Asus Zenfone 3 (asus-zenfone3)

Features
Flashing
USB Networking	Works
Internal storage	Works
SD card	Works
Battery	Works
Screen	Works
Touchscreen	Works
Multimedia
3D Acceleration	Works
Audio	Works
Camera	Broken
Camera Flash	Broken
Connectivity
WiFi	Works
Bluetooth	Works
GPS	Works
NFC
Modem
Calls
SMS	Works
Mobile data	Works
Miscellaneous
FDE
USB OTG
Sensors
Accelerometer	Works
Magnetometer	Works
Ambient Light	Works
Proximity	Works
Haptics	Broken

Asus Zenfone 3
	; Asus Zenfone 3
Manufacturer	Asus
Name	Zenfone 3
Codename	asus-zenfone3
Released	2016
Type	handset
Hardware
Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (MSM8953)
CPU	Octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU	Adreno 506
Display	1080x1920 IPS LCD
Storage	32 GB / 64 GB
Memory	3 GB / 4 GB
Architecture	aarch64
Software
Original software	Android
Original version	6.0.1
postmarketOS
Category	testing
Pre-built images	no
Mainline	yes

There are two variants of the Zenfone 3, the ZE520KL and the ZE552KL, differing only in screen panels, batteries, and possibly some sensors unique to each variant. At the time of writing, only the ZE520KL has been tested, but the ZE552KL should also be able to boot the mainline without major issues.

Contributors

User:Smankusors
Uefa41

Users owning this device

Smankusors (Notes: The ZE520KL variant)

How to enter stock fastboot

Press and hold power button and volume up together

Unlock bootloader

Since Asus has shut down its unlock server, there’s no official way to unlock the Zenfone 3. However, an unofficial method exists:

Flash factory RAW
Execute fastboot oem unlock
Execute fastboot reboot bootloader
Flash Oreo RAW to restore Android

(smankusors: I haven’t tried this method yet since I used the official way when it was still available.)

lk2nd Installation

Please make sure you have the boot.img from your current Android ROM, so that you can boot back into Android.

(I don't think the backup image will work, since it would be too large to fit into the boot partition. Please use the original image instead of backup)

Download lk2nd-msm8953.img from https://github.com/msm8916-mainline/lk2nd/releases
Put the device to fastboot mode
fastboot flash boot lk2nd-msm8953.img
Done!

To boot Android back,

Wait until lk2nd screen appears
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot reboot

Now the Android should boot like normal.

For more information about lk2nd, you can read lk2nd/lk1st.

PostmarketOS Installation

Make sure you flashed the lk2nd first!

This guide explains how to install PostmarketOS on an SD card. I recommend using Linux for this, although Termux on another rooted phone might also work.

Install pmbootstrap
pmbootstrap init
Follow the instructions, make sure you choose Vendor = Asus, and Device codename = zenfone3
pmbootstrap install --sdcard=[your sdcard location]
Insert the sdcard to the phone, reboot, and you should now boot into PostmarketOS now.

For more information about pmbootstrap, you can read pmbootstrap

Current issues

Camera doesn't work yet
Haptics/vibration doesn't work yet (missing driver support, probably will be supported from 6.12)
No laser distance sensor yet
No front led control yet
No fingerprint
Buttons on headphone jack mapped incorrectly (need confirmation)
Calls have a sound problem somehow, haven't dig deeper on this yet
We have Venus video decode support on mainline kernel, but somehow there's a bottleneck somewhere on the players
Battery will not charge to 100%
Touchkeys is not working yet, it's missing support on edt-ft5x06 driver
Several sensors is not enabled yet (smankusors: I'm currently checking on this)

Serial UART

To obtain bootloader logs on the ZE520KL variant, follow the test points shown in the image below. Note that the UART operates at 1.8V. For kernel version 3.18, set the console to ttyHSL0. For kernel version 4.9 and later, including mainline kernels, set the console to ttyMSM0.

For more information about serial debugging, please read Serial debugging.