[How To][Unlock Bootloader - Root] : Huawei Mate 10 (Pro/Standard/Lite)

[otonieru]

Since there are some request from other fellow users, i decide to create a dedicated guide thread to show the process of UNLOCKING BOOTLOADER & ROOTING the Huawei Mate 10 (FOR MATE 10 LITE, CHECK BOTTOM OF THE POST)

Warning : Unlocking bootloader and rooting your phone come with a risk of bricked devices, bootlooping, loss of data, etc. I am not responsible for any harm that can happen during the process , ALWAYS MAKE BACKUP FIRST - use Huawei Backup App to backup your data to MicroSD, or get HiSuite ready to reflash your phone in case of brick situation happen

Pre-requisites :
1. "Enable OEM unlock" & "USB Debugging" option turned on from developer options
2. ADB & Fastboot installed on your WINDOWS 7 (YES, Win 10 has problem with Mate 10 Fastboot driver. except you know how to properly install the driver manually i would suggest you do this on Windows 7) - if you havent, search "Minimal ADB & fastboot" on XDA.
UPDATE : Windows 10 driver fix can be found HERE
3. Download FunkyHuawei Tool from : HERE - ALL CREDIT GOES TO FUNKYHUAWEI for PROVIDING THE TOOL
4. Valid Huawei Account logged in on your Mate 10

UNLOCKING BOOTLOADER

1. Go to : emui.huawei.com/en/plugin/unlock/index
2. Log in using your Huawei Account, make one if you dont have it yet
3. "Agree" to Huawei unlocking agreement presented
4. Input all neccessary values related to your device (the one you want to unlock) - IMEI, Model Number etc
5. Click "Commit"
6. You will get a pop up dialog, containing your unlock KEY. Save this key or screenshot the screen, you gonna need it to unlock your phone
7. Now, plug your phone to your PC. Assumed that you got USB debugging enabled, pop up will appear on your phone screen, asking whether you want to allow the PC to access your phone or not. Authorize the request
8. Fire up ADB on your CMD/Terminal. and type

adb devices

9. Your devices should listed on your adb window, if it isn't, either you didnt install the adb driver properly, or your usb port has problem
10. Now type

adb reboot bootloader

to reboot your phone to fastboot mode
11. Once the phone is booted up to the fastboot mode screen, type this in your CMD windows :

fastboot oem unlock [your UNLOCK KEY here]

- without the brackets
12. Confirmation dialog should appear on your phone screen, give you a warning about unlocking bootloader, just go with proceeding the process (YOU WILL LOSS YOUR USER DATA]
13. Once the unlocking process is finished, your phone will boot up to initial set up stage
14. Set up everything up until you can re-enable USB Debugging option in Developer Options (you can skip all account stuff, security and elses, you gonna do it again anyay after ROOTING)
15. Plug back your phone, and from your CMD Windows, retype this code :

adb reboot bootloader

16. Your phone will rebooted to FASTBOOT MODE again - now close your CMD Windows

ROOTING

1. Now launch "FHMate10Tool.exe" which you have downloaded from the prerequisites step
2. 5 Options will be presented, and the 1st is "Root your Mate 10"
3. Type "1" and hit ENTER
4. few more dialog and instructions will be given, and Rooting process will started
5. Once the process finished, your phone will booted back to initial set up screen with all USERDATA ERASED, but with SuperSU INSTALLED

CONGRATULATION, YOU HAVE ROOTED YOUR MATE 10

Addendum :


FOR MATE 10 LITE ONLY

Use same step to unlock bootloader.

Download TWRP from HERE and SuperSU from attached.

Place SuperSU to MicroSD and place TWRP img file to your directory in PC where fastboot and adb installed

Reboot to fastboot mode,

Execute this command :

fastboot boot twrp-mate10-lite.img

Your device will boot into temporary TWRP,

Go to Terminal in TWRP and type this :

echo "systemless = true" /data/.supersu

(Tick the bottom right corner)

go back to TWRP main menu and choose "Install"

Choose external storage and choose the Supersu.zip file and flash it,

Reboot System

Your device should be rooted.

Note : this method wont install TWRP to your device. You can install it using fastboot flash recovery twrp-mate10-lite.img command, but since the TWRP is still in beta stage, i do not recommend it.

Credit to Aonja for Mate 10 Lite TWRP img

 

[ballistykx]

Thanks for the info, I'm having difficulty getting a Windows 7 machine going, anyone know how to install the fastboot drivers manually on Windows 10?

 

[duraaraa]

Hello. I request that you don’t link directly to the google drive download page of the FunkyHuawei tool but rather if you want to link, link to the Reddit page that explains how to use it.

 

[otonieru]

Hello. I request that you don’t link directly to the google drive download page of the FunkyHuawei tool but rather if you want to link, link to the Reddit page that explains how to use it.

Noted, can you give me latest link ?

I was using link that given to me by customer support after purchasing credit

 

[duraaraa]

Noted, can you give me latest link ?

I was using link that given to me by customer support after purchasing credit

Check your PM for more info.
Basically the idea is, I might update it if a bug is found/fixed, so it should point to the latest version to avoid issues. If we have a direct link, that makes it difficult. Thanks

 

[otonieru]

Thanks for the info, I'm having difficulty getting a Windows 7 machine going, anyone know how to install the fastboot drivers manually on Windows 10?

You need to disable driver signature verification on windows 10. And install the huawei driver afterward

 

[otonieru]

Check your PM for more info.
Basically the idea is, I might update it if a bug is found/fixed, so it should point to the latest version to avoid issues. If we have a direct link, that makes it difficult. Thanks

Done

 

[Shady282]

@otonieru , i have mate 10 standard,

- If i rooted the phone would i still receive OTA ? and if i received and installed them, would that brick my phone or just remove the root?

and if my phone ended up being bricked, is it easy to just flash back the rom of huawei using Hisuite ?

- is it easy to unroot the phone back to original, if i needed to use back the warranty? or maybe just flash the huawei rom.
- can the root be hidden ? like magisk ?

Thank you very much for this thread, it is a must ! <3

 

[taddzio]

Two questions (sorry, I'm new to Huawei world...):
1. UNLOCKING BOOTLOADER does not void my warranty, right?
2. Will I loose root when install OTA update?

 

[duraaraa]

Two questions (sorry, I'm new to Huawei world...):
1. UNLOCKING BOOTLOADER does not void my warranty, right?
2. Will I loose root when install OTA update?

1. Yes, it voids it in most cases, but might depend on your local Huawei region.
2. Yes, you lose root.

---------- Post added at 09:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 PM ----------

@otonieru , i have mate 10 standard,

- If i rooted the phone would i still receive OTA ? and if i received and installed them, would that brick my phone or just remove the root?

and if my phone ended up being bricked, is it easy to just flash back the rom of huawei using Hisuite ?

- is it easy to unroot the phone back to original, if i needed to use back the warranty? or maybe just flash the huawei rom.
- can the root be hidden ? like magisk ?

Thank you very much for this thread, it is a must ! <3

If you root you will apparently still receive OTA. Receiving an OTA will unroot your phone, but should not brick it.

You can't unroot the phone back to original. Even if you relock the bootloader, it will show relocked, not locked. There are tools which you'd need to pay for which can help in that case.

The root cannot be hidden.

Anyone who roots, I urge you, be VERY VERY careful. Huawei phones are very finnicky, brick easily (the Mate 10 even more easily than previous versions), and there is no free way to restore them if they do brick. Even with paid methods,
it's not easy.

 

[Shady282]

1. Yes, it voids it in most cases, but might depend on your local Huawei region.
2. Yes, you lose root.

---------- Post added at 09:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 PM ----------



If you root you will apparently still receive OTA. Receiving an OTA will unroot your phone, but should not brick it.

You can't unroot the phone back to original. Even if you relock the bootloader, it will show relocked, not locked. There are tools which you'd need to pay for which can help in that case.

The root cannot be hidden.

Anyone who roots, I urge you, be VERY VERY careful. Huawei phones are very finnicky, brick easily (the Mate 10 even more easily than previous versions), and there is no free way to restore them if they do brick. Even with paid methods,
it's not easy.

Dunno but you people are scaring me of rooting huawei tho i have rooted and flashed so many roms on my LG and other phones...

I mean if i follow the procedures and use your tool wouldn't that just work ? or there are factors that may affect it

 

[duraaraa]

Dunno but you people are scaring me of rooting huawei tho i have rooted and flashed so many roms on my LG and other phones...

I mean if i follow the procedures and use your tool wouldn't that just work ? or there are factors that may affect it

The procedure is safe, but it's what you do with the root powers that could cause a brick. If you touch the wrong file on the phone, caput. In the worst case, the phone won't turn on, won't be recognized with USB, and can't be unbricked.
Obviously you're protected from doing that when you don't have root.

I've already lost two test devices to the symptoms described above.

So my opinion is, as the developer of the tool, root only if it's absolutely essential to you. And if you do root, only use the root privilege for things you absolutely must do, or things that have been tested on the phone and proven to be safe. Hopefully you won't brick it, but I need to put out this warning so I'm not blamed if someone does.

 

[somemadcaaant]

Any other down sides to unlocking bootloader and or rooting on this device eg apps auto removed, loss of camera functionality or codecs disabled etc as seen with other devices?

 

[otonieru]

Any other down sides to unlocking bootloader and or rooting on this device eg apps auto removed, loss of camera functionality or codecs disabled etc as seen with other devices?

None as i may concern. Android pay wont work though, and some banking app as well. Since those app wont allow rooted phone.

But if you didnt use such an app. Or like me, have another phone for that, then its perfectly fine.

For me, there's more benefit / advantage come from rooting

Example :

1. Effective adblocking (not VPN solution)
2. Removing unneccessary stuff and app
3. Youtube without ads + background play
4. Better battery life (with appops, greenify, and my own GMSDoze)
5. Enabling VoLTE option
6. Audio MOD (gain, and better dual speaker)
7. etc

 

[ElMartinoAT]

Fastboot driver fix

Use the fix from DC Unlocker for the fastboot driver under Windows 10
https://www.dc-unlocker.com/huawei-mate-10-fastboot-usb-device-not-recognised-fix

 

[otonieru]

Use the fix from DC Unlocker for the fastboot driver under Windows 10
https://www.dc-unlocker.com/huawei-mate-10-fastboot-usb-device-not-recognised-fix

Thx for heads up,

I'll include it in main post soon

 

[somemadcaaant]

None as i may concern. Android pay wont work though, and some banking app as well. Since those app wont allow rooted phone.

But if you didnt use such an app. Or like me, have another phone for that, then its perfectly fine.

For me, there's more benefit / advantage come from rooting...

Good point about NFC pay methods, I do use those a lot.

I read a few people here having issues with their devices eg here, Lg devices has a similar issue with camera and missing appps, Samsung devices would lose the IR blaster after bootloader unlock.

 

[otonieru]

Good point about NFC pay methods, I do use those a lot.

I read a few people here having issues with their devices eg here, Lg devices has a similar issue with camera and missing appps, Samsung devices would lose the IR blaster after bootloader unlock.

Am still using nfc payment, but not android pay.

Android pay is not even working in my country after all.

Nothing is lose after UBL, this UBL method is official from huawei anyway

 

[sonice21]

It may be that after unlocking the bootloader the theme manager does not correctly apply the themes in emui?

Thanks in advance

 

[otonieru]

It may be that after unlocking the bootloader the theme manager does not correctly apply the themes in emui?

Thanks in advance

Working just fine on mine. But experience might be vary.