[ROM][R][OFFICIAL] LineageOS 18.1 for Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro [whyred]

[Frollito]

I'm a few days late. But if this happens again, try flashing the gapps again. This generally works for me.
If this doesn't work then instead of flashing miui fastboot and flashing recovery again etc, just boot to recovery, format data (type yes) and flash the rom and gapps again. You will lose all your data but at least you can avoid the lengthy process of flashing miui fastboot rom.

First of all thanks for your help.
Actually i didn't flash yet (phone is just one old piece of many in the drawer, that sometimes i care to update), but the weird thing is that i'm stuck in recovery mode, but i cannot do anything other than watching the OrangeFox or TWRP logo. It just hangs there. No ADB connection, but only fastboot connection when i reset it with proper key combination... so weird...

 

[1emrys1]

First of all thanks for your help.
Actually i didn't flash yet (phone is just one old piece of many in the drawer, that sometimes i care to update), but the weird thing is that i'm stuck in recovery mode, but i cannot do anything other than watching the OrangeFox or TWRP logo. It just hangs there. No ADB connection, but only fastboot connection when i reset it with proper key combination... so weird...

Oh. If the recovery is not usable then I guess the only option is to flash miui fastboot and start all over again.

 

[PrinceVince]

Hello guys, sorry if this isn't on-topic enough – I'll make a separate post and delete this one if this doesn't belong here!

I currently use my Redmi Note 5 Pro (Global) with an unofficial LOS 15.1 (Android 8.1.0). I now want to upgrade to this official LOS 18.1 build without bricking the phone.

My TWRP is 3.2.3-2 an I never upgraded the Firmware since buying the phone. MIUI version was 9.5.19 at the time btw. My questions:

1. Should I upgrade to latest TWRP before flashing LOS?
2. Should I upgrade the Firmware to V12.0.2.0?

I have the adb tools (fastboot) installed, and my phone shows up ready when I run fastboot devices. Should I try to flash via these CLI tools, or should I try to flash from within my current TWRP? My lack of experience makes me concerned about doing the wrong thing with these upgrades.

Thanks!

 

[brianmolko1981]

Yes
Yes
No

 

[1emrys1]

Hello guys, sorry if this isn't on-topic enough – I'll make a separate post and delete this one if this doesn't belong here!

I currently use my Redmi Note 5 Pro (Global) with an unofficial LOS 15.1 (Android 8.1.0). I now want to upgrade to this official LOS 18.1 build without bricking the phone.

My TWRP is 3.2.3-2 an I never upgraded the Firmware since buying the phone. MIUI version was 9.5.19 at the time btw. My questions:

1. Should I upgrade to latest TWRP before flashing LOS?
2. Should I upgrade the Firmware to V12.0.2.0?

I have the adb tools (fastboot) installed, and my phone shows up ready when I run fastboot devices. Should I try to flash via these CLI tools, or should I try to flash from within my current TWRP? My lack of experience makes me concerned about doing the wrong thing with these upgrades.

Thanks!

I would suggest you to do a clean flash. Keep in mind that once you upgrade, it might be hard to go back to 8.1 Oreo roms. Sim might not work in those old roms.

I was in the same boat as you. I installed DOTos based on Android oreo in October 2018 and kept using the phone till June 2021. I literally used a custom rom for such a long time without doing anything else. I guess I'm tired of flashing roms often and moving all the data.

Anyway I wanted to try new Android 11 roms as Android 8.1 had become quite old in 2021.

So here's the process i followed to ensure 0 issues -
Flash the last Miui 11 fastboot rom using Mi Flash. (Miui 12 fastboot roms for whyred doesn't boot. Avoid them)
Flashing the last version of Miui 11 fastboot rom will bring you on the latest firmware.
While flashing be careful and select flash all and erase. There's another option that locks the bootloader while flashing the rom. Don't select that option obviously

After flashing the Miui 11 fastboot rom, boot your phone into bootloader/fastboot mode.
Download the latest orangefox recovery. Flash the img files using fastboot command
Boot to recovery and flash the orangefox zip using orangefox recovery. This might sound weird but it is an important step to make orangefox permanent. You need to first flash the recovery img using pc fastboot and then flash the zip file using the orangefox recovery itself

Phone will reboot to recovery

Now format data. Type "yes". This is very important. Don't wipe data. FORMAT data by typing yes.
Wipe system, Cache. Dalvik etc.
Flash rom and gapps together. Don't reboot before flashing gapps otherwise you will have permission issues with gapps.
After flashing rom and gapps together, reboot to system

Setup your new rom.
Reboot to recovery and flash Magisk(version 23) if you want. (you need to rename the apk file to zip. Then flash the zip by recovery)

You can watch youtube tutorials on how to hide Magisk. It is a onetime hassle.

That's it.


I personally recommend you to use official LineageOs 18.1. I'm using it since June and it is working really. Zero bugs. Super smooth. Although it had less customization features but I like it compared to feature filled heavy roms.

If you decide use a rom like Pixel Experience or Fork LineageOs then you would need to use a different kind of recovery that supports those roms. Official orangefox will not work. Read those threads carefully and flash the required recovery if you want to flash those roms.

And remember, 99% of the time, a bootloop can be fixed by formatting data. But it will wipe your internal storage totally. So before installing a new rom or updating old rom, backup important files and apps, just in case you are forced to format data.

 

[brianmolko1981]

Miui 12 fastboot roms for whyred doesn't boot. Avoid them

Thats not correct. V12.0.2.0.PEIMIXM fastboot rom boots up normally.

 

[PrinceVince]

Yes
Yes
No

No to "flash firmware via CLI" or to both that and "flash firmware TWRP"?

If no to both, what approach do you recommend instead?

My phone is not rooted btw (never found it necessary for daily use). I can't really find clear guides online, everyone seems to have different convictions on the matter, and that's not reassuring.

Update: I'm on TWRP 3.3.1-0 now, which is the latest version willing to boot on my device. Unless a higher version should work, I guess we can leave it at that. This leaves the Firmware question.

 

[PrinceVince]

I would suggest you to do a clean flash. Keep in mind that once you upgrade, it might be hard to go back to 8.1 Oreo roms. Sim might not work in those old roms.

Right, a clean flash (starting over) is my intent. I have my essential data backed up already.

So here's the process i followed to ensure 0 issues -
Flash the last Miui 11 fastboot rom using Mi Flash. (Miui 12 fastboot roms for whyred doesn't boot. Avoid them)
Flashing the last version of Miui 11 fastboot rom will bring you on the latest firmware.

I should have mentioned that I don't have access to MS Windows. Since the LOS guides don't mention the Xiaomi tools, I assumed they wouldn't enter the picture again.

So the MIUI 11 OS ships with the V12 stable firmware? I can certainly see the appeal of just getting one's firmware properly updated this way. Someone in this thread say “Just flash the [V12] firmware via TWRP”. If the latter is viable for my use case, I'd much prefer that!

Btw, does "MIUI 11 fastboot ROM" simply mean that the ROM is built in a fastboot-compatible way? Are there other versions that aren't?

While flashing be careful [...]

Thanks a lot for the detailed pointers.

I personally recommend you to use official LineageOs 18.1. I'm using it since June and it is working really. Zero bugs. Super smooth. Although it had less customization features but I like it compared to feature filled heavy roms.

Yup, that's my plan, I'm not a heavy phone user anyway, the conservative LOS design served me well.

And remember, 99% of the time, a bootloop can be fixed by formatting data. But it will wipe your internal storage totally. So before installing a new rom or updating old rom, backup important files and apps, just in case you are forced to format data.

Yes, I'm totally ready to lose all data, just wanna avoid bricking the phone.

 

[PrinceVince]

Flash this https://xiaomifirmwareupdater.com/firmware/whyred/stable/V12.0.2.0.PEIMIXM/ in TWRP

Ah, it was even you who made that comment. So should I try this as well then? Do I need my phone to be rooted? My TWRP was certainly able to write to the recovery partition when I updated that.

 

[SunilSuni]

Hello guys, sorry if this isn't on-topic enough – I'll make a separate post and delete this one if this doesn't belong here!

I currently use my Redmi Note 5 Pro (Global) with an unofficial LOS 15.1 (Android 8.1.0). I now want to upgrade to this official LOS 18.1 build without bricking the phone.

My TWRP is 3.2.3-2 an I never upgraded the Firmware since buying the phone. MIUI version was 9.5.19 at the time btw. My questions:

1. Should I upgrade to latest TWRP before flashing LOS?
2. Should I upgrade the Firmware to V12.0.2.0?

I have the adb tools (fastboot) installed, and my phone shows up ready when I run fastboot devices. Should I try to flash via these CLI tools, or should I try to flash from within my current TWRP? My lack of experience makes me concerned about doing the wrong thing with these upgrades.

Thanks!

Yes upgrade to latest twrp version 3.5.2

Download TWRP for whyred

Download TWRP Open Recovery for whyred

dl.twrp.me

You dont have to upgrade your firmware because LineageOS relies on firmware version 9.5.19 which you are already using

If you want you can flash latest MIUI 12 firmware

Upgrading process
1. Flash twrp 3.5 and boot to twrp
2. Wipe data cache system and data
3. Flash LineageOS 18.1
4. Flash opengapps android 11 pico package or any other package
5. Wipe cache and reboot to system.

If you want to do CLI method then follow official installation guide

Install LineageOS on whyred | LineageOS Wiki

wiki.lineageos.org

 

[1emrys1]

Thats not correct. V12.0.2.0.PEIMIXM fastboot rom boots up normally.

Oh. I don't know what went wrong on my end then. I tried flashing 12.0.2 using mi flash and it succeeded but it didnt boot on my whyred. So i flashed the last MIui 11 build which booted and then i continued with orangefox and lineage installation.
If miui 12 is working for others then they should flash that.

 

[1emrys1]

Right, a clean flash (starting over) is my intent. I have my essential data backed up already.



I should have mentioned that I don't have access to MS Windows. Since the LOS guides don't mention the Xiaomi tools, I assumed they wouldn't enter the picture again.

So the MIUI 11 OS ships with the V12 stable firmware? I can certainly see the appeal of just getting one's firmware properly updated this way. Someone in this thread say “Just flash the [V12] firmware via TWRP”. If the latter is viable for my use case, I'd much prefer that!

Btw, does "MIUI 11 fastboot ROM" simply mean that the ROM is built in a fastboot-compatible way? Are there other versions that aren't?



Thanks a lot for the detailed pointers.



Yup, that's my plan, I'm not a heavy phone user anyway, the conservative LOS design served me well.



Yes, I'm totally ready to lose all data, just wanna avoid bricking the phone.

Every miui rom has two versions - fastboot and recovery. Recovery roms are smaller and they're the ones that can be flashed using recovery.
Fastboot roms are bigger and have all the partitions and data that is needed to completely reset the phone. When the phone is bricked or messed up tto much by random zips, flashing the fastboot rom using PC resets it totally. Its like a clean slate.

If you want a totally clean slate - flash fastboot rom. But needs a large file to be downloaded and needs pc
If you want an easier method - flash recovery rom using latest orangefox. Still more than 1 gb file
Even more easy method - flash firmware. This firmware was taken out from the recovery rom and turned into a small zip. Generally 50-70mb

But you are coming from 8.1 Oreo like me. Flashing the fastboot rom will guarantee a complete clean slate. Since you don't have pc, try the method of updating orangefox, flashing firmware and then flashing los. Remember to format data before flashing los.
If you get any errors or problems in your los rom - like sim error, or location error etc then the only method might be to find a pc and flash fastboot rom and then go to lineage again.

If you don't get any errors then congrats, updated recovery and firmware was enough.

 

[PrinceVince]

Yes upgrade to latest twrp version 3.5.2

Download TWRP for whyred

Download TWRP Open Recovery for whyred

dl.twrp.me

Unfortunately 3.3.1 (from 2019) is the latest release my phone is willing to boot. From 3.4 upwards I get an eternal MI logo. I don't assume there's anything I can do about that? From what I read one needs a more recent version to accommodate Android 11 (LOS 18.1).

Should I try the discontinued Orange Fox which 1emrys1 alluded to? Maybe that gives me a better shot at having a more recent bootloader?

You dont have to upgrade your firmware because LineageOS relies on firmware version 9.5.19 which you are already using

If you want you can flash latest MIUI 12 firmware

I see, that's good to hear.

Upgrading process
[ ... ]

Thanks a lot, this gives me confidence to go ahead. The various "help, I bricked my phone" threads in the Redmi section made me cautious, as I don't have another phone to fall back onto.

 

[PrinceVince]

Every miui rom has two versions - fastboot and recovery. Recovery roms are [...]

That makes sense now, thanks.

If you want a totally clean slate - flash fastboot rom. But needs a large file to be downloaded and needs pc
If you want an easier method - flash recovery rom using latest orangefox. Still more than 1 gb file
Even more easy method - flash firmware. This firmware was taken out from the recovery rom and turned into a small zip. Generally 50-70mb

But you are coming from 8.1 Oreo like me. Flashing the fastboot rom will guarantee a complete clean slate. Since you don't have pc, try the method of updating orangefox, flashing firmware and then flashing los. Remember to format data before flashing los.
If you get any errors or problems in your los rom - like sim error, or location error etc then the only method might be to find a pc and flash fastboot rom and then go to lineage again.

OK, I'll give that a shot and Windows method as last resort (setting up a VM might work).

If you don't get any errors then congrats, updated recovery and firmware was enough.

Let's hope, thanks again!

 

[PrinceVince]

@1emrys1: That would be this Orangefox release, right?

 

[PrinceVince]

...

 

[PrinceVince]

...

 

[PrinceVince]

Hello guys. With the help of someone in chat I was able to regain functionality (I had messed things up after post #949) and install LOS 18.1. I just erased my earlier posts so you don't waste your team sifting through my trials and tribulations.

I will report back later with how I did it (in case someone runs into similar issues). Thanks again for your help!

 

[1emrys1]

Hello guys. With the help of someone in chat I was able to regain functionality (I had messed things up after post #949) and install LOS 18.1. I just erased my earlier posts so you don't waste your team sifting through my trials and tribulations.

I will report back later with how I did it (in case someone runs into similar issues). Thanks again for your help!

I just saw this message. Glad that you managed to flash LOS. Enjoy your new rom.
How's your battery holding up? Accubattery says that mine is at 71% capacity. I am planning to get a new one.

 

[PrinceVince]

The trouble

• Since neither recent TWRP nor Orangefox releases would boot, I decided to try flashing the firmware first using my old TWRP, as the TWRP site suggests old firmware might cause the incompatibility. This flash appeared to finish without error, but when I rebooted LOS didn't boot (OK) and neither did fastboot mode (bad).
• My old TWRP kept working fine, so it was my last leg to stand on. I then decided to just try flashing LOS 18.1, even though Android 11 based ROMs should use newer TWRPs. I put the LOS ZIP on my external SD card and flashed it from within TWRP.
• This worked! Alas, TWRP always flashed into the directory where the ZIP file is, so it flashed the whole OS onto my SD card, not the phone root! I could actually boot into LOS from the SD card though, wicked!
• With fastboot broken, and no response to adb in TWRP, I was once again out of ideas on how to get LOS installed properly.

The solution

Someone in a chatroom was able to guide me through. He said it's unlikely fastboot is actually broken, so I booted back into it and though the screen stayed blank, it turns out the device still responded to abd, I hadn't even tried again!

I then tried a LineageOS recovery (right column) and that booted! It's very basic but allows sideloading packages/scripts and isn't outdated like my TWRP, so I had what I needed for the LOS flash.

# Boot recovery (enable sideloading once in recovery menu)
$ fastboot boot lineage-18.1-20210920-recovery-whyred.img

# LOS 18.1
$ adb sideload lineage-18.1-20210920-nightly-whyred-signed.zip

# GApps
$ adb sideload MindTheGapps-11.0.0-arm64-20210920_084011.zip

To my delight, all commands finished without error and I could reboot into a fresh LOS, which I'm running now. I think I did my best to wipe prior in TWRP, so that part should hopefully be fine as well.

I still don't know if my firmware update actually worked. Baseband reads 660_GEN_PACK-1.336736.1.337834.1. I compared that to others on the web, and assuming this numbers counts up, it looks fairly new?

TL;DR

LineageOS recovery image to the rescue.