Video: How to Root the OnePlus X

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The OnePlus X is OnePlus’ latest phone to hit the market and instead of going for a flagship killer, the X is aimed slightly lower (only slightly). With a quad-core processor, 3GBs of RAM, and a slick body of Onyx (seriously it’s slick), it’s still no budget phone. Yet with a price tag of about $249.00, it sorta is.

Despite these well qualified specs, some people do have issue with one thing about the OnePlus at least –the software. OnePlus made a switch from CyanogenMod, a community driven custom version of Android, to their own ColorOS version of Android starting with the OnePlus 2 (which I show you how to put back here) and not everyone is a fan.

If you want to, though, there is a way to get some better performance out of the software. Besides maybe speeding it up with this tip, you can always root the OnePlus X and then flash a different version of Android onto it replacing ColorOS with something a little more snappy/just plain better.

If you want to give it a whirl, here’s how to root the OnePlus X and flash a custom recovery (software required for flashing ROMs).

Before You Begin

  1. This could void the warranty of your device. We won’t be held responsible for anything that happens from doing this tutorial so please proceed at your own risk.
  2. This should erase the data stored on your device. So, please backup anything that you feel is important.
  3. This should also flash a custom recovery on your device.
  4. The instructions are for Windows but you should be able to do it on Mac in terminal instead of Command Prompt if you are familiar with the differences.
  5. You should only try this on a OnePlus X, not the One or Two.

How to Root the OnePlus X

Oneplus2

To root the device, you’ll first unlock the bootloader and flash a custom recovery on it, and then flash the SuperSU package to gain root access. Here’s how:

Installing ADB Drivers on Your PC

  1. Download the OnePlus ABD Drivers and then run the exe to install the drivers.
  2. To get ADB and Fastboot working (things we need to be able to communicate with the phone from our computer), head to my new How To Setup ADB/Fastboot Tutorial. This will show you how to set it all up on Windows or Mac (don’t worry it’s quick and easy). Once done with that, return here to this tutorial to continue.

Download the OnePlus X Rooting Files

  1. Download the folder in zip format I put together with all the necessary files here and save it to your desktop.
    OnePlus X Rooting Files
  2. After you have done that, copy the SuperSU.zip and recovery.img files from that folder into the C:/adb folder that you should now have on your computer after doing the ADB tutorial above (they need to be in the same folder as adb.exe and fastboot.exe).

Unlocking the Bootloader on the OnePlus 2

Unlock the Bootloader

  1. On the phone, head to Menu > Settings > About phone and tap on Build number for 7-8 times and it’ll say you’re a developer. The developer options menu should now be unlocked on your device.
  2. Head to Menu > Settings > Developer options on your device and turn on USB debugging and OEM unlocking.
  3. Connect your device to your PC using a USB cable.
  4. You will get a prompt asking if you’d like to allow USB debugging on your device. Check off the Always allow from this computer box and tap on OK.
  5. Launch a Command Prompt Window inside the Fastboot folder inside the folder you just extracted eariler. To do that, hold down Shift on your keyboard and right-click anywhere inside the Fastboot folder and select Open command window here.
  6. Type in the following command into the Command Prompt Window and press Enter:
    adb reboot bootloader
  7. Your device should reboot into bootloader mode.
  8. Type in the following command and hit Enter:
    fastboot oem unlock
  9. It should unlock the bootloader on your device.
  10. Your device should automatically reboot when the bootloader is unlocked.

Flashing a Custom Recovery on the OnePlus 2

Custom Recovery on OnePlus X

  1. Once the phone reboots, go through the normal setup procedure until you can get back to the home screen.
  2. On the phone, head to Menu > Settings > About phone and tap on Build number for 7-8 times and it’ll say you’re a developer. The developer options menu should now be unlocked on your device.
  3. Head to Menu > Settings > Developer options on your device and turn on USB debugging and OEM unlocking.
  4. In the command prompt from before on the computer, type in the following command and hit enter:
    adb push SuperSU.zip /sdcard/SuperSU.zip
    adb reboot bootloader
  5. Once it reboots into bootloader mode again, type in the following command and hit enter:
    fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
  6. Once it flashes TWRP, type in the following command and hit enter:
    fastboot boot recovery.img

For those having an error that says “dtb not found”, please see this thread for the solution – http://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-x/help/opx-remote-dtb-solution-t3480274

Rooting the OnePlus 2 Using TWRP and SuperSU

SuperSU on OnePlus X

  1. On the phone, in recovery mode, tap Backup and swipe to confirm. This will create a backup of the current stock ROM just in case you want to unroot later easily or if something goes wrong.
  2. When that finishes, tap Back.
  3. Now, tap on Install.
  4. Select SuperSU .zip to be installed on your device.
  5. Tap on Swipe to Confirm Flash to install SuperSU on your device.
  6. Wait for TWRP to install SuperSU.
  7. When it’s done installing, reboot your device by selecting Reboot followed by System.
  8. Your device should reboot.

Now you can head to my How to Flash a Custom ROM tutorial and follow that to perform a backup of your entire system (very handy later on) and flash custom ROMs found in my ROM repository.

Let me know if this worked for you in the comments below!

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  • Alex

    Hi David,

    I am trying to root OPX, and i cannot get it. I am stuck in the beginning. In fastboot mode, I type “fastboot oem unlock” but nothing happens. What can I do?

    Thanks

    • You need to make sure you have OEM unlocking turned on in the developer settings as well as USB debugging and that you have the drivers installed properly.

      • Alex

        Yes, I have OEM unlocking and USB debugging turned on, and drivers installed properly (OnePlus drivers and ADB installer; attached image). But device is stopped in fastboot mode and nothing happens; i have to push power button during several seconds to restart it.

        • Alex

          And this is the image from the Command Prompt Window

          • In that same screen with the phone in fastboot mode type the following and hit enter and post what it says:

            fastboot oem device-info

          • Alex

            This is what appears

          • “Device Unlocked: True”

            You’re phone is already bootloader unlocked… go to the next steps 🙂

          • Alex

            Ok, I continue with the root process. When I write the commands, nothing happens. So I reboot manually the device in recovery mode, but appears a screen different from your video: first select language; when I select english, another screen with install from local, install from usb, wipe data and cache, advanced, reboot

          • Alex

            Thanks a lot. Finally I got it. This kind of things are really difficult for me. Sorry for making you to waste your time

          • No problem! Glad you got it to work!

    • Ronan

      David i have the same problem

  • Sybolt Wijnholds

    it doesnt open the custom recovery screen on my phone for me, i need your never ending whishdom

    • Hmm, that all looks correct actually. At that point it should have rebooted. What does it do, just sit on the bootloader screen?

  • Kody

    As I said before, I am having an issue with this, everything is good up to the point where I boot the recovery.img. When I hit enter it does everything normally but my phone does not do anything, then I get a little error on my computer saying something something like the device is not recognized. I try booting the recovery.img again and all it says in CMD is “waiting for device”. Help will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

    • Post a screenshot of the command window here and I’ll try and help.

      • Kody

        Sorry for the 14 hour delay but here, this is exactly what it has told me to do in the video. I’ve already done the previous steps (the oem unlock thing) i did them yesterday. You said my phone is suppose to boot up in the recovery mode but my phone is still in fastboot mode as we speak. that’s my problem.

        • Ok, try to boot into it manually by unplugging it then holding down Power and Volume Down until it reboots. When you see the OnePlus logo let go of Power but keep holding Volume Down until you get to recovery then continue with the tutorial. Let me know if that works.

          • Kody

            It fixed itself, my phone is no successfully rooted. Thank you for all your help!

          • Glad it’s working!

  • Carlos

    Hi!

    I’m having difficulties to proceed on point number 4.

    In the command prompt from before on the computer, type in the following command and hit enter:

    adb push SuperSU.zip /sdcard/SuperSU.zip – “3504 KB/s (4015219 bytes in 1.119s)”

    adb reboot recovery – it takes me to a menu where I have options:
    Internal Storage
    Install from ADB
    Wipe data and cache
    Advanced
    Exit

    adb reboot bootloader – error: device not found

    Can you help me?

    Thank you

  • Carlos

    And also, o point nr 8 “Type in the following command and hit Enter:

    fastboot oem unlock”

    I do this and my phone doesn’t reboot.

    “C:adb>fastboot oem unlock

    …

    OKAY [ 0.000s]

    finished. total time: 0.000s”

  • Mark Joakim

    adb reboot recovery
    … followed by…
    adb reboot bootloader

    That seems very unlikely. I got stuck here.

    • The and reboot recovery shouldn’t be there. Thanks for letting me know, fixing it now but just watch the video for the proper commands (that part is around 5:00)

      • Mark Joakim

        Yes, I figured it out, thanks. I should just watch the video 😉

  • Abu Abdullah

    the Backup takes a lot of space on the phone, can I move it to my SD card?

    • Yeah, I recommend moving it to a computer. Just make sure to move the entire backup folder so you have it. You’ll need to copy it back exactly to have the recovery image recognize it when you want to restore it.

      • Abu Abdullah

        Thanks =)

  • Maddoxxx

    bro i have some issue with my x….after i rooted it…for about 2 weeks…suddenly my wifi signal went missing…
    everytime i turned it on….it just stay blank…then i flashed the other roms ,
    it’s come back again like that…
    the other issue everytime i reboot the phone …there’s a pop up window stating that system not responding…
    the last issue…i cant turn on my bootloader under dev.options…wtf man…
    please help me…im having a big headache

    • If you flash other roms and it comes back then it’s the rom. Just don’t use that rom. System not responding is also an issue with the rom.

      You should flash a different ROM until you find one that works for you. Also make sure you are doing a wipe in recovery BEFORE flashing the next rom as of you don’t that can cause issues too.

      Worst case scenario just into it it using this tutorial to get a fresh start – https://theunlockr.com/2016/02/17/how-to-unroot-the-oneplus-x/

      • Maddoxxx

        hi mate,
        thanks for the reply…
        i always do wipe data, cache, system…it’s a compulsory
        by the time i wrote the comment to you…
        in desperation, i just flash the x with oxygen official rom…
        and viola, everything’s went great…
        of course im missing those ressurection rom notification cool stuff ..

  • Ronan

    David, i have an issue. I am using my mac and everytime i finish the entire process. My phone boots up normally i cannot get the twirp page or whatever. I have tried force rebooting but nothing happens. If i hold down the power button and then press reboot i get three options. Recovery, Bootloader and Reboot. I have pressed all three to see if it does anything, but it doesnt. Help.

    • Ronan

      i cant upload a screenshot for some reason .png

      • Ronan

        After i finish the entire process

        • OK, so your phone is rooted though? The issue is you can’t get to recovery anymore? But you did flash SuperSU in recovery already and it is in your app drawer?

          • Ronan

            basically i cant fastboot oem unlock

          • Ronan

            it just stays on the fastboot mode and then i have to restart it

          • Ronan

            this is it.

          • Ronan

            i did the adb, then i did the oem unlocking and usb debugging i got the rsa key fingerprint, but then when i retried the process i didnt get the rsa key fingerprint. I didi the reboot but then when its in fastboot i cant fastboot oem unlock.

          • According to your screenshot you ARE unlocked (device unlocked: true). That’s why it won’t let you do it again. Just continue with the procedure and adb push SuperSU while the phone is connected in normal mode and continue from there.

          • Ronan

            i have the same problem alex had, but then when i continue. i do the SuperSu.zip command then i get a long script and then nothing happens. Then when i do the adb reboot bootloader its says null device.

          • Ronan

            nvm i fixed it thanks though

    • What number step exactly does this happen at?

  • Tin

    David HELP!!!! I got up to the step where you type “fastboot oem unlock” but nothing happened. My phone is stuck on fastboot mode. HELP!!!

    • Tin

      I was able to restart it. I tried the steps again but nothing happened when I typed ‘fastboot oem unlock’. what can I do ?

      • While in fastboot, type fastboot oem device-info and then hit enter. You’ll get a screen, if it says device unlocked: true then your bootloader is already unlocked so that’s why it’s not doing anything when you type it. Just continue with the tutorial from there.

        • Tin

          Wouldn’t it come up with ‘unlock will erase user data’?

          • Tin

            Yea it does say unlock true

          • If it says unlock true it’s unlocked. Just continue.

          • Tin

            I’m in custom recovery but when i click backup it says not enough space 🙁

          • Tin

            Is it because my data didnt get erased?

          • Have you made a backup before? Cause they take up a lot of space. It has nothing to do with the erasing of data you just don’t have enough storage space on your phone period. Youd need to clear some manually like normal then try again. Good luck!

          • Tin

            Is it necessary to backup? could I just go ahead and install it and if i wanted to unroot i could just download the stock ROM and recovery? Sorry for so many questions 🙁

  • Daniel

    Hey David, backing up took up like half of my storage. If the root is successful, do I need still need those files?

    • It backs up the entire phone so it can be a large file. You don’t need it but it’s good to have. Just connect to a computer and copy the backup to your computerto have if needed and then delete it from the phone to save storage.

  • Fateh Alam

    Hey, David it keeps getting stuck at the fast boot screen and wont go anywhere, and its says its unlocked during the test. but after i dont know where to go. plz help me through the process

    • Did you see the comment above yours? Are you stuck at the same step? If so you need to enter in the last command as he mentioned.

      • Fateh Alam

        i did it wouldn’t work.can you tell m what to do step by step.

        • That’s what the tutorial is for and video 🙂
          What step are you at that you are stuck exactly?

  • John

    It’s stuck on the bootloader screen for me. Not sure how to proceed from here…

    • John

      never mind, forgot to input the next command (fastboot boot recovery.img), forgive me, I am a noob 🙂

  • snpng

    hey david, im stuck on adb reboot bootloader. it keeps telling me also when im use fastboot oem device-info. On my phone screen looks oneplus logo and fastboot mode text, nothing happens after that.

    • Dynein

      im stuck here too! Did someone figure this out?

  • Vijay Singh

    hi david, im stuck with oneplus usd drives read ur post n did exactly but i dont knw why im not able to install the drives on my laptop which is running on windows vista… plz need ur help plz plz guide me… ill tell u hw im doing…
    i downloaded al the drivers usb, adb n root zip file
    1- im installing the usb driver of oneplus n restarting my laptop.
    2- im installing the adb frm the. link u gave ie from xda sitte… n restarting again..
    3- den i connect my phn through usb by switching on tht usb debugging and oem… but im not getting the usb debugging screen popping up after connecting…

    in device manager i can see portable devices in which i can see my phn after connecting but cant see the drivers when updating the drivers im only getting MTP devices in option plz plz help me i think i explained everything correctly sorry fr my bad english… im not a developer in a new to dis root plz guide he how t o over come dis its wil be a great help…. thanks a ton in advace…

  • Vijay Singh

    sorry i forgot to post the images is d previous post plz ….help me

  • Morten Kristensen

    Hi,
    I get an error with ‘oem unlock is disabled’ when I try the ‘fastboot oem unlock’

    Anyone know how to come past this? It’s not because it is already unlocked

    • Did you turn on OEM unlocking in the settings (Step 2 in the Unlocking the Bootloader section above)?

  • Douglas Knox

    need help

    • That means the bootloader is not unlocked. You need to follow the tutorial and make sure it gets unlocked during it.

      • mrhansenable

        hey David, thank you a ton for your tutorials, they’re great! keep it up!

        just wanted to say that I’m having the same error as shown by Douglas Knox. Except when I try “fastboot oem unlock” it reboots and takes me into TWRP.

        I had gone through the full tutorial and installed everything fine. Had CM working, but when I tried to update the nightly update it would reboot into TWRP but no update every happened. I see there’s a stable CM13 now, but when I put that into my root foldr and try “install” in TWRP then I don’t see the file, no matter where I put it (and if I click “ZIP” instead of “IMG” in bottom right). Anyways, any help would be appreciated, man. Can get frustrating wasting so many hours on this…

        thanks!

  • Harsh K Soni

    Hi David I am finished with all the steps you showed. I have flashed a custom ROM and gapps too. But now when I am checking the root of my device it is saying phone is not rooted. Help!

    • You might have flashed a ROM that doesn’t have root built in. Just flash a different ROM.

      • Harsh K Soni

        I have flashed cm13 for one plus x

        • Great so either try a different root checker or flash a different ROM. If you want to keep that ROM and have root and all the root checkers are saying you don’t have it then contact the developer of that ROM for help with the issue with their ROM. Good luck.

  • Gyo Kamata

    Hi, David. You asked me to come here for help so I might as well explain my situation in a little more detail.

    I’m using a Champagne ONE E1001 version of the OnePlus X, just to clarify.
    Everytime I attempt to do the step where you unlock the OEM, nothing happens on the screen of my phone (apart from remain on the fastboot mode screen) even after waiting a few minutes, while the command prompt window says ‘waiting for device as shown in the screenshot.

    Any suggestions? I’ve wasted like three hours so far trying out other methods I find online, all ending up in the same situation.

    • So that means your driver’s aren’t installed correctly. You need to go to device manager on the computer and look for the ! and manually select the drivers otherwise you need to uninstall the ones you have and install different ones from OnePlus’s site or through googling. Good luck!

      • Gyo Kamata

        Thanks! I’ve managed to get past the oem unlock step now. Fast-forward though
        and I’ve ran into another issue – it won’t boot into the ‘recovery.img’.
        Instead of saying ‘OKAY’, it says ‘FAILED (dtb not found)’. How can I fix this?
        Again, thanks for your help so far 🙂

        • Try redownloading the files and flashing again

          • Gyo Kamata

            So I’ve started again from scratch basically – reset my phone to factory settings, re-downloaded all the files and followed the tutorial from there and I’m stuck at the OEM unlock part again, only this time, it says it has finished in the command prompt window while nothing’s happening on the phone. Installing the correct driver in Device Manager didn’t do anything this time.

          • Gyo Kamata

            After looking at some other comments, it appears my phone is already unlocked (It says “Device unlocked: true” when I typed in ‘fastboot oem-device info’). So I guess I manually reboot my phone and continue from there?

          • Gyo Kamata

            And now I am stuck at booting into recovery.img again :/

            C:adb>fastboot boot recovery.img
            downloading ‘boot.img’…
            OKAY [ 0.361s]
            booting…
            FAILED (remote: dtb not found)
            finished. total time: 0.403s

            I Googled the issue for a while, yet still no solution – although there seems to be another handful of people who are having the same issue who don’t have answers either. I tried using other TWRP img files I found online but still the same result

          • Elias

            I have same problem. Have you found solution yet?

          • Gyo Kamata

            https://dl.twrp.me/onyx/twrp-3.0.3-0-onyx.img.html
            I’ve found an img file that seems to work. It seems to be taking forever to reboot after installing the SuperSU.zip though.

  • Pratik Dalvi

    Hi David. After installing gapps on OPX, I an error ‘unfortunately system ui has stopped’. In cyanogenmod i can solve this problem by granting permissions, but how should solve it for paranoid rom.

    • Sorry but you need to connect the developer of the ROM for support regarding the ROM.

  • Evin Tom

    Help me the phone enters boot loop after installing supersu after flashing cm13

    • That has nothing to do with rooting. That has to do with the ROM. Either flash it again and make sure to write data before you flash it, flash a different ROM, or check with the developer to see why it might have not worked. Good luck!

  • Javell Samuel

    how long does it take to bring up the custom recovery screen after having the fast boot screen

    • Javell Samuel

      i typed in fastboot oem device-info and it says waiting on device

  • Bryan T

    hi im having problems im unlocked but when i put fastboot boot recovery.img its says dtb not found help me please

    • Means it can’t find the phone. Try a different usb cable, usb port, or even computer.

  • chaithanya chenna

    Hi even after Flashing TWRP my OPX is loading into Stock Recovery

  • Kamlesh RC

    Hi I am using the latest OOS 3.1.3 software. am not able to root my device. After i enter bootloader and type oem unlock, nothing happens. the option on the phone saying “unlock will erase user data , continue ?” is not coming up. Model No E1001. I have ensured that the drivers have been installed correctly.

  • ciaran mcloughlin

    my opx wont gointo the fastboot oem unlock stage, i get it to fastboot mode but when i type fastboot oem unlock nothing happens on the device

  • vishal

    Hi, i am using one pluse x, i was trying to root my phone but now it stuck in fastboot mode.
    then i press power button to get out of this mode.
    now my phone is switched off and nothing is happening.
    Please help me

  • Excall

    Alright, I’m befuzzled…I did everything correctly and I get to the CMD prompt that says :
    c:adb>fastboot boot recovery.img
    OKAY [ 0.456s]
    booting…
    FAILED (remote: dtb not found)
    finished. total time: 0.505s
    I looked around in the comment afterwards and went to the dev link you posted and tried to follow that.I don’t have any ADB option on my phone. So I downloaded the recover3.img and tried flashing and booting that, but it took me to a weird menu that got no where…Currently my phone works but is not rooted, it seems OEM unlocked but I’ve reset it to factory defaults and it stayed that way…please help!!!

  • Don Davis

    Hey i have done until this. First i got the dtb not found error and i fixed it from the link you gave and then my phone stuck in fastboot mode after long time i just rebooted it. What should i do next
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5d79d9b942134a6a77b4883942535c26f4a78cbd11ff6fb3033818dc341b3f5b.jpg

    • Not sure what step you are on now. You got the dtb found and then flashed recovery, booted into recovery then you should have done the next section on rooting the device using the SuperSU file while in recovery. Did you get into recovery after typing fastboot boot recovery?

      • Omkar Sahasrabudhe

        Same here. I did not get the the recovery screen after typing fastboot recovery

    • Mohit yadav

      Don…can u share the link that helped u resolve “dtd not found” issue….I am running oxygen os 3.1.4, android M 6.0.1

  • Ravi Agrawal

    i have multiple devices connected

    how do i make the cmds specific to one device

    • You can’t as far as I know. You just need to unplug the other devices that use ADB.

      • Ravi Agrawal

        Yes, thank you, I got that sorted….. I did everything, do you have another link for superSU, or is there any other alternative….. This is my first time, it was getting indefinitely stuck in reboot after flashing super su, hence I used restore back up

        • Unfortunately, no I don’t. You’ll have to check on forum.xda-developers.com

  • Pratik Dalvi

    when i normally connect the phone to pc i can see my phone when i type command adb devices ..but after it enters the fastboot mode no device is listed ..

  • bmsergant

    please help me, whenever i go into fastboot, and i try to unlock the oem, it always says “waiting for device”, please help!!!

  • Dryden

    I can’t flash TWRP.
    I’m on Mac with fastboot and adb working.
    My oos 3.1.4 won’t mantain TWRP after flashing it: if I manually reboot into recovery loads TWRP but can’t mount any storage, and rebooting comes back to the official Oneplus recovery…

    • ian rath (Stormer379)

      same problem here, but it seems the person doesnt want to reply so… bad luck for us

  • ian rath (Stormer379)

    should it be taking close to 15 minutes to fastboot into recovery?

    • ian rath (Stormer379)

      make that 40

      • ian rath (Stormer379)

        yeah i think my phones done for. its stuck on the fastboot mode screen
        help?

  • ian rath (Stormer379)

    i get to the installation directory, i tap supersu and it refuses to install, help?

    • ian rath (Stormer379)

      mine didnt even open up twrp, it opened the default oneplus bootloader, and it doesnt want to install supersu

      • ian rath (Stormer379)

        welp, my phone is screwed, as i was unable to root, i went back to stock android, nothing wrong with it, until i reinstall spotify, and find that the phone has no access to its storage, spotify says storage area isnt found. please help.

  • Ram

    Hi David, i basically got through all the steps, and completed the installation of SuperSU.zip thro TWRP screen on the device. The device rebooted but has been on the boot screen for over 10 minutes now. Help!! Kindly advise if I can try manually rebooting the device to system again by pressing the power button or is there another way to solve this? (i am not sure if it is a bootloop). How long does it take after the install? I used the latest SuperSU “UPDATE-SuperSU-v2.79-20161211114519” for the rooting step. I have a OPX 1003 device.