[GUIDE] How To Unlock Tethering on Nexus 5X.

[Jexx11]

I'll start off by saying I didn't come up with any of this method myself, its just different information I found scattered on different threads on XDA and Reddit. Maybe some other 5X users will find it useful contained in this thread.

Secondly, this requires an unlocked bootloader, also working adb and fastboot with correct drivers for your 5X, enable USB debugging. I won't go over that here, there are plenty of other guides on how to do that, and know that it will erase all your data. As long as you can find your device via "adb devices" and "fastboot devices" you should be fine.

Lastly, you will get the corrupt data message on phone startup. I don't see any negative effects with this, other than an annoying message. Also I'm still able to use the fingerprint scanner as well as set up Andoid Pay. I can't verify Android Pay as I don't have any stores near me that accept it.

You also won't have to flash any custom recovery or root the device, which keeps it closer to stock, which hopefully will allow Android Pay to still function, hopefully someone with a Android Pay store nearby can test this to verify.

First grab TWRP for 5X from here. Save it in the same folder as your adb/fastboot install.
Make sure your phone is connected to your computer, open command prompt and verify adb sees your phone.

adb devices

Now reboot to bootloader.

adb reboot bootloader

Now we boot from TWRP without having to flash/install it.

fastboot boot twrp-2.8.7.0-bullhead.img

When TWRP finishes booting, click Mount and check the box for /system

Now we need to pull the build.prop file.

adb pull /system/build.prop

Using a text editor add this line to the end of the build.prop file and save it.

net.tethering.noprovisioning=true

Now we push it back to the phone.

adb push build.prop /system/

Make sure the permissions are correct.

adb shell chmod 644 /system/build.prop

And lastly

adb shell settings put global tether_dun_required 0

Now we just reboot

adb reboot

and your tethering should be working!

I'm currently using this method and it is working for me. I'm on Verizon with a Grandfathered Unlimited Plan, so I can't test it for any other carriers.
Most of this information I pulled from this reddit thread, I just did my best to condense it down and simplify it, and make it aimed toward the Nexus 5X specifically.

edit* People are confirming on the Reddit thread on their Nexus 6 that Android Pay is still working after making these changes!

 

[peon1-9]

Thanks! This works exactly as stated, even the "corrupt data" warning on boot.

I will add that - this being my first Nexus device since a Galaxy Nexus - the "fastboot oem unlock" step needed prior to this guide has an additional step where you have to enable the "OEM Unlock" option in the Developer Options menu, within the booted system. After confirming this you can unlock the bootloader via the standard "fastboot oem unlock" command prior to starting this guide.

 

[XF1ber]

Thanks for this, used same method to push supersu and get it installed without needing to decrypt the phone!

 

[ytsejam1138]

Thanks. Worked great for me. I'm on AT&T, weird thing though, I never had any problem activating the hotspot on my OG Nexus 5.

 

[ijeenyus]

AWESOME!

 

[NOSTALGIA]

added to index

[INDEX] LG NEXUS 5X Resources Compilation Roll-Up

 

[olivercervera]

Guys can you please explain what do you mean as "unlock tethering"? Is not enabled by default?

 

[Jexx11]

Guys can you please explain what do you mean as "unlock tethering"? Is not enabled by default?

This method bypasses the subscription check for tethering, those of us with unlimited data have to pay a separate fee to use tethering with Verizon, and this fixes that. It should be the same for other carriers as well.

Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Free mobile app

 

[strongergravity]

I was so excited to play with my 5x when I got home (that and dealing with my 2 sick kids) and I completely forgot to unlock the bootloader before I got too carried away. Now all the time I spent downloading apps and such is lost. Our DSL connection is slow, so all that took one time. I've been rooting and romming way too long to make such a rookie mistake.

So, I get the joy of blowing the whole thing way and re-setting it up again...

 

[paul_one]

Thanks for this, used same method to push supersu and get it installed without needing to decrypt the phone!

Could you confirm the steps?
Can you confirm you can still use supersu? I thought the kernel had to allow su.
Also, I guess you can also install the bootunlock app and see if that works?

 

[ravichopra]

Thank you thank you thank you!

This is huge for me.
BTW, I assume you can just push the original unmodded build.prop back for OTA updates. Anyone know if anything else is required apart from that?

 

[coneguy]

Confused on why we need TWRP just to do this.

 

[Jexx11]

You're not flashing twrp, just booting into it. Twrp allows you to pull and push files to /system without root, which is needed to make these changes.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using XDA Free mobile app

 

[Busnut]

Can someone confirm Android Pay actually works?

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[WizADSL]

T-Mobile/MetroPCS users additional steps to enable tethering

If you are on T-Mobile or MetroPCS you will need to perform some additional steps for tethering to work. After you have performed the steps outlined earlier in this thread do the following:

Under Settings -> More -> Cellular Networks -> Access Point Names

Touch the name of the APN that is selected (there may only be one) then:

1) change "APN Protocol" to "IPv4"
2) change "APN roaming protocol" to IPv4
3) Edit "APN Type" and add "dun" to the comma separated list so it reads something like "default,supl,mms,dun"
4) OPEN THE MENU IN THE UPPER-RIGHT AND CHOOSE SAVE!
5) You MAY have to reboot for this to take effect

 

[coneguy]

Ok needing it for that reason makes sense now.

 

[MarkGbe]

So... I'm getting about 30% packet loss on att with my 5x.

If I take my sim out and pop it into my nexus 6(also with marshmallow), everything is fine.

Could someone with att run some extended pings from a device connected to your phones tether and note any ping drops?

I don't know if this is a sw bug, or hardware issue.

 

[Ascertion]

Does this work if the device is still encrypted?

My TWRP seems to have trouble accessing /system partition with encryption.



Sent from my Nexus 5X

 

[MarkGbe]

Does this work if the device is still encrypted?

My TWRP seems to have trouble accessing /system partition with encryption.



Sent from my Nexus 5X

yep works fine. You have the correct twrp i presume and your phone's bootloader is unlocked?

 

[Ascertion]

yep works fine. You have the correct twrp i presume and your phone's bootloader is unlocked?

Ah my bad. It's not reading my /sdcard partition. No matter. That's what adb is for. Please disregard my post. I'll update my progress when I get home later today and try it on my personal PC.