[HELP REQUEST] WILL PAY TO WHOEVER HELPS ME GET THROUGH THIS SOFTBRICK

[HELP REQUEST] WILL PAY TO WHOEVER HELPS ME GET THROUGH THIS SOFTBRICK - Redmi Note 8 Pro Questions & Answers

rodagola said:
Hello everyone on xda, please bare with me. Here's my story
I own a Redmi Note 8 pro, chinese rom model. It was running miui 11.0.3 over android 9 If I recall correctly.
Ok so... I was tired of some of the china apps pushing their notifications over and over and auto installing stuff, so I looked up how to apply adb commands to remove such bloatware, which was a fairly simple process. I copied and pasted a list of safe stuff to delete I found around some forums.
then... there were some other packages I checked out using an app called "app inspector", which directly tells you which app is under which package (totally useful for this purpose).
I tried to be careful not go overboard since I don't have any root access, or custom recovery, and wasn't really planning to have these, just wanted to keep this as my simple daily driver cellphone, but also perform this little maneuver to get rid of some bloatware.
little did I know, I was about to somehow softbrick it. More info: I did not use a screen lock method other than the "swipe up".
Ok, so I uninstalled some packages I cannot remember exactly how they went, but they had the terms "xman" and "yman" on them I think, I wasn't so sure about them because I looked them up on the web yet they didn't appear anywhere. I think they went something among the lines of "com.android.miui.xman". I also uninstalled 2 or 3 more, but after googling, they seemed unsuspecting.
Anyways, I'm aware there's a command to reinstall the packages because they're still on the phone's ROM image. That is in case I had to restore anything back to normal. Turns out I later rebooted the phone and when it launches the lock screen, I keep swiping up but it won't take me over to the actual MIUI launcher. The screen is frozen on the lock screen.
I'm not freaking out at this time because I still tried to connect the device to the pc, and it still shows as connected, I then go to the adb console and type "adb devices", it is still recognized, however, it says next to it that it is unauthorized... damn it. So now I might not be able to run the commands that allow me to reinstall the exact packages that are rendering the phone softbricked (I guess), plus I'm not really sure which package caused this.
After about a minute or two on the lock screen, the phone takes me to the "redmi-recovery 3.0",
which displays 3 options:
Reboot to system: which basically forms a loop
Wipe date: godforbid... really don't want to do it since I likely had many files not backedup
Contact miassistant: not sure what to do with this, says "pcsuite.mi.com" at the bottom
on the miassistant option you can apparently sideload stuff, idk how to go about this, maybe it allows me to install a slightly upgraded ROM, which in turn will work the same as if it was an OTA update (so it will keep my data as it was instead of wipe)? Because the point is not to erase my user data!!
I'm not sure how to feel or what to do without losing my pictures, notes and documents
I have hopes this situation can be turned around back to normal, and like the title implies... I'm WILLING to PAY you through paypal or something to WHOEVER offers to guide me through in the best way possible. Please if you have the knowledge/experience don't hesitate I'll also be grateful timelessly.
I'm not an expert at these scenarios so I might as well ask on xda where most are really skilled! Thanks in advance to those amazing souls
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tldr;
If you can boot into fastboot mode you can just flash a official MIUI fastboot ROM:
Xiaomi Firmware Updater (where you can download official MIUI ROMS): https://xiaomifirmwareupdater.com/
This is the current hard unbrick method: https://telegra.ph/Installing-Redmi-Note-8-Pro-firmware-via-SP-Flash-Tool-01-21
It should also work in your case and there's even a video guide.
This is another video guide for fixing a hard brick:
Both methods above will format your phone though (afaik all data will be lost).
Compass.

rodagola said:
are these the kind of roms that you unzip and have the BL, AP, CP, CSC files? I could try that, but I've heard installing home_csc will not override/wipe my personal data. If this is what you meant, can you confirm? Or do you reckon these linked video tutorials would not wipe the data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, it doesn't.
If you can boot into Fastboot, flash the ROM using Mi Flash, otherwise, use this tutorial:

Compass Linux and juliusjr have told you the method, so I will just add supplemential infos.
In your case, I think simple upgrade will do the trick, dirty flash is applicable both via fastboot flash (mi flash) and recovery flash (the mi assistant method). If you want to stop the ads, I will recommend you to unlock your bootloader, move to global, root, and use an adblocker (a bare minimum config, in trade of some bangking apps being blocked).
I don't know the corresponding version for miui china rom, but in global rom, prior 12.0.0.7 (the one with the early 2021 security update), you can dirty flash back and forth while keeping your data.

rodagola said:
Hi, thanks for your info, I would like to try the mi flash tool as I've been told before the stock recovery thing has less chances of working. However, I had dev options turned on before but didn't manage to turn on the "OEM unlock" option, will flashing original ROMs work this way? or did I need that option toogled on? That's my last doubt, and thanks a lot. Btw, the China ROM this Redmi N8P had never ever showed me any ads, but thanks a lot as well for such input
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You still have a locked bootloader? (How do I know? You will see "Unloked" on the bottom of the screen everytime your device reboots and showing mi logo if your device is unlocked)
Hmm, mechanically it work like normal ota update. Full recovery update will ony erase nessesary partitions (system, boot, and some other things) while keeping your data intact. So doing this to your phone technically safe. You can do this with MiFlashPro, do a recovery update using a recovery rom (the 2 gigs one) greater than your current MIUI version. But please bear in mind that I have never done this before to a locked phone. A same distribution version IS A MUST (i.e. global with global).
Oh and it will need you to log in to your xiaomi account. My guess is you need the flash permission open for your account (if you have unlocked your phone you shouldn't have a problem). I have never flashed with an account that never have been used to unlock a bootloader, so I might be wrong.
If your phone is bootloader unlocked, Mi Flash is the least demanding and it can retain your data with "save user data" in the bottom right corner option on, regardless your miui version (but I think there will be some problem with installed apps if you downgrade from A10 to A9).
Hope this help.

Related

Newbie rooting/backup thread (groan...)

In my defence, m’lud, I spent about 6 hours yesterday reading through a great many threads before posting this one. It’s amazing how hard it can be to pick up a slightly unfamiliar technology when it’s not the one you're used to… I spent the latter half of my life in IT (Windows), but really struggle with this phone stuff.
I expect it's just the terminology… when you guys talk about a bootloader, I’m thinking that’s roughly the same as a BIOS on a computer…? Then there’s the “recovery” thingy… is that like a recovery partition on a Windows machine? But then some threads seem to suggest you over-write that when rooting, so is the original factory image lost forever?
My main reason for wanting to root my M8 is to remove all the bloatware HTC put on it. I can read the instructions for rooting here, but I don’t like blindly following anything I don’t understand, for obvious reasons!
I kind of gather that the “ROM” is the operating system… if I root the phone, does that automatically obliterate the existing one, necessitating a new one, or can I just gain the access I need to delete the horrible factory apps, and keep everything else?
I’ve read through several tutorials, and they’re easy to follow, but not easy to understand, if you get me… they’ll say things like download this, flash that… but I don’t really know what’s going on when you flash something – what am I over-writing etc.
Is there a thread anywhere which explains what these various things actually ARE?
Oh, and I’ve been playing various King games for years, and have got a long way. I’ve tried to figure out how to back them up – the King website is possibly the most unhelpful I’ve come across. People mention various utilities (I think maybe Titanium etc), but if they only work on a rooted phone, they presumably can’t be used to back the games up prior to rooting…
Sorry about all this guys – not asking you to re-invent the wheel, but f there are specific threads that already answer my questions to get me started, I’d be VERY grateful
Thanks
Roger

Roger465 said:
In my defence, m’lud, I spent about 6 hours yesterday reading through a great many threads before posting this one. It’s amazing how hard it can be to pick up a slightly unfamiliar technology when it’s not the one you're used to… I spent the latter half of my life in IT (Windows), but really struggle with this phone stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aye, it takes a bit of time to learn all the things and understand them.
Me, after being really familiar with a Sony device had to spend XX hours reading about HTC and after few years there are still things that I don't know
Roger465 said:
I expect it's just the terminology… when you guys talk about a bootloader, I’m thinking that’s roughly the same as a BIOS on a computer…? Then there’s the “recovery” thingy… is that like a recovery partition on a Windows machine? But then some threads seem to suggest you over-write that when rooting, so is the original factory image lost forever?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd rather say recovery is closer to bios., but bootloader matches too.
Recovery is a partition that all android phones have and it can be accessed in case when the system dies to factory reset and things. Stock recovery is good, but it can't be used to flash things like roms and kernels, so we use TWRP - a custom recovery with many options.
Original recovery is overwritten, but can be restored.
As for bootloader it's kinda like a gate - a locked one prevents booting and flashing of any unauthorized files, like custom recovery for example. Unlocking it removes this restriction. That's one fuction of bootloader, another one is starting up the system - like a bios - and can be accessed by a button combination durning boot up, it's also called hboot. In it you can see some essential info about phone software and boot to recovery.
Roger465 said:
My main reason for wanting to root my M8 is to remove all the bloatware HTC put on it. I can read the instructions for rooting here, but I don’t like blindly following anything I don’t understand, for obvious reasons!
I kind of gather that the “ROM” is the operating system… if I root the phone, does that automatically obliterate the existing one, necessitating a new one, or can I just gain the access I need to delete the horrible factory apps, and keep everything else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROM is the android itself, drivers, kernel and manufacturer's interface, apps, tweaks, settings. and probably something else I've missed. I think it would be somewhat correct to call this operating system. Rooting is gaining superuser access on the phone - it can be used to give extended functionality to apps, like making modifications in system itself. Pretty similiar to "run as administrator" in windows. Rooting itself won't remove the rom.
Roger465 said:
I’ve read through several tutorials, and they’re easy to follow, but not easy to understand, if you get me… they’ll say things like download this, flash that… but I don’t really know what’s going on when you flash something – what am I over-writing etc.
Is there a thread anywhere which explains what these various things actually ARE?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those should give you a basic knowledge:
https://www.androidcentral.com/dictionary
https://android.gadgethacks.com/news/big-android-dictionary-glossary-terms-you-should-know-0165594/
Roger465 said:
Oh, and I’ve been playing various King games for years, and have got a long way. I’ve tried to figure out how to back them up – the King website is possibly the most unhelpful I’ve come across. People mention various utilities (I think maybe Titanium etc), but if they only work on a rooted phone, they presumably can’t be used to back the games up prior to rooting…
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium backup is an app used to backup other apps, but it requires root. To get root you need a custom recovery and for it you need an unlocked bootloader.
Unlocking the bootloader will wipe all data from the phone. I'm not aware of many working methods to backup apps and their data.
There's an app called Helium, but there are many complaints that it doesn't fully work. You can try syncing all data to your google account or adb backup.

A lot of the basic terminology is explained here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=52484527#post52484527
My responses below in red font:
Roger465 said:
when you guys talk about a bootloader, I’m thinking that’s roughly the same as a BIOS on a computer…?
I'd say that is a pretty good analogy. It's responsible for loading the OS, same as BIOS does on a PC. And as long as you can get into bootloader, the phone is recoverable almost regardless of what else you did (within some limits).
Then there’s the “recovery” thingy… is that like a recovery partition on a Windows machine? But then some threads seem to suggest you over-write that when rooting, so is the original factory image lost forever?
Recovery is the tool for making or restoring backup (and also flashing ROMs and other mods like root). And not the actually backup itself. So that is one important distinction to remember.
Installing custom recovery (TWRP) will overwrite the stock recovery, that is true. You can only have one recovery at a time.
Stock recovery is easy to restore; and the stock recoveries are available on this forum. But stock recovery is close to useless. The only reason you would need stock recovery, is to install an official OTA (over-the-air) upated. And HTC was done updating this phone a long time ago (with Marshmallow) and there will be no more updates. Therefore, no need for stock recovery.
Since you've decided to do to the dark side and root; custom recovery TWRP as vastly more useful than stock recovery (as also mentioned in the previous response). To be honest, I can't say I've booted to stock recovery on this or any HTC device I've owned (and it's been several) even once. Never used it, and never needed to.
I kind of gather that the “ROM” is the operating system… if I root the phone, does that automatically obliterate the existing one, necessitating a new one, or can I just gain the access I need to delete the horrible factory apps, and keep everything else?
Depending on root method (SuperSU or Magisk), root will make changes to the system and/or kernel (which comprise the OS or ROM). It's still the stock ROM, just with some minor changes to allow superuser access. You can and should make a backup or your stock ROM, before rooting, using TWRP custom recovery. This gives you an easy way to restore to stock unrooted ROM, if you ever want to. And also gives you an easy "escape hatch" if anything goes wrong while trying to root. There are other tools on this forum for restoring the stock ROM. But best practice (and just plain common sense) is to make a backup in TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
---------- Post added at 10:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 AM ----------
Phalangioides said:
There's an app called Helium, but there are many complaints that it doesn't fully work. You can try syncing all data to your google account or adb backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All backup methods are far from perfect, especially before/without root. I'll agree that Helium is probably the best bet for the OP to backup things like game saves.
---------- Post added at 10:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 AM ----------
Roger465 said:
It’s amazing how hard it can be to pick up a slightly unfamiliar technology when it’s not the one you're used to… I spent the latter half of my life in IT (Windows), but really struggle with this phone stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stick with it. Every technology has its own lingo and nuances. Even from one Android device to another, there is a learning curve. I've found myself wondering: "WTF is a blob, or Odin" when switching to other Android devices.
With your IT experience, it shouldn't take much to pickup the necessary knowledge.

Thanks guys, kind of you to go to so much trouble to explain for me. Wish I had two phone,s then I could play around messing one up... will read a bit more, then give it a go in a day or two I think. But just to clarify again, can I give myself the rights to remove stock bloatware, while maintaining my familiar Android environment, the apps I use at the moment etc, or do I have to install a custom ROM if I root?
Cheers

Roger465 said:
can I give myself the rights to remove stock bloatware, while maintaining my familiar Android environment, the apps I use at the moment etc, or do I have to install a custom ROM if I root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the OS will remain the same.
Whether you can remove bloat apps after root is a little complicated to explain. You would normally expect to be able to delete system apps (which bloat apps are) with root. However, for whatever reason, HTC decided to write-protect the system partition, even with root. This means that if you try to delete apps when the phone is booted to OS, (depending on what method you used to delete the apps) you will find they return when the phone is rebooted.
You can flash a kernel mod to disable the write protection, or install a custom kernel. Or you may find the easiest work around (after root) is to use the file manager within TWRP to delete the bloat apps.
---------- Post added at 12:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:11 PM ----------
Vomer's guide is a good one, for unlocking the bootloader, custom recovery and root:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-one-m8/general/vomerguides-m8-bootldr-unlock-s-off-t2800727
It's a bit outdated, so some words of advice:
- Only follow parts 0 and 1 of the guide. The sections after that aren't needed (s-off and SuperCID) for root, and the s-off method no longer works.
- Use an updated version TWRP from what is in the guide. If you are currently on Marshmallow, the current version TWRP 3.2.1.0 should work. Or basically any version 2.8.7 or later. You can get TWRP here: https://dl.twrp.me/m8/
- Similarly, use current version SuperSU 2.82 (use TWRP flashable zip from here): https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/supersu/stable-2016-09-01supersu-v2-78-release-t3452703
Or alternately, you can use Magisk to root, instead of SuperSU. Honestly, Magisk is really cool, and has lots of features that SuperSU doesn't. So I suggest checking it out: https://forum.xda-developers.com/apps/magisk/official-magisk-v7-universal-systemless-t3473445

redpoint73 said:
Vomer's guide is a good one, for unlocking the bootloader, custom recovery and root
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hhmmm, not getting very far with that procedure. Difficulties so far:
- Enable USB debugging in your phone's Developer options - DONE
- Un-check "Fast boot" on your phone by going to Settings -> Battery Manager – NO SUCH OPTION
- Install ADB and Fastboot on your computer - DONE
- Make sure to back up all of your app data using either ADB or HTC Sync, because you will be wiping your phone – JUST PLAYING AROUND WITH CONNECTING TO THE PHONE AT THIS STAGE
- Install the HTC One M8 drivers on your computer (if you have HTC Sync installed, then you already have them) - DONE
Enter Fastboot (bootloader) Mode
Place your device into fastboot mode by plugging in your HTC One to your computer,
then powering it down by holding both the Power and Volume Down buttons until you see the screen below – WHEN I DO THAT, IT JUST TAKES A SCREENSHOT

Roger465 said:
Hhmmm, not getting very far with that procedure. Difficulties so far:
- Un-check "Fast boot" on your phone by going to Settings -> Battery Manager – NO SUCH OPTION
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was only available back on 4.4. It was removed in 5.0 and above, no need to worry about it now.
Roger465 said:
Enter Fastboot (bootloader) Mode
Place your device into fastboot mode by plugging in your HTC One to your computer,
then powering it down by holding both the Power and Volume Down buttons until you see the screen below – WHEN I DO THAT, IT JUST TAKES A SCREENSHOT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The guide is a bit inaccurate in this one. Turn off your phone, then press power and vol down - you should get into bootloader. Select fastboot and when it gets into fastboot, plug in the usb, it should change to "fastboot usb" - or at least I think it was like this.
My phone refuses to boot up after I turn it off. Have to help it with a soft reset and then hold vol down so it gets into bootloader, so I can't fully confirm.

Roger465 said:
- Un-check "Fast boot" on your phone by going to Settings -> Battery Manager – NO SUCH OPTION
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As mentioned in the previous response, this doesn't apply anymore. The feature doesn't exist (hasn't since Kitkat) and therefore does not need to be turned off.
Also note, this option is not to be confused with the fastboot/adb interface (virtually the same name, for different things) which is still fully working, and required to unlock the bootloader and flash custom recovery. The power option "Fast boot" was just a feature used by HTC to make the phone turn on faster. It was merely a "deep sleep" trick which was not a true "power down" and would interfere with accessing bootloader/fastboot mode if you tried to it from a "power off" condition (since in fact it wasn't truly powered off).
Again, it's irrelevant now, and you don't need to worry about that step at all.
---------- Post added at 09:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:00 AM ----------
Phalangioides said:
The guide is a bit inaccurate in this one. Turn off your phone, then press power and vol down - you should get into bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, the guide is a little incorrect on that step, and I hadn't caught that (error in the guide) before. Power+vol down to access bootloader, will only work when the phone is powered off.
To the OP, another method/trick to access bootloader:
1) While the phone is on, reboot the phone by holding down the power button, and select "reboot" (or restart, I forget exactly what it says)
2) Once the screen goes dark to reboot, but before the white HTC logo screen appears, hold down the vol down button. Don't let go until you see the white bootloader screen.
3) If the phone simply restart to OS, you simply got the timing wrong. You either started pressing vol down too late, or let go too early. Just repeat steps 1 and 2 until you get it right.
Another alternative, is to force a reboot by holding power+vol up. Again, once the screen goes dark to reboot, but before the HTC logo screen appears, hold the vol down button only. In this case, you simply let go of the power button, and slide your finger down to the vol down button, and don't let go until the bootloader screen appears. This method is handy to know, since it works in all cases when the phone is powered on, even of the phone is "frozen" or stuck not loading the OS.
Phalangioides said:
Select fastboot and when it gets into fastboot, plug in the usb, it should change to "fastboot usb" - or at least I think it was like this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the phone is already connected to the PC by USB cable before going to bootloader, it should default to fastboot mode once the bootloader is accessed.
Not sure if it will automatically switch to fastboot mode if you are in bootloader, then plug in the USB cable. But that may well be true (and would make sense).
In either case, if it's not in fastboot mode, simply select "fastboot" by using the vol buttons, and confirm the choice by pressing the power button. You should see "fastboot" highlighted in red near the top of the screen.

Phalangioides said:
Turn off your phone, then press power and vol down - you should get into bootloader. Select fastboot and when it gets into fastboot, plug in the usb, it should change to "fastboot usb" - or at least I think it was like this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wahay! That worked fine, thanks both. Hope you can appreciate, though, how scary it can be for somebody like me following instructions I don't really understand, when the expected thing doesn't happen – visions of bricks keep coming into my mind
OK, will practice these steps a few times till they’re 2nd nature. I have managed to retrieve my phone identifier thingy though

Roger465 said:
Hope you can appreciate, though, how scary it can be for somebody like me following instructions I don't really understand, when the expected thing doesn't happen – visions of bricks keep coming into my mind
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry, you won't brick this device with what you are doing (unlock bootloader, custom recovery & root). In fact, this device is very hard to brick. As long as the screen comes on, it can almost always be recovered.
Worst case, is that something goes wrong, and you can't boot the phone. Maybe you did something wrong, or maybe just some random event that was not fault of yours. And maybe it takes you an (hairpulling) hour to find the answer, and figure out what went wrong (or how to recover from the problem). But that pretty much happens to everyone who mods these devices from time to time. If you work IT, you've been there. Stressful, but hardly ever catastrophic.

Woo hoo! Got my unlock code. Now time for some more studying before I do anything drastic - specifically how to back up.
I think the HTC Sync Manager will handle most of it? My contacts are all on Google anyway... main worry is 2 years' progress on various King games

Roger465 said:
Now time for some more studying before I do anything drastic - specifically how to back up.
I think the HTC Sync Manager will handle most of it? My contacts are all on Google anyway... main worry is 2 years' progress on various King games
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use HTC Sync, personally. So I really don't know. I typically root my devices pretty soon after getting them, and therefore never had to use any no-root backup solutions (Titanium Backup is my go-to backup app, but requires root). A number of folks around these forums have suggested Helium for backing up app data when no rooted (and it was mentioned before on this thread).

redpoint73 said:
I don't use HTC Sync, personally. So I really don't know. I typically root my devices pretty soon after getting them, and therefore never had to use any no-root backup solutions (Titanium Backup is my go-to backup app, but requires root). A number of folks around these forums have suggested Helium for backing up app data when no rooted (and it was mentioned before on this thread).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah... it doesn't fill me with confidence. I'm sure I'd do exactly as you if it was rooted. I'll probably do it with several different backup apps, and hope that one of them will do it

Roger465 said:
Yeah... it doesn't fill me with confidence. I'm sure I'd do exactly as you if it was rooted. I'll probably do it with several different backup apps, and hope that one of them will do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first unlock bootloader will restore your phone. Cross your finger if the game data has been backed up. :fingers-crossed:

redpoint73 said:
I don't use HTC Sync, personally. So I really don't know. I typically root my devices pretty soon after getting them, and therefore never had to use any no-root backup solutions (Titanium Backup is my go-to backup app, but requires root). A number of folks around these forums have suggested Helium for backing up app data when no rooted (and it was mentioned before on this thread).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't play games so I can't really confirm all games are same.
On my experience transfering games data from one device to another (for nieces & nephews), the data is stored in internal storage android\data\games folder & android\obb\games folder. I copy these two out and transfer them to new device.
(Also check sdcard android folder)

Roger465 said:
Yeah... it doesn't fill me with confidence. I'm sure I'd do exactly as you if it was rooted. I'll probably do it with several different backup apps, and hope that one of them will do it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with the approach, make different backups and hope one or more works properly. Games and other apps don't all save data the same way, so no single approach will work in all cases.

Me again, sorry… shortly after that post, I dropped the thing and broke the screen. For one reason or another, I ended up getting a Samsung S6, which I’m quite happy with.
But I want to use the HTC as a spare/emergency phone – trouble is I can’t remember what I’ve done to it, apart from installing something which was recommended as part of my attempted rooting process.
When I switch it on I get the screen below – but no matter which option I select, it just seems to either switch it off or loop back to this screen.
I didn’t go any further than install whatever software it was that gives me this boot menu screen.
I’m no longer interested in rooting it etc – just went to restore it to factory settings and leave it.
Can anybody tell me how please…?
Thanks

Roger465 said:
I can’t remember what I’ve done to it, apart from installing something which was recommended as part of my attempted rooting process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Obviously, if you don't know what you did, it's hard for us to figure out as well.
The "LOCKED" banner at the top of the bootloader screen means the bootloader was never unlocked. So really, no actual mods were done to the phone by you.
All I can think, the "something" what you installed was possibly the Helium app (recommended by another user back up on this thread) which can be used to backup/restore your app data.
Roger465 said:
I didn’t go any further than install whatever software it was that gives me this boot menu screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what you're trying to say here. You'll need to be more specific (at least try) than "whatever software". Did you flash something to the phone? Or only installed something to your PC (drivers, fastboot, etc.).
We need to properly understood what you've done, before we can assist further.

redpoint73 said:
Obviously, if you don't know what you did, it's hard for us to figure out as well.
The "LOCKED" banner at the top of the bootloader screen means the bootloader was never unlocked. So really, no actual mods were done to the phone by you.
All I can think, the "something" what you installed was possibly the Helium app (recommended by another user back up on this thread) which can be used to backup/restore your app data.
I don't know what you're trying to say here. You'll need to be more specific (at least try) than "whatever software". Did you flash something to the phone? Or only installed something to your PC (drivers, fastboot, etc.).
We need to properly understood what you've done, before we can assist further.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah… sorry, I’m aware how unhelpful my post is. Unfortunately, it was a while ago now, life went tits up for quite a while, and the phone lay in a drawer, being a very low priority. I used to take it out occasionally and charge it up – it started normally.
The other day, I realised I hadn’t charged it in many months, so took it out, and sure enough it was completely dead – so I plugged it in, and it came up with the screen as posted. I let it charge for a couple of hours, then rebooted, and it came up that way again. No matter which option I select from the menu, it either just shuts down, or reboots to that screen.
I’m virtually certain I didn’t do anything other than enable the mode which lets you get to that boot screen, and that I didn’t get as far as flashing the phone or anything. Don't think I installed Helium - if I did, I didn't actually use it.
So it may just be that the phone has died from being left flat for so long… is that likely do you think?
Thanks and sorry again for the lack of info – I completely understand if you can’t help!

Roger465 said:
I’m virtually certain I didn’t do anything other than enable the mode which lets you get to that boot screen, and that I didn’t get as far as flashing the phone or anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, so it was somewhat confusing, as you said previously (twice) that you "installed" something. But I think you are just confused, thinking that installing something is necessary to get to the bootloader screen. Which it isn't, that screen is part of the bootloader, without which your device would be a paperweight. It will sometimes default to this screen by virtually no action of yours (except powering it on) in cases when the Android Operating System (OS) is missing or damaged. Or you can simply access the bootloader screen by holding the button combo power+vol down.
Roger465 said:
So it may just be that the phone has died from being left flat for so long… is that likely do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We've seen it a number of times, actually. The OS was probably corrupted or damaged by being powered off (battery dead) for so long. This condition is over recoverable, as long as the phone can power on, and you can get to bootloader (which you can).
You can restore the OS with the RUU (ROM Update Utility) tool. You can get the RUU, and instruction how to flash it from here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=64926626&postcount=6
Note: there is no need to lock the bootloader as the first part of the instructions say (your bootloader is still locked).

XT1710-01 Root Guide?

New to the Moto Z2 play, moved to this from a Z2 force on Verizon after the shattershield started peeling. Anyway, there seems to be a lot of conflicting information here, and i'm struggling to actually nail down the process for root. My bootloader is already unlocked, however between several different versions of TWRP, Retus based phones vs Albus, ability to unroot and update if the system is modified, rooting with or without disabling encryption, countless different variants with different procedures, etc. i'm a little overwhelmed. Can anyone point me in the right direction of rooting my device (hopefully) WITHOUT losing all my data?

StATicxTW0T said:
New to the Moto Z2 play, moved to this from a Z2 force on Verizon after the shattershield started peeling. Anyway, there seems to be a lot of conflicting information here, and i'm struggling to actually nail down the process for root. My bootloader is already unlocked, however between several different versions of TWRP, Retus based phones vs Albus, ability to unroot and update if the system is modified, rooting with or without disabling encryption, countless different variants with different procedures, etc. i'm a little overwhelmed. Can anyone point me in the right direction of rooting my device (hopefully) WITHOUT losing all my data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm about to buy the unlocked Moto Z2 Play from the Moto site (64GB variant... not sure of the model number) but have you checked out these threads?...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=75098899&postcount=40
https://forum.xda-developers.com/z2-play/how-to/guide-resource-help-thread-t3627615/page3

allstar21369 said:
I'm about to buy the unlocked Moto Z2 Play from the Moto site (64GB variant... not sure of the model number) but have you checked out these threads?...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=75098899&postcount=40
https://forum.xda-developers.com/z2-play/how-to/guide-resource-help-thread-t3627615/page3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did but they involve disabling encryption, which means having to wipe data everytime an update rolls around.
For those that see this in the future, I followed this guide, but used Magisk 13.3 and have working root, without having to wipe my data (bootloader already unlocked) https://gist.github.com/eexit/e6d5fc0984e1c7f25376d3dafa819792

StATicxTW0T said:
I did but they involve disabling encryption, which means having to wipe data everytime an update rolls around.
For those that see this in the future, I followed this guide, but used Magisk 13.3 and have working root, without having to wipe my data (bootloader already unlocked) https://gist.github.com/eexit/e6d5fc0984e1c7f25376d3dafa819792
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a rooted XT1710-01, also. If you are going to install Xposed and Gravity Box, I recommend not updating Magisk, above v14. After v15 and now v16, I have had issues with Automate It app and Tasker rules not working, until I uninstalled Xposed.
Downgrading Magisk versions requires flashing your stock ROM and basically starting over.
Motorola has not posted firmware for this model.

StATicxTW0T said:
I did but they involve disabling encryption, which means having to wipe data everytime an update rolls around.
For those that see this in the future, I followed this guide, but used Magisk 13.3 and have working root, without having to wipe my data (bootloader already unlocked) https://gist.github.com/eexit/e6d5fc0984e1c7f25376d3dafa819792
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So glad to see someone have it working and with a clear guide. I'm going to buy the phone this week.

StATicxTW0T said:
I did but they involve disabling encryption, which means having to wipe data everytime an update rolls around.
For those that see this in the future, I followed this guide, but used Magisk 13.3 and have working root, without having to wipe my data (bootloader already unlocked) https://gist.github.com/eexit/e6d5fc0984e1c7f25376d3dafa819792
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just wanted to let everyone know that the guide posted in that post worked for me perfectly. I had an XT1710-01 that I had unlocked the bootloader before but stopped there. Then I finally wanted to root it, and ran into everything the OP ran into - just so many different guides and versions of TWRP/Magisk not working with the Z2 Play, it was hard to nail down the exact versions of everything I needed and make sure I didn't flash an incompatible version or something. I found that same guide a few days ago as well but never did it until today, and can confirm it works. I already had my bootloader unlocked and just did the rooting portion and all my data was saved (but I wasn't too worried about my data honestly, it's all backed up anyway).
And a special thanks to OP for coming back and posting his solution. Nothing is more frustrating than searching for a problem online, finding a hit on your exact problem in a thread that was posted years ago, and then no solution is ever posted in that thread. So good job. :good:

Johmama said:
I just wanted to let everyone know that the guide posted in that post worked for me perfectly. I had an XT1710-01 that I had unlocked the bootloader before but stopped there. Then I finally wanted to root it, and ran into everything the OP ran into - just so many different guides and versions of TWRP/Magisk not working with the Z2 Play, it was hard to nail down the exact versions of everything I needed and make sure I didn't flash an incompatible version or something. I found that same guide a few days ago as well but never did it until today, and can confirm it works. I already had my bootloader unlocked and just did the rooting portion and all my data was saved (but I wasn't too worried about my data honestly, it's all backed up anyway).
And a special thanks to OP for coming back and posting his solution. Nothing is more frustrating than searching for a problem online, finding a hit on your exact problem in a thread that was posted years ago, and then no solution is ever posted in that thread. So good job. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just received my Z2 Play, unlocked the bootloader, and am about to flash the custom TWRP (albus_twrp.img) posted in the guide linked above... but the guide never says to "flash" TWRP, it just says to "boot" with TWRP and also "Enter your FBE password: it must work! (turn off screen and turn it back on if not responsive)"...
I'm not 100% sure what to do here. Should I boot TWRP first, do a full backup and then flash TWRP? I don't want to wipe it.
And what is this FBE (File-Based Encryption) password? I've never set one and don't want everything encrypted.

allstar21369 said:
I just received my Z2 Play, unlocked the bootloader, and am about to flash the custom TWRP (albus_twrp.img) posted in the guide linked above... but the guide never says to "flash" TWRP, it just says to "boot" with TWRP and also "Enter your FBE password: it must work! (turn off screen and turn it back on if not responsive)"...
I'm not 100% sure what to do here. Should I boot TWRP first, do a full backup and then flash TWRP? I don't want to wipe it.
And what is this FBE (File-Based Encryption) password? I've never set one and don't want everything encrypted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't flash TWRP on my phone. I think I tried it once and it failed for some reason, so I just followed the guide of booting into TWRP, backing up my phone, and pulling the backup. Should be okay for what I need, in case of a failure I will have a backup somewhere and can recover the device. But yes, I'd at least boot into TWRP, then backup your device like in that guide so you have a backup. Flashing it is up to you, I've always flashed a custom recovery but on this phone I'm keeping the original recovery so I can get an OTA. On my Nexus devices I don't care about OTA because I just flash ROMs all the time so it's no big deal.
The FBE password as far as I can tell is the 4 or 5 digit PIN number you are asked to input upon a fresh wipe of your device to set as a password. I have my phone set up to use my fingerprint to unlock the phone, and if that fails it will ask for my PIN, which is the same as the FBE of mine. I used that same number in TWRP when it asks for a password to unencrypt the data and it worked. As far as turning off encryption, I'm not sure if there's a way to do that. There could be, but to turn it off, it wipes your data as a security measure.

Johmama said:
so I just followed the guide of booting into TWRP, backing up my phone, and pulling the backup. Should be okay for what I need, in case of a failure I will have a backup somewhere and can recover the device. But yes, I'd at least boot into TWRP, then backup your device like in that guide so you have a backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I can't backup my ROM most likely because I don't have an FBE password. When I go to backup my ROM in TWRP it fails.
Johmama said:
The FBE password as far as I can tell is the 4 or 5 digit PIN number you are asked to input upon a fresh wipe of your device to set as a password. I have my phone set up to use my fingerprint to unlock the phone, and if that fails it will ask for my PIN, which is the same as the FBE of mine. I used that same number in TWRP when it asks for a password to unencrypt the data and it worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried entering my unlock code and the pin I created but neither worked for my FBE password. I don't ever remember being asked to enter a password when setting up my device. I suppose this means I'll have to wipe data and then setup an FBE password.

allstar21369 said:
I tried entering my unlock code and the pin I created but neither worked for my FBE password. I don't ever remember being asked to enter a password when setting up my device. I suppose this means I'll have to wipe data and then setup an FBE password.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it helps at all, the first time I tried it also didn't work for me and I did end up wiping my phone for other reasons before I came back and tried that guide again and it worked. I thought I set up the PIN they're talking about the first time around but I did have troubles in TWRP before the first wipe of my data. I would just boot up the phone regularly, plug it in to your computer, and try to grab any files you need and wipe it. I know that isn't the answer you're looking for, but it's all I can give I guess. Once you reset, hopefully they'll prompt you to make a PIN during the setup process and that should be the FBE password. Then follow the guide. I hope you get it man.
Oh, and to a note to you and everyone reading this, I booted to TWRP 3.2.1-0-albus and Magisk-v14.0. Dunno if it's just rumors or not but I heard the newer versions of Magisk might not work with the Z2 Play past version 14. Dunno if that's true but v14.0 worked for me.

Johmama said:
If it helps at all, the first time I tried it also didn't work for me and I did end up wiping my phone for other reasons before I came back and tried that guide again and it worked. I thought I set up the PIN they're talking about the first time around but I did have troubles in TWRP before the first wipe of my data. I would just boot up the phone regularly, plug it in to your computer, and try to grab any files you need and wipe it. I know that isn't the answer you're looking for, but it's all I can give I guess. Once you reset, hopefully they'll prompt you to make a PIN during the setup process and that should be the FBE password. Then follow the guide. I hope you get it man.
Oh, and to a note to you and everyone reading this, I booted to TWRP 3.2.1-0-albus and Magisk-v14.0. Dunno if it's just rumors or not but I heard the newer versions of Magisk might not work with the Z2 Play past version 14. Dunno if that's true but v14.0 worked for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay. I just wiped and re-set up everything and still no FBE password was asked for OR works when I go into TWRP. I'm using TWRP 3.1.1-0... I suppose I'll try it all again using TWRP 3.2.1-0-albus after deleting data.
*Edit: I did exactly what I just said I was doing booted TWRP 3.2.1-0-albus instead of 3.1.1-0 and when I it booted up and asked me for a decryption password I entered the pin I set up previously and it has been stuck at the "Mount, Trying Decryption" screen for a long time... but it's not frozen. It says "Updating partition details... ...done
Unable to mount storage
Full SELinux support is present.
Data successfully decrypted, new block device: '/dev
/block/dm-0'
Updating partition details...
...done"
And the progress bar/thing at the bottom is still animated like it's working... no forward or back buttons or anything and turning off/on the screen hasn't done anything... not really sure what to do here... I don't want to unplug it and brick my phone or force it off...
*Edit 2:
I now have it all sorted out.
TWRP never finished trying to decrypt data so I long pressed the power button and eventually went here -> https://forum.xda-developers.com/z2-play/development/twrp-moto-z2-play-t3729531 , downloaded "twrp_albus_3.1.2_r18_64.img" and in adb used the command:
fastboot boot twrp_albus_3.1.2_r18_64.img
This TWRP looks a bit different than all of the others but it let me boot up and use my recently created PIN code to actually decrypt my data and make a full backup. After that I just installed Magisk (the latest one, 16.4) as indicated in this guide -> https://gist.github.com/eexit/e6d5fc0984e1c7f25376d3dafa819792 and everything is fine. I never even flashed TWRP, just booted it.

Just curious what you guys have done about getting OTA updates since you've rooted and installed Magisk.
Have @allstar21369 or @pizza_pablo had the chance to figure out the update process?
I'm currently trying to navigate the Magisk uninstall --> OTA update process and could use some insight if either of you guys have any to share.

joefuf said:
Just curious what you guys have done about getting OTA updates since you've rooted and installed Magisk.
Have @allstar21369 or @pizza_pablo had the chance to figure out the update process?
I'm currently trying to navigate the Magisk uninstall --> OTA update process and could use some insight if either of you guys have any to share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't want updates, especially the oreo "upgrade".

pizza_pablo said:
I didn't want updates, especially the oreo "upgrade".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, didn't even think about just sticking on what works... Did Oreo give people some issues?
Since this was Day 1 with the new phone, I was just trying to get up to speed and probably sit on one version until I had compatibility issues with something, but everything just works.

joefuf said:
Hmm, didn't even think about just sticking on what works... Did Oreo give people some issues?
Since this was Day 1 with the new phone, I was just trying to get up to speed and probably sit on one version until I had compatibility issues with something, but everything just works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oreo hasn't come to the phone, when I decided I didn't want it, mostly because of the white background in the Quick Settings and I didn't want any of the other "improvements".
With this setup, I accept the risks of not having the security updates.

Double - double \_0_/

pizza_pablo said:
Oreo hasn't come to the phone, when I decided I didn't want it, mostly because of the white background in the Quick Settings and I didn't want any of the other "improvements".
With this setup, I accept the risks of not having the security updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel exactly the same way. No benefits for me. I don't want the bright white interface and I would never use the "Picture in Picture" (or floating video) feature (and if I did want that there are a couple apps for Nougat that do it).
But If I do decide I want it and give upgrading a shot I'll definitely post it here.

pizza_pablo said:
Oreo hasn't come to the phone, when I decided I didn't want it, mostly because of the white background in the Quick Settings and I didn't want any of the other "improvements".
With this setup, I accept the risks of not having the security updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, very understandable. It really is superfluous to the general experience.
allstar21369 said:
I feel exactly the same way. No benefits for me. I don't want the bright white interface and I would never use the "Picture in Picture" (or floating video) feature (and if I did want that there are a couple apps for Nougat that do it).
But If I do decide I want it and give upgrading a shot I'll definitely post it here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you sir! Keep me posted. I'm posting everywhere right now to learn the new methods so I know if there ever comes a time. This is my first phone since my Motorola Droid 4. Back then it was one click root, install and run Safestrap apk to get custom recovery, boot into custom recovery and flash zips to your heart's content. I'm sure this will be as "simple" once I learn, but it's pretty daunting in prospect.

General help with bootloader & flashing (coming from Sony phones)

Any help is greatly appreciated, I have no experience with Google phones, I was years into Sony.
I have just bought a Pixel 2 XL from a local shop in Greece, and of course, I want to root it and be able to install custom roms etc.
I have a few questions that I am searching everywhere recently and I would really appreciate if someone can make it clear to me:
1) I have read that you have to buy your phone from Google so you are able to unlock it? Can someone explain this to me? (My phone is not a specific carrier) How do I know if I am able to unlock my bootloader?
2)I have flashed roms and kernels in the past on my Sony phones, however I haven't really messed with the bootloader other than just unlocking it in the beginning. So now on the Pixel 2 XL I am reading so much about the unlock_critical vs the normal unlock, and I can admit I cannot understand the difference. Why does someone want to flash a bootloader? ( I do not understand what does "flash a bootloader" mean)
What I want to be able to do is flash custom roms, flash factory images to revert back to stock whenever I want, flash custom kernel, flash stock kernel, make a nandroid backup with twrp and restore a nandroid backup with twrp. That is all I want to be able to do without facing any errors with the bootloader,so do I need the unlock_critical ? And why?
3)If I unlock the bootloader with any of the two ways, am I able to re-lock it like nothing has happened? For example if the screen has dead pixels for some reason and I want to send it back for warranty but the bootloader is unlocked, can I lock it without it being logged? Or once unlocked, there is no going back to the warranty by re-locking? On many Sony phones we could do that.
4)If I unlock the bootloader and install TWRP I read that I will not be able to receive official updates from settings any more (OTA):
"NOTE #1: If you have mounted /system as rw at any point (like in TWRP), you must upgrade using the factory image method. OTAs will fail because they cannot verify the integrity of the disk since its verity data has been changed."
My question is, if I flash a stock image, does that get fixed? ( so if I flash 8.1.0 stock manually, will I be able to get an official update e.g. 9.0.0 from settings?)
Or if I just grab the stock boot.img of my current version of android and flash it with fastboot, then will I be able to get official updates from settings normally again?
5)Can I do the following on this order? :
Enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking
Unlock the bootloader (either critical or normal, whatever works)
Boot into Fastboot
Boot the twrp image from fastboot to the device
Flash the twrp zip to the phone to install TWRP
Flash the magisk zip so I root the device
Reboot and everything works? (Or do I need a custom kernel for TWRP or Magisk to work?)
Is there any issue you see with the above plan of mine?
6) Before I tweak my device in any way, is it okay if I update the device fully? So can I install any update available (OTA) and then unlock the bootloader and root etc? Or do I have to be on a specific version and not on the latest?
7)I have read something about 2 different slots on some flashing forums here, slot a and slot b, but it is not clear to me what that is. Does anyone know what that is? At which point may I face this?
Thank you very much.

A quick and not complete response to get you going
Plan 5 seems solid, unlock the bootloader to allow custom stuff. At boot you will get a warning screen to let you know.
I forgot if I only unlocked the bootloader or also the critical, try it etc.
Personally I never had to tinker with the A/B slots, within TWRP you can choose which to use.
Before Magisk, I used to flash another recovery like cwm or twrp but it is not required. You must however boot to twrp.img to flash the magisk zip.
As far as I know it is indeed the altering of the /system folder that denies future OTA (when using factory image). A manual flash (of future OTA) is easy but may require altering (removing) a switch command in the install.bat file to remove the -w (wipe).
As to the custom kernels, I never noticed the need and am running the latest v10 image with only Magisk flashed to get root.
My main goal is to get rid of ads. I use AdAway.
To get that to work in v10 you need to enable systemless host module im the Magisk manager app (reboot after).
A final feedback; when you get to sideload and need to get to recovery you may get the screen 'no command' or so; press volume-up and click power or power->click volume.
Let us know if you worked it etc!

arismelachrinos said:
Any help is greatly appreciated, I have no experience with Google phones, I was years into Sony.
I have just bought a Pixel 2 XL from a local shop in Greece, and of course, I want to root it and be able to install custom roms etc.
I have a few questions that I am searching everywhere recently and I would really appreciate if someone can make it clear to me:
1) I have read that you have to buy your phone from Google so you are able to unlock it? Can someone explain this to me? (My phone is not a specific carrier) How do I know if I am able to unlock my bootloader?
2)I have flashed roms and kernels in the past on my Sony phones, however I haven't really messed with the bootloader other than just unlocking it in the beginning. So now on the Pixel 2 XL I am reading so much about the unlock_critical vs the normal unlock, and I can admit I cannot understand the difference. Why does someone want to flash a bootloader? ( I do not understand what does "flash a bootloader" mean)
What I want to be able to do is flash custom roms, flash factory images to revert back to stock whenever I want, flash custom kernel, flash stock kernel, make a nandroid backup with twrp and restore a nandroid backup with twrp. That is all I want to be able to do without facing any errors with the bootloader,so do I need the unlock_critical ? And why?
3)If I unlock the bootloader with any of the two ways, am I able to re-lock it like nothing has happened? For example if the screen has dead pixels for some reason and I want to send it back for warranty but the bootloader is unlocked, can I lock it without it being logged? Or once unlocked, there is no going back to the warranty by re-locking? On many Sony phones we could do that.
4)If I unlock the bootloader and install TWRP I read that I will not be able to receive official updates from settings any more (OTA):
"NOTE #1: If you have mounted /system as rw at any point (like in TWRP), you must upgrade using the factory image method. OTAs will fail because they cannot verify the integrity of the disk since its verity data has been changed."
My question is, if I flash a stock image, does that get fixed? ( so if I flash 8.1.0 stock manually, will I be able to get an official update e.g. 9.0.0 from settings?)
Or if I just grab the stock boot.img of my current version of android and flash it with fastboot, then will I be able to get official updates from settings normally again?
5)Can I do the following on this order? :
Enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking
Unlock the bootloader (either critical or normal, whatever works)
Boot into Fastboot
Boot the twrp image from fastboot to the device
Flash the twrp zip to the phone to install TWRP
Flash the magisk zip so I root the device
Reboot and everything works? (Or do I need a custom kernel for TWRP or Magisk to work?)
Is there any issue you see with the above plan of mine?
6) Before I tweak my device in any way, is it okay if I update the device fully? So can I install any update available (OTA) and then unlock the bootloader and root etc? Or do I have to be on a specific version and not on the latest?
7)I have read something about 2 different slots on some flashing forums here, slot a and slot b, but it is not clear to me what that is. Does anyone know what that is? At which point may I face this?
Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) The reason for this is Google had an exclusivity contract to sell through the US cellular company, Verizon; much like the original Apple iPhone did (at first) with AT&T. And, for reasons that are most likely stupid, foolish, and unconvincing in its justifications, Verizon locks their device's bootloaders. So, not that it's "locked" or "unlocked" in terms of carriers, but more-so whether a device is "locked bootloader" or unlockable because it was purchased from Google (or elsewhere, but at least originally Google) and not from Verizon. If you're wondering further, getting it from Verizon would allow Verizon subscribers and customers to be able to "lease" and pay the Pixel off in increments with their usual cell phone bill; but it's not all too exclusive because Google offers to lease if you purchase from them also! The only caveat is you have to pass a credit check when leasing from Google; but, then again, you have to pass a credit check when signing up for a Verizon cell plan as well!
2) So, with my limited understanding between the difference between just a regular "unlock" and an "unlock_critical" is that it might be that a regular unlock allows you to get a R/W access (root access) to the various vital partitions (i.e. system, data [not to be confused with userdata], even boot to a degree) while unlock_critical allows you to straight modify and replace partitions (i.e. what would've been the recovery partition [but now there's no such thing and recovery just resides in the boot partition], the whole system & data partition to have/run custom ROMs, bootloading screen, etc.). But it all is rather convoluted that Google probably agreed and, so you can/should be aware, they updated things within the past few months (I'm guessing June or July) where they rid the need to "unlock_critical" and bootloaders that are newer than a certain point/month no longer needs that fastboot command to unlock the bootloader and everything else in order to flash custom anythings...
3) Okay, so here's a very tricky thing to this.... Technically, yes you can relock the bootloader as well as there have been many who have successfully done so; BUT there are so many more that have COMPLETELY and permanently bricked their device attempting to do so and most (if not all) the experts here would advise anyone to just leave well enough alone. But, if it is insisted and must be, the way to do it is to remove all Magisk modules (because, for whatever reason, these modules can survive a complete flashing of a Full Factory stock image), run a Full Factory image where the flash-all command is left intact (meaning “-w” is unedited; I’ll go more into this later), running it through the initial set up process, then (for good measure, this step might not be at all absolutely necessary) switch slots and run the flash-all command on the other slot, running the initial set up process again, then rebooting to Bootloader Mode and running the fastboot locking command, then unticking (if wished and insisted) unticking the OEM unlocking. Again, a word of warning, that so many have relocked the bootloader and unticked the OEM unlocking which allows the unlocking of the bootloader, then find that their device goes into a bootloop; and since they had just locked the bootloader in 2/all different ways, it leaves rescuing the device with all but the fewest options – usually because it’s forgotten in one way or another returning all of the device back to stock.
If anything, what has been said around these forums is that, if returning to Google, there hasn’t been an (proven) instance that Google refused to repair/replace it because it had its bootloader unlocked. But it’s usually for that fear or re-selling the device in which this is usually sought; but in most (if not all) cases (the experts here figure), having the bootloader unlocked would be refused or looked down upon.
4) So, most of what you assumed here is correct; but may be a bit misguided due to not knowing some things – which, of course, can be expected since you had just said you just moved to this device from a totally different manufacturer (Sony). If you are rooted (Magisk), there is absolutely no way you can update via the regular System Update from an OTA from within the Settings in the OS. And even having just an unlocked bootloader will cause OTAs to not work -- but there are conflicting reports stating differently, but I, personally, am under the understanding that even at that point you cannot.
But here’s the key thing; there really isn’t any reason to install updates by download and using OTAs anyways. Most (if not all) the experts here actually forego the OTAs and merely download the Full Factory stock images from Google’s Developers website and flash those. Here’s the reason; in the “olden days”, flashing a stock Full Factory image would erase absolutely everything and return the device to a complete factory state. But Google, in their “infinite wisdom”, allowed it to be possible to flash this but still withhold and save/keep all of one’s apps, settings, and data – essentially leaving both device data and userdata untouched! This is achieved by simply editing a batch file called “flash-all.bat” (or “flash-all.sh” for Linux and MacOS) and removing the 3 characters “-w” (3rd character would be a space “character”) from within its code. In this manner, OTAs can be considered a “dirty flash” because, while a Full Factory will completely overwrite (I could be wrong, but I believe it erases and formats it) the system, radio, bootloader, boot, etc., which would/should take care of any erroneous bugs or glitches, while OTA’s do not necessarily do this and just “modifies” the existing data; and therefore bugs and glitches may still remain being more on the root of things and/or OTAs would just modify “on top” or elsewhere where those glitches may reside.
And in either/both cases, one would still be required to reflash/reinstall everything root.
But, if insisted, there are multiple methods to achieve a state where you can run an OTA; either downloading an OTA image from Google and manually flashing it (“sideloading”), or unrooting temporarily to be able to use & download the regular System Updater (can be found HERE : https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/blob/master/docs/tutorials.md#ota-installation under the “Devices with A/B Partitions” which is my preferred method if I was to do this sort of thing, but I have never done this so I’m unsure if it even is successful in our device). I even wrote out an in-depth and step-by-step guide, but it is rather convoluted and was written in the beginnings of our taimen and there are most likely more updated methods now; but if you want to check it out, you can HERE.
But, to answer your questions directly; No, flashing the stock image will not allow you to user the stock System Updater; although there are conflicting reports, I am under the impression that anything other than a locked bootloader will allow the stock System Updater to work.
5)More correctly, you boot into “Bootloader Mode” to be able to use the “fastboot” commands. And no, you do not need to permanently flash a custom recovery (TWRP), a custom kernel, or anything else to achieve root – although I do highly recommend it – as you can temporarily boot into TWRP (by downloading the TWRP image file (*.img) and install Magisk in that manner – I do not suggest you root/install Magisk using the app. Other people have had success, but many (most?) have issues that you wouldn’t run into if you installed it via TWRP – but here’s a key thing; no matter what you intend to flash and install, unless you need to have root for it to already be installed, you should always flash Magisk last. Moreso, as the great Az Biker of ‘round thes’ parts greatly suggests, you should even reboot to bootloader after each and every flash separately. Explanation is, for whatever reason and even though many claim to be able to “detect” and modify their flash for an already modified boot and dtbo (where modifications must happen for root access), most don’t play well with Magisk and Magisk must modify the boot and dtbo after all other modifications or else problems can arise (or at least it has for me).
Just keep these things in mind, but, for the most part, your “order” of things will do well enough. Again, just keep in mind that if you are going to install a custom recovery or kernel, try to do that before Magisk as well as if you can avoid it, don’t use the Magisk app to install or manually flash any boot.img if you can help it.
6)No, you don’t have to stick to a specific version; it might even be suggested to update it stock before doing anything. BUT (of course there is a caveat), consider this; many things (especially anything root and specifically TWRP) aren’t really “playing nice” with Android Q/10; so, if you update and go to the most up to date, but don’t wish to run into those glitches/bugs and wish to “hold off” (like I am, actually and for the same reasoning), then of course you should only go up to August (I believe that was the last before the upgrade to Q/10) Full Factory.
7) There are many great resources on the information on having the 2 different slots; I apologize if I can’t recall where I even saw them – other members (maybe an RC or Mod even) input a URL to read and I can’t for the life of me recall where it possibly could be. But, for the most part, you would really only run into identifying and manually changing to a specific one if you were attempting to rescue or deeply modify your device; I can say that me and the great @Az Biker have never felt the necessity to manually change or choose a certain, specific slot. And, my guess, is that, because the coding and flashing output when running the Full Factory states something about “system_other” or a “system_b”, but while the main system can be close to 3GB, the system_other is closer to 300MB, and that boot, dtbo, vendor, and something called lafb has a “_b” partition, I’m thinking it’s something as a safety or backup, maybe something like what used to be in old laptops a sort of RAM to help load things up faster. In any case, it seems that going from one to the other, a to b or vice-versa, doesn’t seem to be too key or much of a hassle, so….take that for what you will.
Alright…hopefully I was able to answer all your inquiries. And, if you have any more, please feel free to ask them…that’s what we’re all about here. And I know I can run on and get wordy, so thank you for bearing with me with all of this.
I mean, it’s really good to have a user/member who really does their research, reading, and due diligence before getting into their new device; there are so many instances here and in my own experience where the “…if I only knew that beforehand…” would be supremely helpful, and supremely easier on everyone else! So that’s to be commended and reinforced…!
Hope this helps and welcome to your Pixel and this taimen forum!

I really cannot thank you enough for your time. I truly appreciate it very much.
1) Very clear.
2) Do you happen to have a link or do you know how to check if my phone supports unlock_critical? How can I check if I have that newer bootloader? Or do you remember where did you learn this?
3) Thank you so much about that. Very clear aand you just saved my phone
4) Very clear.
5) Thank you for the info! Interesting, I was searching on how to root the device running Android 10 (I have fully updated and I really am not going back to Android 9 ), and I saw that you have to patch your boot.img with the Magisk app, and then flash it with fastboot. So first you get the factory image from google and you extract the boot.img and insert it to the phone. Then you load it into Magisk app and patch it. Then moving the patched to the PC, booting to bootloader and flash it on boot partition. This is the way I saw on how to get root working fine with Android 10, not sure if it is the best method or the worst.
6) What do you mean with "go up to August"? Do you mean that the "oldest" image I can flash is "9.0.0 (PQ3A.190801.002, Aug 2019)"? So one cannot go back to 8.0.0 and Google has done something to prevent us from doing that? Also, if I wanted to go back to that August image or any "compatible", the procedure is just to run the flash-all.bat file of that image?
I used to experement a lot with custom roms, custom kernels and mods with my Sony devices, but that was mainly because I wanted stock android and some more features. The thing is that I have almost anything I need with this device, with some minor wishes. So I can leave without flashing custom roms and kernels, but I wanted to just root and at least install Adaway(!!!!!! I cannot leave with those ads!!!!!!), Titanium Backup and some other similar root apps that don't really do any harm. Have you tried rooting Android 10 and it was unusable? Do you suggest that it is not really worth it? The thing is that I love Android 10, the gestures and all the features, and I could not go back to Android 9, even though I only used the phone for a week, I am used to it and really like the way it currently is.
7)Hmm okay so I should not really mess with that. Maybe as I saw online, when flashing stock or unrooting, it is best to flash the same thing to both a and b slots, seems a bit complicated but whatever
Thank you for being so helpful!!

arismelachrinos said:
I really cannot thank you enough for your time. I truly appreciate it very much.
1) Very clear.
2) Do you happen to have a link or do you know how to check if my phone supports unlock_critical? How can I check if I have that newer bootloader? Or do you remember where did you learn this?
3) Thank you so much about that. Very clear aand you just saved my phone
4) Very clear.
5) Thank you for the info! Interesting, I was searching on how to root the device running Android 10 (I have fully updated and I really am not going back to Android 9 ), and I saw that you have to patch your boot.img with the Magisk app, and then flash it with fastboot. So first you get the factory image from google and you extract the boot.img and insert it to the phone. Then you load it into Magisk app and patch it. Then moving the patched to the PC, booting to bootloader and flash it on boot partition. This is the way I saw on how to get root working fine with Android 10, not sure if it is the best method or the worst.
6) What do you mean with "go up to August"? Do you mean that the "oldest" image I can flash is "9.0.0 (PQ3A.190801.002, Aug 2019)"? So one cannot go back to 8.0.0 and Google has done something to prevent us from doing that? Also, if I wanted to go back to that August image or any "compatible", the procedure is just to run the flash-all.bat file of that image?
I used to experement a lot with custom roms, custom kernels and mods with my Sony devices, but that was mainly because I wanted stock android and some more features. The thing is that I have almost anything I need with this device, with some minor wishes. So I can leave without flashing custom roms and kernels, but I wanted to just root and at least install Adaway(!!!!!! I cannot leave with those ads!!!!!!), Titanium Backup and some other similar root apps that don't really do any harm. Have you tried rooting Android 10 and it was unusable? Do you suggest that it is not really worth it? The thing is that I love Android 10, the gestures and all the features, and I could not go back to Android 9, even though I only used the phone for a week, I am used to it and really like the way it currently is.
7)Hmm okay so I should not really mess with that. Maybe as I saw online, when flashing stock or unrooting, it is best to flash the same thing to both a and b slots, seems a bit complicated but whatever
Thank you for being so helpful!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It’s really my pleasure! And I’m just as thankful that you/anyone would even go through the trouble of reading all of that…!
1) Thank you for the compliment
2)Usually, if your bootloader version is within a certain version – which you can find when in bootloader mode – then you either do or do not need unlock_critical. I can’t remember how many months prior to Android 10/Q, it was within 6 I believe, so any bootloader version from 5 or 6 months ago to now, and obviously if you’re on 10/Q, you would not need to run the command unlock_critical. But, if anything, you don’t have to have any fear of it, whether you need to or not, or don’t know your bootloader version, running the “fastboot flashing unlock_critical” when you don’t need to will just amount to a simple error and nothing bad will happen. And if it does end up doing something, well, then that’s a good thing. It almost amounts to unlock_critical-ing twice, the second on will just state that it’s already unlocked and that’s it.
If anything, I believe I found the resource here from the great Az Biker: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78908055&postcount=2843
If you are very curious, it should address much of what you’re seeking and/or at least point you to where you might find that information.
3) You’re very welcome. It really is a good thing that saves you in the future, and saves those who try to help some grief as well.
4) Thank you for the compliment.
5) I would say that the process you described is certainly doable, but is far from the best/easiest. From my experience helping many here on this forum, many bugs or things go wrong when loading the stock boot.img to the phone, having Magisk modify it, then getting the modified boot.img and successfully flashing it. More often than not, one ends up having a device turn into a boot loop and are usually forced to flash the stock boot.img and have to give it a number of tries.
The best way (subjectively) is to download the Magisk installation .zip. Then boot into TWRP (which doesn’t mean you have to replace the stock recovery since you can temporarily boot into it), and “Install” it using the .zip. Then everything is automated and done for you, if anything goes wrong you have an output log you can use to troubleshoot, but it seems best to leave it to the experts who created all this than us manually attempting to ourselves.
Oh and AFAIK this method still works on Android 10/Q as it has for Pie and Oreo.
6) I meant that, if you did not wish to update to 10/Q, then you shouldn’t do anything newer than from August’s security update/patch, since all the Full Factory images and updates are of 10/Q. But, if you go to Google’s Developers site, you’ll see that they pretty much list and make available all the Full Factory images ever published; to the point that there are some that go back to Oreo!
And everything you’ve said is understandable. And I kinda feel the same way. For me, in my humble opinion, it is supremely good idea to root and for whatever issues you get doing that, the returns are incalculable. It is most definitely worth it/rooting! The extra options and customizations and modifications all make it worth while and more! And, even if rooting gives the capability of rendering the device rather unusable, take confidence in that Google, in all their “infinite wisdom”, gave us “Bootloader Mode”…and pretty much, as long as you can get into Bootloader Mode and successfully connect to a computer, your phone would never be considered too far lost/gone. I’ve only witnessed that be opposite on less than a handful of cases.
But, most importantly, and if you have been in the rooting and ROMing game, you should well know this, but the most vital part of having root access is the ability to make the best backups! So, as long as you make sure to backup (Nandroid is best) and key times, running into some pitfalls here and there shouldn’t take you all the way out of the game….
7) Yeah…I mean, it is rather fascinating, and when up against an issue and you have an idea that deals with it, that’s when you can read up and learn about it and experiment I imagine. But for me and one of the great ones here in all of XDA, we’ve done all the custom ROM, custom recovery, custom kernel, Full Factory recover, root, Magisk modules, theming, Xposed, and countless other things, and all without the need to ever mess with manually or forcing an assignment between the two.
Again, it’s my pleasure. And if you any further questions or thoughts, bring them on! I’d be happy to address them…
Hope these are helpful….

Thank you all very much! I am pretty busy these days so once I find some time I will do more research and root it.
@simplepinoi177
I am not sure if your paypal address works, I felt like buying you a coffee earlier, the least I could do with all the time you spent explaining

Oh forgot to ask some minor things,
to make a nandroid backup, I just send twrp.img via fastboot to the phone and boot into it and make it? And if I want to revert back I do the same and restore it?
Also if TWRP asks me the question about if I want to enable modification to the system, what do I answer? Either for the nandroid backup, the restore or for flashing magisk.zip? Do any of those require that enabled?
Lastly, I understood that just unlocking the bootloader alone can result in no OTAs. But, will I keep getting the security updates? I heared something about security updates that are frequently available from the playstore or something like that but I have the phone for less than a week and haven't gotten anything. No OTAs mean no security updates as well? Or they are irrelevant and I will keep getting those security updates once rooted?

arismelachrinos said:
Oh forgot to ask some minor things,
to make a nandroid backup, I just send twrp.img via fastboot to the phone and boot into it and make it? And if I want to revert back I do the same and restore it?
Also if TWRP asks me the question about if I want to enable modification to the system, what do I answer? Either for the nandroid backup, the restore or for flashing magisk.zip? Do any of those require that enabled?
Lastly, I understood that just unlocking the bootloader alone can result in no OTAs. But, will I keep getting the security updates? I heared something about security updates that are frequently available from the playstore or something like that but I have the phone for less than a week and haven't gotten anything. No OTAs mean no security updates as well? Or they are irrelevant and I will keep getting those security updates once rooted?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, about booting TWRP...
You can temporarily boot into TWRP just the one time if you wish. If you are using the newest version of TWRP (for the Pixel 2), they actually give an option to flash and replace the recovery with TWRP from within their recovery environment; I'm guessing they use the temporarily booted twrp.img to install. In any case, you can find the option in the Install section. In any case, it's up to you whether you install it as your custom recovery, but it's easy enough to restore it back to stock recovery either by manually flashing the stock boot.img (and maybe dtbo.img for good measure, as I'm unsure...) and/or if you update your device via a Full Factory (or even a downloaded OTA) image, as that will update and replace the boot partition regardless...
So, about the alert for enabling modification to the system; In the past, I had always enabled it. Of course you would want to have r/w and mounting capabilities towards the device's system and data partitions. But keep this in mind...until the TWRP team updates the latest version, there is no write capabilities/permissions. It will pull up an error that it either can't mount or doesn't write -- For this reason, I'm holding off so I don't have firsthand experience... -- but installing and flashing and backing up from within TWRP does work even if it spits up some errors. What you should be careful about is if/when it asks to install it as a "system service" or something, as general consensus says at no circumstance should you do this as it "forks" up many other things while at it.
But, to answer your question directly, I'm unsure whether you can or cannot install Magisk root or restoring without enabling this "modification" capability, but I say it can't hurt.....
As for your inquiries on OTAs, as I understand it (so anyone please correct me if I'm wrong), but the monthly security updates come with the OTAs (also monthly, so I believe they may be one in the same). I'm unsure about the whole seeing the security updates on the Play Store or something like that, but I highly doubt that is the case. Conventional knowledge says that you can only get these either from the stock System Updater or if you download them yourself and either sideload or "flash-all" it. That's why many (most) experts will download the Full Factory image every month (usually first Monday of the month) and we have this whole step-by-step process in updating platform-tools, unregistering Magisk modules and screenlocks/fingerprints, running the flash-all, temporarily booting TWRP, installing all custom modifications (Magisk last), rebooting after each and every flash/install, then going back into the OS and resetting up the screenlock/fingerprints and Magisk modules. As it would be nice if we could simply and always use the stock System Updater, but in any case, one would need to re-install all the custom modifications anyways. So, it is one of the sacrifices/compromises having a rooted Pixel 2….
But it is peculiar that you haven’t gotten any alert (unless you inadvertently updated to the latest already), for it still should alert you that there is an update available, and usually, if you have unlocked your bootloader, while it’s downloading and attempting to install, it will throw up an error; but everything would look like normal up to that point. But, then again, Google notifying updates on their various devices are intermittent at best. It would be simpler and best if you just keep it in mind that there’s usually the monthly update on/after the first Monday of the month and do what we all do and have to manually install the updates to keep most up to date.
If there’s anything else, you know you can ask…
Good luck and hope this helps…!

I'm on 10 with an unlocked bootloader, 1st gen Pixel. I still get security updates. Twrp doesn't mount /system or /vendor, so I take system/vendor IMAGE backups with no issue. Not sure if I'll get updates still after unrooting. I've always flashed factory after rooting. Theoretically it should return to stock if you flash the Magisk uninstaller. The boot image (boot + recovery + base system) will be restored. You should then be able to get OTA updates. They will be installed to the OTHER slot, so if the phone fails to boot (3 times?) it will switch back to the first slot. If you have issues and want to go back, you can manually switch slots in fastboot or go into twrp, tap reboot, tap the other slot, then reboot system. It will show a message that the slot has changed. You can of course always check the active slot in fastboot to make sure. If you want to roll back an OTA update, reboot to twrp, change the active slot, then reboot system, and it should boot to the older version. Make sure to turn off automatic updates or else it will redownload the same update again. I believe I've lost twrp by installing an OTA update, which installs to the inactive slot, which overwrites recovery, and then boots to that slot. Meaning if you don't have a pc to switch slots in fastboot, you can't go back to the first slot which still has twrp. The command is fastboot set_active, something like that. Quick google search.. No pc means no restore if something goes wrong while you're away from a computer. The only way I know of to change slots at that point is to hard reset 3 times, which will trigger the phone to switch slots. ALWAYS reboot after flashing bootloader/radio. I'm decently sure that the bootloader has to match the system, so if you install lineage Pie, you need to flash the bootloader/radio from Pie or the phone won't boot. Flash bootloader, reboot, flash radio, reboot, flash matching rom. It is technically possible to have dual boot, where one slot is lineage and the other is stock, as long as they're the same Android versions. Lineage Pie/stock Pie for example, because the bootloader won't match if you flash Lineage Oreo/stock Pie. Keep in mind OTAs will overwrite twrp with stock recovery, so if you reboot, you might lose access to twrp, and I don't know of a way to OTA and reboot on the same slot. I don't know if there is an app or command for this, WHICH WOULD BE REALLY FREAKING NICE. Also, when restoring boot from twrp, I always reflash twrp to make sure. It will install to both slots. You can keep a copy of twrp on your data partition. To reflash twrp from within twrp, Install > Select Image > find twrp.img > flash to RAMDISK. If you flash to boot, it will overwrite system, and leave you with only twrp. When installing in older twrp's, I believe it will install to the same slot. With newer twrp's that specifically support Treble, it will flash to the other slot. Don't quote me on that. Due to the single data partition, there's a chance Lineage will have issues with stock data. I've never seen it though. I've dirty flashed a couple times with few issues. I think I've even dirty flashed different OS versions. If you get app crashes, open that app's info, delete its storage/cache, and reopen the app. Most of the app data is the same across versions anyway. The Pixel is a complete pain in the ass when coming from non Treble phones. Sorry if this is repeated info, the posts above are LONG lol. Hope this helps.
Edit- not sure if relevant to you, but I get bootloops when flashing twrp to the ramdisk. There should be an option in twrp to fix it. I always do this after flashing twrp this way.

How to install LineageOS on the Mi 10T Lite

Hey guys, if you're a noob or you haven't flashed a custom ROM to an android device since the likes of the Galaxy S2 like me, this guide is made for you!
Disclaimer: I am by no means taking credit for any links posted, credits to the creators of anything mentioned! And a special thank you to the creators of the TWRP and the ROM, hopefully development will grow for such an awesome device! I am not responsible if you brick your device (by not following my tutorial :/)
The only complaints I have about this ROM is the camera quality but install the GCAM port for the Mi10T Lite, it may help!
You will need:
A Mi10T Lite (duh) or any other supported device with MIUI Installed (Android 10)
A SD card
A laptop with fastboot installed ( [OFFICIAL][TOOL][WINDOWS] ADB, Fastboot and Drivers - 15 seconds ADB Installer v1.4.3 | XDA Developers Forums (xda-developers.com) )
A Mi account
TWRP (https://www.mediafire.com/file/qaea...0I_3.5.A10_05-01-2021_BL-L-fixsdcard.img/file)
The ROM (https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/rom-unofficial-10-0-gauguin-lineageos-17-1.4224633/)
GApps (I used this one: Download NikGapps from SourceForge.net)
B*lls
First (Ignore this if you already unlocked your bootloader):
Download MiFlash_Unlock (http://miuirom.xiaomi.com/rom/u1106245679/4.5.813.51/miflash_unlock-en-4.5.813.51.zip)
Make sure you have a Mi account and a SIM
Go to settings, enable developer options
Once you have done this, go to developer options (additional settings, scroll down)
Enable OEM Unlocking
Enable USB Debugging (not sure if this is necessary but I like to have it enabled anyway)
Click on Mi Unlock status and add your account, remember your details! (You may need to sign out and sign back in again)
It should say account linked to device successfully or something along those lines
Grab a cable (the included cable worked for me but other cables didn't)
OPTIONAL: YOU MAY WANT TO BACK UP ALL OF YOUR DATA
Open MiFlash_Unlock which you previously downloaded and connect your phone in fastboot mode (if it doesn't show up follow this tutorial: Fixed: Fastboot not detecting your Android device (qasimtricks.com) )
Click on unlock device! It should automatically reboot when it's done
Complete the set-up process, input your Mi account details and you should be good to go!
Enable developer options again and enable USB debugging
Installing TWRP (Ignore this if you already have TWRP installed!):
Turn off your device and boot into fastboot, connect and verify that it is connected by opening command prompt then typing "fastboot devices", it should show up
Point command prompt to the folder where your TWRP is downloaded (if it is located in downloads, type cd c:/users/(your username)/downloads
Then type fastboot flash recovery "twrp".img (replace "twrp" with the name of the recovery installed)
It should say successful, then type fastboot reboot and hold volume up + power
You've booted into TWRP! Hooray!
If it asks for the password to decrypt put it in, if it doesn't then no worries
You will notice that your internal storage is encrypted, not to worry!
Installing the ROM:
Connect your phone to your laptop (it can be in TWRP) and move the ROM to your SD card
Boot into TWRP if you haven't already, click wipe, advanced wipe and wipe Dalvik Cache/ART, Data and Cache
Once this has completed, go to install, then change the storage to SD Card
Locate the ROM file and swipe to flash!
Once the flash has completed, DO NOT REBOOT
Go to wipe and click format data, then type yes
Reboot to system! Done!
Installing GApps (Optional):
Move the GApps file provided to your phone
Boot to TWRP
It will prompt you to enter your passcode, this will decrypt the internal storage!
Click on install and locate GApps, swipe and flash!
Reboot
Congratulations! You have installed the first custom ROM made specifically for the device You can install Magisk if you want, I'm in the UK and my metro bank app didn't work but by using Magisk hide and changing the name of the Magisk manager everything worked (hide every Google app)
Enjoy! I hope you found this useful

thanks, after installing it can i go back to stock with locked bootloader?

jeuxtype said:
thanks, after installing it can i go back to stock with locked bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you can using xiaomi flash tool

Might want to confirm when to install gapps as if it's done after a boot it's not going to work!

Chari69 said:
yes you can using xiaomi flash tool
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so it's safe to flash lineage, i want to use it but i need to get back to stock to watch netflix and for google pay?

jeuxtype said:
so it's safe to flash lineage, i want to use it but i need to get back to stock to watch netflix and for google pay?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes its safe, download the stock fastboot ROM online and use miFlash as mentioned, before you start flashing make sure the setting at the bottom right of the app is set to wipe + lock, I've already done it once and it worked fine

benfleet5 said:
Might want to confirm when to install gapps as if it's done after a boot it's not going to work!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, that's awfully weird. When I tried flashing alongside the ROM I kept getting an error, but after I booted and done initial set up and tried installing it worked fine

Good guide a++++

deanlee121 said:
Good guide a++++
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Dean!

Google pay works on this?

Xts7 said:
Google pay works on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah just changed the magisk package name, enabled magisk hide and used gpay sqlite fix and it was all working. Metro Bank worked too

The only thing I'd say is that Open GApps Micro is the package you want to install; anything larger won't fit in the system partition - you get an Error 70! JT

jdtanner said:
The only thing I'd say is that Open GApps Micro is the package you want to install; anything larger won't fit in the system partition - you get an Error 70! JT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, I've just been made aware that that works too, but NikkGapps also works! Also, ArrowOS comes pre-built with GApps and it's better imo, only thing is bluetooth audio doesn't work and the speaker crackles occasionally.

fizzy900 said:
Hey, I've just been made aware that that works too, but NikkGapps also works! Also, ArrowOS comes pre-built with GApps and it's better imo, only thing is bluetooth audio doesn't work and the speaker crackles occasionally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Waiting until these bugs are sorted before trying that ROM. Bluetooth and general audio are fairly important to me

jdtanner said:
Waiting until these bugs are sorted before trying that ROM. Bluetooth and general audio are fairly important to me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same somewhat lol, its annoying but thank God my headphones have a 3.5mm jack too!

Thanks for the guide, I recently got a redmi note 9 pro 5g from chinaland shipped to the uk then followed this guide pretty much, but instead of going twrp and lineage I went Orangefox and Arrow OS
I wasn't sure how all would go so was grateful of the guide as my first flashing on the new beasty..
I used this guide + info from the arrow thread before I jumped in..
just for info's it worked flawlessly
Steps I did
1. Unlocked bootloader ofcourse
2. installed Orangefox via fastboot
3. flashed latest version of china android 10 from sdcard (no reboot)
4. flashed arrow OS android 11 from sdcard
5. wiped data
To my amazement it booted first go and real fast like in under 5min!
can somebody explain why we need to wipe data after flashing ? surely wiping data means wiping ? but I guess it is not somehow wiping the good flash data..?
Where does all the data go when I flashed the first chinarom and why is it required to flash chinarom first ?
I have one bug bar the odd crackle, has anyone else noticed keyboard issues ? When i type sometimes it shows up backwards
ie google will appear as elgoog ?
I tried swiftkey keyboard + changing languages still the issue persists..
Thanks again @ Fizzy900

Jonny5isalivetm said:
Thanks for the guide, I recently got a redmi note 9 pro 5g from chinaland shipped to the uk then followed this guide pretty much, but instead of going twrp and lineage I went Orangefox and Arrow OS
I wasn't sure how all would go so was grateful of the guide as my first flashing on the new beasty..
I used this guide + info from the arrow thread before I jumped in..
just for info's it worked flawlessly
Steps I did
1. Unlocked bootloader ofcourse
2. installed Orangefox via fastboot
3. flashed latest version of china android 10 from sdcard (no reboot)
4. flashed arrow OS android 11 from sdcard
5. wiped data
To my amazement it booted first go and real fast like in under 5min!
can somebody explain why we need to wipe data after flashing ? surely wiping data means wiping ? but I guess it is not somehow wiping the good flash data..?
Where does all the data go when I flashed the first chinarom and why is it required to flash chinarom first ?
I have one bug bar the odd crackle, has anyone else noticed keyboard issues ? When i type sometimes it shows up backwards
ie google will appear as elgoog ?
I tried swiftkey keyboard + changing languages still the issue persists..
Thanks again @ Fizzy900
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey bro, nice glad you enjoyed! So you have to format data after flashing a custom ROM from what I know in order to remove encryption, if you don't it'll show your internal files in a strange way and if you further tinker with it and do something it might stop you from installing apps full stop (happened to me cause I was being a tw*t lol). You need to flash the latest stock firmware (if the ROM requires you to) so you get the latest vendors which work with the custom ROM, although I believe there is a method to just flash vendor images themselves (fastboot flash vendor nameofvendorfile.img).
Yeah so arrowOS has notification crackles for some reason, most of the bugs are audio related (BT audio doesn't work either).
My typing was backwards too sometimes, it's because you're touching the fingerprint slightly which goes to the first element on a page or something (when you're typing it goes to the start of the box where you enter text). To understand what I mean go onto your launcher and tap the fingerprint scanner, it should highlight something.
I just flashed dotOS from arrow, works a charm! No audio related bugs afaik and BT audio works (lifesaver, phew).
Any other questions feel free to drop me a message on Telegram, @stillw0rking.
Take care! Also how in the world did you import the device from China hahahaha

epic fast reply!
<3
ahha the fingerprint!! I was wondering why I got random white box appearing on my home screen (and at random times) can it be disabled ?
So we got another rom already lol how excellent, I would like a rom that is stripped to the bone so we can install what we like, aka the least amount of crap running in the backround the merrier I am
Yea I just ordered from one of the china phone shops, got a note 9 pro 5g for £ 211 including postage, when I saw the price I just had to buy even tho my trusty oneplus 3t is still fine but but had the upgrade bug hehe, was from giztop, risked the custom charge and succeeded haha
Finally thanks for explaining the Encryption bit, yes I did read that but it seemed to go in one ear...
Guessing you are on the mainland somewhere, Greetings from across the pond

Jonny5isalivetm said:
epic fast reply!
<3
ahha the fingerprint!! I was wondering why I got random white box appearing on my home screen (and at random times) can it be disabled ?
So we got another rom already lol how excellent, I would like a rom that is stripped to the bone so we can install what we like, aka the least amount of crap running in the backround the merrier I am
Yea I just ordered from one of the china phone shops, got a note 9 pro 5g for £ 211 including postage, when I saw the price I just had to buy even tho my trusty oneplus 3t is still fine but but had the upgrade bug hehe, was from giztop, risked the custom charge and succeeded haha
Finally thanks for explaining the Encryption bit, yes I did read that but it seemed to go in one ear...
Guessing you are on the mainland somewhere, Greetings from across the pond
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha yes I'm from near London! You must be the first English person I've actually bumped across on XDA ever lol. Aah yes, as far as I know it can't be disabled, it'll be stuck w that until the dev fixes it... ROMs have started to release quite quickly for the phone ever since the mi10i got dropped thank God, hopefully this is a good sign!
DotOS seems to be pretty light, heavy on the customizing side but when I started from fresh I had the basic google apps but gmail wasn't even installed lol. Dot is giving me the same sort of sot as Arrow, so really its up to you, but if the BT audio bug is a major thing for you (thank God one of my headphones can be used with a 3.5mm jack too lol) then I'd recommend Dot, but otherwise they're both extremely similar in terms of performance
And I was gna try and order the mi9T Pro like that but didn't bother, read some bad stories lol.
And no worries But yeah I'm pretty sure that is all it is, when you modify /system or something, the internal storage encrypts so you can't access it on stock ROM with TWRP but with custom you can decrypt easily
Take care mate!

Does lineage for mi 10t lite support 120 hz on screen ? Is it adaptive or locked?

Question Bricked for Days and usable WiFi is $$$ for vanlife, help!

I was ALL good with my Pixel 6 pro, rooted and hours of tweaks in. My idiotic mistake here was I did not make a flashable backup before flashing the magisk-rooted despair kernel. Instead, because of laziness to find a nandroid backup method, I made a half-assed backup by dragging and dropping on my pc, and this has cost me.
Immediately after flashing via the 99 cent kernel flash app (can't remember the name) I was getting caught in the G loading screen bootloop.
Since then, I've tried everything. Every combination of every fastboot command I have found, on Windows and Ubuntu, multiple cables, etc. This has worked for me in every version of Android since 4.0 or earlier, as I've gone this whole time without really gaining understanding of any of the back end.
Now I cannot enter fastbootd. I get errors in fastboot that the "/system" partition does not exist. I have no stock recovery and can only enter Fastboot bootloader mode. GrapheneOS will not install due to an error at the final step indicating that fastboot is too old, despite the updates I keep reinstalling (Graphene web installer failing on download portion). Stock Recovery Flash Tool never works for me, always an error on the download. When manually flashing Stock, I am hit with the missing system partition error, the error that the image is too large for the partition, cannot determine image filename, etc.
Now, fastboot reboot bootloader doesn't even work until i unplug and replug the phone back in. And no flashing commands are attempted until the phone is unplugged/replugged. My bootloader is still unlocked as confirmed by the fastboot oem unlock command response.
Essentially I believe I am in need of a complete wipe, beyond anything I've done yet. I think I need to create new partitions before flashing? Someone please help me I'm dead in the water and on motel wifi to try and fix this stubborn beast.

When I first got my pixel 6 pro, I didn't let the update fully install and ended up using the web flasher to get it working again. Have you tried that? It'll be a full wipe but at least you would have your device.

bigdog1459 said:
When I first got my pixel 6 pro, I didn't let the update fully install and ended up using the web flasher to get it working again. Have you tried that? It'll be a full wipe but at least you would have your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I've wiped it along the way already, since the "incident" of the kernel flash. Multiple ways. I would love to use the web flasher, but it just doesn't work for me. The download never completes, and I suspect even if it did that at this point it would get stuck right away and throw me an error message, likely deleting the whole download along with it.

nastyneighbor said:
Oh I've wiped it along the way already, since the "incident" of the kernel flash. Multiple ways. I would love to use the web flasher, but it just doesn't work for me. The download never completes, and I suspect even if it did that at this point it would get stuck right away and throw me an error message, likely deleting the whole download along with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn. I'm sure you have tried some of the manual flashing guides out there too?

nastyneighbor said:
I was ALL good with my Pixel 6 pro, rooted and hours of tweaks in. My idiotic mistake here was I did not make a flashable backup before flashing the magisk-rooted despair kernel. Instead, because of laziness to find a nandroid backup method, I made a half-assed backup by dragging and dropping on my pc, and this has cost me.
Immediately after flashing via the 99 cent kernel flash app (can't remember the name) I was getting caught in the G loading screen bootloop.
Since then, I've tried everything. Every combination of every fastboot command I have found, on Windows and Ubuntu, multiple cables, etc. This has worked for me in every version of Android since 4.0 or earlier, as I've gone this whole time without really gaining understanding of any of the back end.
Now I cannot enter fastbootd. I get errors in fastboot that the "/system" partition does not exist. I have no stock recovery and can only enter Fastboot bootloader mode. GrapheneOS will not install due to an error at the final step indicating that fastboot is too old, despite the updates I keep reinstalling (Graphene web installer failing on download portion). Stock Recovery Flash Tool never works for me, always an error on the download. When manually flashing Stock, I am hit with the missing system partition error, the error that the image is too large for the partition, cannot determine image filename, etc.
Now, fastboot reboot bootloader doesn't even work until i unplug and replug the phone back in. And no flashing commands are attempted until the phone is unplugged/replugged. My bootloader is still unlocked as confirmed by the fastboot oem unlock command response.
Essentially I believe I am in need of a complete wipe, beyond anything I've done yet. I think I need to create new partitions before flashing? Someone please help me I'm dead in the water and on motel wifi to try and fix this stubborn beast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure when you said you used "Stock Recovery Flash Tool" if you meant the "Android Flash Tool". But just in case you didn't, that can force flash partitions with it. Probably your best shot.
Android Flash Tool
flash.android.com

Android Flashing Tool online unbricked me the other day. You have to be patient with the tool as it took me several tries. It will totally wipe your phone, but at this point you just need to rescue your device. Keep us posted.

thanks for the tip. i'm trying the android flash tool again now. and will keep trying it until it at least passes the download stage. and yes i tried all the manual flashing guides out there...and hybrid combos of all as well. i mean i'm positive its my fault for missing SOMEthing somewhere but many hours have been spent with overall negative progress.
my track record is still zero hard bricked devices or soft ones I couldn't fix over all these years so i'm not too worried but i could use my phone back haha
will keep posted as requested. ty again.

I know this doesn't help your immediate situation, but when flashing anything like custom kernels, I would advise not to use some random app to flash it with, just follow the directions in the OP of the kernel's thread, and make sure you have up to date Platform Tools and driver. CleanSlate and many or all the custom kernels also require flashing more than just the boot.img.
Good luck, I hope you get it back working for you.

Hey guys, the Android Flashing Tool finally worked for me and I am up and running again. Thanks for your help and tips. Hacking phones is more important every year and thus I truly value your skills and advice. This community must survive the new world order. much love folks

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