HOW TO ROOT THE ASUS ZENFONE 5 RUNNING ON KITKAT

Im here to teach you how to root your Zenfone 5 running on Android Kitkat 4.4.2. Now we all know that there have been various ways to root, including a one-click root apk called Zenroot, Towelroot by Geohot (George Hots-famous for being the man who hacked the Sony PS3 and made this Towelroot app to root most modern day android devices, and what Im going to be discussing is yet another way to root the zenfone 5. The zenroot apk is not 100% confirmed to work now that Zenfone 5 has been updated to KitKat, and most who teach that method require users to downgrade first to jellybean before they can root, and then enable survival mode in SuperSU once rooted, before reupdating to kitkat once again, which, for me is quite the hassle. So without further ado, lets begin!

WARNING: your warranty is now void! I am not responsible for bricked devices, thermonuclear wars, dead SD cards, your wife/gf/husband/bf running away from you because you got so obsessed with your Zenfone that you failed to give them time, you getting fired from work because the alarm app failed. You are doing this at your own risk. So if you are unsure, stop before its too late! I assure you that I have tried this method and it worked for me.

PREREQUISITES: Download the Intel Android USB Driver from https://software.intel.com/en-us/android/articles/intel-usb-driver-for-android-devices. Just check the I agree blablabla so that you will be redirected to the main download link. Download the latest version of the Zenfone rooting toolkit from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B05UM2q8MdJFcHpVRVlrbTZMUzg/view?pli=1.Choose what variant of Zenfone 5 you have whether WW, TW, CHT, as the files are now split. ADB Fastboot tool from https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByBt_dxzt_SVQkszU1dkTG9JWXc/editOr the ADB fastboot installer exe from my google drive. Just install it and it will have the necessary drivers and tools. Get it from here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6reUIyJc-MRS0pPcW5vcWRzVmM/view?usp=sharing. Fastboot image from Firmware 3040 (as pre-requisite to rooting the latest 40.44 firmware). Get it from here: http://d-h.st/jIUq (note: upon reaching the address, you will see 2 download buttons, an orange and a blue one. Click on the b;ue one and uncheck the download with the dev-host download manager). Or you can acquire the fastboot image from the 3040 firmware if you have a copy. Your phone should at least be charged to avoid inconveniences while in the process., If you havent done so yet, turn on USB Debugging in Settings > Developer Options > USB Debugging. Now if you cant find the Developer Options, go to Settings > About Phone, and tap 7 times on your build number until you are greeted by a toast notification, You are now a developer! Windows 7 PC/laptop with USB ports (preferably USB2.0. Micro USB cable that came with your unit or any microUSB cable you are confident that works on your Zenfone..

PROCEDURE:1. Install Intel Android driver. This will allow the pc to recognize your zenfone and its bootloader interface. After it, connect your phone to your pc and let windows automatically obtain drivers for it by changing the options such as in this screenshot:

Change it to

And you should be greeted by this-your devices ADB interface driver will also be installed. Be patient while Windows searches drivers for you. Sit back and relax.:D

The final screen should now be like this:

2. To make sure that ADB connection between your device and your computer is authorized, you can test the connectivity by doing the adb devices command. Go to your root zenfone folder, since that is where your adb and fastboot drivers are. You should see a folder named files inside the root zenfone folder. Now hold Shift and right click on that files folder and select Open Command here, like in this screenshot,

or you can open that files folder and Shift+right click on an empty space and select Open Command Here.

3. Do the adb devices command and it should return the value of your device serial number:

Upon typing and entering the command you should watch your phone as you will be greeted by a USB Debugging prompt on your phone screen-the PC is asking for debugging rights on your phone. And if you own the pc you are using, you should check the always allow from this computer to save the hassle of seeing thatmessage again and again. But for public computers, do not check it.

Now. If you test adb connectivity one more time, you should now get the word device instead of unauthorized before your serial number, like this:

This will be the confirmation of a successful adb connection between your PC and Zenfone. (Note: the first adb command with the device unauthorized was during the first plugging of zenfone 5 after the drivers and device setup. The second adb command is the one you get after approving the PC debugging authorization).

Now that were all set, its time to root your Zenfone!For the latest 40.44 firmware, you should do this first before proceeding to root, if you still have the old version of the rootzenfone toolkit: Otherwise ignore these procedures.NOTE: For those still on 30.40 firmware, skip this step and proceed to rooting!1. Now assuming you have set up your phone and its drivers on your PC, enter droidboot / fastboot mode by turning off your phone and holding power+volume up until you are in droidboot.2. Connect your phone to your computer.3. Go to your adb folder. You can use the minimal ADB tools from the prerequisites or the minimal adb installer from my google drive. 4. One in the folder of your ADB, type, fastboot flash fastboot fastboot.img5. Wait for the process to finish then reboot.6. You are now ready to root using the RootZenfoneToolkit v3!Rooting Using the ZenfoneRootToolkit v4:1. With your device still connected to your pc, navigate to your downloaded Root Zenfone v4 files. Then choose RootzenfoneEN (since there is no WW)

2. Double-click on the bat file you desire and you should again see a command prompt window. From here, you should see the process of rooting going on. Just sit back and wait. Dont panic if your device will reboot a good 5 or 6 times during the process

.3. After the fInal reboot, open your app drawer once your phone has settled. If you see SuperSU, then you are rooted!4. To ensure that your root access survives during OTA updates, go to SuperSU > settings > Enable Pro, then once its enabled, Go back to SuperSU > Settings > Enable Survival Mode.5. If you want to unroot, you can do so via the SuperSU full unroot or the Zenfone root toolkit and use the unroot zenfone bat file.ENJOY YOUR ROOTED PHONE! :D