Hi!
I recently bough a K20 PRO from a local european reseller (it is infact the Chinese version and not the India one).
Since state law doesn't allow them to sell the phone with its stock ROM, they unlocked the bootloader and flashed some MIUI 9T PRO beta rom (they said that this was done by their chinese supplyer and not by them, but it could be either way).
Yesterday, eager to get my hand to the new MIUI 11, I wanted to recovery flash the recent official global release of it, but screwed the TWRP wipe and got stuck on fastboot with locked bootloader. My only option was fastboot flashing the official chinese release of K20 PRO MIUI 11 ROM via MiFlash.
I don't really like all the bloatware, uninstalled all the chinese apps, but I still get some text from time to time. the fact that I must install Gaps by myself and that google account implementation is missing from the phone settings (with all its backups to gdrive, contacts etc.) made me a bit angry.
I can not unlock the bootloader at the moment (MI Unlock app gave me the famous 168 hours wait time and as far as I researched, there were some methods to bypass it, but they were all patched) witch leaves me in a 7 days "flying in space" period.
My initial thougts were to flash the EEA/GLOBAL version of the MIUI, but since I can not do it in the next 6 and a half days, I was wondering if there are any downsides of the chinese rom. I see that some Themes are payed, but I can live with that.
What is the actual difference, should I reflash the global/eea version as soon as I can unlock the bootloader or just live and stick with the chinese rom?
If you're on to custom roms based on MIUI then you can go with Xiaomi.EU rom, its the Chinese ROM but without bloatware and with google services and apps. I am stuck with Global 10.3.3.0 but I got 5 and a half hours to wait for bootloader unlock, this last 7 days have been boring.. being stuck rootless
PetritH said:
If you're on to custom roms based on MIUI then you can go with Xiaomi.EU rom, its the Chinese ROM but without bloatware and with google services and apps. I am stuck with Global 10.3.3.0 but I got 5 and a half hours to wait for bootloader unlock, this last 7 days have been boring.. being stuck rootless
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do the ROMs on Xiaomi.EU get OTA updates?
dem0baza said:
do the ROMs on Xiaomi.EU get OTA updates?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes Sir.
Is there state law prohibits them from selling ? I am pretty sure stock China rom on China set are easily accessible to buy ,you even have to pay extra for seller to install Google play store?
Aimara said:
Is there state law prohibits them from selling ? I am pretty sure stock China rom on China set are easily accessible to buy ,you even have to pay extra for seller to install Google play store?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
State law requires the phone to have local language installed, which is missing from the Chinese ROM
Related
Hello! I want to get a Mi 8 soon but unsure which version of the phone i should get. As i want to make sure that all the Google Play Services are working and also Google Pay. Would i be fine getting the Global ROM Phone or will i need to get the Global Version Phone. I do also play to add a Custom ROM for the phone as well when it starts rolling out.
Note: I am in the UK and want to get the Black/6GB/128GB Model
I would also prefer to get the Global ROM due to the fact of it being much cheaper than the Global Version but want to make sure everything will work before I do.
The current status is quite simple for the Global ROM.
1. The Global Rom is out;
2. You can flash it. but you need to unlock the bootloader first, which usually requires you to submit a request and wait around 360 hours.
3. Once you've unlocked the BL and flashed the Global Rom, all google services would function normally.
the convert is: you CANNOT re-lock the bootloader (at least as of now)
someone says Gpay won't work with unlocked bl.
personally I don't make any payments with my android so I'm not sure.
ATiGr said:
The current status is quite simple for the Global ROM.
1. The Global Rom is out;
2. You can flash it. but you need to unlock the bootloader first, which usually requires you to submit a request and wait around 360 hours.
3. Once you've unlocked the BL and flashed the Global Rom, all google services would function normally.
the convert is: you CANNOT re-lock the bootloader (at least as of now)
someone says Gpay won't work with unlocked bl.
personally I don't make any payments with my android so I'm not sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Pay will NOT work with any phone with unlocked bootloader, there are tweaks to get it working but i haven't tried.
Does google pay work on global version?
Install magisk and gpay will work on unlock BL. Should be common knowledge.
Hello guys im really interested with this phone. Bang for the buck. But many people are making a fuzz about global roms and china boxes.
Will it matter if i buy a china box with china rom? cant i just select english language on the china rom and flash a global rom myself? Im going to be flashing stuffs anyways
Could really get a good price with just china everything
There are 3 things you should be aware before buying:
1. You'll need to wait some time to unlock the bootloader and change rom (time may vary, it was 10-15 days, then 2 months, I don't know how much right now)
2. If you flash a global rom you cannot lock the bootloader again, unless you want to brick your device
3. There is an announcement by Xiaomi in which they say we will no longer be able to use global rom on china device: I believe nothing really changed and you just have to unlock bootloader to be able to flash anything you want.
Anyway, I have the china version on which I installed the globa rom without trouble, it's working perfectly. Just avoid fake global version, since you need to own the MI account used to unlock the bootloader in case you have troubles with your device.
How many days did you wait to unlock bootloader? So to be safe i need to have a locked bootloader device which is the china version? Because some seller are flashing the global ROM on their own.
I waited 10 days because I installed China beta (otherwise it was 15 days, you don't need to unlock the bootloader to flash same region beta), now it may be different. The answer to the second question is yes, go for China and unlock it yourself. It's gonna be longer but it's safer.
Hello all,
Yesterday I received a k20 pro from china with an unlocked bootloader.
I wanted to get rid of the spy/bloatware so i went and tried to install twrp to install another ROM, but for some reason TWRP flipped when i installed it (i think i forgot to turn off encryption) and just decided to stop working altogether. Recovery did not work anymore and so i was stuck in fastboot (bootlooping). After some stressfull googling i found out, the only way to get the phone working again is by flashing the (only) fastboot ROM, which was the chinese variant.
I was so stressed out, i forgot to change the flash option in xiaomi flash tool to "clean all" instead of "clean all and lock"(which is the default, fu Xiaomi).
So now my phone has a chinese ROM and the bootloader is locked.
So my question is:
Once i get the bootloader unlocked again (which will take 1 week hopefully), will i be able to install the global ROM (once it is released) or a better, a non-spying ROM?
Also, i tried debloating the chinese rom, but everytime i apparently debloat too much and the phone just stops working and i need to do a reset.
Does anyone have a proper list of xiaomi applications that are safe to remove (trough adb)? the ones i found remove too much.
Thanks in advance.
Yes, once you unlock your bootloader again, you can flash indian global firmware, which has less bloats, google apps and services included, and poco launcher.
For debloating cn rom, there is a tool here, I'll find and link.
May use this for debloating- https://github.com/Saki-EU/XiaomiADBFastbootTools
kibria.mgk said:
May use this for debloating- https://github.com/Saki-EU/XiaomiADBFastbootTools
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, this is the program that i've been using for removing the xiaomi apps, however when some of the listed apps are removed the phone won't be able to restart anymore and i have to do a reset.
For now, i manually removed all the removable spyware by hand and installed blokkada to deny communication to xiaomi servers. I don't dare to remove a lot of system apps trough adb anymore since i had to reset my phone 5 times already... i just want to use it now...
Just endure the pain until bootloader is unlocked again then move over to the Indian rom, its much more tolerable.
Angelina7 said:
Just endure the pain until bootloader is unlocked again then move over to the Indian rom, its much more tolerable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there no mi 9t pro rom yet ?
dev-DaT said:
Hi, this is the program that i've been using for removing the xiaomi apps, however when some of the listed apps are removed the phone won't be able to restart anymore and i have to do a reset.
For now, i manually removed all the removable spyware by hand and installed blokkada to deny communication to xiaomi servers. I don't dare to remove a lot of system apps trough adb anymore since i had to reset my phone 5 times already... i just want to use it now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the safest option. Whilst waiting for bootloader unlocking I just uninstalled anything that could be and disabled anything else that could be disabled. There were still many things I wanted to remove that could not be uninstalled or disabled, but decided I could live with them for a week.
After your week is up, you've got many options. If you like MIUI but not the bloat and spyware, then there are MIUI custom ROMs that remove the junk, xiaomi.eu ROMs being one of the biggest. Otherwise there are AOSP based custom ROMs that are stable enough to use.
Aimara said:
there no mi 9t pro rom yet ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No not yet, we are all waiting for it, it should be released soon.
Robbo.5000 said:
This is the safest option. Whilst waiting for bootloader unlocking I just uninstalled anything that could be and disabled anything else that could be disabled. There were still many things I wanted to remove that could not be uninstalled or disabled, but decided I could live with them for a week.
After your week is up, you've got many options. If you like MIUI but not the bloat and spyware, then there are MIUI custom ROMs that remove the junk, xiaomi.eu ROMs being one of the biggest. Otherwise there are AOSP based custom ROMs that are stable enough to use.
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Click to collapse
Yeah i guess ill have to endure being tracked 24/7 for a week ... thanks for all your responses. I am happy to know i can just go back to custom rom after the bootloader is unlocked.
I just hope i don't **** it up like last time.
How long it is currently to wait for bootloader unlock approval?
dpdp73 said:
How long it is currently to wait for bootloader unlock approval?
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Click to collapse
7 days for me
Hello, I have a cruel doubt. I was really wondering if after I unlock the bootloader (I have a Chinese rom) doing Global installation I can lock the bootloader? Because you have this possibility and I believe we received normally correct updates, can anyone help me?
phkopp said:
Hello, I have a cruel doubt. I was really wondering if after I unlock the bootloader (I have a Chinese rom) doing Global installation I can lock the bootloader? Because you have this possibility and I believe we received normally correct updates, can anyone help me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NO.
If you try and lock the bootloader with anything that is not the original region you will hard brick the phone.
If you have a Chinese phone, then you can only lock the bootloader when installing an official Chinese ROM.
I think only the account used to unlock the blootloader can relock and re-reunlock it.
If you lock the phone, you won't be able to unlock it again with another account.
It is just a safety mechanism from xiaomi.
ntmalol said:
I think only the account used to unlock the blootloader can relock and re-reunlock it.
If you lock the phone, you won't be able to unlock it again with another account.
It is just a safety mechanism from xiaomi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need an account to lock the bootloader.
Provided that there is not a Mi account linked to a phone, then anyone who has the phone in their possession can unlock it.
When people have bought a phone already unlock, then accidentally locked it, they have been able to unlock it themselves if the seller has already unlinked the phone from the sellers Mi account
Robbo.5000 said:
You don't need an account to lock the bootloader.
Provided that there is not a Mi account linked to a phone, then anyone who has the phone in their possession can unlock it.
When people have bought a phone already unlock, then accidentally locked it, they have been able to unlock it themselves if the seller has already unlinked the phone from the sellers Mi account
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Click to collapse
So basically it is possible, if one gets a k20 pro flashed with global rom, that if the seller forgets to remove his account from the phone, you're stuck using ONLY other roms? In other words, in order to relock the bootloader and install official chinese rom, you need to contact the seller and ask him to go on his mi account to remove your phone?
android2819 said:
So basically it is possible, if one gets a k20 pro flashed with global rom, that if the seller forgets to remove his account from the phone, you're stuck using ONLY other roms? In other words, in order to relock the bootloader and install official chinese rom, you need to contact the seller and ask him to go on his mi account to remove your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes there has been a few cases on these forums where this had happened.
However, you can still use official MIUI ROMs, you can still flash the Chinese ROM and lock the bootloader. The problem then is that you cannot unlock the bootloader again if the phone it's still linked to another account.
If you buy a Chinese phone with a global ROM, why would you then want to flash a Chinese ROM and lock the bootloader? You would be better off just buying the phone still with the Chinese ROM and locked, if that's what you wanted.
People have had problems because they've been flashing an official ROM with the Mi Flash Tool and accidentally left the flash option to flash and lock. When flashing with the Mi Flash Tool you just need to remember to change the default flash option every time you use it.
If you never relock the bootloader, then you will never have this problem and can still use official MIUI.
Robbo.5000 said:
NO.
If you try and lock the bootloader with anything that is not the original region you will hard brick the phone.
If you have a Chinese phone, then you can only lock the bootloader when installing an official Chinese ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thanks for clearing up my doubts.
---------- Post added at 02:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:58 PM ----------
I actually have another one. Can I install bootloader-unlocked update pscotes in the global rom on k20 pro without losing files, or everytime I have to install full rom?
phkopp said:
...
I actually have another one. Can I install bootloader-unlocked update pscotes in the global rom on k20 pro without losing files, or everytime I have to install full rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what you're asking. I'm guessing pscotes is a typing error.
Packages*
So as the title says and if anyone can help that would be great. I have 8gb/256gb Chinese k20 pro and it is stuck on old firmware, I live in the UK and I'm not getting anymore updates, I'm stuck in July or security patch too. I have applied for bootloader unlock so I'm ready to unlock bootloader as its been more than the 7 days. I would prefer to use miflash to install for time being until I back up my media as that's what's most on my phone. Which firmware that's none Chinese has the miui phone app and is upto date and can be flashed via miflash. I've flashed many phones but my 1st time owning a xiaomi phone so just need a few pointers
sofir786 said:
So as the title says and if anyone can help that would be great. I have 8gb/256gb Chinese k20 pro and it is stuck on old firmware, I live in the UK and I'm not getting anymore updates, I'm stuck in July or security patch too. I have applied for bootloader unlock so I'm ready to unlock bootloader as its been more than the 7 days. I would prefer to use miflash to install for time being until I back up my media as that's what's most on my phone. Which firmware that's none Chinese has the miui phone app and is upto date and can be flashed via miflash. I've flashed many phones but my 1st time owning a xiaomi phone so just need a few pointers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to stay official then the Indian version is the only non Chinese ROM that has the MIUI dialler, but it loses NFC functionality as the Indian phone doesn't have NFC hardware.
The other option is xiaomi.eu ROMs, these are Chinese ROMs that are stripped of ads and bloatware, globalized with dozens of languages, then optimised and enhanced. Unfortunately they don't have OTA functionality, so you'll need to manually update.
Robbo.5000 said:
If you want to stay official then the Indian version is the only non Chinese ROM that has the MIUI dialler, but it loses NFC functionality as the Indian phone doesn't have NFC hardware.
The other option is xiaomi.eu ROMs, these are Chinese ROMs that are stripped of ads and bloatware, globalized with dozens of languages, then optimised and enhanced. Unfortunately they don't have OTA functionality, so you'll need to manually update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So eea firmware and global firmware dont have the miui dialer? I'm not too fussed about nfc as I dont use contact contactless tbh. Hmm, the other issue is that even though netflix had this device down as hd and HDR content compatible, I never get the ability to play video in that method. I know this phone has L1 widevine but I'm pretty sure because of the firmware I'm on, which is an ooold Chinese firmware its showing as l3. I will eventually move onto custom roms but just want to get used to the the phone before messing about with it too much.
sofir786 said:
So eea firmware and global firmware dont have the miui dialer? I'm not too fussed about nfc as I dont use contact contactless tbh. Hmm, the other issue is that even though netflix had this device down as hd and HDR content compatible, I never get the ability to play video in that method. I know this phone has L1 widevine but I'm pretty sure because of the firmware I'm on, which is an ooold Chinese firmware its showing as l3. I will eventually move onto custom roms but just want to get used to the the phone before messing about with it too much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes ! Both EEA and Global have the Google Dialers with no recording feature. If you really dont care about NFC, then Indian firmware is your best bet. L1 widewine is only available on Global units and not the Chinese units. You can’t change the status by a software flash. Your widevine status would remain L3 even after moving to Global/EEA/Indian rom. Make sure you dont lock your bootloader while flashing the global firmware as it would be a hard brick. Choose the options cautiously in the Mi Flash tool. A safe approach would be to just delete these two files (Clean_All_Lock.bat , Clean_All_Lock.sh) from the fastboot firmware that you gonna download. This would ensure even if you mess up the tool, it wont be able to lock the bootloader.
I have the global variant Mi 9t with global stable and have MiUi dialer.
Sukhi said:
Yes ! Both EEA and Global have the Google Dialers with no recording feature. If you really dont care about NFC, then Indian firmware is your best bet. L1 widewine is only available on Global units and not the Chinese units. You can’t change the status by a software flash. Your widevine status would remain L3 even after moving to Global/EEA/Indian rom. Make sure you dont lock your bootloader while flashing the global firmware as it would be a hard brick. Choose the options cautiously in the Mi Flash tool. A safe approach would be to just delete these two files (Clean_All_Lock.bat , Clean_All_Lock.sh) from the fastboot firmware that you gonna download. This would ensure even if you mess up the tool, it wont be able to lock the bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would custom roms be able to solve the widevine issue?
sofir786 said:
Would custom roms be able to solve the widevine issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope ! Can’t say about the future. The Devs are working. It’s a daunting task.
Hello,
I've been sold the Mi 9 t Pro 256 GB (or k20 pro) by what I thought was a trustworthy store, Phone House.
It turns out the device was sent from China and comes with the bootloader unlocked and Global Rom:
MiUi Global 11.0.5
Stable
11.0.5.0 QFKEUXM
I've realised some apps don't work from Google Play Store (Netflix, Disney Plus and probably more) and apparently it's because the bootloader is unlocked.
What I want is an official ROM with locked bootloader, so I don't have to download official apps from third party websites which I don't necesarily trust.
However I've been told I will brick the phone, because I don't have access to the account they used to unlock the bootloader and install the Global ROM; at least if they forgot to unlink the phone from that account, which I'm told is really common. I just want to own the phone I paid for, which seems quite reasonable to me.
Is there any way I can check if my phone is still linked to the chinese account they used to unlock the bootloader? Has anybody gotten out of this situation and if they did, can they tell me what steps should i take?
Regards.
nandokin said:
Hello,
I've been sold the Mi 9 t Pro 256 GB (or k20 pro) by what I thought was a trustworthy store, Phone House.
It turns out the device was sent from China and comes with the bootloader unlocked and Global Rom:
MiUi Global 11.0.5
Stable
11.0.5.0 QFKEUXM
I've realised some apps don't work from Google Play Store (Netflix, Disney Plus and probably more) and apparently it's because the bootloader is unlocked.
What I want is an official ROM with locked bootloader, so I don't have to download official apps from third party websites which I don't necesarily trust.
However I've been told I will brick the phone, because I don't have access to the account they used to unlock the bootloader and install the Global ROM; at least if they forgot to unlink the phone from that account, which I'm told is really common. I just want to own the phone I paid for, which seems quite reasonable to me.
Is there any way I can check if my phone is still linked to the chinese account they used to unlock the bootloader? Has anybody gotten out of this situation and if they did, can they tell me what steps should i take?
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you link your phone with your Xiaomi account and number?
Most of us here wish unlocked bootloader , install twrp and magisk and most of your app problems go away.
nandokin said:
Hello,
I've been sold the Mi 9 t Pro 256 GB (or k20 pro) by what I thought was a trustworthy store, Phone House.
It turns out the device was sent from China and comes with the bootloader unlocked and Global Rom:
MiUi Global 11.0.5
Stable
11.0.5.0 QFKEUXM
I've realised some apps don't work from Google Play Store (Netflix, Disney Plus and probably more) and apparently it's because the bootloader is unlocked.
What I want is an official ROM with locked bootloader, so I don't have to download official apps from third party websites which I don't necesarily trust.
However I've been told I will brick the phone, because I don't have access to the account they used to unlock the bootloader and install the Global ROM; at least if they forgot to unlink the phone from that account, which I'm told is really common. I just want to own the phone I paid for, which seems quite reasonable to me.
Is there any way I can check if my phone is still linked to the chinese account they used to unlock the bootloader? Has anybody gotten out of this situation and if they did, can they tell me what steps should i take?
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your phone is originally a Chinese K20 Pro then you can only lock the bootloader with the Chinese ROM. If you try and lock the bootloader with any other ROM you will brick the phone
It doesn't matter who unlocked the bootloader. You will be able to flash the Chinese fastboot ROM and lock the bootloader, without any problems. After which you can use the phone completely as normal.
If you decide you want to unlock the bootloader again, you will have issues if the phone is still linked to another Mi account. Some sellers have been good at removing phones from their Mi account, some have not.
If you flash a different region ROM and lock the bootloader and you haven't properly linked the phone to your Mi account before (which is done during the bootloader unlock process), then your bricked phone will be hard bricked and can only be recovered by flashing with an authorised Mi service account.
First job is to determine exactly which region model you have. This can be done with an online IMEI checker. Then download the correct fastboot ROM for the phone and flash it with the Mi Flash Tool, using the flash and lock option.