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My stats: Fairly comfortable with computer and other forms of tech, but have only recently began diving into the Android system. I have limited development/programming experience, however, I'm not a novice or noob to it but definitely not advanced. Importantly for those willing to help I understand most terminology and can follow instructions. Thanks in advance.
Phone Stats: AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note SGH-i717
Android Version: 2.3.6 (Gingerbread)
Baseband Version: i717UCLF6
Kernel Version: 2.6.35.11
Build number: GINGERBREAD.UCLA1
Root Access: Yes
Stock Rom: Unsure, bought online.
Carrier/Service Provider: Straight Talk (U.S.) Phone was previously used on the AT&T network exclusively, and done so with an AT&T provided SIM card. After I purchased it, I ordered a new SIM card from Straight Talk (U.S.) and reprogrammed the APN settings under their instruction in order for my phone service to work correctly, and have had no problems with that.
I can't stand being on Gingerbread any longer. I guess, since my phone is an AT&T phone but I'm using it through Straight Talk I can't get any of the OTA updates. I've tried downloading the OTA's several times, both, prior to and post Root access without success in either case.
So here are my questions:
1. Am I doing something incorrectly which might be keeping me from getting OTA updates? Please remember, I've tried downloading the OTA's several times both with and without Root Access and the conclusion is the same each time: "No Updates Available At This Time. Your Phone Appears To Be Up To Date. Try Again In 24hrs."
2. Is my only option at this point to manually update to a newer firmware? If so, should I update to a newer STOCK version or a custom ROM version?
3. If a manual update is the option, after reading my above outline of my own experience with the Android system, what would be way to go? Simple, not overly complex yet doesn't assume the user is either a complete moron or can write code in his sleep. I've checked into a couple of options. Rom Manager seems like it would be a nice route to go, but in the Recovery Setup portion I basically get told I can't use that application because my specific device isn't supported.
I checked out GooManager and, unless it's just me, it seems like it's an app that likes to do all the work without telling you what it's doing exactly, but when it does ask me or tell me information, I'm not always sure how to answer or react to it's warnings.
Plus, I've noticed that sometimes when downloading a ROM, sometimes I have to "flash" the gapps myself and other times I don't.
4. Is it easier to download everything separately and apply them one by one, for example the ROM then gapps then Kernal...etc? Or look for something that has it all in one package?
I have a laptop in which I can download/transfer programs and apps between it and my Note so download space and internet access isn't a problem.
Also, it most likely isn't information that is going to help in anyway, but I live in Oklahoma, United States of America.
Thanks for all the feedback...UnluckyOnion
I'm not answering these in any specific order,
As I kinda just sped read thru most of it...
Since you're rooted, or know how to, goomanager is superior to Rom manager.
It supports this device and has a current version of twrp to install, instead of an outdated cwm.
Just use it to install recovery, then boot your device into recovery and use that. Not the app. You'll be provided with much more information and this is the preferred way of flashing.
Official Updates are always "manual" either with a less than user friendly program called kies, or with a less annoying way (which you may be familiar with seeing as you've rooted) ODIN. Both pc programs used with the phone in download mode connected with usb cable.
Gapps are only needed to flash separately with an aosp based Rom as it's against Google's T.o.S. to include them in am entirely aftermarket compiled firmware, however if it's a Modified version of a stock based Rom (in this case TouchWiz) they can be, and thusly are, included within.
Official or custom is up to you really.
If official..just grab the .tar and flash it with Odin.
If custom, obtain a custom recovery either the way i mentioned above or downloading a .tar of twrp and use Odin to flash that.
Once you have a custom recovery, you'll simply be able to flash a Rom from there.
Roms include a kernel, if you want to use a different one than what is included, that would be flashed after the Rom.
After flashing you'll have to input your carriers apn settings in again.
studacris said:
I'm not answering these in any specific order,
As I kinda just sped read thru most of it...
Since you're rooted, or know how to, goomanager is superior to Rom manager.
It supports this device and has a current version of twrp to install, instead of an outdated cwm.
Just use it to install recovery, then boot your device into recovery and use that. Not the app. You'll be provided with much more information and this is the preferred way of flashing.
Official Updates are always "manual" either with a less than user friendly program called kies, or with a less annoying way (which you may be familiar with seeing as you've rooted) ODIN. Both pc programs used with the phone in download mode connected with usb cable.
Gapps are only needed to flash separately with an aosp based Rom as it's against Google's T.o.S. to include them in am entirely aftermarket compiled firmware, however if it's a Modified version of a stock based Rom (in this case TouchWiz) they can be, and thusly are, included within.
Official or custom is up to you really.
If official..just grab the .tar and flash it with Odin.
If custom, obtain a custom recovery either the way i mentioned above or downloading a .tar of twrp and use Odin to flash that.
Once you have a custom recovery, you'll simply be able to flash a Rom from there.
Roms include a kernel, if you want to use a different one than what is included, that would be flashed after the Rom.
After flashing you'll have to input your carriers apn settings in again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all the information and help...more importantly, thanks for taking the time. I have ODIN on my laptop and have always used it when needed but I saw a highly rated and positively commented Mobile version of ODIN in the Play Store that claims you can do everything from the convenience of your phone which sounds appealing, however it's kinda pricey, especially if it doesn't work. Would you recommend the mobile version or PC version? Also, I have been doing a lot of ROM and Root research as of late, and wondered something...Why so many different Galaxy Note's? It seems as though I have the least popular version with the most popular being from the Galaxy Note "N" series, specifically the N7000. If I download and use an application that says it's meant for the Galaxy Note N7000 and I use it on my Galaxy Note SGH-i717, what will happen? Nothing, something, brick, work perfectly, etc...?
The N series is not carrier branded and sold internationally, so naturally it's more popular compared to a north American variant.
DO NOT FLASH ANYTHING FOR THE N7000
IT WILL BRICK YOUR PHONE.
The international version has a different cpu, gpu and antenna, for north American LTE bands to work those key components needed to be different.
So I say again just to stress:
DO NOT FLASH ANYTHING FOR THE N7000
IT WILL BRICK YOUR PHONE.
As for Odin, you're either going to flashing a stock firmware, or if you choose a custom Rom, you'll only need Odin once to flash TWRP. Then all the rest will be done in recovery on the phone itself. No need for it after you've either manually updated to the latest stock rom, or flashed a recovery for use of custom roms
So... imo mobile Odin, though being nifty, is a bit pricey for how little you'll need it, whereas it's free on pc.
I don't think mobile Odin is even available for the i717. It's not listed in supported devices.
I tried installing mobile odin and it's not supported
Thanks for the reply. And an even bigger Thanks for downloading the app and checking. I admire sacrificing your own work just to help me out. So what about yourself? Would you suggest, advise or heed caution to anymore of my questions?
By the way, what are you two running?
As long as you read the op of threads and all other important posts that follow BEFORE ever touching your phone, I'd say try a custom Rom...if you decide you don't like any of them, you can Odin flash the stock jellybean firmware at any point.
I myself am running unofficial aokp compiled and posted by a fellow team member BlownFuze.
Oh yeah, how's it running? Nice and stable or crawling with bugs? Any key selling points?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda app-developers app
I'm on the stock 4.1.2 release and rooted.
Everything works, no bugs, but battery sucks. Even after removing and freezing useless processes a stock rom will never be as light and battery friendly as a custom rom.
I just upgraded to the same version. Planned on rooting over weekend. Any success since your last post? Do you nave preferred Root method?
Thanks
Unlucky Orion
Use Odin to flash twrp
Newest version of twrp "should" Sr that you're not rooted and ask if you would like to do so within recovery before booting back into the os.
If not, there's links to an su.zip to flash in twrp for root.
studacris said:
Use Odin to flash twrp
Newest version of twrp "should" Sr that you're not rooted and ask if you would like to do so within recovery before booting back into the os.
If not, there's links to an su.zip to flash in twrp for root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man, thanks, it worked like a charm. I appreciate the help from both you.
The Sony Xperia Z2 tablet has got to be the most horrible device in android history to root or install a recovery on it. The process and the complexity of it is just horrible. You daren't ever make the slightest change to a rom or anything in twrp as it just screws everything up on this device. I can't count the amount of roms i've put on it just to totally trash the device and you have to start from scratch. Either you put a new rom on, it wipes the recovery, you have to piss about using flashtool to flash some other ftf on just to get into recovery, then you have to then flash another tft to get root, the list just goes on and on. I don't even know why sony mobile even bother offering the bootloader unlock option in the first place, it's an absolute nightmare. It's basically you can have root with the official stock firmware, if you want a custom rom spend the next 2 weeks trying to get supersu installed on it. The most horrible device I've ever come across.
Then sell it :laugh:
Somehow I cannot share this view. Running Carbon ROM with Magisk without any issues. For a more than 4 years old tablet the Z2 stands its ground, I don't regret having bought it.
Just hoping that we'll get Pie...
BabelHuber said:
Then sell it :laugh:
Somehow I cannot share this view. Running Carbon ROM with Magisk without any issues. For a more than 4 years old tablet the Z2 stands its ground, I don't regret having bought it.
Just hoping that we'll get Pie...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried Carbon and would love to use it but it just screws up the tablet after install and recovery gets wiped so you can't even go back to restore a back up. You then have to reflash using Emma then back into flashtool to reflash the tft to get recovery to work again because flashtool ends up reporting back that the current tft is not compatible with the device. It's a finicky device to root. It's got to be the worst out of all android devices. E.g my Samsung s9 had it rooted and flashed with a custom rom in around 5 mins. No matter what firmware is installed. Sony decided that after 23.1.A.575 or whatever rooting was not possible after that. Also every method on here telling you how to do it is different to each other and inconsistant. I tried 23.1.A.575 root for UK and it would not allow for twrp to be booted into. I had to use xperiafirm to download the Taiwanese version so I could get the batch script to allow recovery so holding down power on volume down would allow twrp to load. It's just a painstakingly horrible device to root to get something so simple. But yes your right probably best time to get rid and something different. Sorry for the rant it's just been a frustration for me.
Sorry to say so, but rcstar has a very good step by step description on how to install the ROM. I followed it to the point and have no issues whatsoever.
TWRP, Magisk and Substratum work, like everything else.
It's not a device which is easy to mess with, you are right. But it's doable.
BabelHuber said:
Sorry to say so, but rcstar has a very good step by step description on how to install the ROM. I followed it to the point and have no issues whatsoever.
TWRP, Magisk and Substratum work, like everything else.
It's not a device which is easy to mess with, you are right. But it's doable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've followed so many without much success. I tried the solution by kulvertti to the letter and the tab was having non of it. I think the problem also is that a lot of the links are dead to the specific tft you need to download so getting the exact version is tricky. The only one that has worked for me is the Taiwanese rom then using the recovery script by danalec to get Marshmallow flashed which is what I'm running now. So I made a back up today and thought OK let me try carbon because I can get all the nice customization options like being able to choose a dark theme for the settings menu instead of piercing white. What is it with manufacturers wanna make every thing bright and painful on the eyes. Anyway downloaded gaps wiped system etc installed rom and once it loaded the system was all unstable and lost root and recovery. So I give up now and have to accept I can only have marshmallow on it.
Danalec has a very simple root method for Marshmallow in the general section. This is one of the best tablets out there by far. Build quality doesn't come close with other brands.
Considering this guide was written before the Mi 9T Pro was released, it's time to rewrite it and make it more relevant.
THE BASICS
GETTING PREPARED
-----------------------------------
If you want to tinker with your phone then you'll need some ground work.
If you don't yet have a Mi account, go to https://account.xiaomi.com/pass/register and create a new account. It is important, when unlocking the bootloader, to have your correct phone number registered on your account, so either choose to create the account using a phone number or add the phone number in the security settings of your Mi account afterwards. Make sure the number is verified by the OTP that will be sent.
Make sure you have adb and fastboot tools installed on your PC. These are part of the Android development tools. You can either install the official Android SDK Platform Tools which can be found here https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools
Or you can install only adb and fastboot from this xda members project, called minimal adb and fastboot. https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2317790&p=42407269
If you want to know more about these tools then read the minimal adb and fastboot post, you'll find a couple of links that explain both tools in detail.
Install the Mi Unlock Tool. You can find this in the guide I've linked to in the bootloader unlock section below.
Install the Mi Flash Tool. This can be found in the guide I've linked to in the MIUI fastboot flashing section.
Install the drivers for the phone. This is done automatically the first time you connect the phone to PC, so go ahead and connect your phone to your PC and wait until it says the phone is ready for use. At this point the computer should identify the phone correctly as a Redmi K20 Pro.
UNLOCKING THE BOOTLOADER
-------------------------------------------------------
I'll point to 2 guides, both on the new, official Mi Community Forums.
https://c.mi.com/thread-2262302-1-0.html
This first guide is somewhat incomplete, but it does give some good extra information about the bootloader unlocking and has direct links for the Unlock Tool and previous versions. Sometimes using an older version of the tool will resolve unlocking issues.
https://c.mi.com/thread-1857937-1-0.html
This second guide is more complete, but not so well written. Again there is some useful extra info included.
CUSTOM RECOVERIES
---------------------------------------
If you want to flash a custom ROM or root the phone, then you'll need to install a custom recovery. Your only realistic option here is TWRP, however TWRP comes in many flavours. (Before anyone corrects me and says what about Orange Fox? This is, underneath it all, still a heavily modified version of TWRP) For a brief overview of what TWRP is, I'll point you to the official TWRP page which answers that very question https://twrp.me/faq/whatistwrp.html
I should point out that MIUI will check on every boot whether the recovery partition has been modified. If it thinks it has, then the boot process will automatically restore the system recovery. In order to keep TWRP you will need to either flash a custom ROM, or make MIUI stop restoring system recovery on boot up. The most common way to keep TWRP with MIUI is to install Magisk.
If you are planning on using custom ROMs, then I would recommend the official TWRP, or the current 'dev' version from the official maintainer both are found here.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/k2...icial-twrp-xiaomi-redmi-t3944363/post79823568
If you plan on sticking with MIUI, then there are a number of TWRP options that have additional functionality specific to Xiaomi devices - e.g. MIUI debloat scripts.
Many of these tend to be from Chinese, Russian and Indian developers, where Xiaomi phones are most popular. A selection of them can be found here.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/k2...irmware-10-3-8-0-9-6-13-t3939647/post79726515
Personally I don't use MIUI so haven't used these much, however OrangeFox seems to have some unique extra functions, like being able to survive OTA updates. So I would guess OrangeFox should be the one to recommend for those that choose to stick with MIUI.
ROOT
----------
Magisk has become the main choice for rooting, so use it. If you have problems with root and you're using something other than Magisk, you're going to struggle to get any help.
Magisk also does so much more than root. Check out the very good official documentation here for all you need to know.
It includes flashing instructions, which is the same whether you stick with MIUI or have a custom ROM. https://forum.xda-developers.com/ap...v7-universal-systemless-t3473445/post68966662
INSTALLING THINGS
From here I will assume you have some basic knowledge. I will not list every single step/command. The instructions won't be high level but at mid level giving enough details for those with basic knowledge. Many links in the previous post should give most of the knowledge needed, so there's no need for me to repeat things too much.
Where fastboot commands are given, I will assume you know how to use them i.e. you will open a terminal/command prompt/power shell window and also navigate to the appropriate directory if required.
I will assume you have checked the phone is connected with the
Code:
fastboot devices
command
INSTALLING TWRP
------------------------------
- Put the phone into fastboot mode (power and vol-) and connect to a PC
- On the PC
Code:
fastboot flash recovery TWRP.img
here you will need to replace TWRP.img with the actual file name of the TWRP image file, including the full path details if necessary.
At this point you have successfully installed TWRP, but if you boot into MIUI it will be lost. From here you need to boot immediately into TWRP in order to perform further steps to persist the TWRP installation.
- Whilst still connected to the PC
Code:
fastboot reboot
- Now as soon as you send the above command press and hold volume up on the phone
- Keep holding volume up until TWRP boots.
Now you are ready to do the next step. Depending on what you are doing this is likely to be flashing a custom ROM, installing Magisk or installing Orange Fox.
Reserved 2 - coming soon ish
Reserved 3 - hopefully not too long to wait
Thanks a lot for your time! New to this, because usually i buy Global phones, first time i buy a 100% Chinese one...
Interested in what ROM's you would recommend!
Indian K20 Pro has NFC Chip?
I thought they removed the NFC hardware from the device
Kalp3sh S1NGH said:
Indian K20 Pro has NFC Chip?
I thought they removed the NFC hardware from the device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Initially that was what many people thought. But after people have flashed the Chinese ROM on an Indian phone, they have found that they've got a working NFC chip.
Sealed Chinese ROM works well after switching the language to English.
1) Update to the latest MIUI
2) Make sure Google Services is enabled
3) Install Google Play from APKMIRROR
4) Install Calendar Sync (make sure set it to autostart)
4) Install Contact Sync (make sure set it to autostart)
5) Install Google Pay, Google, Gmail, Drive, Google Keep, Photos etc
5) Install an English keyboard (I don't think you will like Sogou keyboard)
6) Delete all other bloatwares.
You can almost remove almost all bloatwares without ADB or root, except those of Xiaomi's.
Kalp3sh S1NGH said:
Indian K20 Pro has NFC Chip?
I thought they removed the NFC hardware from the device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Robbo.5000 said:
Initially that was what many people thought. But after people have flashed the Chinese ROM on an Indian phone, they have found that they've got a working NFC chip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There seems to be conflicting evidence here. Indian users have reported that they got a working NFC after flashing an official China ROM, but there's a new teardown of an Indian phone which appears to show that the NFC chip is missing.
It may be that some Chinese built phones were shipped over to India to cope with the initial demand, but that's a pure guess.
Robbo.5000 said:
There seems to be conflicting evidence here. Indian users have reported that they got a working NFC after flashing an official China ROM, but there's a new teardown of an Indian phone which appears to show that the NFC chip is missing.
It may be that some Chinese built phones were shipped over to India to cope with the initial demand, but that's a pure guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just installed MIUI MS because I was facing some deep sleep issues on the stock ROM.
And there is a setting for NFC but if I enable it, it just turns back off. So maybe my particular device doesn't have the NFC chip.
Hello, in your provided link(second link in bootloading ) it is stated that you don't need TWRP to change ROM. So if I buy a Chinese version of K20 pro and I don't want a custom ROM, just MIUI 10 stable ROM ( I've seen a stable version released in Xiaomi.eu if I understand correctly) from a trusted source, do I need to follow your guide or can I just flash rom or even do it via updater app? This would make it much more easy. Thanks in advance
NoobRookie said:
Hello, in your provided link(second link in bootloading ) it is stated that you don't need TWRP to change ROM. So if I buy a Chinese version of K20 pro and I don't want a custom ROM, just MIUI 10 stable ROM ( I've seen a stable version released in Xiaomi.eu if I understand correctly) from a trusted source, do I need to follow your guide or can I just flash rom or even do it via updater app? This would make it much more easy. Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Xiaomi.eu is a custom rom you need twrp to flash it.
NoobRookie said:
Hello, in your provided link(second link in bootloading ) it is stated that you don't need TWRP to change ROM. So if I buy a Chinese version of K20 pro and I don't want a custom ROM, just MIUI 10 stable ROM ( I've seen a stable version released in Xiaomi.eu if I understand correctly) from a trusted source, do I need to follow your guide or can I just flash rom or even do it via updater app? This would make it much more easy. Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are on an official MIUI stable ROM and checking for an update says you have the latest version, but you know there is a newer version, then you can manually update by following that guide, using the section for updating via the updater app.
If you want to install anything that's not official MIUI, then you need to install that with TWRP.
One last dumb question:if I buy the factory sealed version of the phone with Chinese Rom, will I be able to change it to Global official Rom when it comes out? Or will I just get OTA updates and that's it, no possibility of changing official roms?
NoobRookie said:
One last dumb question:if I buy the factory sealed version of the phone with Chinese Rom, will I be able to change it to Global official Rom when it comes out? Or will I just get OTA updates and that's it, no possibility of changing official roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can change ROMs. You can flash an official Indian ROM using the Mi Flash Tool. See this post about flashing the Indian ROM https://forum.xda-developers.com/k2...king-flashing-india-rom-t3955129/post80025306
Nobody will know for sure that you can flash an official global ROM until its released, but best guess is that you would be able to.
Well I'm reading this from a galaxy note 4... a sh*t ton has changed, or at least it is very different with non-global phones.
If I understand correctly, the best, most safest way is to buy chinese factory sealed version so you can unlock the bootloader in case you lock it.
Which colour do you guys prefer, I like blue but I watched Frankie Tech video(s) and the red colour looks sick. Oh if you buy blue version will camera light also be blue lol. Gonna check out the other colour in another video.
Btw great guide, will try to stick with this note 4 for one more year as it just works fine!
Can anyone in UK confirm their experience with the signal/bands/carrier.
Windroid-user said:
Well I'm reading this from a galaxy note 4... a sh*t ton has changed, or at least it is very different with non-global phones.
If I understand correctly, the best, most safest way is to buy chinese factory sealed version so you can unlock the bootloader in case you lock it.
Which colour do you guys prefer, I like blue but I watched Frankie Tech video(s) and the red colour looks sick. Oh if you buy blue version will camera light also be blue lol. Gonna check out the other colour in another video.
Btw great guide, will try to stick with this note 4 for one more year as it just works fine!
Can anyone in UK confirm their experience with the signal/bands/carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's more a case of Xiaomi doing things different. They have an awkward bootloader unlock process. It needs to be done through their unlock tool, where you need to log in to a Mi account to use it, and that Mi account must already be bound to the phone you want to unlock, and you must have already registered, on the phone, to unlock the phone, using the same Mi account.
I've got the blue phone and yes the lights around the pop-up are blue.
I've not used it in the UK, but it should be fine on EE, Three and Vodafone.
O2 may be hit and miss depending where you are. Originally O2 only used band 20, which is missing from the phone, but a while back they added extra bands, this was in major cities and large towns. I'm not sure if O2 have rolled out these extra bands across more of the country since then.
Robbo.5000 said:
It's more a case of Xiaomi doing things different. They have an awkward bootloader unlock process. It needs to be done through their unlock tool, where you need to log in to a Mi account to use it, and that Mi account must already be bound to the phone you want to unlock, and you must have already registered, on the phone, to unlock the phone, using the same Mi account.
I've got the blue phone and yes the lights around the pop-up are blue.
I've not used it in the UK, but it should be fine on EE, Three and Vodafone.
O2 may be hit and miss depending where you are. Originally O2 only used band 20, which is missing from the phone, but a while back they added extra bands, this was in major cities and large towns. I'm not sure if O2 have rolled out these extra bands across more of the country since then.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I have done a bootloader unlock before with the Sony xperia z3 using the official website, but there was no need to have an account linked to it kind of like apple icloud nightmare. Thanks for the info luckily I don't use O2 only Vodafone and three so far (8gb for £9 with three! Secret/hidden deal, no cashback bull). I would probably also go with blue.
That being said... the only benefit of stock China rom is OTA updates compared to "global" rom? I know there are custom roms but want to try out stock first, least bugs and only fair to give it a chance. Just want to build up my knowledge on this before I decide to say goodbye to my note 4. Also the actual global rom is on its way as far as we know?
Windroid-user said:
Thanks for the reply. I have done a bootloader unlock before with the Sony xperia z3 using the official website, but there was no need to have an account linked to it kind of like apple icloud nightmare. Thanks for the info luckily I don't use O2 only Vodafone and three so far (8gb for £9 with three! Secret/hidden deal, no cashback bull). I would probably also go with blue.
That being said... the only benefit of stock China rom is OTA updates compared to "global" rom? I know there are custom roms but want to try out stock first, least bugs and only fair to give it a chance. Just want to build up my knowledge on this before I decide to say goodbye to my note 4. Also the actual global rom is on its way as far as we know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At the moment there is an official Indian ROM, which is more or less the same as a global ROM, the jury is still out as to whether OTA works OK when flashed on a Chinese phone. It 'should' be OK, but there hasn't been an update to the Indian ROM yet, so nobody has been able to find out for definite.
MIUI isn't without it's bugs. The week I used it there were a couple of issues, and there's a thread just for collating bugs on the Indian ROM.
The global version of the phone, the Mi 9T Pro, should be released in the next couple of months. It's been seen on a Dutch online shopping site in the last week. It was only showing the 2 6GB models, but I've been expecting that, as the Mi 9 never came with 8GB RAM globally. It's €480 for 6/128 GB, so a huge mark up on the Chinese price. Once that's released then official global ROMs will become available
Hey guys, I just bought my RN10 and am waiting for it to arrive. My plan is to turn it into a DeGoogled phone (Custom ROM + MicroG) to use as a daily driver.
As someone who has no experience doing such a thing, but who has been familiarizing oneself with the topic and keeping up with this thread for a bit; I have a few questions that I was hoping I could get some help with:
1.
Is the 168 Hour waiting time a guarantee, or are there some of you who didn't have to wait that long?
-----
I plan to root the device, to pass SafetyNet, get Aurora Services, get Bromite Webview, maybe install oandbackupx, etc...
2.
What is your experience with Aurora services and Bromite Webview?
Do these (+ magisk and microG) need reinstalling after updates?
What is your preferred backup solution? I plan to back up to an SD card.
-----
I will try out some ROMs at first to see what works best for me, before I settle on one. But I am not sure if I can just use my backups from say CrDroid in DotOS for example.
These are the ROMs I am leaning towards (in order of preference): DotOS, CrDroid, and LOS:
3.
What should I be aware regarding backups when trying these ROMs? Can I use backups in different ROMs? Does it apply to oandbackupx or just TWRP ones of data partition?
Would you say they are stable enough for daily driving? (I am aware there are some minor bugs like video recording - not a problem for me)
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I am aware that TWRP is in alpha for the RN10 bc of the A/B partitioning system, and that it will be a long time for a stable version to come out.
Once I set on a ROM, I will wait until a stable version is released before I do updates.
4.
What should I be aware of when using TWRP? (specially this alpha version)
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I use Ubuntu in my system, and I wonder what is the best approach to Unlock the Bootloader and install custom ROMs there.
5.
Is anyone in this thread also using Linux? What is your experience?
What do you guys think of XiaomiTool V2? Is it reliable?
Or would you guys recommend doing these procedures via fastboot and adb? (android-tools-fastboot & android-tools-adb)
1.
there is no way around 1 week waiting. if you are unlucky you might have to wait another week. this might happen when you didn't use the phone enough in this week period, or if you reset the mi account.
also, from this unlock faq: https://c.mi.com/thread-2262302-1-0.html
If you're facing "User Portrait Scores Too Low Or Black", please create or use a new Mi Account to unlock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what that means can only be speculated. in worst case this means, if you cover your camera so it is black, or if you have low light conditions in your drawer where to phone lies, or at the moment you press the unlock button, you can't unlock your phone.
or if the front camera can't recognize a face with its AI, so the portrait score is too low, it also might not unlock your phone. or if internet is blocked so it can't send the data home.
imho, this is a privacy nightmare, but there are no details anyware and everybody just seems to accept this insanity.
2.
I don't use aurora services, but webview browser work very well and magisk+microG does work if you get it installed once (this can be tricky because you have to find the right versions and variations that work together). if you choose a ROM that allows signature spoofing it isn't so much trouble, otherwise it gets more tricky. The rest works pretty easy with latest Magisk and MinMicroG (other microG variants I had trouble with).
You always have to reflash: 1) custom 3rd party recovery (like twrp), 2) Kernel, 3) magisk if you flash another ROM. this is always the same on every custom ROM.
3.
nandroid backup and restore is messy with TWRP currently. best way is to do backup with oandbackupX as root and/or a nandroid /data backup without encryption pin. backing up system is useless. in case of restoration install fresh ROM, start it up once for setting up encryption of /data, then restore /data partition.
you can't move /data partition between ROMs, you have to backup your apps with oandbackupX or the like.
nandroid backups on ext. SDCard currently don't work. better make space on your internal memory.
4.
TWRP is currently buggy or features not working correctly. don't expect anything that worked before in non virtual A/B environments to work perfectly fine here. upgrading was always tricky due to A and B slot changes, but thats not all a problem of TWRP but of the ROMs too.
Just read the older posts in the threads of CrDroid and LineageOS and TWRP and you will learn a lot what works and what doesn't work.
5.
Just install a virtual PC with windows 10 and use everything related to Xiaomi software in there. (most things are windows only). you can bridge your usb connected phone to the virtual PC.
There is no need for XiaomiTool V2 if you are on custom ROMs. just use fastboot/adb commands as needed.
1.
I plan to cover the front camera and not register the fingerprint scanner until I get a custom ROM on it. So I will discover if that is the case or not and let you guys know here.
2.
What is the best way to install microg? magisk module or flashing it via TWRP? I am under the impression one can go both ways about it.
having to flash the kernel is news to me. is there any post in this sub that I can read more about it?
3.
Okay, I will stick with oanbackupX for the time being then, and read about nandroid.
And could you further clarify what you mean by SD cards not working? Is it only for backups or at all? Does that apply to oandbackupX?
4. thanks I will read those posts. hopefully a stable is out soon though.
5.
I have a notebook that I am not sure is capable enough of running a Win VM. So i would really prefer to do these things on my Ubuntu install if I can. Plus it would be a peace of mind knowing i have all it needs and I am not dependent on having Windows machines near me should I have an emergency with the phone.
Is there any issue with XiamiTool V2? Would it not work to do the things i am trying to do?
Thanks in advace for your reply, they are very clarifying in getting me started on this!
best of luck with unlocking. hope you won't need another week. remember both cameras are eligible for face recognition and brightness measurement.
the way of installing microG may be different for each variation, ROM and phone (remember virtual A/B devices, read-only system, etc.). best way is to read the official installation manual that the microG variant provides. on virtual A/B devices you flash almost everything in Magisk with magisk-modules so you get a systemless patched system. the only thing you flash in recovery, beside kernels and other recoveries maybe, is actually magisk.
about kernels, just read the threads about the two released kernels so far.
well, you might be lucky if you try running the xiaomi software using wine, but it might not work. blame Xiaomi for not releasing all the wanted tools for all OS's.
for unlocking keep in mind that you don't change your setup, keep the same virtual PC, tool, data, etc. in place and don't change anything, they collect also PC data (os, hardware, ip - keep IP the same on PC and phone while unlocking!) for the unlocking process (also a privacy nightmare).. if you want to mitigate that you have to build much more around it than just a virtual pc, though.
I didn't use Xiaomi Tool so I can't really answer that. I think the software is outdated and it's main purpose is to remove some but not all bloatware on non rooted stock rom devices. you can do everything without that tool.
keep in mind that these are unofficial tools and there are many of them, and there are many fake ones uploaded to sharehosters which might be infected with malware. it's hard to find the right sources (but check the official sticky posts in this forum for links) and if you get all these tools by googling around chances are high you get some modified versions with malware.
I'd recommend doing things manually and learning step-by-step how to do things.
Oh damn, I will definitely cover the back camera after I test it then. Thanks for the heads up.
regarding flashing the kernels, I understand it now. I thought I had to reflash the stock kernel every time. silly me
keep IP the same on PC and phone while unlocking!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean keep the phone connected to the same wifi as the PC during the waiting period? bc otherwise I don't think that is possible at all, given that one must turn off wifi and use carrier data to add the Mi account to device.
I am not sure I understand what you mean :\
And the main purpose of the tool is to unlock bootloaders, install custom ROMs, etc. But you are right, latest version is one year old and I would like to avoid it if I can. Also there are 'official' links to download it from the Github page or the tool website.
I'd recommend doing things manually and learning step-by-step how to do things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you, I will likely do the bootloader unlock procedure on Windows and then install TWRP via fastboot/adb on my Ubuntu laptop, and move on from there. I believe it is possible to do that much on linux right?
regarding the IP, I have the suspicion that they (xiaomi) rate the IPs that you use and for some they might block the unlocking attempt. VPN, TOR and other proxies might be suspicious to them and they might block them (this is not necessarily true for all VPNs, TOR nodes, regions, etc., though). There should be no problem with your default ISPs IP address however, but you'll let your pants down using them.
First unlocking on your phone has to be with mobile data, but you could also use VPN,Tor,etc. there, thats why I'm saying it. Some people I've talked to went as far as buying burner sims just for the unlocking process because they are afraid of what china does with their data.
there should be no problem at all if you use normal mobile data for phone Mi account and your default ISP ip on the computer with the unlock tool. They just spy monitor your phone for that week (until you delete the crap) and if the score is good you are good to unlock the phone. nobody besides them knows exactly what they do but you get a clue when you read their Terms of Service. if your ip address varies geographically very much in this week it might also look suspicious, or if the ip-range is used for many different unlocks. all that obviously plays a role in the score at the end.
ok, I didn't use any other tool for unlocking the bootloader than the original and official xiaomi unlock tool. all the rest can be done without additional tools.
the only things you might need is actually MiFlash (to reset/reflash factory ROMs), MIFlash unlock for unlocking the bootloader, and the latest fastboot+adb versions for all the rest.
fastboot+adb requires the correct phone drivers to work on windows, it might be the same on linux. if they are also available for linux it should be ok. for fastboot try the official general android drivers provided by google, they might also be available for linux (or are already implemented)
I was planning on getting a burner for this. but given the covid restrictions in where I am at, it is gonna be a hassle.
I think Xiaomi does most of that because of the people who buy their phones from China, unlock them, put a custom rom and resell them. I think I should be in the clear though, I wanna get a custom rom working asap, so I wont try using tor and vpn and risk it.
I really don't plan on reflashing the stock rom ever again, unless I absolutely need to. I think i read that there are some cases where one must reflash the stock rom in between custom rom installs(?), but I hope that it is not the case for me. I only plan to try dotos and crdroid, maybe los.
and I would think there is a way to get the drivers for Linux, given that xiomitool v2 does get drivers from somewhere and its available on Linux. I gotta do some digging here though
Hi
Quite bored of Oneplus updates for my Nord 2 5G that transforms more and more the phone in publicity support for OnePlus CEO messages, and adding features I don't care at all, I'm looking to flash it with an alternative ROM.
What is most stable and operational ROM for that device currently ? The version of the device I have is DN2103 (bought in Switzerland).
Thanks for your advices,
Vincèn
Tried them all. Evolution X is the most often updated and works the best for me.
Hey there!
I also need some much needed insight in how to continue with this device (DN2103 bought in NL, Europe; just updated from 11.A.14 to 11.A.21). I suspect I will probably need the same answer as OP is looking for.
This is my second OnePlus, I was using a OnePlus X before running my first and only ROM, Lineage OS, to be able to move on to Android 10. Then screen broke for the second time after I had already fixed up the whole phone myself before that using brand new parts (Screen, frame, backplate) except for the motherboard still original. So I decided it was time for a new device.
Really love the DN2103 itself, except for the whole rooting / OTA update process, although it was a good training in getting to know all the technicalities. I had been running rooted 11.A.14 since it came out till yesterday, because I was avoiding dealing with the whole process again.
Anyway I kicked myself under my butt and got myself to 11.A.21 now. I was planning to just continue updating OOS till the latest 11.C.10 / 11.C.13, because after all this effort, I'm too curious to not check out the new Android.
But I just happened to read some thread where people were saying that somewhere after 11.C.4 it's not possible anymore to get into fastboot / BROM mode and thus no means to get TWRP?? That sounds horrible, one mistake rooting and it would be a big mess, having to downgrade to OOS 11 again and bla bla bla, why the f...?
So, I just need to hear this from someone, is this correct? I'm too tired to investigate now myself after a 20h OTA/rooting session behind me and just 3h sleep.
And how is everyone dealing with it that wants root? Has everyone moved on to other ROMs for Android 12 / 13, because of this?
In the update process yesterday for some reason my phone did a complete wipe without asking / warning. So I really need to get to a stage in this update process where I can restore all my ****. I've been at this for 24h right now and was happy to do so as I was making steps. but now I suddenly got hit in the face by this news.
tl;dr PLEASE confirm/deny this news (underlined part above) and help me decide if the only comfortable way is to ditch OOS for a custom ROM to get Android 12 / 13 with root & TWRP. I've thrown 24 hours into OTA updating OOS 11, now got to 11.A.21, but phone somehow got wiped in process, so now I really need to finish upgrading and restore data, because I'm without all the apps / accounts etc. I depend on for daily life.
I do really enjoy the road but now I HATE being lost along the way. Show me the light and, if ROM, same question as OP
Sorry if a bit off-topic + long post...
Yes, you need to have android 11 to enter fastboot. I had 12 and had to downgrade. Trust me, this is the most fuked up thing.
wuttehhell said:
Yes, you need to have android 11 to enter fastboot. I had 12 and had to downgrade. Trust me, this is the most fuked up thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stop waiting for oneplus. There are great roms on android 13 that work very nice. What i am using is Evolution X. Tried them all and this is the one i stick to. Found no bugs, very consistent updates and the team as i see work very fast on every bug people find.
Btw, u dont need root to change rom, only if you want. I personally dont use root and works great.
wuttehhell said:
Tried them all. Evolution X is the most often updated and works the best for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info, and noticed too in forum that it looks to be the most up-to-date and maintained ROM for DN2103 and it looks to have no more any blocking bugs such as Wifi or Bluetooth not working, or random reboots/crashes. I'm running right now version DN2103_11_C.12 with Android 12. Is it ok to upgrade to Evolution X straight ? as I see people speaking about downgrade first to Android 11 :/
wuttehhell said:
Stop waiting for oneplus. There are great roms on android 13 that work very nice. What i am using is Evolution X. Tried them all and this is the one i stick to. Found no bugs, very consistent updates and the team as i see work very fast on every bug people find.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for confirming! I'd already read the thread and indeed Evolution looks like the best option, so that's decided then. Wish me luck flashing the ROM
And about root, I really have some essential mods that need root. For example Advanced Charge Controller (I use it with the GUI app ACCA for convenience, else it's only terminal). I limit my charging by default to 80%, which translates in about a 4x increase in lifetime of the battery. On normal days I don't need any more than that, and it always has the option to charge to 100% if you know you're gonna have a long day without charging capabilities.
vincebay said:
Thanks for the info, and noticed too in forum that it looks to be the most up-to-date and maintained ROM for DN2103 and it looks to have no more any blocking bugs such as Wifi or Bluetooth not working, or random reboots/crashes. I'm running right now version DN2103_11_C.12 with Android 12. Is it ok to upgrade to Evolution X straight ? as I see people speaking about downgrade first to Android 11 :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I understand, and as @wuttehhell just confirmed in this thread, once you update OxygenOS beyond Android 11, fastboot and BROM mode don't work anymore. This means you can't install a custom recovery like TWRP to flash a new ROM, neither can you flash it using fastboot.
This means you have to rollback to Android 11 first. Fortunately OnePlus has official rollback packages, which is just a .ZIP archive like any other update, except it will downgrade to a previous version. Warning: a rollback package will WIPE ALL DATA. So make sure to backup anything you need to keep before downgrading. The upside is you can do a clean flash of the ROM (flashing method where device gets wiped), which is the most stable method and gives you a fresh OS that will use less battery and such.
I think the process of downgrading itself is very simple though. If you get stuck let us know, there's many knowledgeable people here lucky for us so keep a positive attitude and with a little luck we'll both be running Evolution X in the coming days!
Releece said:
As I understand, and as @wuttehhell just confirmed in this thread, once you update OxygenOS beyond Android 11, fastboot and BROM mode don't work anymore. This means you can't install a custom recovery like TWRP to flash a new ROM, neither can you flash it using fastboot.
This means you have to rollback to Android 11 first. Fortunately OnePlus has official rollback packages, which is just a .ZIP archive like any other update, except it will downgrade to a previous version. Warning: a rollback package will WIPE ALL DATA. So make sure to backup anything you need to keep before downgrading. The upside is you can do a clean flash of the ROM (flashing method where device gets wiped), which is the most stable method and gives you a fresh OS that will use less battery and such.
I think the process of downgrading itself is very simple though. If you get stuck let us know, there's many knowledgeable people here lucky for us so keep a positive attitude and with a little luck we'll both be running Evolution X in the coming days!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@Releece thanks for the details and so if I have well understood the whole process:
backup datas
Downgrade to Android 11 using the OTA downgrade package and procedure from oneplus (which implies a full reset of device)
Reboot at least one tine in Android 11
Flash TWRP
Reboot in TWRP (be careful not to boot Android or I'll have to reflash TWRP)
Flash Evolution X zip
Boot normally and enjoy Evolution X
Am I correct ? I have seen also that the phone has the same annoying double "bank" when you flash it that I had on previous OnePlus phones. Does it imply I have to do each flashing process on both banks ?
Thanks
vincebay said:
@Releece thanks for the details and so if I have well understood the whole process:
backup datas
Downgrade to Android 11 using the OTA downgrade package and procedure from oneplus (which implies a full reset of device)
Reboot at least one tine in Android 11
Flash TWRP
Reboot in TWRP (be careful not to boot Android or I'll have to reflash TWRP)
Flash Evolution X zip
Boot normally and enjoy Evolution X
Am I correct ? I have seen also that the phone has the same annoying double "bank" when you flash it that I had on previous OnePlus phones. Does it imply I have to do each flashing process on both banks ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep that should do it, looks like you did your research and understand the process.
I had the same question earlier. Strangely I found that the Nord 2 does not have A / B partitioning. I can only detect an A-partition with apps designed to test it. I didn't have to do anything extra / another way while rooting with Magisk, OTA updates or flashing ROM. I thought A/B was enforced on all phones since Android 10 or sth, but apparently not all.
I would add one extra step, after you reboot into TWRP (before flashing the ROM) make a backup of all the individual partitions one by one (so you can restore any single partition in the future), even the tiniest ones.
Some contain calibration data for e.g. Bluetooth and fingerprint sensor that are specific to your device. Now this whole process should leave them untouched, but if anything ever happens to them, the only way to get your phone working again is to send your phone to a service centre, so it's a good idea to have everything backed up.
They will be stored in the TWRP folder in /sdcard/, which is the folder you can see on your PC. So after backing them all up, you can just copy them to your PC.
I successfully flashed Evolution yesterday, and all went well Initially the new Android 13 UI was a bit of a shock from what I was used to, but I'm starting to like it already, especially after going over the settings. And it works smooooth like butter. The only thing that annoyed me was the haptic feedback, which feels very mushy instead of snappy. But putting vibration strength to low helps a lot. Maybe I can find a way to modify it later.
I had one little hickup: Evolution install instructions say this for TWRP before flashing ROM:
"3. Tap [Wipe] , then [Format data]. type "yes" and Enter"
But when I did this, it removed the media folder at /data/media/ instead of just emptying it. I remember it gave me a pop-up saying something like, for /data/media/ to get populated I would probably need to boot to system. But if I would've done that stock would overwrite recovery.
I don't have a lot of knowledge about this, but this folder gets mounted to /sdcard/ and is where your internal storage is mounted to. So after the wipe I wanted to copy the ROM .zip to my phone using the file manager. Windows did recognize my phone as having internal storage, and I could open it, but it didn't see any file/folder/free space and I couldn't copy anything to it.
I solved it by renaming ROM to sth simple like evolution.zip, placing it inside platform-tools folder, and then using ADB push command, so it looked like:
ADB push C:/platform-tools/evolution.zip /data/
It doesn't give any feedback while copying and I didn't even see much disk usage on Windows task manager, so I was about to get nervous and close the terminal, but then it suddenly completed successfully and I could see the evolution.zip in TWRP file manager. After that flashing took just a few minutes and everything went perfect.
Now I don't know if it's maybe a typo in the instructions or if TWRP had a bug, but I don't think so as it specifically gave me a prompt about it. I think it's better to just tap [Wipe] and then do the usual factory reset slider, with data, dalvik and cache selected. Think I'll make a post later in the Evolution thread to ask.
Good luck!
Hi, I don´t like the colors on Oxygen OS. I don't know if it's cause by our screen or is something related with the ROM. In Samsung or Xiaomi colors are more brilliant and saturated. In Evolution ROM, can you modify this issue?
So I have been able to dowgrade my DN2103 to 11_A20 running Android 11 but I'm stuck there !
Each time I try to flash twrp or load it in device I get that:
[email protected]:~/Bureau$ fastboot boot twrp.img
Sending 'boot.img' (131072 KB) OKAY [ 3.310s]
Booting FAILED (remote: 'not allowed in locked state')
fastboot: error: Command failed
[email protected]:~/Bureau$ fastboot flash recovery twrp.img
Sending 'recovery' (131072 KB) OKAY [ 3.371s]
Writing 'recovery' FAILED (remote: 'not allowed in locked state')
fastboot: error: Command failed
I have unlocked OEM protection into it and allow USB debug. Any ideas what's the problem ?
damn was a long time I had not done Android flashing so was a little more complicated but made it (well it looks to be so far Will see if it boots after initial setup and now hanging on the Phone initial preparation but should go very soon I think
Thanks