How to Unlock Bootloader on Nokia 2.1 [Working Guide]

In 2018 Nokia has released a few budget smartphones which include Nokia 2.1 & 2.1 V. And if you are one of the Nokia 2.1 users then there is good news for you. Now you can unlock bootloader of your phone. In May Nokia releases the kernel source and by that time we knew that we will be able to unlock bootloader. Here you will know how to unlock bootloader on Nokia 2.1.

how to unlock bootloader on nokia 2.1

Unlocking bootloader has its advantages as well as disadvantages. Unlocking bootloader will allow users to modify their phones like rooting and installing zip files. While the disadvantage is you may not receive OTA updates and also it will erase all the data on unlocking the bootloader.

Developments for the phone was not active earlier because no one was able to unlock bootloader. And now as it is possible to unlock bootloader we can expect to receive further development support. It means soon we can get ported Google Camera, Custom Recoveries and Custom ROMs for Nokia 2.1. You can also enable Camera2 API which we will post as soon as the method will be available. So lets’ see the method to unlock bootloader on Nokia 2.1.

How to Unlock Bootloader on Nokia 2.1

This method will also work with Nokia 2.1 V. So if you have 2.1 V then also you can follow this guide. Apart from this method, there is also another EDL method to unlock the bootloader which is complex. But this one that you are going to learn is very easy, you have to just follow commands.

Prerequisites

Download Firmware

Go to this link (Credit) and then download E2M-0390-0-00WW-B02 firmware. And if you have the phone running on Android 9 Pie the download E2M-108C-0-00WW-B01 Firmware.

After downloading extract the Firmware. Open the extracted folder and then extract another zip file named E2M-0-0390-00WW-1-2-emmc_appsboot.zip using password ‘WLBGFIH123’. how to unlock bootloader on nokia 2.1

Boot into Download Mode

You can easily boot your Nokia 2.1 into Fastboot mode/Download mode.

Method 1: Power off your phone and connect it to PC or Charger. When it shows charging animation then long press Power + Volume Down button and when you see Download Mode on the screen then release the buttons. how to unlock bootloader on nokia 2.1

Method 2: You can execute the below command and then connect the phone to PC while it’s off.

fastboot oem alive

Steps to Unlock Bootloader

  1. Connect your Nokia 2.1 to PC while in Download Mode.
  2. Open Command window on your PC.
  3. Enable USB Debugging on your phone.
  4. Enter the below command to pull device info and remember the deviceinfo.img location
    • adb pull /tmp/deviceinfo.img
  5. Check the serial number of your phone and convert it into md5 (paste the serial number here to get md5).
  6. Enter the below command in Command window to flash service bootloader (make sure to enter the generated 32 digits md5 number in place of md5)
    • fastboot oem dm-verity md5
  7. Enter the below commands one by one (after typing fastboot flash aboot, just drag & drop the E2M-0-0390-00WW-1-2-emmc_appsboot_service.mbn)
    • fastboot flash aboot /path/E2M-0-0390-00WW-1-2-emmc_appsboot_service.mbn
    • fastboot reboot-bootloader
  8. Now enter the below commands one by one to grant unlock permission (here again enter 32 digit md5 number in place of md5)
    • fastboot oem dm-verity (md5_of_serial_number)
    • fastboot oem fih on
    • fastboot oem devlock allow_unlock
    • fastboot oem flashing unlock_critical
  9. It will start erasing data, but don’t wait, enter few more commands one by one(again enter 32 digit md5 number in place of md5)
    • fastboot oem alive
    • fastboot oem dm-verity md5
    • fastboot oem fih on
    • fastboot oem devlock allow_unlock
    • fastboot oem unlock-go
  10. Now the bootloader is unlocked on your Nokia 2.1. Again reboot the phone to Download Mode and restore the device info (enter the below command)
    • fastboot flash deviceinfo /path/deviceinfo.img
  11. That’s it. Enjoy!

This is the easy method and if HMD block this method then you can follow the EDL method which is complex then this method (use this link for EDL method). After unlocking the bootloader you can root your device and also you can enable Camera2 API. So that’s all for this guide.

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AUTHOR.

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Ashutosh singh

Computer Science graduate and tech enthusiast. Love testing new tech gadgets ever since my first windows phone from Samsung. Working as a technical writer for more than five years, and I believe I have also developed good SEO skills. In my spare time, I like watching movies, and playing games.

2 thoughts on “How to Unlock Bootloader on Nokia 2.1 [Working Guide]”

  1. This Procedure didn’t work in my Nokia 2.1-TA 1084, I’ve tried to follow the whole step by step instructions but unfortunately, some of the script/commands were not recognize and error in execution in fastboot-adb platform ver 28.0.2.

    Reply
    • Nokia doesn’t allow unlocking bootloader. The firmware version we mentioned in the article had some loophole and so it will work only in that version.

      Reply

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