Mi5s Plus bootloader unlock problem

M3th0s

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2007
592
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Bristol
Wondering if anyone is able to help me.

Recently purchased a MI5S Plus and having problems unlocking the bootloader. Followed all instructions and the unlock fails at 50% with the tool stating that "the account on the device is different than current account" (or something like that).

Now here's what I have done so far:
-made sure device and tool are using the same account with phone number login
-made sure "find device" is turned on and phone can be found
-disabled windows 10 driver signature
-enabled usb debugging on the device
-made sure sim card is in slot 1 of device

So far no dice. Phone is on Global Stable (8.0.1.0) but I wanted to move to EU version (which also has the correct UK locale and some other features). I am not new to the rom flashing scene (just moved from iOS to android and had a Galaxy S2 back in the day).

If anyone could help me with this it would be greatly appreciated. No idea what else to try.

Best regards
 
Last edited:

jimmyss04

Senior Member
Dec 7, 2016
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I'll check it out. If it helps I'm willing to try it. What location did you use?
I think what this means is that your phone is associated to a mi account different than the one you have logged in to unlock it. Make sure your phone has the same mi account as the one you are using to unlock it.


Good luck!!
 

M3th0s

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2007
592
221
0
Bristol
I think what this means is that your phone is associated to a mi account different than the one you have logged in to unlock it. Make sure your phone has the same mi account as the one you are using to unlock it.


Good luck!!
Yes it's the same account in both places. I double checked that.

Sent from my MI 5s Plus using Tapatalk
 

makslll

Member
Jul 30, 2011
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Hi, I will share some of my experience.
Myself had that problem too, bought mi5s plus on global 8.x.x and wanted to move to eu version . The problem with this phone is that there's no global dev rom for it just yet, and you can't officially flash the china dev rom, since the installer doesn't recognize the package. So you find yourself in kind of loop, like
==> to open bootloader you need dev rom (only china available) :/
==> to flash china dev rom via mi flash you need to get your phone to EDM ( Emergency Download Mode ) .
But to get to EDM you need open bootloader.

That's kinda sucks, but i kept looking over the internet and found the overall solution that will probably work on any xiaomi device. And that's to make "Deep flash cable". This cable let's you enter EDM ignoring the locked bootloader, this way you can flash the china dev rom, and from there open the bootloader.
The idea is really simple, just need to shortcut any of the middle connectors of the usb with the ground(the outter connector) when plugging the phone into the pc(don't even need to cut the original usb cable), that will prevent the phone from starting to charge and it will enter EDM (pure black screen without any sign of life, but pc will recognize it on COM port as long as you have qualcomm drivers installed.) In this mode the mi flash tool will recognize the phone and you can flash the china dev rom.
If you need more help just ask, and u can find some nice guides on youtube that explain how to make the cable. Good luck!
 
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M3th0s

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2007
592
221
0
Bristol
Hi, I will share some of my experience.
Myself had that problem too, bought mi5s plus on global 8.x.x and wanted to move to eu version . The problem with this phone is that there's no global dev rom for it just yet, and you can't officially flash the china dev rom, since the installer doesn't recognize the package. So you find yourself in kind of loop, like
==> to open bootloader you need dev rom (only china available) :/
==> to flash china dev rom via mi flash you need to get your phone to EDM ( Emergency Download Mode ) .
But to get to EDM you need open bootloader.

That's kinda sucks, but i kept looking over the internet and found the overall solution that will probably work on any xiaomi device. And that's to make "Deep flash cable". This cable let's you enter EDM ignoring the locked bootloader, this way you can flash the china dev rom, and from there open the bootloader.
The idea is really simple, just need to shortcut any of the middle connectors of the usb with the ground(the outter connector) when plugging the phone into the pc(don't even need to cut the original usb cable), that will prevent the phone from starting to charge and it will enter EDM (pure black screen without any sign of life, but pc will recognize it on COM port as long as you have qualcomm drivers installed.) In this mode the mi flash tool will recognize the phone and you can flash the china dev rom.
If you need more help just ask, and u can find some nice guides on youtube that explain how to make the cable. Good luck!
Ah damn. Hardware route is gonna be a problem. So why are some people have to unlock the bootloader on global stable and some are not?

Sent from my MI 5s Plus using Tapatalk
 

jimmyss04

Senior Member
Dec 7, 2016
81
15
0
Hi, I will share some of my experience.
Myself had that problem too, bought mi5s plus on global 8.x.x and wanted to move to eu version . The problem with this phone is that there's no global dev rom for it just yet, and you can't officially flash the china dev rom, since the installer doesn't recognize the package. So you find yourself in kind of loop, like
==> to open bootloader you need dev rom (only china available) :/
==> to flash china dev rom via mi flash you need to get your phone to EDM ( Emergency Download Mode ) .
But to get to EDM you need open bootloader.

That's kinda sucks, but i kept looking over the internet and found the overall solution that will probably work on any xiaomi device. And that's to make "Deep flash cable". This cable let's you enter EDM ignoring the locked bootloader, this way you can flash the china dev rom, and from there open the bootloader.
The idea is really simple, just need to shortcut any of the middle connectors of the usb with the ground(the outter connector) when plugging the phone into the pc(don't even need to cut the original usb cable), that will prevent the phone from starting to charge and it will enter EDM (pure black screen without any sign of life, but pc will recognize it on COM port as long as you have qualcomm drivers installed.) In this mode the mi flash tool will recognize the phone and you can flash the china dev rom.
If you need more help just ask, and u can find some nice guides on youtube that explain how to make the cable. Good luck!
Thanks makslll, I have mi5s, wondering if the process is different?

I bought my phone with the xiaomi.eu rom (8.0.10.0 MAGCNDH), unlocked bootloader with "MiFlashUnlock_1.1.0317.1_en" and installed recovery following this (https://xiaomi.eu/community/threads/6-12-1.36462/). After this I was able to install other ROMs .

Hope this helps :)
 

M3th0s

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2007
592
221
0
Bristol
Thanks makslll, I have mi5s, wondering if the process is different?

I bought my phone with the xiaomi.eu rom (8.0.10.0 MAGCNDH), unlocked bootloader with "MiFlashUnlock_1.1.0317.1_en" and installed recovery following this (https://xiaomi.eu/community/threads/6-12-1.36462/). After this I was able to install other ROMs .

Hope this helps :)
Main problem I'm getting at the moment is the fact I can't get past the 50% on the unlock process. Keeps giving me an account error on the Mi Flash unlock tool. Something like "Account on the device is different from current account".

In any case I was looking at this EDL solution but let me see if I grasped this:
-I can use EDL to bypass locked bootloader restrictions. Could I just flash the EU rom without unlocking the bootloader?
-That not being the case, I'm guessing I would need to flash something like China Dev and the try and unlock the bootloader followed by TWRP flash, etc etc.

If someone could shed any light on this that would be great.

Thanks in advance
 

jimmyss04

Senior Member
Dec 7, 2016
81
15
0
Main problem I'm getting at the moment is the fact I can't get past the 50% on the unlock process. Keeps giving me an account error on the Mi Flash unlock tool. Something like "Account on the device is different from current account".

In any case I was looking at this EDL solution but let me see if I grasped this:
-I can use EDL to bypass locked bootloader restrictions. Could I just flash the EU rom without unlocking the bootloader?
-That not being the case, I'm guessing I would need to flash something like China Dev and the try and unlock the bootloader followed by TWRP flash, etc etc.

If someone could shed any light on this that would be great.

Thanks in advance
I don't know about that process, but I think this post might help even if it is for another Xiaomi device, please let me know how it goes:

http://en.miui.com/thread-226193-1-1.html
 
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M3th0s

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2007
592
221
0
Bristol
I don't know about that process, but I think this post might help even if it is for another Xiaomi device, please let me know how it goes:

http://en.miui.com/thread-226193-1-1.html
Thanks will give this a bash later on after first trying to factory reset the phone.

Thing is I read about a lot of people being successful unlocking their bootloader on Global Stable rom, so no idea why I can't do it. Pretty sure I have all the necessary drivers and I'm following the process as it should. Still getting the account error.

Xiaomi should sort their **** out...

Thanks everyone for your help!
 

makslll

Member
Jul 30, 2011
9
3
0
31
Eilat
Main problem I'm getting at the moment is the fact I can't get past the 50% on the unlock process. Keeps giving me an account error on the Mi Flash unlock tool. Something like "Account on the device is different from current account".

In any case I was looking at this EDL solution but let me see if I grasped this:
-I can use EDL to bypass locked bootloader restrictions. Could I just flash the EU rom without unlocking the bootloader?
-That not being the case, I'm guessing I would need to flash something like China Dev and the try and unlock the bootloader followed by TWRP flash, etc etc.

If someone could shed any light on this that would be great.

Thanks in advance
You can't flash Eu ROM with locked bootloader, since you need to use special image files of the supported roms for miflash (Can't use the .zip roms that we flash via recovery), and those available only for the official roms ( global stable, china stable, china dev).
So yeah, unfortunally this would take little longer, but i can assure you this method 100% works and it's not very hard once you've done the tricky thing with the deep flash cable =)
 

M3th0s

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2007
592
221
0
Bristol
You can't flash Eu ROM with locked bootloader, since you need to use special image files of the supported roms for miflash (Can't use the .zip roms that we flash via recovery), and those available only for the official roms ( global stable, china stable, china dev).
So yeah, unfortunally this would take little longer, but i can assure you this method 100% works and it's not very hard once you've done the tricky thing with the deep flash cable =)
I will probably grab a cable from Aliexpress. Reviews seem to be ok:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2016new-deep-flash-cable-for-xiaomi-phone-models-Open-port-9008-Supports-all-BL-locks-Engineering/32707713158.html?spm=2114.01010208.3.1.rXgJsN&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_6_10065_10068_10084_10083_10080_10082_10081_10060_10061_10062_10056_10055_10054_10059_10099_10078_10079_426_10073_10103_10102_10096_10052_10050_10051,searchweb201603_6&btsid=dde7663f-24a9-4717-94c5-de541dcce370
Will let you know when it arrives and if it works.
On another note, if a Global Dev rom is released for the Mi5S Plus, are you able to flash it as normal through the updater app?
Best regards
 
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makslll

Member
Jul 30, 2011
9
3
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31
Eilat
Yes, on my gf's mi5 i just flashed global dev rom from the updater and unlocked it easy, they really should just remove the global <==> china barrier :mad:
 

makslll

Member
Jul 30, 2011
9
3
0
31
Eilat
Update: there is official Global Dev ROM available now, so no "deep flash cable" is needed anymore, just download the ROM, copy it to phone memory, and flash it via updater, good luck =)
 

M3th0s

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2007
592
221
0
Bristol
So, quick update.

Managed to unlock bootloader last night by updating to the new Global Dev for the Mi5S Plus.

However a new problem has arisen, as usual. Using ADB, it recognises the phone whilst in normal mode with USB debugging on. The moment I reboot it into fastboot mode (to flash TWRP), it doesn't recognise it anymore. The drivers are installed as I disabled windows driver signature verification, but the phone is just not recognised anymore.

Anyone have any idea how to fix this?

Thanks in advance.