorherigen Schritt heruntergeladen hast
Manually reboot into recovery mode

Bei ausgeschaltetem Gerät
Halte Lautstärke lauter + Ausschalten gedrückt. Dann wähle mithilfe der physischen Tasten Wiederherstellung (recovery) im Bootloader aus.

Tip: Outdated fastboot releases dropped legacy A/B support, so it might attempt to flash to boot__a / boot__b rather than boot_a / boot_b if you try to flash boot. In this case, you must update fastboot to a release newer than or equal to 31.0.2. Alternatively, you can manually specify which slot to flash to based on what slot fastboot failed to flash to. For example, if fastboot fails to flash to boot__a, you must flash to boot_a.

Steps to install /e/OS from recovery

Tip: Use the volume keys to navigate and power key to select

Tip: Use the volume up key to choose the arrow at the top to go back to main screen

Tip: If your PC is unable to detect your device with adb in the /e/OS recovery main screen tap Advanced » Enable adb

Format the device

On /e/OS Recovery main screen:

Select Factory reset
Select Format data / Factory reset option
Next screen will display a warning that this action cannot be undone
Select Format data to proceed or Cancel if you want to go back
If you selected Format data, the format process will complete

Tip: You will see text in small font on the lower left side of the screen mentioning format progress

The small font text would be similar to this
```
 Wiping data
 Formatting/data
 Formatting/cache
 Data wipe complete
```
Display will now return to the Factory Reset screen

Install /e/OS

In /e/OS recovery main screen:

Select Apply Update and in next screen Apply update from adb
In the next screen, the device is now in sideload mode

Note at this point the Cancel option is highlighted that does not mean you have canceled the action. The device is in adb sideload mode.
On your PC type begin adb sideload. Type the below command in a console

adb sideload downloaded_file_name.zip

Replace downloaded_file_name.zip with the name of the /e/OS file you downloaded in the previous section
Press enter key on the keyboard to start the sideloading The screen will show the progress percentage…This might pause at 47%
Give it some time
The PC console will now display Total xfer: 1.00x
The phone screen will now display some text with a message similar to

Script succeeded result was [1.000000]

This means that the install was successful.

Reboot the device