(Help) Mi-box stuck/bricked - MDZ-16-AB

[chrismast]

Need some help with my mi box (MDZ-16-AB) as somehow it got bricked.

Background:
A while ago I tried to connect my Bluetooth headset, connection process froze and I had to hard reboot (plug out/in power). After starting up, the box die not proceed further than the initial MI logo screen (think its the first screen altogether).

I tried already to flash diverse OTA files via recovery, to which I got access, but all ended up having similar error messages as the one attached (Can't mount/open catch etc.).
I am versed in flashing roms etc. and kind of remember seeing those messages when the file system got corrupted, hence my fear that I can't fix the box at all. To my knowledge, there is still no full rom img for the MDZ-16-AB version released!?
Anyone here with further advice?

Screenshot

 

[bigtalker]

Need some help with my mi box (MDZ-16-AB) as somehow it got bricked.

Background:
A while ago I tried to connect my Bluetooth headset, connection process froze and I had to hard reboot (plug out/in power). After starting up, the box die not proceed further than the initial MI logo screen (think its the first screen altogether).

I tried already to flash diverse OTA files via recovery, to which I got access, but all ended up having similar error messages as the one attached (Can't mount/open catch etc.).
I am versed in flashing roms etc. and kind of remember seeing those messages when the file system got corrupted, hence my fear that I can't fix the box at all. To my knowledge, there is still no full rom img for the MDZ-16-AB version released!?
Anyone here with further advice?

Screenshot

try a different flash drive, formatted as FAT32
try formatting drive in a different computer

 

[brigantti]

try anothe power supply i had a bootloop problem with my mibox and i replaced the power supply with one i had for a psp and is working now no more reboot or bootloop at all.
maybe is not same problem but you can try

 

[chrismast]

try anothe power supply i had a bootloop problem with my mibox and i replaced the power supply with one i had for a psp and is working now no more reboot or bootloop at all.
maybe is not same problem but you can try

tried that as well with my new mibox power supply, same result though.

try a different flash drive, formatted as FAT32
try formatting drive in a different computer

tried that, did not help


Found a guy with a similar issue on Reddit but he had also no luck...

 

[bigtalker]

I went thru 4 different flash drives until it relented to flash

 

[Ricky Divjakovski]

If you cannot resolve this issue PM me and if your happy to send your device for testing/recovery purposes you can send it to me, if i recover you can have it back, i simply need it for debugging as the one someone already sent had a wipes emmc

 

[sergeyouknw]

I've got similar problem.
I have mdz-16-ab, international version, with 1st Oreo build installed (2167). Full stock, no root access, etc. Suddenly the device stopped booting properly, during boot it displays rotating Android logo for ~5 minutes following by black screen afterwards. I managed to launch recovery, did wipes and tried to flash any of the 3 available Oreo builds to the moment being written to 2 various flash drives I possess (1 gb and 16 Gb, FAT16 and FAT32 formatted accordingly). Every attempt resulted in "Failed to verify whole-file signature" error.
Looks like it could not properly read image file from the flash drive or the image itself is wrong for this model but I'm perfectly sure image is correct.

 

[bigtalker]

I've got similar problem.
I have mdz-16-ab, international version, with 1st Oreo build installed (2167). Full stock, no root access, etc. Suddenly the device stopped booting properly, during boot it displays rotating Android logo for ~5 minutes following by black screen afterwards. I managed to launch recovery, did wipes and tried to flash any of the 3 available Oreo builds to the moment being written to 2 various flash drives I possess (1 gb and 16 Gb, FAT16 and FAT32 formatted accordingly). Every attempt resulted in "Failed to verify whole-file signature" error.
Looks like it could not properly read image file from the flash drive or the image itself is wrong for this model but I'm perfectly sure image is correct.

Sounds like you have a flaky USB thumb drive. Try formatting on a different pc and keep trying different usb drives. Current world record holder tried 8 different drives until succeeding with #9!!

 

[jseymour]

Concur with bigtalker. Or a bad download. I followed a procedure that was a cross between https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidTV/comments/9fo34b/xiaomi_mdz16ab_solution_to_downgrade_from_flaky/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidTV/comments/97rvqg/mi_box_stuck_in_recovery_mode/e4ct7n0/:

1. Extracted the 2167 7zip file to a clean 2GB thumb drive (FAT32)
2. Booted MiBox into recovery and did a data wipe/reset
3. Shut down the MiBox and inserted thumb drive
4. Booted MiBox into recovery, again, where it automatically picked up and installed the 2167 update
5. Shut down the MiBox
6. Cleared the thumb drive, copied the 2179 .zip over to it as update.zip and restored the xiaomi_update file (from the 2167 7zip file)
7. Rebooted the MiBox into recovery again. It picked-up and installed the 2179 update
8. Booted the MiBox into Android and did a Factory Reset
9. Did minimal new setup configuration on boot and installed the 2396 OTA update

Done!

 

[jseymour]

Just went to update the 2nd of our two MiBox 3's. The light lights but nothing on-screen at all. It's bricked but good. I guess turning off Google Play Services wasn't enough.

Now trying to find a receipt to see if I can persuade Walmart to take it back. It's probably been too long, but it's worth a shot. I have to go back to return the now-unnecessary 2nd IR remote, anyway.

Good job, Xiaomi. You suck

I will never buy another Xiaomi product again. Ever. You could not give me a Xiaomi product.

 

[bigtalker]

Just went to update the 2nd of our two MiBox 3's. The light lights but nothing on-screen at all. It's bricked but good. I guess turning off Google Play Services wasn't enough.

Now trying to find a receipt to see if I can persuade Walmart to take it back. It's probably been too long, but it's worth a shot. I have to go back to return the now-unnecessary 2nd IR remote, anyway.

Good job, Xiaomi. You suck

I will never buy another Xiaomi product again. Ever. You could not give me a Xiaomi product.

Sorry to hear of your travail...
Did you update 2nd box via OTA or using manual steps as in reddit post?

What version did you start from on box #2?

 

[jseymour]

Sorry to hear of your travail...

Thanks. I'm not as annoyed as I might otherwise have been, being as I was more-or-less expecting it'd happen eventually. *shrug*

Did you update 2nd box via OTA or using manual steps as in reddit post?

What version did you start from on box #2?

Each of the two boxes bricked themselves, or Xiaomi bricked them for me, with absolutely no intervention from me whatsoever. Box #1 was bricked to its splash screen. That one I recovered with the aforementioned procedure. Box #2 was bricked to completely dead except its front-panel indicator.

They had both been on the same versions. I don't recall which that was at the time they were bricked. The 1st or 2nd update Xiaomi pushed out for Oreo. IIRC: 2179 created as many problems as it solved, so I didn't apply that OTA when it was available. So perhaps the one before that?

There are reports of Xiaomi MiBox 3's "bricking themselves" on every on-line forum in which I participate, BT. Some to their splash screens. Some to just dead. Just like I experienced. These all started appearing about the time 2396 became available.

 

[roeer]

hi i have an IMG for MDZ-16-AB to get unbrick
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-fGnIP7iLmpHUNRPhlWyEnEVHuraDc1q?usp=sharing

---------- Post added at 03:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:26 PM ----------

hi i have an IMG for MDZ-16-AB to get unbrick
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-fGnIP7iLmpHUNRPhlWyEnEVHuraDc1q?usp=sharing

i got brick after trying to update to version 9. and the device freeze. and now i flash this img and get out of brick. after this img burend. enter to recovery and install version 9 with this link:
https://4pda.ru/pages/go/?u=https:/...c055db0b4f8dee8d49e4b04ecf9100.zip&e=65311772

 

[bigtalker]

What is the AndroidTV version of the img file you posted

What is the AndroidTV version of the update.zip file you posted

Curious as to the origin of the img file. Normally such things come from the hardware vendor. Xiaomi has not been forthcoming with img files, mainly staying with flashable zip format updates

 

[Tabitamuse]

hum..

I Use USB_Burning_Tool 2.0.7 and it say Low-Power after 1' ... :'( after, crash burn...

 

[criscodecookies]

hi i have an IMG for MDZ-16-AB to get unbrick
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-fGnIP7iLmpHUNRPhlWyEnEVHuraDc1q?usp=sharing

---------- Post added at 03:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:26 PM ----------



i got brick after trying to update to version 9. and the device freeze. and now i flash this img and get out of brick. after this img burend. enter to recovery and install version 9 with this link:
https://android.googleapis.com/pack.../2c49569c61c055db0b4f8dee8d49e4b04ecf9100.zip

Thank you sooo much! You saved many once working devices from the landfill.

I got it to work following the instructions posted here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...ogic/s905x-xiaomi-mi-box-3-mdz-16-aa-t3502992

Edit: Download for latest USB Burning Tool v2.2.0:
https://mega.nz/file/Hd0CmACT#OPws8xFAPOGR6SmFJKfkVQ4SXjXpetJHmZZZ7nqkRHc

Note: you will need a USB Male to Male cable (2.0 is fine) which can be found for ~$5.
Ex: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009GUXG92/

The MDZ-16-AB is almost the same as the AA except the pins are a bit more to the right:

For the image burning tool, DO NOT ERASE ALL. Uncheck Erase bootloader and keep it to 'Normal erase', this is to keep DRM keys which allows Netflix to work.

The image linked above works flawlessly!

The image is of Oreo version 2167

Once back in recovery, I was in a recovery loop. To fix this I followed the instructions posted here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidTV/comments/97rvqg/mi_box_stuck_in_recovery_mode/e4ct7n0/

After that I was able to update to Oreo version 2562 posted above.
I then followed the same procedure to manual update to Android 9 and it succeeded.

Captured the link for MDZ-16-AB Android 9 r2926 for anyone who wants to try manual updating as well:
https://android.googleapis.com/pack.../ed5bdb6aefb2bb6ee3f46a9f4d46026b9df88159.zip

 

[Hitchar]

@criscodecookies: I also tried flashing my bricked MDZ-16-AB. However, I'm also getting the low power error. With only the usb connected the device is not detected by the tool when shorting the two pads. Did you connect the power cable?

Thanks in advance

 

[criscodecookies]

@criscodecookies: I also tried flashing my bricked MDZ-16-AB. However, I'm also getting the low power error. With only the usb connected the device is not detected by the tool when shorting the two pads. Did you connect the power cable?

Thanks in advance

Yes, power cable must be connected while shorting the two pads. Once USB Burning Tool sees the device you may then let go of shorting the pads but keep power connected.

 

[Hitchar]

Yes, power cable must be connected while shorting the two pads. Once USB Burning Tool sees the device you may then let go of shorting the pads but keep power connected.

Yeah that seems to work. The USB Burning Tool sees the device and I can start the flash. But after a minute I get the error 'low_voltage'. I've tried all my USB ports (USB2 and USB3) and also tried to use my laptop. So now I'm wondering whether my cable is good (I've soldered it myself). I've tested for continuity so the connections are good. How are the cables inside your USB cable wired?

 

[venioni]

Thank you sooo much! You saved many once working devices from the landfill.

I got it to work following the instructions posted here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/an...ogic/s905x-xiaomi-mi-box-3-mdz-16-aa-t3502992

Note: you will need a USB Male to Male cable (2.0 is fine) which can be found for ~$5.
Ex: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009GUXG92/

The MDZ-16-AB is almost the same as the AA except the pins are a bit more to the right:

For the image burning tool, DO NOT ERASE ALL. Uncheck Erase bootloader and keep it to 'Normal erase', this is to keep DRM keys which allows Netflix to work.

The image linked above works flawlessly!

The image is of Oreo version 2167

Once back in recovery, I was in a recovery loop. To fix this I followed the instructions posted here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidTV/comments/97rvqg/mi_box_stuck_in_recovery_mode/e4ct7n0/

After that I was able to update to Oreo version 2562 posted above.
I then followed the same procedure to manual update to Android 9 and it succeeded.

Captured the link for MDZ-16-AB Android 9 r2926 for anyone who wants to try manual updating as well:
https://android.googleapis.com/pack.../ed5bdb6aefb2bb6ee3f46a9f4d46026b9df88159.zip

i've tryed to flash this oero img16-ab on my bricked mi box 3 mdz 16-ab and the usb burning tool all the time showing me error
low power with this img but when i try to flash any other rom dont showing this error only with this rom, whats the problem?