Last Updated on October 31, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake
The Motorola Moto E5 Plus was released in May of 2018 and arrived with Android 8.0 out of the box. It comes with a 5000 mAh battery, which is exceptional for 2018 and still lovely today. It is safe to assume that many people bought the Moto E5 Plus because they wanted a smartphone with a big battery [so they could have a smartphone that lasted longer throughout the day]. It also stands to reason then that the lovers of the 5000 mAh battery may still wish to maximize its battery capabilities with Magisk modules via root access.
This tutorial demonstrates how to install Magisk on the Motorola Moto E5 Plus with TWRP.
How to Install Magisk on Motorola Moto E5 Plus
You need to patch your own boot image to install Magisk on the Moto E5 Plus. Here is the comprehensive guide for experts on how to do that:
Notes:
- There were two methods given by the developer of this rooting method: a simple route and a more difficult one. After reading the comments, the simple route was causing some soft-brick problems. The longer method was receiving compliments for several years. So the following guide is that more complicated method.
- A simpler method that apparently does work though is by unlocking the bootloader, flashing TWRP, flashing Magisk, rooting the E5 Plus, making a patched boot image, flashing decrypted, and selecting format type yes.
- You may need to flash the Magisk 19.2 rather than the latest version, to begin with. And then update to the latest version of Magisk afterward via the app.
Part One: Unlock Bootloader, Install TWRP, and Backup
Before patching the boot image, you need to unlock the bootloader and install the custom recovery image with fastboot commands in the command line. Here is how to do that:
1. Back up the Motorola Moto E5 Plus if you have data you do not want to lose. You need to unlock the bootloader and factory reset later, both of which wipe the data clean and require you to restore the data from a backup.
2. Unlock the bootloader. All Motorola smartphones get the bootloader unlocked the same way. The only unique thing is the unlock code you get from Motorola. There is no way to unlock a Motorola bootloader without a unique code so do not bother trying.
3. Download TWRP for the Motorola E5 Plus. Links: TWRP for Motorola Moto E5 Plus
Note: One of the original guides I am using as a source for this tutorial suggests using the TWRP for the Moto E5 Play; however, I assume that was only because there was no TWRP for the Moto E5 Plus at the time (we wrote the post in 2019). As soon as 2020, I can see people still using the TWRP (James) for the Moto E5 Play so it may still work today.
4. Enable USB Debugging Mode and put the E5 Play in Fastboot Mode via ADB.
5. Install Minimal ADB and Fastboot here: Minimal ADB and Fastboot. And then flash the TWRP image in the command line with fastboot commands.
6. When it tries to restart it will ask for a key to decrypt the data. Press Cancel as the recovery with the key is expected to fail.
Caution:
Do not mount the system with read/write permissions.
7. Head to the Backup section, select SD for the destination, and back up all data except for the data and cache.
Part Two: Patching Boot Image
Now you need to patch the boot image which will result in SafetyNet passing. Here is how to do that:
1. Download the latest version of Magisk. Links: Download: Magisk/Magisk Manager
2. Open Magisk, head to Settings > Update Chanel and enable the Beta Channel.
3. From the main Magisk screen, tap Install and proceed to upload the latest Magisk.
4. Select Patch boot image file and select the boot.emmc.win of the backup. Wait for the boot image to patch. It ends up here: /internalstorage/MagiskManager/patched_boot.img
5. Copy the patched boot image to the desktop.
6. With the Moto E5 Plus in Fastboot Mode, flash the patched_boot.img in the command line.
In conclusion, that is how to install Magisk on Motorola Moto E5 Plus.
I have done my best to piece together a comprehensive guide comprising old and new information.
Did this method work for you? Please leave any feedback that may be helpful in the comments.
Main source: Moto E5 Plus (Rhannah) Backup and Magisk