unlocking Mi4c

[Prettygrim]

hi all.
like so many others, Xiaomi forced update 6.1.14 on to my phone which locked the bootloader. i even thought i had stopped the phone from auto updating, but it seems i was wrong. since then, i have been put on to the latest 2 updates. i want to get off of the rom i am on but cant do anything now with the phone in the installing rom dept because regardless of whether i try to use the 'Updater' to put a Chinese dev rom on the phone or any other rom, or if i rename a rom and put it on the root of the phone, i cannot update. i always get a message saying Unable to verify rom and the phone simply stops. when trying to go into recovery mode, as i am unable to get to TWRP, i have even been locked out of that. i applied for an unlock code, but haven't received anything and with Chinese New Year fast approaching, bringing a holiday, i can see Xiaomu ignoring those who asked for a code even longer than they have. i haven't read of a single person being sent the code at all, which is very bad on Xiaomi's part.

i was really pleased with this phone. it worked well for me and did all i wanted but now i have a door stop, to all intents and purpose. such a shame as the way things have gone, i wont be buying from them again.

does anyone have any solution to this problem?

many TIA,
Prettygrim

 

[cowithgun]

Download stable ROM - http://bigota.d.miui.com/V7.0.16.0.LXKCNCI/miui_MI4c_V7.0.16.0.LXKCNCI_cba5b6c4a8_5.1.zip
Update your phone to that ROM
You will lost all data and setting (/sdcard is safe)
Bootloader unlocked
Flash CM13

 

[qtotter]

Download stable ROM - http://bigota.d.miui.com/V7.0.16.0.LXKCNCI/miui_MI4c_V7.0.16.0.LXKCNCI_cba5b6c4a8_5.1.zip
Update your phone to that ROM
You will lost all data and setting (/sdcard is safe)
Bootloader unlocked
Flash CM13

And stay away from dev ROMs unless you have an unlock code.

 

[Prettygrim]

hi and tnx for the replies.
to cowithgun:
unfortunately, i cannot update to that or any other rom, as i stated above. trying to do so via the 'Updater' and all i get is 'Unable to verify rom', that is after being told i must connect to the WLAN. the speed of that is almost non-existent.
if i try to do so by putting the rom in the root of the drive, renaming it 'update.zip' i again get told 'unable to verify rom'. because of the failure to be able to do anything 'conventional' was the reason i asked for help. i have even tried Kingroot and Kingoroot but both have failed.

to qtotter:
one of the methods i was asked to try was to try to use a Chinese dev rom, but i cant even get one of those on the phone (my wife is Chinese, so no language issues).

with the upcoming Chinese New Year, i can see Xiaomi using that as an excuse to delay giving out unlock codes, if it intends doing so at all. i am extremely p****d off at what they have done and in my case, they have turned a phone that i really liked into half a phone. such i stupid stunt to pull when the 'unlocked' was a feature used to actually make the phone a more attractive sale. really disappointed

should have asked guys, what method would you suggest i try to get this rom, (if the blasted phone doesn't give me the same message as before about cant verify it) installed on the phone? bear in mind i have no official recovery and obviously no TWRP.

TIA

 

[cowithgun]

hi and tnx for the replies.
to cowithgun:
unfortunately, i cannot update to that or any other rom, as i stated above. trying to do so via the 'Updater' and all i get is 'Unable to verify rom', that is after being told i must connect to the WLAN. the speed of that is almost non-existent.
if i try to do so by putting the rom in the root of the drive, renaming it 'update.zip' i again get told 'unable to verify rom'. because of the failure to be able to do anything 'conventional' was the reason i asked for help. i have even tried Kingroot and Kingoroot but both have failed.

to qtotter:
one of the methods i was asked to try was to try to use a Chinese dev rom, but i cant even get one of those on the phone (my wife is Chinese, so no language issues).

with the upcoming Chinese New Year, i can see Xiaomi using that as an excuse to delay giving out unlock codes, if it intends doing so at all. i am extremely p****d off at what they have done and in my case, they have turned a phone that i really liked into half a phone. such i stupid stunt to pull when the 'unlocked' was a feature used to actually make the phone a more attractive sale. really disappointed

should have asked guys, what method would you suggest i try to get this rom, (if the blasted phone doesn't give me the same message as before about cant verify it) installed on the phone? bear in mind i have no official recovery and obviously no TWRP.

TIA

I tested it myself, it should work. More precisely, I did this:

1. Download this into your computer: http://bigota.d.miui.com/V7.0.16.0.LXKCNCI/miui_MI4c_V7.0.16.0.LXKCNCI_cba5b6c4a8_5.1.zip
2. Connect phone to computer via USB, copy the zip into your phone, say /sdcard/downloaded_rom/miui_MI4c_V7.0.16.0.LXKCNCI_cba5b6c4a8_5.1.zip
3. Start Updater, press the "..." on upper right and select "Choose update package", select the ROM.
4. Installing older developer ROM will causes the error you mentioned, but if you have 6.1.14, installing stable 7.0.16 is OK and tested working. Not sure what is changed but if it still wont work, try the latest 7.1.6 stable instead.
5. It will warn you of losing setting. Please YES.
6. When it's done, you will have a MIUI ROM but bootloader no longer lock.
7. Install CM13 as soon as you can!

 

[Ulver]

Sounds like the problem is your recovery. You said you have no official recovery.

Sent from my Mi-4c using Tapatalk

 

[Prettygrim]

just tried it and no luck, i'm afraid. still getting the message 'Cant verify update'. also tried moving the file to root of phone, renaming it to 'update.zip' and still no luck, still getting the same message. it seems that the phone is well and truly locked down so it wont even take one of Xiaomi's own official updates, unless it is a progression from the present rom. that in my view is well over the top!!

tnx for trying and if you or anyone has another idea, please let me know. it appears that the thing to turn off is the verification of the rom. is that possible, and if so, how?
one thing i have noticed in the settings -->developer options is 'verify apps over USB. could this be anything to do with the rom verification failure? the txt for that is greyed out with the button on (redish) but i cant see how to change the setting. worth a try maybe? anyone know how to change it?

 

[Prettygrim]

Sounds like the problem is your recovery. You said you have no official recovery.

Sent from my Mi-4c using Tapatalk

you may well be right, but if that's the case, it was done by Xiaomi. is there a way of getting it to work? how do i actually check it isn't working? as stated before, when 'booting into recovery', i get an image of the phone on screen with the USB cable either connected or disconnected, depending on the actual state and nothing else happens. i have to do a reboot holding the start button to achieve this

 

[qtotter]

bear in mind i have no official recovery and obviously no TWRP.

I'm still waiting for my mi4c to come from China, and this is the reason why I'm gonna flash the latest (unlocked) official "stable" ROM first only to update the recovery and radio partitions right after I receive the phone. Resellers in China sometimes put their custom ROMs, recovery images or malware in the phones.

I don't think I'd flash twrp right away. I'd install cm12.1 or cm13 by "fastboot boot recovery.img" leaving the official recovery left in the phone so that I could go back to the official ROMs in the official way, and confirm if everything works as expected before flashing twrp.

What I don't understand is why people flash the dev (locked) ROMs as they are downloaded. What they need is just boot.img and /system, isn't it?? I'd replace "firmware-update" folder, where bootloader, radio and recovery images are located, in the dev ROM with the one from the stable ROM if I wanna try dev ROMs. Or I'd replace boot.img and system.* in the stable ROM with the ones in the dev ROM. Those modded ROMs should be able to be flashed with twrp...

 

[Prettygrim]

the main reason for using the Chinese dev roms is because they are supposed to bee already rooted. once any of these roms is on the phone, according to what else i read, any rom going over the top would keep root. personally, i didn't find any rom that had root already and had to root my phone, following instructions i found on the MIUI and other sites. the built in recovery on my phone does nothing.
i had issues with TWRP when first using it, but put that down to being a novice. i found the files needed and the procedure to get out of the constant TWRP loop, which meant the phone was basically soft bricked and all was good. however, even that method fails now with the message something like 'phone is locked, cannot continue.
i have put an official complaint into Xiaomi about the bootloader locking and also about the time being taken to issue unlock codes, which is much longer than 3-21 days in some cases.
if i get anywhere, i'll post what i'm told

 

[qtotter]

Since the latest miui ROMs are all based on Android 5.1.1, it's really easy to root mi4c yourself even on official standard ROMs. You don't have to flash dev ROMs or flash custom recovery like twrp. You can just run twrp on the fly like "fastboot boot twrp.img" to flash SuperSU.zip as long as bootloader is unlocked.

I'd say it's more dangerous to flash dev ROMs only for rooting especially if it's for your wife, not for yourself... Dev ROMs are for people who want to try new functions and designs still under development.

Anyway, I hope you will get an unlock SMS from xiaomi soon!

 

[dr_al01]

Had same Problem

search for miui_MI4c_V7.1.6.0.LXKCNCK_1debc127a9_5.1.zip

Hope it helps

 

[ermacwins]

So if the bootloader is locked, you can unlock it by flashing an older dev rom?

 

[cowithgun]

So if the bootloader is locked, you can unlock it by flashing an older dev rom?

No. Older Developer ROM will not work. Updater will refuse to update it. I tested a few of them back then, only by flashing the latest stable ROM back then (7.0.16) work.

 

[mps123p]

No. Older Developer ROM will not work. Updater will refuse to update it. I tested a few of them back then, only by flashing the latest stable ROM back then (7.0.16) work.

And now flash the lastest developer and try roll back one o two a time (this work for my with the original recovery) and later use one rom from xiaomi.eu that one has not locked bootloader .
Sorry for my bad english.

 

[Prettygrim]

i'm probably being real thick here guys. please bear with me. i am, as i said before, new to all this stuff with phones.

remember too that i have an unlocked bootloader now, courtesy of Xiaomi.

so, just to be clear, i am using miui_MI4c_5.12.31_5d6537a0b8_5.1.zip. to remove the possibility of Xiaomi doing something else to the phone that i dont want, i would like to get on to the xiaomi.eu_multi_libra roms. how do i go about doing this in idiot-proof steps, please? also, if i manage to achieve what i want, how do i stop the phone taking official updates? there must be a setting in the phone somewhere that can be disabled and prevent it updating to what i dont want. i found the one in the 'updater settings' but am of the opinion there is another somewhere that i cant find.

hope someone will be gentle with me

TIA

 

[Ulver]

If you're already on Xiaomi.EU ROMs, you won't get OTA updates directly from Xiaomi that will lock your bootloader.

Sent from my Mi-4c using Tapatalk

 

[Prettygrim]

i am on
miui_MI4c_5.12.31_5d6537a0b8_5.1.zip

which is an official rom, i believe. hence the questions in my former posts. i want to get on to the libre eu roms but am unsure how to go about it. i have read about using various roms first but i believe doing so is under certain circumstances, ie, bootloader locked, phone not rooted. my phone has the bootloader unlocked now by Xiaomi and i have rooted the phone. this is where my confusion comes in that i was hoping someone could clarify

 

[qtotter]

You have unlock permission from xiaomi now, which means you don't need to worry about updates. You can unlock your phone again anytime you want. It's not one time only thing.

 

[Prettygrim]

well that's a relief! tnx, qtotter! i didn't want to have to go through all this again, just because the maker decided i hadn't actually bought the phone, i had just bought permission to use it, as long as it was how he wanted me to use it!
bloody USA judge who decided that must have been paid a small fortune to rule in favour of this! just what the entertainment industries and others wanted!! didn't care what the implications were or ow the industries would take the p**s out of customers!!