Firmware missing on website?

[kubai]

Hello,

i wanted to download the latest firmware for my Zenfone 8, but i was unable to find it. It seems that at https://www.asus.com/mobile-handhelds/phones/zenfone/zenfone-8/helpdesk_download/ the whole "BIOS & FIRMWARE" tab is just gone from the website.

Am i doing something wrong, or is this a known problem with the website? Is there any way to download the latest official firmware?

[Jahil1982]

Same problem 5s, seems ASUS just won't we be able to update latest firmware directly, probably a strategy to force us to change to a newer phone version like Phone 6 or 7, otherwise don't know why searching for updates on phone don't work either, but new phone versions have the Bios tab available 

[Ru_rod]

Think the problem for this situation was due to the new update  (android 13) damaged the phone's motherboards! That was several user's complaining about phone malfunctions after update for the new android. And Asus, instead of trying an solution, they solved this more easily by withdrawing all updates. I already contacted the support but the only thing that they told me was,that they will relocate the firmware's. But who knows when 😅. Asus in their best 💪.

[nasch007]

Can you cite or provide any sources that it was Android 13 that damaged motherboards? From what I've seen a lot of ramdumps and motherboard issues and not all were on Android 13. Plus the fact that they ran the beta for Android 13 lends me to think they would've caught something as major as that.

I think the more likely explanation (although I am speculating of course) is that they are either a) pulling a page from Apple's book -- forced obsolescence; you must update to a newer phone, or b) they (or someone else) discovered a zero-day exploit and it's been persistent through firmware versions and they decided best to just pull them all down (may not decide to fix).

I think option a is disgusting and gross anti-consumer behavior because as others have pointed out, we can just not use Asus phones going forward. And it's also scummy to leave your customers in the lurch if they are lucky enough to have phones that the hardware is still working without issue. Option b is obviously a very discomforting thought as well, for reasons that need no further explanation.

I'm in sort of the same boat. I just got my device back from an RMA and I'm not certain if it's up to date. I could be wrong but it looks to me like they used an older build of Android on it...

Pre-RMA: fastboot oem get_build_version
(bootloader) BUILD_VERION = WW_ZS590KS_33.0210.0210.296

Post-RMA:  fastboot oem get_build_version
(bootloader) BUILD_VERION = WW_ZS590KS_33.0210.0210.269

[Ru_rod]

Just Google it, there's a lot of information about it in zentalk. And it wasn't the beta version of android 13, it was already the final version! At the time I was going to update to the latest version, but as it is known that Asus updates sometimes bring bugs, I waited for feedback from other users. After 3 months came out new update of android 13. Even so it had bugs and did not fix problems with the wi-fi, triggers and sound, most common reported. After another 3 months, when I came to check if there was a new update for all these bugs, Asus removed all the firmware's.

So don't be with conspiracy theories, the only problem I see here is the unwillingness on the part of Asus to correct anomalies of an old equipment. No one forces anyone to buy a newer equipment, as long as it works I will use it! And you'll say, so what about security updates? There are numerous ways the phone can be hacked, even with the updates up to date

[speeder]

Asus is know for this behaviour. They like to abadon their flagship products. This happend to me few times.  Zenfone 8 is the latest one. But there were more in the past like Xonar Essence ST their flagship sound card. It has Windows 10 beta drivers till now :panda_face::panda_face::panda_face:  But this strategy is wrong because we have choice and will just change stuff to other brands.