Install LineageOS ROM on Huawei Honor 5X

Honor 5X is Huawei’s most successful flagship phone till date. The manufacturer has sold more than 8 million devices worldwide. I’ve been a fan of Huawei for quite a long time. Their mid-range Phones like the P8 Lite, P9 Lite, and the 5X are great Bang for the Buck. They provide exceptional build quality along with great specs for the Price.

No wonder Huawei Honor 5X crossed the 8 million mark. Kudos to you Huawei! Huawei ships its devices with a highly customized version of Google’s Android called EMUI. But not everyone likes customized versions of Google’s Android. Some would argue the EMUI is too artificial and undermines the performance of the Honor 5X. I’ll let you be the Judge of that. So let’s get started.

NOTE: This guide is dedicated to KIW-L24/L22/L21 of the Honor 5X. If you have a different phone model this guide is not for you.

What’s LineageOS?

LineageOS is an aftermarket version of Android with some much-needed contribution from the Android community. It’s basically a boosted version of Google’s Android and one of the best available in the community. This is still in BETA stage so expect a lot of bugs. If you are not too scared of bugs please continue. Just in case you didn’t read the Known issues, fingerprint sensor does not work.

What This Tutorial Covers

• Unlocking the Bootloader
• Installing Recovery
• Flashing CyanogenMod

Things You Need

• Download and Install Huawei USB Driver (HiSuite)
• ADB and Fastboot: Link
• Download the latest build of LineageOS.zip
• Download GApps from this site.
• Download Latest version of TWRP: Recovery

Downloaded the Files? Let’s move on to the next phase.

1. Backup

It’s a good practice to have a Backup of your data stored somewhere safe because the next process will Wipe your Data. You can use TWRP to completely backup your device which we will cover up next. Keep a copy of this Backup somewhere safe. In case you change your mind this will restore the EMUI.

Warning

This will void your warranty. If you follow the steps correctly everything should be fine but still, I am not responsible if something weird happens to your device.

2. Unlock Bootloader

As some of you may know modding a device requires the device Bootloader to be Unlocked. Huawei ships it’s devices with a locked Bootloader but unlocking is a piece of cake.

Step 1: Go to this site.

Step 2: Accept the agreement and make a Profile. Fill the form and you should have your unlock code in a matter of seconds. Save it somewhere safe.

Step 3: Connect your device to PC.

Step 4: Enable USB debugging and OEM unlocking in Developer Options.

Step 5: Go to the folder where you extracted minimal adb and fastboot and run maf32.exe.

Step 6: Type adb devices. It should ask for permissions on your device. Grant them. Make sure to check always allow from this pc.

Step 7: Type the following command:

adb reboot bootloader

Step 8: Wait until Windows install the driver and then type:

fastboot oem unlock xxxxxxxxxxx

(here x is your unlock code)

Step 9: Reboot your device using the following command and copy the CyanogenMod zip we downloaded earlier along with GApps zip.

fastboot reboot

Voila! You have successfully unlocked your bootloader.

3. Installing Recovery

Remember the TWRP recovery image we downloaded earlier. Great we’ll need that.

Step 1: Copy the Recovery to the minimal adb folder and run maf32.exe.

Step 2: Type the following commands:

adb reboot bootloader

fastboot flash recovery xxxx.img

(here xxxx is the name of your Recovery image)

4. Boot into Recovery

Step 1: Power off the device.

Step 2: Press and Hold the Vol up, Vol down, and Power button consecutively.

Step 3: Release all buttons when the screen flickers and you’ll see the recovery.

5. Install LineageOS

Step 1: Boot into Recovery.

Step 2: Backup your device with TWRP recovery (optional).

Step 3: Factory Reset.

Step 4: Wipe “System”.

Step 5: Install CyanogenMod zip and then GApps zip.

Step 6: Do not Install anything else.

Step 7: Reboot and Enjoy.

Some Known Issues

• Camera hangs and sucks battery like crazy if you do 2 hdr photos. Don’t use hdr.
• dt2wake doesn’t use the proximity sensor to filter bogus d2twake triggers and therefore can turn on too easily in your pocket.
  
• Fingerprint sensor not yet working.
  
• FM radio: works fine but attempting to record audio causes the it to hang, be impossible to stop and keep playing the radio.
• Selinux is in permissive mode.
• Switching data subscriptions between sims requires manually setting your preferred network to 2G before switching.

Try the Android Marshmallow based CM 13 ROM on your Honor 5X and let’s know what you feel about it via your comments below.