[Lenovo P11] xbt-:
My device exactly is a Tab P11 2nd Gen TB350XU, but this may work for all similar tabs and related devices.

Since I was unable to find any rooting guide on here, I decided to make one for you.

i. BUG

There is a system software bug where you can't get out of fastboot mode, and ther is no way around this. Make sure you update the system software BEFORE entering fastboot, only solution I found. You can see if you have the bug by entering fastboot mode after having a LOW BATTERY. Because if you have the bug, then it means the only way out is to wait until the battery dies. This takes at least a day or 2 on a full battery.

Enter fastboot by doing section I.5 below, but I recommend getting your device very low before trying this so you don't have to wait forever (like 2%). If you have the bug then you have up update the system software.

ii. PREFACE

This one was a bit more complicated but I wrote a step by step so you can do it. The reason is because Windows 7 and Windows 11 won't get the device to recognize in Fastboot mode no matter what I did, and I found other people with the same problem. So I adapted a suggested for a different thing for booting into Linux to do something and used that idea to be able to root this device.

IF you can get the device to be recognized in Windows in Fastboot mode then you can skip the Linux steps, but actually it might seriously be easier for you to use my Linux workaround to get it done rather than spending hours for nothing like I did trying to get Windows to recognize it on multiple computers. Meanwhile, Linux worked perfectly for recognizing in Fastboot. And I show you exactly how to do it from start to finish.

I. UNLOCK BOOTLOADER (Part 1: OEM Unlocking)

Go into About Tablet, tap build number 7 times to unlock developer mode|

Go to System > Developer options, and toggle on the toggle for OEM Unlocking. There is no reason it shouldn't be there, but if it is, then you will have to find a guide how to get it.

Enable USB Debugging in Developer options

Plug in your tablet and switch to File Transfer and check the box that says to accept the RSA fingerprint and accept. You need this for the next step

Boot into Fastboot. Either turn off device and hold Power and VolUp until it gets to fastboot, or use ADB. If you don't know ADB already I don't need to type instructions here because you won't need it considering the next step, so just reboot into Fastbook using the hardware buttons.

II. UNLOCK BOOTLOADER (Part 2: Getting Live Linux onto a USB stick)

Now comes the hard part. You are unlikely to get the device to be recognized in fastboot mode no matter how many drivers you use, so you will have to install Linux to do it. You can do this over a Live Linux distro over USB. Trust me, it's easier than it sounds.

Grab an empty USB stick, I used an SD card attached to a USB adapter, it doesn't matter, but probably needs to be USB and not a card reader because you are going to have to be able to boot from it.\

Download Rufus which you will use to create the drive

Download the Live Linux distro of your choice. I used PuppyLinux (version FossaPup64 9.5 and clicked Main)

Install the iso to USB in Rufus. Be careful, if you install it to your hard drive you will wipe it, make sure you selected the correct USB stick and double and triple check before proceeding.

Boot into the USB stick. Ususally when you reboot it will be something like Enter, Tab, or F12 or something to get to the boot menu. Lenovo is usually Enter and then F12. If it doesn't boot then you may try another install, but it should. Or check BIOS. I can't give instructions on this because who knows what computer you are using.

III. UNLOCK BOOTLOADER (Part 3: Unlocking via Fastboot using Linux)

When it boots up and you are in PuppyLinux, first you need to connect to internet.

Click the internet interface in the bottom left of the screen, it's the third icon from the right. If at all possible, use an ethernet cable. Otherwise you will have to set up wifi. I plugged in my ethernet cable and voila.

Open Terminal (the terminal icon in the bottom left of screen, third icon from the left), and type the following (these commands may be different if you don't use PuppyLinux):

Don't skip this step.

i. Turn on your tablet normally and unlock the screen.

ii. Connect via a USB cable (you are still in PuppyLinux on your computer).

iii. Now in terminal enter the following command:

iv. On the tablet you will see the debugging authorization popup. Check the box and accept.

Now PuppyLinux is authorized. If it says unauthorized just type adb devices again after authorizing via the popup, and it should be authorized and just say your device id and then device meaning it's authorized.

v. Now reboot into the bootloader with:

vi. Once in fastboot, type

NOTE THAT I SAID

FASTBOOT DEVICES

AND NOT

ADB DEVICES

.

FASTBOOT DEVICES

WILL SHOW YOUR DEVICE AS AUTHORIZED, BUT

ADB DEVICES

WILL NOT WORK IN FASTBOOT MODE!

vii. Now you should see your device. If you don't then you did something wrong, such as not reading the warning above and trying "adb devices" instead of "fastboot devices". It showed for me instantly.

viii. When your device shows, it means now you can run any commands. Time to unlock bootloader.

Type into the terminal:

The output will look like this (even if you did not successfully unlock the bootloader):

If it says 5 or more and you don't see (bootloader) then you were not fast enough. It timed out.

You have 5 seconds. By the time you read this it is too late. Just do above command again (step 4) and quickly press the VolDown key on your tablet.

Here is a picture of the screen that you will see. You must push the VolDown key while this is displaying. If there is nothing on the screen, it isn't going to do anything.

View attachment 6040510

You probably won't see/read the screen in time to be sure if it worked, but it will say accepted if it worked. I took a picture of what the success looks like:

View attachment 6040511

When you did it right, in the terminal it will say this (similar to above, but this means it is unlocked):

Picture:

View attachment 6040513

You can also check using ADB over terminal by in the same terminal window typing:

Look for Device Unlocked: true

If it says false repeat step 6 until it says true.

Boot back into your device by holding the Power and VolDown key until it turns off.

Go into System > Developer options, and OEM Unlocking should now be greyed out and it should say Bootloader is already unlocked. Success!

IV. ROOT (Part 1: Getting & Patching boot.img)

To root after you have unlocked your bootloader, you need to get the system software downloaded to your PC and then extract the boot.img which you will then patch with Magisk.

If you can't find it online because I couldn't, you need to use the Lenovo Rescue & Smart Assistant (RSA). Here is the link for 2nd gen P11:

Rescue and Smart Assistant (RSA) - Lenovo Support US

pcsupport.lenovo.com

Just install, and create account or login. Unplug all USB devices before install, it will also install drivers. If your mouse does not work press TAB to goggle through the menus to create account and login. Then just download the firmware. Success!

The downloaded file is in

(I had to read a JSON file to find it.)

Inside you will find

Copy boot.img to your device

Install the latest Magisk APK

Patch boot.img with Magisk

Copy outputted file back to computer

Copy file to the root directory of the USB stick or another USB stick (you'll need it this way later)

V. ROOT (Part 2: Flashing magisk_patched.img)

Remember how Windows 7 and 11 won't get the tablet to be recognized but Linuxe will? That's right, you need to boot back into the Linux. You will have to set it up again but fortunately it's quick and easy.

See section 6 and do that again:

i. Boot into PuppyLinux

ii. Connect to the internet

iii. Open a terminal window and install fastboot and adb (using commands in part III.2)

iv. Reboot tablet normally and unlock

v. Connect cable and check the box and accept USB debugging authorization

vi. Reboot tablet into fastboot mode again, all while still in PuppyLinux

And then proceed:

Now it's time to copy the rooted magisk_patched.img from your USB stick (as I instructed you to do in part IV.9) to PuppyLinux so you can use it. But it's not so simple, but not hard.

i. PuppyLinux doesn't use a file manager like windows exactly, but it works similarly (a folder with drag and drop). Only thing is Desktop is not a folder (yep!), so you need to put it somewhere else; I recommend my-documents.

ii. But to open the my-documents folder you need to type this in the terminal which will then open up the folder:

iii. Now drag the file from your USB stick to the my-documents folder that you just opened (click the sda1 or sda2 or sda3 USB icon in the bottom left above the taskbar to open the USB stick)

Now that you have the file in PuppyLinux, you can flash it.

i. Make sure your device shows up:

ii. Then navigate to the my-documents folder where you stored the patched magisk_patched.img:

iii. Now check the folder to make sure the file is there and check the filename:

The output should basically look like:

As long as magisk_patched or whatever you named it is there, you are good to go.

PATCH! Run the command:

If you get the error:

then it simply means you forgot to type the boot part of the command above, check your command and do it again.

Reboot device using:

Wait and hope it boots and everything works. Check if you are rooted using magisk or any root checker app.

When I rebooted and entered Magisk app, it told me it needs to reboot to finish setting up. I I clicked ok and let it reboot. Seems to be rooted! Magisk is installed.

Hope it helps!! Had to go out of my way on this one using Linux! Just to work around the problem with Windows not recognizing the device. But it works! I downloaded Root Checker app just to be sure, and I am rooted! WOOHOO!!

p.s. if you don't have any flash drive, seriously, get one, an 8gb flash drive or micro sd card is like a dollar 😂

Get a few of them, good to have spares for various things! :)

If this helped you please remember to LIKE to show your support!