[ZTE Axon 10 Pro Guides, News, & Discussion] flymetothemoon:
After some time I got a second Axon 10 and I spend some time figuring out what was possible with this phone in terms of root, custom ROM etc.

My results are as follows.

What is working:

Android 9 + Magisk and TWRP

Android 9 + TWRP + Custom ROMs (LineageOS 16 and patched GSI)

Android 10 + Magisk and TWRP

Android 10 + Magisk and MicroG flashed via Magisk (= stock ROM without Google Services)

Android 11 + Magisk

What is not working:

Android 11 + Magisk + TWRP (TWRP logo flashes randomly but TWRP does not load).

Android 11 + Magisk + MicroG (the nanolx patching script does not work with Android 11 as of yet)

Encryption in Custom ROMs

Method to flash files via EDL

Unzip / unrar my files into the backup\full folder of the EDL tool and choose restore + full in the tool.

Unlock Bootloader:

Before you try any of the files, you MUST unlock your bootloader!

BACKUP of your data as it will be lost!

Download the EDL tool from this Thread

If your phone is not on android 9, you must go back to Android 9 first. e.g. by using my Android 9 1.9 backup.

After you restored it, restart while holding the volume + key and do a factory reset / format data.

Boot into EDL again and unlock the bootloader.

Now you are on android 9 with unlocked bootloader.

From here you can follow the other guides in the form and install TWRP or lineageos. Or flash one of my files below.

Flashing EDL files:

Unzip / unrar my files into the backup\full folder of the EDL tool and choose restore + full in the tool.

I put all my files into this MEGA account: MEGA

Android 10 version 2.9 Magisk + TWRP

Android 11 version 3.5 stock

Android 11 version 3.5 Magisk

Android 10 version 2.10 stock

Android 10 version 2.10 Magisk (TWRP can be flashed with Magisk)

Install MicroG:

Only works on Android 9 and 10.

Before you install MicroG you must patch the stock ROM to allow for signature spoofing.

The patcher script I used is on

https://downloads.nanolx.org/NanoDroid/Stable/

When I write these lines the up-to-date-version is NanoDroid-patcher-23.1.2.20210117.zip

Reboot.

Install MicroG from the Magisk repository.

After a restart there will be error messages that google apps keep crashing. With each warning, disable the apps one by one.

When you reboot again, no errors should appear and MicroG should report that it is fully working.

You can add the Bromite Framework and give F-droid system rights. Both are available from the Magisk repo.

Updates will likely install the Google apps again and uninstall Magisk...

Revive phone:

Not really related, but I bricked my phone several times.

If your phones does not boot anymore or hangs in a bootloop, try accessing the EDL mode.

The easy way:

Boot while holding volume -

The hard way:

Old Volume +, volume - and power until you end up in EDL. The screen will be black, so it helps if you have the Phone connected to Windows and can hear the system sound when the USB sees a connection.

In anyway you can then use the EDL tool to restore / flash an EDL image.

On custom ROM support:

Well there is LineageOS 16 by Unjustified Dev.

https://xdaforums.com/t/rom-unofficial-zte-axon-10-pro-9-lineageos-16-0.3992127/

It works well. But has a patch level that is outdated by now.

On top of it you can install the GSI ROMs created by Rafyvitto. The latest one is Resurrection Remix

https://xdaforums.com/t/discontinued-rom-sgsi-10-0-unofficial-resurrection-remix-q-8-6-7.4172527/

with a security patch level of mid 2021. Which is recent enough to use. The stock roms are not much better.

With both Custom ROMs, encryption is not working which poses a privacy/security risk when your phone is stolen. Do not forget that your phone does not only contain your photos and data but also your passwords to your accounts.