Well, I managed to get it to buzz after showing the MI logo… I think that’s gotten me somewhere??
So fastboot not detecting the phone, I swapped the cable out for a USB2.0 one and it worked.
Since the phone was looping restarts like that, I just got fastboot and pressed enter on the command while the phone showed black screen (loop restart). This is because fastboot queues the flashes.
So after writing to boot_b, for a few loops, the mi logo appeared for longer, there was a buzz, the Unlock sign appeared at the top of screen with the mi logo, then screen goes black for a split moment, then mi logo appears for a split second, and THEN it went into fastboot. Fastboot for a few seconds, then black screen reboot. After few loops of this, it went back to the original very fast restart loop. I can get back to the buzz and unlock symbol state by reflashing recovery to boot_b, but it only lasts for a few cycles. If i hold the power up button I can get to recovery but only for a split second, then the screen powers off.
I don’t think running the flashall script is a good idea @aibd as since this goes in cycles of a few seconds of fastboot it could brick my device if it doesnt finish writing before the device shuts itself.
Just in case there was any misunderstanding … this was about the Downgrade operation and as you say would want to be done only after you recover the phone to a stable condition in Fastboot. The flash-all.bat which I linked was merely an example, it was not written for your phone! Sorry if you were well aware of this already.
Before following these instructions please ensure that the device is on the latest Android 13 firmware.
Did you Format data earlier? If not maybe try
fastboot -w
to do that job now. Loosely speaking this could help if some trace has been left in userdata that the phone expects Android 14 (U); (as I have not experimented with Android 14 I do not know if any such trace is used here).
this all reads like rollback protection? oversaw to issue that warning when reading A14 → A13.
If you’re unlocked you can play with the vbmeta partition to edit manually, but it seems involved - or just reflash a complete current vendor image that the vbmeta is happy with. (I always thought one can just erase vbmeta and disabling verity/verification when unlocked, but it’s long ago that I looked into this).
I think a path of least resistance is waiting for a /e/ Android U build to be released and that has equal or higher patch dates - you could ask in [UNOFFICIAL BUILD] Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro (mars) for /e/os-T if he’d build one until there are official releases
Sure … but what would be the issue? The data would be (progressively) destroyed, the partition contents would likely become unreadable at the first touch of “Wipe”.
You didn’t answer my question “did you format data earlier?”
The instruction to “Format the device” exists in the install page.
But this is your risk, your phone, so only do things that look sane and safe to you.
The safest thing is still “discharge to empty” … but you are handicapped that the bootloop will probably cease at a point above “zero battery charge”.
At this point I would try to boot to Fastboot (I think boot to Fastboot will take less energy than boot to system) to see if charge is present … but you will still have a difficulty in knowing if and when you reach zero charge, other than wait 48 hours, say.
Of course (later) you should only be flashing partitions on the phone with > 60% charge.
I suppose I had assumed from the beginning that you had some awareness of the extra anti-rollback loaded onto your Xiaomi with Hyperos.
Perhaps there is some reading you could do on the subject, here are two links found in a quick search.
But wouldn’t that cause issues such as maybe I won’t be able to connect to the phone afterwards via fastboot?
I did not. At least I don’t think I did, all I tried to do was flash to some partitions.
Personally I do not think the battery somehow still has power, since supposedly I’m discharging it to the point that the phone does not turn on if I hold the power button down.
But I can’t do that though - I either get stuck in a loop or I have so little battery I am unable to turn the phone on.
I am aware of this.
I was not aware of this previously, sorry.
I took a look at both, didn’t find any useful info other than to download a fastboot rom of the Miui (A13) rom and run flash_all.bat. Looking online I find similar advice. I did that previously when I had to go from Miui (A13) to HyperOS (A14) for LineageOS. However running the flash_all script would likely permanently brick my device if it isn’t finished writing when the phone does a loop restart.
edit: so for my next steps, try and get to fastboot stable condition without the loop, then run the flash_all.bat from xiaomi miui rom? Did I understand correctly? I’m still not quite sure how the anti rollback works or how I’m meant to circumvent the downgrade.
That would be a good aim. If you try to do it by the battery drain method only I suggest you be prepared to wait 48 hours after the last fastboot activity in order the drain the battery and capacitors which may be responsible for the “unfinished business” which is causing the bootloop.
No guarantee that the idea will work, but it gives you a bit of time to learn about how to downgrade Android version and the significance of anti-rollback. Loosely speaking Android says “never go back”. Xiaomi has been quite strong in creating little tricks to make rollback counter intuitive. Like mentioned in Post #11 … but I am not up to speed on current tricks.
I prefer not to repeat myself but the business of Format data is a given in the instructions to flash /e/OS. So we know that the phone knows how to deal with ‘userdata’ empty.
So if you did not follow the install instruction to Format data you could do it if you had a competent fastboot. If you don’t have competent fastboot you can do nothing.
But absolutely don’t do it on the suggestion of a stranger if it does not seem sane to you.
It sounds as if the battery is getting low now, so it is quite possibly not the time to be doing anything other than to tire the battery out with attempting to get it to boot into fastboot till it cannot do it any more!
Though I may be completely wrong on this, it seems quite bizarre that the reason it is still looping is because the battery did not fully drain properly, seeing as it’s at the point of auto powering itself off and not turning on. I left it overnight and it’s not starting at all, so I’ll probably just leave it to rest for a few days, surely that will be enough to fully drain the battery if it is the case.
Well, I’ve done a lot of looking into it now, it seems truly mad how much xiaomi really doesn’t want you to rollback. Apparently it can intentionally cause a hard brick if you try, which is insane.
According to the steps at Install /e/OS on a Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro - “mars” formatting it is done via the recovery, which I didn’t have access to in the first place (well, I do but only for half a second). Or if I’ve understood your explanations correctly it can be done via fastboot -w.
So yes, I will drain out the battery by waiting and see if that gets me into a stable state.
I am sorry if I read it wrong, but was that not the point where you chose to abandon the Android 13 (T) install because the recovery was light themed, and flash a Android 14 (U) LineageOS recovery instead? Ref Post # 8 or so
Nope, I tried mixing the LOS recovery with everything else flashed being /e/os because I thought the /e/os recovery was just reskinned LOS recovery. That was a mistake on my part.
Wait, I misunderstood your words. I mean that right now, since I’m stuck in a loop, I don’t have access to the recovery really. I meant that, after I fucked it up, I haven’t had stable access to recovery.
I have known that on a old Tab,
the battery was empty, because the device cannot charge in bootloader mode, fastboot process crach and order a reboot, the device don’t have enough fuel to reach the recovery step or normal step… so the boot process crach and order a reboot, cannot charge in bootloader, don’t have enough fuel to reach the recovery step… so crach and reboot, cannot charge in bootloader, don’t have enough fuel to reach the recovery step… so crach and reboot …
Solution was disconnecting the mother board were the ROM is located, then plug the USB cable to let the battery charge in peace.
Well, shit, it’s likely not the battery then. Might be the anti rollback described previously, which I absolutely don’t have enough experience in dealing with to fix.
Current status: phone is stuck in a boot loop but it loops every few seconds. During these seconds fastboot is operable but not stable due to limited timespan. If I reflash /e/os recovery I now hear a buzz and the loop lasts a bit longer, and xiaomi unlock icon is present. Then I can get into the recovery but only for a split second before shutting off. This only lasts for several loops and is not permanent. I can reachieve this state by reflashing /e/os recovery.
to be honest, I’m really stuck on what to do. I’ve got no business messing with anti rollback, and will definitely permanently brick my phone if I try. So maybe I can try taking it to some repair shop or something and see if they know how to unfuck it.
