Bart Vandewoestyne's blog: Installing LineageOS on a ZTE Axon 7

General information

DISCLAIMER: this post is definitely work in progress and currently only contains loose bits of information. It is intended to document my attempt at installing LineageOS on the ZTE Axon 7 (A2017G model).

Note that there are three models of the ZTE Axon 7:

A2017: China
A2017G: Global
A2017U: USA

Be sure to know which one you have. For my A2017G, it is printed on the back of the phone. More information and specs for the ZTE Axon 7 can be found at

Operating modes

The A2017G has different modes it can operate in:

fastboot mode
Device Firmware Upgrade (DFU) mode

ZTE Axon USB driver

TODO: find out where to download the official ZTE Axon USB driver.

Latest official version of adb, fastboot and platform tools

SDK Platform Tools Release Notes

Android Debug Bridge (adb)

Universal ADB Drivers (you need this for adb and fastboot to work?)

Using adb, I can check that my device is indeed an A2017G running Android 6.0.1:

C:\Users\bavdw\adb-fastboot\platform-tools>adb devices -l
List of devices attached
95c2a0b1               device product:P996A04 model:ZTE_A2017G device:ailsa_ii

C:\Users\bavdw\adb-fastboot\platform-tools>adb shell getprop ro.product.model
ZTE A2017G

C:\Users\bavdw\adb-fastboot\platform-tools>adb shell getprop ro.build.version.release
6.0.1

Unlocking

Guide To Unlock Bootloader Of ZTE Axon 7 To Install Twrp And Root (Feb 7, 2017)
ZTE Axon 7: Root, TWRP and Bootloader Unlock (Jan 22, 2017)
Unlock Bootloader, Install TWRP and Root ZTE Axon 7 (A2017G) (Jan 21, 2017)
[GUIDE] [A2017G] Install TWRP, Unlock BL, Flash Custom ROM

TWRP

TWRP is a custom recovery system. It lets you backup your system in case anything goes wrong. It also lets you flash custom ROMs and zip files containing patches like viper4android or A.R.I.S.E. (audio) and root your device via SuperSU.