Xiaomi - POCO F3 / Redmi K40 / Mi 11X - alioth - Documentation Suggestions

…Enter suggestions to improve documentation in this category. Do not raise bugs or issues here…

Hello @Manoj . I have written an entire guide on how to upgrade Alioth devices from eOS Version R to eOS Version S including the necessary upgrade for the Vendor blobs, because the current documentation is both wrong and incomplete. The guide could be copy and pasted almost 1:1 into the Alioth Upgrade documentation. Only the caution and warning boxes which already exist in the current documentation would have to be copied to the correct positions.

However, the board blocks me from posting my guide here because my account is new and as such I am only allowed to include two links into any given post. My guide obviously has a bunch of links though. How do we proceed? Can you remove this restriction from my account or could you give me write access to the actual documentation?

You can try and post the guide in a new post in this thread

Here you go @Manoj

I successfully upgraded from e-1.5-r to e-1.5.1-s on alioth (POCO F3) and as requested share my suggestions here.

For upgrading to eOS Version S I used parts of the LineageOS firmware upgrade guide and the manual LineageOS upgrade guide. However some sections of those guides seem to be LineageOS specific and likely cause problems if followed in their entirety. Below is my suggestion for a comprehensive eOS upgrade guide, so someone with write permissions can work it into the actual eOS upgrade documentation. However I will also include some notices which I would normally exclude in a guide. The notices are supposed to give pointers to both the community and the eOS team on things I am uncertain about or otherwise noteworthy so the guide can be further improved. They should be removed from the actual documentation of course.

Firmware Upgrade:

Notice: The LineageOS guide insists that the user does not extract the Vendor blobs from the newest stock ROM but from a very particular version, depending on the region the device is from. This directly contradicts with the current eOS documentation which asks the user to use the newest available firmware. I have not (yet) tested if newer Vendor blobs actually cause problems.

Check your phones region here: Product Authentication

Download the correct ROM version:
(International means Global!)

DON’T UNZIP THE ROM!
Download payload-dumper-go, extract the payload-dumper executable, place the zipped ROM in the same directory as the executable and extract the Vendor blobs with this command:
./payload-dumper-go -o . miui_*.zip
Replace the * with the corresponding file name.
Non Linux users have to omit the ./

Download the latest platform-tools for your computers operating system and extract them into a folder of your choosing. Copy the extracted Vendor blobs from the step before into the platform-tools folder.

Boot your phone into fastboot mode and connect it with your PC via USB.

Run the following commands:

sudo ./fastboot flash abl_ab abl.img
sudo ./fastboot flash aop_ab aop.img
sudo ./fastboot flash bluetooth_ab bluetooth.img
sudo ./fastboot flash cmnlib_ab cmnlib.img
sudo ./fastboot flash cmnlib64_ab cmnlib64.img
sudo ./fastboot flash devcfg_ab devcfg.img
sudo ./fastboot flash dsp_ab dsp.img
sudo ./fastboot flash featenabler_ab featenabler.img
sudo ./fastboot flash hyp_ab hyp.img
sudo ./fastboot flash imagefv_ab imagefv.img
sudo ./fastboot flash keymaster_ab keymaster.img
sudo ./fastboot flash modem_ab modem.img
sudo ./fastboot flash qupfw_ab qupfw.img
sudo ./fastboot flash tz_ab tz.img
sudo ./fastboot flash uefisecapp_ab uefisecapp.img
sudo ./fastboot flash xbl_ab xbl.img
sudo ./fastboot flash xbl_config_ab xbl_config.img

Non Linux users will have to omit the sudo ./

DO NOT REBOOT INTO YOUR ROM!

Reboot to fastboot by holding holding VOLUME DOWN + POWER until it reboots or use the following command:
sudo ./fastboot reboot bootloader
Non Linux users will have to omit the sudo ./

Keep your phone connected to USB for the next section!

Upgrading to eOS Version S

Note: I use TWRP and I hope this section does not get removed because of that. If a section for native e recovery is required, the TWRP section should live alongside it, so people can choose which to follow.

Download TWRP Version 3.6.1_11-0-alioth and place it into your platform-tools folder. (TWRP Version 3.7.0_12-0 has issues with decryption.) Download the newest eOS Version S ROM for Alioth and place the zip file into your platform-tools folder.

Run the following command:
sudo ./fastboot boot twrp-3.6.1_11-0-alioth.img
Non Linux users will have to omit the sudo ./

Select ADVANCED, then ADB SIDELOAD and swipe the switch on the lower part of the screen to activate sideloading. On your PC run the following command:
sudo ./adb sideload e-*-dev-alioth.zip
Replace the * with the corresponding file name.
Non Linux users will have to omit the sudo ./

Don’t worry if the progress bar only goes to 47% and then errors out. This is normal! You successfully upgraded to eOS Version S!

If you don’t use any flashable zip addons you can now select REBOOT on your phone and boot into the ROM/System.

If you use flashable zip addons (e.g. root via Magisk) please do the following BEFORE you reboot to ROM/System:
Stay in TWRP, go back two times and select REBOOT and then BOOTLOADER. When Fastboot shows on your screen, run the following command:
sudo ./fastboot boot twrp-3.6.1_11-0-alioth.img
Non Linux users will have to omit the sudo ./

Now you can use ADB sideload, like explained above, to install your flashable zip addons and then reboot to ROM/System.

PERSONAL REQUEST TO THE eOS DEV TEAM (Not part of the guide)
Please allow us to optionally use Trebuchet 12 Launcher on eOS Version S. You can keep the Bliss Launcher as default but please include the full Trebuchet version and reactivate the home/launcher intend so people can choose to manually set it as the default launcher. Right now only a crippled version is shipped with eOS and the launcher/home intend has been deactivated. This prevents users from manually installing a feature complete Trebuchet launcher themselves, making that Launcher completely unusable for no good reason.

2 Likes

There is confirmation from the LineageOS team that the specific firmware versions are absolutely necessary and higher or lower firmware versions have shown to cause issues with vendor blobs. So the guide MUST include the firmware versions I have linked in my guide.

Also is there anything else you guys need for my guide to get included in the official documentation or are you just backlogged badly, @Manoj ?

Thanks. Will have it linked in the guide.

Source for specific firmware requirement: BadDaemon87 comments on [XIAOMI POCO F3 LOS 19.1] - Can I regularly upgrade the firmware to the newest version?

Also picture just in case:

Hello.
What instruction does /e/ team(“fBSMT” vs “Manually upgrading your alioth to S”) recommend updating and is it worth using your phones region firmware?

I recommend using my guide. This is how I upgraded from eOS R to eOS S successfully. It is adapted from two of the official LineageOS guides as described in my post and someone else confirmed on Reddit with the LineageOS team that the firmware versions described are mandatory. Since eOS is a fork of LineageOS the same rules apply to eOS.

I doubt Manoj will recommend you anything before the team has tested my guide. So if you neither trust me nor the LineageOS team you should wait. If you follow the current “official” eOS upgrade instructions you will end up with either a broken or at the very least very buggy eOS S installation because your firmware will be either out of date or too far ahead of what is actually required.

Do you recommend setting localized instead of global firmware?
Are you satisfied with the update?

If you follow my guide from start to finish all questions, including this one, is already answered. I will explain this one thing again as an exception:

You must go to this page and see what region your device is: Product Authentication
The region this form is giving you MUST be used. If it says “international” you must use “Global ROM”. If it says China, you must use the Chinese ROM and so on. The LineageOS developer said on Reddit that the firmware choices provided are very deliberate per device region. You can always try to experiment at your own risk. I wouldn’t risk it though.

eOS S is great and it runs very stable. You even get new features like thermal settings per app so games run with more performance if you set them to game mode. Also only if you upgrade you will receive new security updates.

Sorry to bother you.
The device is global, but there is a location for the phone, for this reason they asked again

Not really bothering. Just thought you are too lazy to read. I don’t know what you mean with “there is a location for the phone” but it doesn’t matter anyway. As long as you simply follow what the form is telling you, you will do the right thing.

Sorry my english is terrible.
The phone is global, but there is POCO F3 Turkey - V13.0.1.0.SKHTRXM
So I think, what is better, apparently I won’t wait for an answer from /e/team :frowning:
P.S Thank you for your guide, which I have read many times

My answer will always stay the same: Download the firmware that this form is telling you and then simply follow my guide. Product Authentication

Thanks, I’ll do backup and go…

Let’s start testing…

Hi,

here is my experience with upgrading my Poco F3 from 1.5-r to 1.5.1-s :

  • I first read carefully the LineageOS documentation and the fBSMT’s guide to see what to do in my configuration.
  • I Made a backup of data.
  • I Downloaded :
    • in my case, the EEA version of firware from LineageOS
    • e/OS/ v1.5.1 S buid (e-1.5.1-s-20221102231515-dev-alioth.zip + recovery)
      Verified with sha256 file
    • Latest release of payload dumper : Releases · ssut/payload-dumper-go · GitHub
  • Already had :
    • Phone charged at more than 50%
    • Linux PC powered by power supply
    • adb/fastboot platform on local directory
    • e/OS/ recovery installed on the phone
    • USB debugging activated

Extract payload for firmware upgrade :

...:~/Data/eOS/alioth$ mkdir payload-dumper-go_1.2.2_linux_amd64
...:~/Data/eOS/alioth$ tar xvf payload-dumper-go_1.2.2_linux_amd64.tar.gz -C payload-dumper-go_1.2.2_linux_amd64
...:~/Data/eOS/alioth$ mkdir Extracted
...:~/Data/eOS/alioth$ ./payload-dumper-go_1.2.2_linux_amd64/payload-dumper-go -o Extracted/ miui_ALIOTHEEAGlobal_V13.0.6.0.SKHEUXM_c393876947_12.0.zip
Please wait while extracting payload.bin from the archive.
payload.bin: /tmp/payload_795040555.bin
Payload Version: 2
.
.
.
xbl_config (102 kB)     [============================================================================================================] 100 %

Power Off the phone
Press Power + volume Down to go in fastboot mode
Connect the usb cable and verify connection with “sudo fastboot devices”

Flash firmware :

...:~/Data/eOS/alioth/Extracted$ sudo ~/Data/platform-tools/fastboot flash abl_ab abl.img
Sending 'abl_ab' (204 KB)                          OKAY [  0.014s]
Writing 'abl_ab'                                   (bootloader) Partition abl_a flashed successfully
(bootloader) Partition abl_b flashed successfully
OKAY [  0.037s]
Finished. Total time: 0.091s
.
.
.

Plus all the other files mentioned by fBSMT and LineageOS, for a total of 17 files.

Update recovery :
Here, I had a problem I didn’t understand :

...:~/Data/eOS/alioth$ sudo ~/Data/platform-tools/fastboot flash recovery recovery-e-1.5.1-s-20221102231515-dev-alioth.img 
Sending 'recovery' (196608 KB)                     OKAY [  4.824s]
Writing 'recovery'                                 FAILED (remote: '(recovery_b) No such partition')
fastboot: error: Command failed

???
In recovery it’s written : “Version 1.5 () Active slot: b”
So, on one side, ‘(recovery_b) No such partition’ but on the other side, “Active slot: b”.
I supposed that the recovery was not updated…
I decided to go to recovery to continue :

...:~/Data/eOS/alioth$ sudo ~/Data/platform-tools/fastboot reboot-recovery

In e/OS/ Recovery :
Select “Apply Update”
Select “Apply from ADB”

On the PC :

...:~/Data/eOS/alioth$ ~/Data/platform-tools/adb sideload e-1.5.1-s-20221102231515-dev-alioth.zip
serving: 'e-1.5.1-s-20221102231515-dev-alioth.zip'  (~47%)    adb: failed to read command: Success

Mmm, “failed”, but “Success”.
OK, we’re getting used to it and there are no error on recovery screen, so let’s continue.

Select “Reboot system”
The phone is restarting

e/OS/ 1.5.1-s was installed !
Android 12, Android security update : oct 5, 2022, Vendor security patch level : Aug 1, 2022

The first thing you see is there are a lot of visual changes.
And after a quick look of my apps, messages, special configurations, etc, it seems that I have not lost anything.

Thanks

1 Like

Hello, I also did everything according to the instructions of the respected fBSMT.
I put “POCO F3 Global V13.0.3.0.SKHMIXM” because I have a global revision, did not experiment and set it according to the region of location.
Flight is normal. Only sometimes touching is not always clearly recognized, perhaps the Nillkin protective glass is to blame

1 Like

Hey! Congratulations for successfully upgrading to eOS S!

Regarding the recovery:
On A/B devices recovery isn’t a separate partition but actually included into the boot partition. So it’s impossible to flash recovery separately. It is updated by flashing the normal eOS ROM. The recovery image files provided are only there for temporarily booting into them, the same way I boot into TWRP in my guide. sudo ./fastboot boot reoveryfile.img

Unfortunately I can’t edit the post containing my guide but if e-foundation ever allows me to add my guide to the official documentation I will add a notice regarding the nature of recovery on A/B devices, so people don’t get confused. Thanks for sharing your experience so I could learn about this potentially confusing detail.