[GUIDE][A10/A11] Flashing and booting GSI on Galaxy Tab S7+ - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 / S7 Plus Guides, News, & Di

[GUIDE][A10/A11] Flashing and booting GSI on Galaxy Tab S7+ - Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 / S7 Plus Guides, News, & Di

Code:
/*
* Your warranty is now void.
*
* I am not responsible for bricked devices, dead SD cards,
* thermonuclear war, or you getting fired because the alarm app failed. Please
* do some research if you have any concerns about features included in this ROM
* before flashing it! YOU are choosing to make these modifications, and if
* you point the finger at me for messing up your device, I will laugh at you.
*/
This is tested on my SM-T976B, but I think the same should work on other models as well.
1. WARNING AND DISCLAIMER
Just unlocking the bootloader will not trip the warranty bit yet, so you can still go back at this point.
The warranty bit will be tripped (0x1) as soon as you actually try flashing something unofficial via Odin. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Make sure you back up all the important files in your internal storage, as you need to disable encryption with Multi-Disabler in order to let TWRP access the data partition, which would require you to format the data partition (wiping everything in the process). Additionally, keep a few nandroid backups with you so you can recover yourself in case something goes wrong.
2. Requirements
- Bootloader unlocked
- ianmacd's TWRP
- Neutralized vbmeta*
- (Optional**) vendor.img from Android 10 stock FW (I used ATK3, but any A10 vendor should do)
- Multi-Disabler
* An empty vbmeta is not recommended. You need to patch the vbmeta of the stock FW you're currently on.
** UPDATE (2022-08-29): It seems Magisk now works with recent A11 GSIs using A11 vendor, so there's no explicit need to flash A10 vendor in the following tutorial steps, unless you run into issues. Thanks to @AnonVendetta for testing and confirming. Using a more recent version of Magisk is recommended.
3. Flashing
Since this device uses dynamic partitions. Flashing system images is not as straightforward as before but not impossible.
azteria2000's GSI Flasher provided a good example on how to use dd/simg2img to flash dynamic partitions using just recovery. This is extremely helpful, as TWRP currently doesn't support fastbootd, which would make flashing even easier.
(1). Extracting Android 10 vendor.img (Optional, unless you have issues with your current vendor)
While you can boot recent GSIs with Android 11 vendor, Magisk currently doesn't work with it. Android 10 vendor is required for Magisk to work properly.
The Android 10 vendor can be extracted from the factory image's super.img. You need to unsparse the image using simg2img then use lpunpack to extract it, and you'll obtain the vendor.img.
(2). Flashing GSI and (Optional) Android 10 vendor.img
The entire flashing process can be done from TWRP.
NOTE 1 (UPDATE 2022-08-29): Flashing A10 vendor is no longer necessary now, unless you have issues.
NOTE 2: At present, Multi-Disabler expects /system_root to be mountable r/w, which cannot be done with a non-vndklite GSI. As such, if you're about to flash /vendor at this step, use a vndklite GSI, or if you're coming from stock, flash Multi-Disabler before actually flashing GSI (a reboot is needed after flashing /vendor to make it accessible).
The corresponding block devices for system and vendor are as follows:
Code:
/dev/block/dm-0 - system
/dev/block/dm-1 - vendor
First set the block devices to r/w so you can flash images.
Code:
# blockdev --setrw /dev/block/dm-0
# blockdev --setrw /dev/block/dm-1
Now actually flash the images with dd. Change the "if" parts to point to where the GSI system image and Android 10 vendor image are.
Code:
# dd if=<GSI image here> of=/dev/block/dm-0 bs=1m
# dd if=<vendor image here> of=/dev/block/dm-1 bs=1m
In rare cases that the GSI image you're about to flash is sparsed, run the following command instead of dd. You need to point to your sparsed GSI image here.
The vendor.img you obtain from super.img is not sparsed and can be flashed directly using the dd command above.
Code:
# simg2img <sparsed GSI image here> /dev/block/dm-0
If nothing goes wrong, you've flashed the GSI as well as Android 10 vendor.
Android 10 vendor flashed this way will work even if you have upgraded past BUC1 (which blocked the downgrade to Android 10).
It's advised to reboot recovery before trying to access system and vendor, to avoid potential issues.
NOTE: If you flashed vendor in this step, DO NOT REBOOT TO SYSTEM JUST YET.
(3). Flashing Multi-Disabler
You need to flash Multi-Disabler to disable encryption of internal storage so TWRP could access it.
If you flashed the vendor.img when flashing GSI, you MUST flash Multi-Disabler again if you have already disabled encryption with it before.
After flashing Multi-Disabler, you can now try booting to see if the GSI of your choice works.
4. Important Notes
(1). Neutralizing Software (Platform) Watchdog
There's a software (platform) watchdog that by default doesn't get fed while running GSI, causing system to reboot about 100 seconds after boot due to "platform watchdog bite". See this issue and this issue for details.
It's possible to disable this watchdog after boot, by executing the following command using a root shell.
Code:
# echo 'V' > /dev/watchdog
You need to look for a way to execute the command above at boot to automatically disable the problematic watchdog so the GSI can function normally. There are several ways to do this, like putting the command into a Magisk module's service.sh so it gets executed when the Magisk module loads.
EDIT: I've filed an issue regarding the matter here. After some testing, it seems /dev/watchdog0 is the real culprit for our device. Disabling either /dev/watchdog or /dev/watchdog0 will work this around.
UPDATE (2021-09-11): I can confirm that DragKernel is not affected by this issue. The offending watchdog is not present and the system won't reboot after 100 seconds.
UPDATE (2022-08-29): The watchdog is mainly an issue if you use A10 vendor. You may not have issues with that watchdog if using A11 vendor but it's still recommended to get it disabled.
(2). Uncertified Device
Since phh-AOSP v303 and onwards, the device is considered uncertified which will prevent you from logging in to your Google account.
Manually registering the device is required for using Google Play Services, but for some reasons that didn't work for me, so I recommend using NanoDroid with microG if applicable (requires Magisk).
(3). Offline Charging Icon
With some GSIs, when powered off, plugging in the charger would make the tablet enter a screen with a white charging battery icon in the middle, that I couldn't easily get out of by pressing POWER button alone. Although I did manage to get out of that screen and boot to the system, I don't really know which button combination is required, and how long I should be holding them. So for now, charging while powered off is not advised...
(4). Potential soft bricks with Securize
UPDATE (2022-08-29): Should have pointed this out earlier that if you attempt to Securize on official phh-AOSP, the device will softbrick. Additionally, merely removing phh-SU is enough to cause the softbrick (thanks to AnonVendetta again for confirming).
While the cause is uncertain, it's quite likely that the tablet cannot work if not using any form of root (be it phh-SU or Magisk) due to Samsung's security mechanisms getting in the way.
5. Working Stuffs
- 120 fps working (by forcing FPS using Phh-Treble Settings).
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth work fine.
- S-Pen works as a pointer device.
- Alternate Audio Policies (from Phh-Treble Settings) is needed to get audio out through USB Type-C.
- Front and rear camera appears working.
6. Not Working Stuffs
- MTP does not appear to work properly for some reasons. You'll need ADB for transferring files.
- USB Type-C audio adapters may or may not work depending on GSI, Kernel or maybe other aspects.
- Bluetooth audio currently has issues that cause the system to freeze.
7. Untested Stuffs
- Haven't tested telephony-related stuffs as I'm not using a SIM card on the tablet yet.
- Haven't tested fingerprint sensors as I'm not using it.
There are still some functionalities I haven't tested yet, but anyone is free to test if you want to use a GSI.
Special thanks to: ianmacd, phhusson, Bushcat, Vntnox, azteria2000, dron39 and many more...
Original GSI progress issue: here

I finally got this working on my SM-T970. Though I had some troubles getting it working by following your instructions exactly, it would still boot loop even after neutralizing vbmeta.img (perhaps I changed the wrong offset?). Though for some reason flashing magisk made it boot perfectly? I assume Magisk disables AVB entirely or something. Thank you for this guide, may this tablet live a long life thanks to treble!

sambow23 said:
I finally got this working on my SM-T970. Though I had some troubles getting it working by following your instructions exactly, it would still boot loop even after neutralizing vbmeta.img (perhaps I changed the wrong offset?). Though for some reason flashing magisk made it boot perfectly? I assume Magisk disables AVB entirely or something. Thank you for this guide, may this tablet live a long life thanks to treble!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i also got SM-T970 please help me to get back to android 10... Most of the game which play crashes in the middle for android 11 ... Can you please help me to do what you did ... i am new to this custom ROMs and flashing so help me..

As I know, you can't. All android 10 bootloaders are XXU1 - if you upgraded to XXU2 then nothing can be done.

ivanox1972 said:
As I know, you can't. All android 10 bootloaders are XXU1 - if you upgraded to XXU2 then nothing can be done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, didn't notice there were new posts in my actual thread...
While you certainly can't flash XXU1 firmware via Odin once you upgraded to XXU2, you can follow the instructions to use dd in TWRP to flash the logical partitions. This is how I used to flash vendor image extracted from Android 10 FW, as due to SELinux policy issues, Android 11 vendor does not work well with GSIs on Samsung Qualcomm devices in general. Magisk won't work, and the tablet would semi-brick if you attempt to use Securize from Phh-Treble settings.
While I mostly use Android 11 GSIs, the same should work with Android 10 GSIs of your choice, but I haven't tested, as most A10 GSIs are no longer maintained. GSI image of your choice (/system) and A10 vendor (/vendor) are all you need, as GSIs do not care about /odm and /product so it's safe to leave them as-is.
A WARNING: I DO NOT recommend flashing A10 stock FW using this method as you're literally violating the rollback protection which has the risk of causing A HARD BRICK!!! Similar cases have happened on other devices of other vendors before.
ONE MORE WARNING: Due to the ongoing case of Samsung disabling cameras on Z Fold 3, I seriously advise against upgrading the device any further, especially in case a XXU3 firmware comes out in the future, as there are potential signs that such crippling behavior might spread to existing devices.

@LSS4181 thanks dor for deep explanation, but I'm afraid my level is not high enough to understand all of this. I am also tempted to try gsi but not want to risk lot...
So, can it be installed over stock android 11, new bootloader XXU2?
Thanks

ivanox1972 said:
@LSS4181 thanks dor for deep explanation, but I'm afraid my level is not high enough to understand all of this. I am also tempted to try gsi but not want to risk lot...
So, can it be installed over stock android 11, new bootloader XXU2?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't guarantee A10 GSI will work on such environment, but GSIs probably won't have issues with rollback protections. It's just stock ROM might have something that would do dirty stuffs in case such violation happens so I personally would not recommend such use case.
However, A11 GSIs will certainly work fine, just that with A10 vendor you need to use DragKernel as the stock one has a watchdog that'll reboot the system after 100 seconds.

@LSS4181 - thank you for the guide, I've had a T970 for nearly 1 year now, always wanted to run a custom rom on it!
I've tried your guide twice now, but it results in failures for me.
I've unlocked the bootloader, flashed TWRP (twrp-gts7xl-3.5.0_10-A11_3_ianmacd.img), running ATK3.
Not sure if TWRP for Android 11 and ATK3 being Android 10 makes a difference?
I extracted a vbmeta.img.lz4 from the ATK3 pack online, decompressed it to get the vbmeta.img, and wrote 0x03 to decimal offset 123.
(Tried to follow the instructions exactly)
I think it's the flashing/dd part.
After I dd the gsi img to dm-0, I can not reflash the multidisabler anymore. It tells me something like:
"Failed to mount '/system_root' (Invalid argument)"
Then, I can't even mount 'system' in TWRP, the checkbox is unselectable.
To get back to a working state, I have reflashed the stock rom (ATK3).
The GSI I tried to use was: system-roar-arm64-ab-vanilla.img.xz - from AOSP 11.0 v313
Is this the correct version to use (A, A/B etc?)
And how can I tell if the image file is sparsed or not?
Any input is appreciated, thank you!

zxczxc4 said:
@LSS4181 - thank you for the guide, I've had a T970 for nearly 1 year now, always wanted to run a custom rom on it!
I've tried your guide twice now, but it results in failures for me.
I've unlocked the bootloader, flashed TWRP (twrp-gts7xl-3.5.0_10-A11_3_ianmacd.img), running ATK3.
Not sure if TWRP for Android 11 and ATK3 being Android 10 makes a difference?
I extracted a vbmeta.img.lz4 from the ATK3 pack online, decompressed it to get the vbmeta.img, and wrote 0x03 to decimal offset 123.
(Tried to follow the instructions exactly)
I think it's the flashing/dd part.
After I dd the gsi img to dm-0, I can not reflash the multidisabler anymore. It tells me something like:
"Failed to mount '/system_root' (Invalid argument)"
Then, I can't even mount 'system' in TWRP, the checkbox is unselectable.
To get back to a working state, I have reflashed the stock rom (ATK3).
The GSI I tried to use was: system-roar-arm64-ab-vanilla.img.xz - from AOSP 11.0 v313
Is this the correct version to use (A, A/B etc?)
And how can I tell if the image file is sparsed or not?
Any input is appreciated, thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uh... I should have mentioned earlier. Multi-Disabler expects /system_root to be mountable r/w, which cannot be done with a non-vndklite GSI.
As such, to disable encryption, you'll initially need to flash a vndklite GSI, or simply just do that before you actually flash the GSI (stock ROM can be mounted r/w). As Multi-Disabler is only needed once per /vendor flash, you'll be able to use non-vndklite GSI afterwards.
EDIT: If you are experienced in modifying recovery zips, you can edit the Multi-Disabler install script and comment out the parts actually involving /system or /system_root.
EDIT 2: I just realized this... I recall that phh AOSP GSI is sparsed. You need to use simg2img command instead of dd to flash it.

@LSS4181 - thank you for the reply.
I am not sure if the images I was trying to us were sparsed or not.
Since you mentioned vndklite images, I tried those - `simg2img` told me that the hash/magic was not valid, so at least these ones are not sparsed.
But good idea to attempt to use `simg2img` if you are not sure about an image, it doesn't hurt to try.
I flashed phh's v313 ab vndklite image, my device was stuck on the samsung boot screen for about 10 minutes (the screen with "your device is unlocked" etc...) I then held some buttons to force reboot/power down. I powered back on and I finally saw the rom booting.
Vanilla AOSP was a bit boring, so flashed LOS 18.x (vndklite again) and that is great. Dark mode can be made BLACK which I really appreciate.
No issues with the watchdog/no reboot after 100 seconds.
I did try to install microg... tried to install (adb push) to /system/priv-data but must have done something wrong.
It gave me bootloops, tried to reflash the gsi twice but didn't seem to change anything...
I ended up reflashing stock again, repeated the whole process (apart from microg!) and my system is up working again.
I should go and ask on the lineage os gsi thread for advice about microg.
Thanks again for the guide.

zxczxc4 said:
@LSS4181 - thank you for the reply.
I am not sure if the images I was trying to us were sparsed or not.
Since you mentioned vndklite images, I tried those - `simg2img` told me that the hash/magic was not valid, so at least these ones are not sparsed.
But good idea to attempt to use `simg2img` if you are not sure about an image, it doesn't hurt to try.
I flashed phh's v313 ab vndklite image, my device was stuck on the samsung boot screen for about 10 minutes (the screen with "your device is unlocked" etc...) I then held some buttons to force reboot/power down. I powered back on and I finally saw the rom booting.
Vanilla AOSP was a bit boring, so flashed LOS 18.x (vndklite again) and that is great. Dark mode can be made BLACK which I really appreciate.
No issues with the watchdog/no reboot after 100 seconds.
I did try to install microg... tried to install (adb push) to /system/priv-data but must have done something wrong.
It gave me bootloops, tried to reflash the gsi twice but didn't seem to change anything...
I ended up reflashing stock again, repeated the whole process (apart from microg!) and my system is up working again.
I should go and ask on the lineage os gsi thread for advice about microg.
Thanks again for the guide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could always flash magisk and use the microg module, works perfectly for me

sambow23 said:
You could always flash magisk and use the microg module, works perfectly for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly what I ended up doing.
Originally I wanted to avoid the 'newer' style, using Magisk etc, it seems more complicated than just using a rom that is already rooted. For my use case of this device, I don't care about safetynet etc, don't care about keeping system untouched etc.
BUT! Flashing Magisk was so easy, no need to patch any images... I simply flashed the latest version of the Magisk apk via TWRP.
On restart, Magisk app wanted to finish the install itself... but failed? So I simply installed the same apk myself, and it's been working perfectly

Thank you @LSS4181 for the exquisitely detailed instructions! I think have enough experience with this stuff to be succesful, but have not yet bought this tablet to try it (currently using a rooted, debloated S6).
Questions:
Which vendor does it ship with? ATK3? I wouldn't do any upgrades when I got it, but would immediately start flashing.
Has anyone succesfully used XPrivacyLua (XPL) on this? I currently use XPL Pro, and I know that it depends on a working EdXposed (or Lsposed, which I've never used) which requires a working Magisk. From reading this thread, the Magisk part seems Okay, but what about Ed/L Xposed?
Thanks again.

TiTiB said:
Thank you @LSS4181 for the exquisitely detailed instructions! I think have enough experience with this stuff to be succesful, but have not yet bought this tablet to try it (currently using a rooted, debloated S6).
Questions:
Which vendor does it ship with? ATK3? I wouldn't do any upgrades when I got it, but would immediately start flashing.
Has anyone succesfully used XPrivacyLua (XPL) on this? I currently use XPL Pro, and I know that it depends on a working EdXposed (or Lsposed, which I've never used) which requires a working Magisk. From reading this thread, the Magisk part seems Okay, but what about Ed/L Xposed?
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XPrivacyLua/LSPosed does work, I'm able to pass safetynet thanks to it

TiTiB said:
Thank you @LSS4181 for the exquisitely detailed instructions! I think have enough experience with this stuff to be succesful, but have not yet bought this tablet to try it (currently using a rooted, debloated S6).
Questions:
Which vendor does it ship with? ATK3? I wouldn't do any upgrades when I got it, but would immediately start flashing.
Has anyone succesfully used XPrivacyLua (XPL) on this? I currently use XPL Pro, and I know that it depends on a working EdXposed (or Lsposed, which I've never used) which requires a working Magisk. From reading this thread, the Magisk part seems Okay, but what about Ed/L Xposed?
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got my tablet early so it was on an earlier version than ATK3.
If your device ships with BUBB or before, you should be able to downgrade directly if you know how to use Odin.
Flashing ATK3 (or earlier) vendor via dd from TWRP is only needed if your device is on BUC1 or later, as from that version onwards SW REV has been incremented so you can't downgrade via Odin anymore.

sambow23 said:
XPrivacyLua/LSPosed does work, I'm able to pass safetynet thanks to it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which Xposed are you using? I'm not very familiar with Lsposed.

Thanks ag
LSS4181 said:
I got my tablet early so it was on an earlier version than ATK3.
If your device ships with BUBB or before, you should be able to downgrade directly if you know how to use Odin.
Flashing ATK3 (or earlier) vendor via dd from TWRP is only needed if your device is on BUC1 or later, as from that version onwards SW REV has been incremented so you can't downgrade via Odin anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again for the detailed response. The info you've shared gives me confidence. Now I just need to convince myself that I 'need' to buy it.

@LSS4181: I've been running the stock Android 11 firmware since I bought the Tab S7+ SM-T970, about halfway into this year. Mine shipped with a version 2 bootloader, so there is no possibility of running stock 10 for me.
Then I saw your note about Bluetooth earbuds not working. This would be a big deal for me on a GSI. I don't want to use a USB C headphone jack adapter, since it would prevent charging while using them. And it would wear out the charging port by constantly inserting/removing.
What BT earbuds do you use? Does it happen on all GSIs that you've tried? I saw your recent issue on GitHub, and noticed that no one else has commented.
GApps is another big deal for me, a must have. I used to use MicroG on my daily driver devices, but stopped using it about a year ago due to issues that I was unable to find solutions for.
Can you elaborate a bit more on how to modify vbmeta and what to change? I'm not particularly skilled with the usage of hex editors, so not sure how to proceed here or what to edit.
I know there will probably be issues inherent to running to a GSI, but I'd like to change things up a bit and experiment. If I don't like what I see, I can always return to stock rooted. I'm not a big fan of stock firmwares, but so far it has been very stable for me. However, if I can get a custom ROM like AOSP, RR, LOS, etc running reliably, then I'd definitely switch. There are no features on stock besides Dex and Secure Folder, that are compelling enough to me me stay on it.

AnonVendetta said:
@LSS4181: I've been running the stock Android 11 firmware since I bought the Tab S7+ SM-T970, about halfway into this year. Mine shipped with a version 2 bootloader, so there is no possibility of running stock 10 for me.
Then I saw your note about Bluetooth earbuds not working. This would be a big deal for me on a GSI. I don't want to use a USB C headphone jack adapter, since it would prevent charging while using them. And it would wear out the charging port by constantly inserting/removing.
What BT earbuds do you use? Does it happen on all GSIs that you've tried? I saw your recent issue on GitHub, and noticed that no one else has commented.
GApps is another big deal for me, a must have. I used to use MicroG on my daily driver devices, but stopped using it about a year ago due to issues that I was unable to find solutions for.
Can you elaborate a bit more on how to modify vbmeta and what to change? I'm not particularly skilled with the usage of hex editors, so not sure how to proceed here or what to edit.
I know there will probably be issues inherent to running to a GSI, but I'd like to change things up a bit and experiment. If I don't like what I see, I can always return to stock rooted. I'm not a big fan of stock firmwares, but so far it has been very stable for me. However, if I can get a custom ROM like AOSP, RR, LOS, etc running reliably, then I'd definitely switch. There are no features on stock besides Dex and Secure Folder, that are compelling enough to me me stay on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sambow23 said:
Bluetooth audio works if you disable the a2dp hardware offload in the phh treble app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know if audio issues might be caused by using a different kernel (as I've switched to using DragKernel for this tablet). I don't recommend using stock kernel, though, due to a nasty 100-second watchdog that you need to manually disable after system startup (DragKernel has that removed from config).
I recall it's now possible to patch vbmeta using Magisk now. Simply provide the vbmeta of your FW version to Magisk and it'll patch it for you. I haven't tried, though, as I always do this by hand with a hex editor (it's just to change a single byte, which the recent Magisk versions would do).
Back then I couldn't get the device certified so I switched to microG which is working well. I recommend using NanoDroid as it comes with a modded Play Store which allows you to purchase apps as well as IAPs. The modded Play Store still works, despite being quite dated.
I don't really have anything blocking me from using microG now. If you need real GApps and know about the workflow for uncertified devices, you may try flashing a bgN flavor GSI as opposed to bvN (g means the GSI ships with GApps).

Related

Shield TV 2017 (16GB) How to... DTB...

I own a Shield TV 2017 (16GB) remote only (P2894, Darcy) which currently has Nvidia 7.1.0 developer OS, unlocked bootloader and the boot.img was patched using Magisk Manager 6.2.1/Magisk 18.0.
It has been noted patching boot.img using Magisk Manager 6.2.1/Magisk 18.0 only performs a partial root and that something else in the "DTB" information needs to be modified in order to allow full root access to read/write.
I'm new to this so please forgive me if I ask something obvious.
I've connected my Shield TV to my PC via ADB and executed
fastboot oem dtbname
...
(bootloader) tegra210-darcy-p2894-0050-a08-00.dtb
OKAY [ -0.000s]
finished. total time: -0.000s
I don't know how to extract the *.dtb information or know what's required to patch it.
The command to flash it is
fastboot flash DTB tegra210-darcy-p2894-0050-a08-00.dtb
Can someone else help provide what's required to extract, modify, etc... in order to flash and gain full root access?

Mogster2K said:
Zulu99 mentioned something similar - that dm-verity was enabled in darcy's DTB file, preventing any custom firmwares from executing. Foster does not seem to have this problem.
He's provided a patched DTB here - use at your own risk: http://bit.ly/2CxB1hS (WARNING! ONLY FOR 2017 DARCY MODEL!)
Original post here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's my understanding that this is required to allow TWRP 3.2.3.0 foster to work properly. If not can someone please clarify this for us beginner users?
NOTE: The patched DTB file above is not for the same version as the one I have.

nanerasingh said:
As my test on 2017 16gb 7.2.2 official TWRP patched the boot img i got root access but not fully write.
I used the DTB and flashed from fastboot and reboot without any reset -w command.
No issue of unresponsiveness and boots up normal.I tried edit build.prop in system via ES explorer and reboot the see the persistent and rw works.
So system dm-verity patch by DTB works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Noting this too...

Thanks for the confirmation!
The fastboot -w should only be required if the forced cyption was already in use on the device.
But if I am not mistaken than on the developer version only the data prtition is encrypted, which is no issue.

nadia p. said:
It's my understanding that this is required to allow TWRP 3.2.3.0 foster to work properly. If not can someone please clarify this for us beginner users?
NOTE: The patched DTB file above is not for the same version as the one I have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AFAIK the patched DTB is for booting custom ROMs. More work still needs to be done to get TWRP working again.
---------- Post added at 09:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:42 PM ----------
nadia p. said:
I own a Shield TV 2017 (16GB) remote only (P2894, Darcy) which currently has Nvidia 7.1.0 developer OS, unlocked bootloader and the boot.img was patched using Magisk Manager 6.2.1/Magisk 18.0.
It has been noted patching boot.img using Magisk Manager 6.2.1/Magisk 18.0 only performs a partial root and that something else in the "DTB" information needs to be modified in order to allow full root access to read/write.
I'm new to this so please forgive me if I ask something obvious.
I've connected my Shield TV to my PC via ADB and executed
fastboot oem dtbname
...
(bootloader) tegra210-darcy-p2894-0050-a08-00.dtb
OKAY [ -0.000s]
finished. total time: -0.000s
I don't know how to extract the *.dtb information or know what's required to patch it.
The command to flash it is
fastboot flash DTB tegra210-darcy-p2894-0050-a08-00.dtb
Can someone else help provide what's required to extract, modify, etc... in order to flash and gain full root access?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is root not working for you now? If you have never upgraded the stock ROM past 7.1, then it should work without needing a patched DTB.

Mogster2K said:
AFAIK the patched DTB is for booting custom ROMs. More work still needs to be done to get TWRP working again.
---------- Post added at 09:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:42 PM ----------
Is root not working for you now? If you have never upgraded the stock ROM past 7.1, then it should work without needing a patched DTB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm quite the beginner at all of this Android stuff, although I have experience with several other software related things. I'm currently stuck trying to install TWRP 3.2.3.0 foster on my Shield TV 2017 (16GB, remote only + usb keyboard + usb mouse). I haven't been able to backup the entire device yet to use that to see if I can restore everything back to that exact state yet. I don't know how to tell how "rooted" I really am yet.
Steel01 says TWRP 3.2.3.0 fosters is working on Darcy. I'm still trying to confirm this. My main reason for TWRP is to complete a full backup which I can later restore back to that exact state if/when something should happen if accidentally updated and it breaks everything again.

nadia p. said:
I'm quite the beginner at all of this Android stuff, although I have experience with several other software related things. I'm currently stuck trying to install TWRP 3.2.3.0 foster on my Shield TV 2017 (16GB, remote only + usb keyboard + usb mouse). I haven't been able to backup the entire device yet to use that to see if I can restore everything back to that exact state yet. I don't know how to tell how "rooted" I really am yet.
Steel01 says TWRP 3.2.3.0 fosters is working on Darcy. I'm still trying to confirm this. My main reason for TWRP is to complete a full backup which I can later restore back to that exact state if/when something should happen if accidentally updated and it breaks everything again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP works for darcy IF AND ONLY IF it has never been upgraded to stock rom 7.2 or higher. 7.2 majorly broke a lot of things, including TWRP, which is why this thread has so much traffic lately and I why asked whether you had upgraded past 7.1. Please confirm whether you have or not.

Mogster2K said:
TWRP works for darcy IF AND ONLY IF it has never been upgraded to stock rom 7.2 or higher. 7.2 majorly broke a lot of things, including TWRP, which is why this thread has so much traffic lately and I why asked whether you had upgraded past 7.1. Please confirm whether you have or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello Mogster2K, Originally without any modifications the factory installed Nvidia software upgraded itself through on-line updates to 7.2.1 which then broke other 3rd party Apps for me. I then attempted to downgrade to 6.3.0 developer OS, however because it was my first time unlocking the bootloader it wiped everything so once it 6.3.0 was successfully flashed, I had to connect to the internet, sign-in again to Google Play and meanwhile it forced itself to update back to 7.2.1 again. Later by following ACiDxCHRiST's guide HERE, I was able to successfully downgrade to 7.1.0 developer by patching the 7.1.0 boot.img then manually flashed each line item in flash-all.bat.
Later I tried to install TWRP 3.2.3.0 so I could backup the device, however I've not been successful with that since I have a Shield TV 2017 (16GB) remote only model so I must use a USB keyboard and USB mouse to do it. I was reading these other posts here about what the issues might be preventing me from installing TWRP and using it to back everything up. Does this help answer your question?
So I'm currently on 7.1.0 developer OS, patched boot.img using Magisk Manager 6.2.1/Magisk 18.0. So far the Apps that were broken by 7.2.0 "factory" are again working fine in 7.1.0. I don't game, I mainly watch movies and tv series with my device so I don't have many requirements other than I'd like to back everything up so in case it accidentally gets updated somehow I can revert back to a working archive and continue from there.

Mogster2K said:
TWRP works for darcy IF AND ONLY IF it has never been upgraded to stock rom 7.2 or higher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I realized I wasn't sure if by upgrading the "stock" rom this included updating the device to 7.2.0 (or later) via on-line updates or just flashing the rom itself to 7.2.0 (or later).

Does anyone know how to test for certain criteria to help determine if:
A) anything needs to be modified in regards to DTB
B) if their device has been updated in such a way that it currently breaks TWRP (or other things) in such a way there is no fix as of today
This should prove quite useful to help us understand if/anything needs to be done or where the device resides at any given moment.

nadia p. said:
I realized I wasn't sure if by upgrading the "stock" rom this included updating the device to 7.2.0 (or later) via on-line updates or just flashing the rom itself to 7.2.0 (or later).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both. Anyway, I did not realize at the time that darcy could be fully downgraded to 7.1, sorry. It doesn't work on my foster, so I can't use TWRP at all. Also, to the best of my knowledge, TWRP requires at least a USB mouse to function regardless of which ShieldTV model you have. And the modified DTB is just for booting modified images on darcy 7.2+. You're fine without it on 7.1.

Stuck... post backup TWRP 3.2.3.0, now corrupt w/black screen
I'm not sure if this had anything to do with it but I'm suck at a black screen after backing up TWRP.
More information can be found at this POST.

Already this 7.2 update is creating topics all over the place
Anyway, let me try to at least some light on things.
My latest findings:
1. The bootloader does not downgrade to 7.1 once you had at least the 7.2.x installed, not sure about 7.2 as it is too late for me to test this.
I did not check with the 6.3 either but maybe someone who did is able to state what bootloader is working then.
2. The DTB is not included in the firmware images at all but it seems it was included in some pre 7.1 to include the "updates" for the Darcy models.
What makes the Zulu one tick is the simple fact that it is patched to disable DM-Verity completely.
Hence the requirement for the fastboot -w or a factory reset.
TWRP and such....
This might get quite long, so anyone without half decent knowledge about rooting, firmwares and recoveries can just skip it
First thing I learned from 7.2 was: Do not mess with your bootloader!!!
Second thing I learned is that Linus was right with his statement about NVidia and their open source suppport.
So what actually changed?
For starters the NVidia statement of the developer firmware being rootable is not true the same way it was before.
Google latest kernel fixes and changes have been implemented - look it up yourself please to spare me thausand of lines of typing!
In short it means that all backdoors or such that Magisk or SU have used are unavailabe now.
Rooting still works but with the limit of write access.
And that is the important factor one for TWRP, the second is "routing".
Let me try to word it as simple as I can...
We can not modify the system to ignore the stock recovery or related security features.
We can not write to required areas of the system required to boot into TWRP through the recovery.
If you somehow manage to get into TWRP, like when I still had a working mod, there again is no write access to system available and the internal memory will be corrupted if you write a backup.
The DTB Zulu provided gives us system wide write rights again by disabling DM-Verity but this only goes for the system!!
The recovery does not use the DTB in this way.
Best thing you end up with is a dark screen where ADB seems to be working.
It actually works with full root access for me in several cases LOL
So if that really is TWRP then why can't we see it?
My TV is great as it allows multi input formats.
So a 1080P signal will be accepted as such.
And every time this screen format changes I see a little pop up with the new resolutions on the screen.
Since 7.2 this popup no longer shows up....
TWRP might actually be there and working but we can not see or use it.
The strange thing however is that at least on the 7.2.2 I had the strange problem that just trying to boot into tWRP through fastboot resulted in a corrupt system.
The bootloader realises the recovery written into the temp area has no NVidia signature or hash code to match.
This means for the bootloader a possible attack on the system happened and it is "secured", resulting in a soft brick.
My plans to fix all this crap for good:
The DTB is a partial solution at best as we
a) don't really know how compatible it is with future updates.
b) we still fail to properly use TWRP again.
All up a total nighmare for any modder or person with a lot of data and apps to backup and restore.
My first attempt was to build the 7.2 from the sources, thinking at least here the NVidia statements are correct that their installer takes care of everything.
Lol! It did take of about 120GB in downloads but did not give me any of require software suites actually required to even load a build tree.
Would need far more time than I have to mae complete and work with registrations, accounts and all this.
So I decided to go back to my roots before Magisk was a thing.
Dissecting the firmware, disabling all new "safety" features and not required encryptions and hash checks.
That bit I think I finnished to my satisfaction.
On the packing to make it work to be installed under 7.2.X I am still working.
Biggest drawback for me is that I lost TWRP and that the TWRP builder does not even let me log in on my Shield.
So even if a more offical way or porting or building could be a way out I can not access it.
Means I can neither try to install my modded firmware nor test it.
So if anyone reading here has a confirmed way to downgrade to something that brings TWRP back to live with working write access and working backup functions:
Don't be shy, we don''t bite (much)!
Share your way, give us the links and if my magic still works a bit this nightmare shall soon be over for good

7.2 sources still have not been released yet, anyway. I found a reference to a new branch "rel-30-r2-partner-o" but that's all.

Downunder35m said:
Already this 7.2 update is creating topics all over the place
Anyway, let me try to at least some light on things.
My latest findings:
1. The bootloader does not downgrade to 7.1 once you had at least the 7.2.x installed, not sure about 7.2 as it is too late for me to test this.
I did not check with the 6.3 either but maybe someone who did is able to state what bootloader is working then.
2. The DTB is not included in the firmware images at all but it seems it was included in some pre 7.1 to include the "updates" for the Darcy models.
What makes the Zulu one tick is the simple fact that it is patched to disable DM-Verity completely.
Hence the requirement for the fastboot -w or a factory reset.
TWRP and such....
This might get quite long, so anyone without half decent knowledge about rooting, firmwares and recoveries can just skip it
First thing I learned from 7.2 was: Do not mess with your bootloader!!!
Second thing I learned is that Linus was right with his statement about NVidia and their open source suppport.
So what actually changed?
For starters the NVidia statement of the developer firmware being rootable is not true the same way it was before.
Google latest kernel fixes and changes have been implemented - look it up yourself please to spare me thausand of lines of typing!
In short it means that all backdoors or such that Magisk or SU have used are unavailabe now.
Rooting still works but with the limit of write access.
And that is the important factor one for TWRP, the second is "routing".
Let me try to word it as simple as I can...
We can not modify the system to ignore the stock recovery or related security features.
We can not write to required areas of the system required to boot into TWRP through the recovery.
If you somehow manage to get into TWRP, like when I still had a working mod, there again is no write access to system available and the internal memory will be corrupted if you write a backup.
The DTB Zulu provided gives us system wide write rights again by disabling DM-Verity but this only goes for the system!!
The recovery does not use the DTB in this way.
Best thing you end up with is a dark screen where ADB seems to be working.
It actually works with full root access for me in several cases LOL
So if that really is TWRP then why can't we see it?
My TV is great as it allows multi input formats.
So a 1080P signal will be accepted as such.
And every time this screen format changes I see a little pop up with the new resolutions on the screen.
Since 7.2 this popup no longer shows up....
TWRP might actually be there and working but we can not see or use it.
The strange thing however is that at least on the 7.2.2 I had the strange problem that just trying to boot into tWRP through fastboot resulted in a corrupt system.
The bootloader realises the recovery written into the temp area has no NVidia signature or hash code to match.
This means for the bootloader a possible attack on the system happened and it is "secured", resulting in a soft brick.
My plans to fix all this crap for good:
The DTB is a partial solution at best as we
a) don't really know how compatible it is with future updates.
b) we still fail to properly use TWRP again.
All up a total nighmare for any modder or person with a lot of data and apps to backup and restore.
My first attempt was to build the 7.2 from the sources, thinking at least here the NVidia statements are correct that their installer takes care of everything.
Lol! It did take of about 120GB in downloads but did not give me any of require software suites actually required to even load a build tree.
Would need far more time than I have to mae complete and work with registrations, accounts and all this.
So I decided to go back to my roots before Magisk was a thing.
Dissecting the firmware, disabling all new "safety" features and not required encryptions and hash checks.
That bit I think I finnished to my satisfaction.
On the packing to make it work to be installed under 7.2.X I am still working.
Biggest drawback for me is that I lost TWRP and that the TWRP builder does not even let me log in on my Shield.
So even if a more offical way or porting or building could be a way out I can not access it.
Means I can neither try to install my modded firmware nor test it.
So if anyone reading here has a confirmed way to downgrade to something that brings TWRP back to live with working write access and working backup functions:
Don't be shy, we don''t bite (much)!
Share your way, give us the links and if my magic still works a bit this nightmare shall soon be over for good
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all thank you so much for putting all this in layman's terms so someone like me can understand it. Total respect!
Since my device is useless if there is some way I can offer you remote access to a PC, the device and anything else I can assist you with please don't hesitate to let me know.
If you need me to send you my device with remote that you can use to complete these things and get everyone unstuck from this dreadful situation I'm all for that too.
I wish there were a means, like with computers, that we can purchase a band new device, fully back it up before even connecting it to the internet and being forced to sign-in to Google Play before we even have access to the device. We'd also need a way to wipe, format and reinstall this backup without any issues. Is this too much to ask for in an Android world?
EDIT: I have time, access to certain hardware PCs, Macs and Linux, and have some basic skills with computers, phones, etc... If I can assist you or anyone with certain time consuming things let me know. The only Android device I currently own now is the Shield TV.

Would it Work to just flash the system/vendor files without updating the Bootloader?

nadia p. said:
Since my device is useless if there is some way I can offer you remote access to a PC, the device and anything else I can assist you with please don't hesitate to let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I've lost track of your particular situation. Are you unable to reflash Stock 7.2 or 7.2.1? I realize it's hardly ideal, but it would at least make the ShieldTV usable.

From what I understand the dtb file is in the blob file, so simply flashing back a blob file would put back the stock dtb file. The only issue with flashing blob files is if you tried flashing back a Nougat blob file if you were already on a Oreo Firmware, as long as you only try flashing a Oreo Firmware blob file you shouldn't run into any problems, I would have to go back and have a read, but I'm sure I read that you may have done this and if you had tried to flash a Nougat blob file when you were already on an Oreo Firmware, that could be where you first ran into problems. But I'm not too sure if you are asking where to get the modified dtb file or not, I'm not sure if you have already flashed the modified dtb file or you are asking where to get the modified dtb file. I checked the dtb version on my 2017 Darcy Shield and it came up with a different number version than yours, mine came back with: tegra210-darcy-p2894-0050-a04-00.dtb whereas you have posted you have the tegra210-darcy-p2894-0050-a08-00.dtb. I done the check on what version of the dtb I had before and after using the modified dtb and also after when I flashed back a Oreo blob file and back to a Full Stock Oreo firmware and they both came back as the a04 version.
I would try and flash back to the latest Stock 7.2.1 image released on Nvidia's site: https://developer.nvidia.com/gameworksdownload
If successful then I would look at downgrading back to 7.1 Stock Firmware. I'm still a bit confused if this is what you have done or you only have a black screen when trying to boot to system?
The Fifth and Sixth version on the downloads screen are the versions for the 2017 model, one being the Developer version and the one below being the Stock version of 7.2.1. I would try flashing the Stock Version first and see if that gets you back up and running again. If it does, I would again check the dtb version as I am sure the 2017 Darcy model should be showing the a04 version and not a08.
---------- Post added at 01:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:55 PM ----------
I just had a quick read back, you have said you have flashed the Developer image and then also flashed a patched boot.img. I have not done this combo as it is not the way I would do things. I would use just the Stock Firmware and not the Developer image with a patched boot.img. I do not know 100% for sure if the only difference between the Developer version and the stock version is the boot.img but if you are going to use a patched boot.img anyway, this is the reason why I say there is no need to flash the Developer version as you are going to use a Patched boot.img anyway, I would just stick with the Stock version.

Mogster2K said:
Sorry, I've lost track of your particular situation. Are you unable to reflash Stock 7.2 or 7.2.1? I realize it's hardly ideal, but it would at least make the ShieldTV usable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello Mogster2K, from the factory install which was updated OTA to 7.2.1 I was able to 1st unlock the bootloader and flash 6.3.0 developer OS to my device successfully, or so I thought so. What I mean by this is based on what Downunder35m said once the device has been updated to 7.2.0 regardless of how when flashing previous versions of OS (developer or recovery) it may not revert the bootloader to 6.3.0. This we still have to see and test to confirm, unfortunately he nor I have any way to test things right now. That being said because I unlocked the bootloader (forced wipe) then flashed 6.3.0 that all went fine accept when booting to the Nvidia home screen it required me to connect to the internet and then sign-in to Google Play. Doing this the OS forces it to update itself again back to 7.2.1 (at that time).
So now that the previous steps were useless I then discovered ACiDxCHRiST's guide HERE and followed that since the bootloader was already unlocked I could modify the boot.img form 7.1.0 then flash that. Well two things happened, it worked perfectly however it's most likely Magisk didn't truly root the device 100%, it only rooted it partially. So now the device worked fine on 7.1.0 and everything was going well UNTIL I decided to install TWRP and backup my device. Doing so totally screwed it, now I have a black screen.... Read THIS.
So one of the reasons I started this thread was to find out more about DTB and how do we start to first test a devices current state, perhaps patch it to what we need to recover from the 7.2.0 changes and restrictions. The benefit of all of this is we should be able, with expertise, be able to climb our way out of this hole and get back to a working device.

whiteak said:
From what I understand the dtb file is in the blob file, so simply flashing back a blob file would put back the stock dtb file. The only issue with flashing blob files is if you tried flashing back a Nougat blob file if you were already on a Oreo Firmware, as long as you only try flashing a Oreo Firmware blob file you shouldn't run into any problems, I would have to go back and have a read, but I'm sure I read that you may have done this and if you had tried to flash a Nougat blob file when you were already on an Oreo Firmware, that could be where you first ran into problems. But I'm not too sure if you are asking where to get the modified dtb file or not, I'm not sure if you have already flashed the modified dtb file or you are asking where to get the modified dtb file. I checked the dtb version on my 2017 Darcy Shield and it came up with a different number version than yours, mine came back with: tegra210-darcy-p2894-0050-a04-00.dtb whereas you have posted you have the tegra210-darcy-p2894-0050-a08-00.dtb. I done the check on what version of the dtb I had before and after using the modified dtb and also after when I flashed back a Oreo blob file and back to a Full Stock Oreo firmware and they both came back as the a04 version.
I would try and flash back to the latest Stock 7.2.1 image released on Nvidia's site: https://developer.nvidia.com/gameworksdownload
If successful then I would look at downgrading back to 7.1 Stock Firmware. I'm still a bit confused if this is what you have done or you only have a black screen when trying to boot to system?
The Fifth and Sixth version on the downloads screen are the versions for the 2017 model, one being the Developer version and the one below being the Stock version of 7.2.1. I would try flashing the Stock Version first and see if that gets you back up and running again. If it does, I would again check the dtb version as I am sure the 2017 Darcy model should be showing the a04 version and not a08.
---------- Post added at 01:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:55 PM ----------
I just had a quick read back, you have said you have flashed the Developer image and then also flashed a patched boot.img. I have not done this combo as it is not the way I would do things. I would use just the Stock Firmware and not the Developer image with a patched boot.img. I do not know 100% for sure if the only difference between the Developer version and the stock version is the boot.img but if you are going to use a patched boot.img anyway, this is the reason why I say there is no need to flash the Developer version as you are going to use a Patched boot.img anyway, I would just stick with the Stock version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In short the 7.2.1 update broke the factory install by affecting other apps I use and that were working perfectly fine in 7.1.0 before the update occurred. This was the sole reason I attempted to revert back to a previous OS.
Just flashing 6.3.0 didn't work as it updated itself back to 7.2.1 forcibly. I then had to work around that issue and the only way I found was to download 7.1.0, patch it's boot.img file, flash 7.1.0 developer to keep the bootloader uplocked so it wouldn't wipe the system whereby deleting the user info, apps, etc..., make sense? The only issue is that Magisk didn't fully root the device properly and with the new OS verification added to 7.2.0 it created all sorts of other protections where we're not able to fully wipe everything and flash back normally. These protections kick in and prevent it. This is why we're trying to see how to undo the protection settings so we can actually do what we need to do. DTB is part of this.

Would this procedure work? (install magisk and twrp on 10.0.3.0)

First, let me say I have been using rooted phones with twrp for several years and never had the slightest problem with them, so I generally know what I am doing, but the Mi A2 Lite is just a disaster area for me, not with Magisk, that works fine, but twrp seems impossible for me to install on 10.0.3.0 without soft bricking ( I had twrp installed on 10.0.2.0 and 10.0.1.0 so I am not unfamiliar with the method, but on 10.0.3.0 - no way). I have done so many factory resets now I have my own parking space at the factory! (That is humour btw).
So I wondered if a different approach to the problem might work. I am not a coder or phone guru, so what I propose might be nonsense, if it is I am sure somebody will tell me.
We are all used to the concept of the 'patched_boot.img' created by Magisk and if you don't want to produce your own version the forum usually has a link to it. Magisk though is not the problem, twrp is, so what I am proposing is that somebody provides a link to a 'double_patched_boot.img' ie a flashable boot image that contains both twrp and magisk and that can directly replace the stock boot via fastboot.
Apparently there are some folks that have managed to install both twrp and magisk on 10.0.3.0, so if one of them could extract the 'double_patched_boot.img' from their phone it might help out a lot. How do you achieve that? Well there is probably more than one way, but the way that I would choose (if I could manage to install them both in the first place) is to boot into twrp, connect to pc, take a miflash backup of the phone and then unzip it with the following command (this is a linux command I am sure someone can provide a windows equivalent):
Code:
tar -xzf ********.tgz
where ********.tgz is the name of your miflash backup.
Then extract the boot.img from the resulting folder, rename it to something like 'double_patched_boot_10.0.3.0.img' and provide a link to it on the forum. Then some brave soul could try it out (probably not me as I am sick of doing factory resets and don't have any backups because I don't have any recovery to make them from).
OTOH this might just not be practical, I don't know enough to be sure.

i was having similar issues. replaced my mi a2 lite and followed the guide for the aosp 109 gsi here in the forum replacing the fstab and one other file i forgot they name but it's instructed. i have twrp zero the fixed one, magisk, and I'm running the RR PIE ROM with zero issues and I've been back and forth in and out of recovery no problem. I'm pretty sure it will work for you too.

12:121390 said:
i was having similar issues. replaced my mi a2 lite and followed the guide for the aosp 109 gsi here in the forum replacing the fstab and one other file i forgot they name but it's instructed. i have twrp zero the fixed one, magisk, and I'm running the RR PIE ROM with zero issues and I've been back and forth in and out of recovery no problem. I'm pretty sure it will work for you too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I have certainly thought of jumping ship to a custom rom, but I would like to wait a little before I do so, ideally until someone fires up a Lineage rom for the A2 Lite. But if things continue as badly as they have done so far with stock roms then I might well join you on RR.

viking777 said:
Interesting. I have certainly thought of jumping ship to a custom rom, but I would like to wait a little before I do so, ideally until someone fires up a Lineage rom for the A2 Lite. But if things continue as badly as they have done so far with stock roms then I might well join you on RR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
also because of the new ARB thing, custom is much safer, i think i bricked my last device rolling back from ota 9.0 software to ota 8.1. that's a non-issue with custom. just something to be wary of. the current RR pie gsi is near flawless for he so far. hope that helps a little

12:121390 said:
also because of the new ARB thing, custom is much safer, i think i bricked my last device rolling back from ota 9.0 software to ota 8.1. that's a non-issue with custom. just something to be wary of. the current RR pie gsi is near flawless for he so far. hope that helps a little
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anti roll back is disabled and not an issue if bootloader is unlocked

Nice thread. Tried it as well but no chance 10.0.3.00 + twrp + magisk. And you are right the problem is twrp.
Sent from my Phh-Treble vanilla using Tapatalk

12:121390 said:
i was having similar issues. replaced my mi a2 lite and followed the guide for the aosp 109 gsi here in the forum replacing the fstab and one other file i forgot they name but it's instructed. i have twrp zero the fixed one, magisk, and I'm running the RR PIE ROM with zero issues and I've been back and forth in and out of recovery no problem. I'm pretty sure it will work for you too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does RR Pie have any issues on Mi A2 Lite? Whichever GSI I'd tried, I had lags :/

12:121390 said:
i was having similar issues. replaced my mi a2 lite and followed the guide for the aosp 109 gsi here in the forum replacing the fstab and one other file i forgot they name but it's instructed. i have twrp zero the fixed one, magisk, and I'm running the RR PIE ROM with zero issues and I've been back and forth in and out of recovery no problem. I'm pretty sure it will work for you too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
brother i also want to install RR PIE Rom can you please give me the guide link?

hossman said:
Anti roll back is disabled and not an issue if bootloader is unlocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
correct it is not. what happened was.. lol. i thought i was crafty and did some file swapping and made miflash setups that would flash so the stock files as usual , but with gsi's like RR and/or bootleggers for the system image. and it works, up until i flashed from RR to bootleggers with those setups described previously . there is where my genius was flawed. lol. lesson learned
---------- Post added at 06:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 AM ----------
marstonpear said:
Does RR Pie have any issues on Mi A2 Lite? Whichever GSI I'd tried, I had lags :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for me, i have not come across anything caused by the GSI. any issues I've faced are purely self inflicted.

I don´t get your problems... Just boot twrp, and install it as described in original thread.
After that flash back aboot from 9.6.11.0 and the message "your system got destroyed" will disappear!

Voodoojonny said:
I don´t get your problems... Just boot twrp, and install it as described in original thread.
After that flash back aboot from 9.6.11.0 and the message "your system got destroyed" will disappear!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might not get my problem, but likewise I don't get your solution. Firstly aboot has never been touched during the attempted twrp install so why flash it at all, it has not been changed, and secondly you suggest I flash it with something that is how many versions old 4?, 5?, I'm not sure, when just about every post you ever read stresses that you should not mix old and new partitions at the same time.
I hope you forgive my scepticism, but can you actually suggest the slightest reason why this might work?
Or is it all just voodoo johnny (sorry, couldn't resist that).

viking777 said:
You might not get my problem, but likewise I don't get your solution. Firstly aboot has never been touched during the attempted twrp install so why flash it at all, it has not been changed, and secondly you suggest I flash it with something that is how many versions old 4?, 5?, I'm not sure, when just about every post you ever read stresses that you should not mix old and new partitions at the same time.
I hope you forgive my scepticism, but can you actually suggest the slightest reason why this might work?
Or is it all just voodoo johnny (sorry, couldn't resist that).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aboot is the bootloader. Since Pie the aboot was modified to check wheather there are modification on your boot.img. So everytime you modify something (like installing twrp), you get the message "your system got destroyed".
9.6.11.0 is the last version of Oreo. Here the bootloader didn´t check boot.img.
That´s why you need to flash 9.6.11.0 - maybe the older verstions will work too. Didn´t check. But I guess only 9.6.11.0 will work becouse it was the latest oreo version and it had to have a bootloader which can boot up pie (to have ota working).
Here you can find the aboot.img I use... and which works without any problem on pie - right now I´m running 10.0.3.0...
Just flash it via fastboot.

Voodoojonny said:
Aboot is the bootloader. Since Pie the aboot was modified to check wheather there are modification on your boot.img. So everytime you modify something (like installing twrp), you get the message "your system got destroyed".
9.6.11.0 is the last version of Oreo. Here the bootloader didn´t check boot.img.
That´s why you need to flash 9.6.11.0 - maybe the older verstions will work too. Didn´t check. But I guess only 9.6.11.0 will work becouse it was the latest oreo version and it had to have a bootloader which can boot up pie (to have ota working).
Here you can find the aboot.img I use... and which works without any problem on pie - right now I´m running 10.0.3.0...
Just flash it via fastboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK that makes sense now - thank you for the explanation. I will probably give that a try sometime, but not right now as I have a stable working phone for the first time in ages and I don't want to jeopardise that.
Just one question though. When I had twrp installed on 10.0.2.0, it was fine at doing backups, but on the two occasions I tried to restore with them they failed, by which I don't mean that the restore didn't repair the phone, but that it was impossible to even carry out the restore, it started but did not complete - just ended with 'Restore Failed' message.
Have you tried any restores with twrp installed in the manner you suggest and if so did they work? No point in installing it otherwise.

viking777 said:
OK that makes sense now - thank you for the explanation. I will probably give that a try sometime, but not right now as I have a stable working phone for the first time in ages and I don't want to jeopardise that.
Just one question though. When I had twrp installed on 10.0.2.0, it was fine at doing backups, but on the two occasions I tried to restore with them they failed, by which I don't mean that the restore didn't repair the phone, but that it was impossible to even carry out the restore, it started but did not complete - just ended with 'Restore Failed' message.
Have you tried any restores with twrp installed in the manner you suggest and if so did they work? No point in installing it otherwise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There seems to be some bugs restoring system and vendor... Some users talked about... I usually only save and restore the data and boot partition and I never had any problems with that. For all other partitions you can use miflash or fastboot...

Yeah all my twrp full backups don't work after a fresh stock installment either, that's very annoying.
The twrp version for daisy is bugged. Backups are not working, the wifi with GSI Roms on pie stock is not working anymore as soon as twrp is installed as well.
Sent from my Phh-Treble vanilla using Tapatalk

Thanks for the replies above. @voodoojohnny
In my case it was the data partition that caused the restore to fail, vendor and system and boot all seemed to go through normally. @cd492
Based on what you say along with my own experiences and those of voovoojohnny, it looks like twrp is more trouble than it is worth at the moment. I think I will make do without it for now and hope for a better version in the future.

viking777 said:
First, let me say I have been using rooted phones with twrp for several years and never had the slightest problem with them, so I generally know what I am doing, but the Mi A2 Lite is just a disaster area for me, not with Magisk, that works fine, but twrp seems impossible for me to install on 10.0.3.0 without soft bricking ( I had twrp installed on 10.0.2.0 and 10.0.1.0 so I am not unfamiliar with the method, but on 10.0.3.0 - no way). I have done so many factory resets now I have my own parking space at the factory! (That is humour btw).
So I wondered if a different approach to the problem might work. I am not a coder or phone guru, so what I propose might be nonsense, if it is I am sure somebody will tell me.
We are all used to the concept of the 'patched_boot.img' created by Magisk and if you don't want to produce your own version the forum usually has a link to it. Magisk though is not the problem, twrp is, so what I am proposing is that somebody provides a link to a 'double_patched_boot.img' ie a flashable boot image that contains both twrp and magisk and that can directly replace the stock boot via fastboot.
Apparently there are some folks that have managed to install both twrp and magisk on 10.0.3.0, so if one of them could extract the 'double_patched_boot.img' from their phone it might help out a lot. How do you achieve that? Well there is probably more than one way, but the way that I would choose (if I could manage to install them both in the first place) is to boot into twrp, connect to pc, take a miflash backup of the phone and then unzip it with the following command (this is a linux command I am sure someone can provide a windows equivalent):
where ********.tgz is the name of your miflash backup.
Then extract the boot.img from the resulting folder, rename it to something like 'double_patched_boot_10.0.3.0.img' and provide a link to it on the forum. Then some brave soul could try it out (probably not me as I am sick of doing factory resets and don't have any backups because I don't have any recovery to make them from).
OTOH this might just not be practical, I don't know enough to be sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS HAS NOT BEEN TESTED ON GSI'S YET
I'm currently in the process of RR with TWRP but having extreme Encryption errors
Grab these two files (Big Thanks to Zerovoid, Seryioo, and mac12m99)
Fixed SDCard Support TWRP Image File (Put this on your SDCard and Computer)-
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi...unofficial-twrp-daisy-mount-sd-fixed-t3889390
Fixed SDCard Support TWRP Installer Zip (Put this on your SDCard)-
https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=11410963190603893418
But I got TWRP on 10.0.3.0 with magisk, and Justic Kernel.
THIS WILL WIPE YOUR DEVICE I'M DEFINITELY NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST DATA
Start with the phone being on with USB Debugging enabled correctly
Type adb reboot bootloader
So flash the 10.0.3.0 ROM through MiFlash using the flash_all.bat, this process has to be done so backup your data before erasing.
After it is done flashing it restarts, go ahead and hold power and volume down right back to the Bootloader
Type: fastboot boot twrp-3.2.3-0-daisy_zero.img
It would boot into TWRP, if you see something about decryption hit cancel this may mean you haven't followed directions so far
Tap install and find your SD Card, find the fixed-twrp-installer-daisy.zip where ever you put it on your SD Card and install it, this process takes a few minutes when finished DO NOT HIT REBOOT SYSTEM!
Hit the home button back to TWRP home screen and tap reboot >>> bootloader
Download this to your computer - https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=11410963190603884024
Type: fastboot flash aboot aboot_9.6.4.img
Then type: fastboot reboot
Afterwards your phone shall boot up to Android if it does hold power and volume up and release power and keep hold volume up when the screen turns back on to go-to recovery, if TWRP boots up you have successfully completed the task.
Now flash Magisk zip (optional)
Hopefully this helped kind of my first tutorial, this was my process.

InfinityXDA said:
THIS HAS NOT BEEN TESTED ON GSI'S YET
I'm currently in the process of RR with TWRP but having extreme Encryption errors
Grab these two files (Big Thanks to Zerovoid, Seryioo, and mac12m99)
Fixed SDCard Support TWRP Image File (Put this on your SDCard and Computer)-
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi...unofficial-twrp-daisy-mount-sd-fixed-t3889390
Fixed SDCard Support TWRP Installer Zip (Put this on your SDCard)-
https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=11410963190603893418
But I got TWRP on 10.0.3.0 with magisk, and Justic Kernel.
THIS WILL WIPE YOUR DEVICE I'M DEFINITELY NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST DATA
Start with the phone being on with USB Debugging enabled correctly
Type adb reboot bootloader
So flash the 10.0.3.0 ROM through MiFlash using the flash_all.bat, this process has to be done so backup your data before erasing.
After it is done flashing it restarts, go ahead and hold power and volume down right back to the Bootloader
Type: fastboot boot twrp-3.2.3-0-daisy_zero.img
It would boot into TWRP, if you see something about decryption hit cancel this may mean you haven't followed directions so far
Tap install and find your SD Card, find the fixed-twrp-installer-daisy.zip where ever you put it on your SD Card and install it, this process takes a few minutes when finished DO NOT HIT REBOOT SYSTEM!
Hit the home button back to TWRP home screen and tap reboot >>> bootloader
Download this to your computer - https://androidfilehost.com/?fid=11410963190603884024
Type: fastboot flash aboot aboot_9.6.4.img
Then type: fastboot reboot
Afterwards your phone shall boot up to Android if it does hold power and volume up and release power and keep hold volume up when the screen turns back on to go-to recovery, if TWRP boots up you have successfully completed the task.
Now flash Magisk zip (optional)
Hopefully this helped kind of my first tutorial, this was my process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for posting this process in such detail, unfortunately I think you must have missed my last post where I said:
it looks like twrp is more trouble than it is worth at the moment. I think I will make do without it for now and hope for a better version in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant it, at least for now, but maybe your post will help somebody else.

viking777 said:
Thank you very much for posting this process in such detail, unfortunately I think you must have missed my last post where I said:
I meant it, at least for now, but maybe your post will help somebody else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I didn't see that post but understand I didn't give you links to the official TWRP, I gave you the unofficial fixed TWRP which actually features SD Card Support and trust me it works completely fine I haven't had a problem yet. This took me hours upon hours to figure out what I was doing wrong.
The only specific reason you are not successfully getting TWRP is because you didn't flash the aboot.img after installing the zip.
I hope this helps you in the future!

thanks InfinityXDA for the tutorial, you should create a post just for it~

Installing GSI ROMs on Mi8 Pro

The below is a guide to installing GSI images on the Mi 8 Pro. I specifically have experience with the PixelExperience 9.0 (Unofficial) but have had other GSI ROMs booting and working. I hope this is useful for some.
GSI (Generic System Image) ROMS can be flashed to any Project Treble enabled device. These devices have either an A/B partition layout (these allow for seamless updating as the system can boot from A or B partition) or just an A only partition layout. The Mi 8 Pro is an arm64 a only device and support project treble ROMs. You can choose from suitable ROMs listed here and here.
The instructions given below are for Android Pie (9.0). The same basic setup can be used for Android Oreo (8.0, 8.1) ROMs, but the Mi 8 Pro should be flashed with the appropriate Xiaomi base ROM first before flashing any 8 based GSI ROM
As the ROM development for the Mi 8 Pro is basically dead, I decided to buy a OnePlus 6T and sell my Mi 8 Pro. However, due to having my new OnePlus 6T stolen, and due to a lack of funds to buy a new device, I have revived my Mi 8 Pro to try to get something other than MIUI working on it. I now have The PixelExperience (Unofficial) GSI ROM running very smoothly on my Mi 8 Pro.
As the PixelExperience team has stated they will be delivering GSI images again, if there are enough of us asking, we could get better support for things like the fingerprint sensor, for a more complete experience.
Some of the below steps may be unnecessary, but are there for a complete beginner's guide to doing this and getting the right results.
Working:
WiFi
Bluetooth (with APTX)
NFC (Including Google Pay)
RIL
Mobile data (LTE / HSPDA / 3G / EDGE)
GPS
Camera (with camera built in to ROM, as well as some GCAM implementations)
Video Camera (not working on GCAM implementations tested so far - only working on Camer built in to ROM)
Flashlight
Sound / Vibrations
Face Unlock
Hotspot
Not Working:
VoLTE (I have had it working, but unable to end phone calls and problems receiving SMS messages, so reverted)
Fingerprint (There is some support. The fingerprint area of the screen lights up when trying to enrol a new fingerprint. The screen dims when a finger is placed on the sensor, and a green light us emitted from the sensor area, but it does not register the fingerprint and this is not currently working.)
Notification LED
You Tell Me
How to install
Flash the latest Fastboot Global Stable Android PIE (9.0) ROM for the Mi 8 Pro. (eg. equuleus_global_images_V10.3.4.0.PECMIXM_20190712.0000.00_9.0_global_9a181f79c1.tgz) using the Xiaomi Tool.
Update: Use the latest MIUI system. The contents of the vendor partition are important. The most compatible vendor partition as of 2019-08-19 is from equuleus_global_V10.3.5.0.PECMIXM. You can download and flash that vendor independantly, if you have already set up your GSI image.
Reboot and finish basic MIUI setup.
Reboot to recovery.
[*]Format data (Wipe - Advanced - format data - confirm by typing yes)
DO NOT FORMAT DATA. Just perform a factory reset. Formatting data can cause issues and prevent booting.
Wipe Cache - Dalvik Cache and System
Reboot recovery
Use adb to push PixelExperience GSI image (img file extracted from download) and latest version of Magisk to root of SDCard. (Empty due to formatting data).
("adb push c:\path\system.img /sdcard/" and then "adb push c:\path\Magiskv19.3.apk /sdcard/")
Flash the image to system partition by taping INSTALL and then on the "Install Image" button (to toggle between flashing zip and img files). Do not reboot yet.
Flash magisk zip in the normal way (hit the same button as in previous step to show zip files to flash. (This is necessary to avoid bootloops)
Reboot, and enjoy.
You can now set up your "PixelExperience" device with your apps and settings, including registering a face for face unlock.
To pass cts validation for the safetynet and to allow service such as Google Pay to work
In Magisk, under settings - Find “Magisk Hide” and toggle the switch on
Magisk restarts. Go to Magisk Hide from the Magisk menu and ensure that...
Google Pay
Google Play
Google Play Services
Google Service Framework
Any Banking Apps
...are checked so that they cannot see Magisk (canont see phone as rooted).
Now go to downloads and install the SafetyPatch v3 module (created by hackintosh5).
Reboot.
Open settings - go to apps and notifications - and find the above apps to clear all data.
Enjoy your rooted safetynet compliant, as close to stock as possible Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro.

nice work thanks for this great notice, i will test PixelExperience, how work the face unlock? i use the finger print very much, all day, but not work i will use the facial unlock. Then i wanna know how work this.
thanks!!

axelgrox said:
nice work thanks for this great notice, i will test PixelExperience, how work the face unlock? i use the finger print very much, all day, but not work i will use the facial unlock. Then i wanna know how work this.
thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Face unlock works fine. I have it paired with Pick to wake phone - so when I pick it up it wakes up to allow face unlock.
However, be prepared for some investment of time (not for face unlock).... I am a bit stuck now and cannot reproduce the above to get this working. Sometimes the results are different depending on base ROM etc.
Share how you get on and anything you may need to do to get this working.
Thanks

Nice work, i will try it .
The mi8 pro 's fingerprint is so bad which can be ignored, and the face unlock is the mostly used, hahahah
thank you very much for your work

Hi, I am waiting to unlock bootloader. Need 148hrs. Will install this. Thanks for sharing.

Quick update: There are some issues with GSI ROMs and the Mi 8 Pro. SOe of these relate to the SIMcard settings - and selection of preferred SIM for data, calls etc.
My experience shows that the vendor image from equuleus_global_V10.3.5.0.PECMIXM fixes many of these. The vendor image from the original MIUI ROM is used with the GSI system image to make the whole Project treble stuff work. I advise flashing this latest vendor image for maximum compatibility.

Do you know what issues remain after flashing the latest vendor image?

Does the face unlock on Pixel Experience work with IR camera or front cam?

I tried installing this and it got stuck on the loading screen with the Google logo. I tried following your instructions and a few other ways and couldn't get it to work at all i'm also not able to root my phone at all. When ever I try rooting my phone just reboots to twrp until I reflash the ram or flash the magisk uninstaller.
Do you have any tips, tricks, or suggestions I might try?
Thanks!

eremeya said:
I tried installing this and it got stuck on the loading screen with the Google logo. I tried following your instructions and a few other ways and couldn't get it to work at all i'm also not able to root my phone at all. When ever I try rooting my phone just reboots to twrp until I reflash the ram or flash the magisk uninstaller.
Do you have any tips, tricks, or suggestions I might try?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have experienced this on occasion also.
What GSI image have you tried? after my multiple efforts, I would recommend... in this order: Omni. HavocOS, Descendant(no future updates), PIxelExperience. I am hopeful about the PixelExperience team who have made an announcement that as of August they will no longer produce CAF versions of PixelExperience, and that they will maintain regular GSI builds also. PE official GSI - I am full of hope.
Anyway, back on topic: Try this.
Follow the instructions - a few precisions:
Use XiaoMiFlash to flash the equuleus_global_images_V10.3.4.0 as a base. You can update the vendor partition once you have GSI up and running, but don't let the MIUI update to 10.3.5. Ensure you define a PIN to make sure that data partition is encrypted. (everyone should use encryption nowadays, and besides, I have had bad experiences whn using a xiaomi eu or mi-globe ROM (unencrypted) as the base
Reboot and finish basic MIUI setup. - What I mean here is to let the ROM boot, don't have to sign in to Google or Mi, but get to the home screen after the initial setup.
Then reboot fastboot and flash TWRP 3.3.0. Search for TWRP-3.3.0-0504-XIAOMI8UD-CN-wzsx150.zip.
Boot to TWRP. Make sure that you are able to decrypt the data partition with the PIN you set earlier. If TWRP does not ask you for the passcode / PIN - something is wrong. Try again. ONce all is OK in TWRP, perform factory reset. (DO NOT FORMAT DATA for the aforementioned encryption reason).
adb push the img file.
adb push the Magisk 19.3 zip.
Flash both in TWRP
Reboot TWRP
Reboot system. If it appears to hang, after 5 minutes you can force restart with the power button. I have had the ROM boot OK after second boot only?
Pretty sure that if you strictly follow the above you should get a working GSI image on Mi 8 Pro. Let me know...
It's a bit flaky to set up, but once set up, apart from fingerprint sensor not working, very stable and lovely to have the stock ish android system on a MIUI phone!
Be careful with preferred network type for mobile network as some selections have messed up incoming SMS messages for me... a dealbreaker.
What happens when you flash Magisk? What does TWRP say? Have you tried flashing Magisk, rebooting TWRP, and flahing Magisk again? It may be a TWRP version issue?

Thanks for your reply!
The version of twrp you mention is what I have used. I have not tried installing then rebooting to twrp so I try that.
When flashing magisk it usually flashes fine (I have had a couple times where it just throws an error) then when I reboot the phone will boot past the Mi logo the the Android boot logo then after 10-15 sec. it just reboots to twrp.
I was finally able to get the twrp to stick across boots by flashing twrp, signing boot image, removing twrp then reboot to Miui.
Do I need to adb push the GSI image or should it be fine to install from a USB drive?
The SMS issue isn't really a big deal for me as I use Google Fi routed through hangouts for one sim and a local sim where I'm living for mostly data and a few phone calls for the second one

Thanks so much for this post. I was completely oblivious to the fact that the Mi 8 Pro would actually be different to the Mi 8 when it comes to custom roms. When I decided on my next phone, I read the positive reviews and saw enough Mi 8 roms to be willing to make a switch to Xiaomi. Until I read your post I was close to despairing as I don't want a Xiaomi rom on my phone for various reasons (among them is the fact that I don't trust them and the way they have decided to collect user data).
I've tried to follow your guide in every step (I've also flashed the updated vendor.img), but unfortunately I have not been able to install the Pixel Experience rom on my device. I do see the boot animation but it never stops, I'm forever stuck with the Google-G and the progress bar below it. Has anyone else managed to install the Pixel Experience rom on the Mi 8 Pro? If yes, did you follow the guide here or did you do something else?
Also, in your initial post you write that we should wipe the system in TWRP but as far as I can tell GSI roms need you to wipe data, cache and dalvik cache but not the system partition (if you do it, you also don't get asked for your PIN code in TWRP any more, which - as you said - indicates that something went wrong).
Did you install a particular version of the Pixel Experience rom? Maybe that might be part of my issue?

I have try many times installing it. Didn't manage to boot it up.
Finally, tested with Miroom ROM as base then flash the system.img manage to boot up.
Don't know why it didn't boot but at lease any one who have issue booting may want to try using Miroom rom as base.

tllim73 said:
I have try many times installing it. Didn't manage to boot it up.
Finally, tested with Miroom ROM as base then flash the system.img manage to boot up.
Don't know why it didn't boot but at lease any one who have issue booting may want to try using Miroom rom as base.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What did you do to install miroom? I've been trying to install it and it just stays on the boot screen. The only non-official from I've been able to install and boot is the unofficial LineageOS rom by fenix-UK.

eremeya said:
What did you do to install miroom? I've been trying to install it and it just stays on the boot screen. The only non-official from I've been able to install and boot is the unofficial LineageOS rom by fenix-UK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I install it using twrp 3.3.0 version. Build 0503. But before that I have install the stock rom goble stable version 10.3.5.0. update FW & Vendor using the same twrp.

tllim73 said:
I install it using twrp 3.3.0 version. Build 0503. But before that I have install the stock rom goble stable version 10.3.5.0. update FW & Vendor using the same twrp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
Is your phone a Chinese version or EU version? Were you able to root global stock rom?

eremeya said:
Thanks.
Is your phone a Chinese version or EU version? Were you able to root global stock rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I am using a Chinese version. But once you unlock it you will be able to flash any version with the twrp.
I try rooting it with magisk but unable to boot up. That's why I turn to Miroom Rom. They have done something which can boot it up.

tllim73 said:
Hi, I am using a Chinese version. But once you unlock it you will be able to flash any version with the twrp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also using the Chinese version but no matter what I try I cannot root the global version of the rom. I can root the Chinese version fine.

eremeya said:
I'm also using the Chinese version but no matter what I try I cannot root the global version of the rom. I can root the Chinese version fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might be the developer version is only for the Chinese Rom. Anyway I am happy now running with GSI Rom.

eremeya said:
I'm also using the Chinese version but no matter what I try I cannot root the global version of the rom. I can root the Chinese version fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version of TWRP are you using?

A comprehensive guide to installing custom GSI ROMs on the Mi 8 Pro

As so many others have pointed out, it is pretty hard to get any custom GSI ROMs running on the Mi 8 Pro / Explorer Edition (Equuleus). I was also absolutely oblivious to the fact that the Mi 8 Pro would require different ROMs than the Mi 8 when I bought my handset as I always check if there are custom ROMs available before I buy a new phone and there are some for the Mi 8. As far as I can tell there are no custom ROMs specifically adapted to run on our phones, but luckily enough, it is GSI-compatible or "treble-enabled". So as sad as it is that there are no real custom ROMs you can install, there is a major upside to our situation - theoretically any GSI ROM might run on it, which offers far more options than are available for the phones I have been using before I got my Mi 8 Pro. The big question is: How on earth do you get them to run on the Mi 8 Pro? If this is as puzzling for you as it was for me at first, you have come to the right place - After days and days of trial and error and growing despair, I have found a way to get both Oreo and Pie ROMs to boot and function up to a level that I'm comfortable working with and as this site has helped me so much over the years, I thought I could at least share my findings, hoping that others would be able to benefit a bit as well.
Having said that, I'll start with a list of features that won't work, so if you need them, feel free to move on (or maybe even help me find a way to get them working?). I would love for other forum members to help us expand and refine this guide (especially when it comes to the list of working ROMs) as I plan to keep this thread updated for some time.
A big shout-out goes to nealed , whose post on GSI ROMs got me started and who was OK with me laying out my information in a separate post. :good:
Not working (as of now):
In-Screen fingerprint sensor
IR face unlock ("normal" face unlock works fine)
VoLTE
Many stock Xiaomi / Mi apps won't work - you will have to find modded apks if you want to use Xiaomi's stock apps (such as the Compass app, which I rather liked but haven't found a working version for yet)
Fixed in newer Pie ROMs:
Note that Pie GSI ROMs based on earlier Phh-Treble Vanilla (AOSP 9.0) versions come with a weird ambient display bug (at least on our device). If you decide to have your ambient display set to "always on" it will flicker on and off all the time (which is why I have disabled it, it's driving me crazy when the phone is just lying on my desk and constantly stealing my attention - what does work though are the options "New notifications" / "Show when charging", so that's what I ended up with.)
Another problem with Pie ROMs I ran into was that the Android phone service would simply crash whenever I tried to manually select my network provider. I could see all available cell phone companies in my area but as soon as I would try to switch to a different provider than the one automatically chosen, the Android phone service would immediately crash.]
If none of this is an issue for you, you can expect a smooth and stable Android on our extremely powerful handset. You will be working with a ROM that can be highly customized and will also probably refrain from sending all your data to Xiaomi (which is one of the major reasons I wanted to have a rooted custom ROM and decided to accept that that also means I can't have all the features the phone normally offers - such as the very flashy fingerprint sensor).
Step-by-step instructions on how to install a custom GSI ROM
As a matter of fact, you should be aware that all data that is currently stored on your phone is lost when following this guide, so make sure you have a backup and don't ask me what you can do if you didn't create one! (short answer: nothing)
This guide also assumes you have already waited long enough and successfully unlocked your bootloader using a working Mi Account. If not, have a look here.
Step 1: Flashing an official ROM
Flashing tool - MiFlash
The easiest way to flash an official ROM that doesn't come with loads of system hogs or other "features" you don't want to have, is using MiFlash 2017.4.25.
Official ROM
Next, you will need to download a flashable global MIUI ROM. A list of all available ROMS can be found here.
Depending on which Android version you are going to install later, you want to download
Android 8.1 / Oreo: V10.0.1.0.OECMIFH (fastboot link / .tgz-file)
Android 9.0 / Pie: Try this more recent version first: V11.0.5.0.PECMIXM (fastboot link / .tgz-file). Note, however, that most of the ROMs in the GSI list have been installed on top of V10.2.2.0.PECMIXM (fastboot link / .tgz-file), so give that a try if V11.0.5.0.PECMIXM isn't working out for you.
Android 10.0 / Q: So far, we haven't been able to get any Android Q GSI ROM running on the MI 8 Pro, but there is an official MIUI Android 10 ROM available if you want a stock Android Q device:V11.0.3.0.QECMIXM (fastboot link / .tgz-file). Any ideas on how to get Android 10 GSI ROMs running on the Mi 8 Pro are much appreciated.
Once you have downloaded your ROM, extract it into a directory - I found that MiFlash was having some troubles working with directories whose directory names contained spaces, so I'd recommend simply extracting everything that is contained in the .zip-file into a directory such as "C:\flash", this way I had no trouble flashing any ROMs.
When that is done, you can start MiFlash and select the directory that contains your ROM files.
The next step is important if you want to make sure your bootloader stays unlocked (which you do): you need to select "clean all" at the bottom right of MiFlash so that flash_all.bat is selected. The default option is "clean all and lock" which is not what we want.
Should you have forgotten to change the option you simply have to unlock the phone again afterwards but as that requires a connection to the Xiaomi servers and a Mi Account that lets you do so, it's anything but ideal.
To make your phone talk to MiFlash, put your powered-off phone into bootloader mode by simultaneously pressing the power button and the volume down button and connecting it to your PC via a USB-C cable (preferably the one that came with the phone, but others should work too).
You're good to go - click on "flash" in the MiTool and watch it do its magic. It will take some time - just be patient - after 5 - 10 minutes the phone should automatically boot into MIUI and you're one step closer to installing the ROM you actually want to have on your phone.
Step 2: Installing TWRP recovery
Finding a working TWRP recovery for our phone (ideally in English) is like trying to find a miniature-size needle broken into three parts in a giant haystack. Unfortunately, our phone isn't officially supported by TWRP (yet?) so you won't find anything on their website.
What can be found, is a mixed bag, but after many many attempts of locating a proper source for TWRP image files, I finally came across this forum post.
To cut a long story short, for Android Oreo (Android 8) and Android Pie (Android 9) you want to download
TWRP 3.3.1-0607 (Firedance Edition)
as it is one of the very few versions for our device that are actually able to decrypt your data once you have set a PIN in your Android system. There seems to be a bug with some current TWRP versions that keep you from accessing your data once you have set a screen-lock PIN in your system (which is a requirement to use such features as face unlock).
So if you use a version that can't decrypt your phone (even when entering the correct PIN to enter TWRP) and you encounter a bootloop, you're out of luck: You can't access your system either from recovery or from within the system (If you have come across this post because you're in exactly this situation, you should be able to solve the problem by flashing TWRP 3.3.1-0607 on your phone to regain access).
For Android Q (Android 10) / MIUI 11, this version seems to be working:
TWRP-3.3.2B-0301 (Chinese Version)
Once you have downloaded the .img-file, the best thing is to put it into a directory that already has adb.exe and fastboot.exe in it. If you don't have such a directory, you can very easily create it by downloading and installing Minimal ADB and Fastboot.
Choose any install location you like, you will have to place your TWRP image file in your install location folder afterwards.
To prepare your phone, power it off and then put your powered-off phone into bootloader mode by simultaneously pressing the power button and the volume down button and connecting it to your PC via a USB-C cable.
Next, either start Minimal ADB and Fastboot or manually open a command prompt (cmd.exe) in the directory you have just created and enter the following two commands:
Code:
fastboot flash recovery equuleus-331-607.img
Code:
fastboot boot equuleus-331-607.img
Note that sometimes after flashing TWRP, the phone will boot into recovery twice - don't worry if you only see the TWRP screen and your phone starts rebooting straight afterwards. This is only an issue on first boot.
Congrats, you have now installed a working version of TWRP for the Mi 8 Pro. You can now also manually boot into TWRP by simultaneously pressing the power button and the volume up button on your powered-off phone.
Step 3: Installing a custom GSI ROM of your choice
Once you have a working TWRP recovery, you can install any GSI ROM that might run on our device (scroll down to my second post on this page for a list of working ROMs or click here to jump to it instead) - Prerequisite: Your ROM needs to be an ARM64 / A-Only ROM as this is the only kind of ROM our device can run.
Here's how to go about it:
Boot into TWRP, connect your phone to your PC via USB and transfer the ROM img.-file you want to install
Wipe > Factory Reset
Wipe > Advanced Wipe > System (This will prompt TWRP to ask you later if you really want to reboot - "No OS Installed! Are you sure you wish to reboot?" - which you can simply ignore, TWRP doesn't recognize that a new OS is installed after a system wipe)
Install > Install Image, select your chosen image, choose "System Image" as target partition and swipe right.
If you just want to test the image and not use any Google functionality, you can reboot now (Ignore "No OS installed") - However, this will mean that on most ROMs that don't already come with Google Apps included you won't have any Google functionality (i.e. no face unlock, no Play Store, ...) and you won't get it either if you try to install it after having already booted into your new system - so you probably want to move on to Step 4 before you reboot (unless your ROM already comes with Google Apps).
Step 4: Flashing Google Apps / Enabling Google functionality (Optional)
I'm assuming that since you're reading a guide on installing custom ROMs on an Android smartphone that it will be absolutely no news to you that instantly after installing a custom ROM and BEFORE booting into it for the first time you HAVE to install the Google functionality you want to have as there is no way of adding it afterwards. You simply have to do it right after flashing your ROM.
To flash Google Apps, you have to download them first on https://opengapps.org/.
Select the ARM64 option for the Android version you have just installed (either 9.0 (Pie) or 8.1 (Oreo)) and choose the package that best suits your need. I always go for the "Nano" package as it includes everything you can't install by yourself from the Play Store later on. This means you can also uninstall any Google App that isn't included in this package if you don't need it any longer. The bigger packages come with many more apps but if you install them now before you boot into your OS for the first time, they get turned into system apps and can't be easily uninstalled later.
Once you have downloaded the Google Apps package of your choice, you can transfer it to your phone via Windows Explorer if it's still connected via USB and in TWRP (which it should be in anyway ). Now just go to Install, select the .zip-file you have just transferred to your phone and swipe right.
Problems you might run into when installing your Google Apps:
This message or similar messages might appear in TWRP when you try to install your Google Apps package, even though you are using the correct version for your ROM (Pie ROM and Pie Google Apps, for example):
This Gapps pkg is for Android 9.0.x ONLY
Please download the correct version for your ROM: 8.1.0 (SDK 27)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this happens, go to the Reboot Menu in TWRP and select Recovery to reboot into TWRP. Once you've done that, Google Apps should install without problems and recognize that you do indeed have the right Android version installed.
Many times, the System partition will also be too small to also accommodate the Google Apps package, so you will be greeted with the following message:
Insufficient storage space available in System partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this happens to you, here's the fix:
Go back to the main menu in TWRP
Wipe > Advanced Wipe
Select System
Tap on Repair or Change File System
Tap on Resize File System
Swipe to Resize
Go back to the main menu, installing Google Apps should work without problems now
Voilà. You have just successfully gapp'ed your phone .
Step 5: Rooting your ROM (Optional)
Thanks to Magisk, rooting is incredibly easy these days. All you have to do is head over to the Magisk releases page on Github and download the latest .zip-file.
Once it's downloaded, install the .zip-file via TWRP and reboot into your OS.
For Magisk to work, you also need to have the latest Magisk Manager apk installed, which you also find on the above Github page, however I found that all GSI ROMs already have this included anyway (It appears to be included in Phh-Treble AOSP) - so all you need to do is really install Magisk in TWRP.
The preinstalled Magisk Manager will probably be outdated and ask you to update, which it can do itself. So most times, you won't even have to download the Magisk Manager apk yourself.
Step 6: Installing a working Xposed Framework (Optional)
As easy as it has become to root a phone these days, it is becoming increasingly harder to get Xposed to work as active development has been rather stalled lately. Luckily enough, someone was kind enough to unofficially get Xposed to work on Android Pie, however, this time it's a Magisk module.
Getting it to work on the Mi 8 Pro is a different matter. I have found that only certain versions do actually work and offer the Xposed functionality I have gotten so used to. If you install the specific versions I'm mentioning here, Xposed should work without problems (But as always, not all Xposed modules are still under active development and therefore won't work with Android Pie or this new unofficial version of Xposed).
To get Xposed up and running, you need to have Magisk installed already (see Step 5).
I'm currently running AOSP 9.0 (v123) and these more recent Riru package versions run fine (If you have trouble with these, check the links below) - I could only install them directly via Magisk but not in TWRP:
Riru - Core (19.7)
Riru - Ed Xposed 0.4.6.2.4529 (YAHFA)
You will also need this app installed to manage your Xposed framework and to activate Xposed modules:
The latest Ed Xposed Manager which you can download here.
For older custom Android Pie ROMs, these Riru packages were the only versions that I could successfully get working:
Riru - Core (17.1)
Riru - Ed Xposed 0.4.1.2_beta (YAHFA)
The older Riru packages can be installed directly via TWRP or in Magisk, but since you have to reboot afterwards if you install it from inside your OS, you might as well just install the two .zip-Files from TWRP directly after installing Magisk in TWRP.
The latest Ed Xposed Manager is simply an apk, so you will have to install it after booting into your system. Easy as Pie. Have fun EdXposing your system to new functionality .
Step 7: Special fixes
As I've layed out before, custom ROMs are prone to come with certain functionality missing or malfunctioning. This is especially the case with GSI ROMs that weren't developed with our specific device in mind. Nevertheless most functions will work without bigger problems right away. Some problems might still arise, but luckily there are solutions.
Sending and receiving SMS messages
After I had installed my GSI ROMs, it took me a while to realize I wasn't getting any text messages (they're not that frequent any more anyway). This is because I had to change my preferred network setting (for whatever reason). If you set it like this, everything should work as expected:
Preferred network type
4G (Recommended)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bluetooth Media Streaming
I also didn't realize right away that there was a Bluetooth problem. Calls were working fine, people could hear me talking, I could hear them talking. Things got a bit weirder, when I tried to listen to music streaming from my phone to my Bluetooth speaker - it simply wouldn't work. Nada - no matter what I tried. Luckily I came across a .zip-file that worked wonders. If you install the FixGsiBTSound.zip file in TWRP that I was able to find in this XDA thread, Bluetooth media is streaming without any problems and calls continue to work.
Unfortunately, I still have to change Bluetooth Audio Codec to AAC in the Developer options every time I connect my speaker if I want to listen to music and get driving instructions via Google Maps at the same time. It automatically reverts back to SBC but after I've made the change I can have several apps stream audio at the same time, which might be a problem with my speaker that only supports SBC but I didn't have this problem with my old phone.
By the way, none of the other fixes in the thread mentioned above (specifically the VoLTE fix) were working for our phone when I tried them.

List of working GSI ROMs
This post is meant to give an overview of ROMs that can be installed and booted into on the Mi 8 Pro as long as you follow my installation guide.
To give a more complete picture, I have also included the ROMs I couldn't get to boot into a working OS.
The Mi 8 Pro is an ARM64 - A Only device, so make sure you only try to install ARM64 - A Only GSI images.
I first ended up using AOSiP (August 19, 2019 version) after having given MSM Xtended a try. However, after half a year my screen started flickering, so I reflashed a stock MIUI to send my phone back for repairs, which is when I discovered that the screen still seemed to be working. This might have been just a coincidence and the screen may still have some issues that are just not showing, but it is, of course, also possible that a custom GSI ROM could mess with your hardware.
I'm now using AOSP 9.0 (v123) with Magisk, Substratum and EdXposed and I'm really happy with it. If you're interested in why, you can read more about it here.
Please help me expand this list - feel free to test other or newer ROMs you can find via these lists on Github and on XDA .
Android 9.0 (Pie)
AOSP 9.0 / Phh-Treble
v123 - reported working with MIUI 11.0.5.0.PECMIXM by Laurisss :good:
Image file 1: system-arm64-aonly-vanilla-nosu.img.xz (11.12.2019 / without Google Apps preinstalled)
Image file 2: system-arm64-aonly-gapps-su.img.xz (11.12.2019 / Including Google Apps)
v119
Image file 1: system-arm64-aonly-vanilla-nosu.img.xz (23.08.2019 / without Google Apps preinstalled)
Image file 2: system-arm64-aonly-gapps-su.img.xz (23.08.2019 / Including Google Apps)
XDA page
All releases: See this page
AOSiP
Image file: AOSiP-9.0-GSI-arm64_aonly-20190819.img (19.08.2019)
All releases: See this page
ArrowOS
Discovered by PCrazee :good:
Image file: system_arm64_a.zip (27.01.2020)
XDA page
All releases: See this page
Bliss OS
Image file 1: Bliss-2019-04-11-arm64-a-stock.img.xz (11.04.2019 - without Google Apps)
Image file 2: Bliss-2019-04-05-arm64-a-gapps.img (05.04.2019 - Google Apps preinstalled)
This OS only started on second boot (boot animation loop on first boot); the camera app was not functional and it seemed a bit unstable on the Mi 8 Pro
XDA page
Release page: Check it out here
Descendant
Image file: Descendant_4.0.1_arm64_aonly (06.08.2019)
This image file can be "dirty-flashed", i.e. if you follow my installation guide, don't wipe the system partition as you normally would when installing a GSI ROM
XDA page
All releases: See this page
FlokoROM
Image file: system-arm64-aonly-vanilla-nosu.img.zip (09.06.2019)
All releases: See this page
Lineage OS 16.0 (AndyYan)
Image file: lineage-16.0-20190811-UNOFFICIAL-treble_arm64_avN.img.xz (11.08.2019)
Newer images available - if they work for you, let me know and I will update this section
XDA page
All releases: See this page
MSM Xtended
Image file: MSM_Xtended-20190820-arm64_a.img.xz (20.08.2019)
There are newer versions, if they work on the Mi 8 Pro, please let me know
XDA page
All releases: See this page
Pixel Experience (Unofficial)
Image file: PixelExperienceP-arm64-aonly.zip (24.03.2019)
This is an older version, but unfortunately the only version I could get to boot - if you find a newer one that works on the Mi 8 Pro, please let me know
XDA page
All releases: See this page
Zirconium AOSP
Image file: ZirconiumAosp-9.0-IGNITE-arm64-a-20190319.rar (19.03.2019)
Release page: Check out this page
/e/
Reported working by PCrazee :good:
Image file: e-pie-20190827-UNOFFICIAL-treble_arm64_aeN.img.zip (27.08.2019)
XDA page
More releases: See this page
Android 8.1 (Oreo)
Please note that I only tested three ROMs to see if I could get Oreo ROMs working as well. As there is no support to hide the Mi 8 Pro notch in Oreo ROMs and as I managed to get Xposed working on Pie, I quickly abandoned Oreo again .
Nevertheless, please let me know if there are any other Oreo GSI ROMs out there that you got working on the Mi 8 Pro so I can expand this section.
AOSP 8.1 / Phh-Treble
Image file 1: system-arm64-aonly-vanilla-nosu.img.xz (06.07.2019 / without Google Apps preinstalled)
Image file 2: system-arm64-aonly-gapps-su.img.xz (06.07.2019 / Including Google Apps)
XDA page
Release Page: Check it out
Resurrection Remix (phhuson)
Image file: system-arm64-aonly.img (20.05.2018)
XDA page
Android 9.0 (Pie) (Non-working)
I couldn't find a working version Pie version for:
AOSP Extended
HavocOS
nitrOS
Resurrection Remix
Android 8.1 (Oreo) (Non-working)
I couldn't find a working Oreo version for:
Treskmod

Special apps and functionality
Google Camera with Night Sight
Installing a modded Google Camera app helps you get the most out of your camera, especially when using Night Sight or the Playground that aren't available to most non-Pixel devices out of the box.
In order to enable the special Google Camera features, the Camera2Api needs to be enabled. This can be done by going into Magisk and downloading and installing Pix3lify which enables some other Pixel features (I found that running my phone with AOSiP and Pix3lify also gave me a much nicer Pixel-like experience to the one that Pixel Experience offered (this applies at least to the version of Pixel Experience I could get to work on the Mi 8 Pro).
To get a working modded Google camera
Open Magisk Manager and download and activate the module Pix3lify, then restart
Download a modded Google Camera apk such as BSG's MI9SE V4_P2 which can be found on this page.
There are many Google Camera mods out there and you can find a pretty extensive list here.
However, BSG's MI9SE V4_P2 was the only mod that had both the camera (including Night Sight) and the video camera working correctly, even though it doesn't seem to offer all the functionality that other Google Camera mods seem to provide.
Should you find any other modded version that might be working even better on the Mi 8 Pro, I'd be happy to hear from you.
Augmented Reality / Playground support
Even if you have Google's ARCore (Google Play Services for AR) installed on your device, it doesn't mean it's up and running. There's a built-in check that makes sure your device is officially supported and - you guessed it - the Mi 8 Pro isn't (whereas the Mi 8 is).
I'm assuming here that you've already have ARCore installed, but if you haven't, you can download and install this version: ARCore_1.12.19082605.apk.
The important steps to getting it to work, are:
Go into your Magisk Manager and install the module MagiskHide Props Config
Make sure you have a terminal app installed, I've had some good experience with Termux
Open your terminal app and enter the following commands
Code:
su
props
1 [COLOR="Silver"](Edit device fingerprint)[/COLOR]
f [COLOR="Silver"](Pick a certified fingerprint)[/COLOR]
22 [COLOR="silver"](Xiaomi)[/COLOR]
7 [COLOR="silver"](Xiaomi Mi 8)[/COLOR]
1 [COLOR="silver"](Android version 8.1.0)[/COLOR]
y [COLOR="silver"](change fingerprint)[/COLOR]
y [COLOR="silver"](reboot)[/COLOR]
From now on, your Mi 8 Pro will identify itself as a Mi 8, enabling ARCore and thus any Augmented Reality app.
You probably also want to enable your Google Camera AR feature:
If you're on Android Pie, download and install Playground_2.5build-2.6.190725076.apk
If you're on Android Oreo, download and install ARStickers_All_Pack_V1.5build-1.3.180720036.apk
Afterwards you are able to download "Playmojis" from within your Google Camera (More > Playground). However, sometimes you're out of luck and Google Play will stubbornly tell you that your device is not compatible with a selected package (e.g. Avengers: Endgame or Childish Gambino).
In this case, simply download the corresponding apk package directly from apkmirror.com and you should be all set.
More information on the Google Cam AR support can be found here.

Reserved

This looks great! I'll have to try it and see if I can get it to work.

yo-less said:
List of working GSI ROMs
Android 9.0 (Pie) (Non-working)
I couldn't find a working version Pie version for:
AOSP Extended
HavocOS
nitrOS
Resurrection Remix
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had HavocOS (My favourite GSI ROM that I have tried) working n the Mi 8 Pro, as well as nitrOS. Never got RR to boot (bootanimation? didn't try to delete it) and never tried AOSP Extended.

nealed said:
I have had HavocOS (My favourite GSI ROM that I have tried) working n the Mi 8 Pro, as well as nitrOS. Never got RR to boot (bootanimation? didn't try to delete it) and never tried AOSP Extended.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply!
Are you saying you have had it boot using the steps I have outlined here? If yes, please let me know the exact version you got to boot, preferably with a link, and I will add it to the list of working ROMs. After I had finally figured out how to install GSI ROMs successfully in a way that can be reproduced, I went through the same motions every time I tried a GSI ROM and all the ROMs in my list were booting into the system, however, no version of HavocOS that I could find was booting up after going through the above steps and I tried several times and different versions, too, because some people seem to think it's a great ROM.

yo-less said:
Thanks for your reply!
Are you saying you have had it boot using the steps I have outlined here? If yes, please let me know the exact version you got to boot, preferably with a link, and I will add it to the list of working ROMs. After I had finally figured out how to install GSI ROMs successfully in a way that can be reproduced, I went through the same motions every time I tried a GSI ROM and all the ROMs in my list were booting into the system, however, no version of HavocOS that I could find was booting up after going through the above steps and I tried several times and different versions, too, because some people seem to think it's a great ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Havoc-OS-v2.8-20190811-phhgsi_arm64_a-Official.img was the one I had working. I have yet to find a consistent way of installing GSI ROMs. Havoc was the same. I had boot loops and also managed to boot the ROM, could not be sure that there were any differences in approach. I have tried with the latest september release of Havoc and could not get it working..
Back to LineageOS for me... Too many issues with GSI ROMs.. until I can get VoLTE OR Fingerprint working, I shall stay with LineageOS - it's really OK with MAgisk XPosed and Faceunlock... with VoLTE working well.

nealed said:
Havoc-OS-v2.8-20190811-phhgsi_arm64_a-Official.img was the one I had working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for letting me know the version you got to boot. I'll give it a try to see if I can get it to work using the method I've described here - if yes, I'll add HavocOS to the list of working ROMs.
I really liked the privacy features LineageOS offers but as far as OS customization is concerned I always felt it was lacking. And as I can live without VoLTE (Didn't even know what it was until I read that my new phone supports it ) and face unlock is working fine, I'm very happy with AOSiP for now, everything I use on a daily basis is working without any hitches and the system is super responsive.

yo-less said:
Thanks for letting me know the version you got to boot. I'll give it a try to see if I can get it to work using the method I've described here - if yes, I'll add HavocOS to the list of working ROMs.
I really liked the privacy features LineageOS offers but as far as OS customization is concerned I always felt it was lacking. And as I can live without VoLTE (Didn't even know what it was until I read that my new phone supports it ) and face unlock is working fine, I'm very happy with AOSiP for now, everything I use on a daily basis is working without any hitches and the system is super responsive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You list VoLTE as not working in your OP, but say you can'r live without it. Could you please detail how you got VoLTE working on your Mi 8 Pro with AOSiP please? OR any other GSI ROMs for that matter. Thanks.
Haven't had time to try it yet, but there is another dev version of HavocOS GSI: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ha...90914-phhgsi_arm64_a-Official.img.xz/download Unfortunately, it takes me a lot of time to get my phone back to the state I want it (encrypted, decryptable by TWRP, all SD Card content present, working) when testing as I often lose the encryption and have to copy all SDcard content back to TWRP restore.... if it was just as simple as that I woudl have no prroblem, but it's not. Anyway, for those willing to try, another HavocOS GSI that may or may not work on the Mi 8 Pro.
Also, I think it important to list the vendor image and firmware images used with GSI ROMs as these can have an impact on how things work .

nealed said:
You list VoLTE as not working in your OP, but say you can'r live without it. Could you please detail how you got VoLTE working on your Mi 8 Pro with AOSiP please? OR any other GSI ROMs for that matter. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's what I wrote:
And as I can live without VoLTE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So as I've outlined, I know of no way to get it to work at this stage but if anyone does, please let us know
Haven't had time to try it yet, but there is another dev version of HavocOS GSI: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ha...90914-phhgsi_arm64_a-Official.img.xz/download
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will test the ROMs you have mentioned to see if they work using the method I've described here.
Also, I think it important to list the vendor image and firmware images used with GSI ROMs as these can have an impact on how things work .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried to streamline the ROM installation process as much as possible, if you follow Step 1 of my guide, you should be all set and don't have to worry about flashing additional vendor or firmware images. It is, of course, possible to start experimenting with vendor images as well, but the process I've outlined here seems to work fine for all the ROMs I've listed.

Thanks for your clarifications Jens. I appreciate it.
yo-less said:
Here's what I wrote:
So as I've outlined, I know of no way to get it to work at this stage but if anyone does, please let us know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My bad, I need to learn to read English :laugh:
yo-less said:
I've tried to streamline the ROM installation process as much as possible, if you follow Step 1 of my guide, you should be all set and don't have to worry about flashing additional vendor or firmware images. It is, of course, possible to start experimenting with vendor images as well, but the process I've outlined here seems to work fine for all the ROMs I've listed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So all of these test results are with the 10.2.2 vendor. As the vendor partition plays a big role with GSI images, other vendor images may break / improve some functionality. It is important that this is understood and eventually documented with regards results of working / non working GSI images.

I have a question, why can't we just port Mi 8 (dipper) Roms? Is there anything hardware differences besides the fingerprint reader and front camera?

nealed said:
So all of these test results are with the 10.2.2 vendor. As the vendor partition plays a big role with GSI images, other vendor images may break / improve some functionality. It is important that this is understood and eventually documented with regards results of working / non working GSI images.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would love for more users to report back their findings - the more community data we can gather, the better this guide will become over time. As it stands, I'm pretty happy that I've found a way of reliably getting all the ROMs I have listed to fully boot. When I started out, it was all trial-and-error, trying different firmware versions and GSI ROMs, also flashing different vendor images on top, and nothing seemed to work. Feel free to experiment with me and see if you can find different methods (including firmware / vendor images) of getting GSI ROMs to boot reliably.

eremeya said:
I have a question, why can't we just port Mi 8 (dipper) Roms? Is there anything hardware differences besides the fingerprint reader and front camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not a ROM developer but I look at it that way: As much as it's not possible to install a Mi 9 ROM on the Mi 8 Pro, it's also not possible to install a Mi 8 ROM on a Mi 8 Lite or Mi 8 Pro. You can't even install a dipper TWRP image on an equuleus device, give it a try - you will see it won't work.
Ideally a ROM would detect what kind of device you have and adjust its code accordingly. But as of now, every device needs its own specifically tailored ROM. But GSI ROMs seem to try and give us a way out of this situation.
The question I'm asking myself is why there is virtually no custom ROM development happening for the Mi 8 Pro - this is the first time I own an Android device that can't be easily customized (or unlocked - but that's a different matter).

yo-less said:
I'm not a ROM developer but I look at it that way: As much as it's not possible to install a Mi 9 ROM on the Mi 8 Pro, it's also not possible to install a Mi 8 ROM on a Mi 8 Lite or Mi 8 Pro. You can't even install a dipper TWRP image on an equuleus device, give it a try - you will see it won't work.
Ideally a ROM would detect what kind of device you have and adjust its code accordingly. But as of now, every device needs its own specifically tailored ROM. But GSI ROMs seem to try and give us a way out of this situation.
The question I'm asking myself is why there is virtually no custom ROM development happening for the Mi 8 Pro - this is the first time I own an Android device that can't be easily customized (or unlocked - but that's a different matter).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I might normally agree with your idea but the hardware is almost exactly the same except for the finger print reader and the front camera so in theory it should be fine except for those. A different example might be installing Poco phone roms on a Mi 8 or Mi 8 roms on a Mi 8 Ursa.

eremeya said:
I might normally agree with your idea but the hardware is almost exactly the same except for the finger print reader and the front camera so in theory it should be fine except for those. A different example might be installing Poco phone roms on a Mi 8 or Mi 8 roms on a Mi 8 Ursa.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not saying it's beyond possible to make it happen, all I'm saying is that it doesn't seem to work as the hardware is not the same - or have you been able to install a Mi 8 ROM on a Mi 8 Pro? I couldn't even get a Mi 8 TWRP running on a Mi 8 Pro, so I'm guessing the difference does matter.

yo-less said:
I'm not saying it's beyond possible to make it happen, all I'm saying is that it doesn't seem to work as the hardware is not the same - or have you been able to install a Mi 8 ROM on a Mi 8 Pro? I couldn't even get a Mi 8 TWRP running on a Mi 8 Pro, so I'm guessing the difference does matter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried with one rom and it failed to install. It gave an error about the zip not being signed or signed wrong. I modified a file in to ROM zip to remove references to dipper. (This is the process that is done to install Poco phone Roms on a Mi 8). I'm not sure how to modify the rom zip and re-sign it so it installs. Unfortunately I don't have much time right now to experiment as I'm busy with school.

eremeya said:
I tried with one rom and it failed to install. It gave an error about the zip not being signed or signed wrong. I modified a file in to ROM zip to remove references to dipper. (This is the process that is done to install Poco phone Roms on a Mi 8). I'm not sure how to modify the rom zip and re-sign it so it installs. Unfortunately I don't have much time right now to experiment as I'm busy with school.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like an interesting route, so if you follow it through and get it to work, please let us know how you made it happen.

Testing day yesterday, I am currently running HavocOS, with the just released chinese Xiaomi V11.0.2.0.PECCNXM vendor.
I believe that to get it working, SELinux needs to be set to permissive.
Steps taken to boot:
1. Flash 10.3.4 ROM using Xiaomi Flash tool - wiping and cleaning everything, including data and SDCard.
2. Boot and set passcode.
3. Reboot to Bootloader
4. Flash recovery-TWRP-3.3.0-0504-XIAOMI8UD-CN-wzsx150 TWRP.img to recovery partition
5. Boot recovery-TWRP-3.3.0-0504-XIAOMI8UD-CN-wzsx150
6. Factory Reset
5. Flash Havoc-OS-v2.9-20190914 (thread, download
6. Flash permissiver-v4 by erfanoabdi for GSI images
7. Boot
8. Upon reboot to recovery - wipe cahche / dalvik, reboot recovery, then reboot system
9. If you are sent back to recovery. Just reboot - it will boot eventually.
10 Subsequently, from TWRP, resize system partition and flash gapps (yes, you can do this and everything works fine. I have done this on plenty of occasions. It is also possible to invoke the android one time setup wizard if you need that to restore from a backup etc.).
11. Flash Magisk 20.0
12. Flash PolarKernel (see this section for download and details)
HavocOS allows:
Using gesture navigation (I use OnePlus gestures) - native feature
Using Face unlock with the option of dismissing the lock screen automatically - native feature
Hide the clock (great for our notched devices (for me anyway as I have a clock widget on the home screen anyway)) to gain valuable screen real estate - native feature
Battery circle icon - native feature
Great theme options built in
Many more features.
I am reaching out to some devs to see if I cannot cook this for our Mi 8 Pro. I would dearly love to get the under screen fingerprint working. On one hand others have tried and failed. On the other, I'm not sure how much effort has gone in to the trials - as this is not exactly the most popular device on the planet. Not many devs have it.
However, with fanix-uk working on LineageOS - and possibly the FP sensor - as well as the possibility of having VoLTE and infrared face unlock (as is present in LineageOS for Mi 8 Pro) working - this would be my perfect setup.
Despite not having VoLTE (I may do some tests today) I am considering staying with this setup as it really is great. Time will tell...

[ROM][10] Lineageos 17.1 [Official] Pixel 3a "Sargo"

Does anyone have experience with this Official LineageOS Rom in Pixel 3a?
Official Device Info/Wiki:
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/sargo
Official Installation instructions:
Install LineageOS on sargo | LineageOS Wiki
wiki.lineageos.org
Official Download Link for LineageOS ROM and Lineage RECOVERY:
LineageOS Downloads
download.lineageos.org

Horninho10 said:
Does anyone have experience with this Official LineageOS Rom in Pixel 3a?
Official Device Info/Wiki:
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/sargo
Official Installation instructions:
Install LineageOS on sargo | LineageOS Wiki
wiki.lineageos.org
Official Download Link for LineageOS ROM and Lineage RECOVERY:
LineageOS Downloads
download.lineageos.org
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it runs nice and smooth, I was recently on LOS.

The post I'm about to make is not related to anything technical, so I'm not sure if it's appropriate on this forum, but I'm going to post it anyway...
Is there any advantages lineage has over stock? Seems like it's not really worth it. Right? What do you guys think about build?

pojr said:
The post I'm about to make is not related to anything technical, so I'm not sure if it's appropriate on this forum, but I'm going to post it anyway...
Is there any advantages lineage has over stock? Seems like it's not really worth it. Right? What do you guys think about build?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally am running stock for SafetyNet purposes at the moment. I do think it's worth checking out if you want a few more options for customization. It was a very smooth ROM, but LOS in specific is not my cup of tea.

MoistPicklez said:
I personally am running stock for SafetyNet purposes at the moment. I do think it's worth checking out if you want a few more options for customization. It was a very smooth ROM, but LOS in specific is not my cup of tea.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a very good point actually. That is one thing I was never a big fan of with the stock OS, is just the lack of options you have to customize your device. Might be worth getting it, even though it's a downgrade to Android 10

pojr said:
That is a very good point actually. That is one thing I was never a big fan of with the stock OS, is just the lack of options you have to customize your device. Might be worth getting it, even though it's a downgrade to Android 10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Test it out if you're interested, but A11 ROMs are likely around the corner. I bet we'll get a build or two of something else down the road. Cheers!

I've personally had GPS issues (while using OpenGapps Pico) with the official release. Hoping A11 builds fix it.

Aah, a much needed rom option for sargo/pixel 3a ! There has been a lot of silence around the pixel 3a in this regard.
I'm trying it out now. First thing I noticed is SIM manager keeps crashing every minute or so (I'm in the Netherlands on the Ben/T-mobile network). If there is a dev out there I can supply a logcat or something like it if needed.
Meanwhile I disabled the SIM manager to get rid of the constant crash notifications. I'll try and report back any issues I encounter (But if there are too many of them, I'll have to revert back to Dirty Unicorns, although that rom development seems to have stalled pretty much).

I seem to have overcome my GPS woes! My installation process was the following:
Install the last Android Q factory image
Flash LOS boot, go to recovery
Factory reset
Install update > adb sideload LOS zip
Very important(?) - go back to main menu, advanced, reboot to recovery
Install update > adb sideload opengapps pico zip > yes, install anyway
Sign in to your Google account during the initial setup process
Test GPS with an app (Google Maps, Waze, OSMAnd, Pokémon Go... )
The only issue I seem to have now is that the Google Fi app doesn't seem to get that my Fi service is ESIM based, and prompts me to order a physical SIM card, but playing with the mobile service settings seems to have gotten my service set up anyway.
EDIT: After talking with Google Fi support, going to Settings > System > Reset Options > Reset Wi-Fi, mobile & Bluetooth, check erase downloaded SIMs, then trying to activate Google Fi again in the app, it worked.

In addition to the helpful tips from @Mokura3rd. My two cents: I had some gps issues as well, but didn't test it to great extent. Here's a description of my (rather weird issue):
When I first installed Lineageos (jan16 - my previous comment), Google maps and Gps status were able to find gps signal (and quicky), but strava didn't find any gps signal (it didn't even ask for permission, which I granted manually - to no avail).
Some time after the first OTA update, I checked strava again. And it worked without issue. So there might have been merged some bugfixes that fixed gps issues on recent builds.

guys, is it true you have to jump down to Android 10 in order to get the latest lineage? that doesn't make sense. Don't you have to wipe your phone in order to switch from stock to custom anyway? seems pointless to downgrade to stock 10 first. what's your guys stance on this?

pojr said:
guys, is it true you have to jump down to Android 10 in order to get the latest lineage? that doesn't make sense. Don't you have to wipe your phone in order to switch from stock to custom anyway? seems pointless to downgrade to stock 10 first. what's your guys stance on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because lineageos 17.1 is based on Android 10, you have to revert to stock Android 10 before you install it. The same goes for any ROM that is based on Android 11.

MoistPicklez said:
Because lineageos 17.1 is based on Android 10, you have to revert to stock Android 10 before you install it. The same goes for any ROM that is based on Android 11.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for clearing that up with me. Now I at least have an answer on that. With that said, why would that be? Don't you have to wipe your phone in order to switch from stock to custom anyway? Is the ROM gonna say "we have somehow detected the you once had Android 11 before you wiped your OS"

pojr said:
Thank you for clearing that up with me. Now I at least have an answer on that. With that said, why would that be? Don't you have to wipe your phone in order to switch from stock to custom anyway? Is the ROM gonna say "we have somehow detected the you once had Android 11 before you wiped your OS"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android changes quite a bit between versions like dynamic partitions and other jazzy stuff. For example TWRP. It works on Android 9, but changes to our device made TWRP incompatible with A10 and A11. (Good news on that though, we just got TWRP 3.5.0_9-0, though I have not tested it.)

MoistPicklez said:
Android changes quite a bit between versions like dynamic partitions and other jazzy stuff. For example TWRP. It works on Android 9, but changes to our device made TWRP incompatible with A10 and A11. (Good news on that though, we just got TWRP 3.5.0_9-0, though I have not tested it.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did not realize we got a new twrp version. thats a step in the right direction. with that said, that info is good to know. i'm a lazy ass and prolly not gonna test out lineage os until it gets on 11 lmao.

For whoever needs it. I sure did after a derped update last week!
tl;dr install update, disable all modules before booting, get the latest recovery image and patch it, install with fastboot. long version below, just in case.
How To OTA With Magisk, Painlessly:
Open updater and download the OTA.
Press install and let it do its thing, but DON'T REBOOT YET.
Go to Magisk and disable all your modules.
Okay, you can reboot now. It might take longer than usual, it's a system update.
Open Magisk and note that it's no longer installed, don't panic.
Download the recovery image matching your update from here: https://download.lineageos.org/sargo
Open Magisk and patch the img you just downloaded.
Copy the magisk_patched_(random).img to a folder on your computer where you're able to access fastboot.
Reboot your phone to bootloader: either by the advanced power menu, enabled in developer settings, or by restarting and holding Volume Down while the phone boots up.
Open up your terminal/commandline/etc where you moved the image file.
Type the command "fastboot flash boot magisk_patched_*****.img", where the last part is the random string that got generated in the patching process. Press Enter.
After the command finishes, use the volume keys to scroll through the bootloader menu until you see "Start". Press the power button.
Your phone should reboot back to the OS, you can now go back to Magisk and re-enable your modules at your leisure.

So the one problem 'I've been having is with custom kernels. I've tried Elemental X & Gats Gulch. With both I lose wifi capability. Once I restore my lineage kernel viola problem solved. Now I've used both these kernels in the past on different builds so I know it isn't the kernel itself rather something related to the lineage build itself & the act of installing a custom kernel. Both kernels returned exactly the same type of error. WIFI attempts to turn on but returns to the off Position. If one attempts to activate the Wifi Icon dropdown during the System UI Crashes. Any input would be great. Other than this little hiccup
Lineage is running absolutely great. Best battery life of any custom OS by far. Sargo stays snappy, my kernel tweaks remain in place. Root maintains over system restores. Love it.
EDIT: ## By the way using Elemental X Kernel Manager App to flash ##

harryharryharry said:
Aah, a much needed rom option for sargo/pixel 3a ! There has been a lot of silence around the pixel 3a in this regard.
I'm trying it out now. First thing I noticed is SIM manager keeps crashing every minute or so (I'm in the Netherlands on the Ben/T-mobile network). If there is a dev out there I can supply a logcat or something like it if needed.
Meanwhile I disabled the SIM manager to get rid of the constant crash notifications. I'll try and report back any issues I encounter (But if there are too many of them, I'll have to revert back to Dirty Unicorns, although that rom development seems to have stalled pretty much).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just go into app settings and kill now & disable. I noticed that if you installl gapps, get rooted, setup the phone you prefer. Backup with google backup....use the lineage recovery to do a factory reinstall. Once you recover all the sim issues, installation issues simply stop.

nylar357 said:
So the one problem 'I've been having is with custom kernels. I've tried Elemental X & Gats Gulch. With both I lose wifi capability. Once I restore my lineage kernel viola problem solved. Now I've used both these kernels in the past on different builds so I know it isn't the kernel itself rather something related to the lineage build itself & the act of installing a custom kernel. Both kernels returned exactly the same type of error. WIFI attempts to turn on but returns to the off Position. If one attempts to activate the Wifi Icon dropdown during the System UI Crashes. Any input would be great. Other than this little hiccup
Lineage is running absolutely great. Best battery life of any custom OS by far. Sargo stays snappy, my kernel tweaks remain in place. Root maintains over system restores. Love it.
EDIT: ## By the way using Elemental X Kernel Manager App to flash ##
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The kernel issues might be because they're targeted toward Android 11, and LOS 17.1 is based on Android 10.

harryharryharry said:
[...] First thing I noticed is SIM manager keeps crashing every minute or so (I'm in the Netherlands on the Ben/T-mobile network). [...]
Meanwhile I disabled the SIM manager to get rid of the constant crash notifications.[...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It happened to me the same way. I am in the German T-Mobile network. I also disabled 'SIM Manager'.
Unfortunately, I do not receive any 'missed call'-SMS in case the mobile phone was in flight mode.
I think the app could have something to do with it because everything fits on the ISP side. So far, I haven't found an option to reactivate the App in the settings. Apparently it's some kind of hidden app. Can someone help please?
EDIT: There is a "hidden" "System-apps" option in the app settings. Unfortunately the error still occurs.

Develop Bugs

welcome