[GUIDES & FAQ][Merlin] Bootloader, Magisk, EdXposed, SafetyNet, GSI/Treble ROMs

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mrgbuzz

Senior Member
May 27, 2015
194
68
43
Nokia 7 Plus
Redmi Note 9
I bricked and unbricked my RN9. I want to put the phone back to usable state - locked bootloader so I can use banking apps etc.
I have downloaded the fastboot rom, Mi Flash tool but each time I try to flash "clean all and lock" I get a "echo mismatching image and device" - My device is RJOMIXM and I've downloaded the correct rom - fastboot rom global for Merlin. But this error keeps happening. I've searched everwhere for a solution - hoping somebody with previous experience of this can help?
Can I lock the bootloader through SP Flash tools or am I going the correct way using Mi Flash? Thanks for any help or advice!

** I finally managed to get it sorted ** used the EDL flash guide and then flashed in SPFT.
 
Last edited:
Toprak123

Toprak123

Member
Dec 22, 2021
9
2
Redmi Note 9
Hello. I am new to these gsi stuff so i need help. Does "fastboot -w" delete my imei? I know that it deletes user data but i just want to make sure

EDIT: No, it does not. This command only deletes userdata and cache. Now, i am currently using CAOS and it is awesome execpt a few bugs. Did anyone try LineageOS too?

EDIT 2: Refresh rate seems to be stuck at 45hz and i didn't even flash magisk. This makes animations very stuttery is there any fix for that?
 
Last edited:
VD171

VD171

Senior Member
Jun 21, 2012
2,939
2
2,176
127.0.0.1
LG K10
Samsung Galaxy J7
Jhon_Locke said:
Is there another place to grab official firmware? Mine is not there, the version I have is 11.0.8.0(QJOLMCR), I can't find it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This rom is a bad joke by halabtech forum.
Somebody uploaded it as a dumped rom from some remite note 9 device.
But, it is fake.
Probably, halabtech team never tried the rom before.
So, my friend, you are just a victim of halabtech team.
 
J

Jhon_Locke

Senior Member
May 16, 2015
95
8
VD171 said:
This rom is a bad joke by halabtech forum.
Somebody uploaded it as a dumped rom from some remite note 9 device.
But, it is fake.
Probably, halabtech team never tried the rom before.
So, my friend, you are just a victim of halabtech team.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

You mean the rom I was asking for? IIRC That's what came with the phone from the phone carrier (Claro), I didn't install anything (at the time I wrote that comment).
 
Toprak123

Toprak123

Member
Dec 22, 2021
9
2
Redmi Note 9
Hi. I know i am annoying but i have few questions.
1. So i have currently v12.0.3.0 which is Android 10. Would there be any problems if i flash Android 11 or 12 gsi?
2. Would there be any problem about the system partition size? For example Havoc OS 3.12 with GApps is about 3 gb. My system partition is 2.5 gb.
 
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    Akitake
    Akitake
    DISCLAIMERS (please read !)​
    • This thread is made for the Redmi Note 9, also known as Redmi 10X 4G.
    • This device's codename is Merlin.
    • I will not be held responsible if you brick your device.
    • Follow the instructions shown in this thread at your own risks.
    • Follow the steps and ask questions below when unsure, everything will be fine!
    • No files will be directly provided. Do not use pre-created/re-uploaded files.
    • Feel free to cite parts of this thread in your own, just make sure to give credit where it's due.

    Prerequisites for most manipulations​
    • Your phone, well charged if possible
    • The USB cable used to link your phone to your computer (the one on your charger works just fine)
    • A computer, with recent ADB & Fastboot (Platform Tools)
    • Some time, patience, and the ability to read and follow instructions!

    Tutorials​

    Step 1
    Make sure you have a Mi Account ready.
    You should've created one when first setting up your phone, with your phone number and a password.

    - If you have it: Double-check you have access to it by attempting to connect on Xiaomi's official website (Login page).
    - If you don't: Create one with the Create an account button below the password form (same link as above), then connect to it.

    Step 2
    On your PC, go to Xiaomi's unlock page and click the colored Download Mi Unlock button.

    j8fgLYw.jpg

    Step 3
    A download should start. Wait for it to finish, move the archive to your desktop and extract its content.

    fOlOpW1.jpg

    Step 4
    Inside the extracted folder, double click the file called miflash_unlock.exe to start Xiaomi's Unlocking program.

    NqDFN3F.jpg

    Step 5
    Read Xiaomi's Disclaimer then agree to their terms, or stop here and leave this thread if you don't.

    7LDJov0.jpg

    Step 6
    Sign in to your Mi Account we talked about in Step 1.

    Zx6fr6T.jpg

    Step 7
    Let's get your phone ready for unlocking.
    • Go to your phone's Settings > Mi Account and make sure you're logged in.
    • Now Settings > About Phone and tap the "MIUI Version" box multiple times until it says You are now a developer!
    • And finally Settings > Additional Settings > Developer Options

    Enable the following settings inside Developer Options, and click Accept when warnings pop-up:
    • OEM Unlocking
    • USB Debugging
    Still in Developer Options, check your Mi Unlock status and click the Add account and device button at the bottom if present.
    Make sure to backup your phone's data before continuing on with this tutorial, as unlocking will make it factory reset (wipe)!

    Step 8
    Alright, all backed up? Confident? Let's get going with the final steps.
    • Turn off your phone.
    • Turn it back on into fastboot mode by holding down the Power button AND Volume Down together until it vibrates, you may then let go of the Power Button, but keep Volume Down held until you see the fastboot image on your phone.
    82hjtTV.jpg
    • Connect your phone to your computer with the USB Cable.
    • Xiaomi's Software should detect it. If not, click on the cog-wheel in the top right, click the Check button to install the driver and follow instructions, then keep going.
    • Click Unlock, and follow the instructions!
    Now there are two possible scenarios
    • Either you've done all this before and can have your phone unlocked right away.
    • Or this is the first time and at the end of the progress it'll ask you to wait ~7days, and, well, there's no way around that, so come back in 7 days and start from Step 8 again.
    And there you go! Your phone will reboot and you can set it all up again, with the ability to follow the rooting tutorial below, and you can also install custom ROMs/recovery!
    Step 1
    Download the latest Magisk .apk on your phone.
    Go to the link above, click the latest (topmost) Magisk-vXX.X.apk you see in the list to start the download, open the file and install it.

    Step 2
    Go to the download page for the MIUI Official Rom for your region, make sure to get the fastboot version.
    OR (if you don't want/can't download 3gb of ROM)
    Follow DavitidzeSh's instructions on how to gather the boot.img and vbmeta.img files and SKIP to Step 5.
    OR (if you're on a custom rom)
    Look into your custom rom's .zip, find the boot.img and vbmeta.img files and SKIP to Step 5.

    Step 3
    Take the file you downloaded above, it should be a .tgz archive.
    Extract it, you'll get a .tar achive.
    Extract that one again.

    Step 4
    You should now have a folder similar to the one below

    d1H2K4g.jpg

    Go inside the images folder

    KQ7GB7S.jpg

    Step 5
    Grab the the vbmeta.img file and copy it to your ADB & Fastboot (Platform Tools) folder.
    Grab the boot.img file and copy it to your phone's internal storage.
    (where the Android, DCIM, Download, and more are present, just drop it in there)

    Here's how it should look inside your phone's storage in the end.

    uiusbXG.jpg

    Step 6
    On your phone, open up Magisk Manager.
    • Click the Magisk Install button as shown below.
    • Then Select and Patch a File.
    • Go look for your boot.img you previously copied to your phone and pick it.
    • Click Let's go! and wait for Magisk to complete the process!

    Z8o3ai9.jpg

    Step 7
    Link your phone to your PC, grab the file made by Magisk Manager.
    It's located in your phone's downloads folder, called magisk_patched.img.
    Copy and paste it where your ADB & Fastboot (Platform Tools) are located.

    You should now have a folder structure like this:
    • adb.exe
    • fastboot.exe
    • magisk_patched.img
    • vbmeta.img
    • Extra files from the platform tools

    epfTRVa.jpg

    Step 8
    Alright, we're ready to root!
    Turn off your phone, then get in fastboot mode.
    (Power + Volume Down, like the unlocking tutorial)

    Step 9
    Link your phone to your PC with the USB cable if not done already.

    Step 10
    Shift + Right click in an empty space inside the folder we prepared in Step 7,
    And click Open PowerShell window here.

    Inside the PowerShell window, input the following commands line by line, in order.

    .\fastboot.exe devices
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    Make sure your device shows up, should be a bunch of numbers and letters, a couple spaces, and fastboot.
    If nothing does, go back to Step 8 and try again.

    .\fastboot.exe --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
    .\fastboot.exe flash boot .\magisk_patched.img
    .\fastboot.exe reboot
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    Z5zUaGR.jpg

    Note: Your PowerShell window will look different, I'm using a different program, don't worry

    Your phone will reboot.
    Open up Magisk Manager, and double check that it's installed.

    0nEL6dO.jpg

    You're done!
    That said, you will have issues with certain apps leaving it like this.
    You should to hide the fact that your phone is rooted.
    Check out the Passing SafetyNet tutorial further down below!
    I very much discourage to EdXposed your phone unless you have a very good reason for it.
    It's a pain to pass SafetyNet.
    It doesn't get updated often.
    It has very niche use cases for which it's actually worth it.

    That said, I explain it here for people who know what they're getting into and want instructions on how to do it.

    This procedure requires to be rooted with Magisk.

    Step 1
    Inside Magisk Manager, go to the Modules tab.
    Click the search button (bottom right) and search Riru.
    Install the Riru module by Rikka.
    Activate it and Reboot.

    TllFEIp.jpg

    smEPpXN.jpg

    Step 2
    Download and install the latest EdXposed Manager, the same way you did with Magisk Manager when rooting.

    Step 3
    Open it up, go to the ALPHA tab and click install/update.
    It'll start a file download.

    1GF2hIW.jpg

    Step 4
    Go back to Magisk Manager, Modules tab, except this time click Install from Storage.
    Point to the .zip     file you just got, located in the Downloads folder of your phone.
    At the end of the installation, click reboot.

    Step 5
    Let's double check your installation is operational.
    Go to EdXposed Manager, first tab.
    It should say EdXposed Framework is active.

    JvuOjMg.jpg

    You're done!
    You should now be able to install EdXposed modules.
    That said, you will have issues with certain apps leaving it like this.
    You should to hide the fact that your phone is EdXposed.
    Check out the Passing SafetyNet tutorial further down below!
    For Magisk Rooted Phones
    Enable Magisk Hide inside Magisk Manager's settings.
    You may also need to use the Props module to spoof your phone as another, if you want a tutorial on that, let me know.

    For EdXposed Phones
    Again, I highly recommend not EdXposing your phone and sticking to just Magisk if you can help it.
    You should also know that this method will show you're passing SafetyNet inside Magisk but it's a pain to do and isn't as well hidden as Magisk alone.
    Step 1     - Do the step for Rooted phones listed above if not done already.
    Step 2 - In EdXposed Manager, get the HiddenCore Module and activate it.
    Step 3 - Now, in the side-menu: Compat List > tick HiddenCore Module.
    Step 4 - Then, go to Settings > Framework > Enable "App List mode".
    Step 5 - Finally, Applications(Black List) and tick: Android Services Library, Chrome, Google Play services, Google Play Store, Google Services Framework

    Reboot and enjoy! You're all set and SafetyNet should pass.
    Step 1
    Pick your poison in the Treble Forums!
    My recommendations are in the Extras section of this post.

    Step 2
    Download the chosen ROM's A/B Arm64 version
    It should be an .img.xz file
    Extract it and you'll get an .img file.

    You're almost ready to flash.
    Make sure to backup your phone's data.
    Continuing this tutorial will wipe your phone!

    Step 3
    Put your phone into fastboot mode.
    (Power + Volume Down)
    Connect it to your PC.

    Step 4
    Move the .img file you downloaded to your ADB & Fastboot (Platform Tools) folder.
    Rename it to system.img

    Step 5
    Shift + Right click in an empty space inside the folder,
    And click Open PowerShell window here.

    Inside the PowerShell window, input the following commands line by line, in order.

    .\fastboot.exe reboot fastboot
    .\fastboot.exe --disable-verification flash vbmeta .\vbmeta.img
    .\fastboot.exe flash system .\system.img
    .\fastboot.exe -w
    .\fastboot.exe reboot
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    Your phone will now reboot on its own.
    Set it all up and enjoy!
    That said, depending on how old the GSI you picked is, you MAY have issues leaving it at that.
    Therefore, I highly recommend checking out the next tutorial section about Fixing GSI Issues.
    I have worked together with a developer to bring fixes for our device to every custom GSI rom out there.
    The most recent GSI's shouldn't need the fixes listed below.

    Older GSI (treble) roms have two known bugs that we can fix:
    • The brightness slider being misscalibrated, and therefore auto-brightness broken too.
    • The headphone jack not working.
    You need to be rooted to do so.

    Step 1 - Get yourself a Terminal Emulator, I recommend Termux
    Step 2 - Type the following commands inside of it, line by line, in order:
    su
    setprop persist.sys.qcom-brightness $(cat /sys/class/leds/lcd-backlight/max_brightness)
    setprop persist.sys.overlay.devinputjack true
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    You're done! Brightness should be fine, headphones get detected, enjoy!
    Backup all the data you might have on your phone to restore it after the manipulation!

    Step 1
    Download the fastboot ROM corresponding to your region here.
    (The same one used to grab the boot.img and vbmeta.img when rooting)
    And extract it.

    Step 2
    Download the latest MiFlashTool.
    And extract it.

    Step 3
    Put your device in fastboot mode.
    (Power + Vol Down, refer to the rooting tutorial for a more info)
    And connect it to your computer via USB.

    Step 4
    Open MiFlashTool (XiaoMiFlash.exe), your device should appear in the list.

    Step 5
    Click the Select button in the top left,
    And point to your fastboot ROM's folder
    (The one containing the "AP", "BP", "BP_IN", "images" folders and a bunch of files)

    Step 6
    At the bottom right of the software, choose if you either want to just:
    clean all
    (wipe and re-install)
    OR
    clean all and lock
    (wipe, reinstall and re-lock your bootloader)

    Note: If you re-lock your bootloader but wish to unlock it again later, you won't have to wait the 7 days again.

    Step 7
    Finally, in the top right, click the flash button.

    Now just wait a while, your phone will reboot on the stock rom and you're good to go!

    Extras​

    Q: Will unlocking my bootloader void my warranty?
    A: No, it will not, it's easily reversable too, check the "Resetting your phone" tutorial.

    Q    : I rooted/EdXposed my phone and now Netflix won't even open, or doesn't work properly, what's up with that?
    A: There's an easy fix if you have Magisk. Install the liboemcrypto disabler Magisk module, activate it and reboot.

    Q    : I tried unlocking my bootloader but, Mi Flash Unlock doesn't detect my phone, even though it's in fastboot mode and connected. Help?
    A: Here are some things you can try:
    • Try another USB port.
    • Try another USB cable.
    • Install the Mi USB Drivers manually, they're included in the MiFlashUnlock folder.
      Run the driver_install_64.exe, OR go to the driver folder, then the folder corresponding to your windows version, right click the android_winusb.inf and click Install.
    • In the Device Manager, check that the driver provider is Xiaomi.
      If not, uninstall it and restart your computer.

    WmkBs0W.jpg
    View
    4
    Akitake
    Akitake
    VD171 said:
    If you want to say "join in fastbootd", you just have to say "join in fastbootd".
    And don't say "just type reboot and it will works".

    System partition is not present in stock rom firmware. If it is present in GSI, just say "it is only for GSI".
    If you dont like misinforming, just write enough informations. That's simple.
    Just reboot to fastbootd doesn't makes no changes.
    What matter is what you do inside it.
    We humans can understand if you try to explain it.
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    The goal is to have a step by step, easy to follow guide.
    Using fastboot reboot fastboot will bring you into fastbootd which you need to flash system.
    Writing that up in the guide will just confuse people further, all people want to know is how to do things properly.
    In any case I'll be adding it to the faq part later I suppose, for people who are confused by that command.

    PS: I've re-formatted the original post to improve readability. Let me know what you think!
    View
    2
    Akitake
    Akitake
    RESERVED
    View
    2
    B
    BSM9
    Thanks Akitake for the guide, we all appreciate the effort that went into this!

    I have successfully installed CAOS, and wanted to ask if anyone else was having any bugs similar to mine.
    I am unable to lock phone into landscape mode, and signal always shows an X as though I have no signal, but it works normally.

    Aside from these 2 minor bugs, COAS is working great (y)
    View
    2
    historys
    historys
    peepeepoop00 said:
    what are the possible ways that you can brik your phone? im just asking so i know what to avoid
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse
    writing wrong commands or downloading wrong firmware
    just follow the guide
    View

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