Database Info

Dynamic "super" partitions and Fastboot

Does anyone know anything about the "super" partition we have on our phones?
What I've found out so far is that it's a newish thing developed for Android 10, where the big partitions like system and vendor sit within this new super partition as "groups". Hence why in Fastboot if you run 'Fasboot getvar all' you'll see no system or vendor partition, only super. A key difference is that it sits in the "user-space".
The super partition has a header to tell the system what's in it and I think this is what the vbmeta_system and vbmeta_vendor images are for.
This explains it a little better : https://source.android.com/devices/tech/ota/dynamic_partitions/implement
Basically I'm attempting to flash the Global firmware onto my Chinese device. With most phones the images are just there in the downloaded ROM and even give you a flash all script to run, but Oppo do a couple of things to make our life more difficult.
Firstly you have to decrypt the ozip file to get a regular zip that you can then extract. Then there's no recovery image, so you have to make one using UR-Tool and a simple Linux command (will post the how to below). So now I have what I think are the key images to flash.
BUT, the system and vendor images sit in the super partition and I have no idea how to flash these. It appears to need a program called fastbootd , which I don't have and I think my only eat hooded in pixel phones?
I can even see the script that puts these images into the super partition, but have no idea how to run it.
Any Android experts out there?

Please - i'm begging you :d

klanbo78 said:
Please - i'm begging you :d
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think you should go to some another device's forums which have more devs, like Samsung ? They maybe know something

Thanks for the suggestion, certainly had more luck in other forums but information is pretty sketchy.
Will keep digging as I really don't need a paperweight this expensive!

I'd suggest trying some Xiaomi forums, they're the similar to Oppo in that flashing Global on to Chinese is either really difficult or impossible as of late.

I have this super partition to in my poco X3, basicly i'm new with this partition because not have in my old poco f1. This partition eat 2x more system storage.

Alvian_P said:
I have this super partition to in my poco X3, basicly i'm new with this partition because not have in my old poco f1. This partition eat 2x more system storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But the Super partiton contains various "logical" partitions like system, product, vendor, etc - so it will be bigger. The actual point of it is to actually save space on the phone and have resizeable partitions.

I managed to find a super.img anyway that I extracted from an ofp file I found. Tried to flash through fastboot but didn't sove the issue. Seems the only way to flash system, product, vendor, etc is by using fastbootd (the new version of fastboot that operates in userspace).
It's not available on the Find X2 with Android 10 models but Oppo have now included it in android 11 build. If you have ColorOS11 then goto ADB and run 'adb reboot fastboot', it'll get you into fastbootd mode (must have the latest fastboot and adb version from google). From there if you had the correct images I assume you could flash them.
Thankfully, Oppo UK have agreed to flash it for me, it's currently at the repair centre and they said they'd probably have to do a remote flash from China. Wondering if it will come back with Android 10 or 11

Recovery??????

sush1101 said:
Recovery??????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll need a bit more than that unfortunately....

how can we check if a device is currently using the dynamic super partition system or if it's got the older a/b set up instead?

Hi buddy,i'm a Chinese oppo user .I've been trying to flash a custom rom on my find x2 pro and it's the first time i see someone who has the same experience. I failed and bricked my phone several days ago,luckily oppo store helped me reset it to factory for free, so it's android10 now ,and it reboots to its official recovery interface instead of fastbootd when i run "adb reboot fastboot". It will succeed in entering fastbootd mode if it's with android11, right?what does the fastbootd mode look like,the same of fastboot or a new look?with fastbootd i can flash system.img to the system area under the super partition,right?thanks if you could help me out.

klanbo78 said:
Does anyone know anything about the "super" partition we have on our phones?
What I've found out so far is that it's a newish thing developed for Android 10, where the big partitions like system and vendor sit within this new super partition as "groups". Hence why in Fastboot if you run 'Fasboot getvar all' you'll see no system or vendor partition, only super. A key difference is that it sits in the "user-space".
The super partition has a header to tell the system what's in it and I think this is what the vbmeta_system and vbmeta_vendor images are for.
This explains it a little better : https://source.android.com/devices/tech/ota/dynamic_partitions/implement
Basically I'm attempting to flash the Global firmware onto my Chinese device. With most phones the images are just there in the downloaded ROM and even give you a flash all script to run, but Oppo do a couple of things to make our life more difficult.
Firstly you have to decrypt the ozip file to get a regular zip that you can then extract. Then there's no recovery image, so you have to make one using UR-Tool and a simple Linux command (will post the how to below). So now I have what I think are the key images to flash.
BUT, the system and vendor images sit in the super partition and I have no idea how to flash these. It appears to need a program called fastbootd , which I don't have and I think my only eat hooded in pixel phones?
I can even see the script that puts these images into the super partition, but have no idea how to run it.
Any Android experts out there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you ever find a solution to this issue? I am facing an issue where I cannot flash my stock rom (oneplus 9 pro user) because twrp reports that I have no product, system_ext, and odm partitions on slot B, yet my phone boots fine on slot A, therefore my slot B is f'd up. I have been searching everywhere for a way to flash these partitions in fastbootd, but when I attempt to flash they report as "file/folder not found" even though I am literally flashing them to the slot. this is driving me crazy and I do not want to MSM my phone, I just want to repair slot B. how the fck do we flash these partitions, and how would my phone boot if they were even missing??

thirtythr33 said:
did you ever find a solution to this issue? I am facing an issue where I cannot flash my stock rom (oneplus 9 pro user) because twrp reports that I have no product, system_ext, and odm partitions on slot B, yet my phone boots fine on slot A, therefore my slot B is f'd up. I have been searching everywhere for a way to flash these partitions in fastbootd, but when I attempt to flash they report as "file/folder not found" even though I am literally flashing them to the slot. this is driving me crazy and I do not want to MSM my phone, I just want to repair slot B. how the fck do we flash these partitions, and how would my phone boot if they were even missing??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Afraid not, I sent the phone back to Oppo and they flashed it. TWRP wasn't available for the X2 pro and didn't work for Android 10/11 anyway, although I heard there has been some progress on that front. You should stand a chance on OnePlus though as not locked down and more tools out there.

klanbo78 said:
Afraid not, I sent the phone back to Oppo and they flashed it. TWRP wasn't available for the X2 pro and didn't work for Android 10/11 anyway, although I heard there has been some progress on that front. You should stand a chance on OnePlus though as not locked down and more tools out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah bro thanks anyway, this is quite a clusterfck here, it blows my mind that my phone boots find on slot A yet I cannot update my rom because apparently I am missing those critical partitions, and when I try to flash them they tell me they are not found. lol wtf man

I hope I'm not too late to say this but you can boot to fastbootd from fastboot with command:
for linux/mac fastboot reboot fastboot or ./fastboot reboot fastboot I have little experience in both
for windows "Powershell only" ./fastboot reboot fastboot this aint working for cmd for unknown reason, ig it recognize the second "fastboot" in "reboot fastboot" as an invoke to the command "fastboot" and not as a parameter sent to fastboot.exe

thirtythr33 said:
did you ever find a solution to this issue? I am facing an issue where I cannot flash my stock rom (oneplus 9 pro user) because twrp reports that I have no product, system_ext, and odm partitions on slot B, yet my phone boots fine on slot A, therefore my slot B is f'd up. I have been searching everywhere for a way to flash these partitions in fastbootd, but when I attempt to flash they report as "file/folder not found" even though I am literally flashing them to the slot. this is driving me crazy and I do not want to MSM my phone, I just want to repair slot B. how the fck do we flash these partitions, and how would my phone boot if they were even missing??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
use the command above to boot to fastbootd, but beware not to flash the partitions to the A slot as it's the active one ig. You have to switch to slot B before flashing and switch it again to A afterwards.
use command fastboot getvar all and look for "current-slot" in the result.
if "current-slot" is A, then use command fastboot set_active b
or if it's B then fastboot set_active a
Then switch the slot back as it was before.
Good luck with it

This whole slot _a/_b and super partition thing is super confusing right?
To flash super partition you can do
fastboot flash super super_patched.img
And as @L0ND0NB0Y already mentioned you can easily switch boot slots like this:
fastboot --set-active=b
Good luck!

lebigmac said:
This whole slot _a/_b and super partition thing is super confusing right?
To flash super partition you can do
fastboot flash super super_patched.img
And as @L0ND0NB0Y already mentioned you can easily switch boot slots like this:
fastboot --set-active=b
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know how to flash a GSI rom onto a phone that has a super partition ? i was successful on a G8 that had system and vendor product partition separate

Hello mates can help me I am using LG v60 I unlocked the bootloader and rooted the device successfully and created the super partition I took backup of IMG file to my memory card after sometimes when I try to restart my mobile my mobilegot bricked and my memory card also corrupted. I am unable to retrieve the backup files now I want to remove the super partion from my mobile...
I want to go back to original factory firmware with locked bootloader..i need to erase dynamic partition...

Brick - No fastboot - EDL only - Set active slot?

I have not one, but two bricks. I bought one to unbrick the other, but the reverse happened. Using the EDL tool from this forum, I made a full and then an all backup and tried to use it to unbrick the other. No success. Now I cannot enter fastboot on either device, but both will enter EDL. I think at least one will fastboot if I can switch the active a/b slot.
Can the active a/b slot be switched via a command in the edl mode? Or is there another way to switch the active slot on a brick without fastboot access? Thank you

I already had that you have to put in the edl tool Then unlock bootloader and then you can go back to fastboot mode, it is because the files abl.elf have to be flashed to have fastboot
but to avoid the brick you have to flash all then boot the mobile phone and best an official Rom flash then back ...in edl Tool .... if you have an A2020G the 1.6 edl firmware helps you continue flashing and then you can lineage OS and then everything else flash what you want
Here ist the Link of 1.6 A2020Gpro Firmware: yadi.sk/d/0d8uKQ1nEd8ZVA

noobstyle1337 said:
I already had that you have to put in the edl tool Then unlock bootloader and then you can go back to fastboot mode, it is because the files abl.elf have to be flashed to have fastboot
but to avoid the brick you have to flash all then boot the mobile phone and best an official Rom flash then back ...in edl Tool .... if you have an A2020G the 1.6 edl firmware helps you continue flashing and then you can lineage OS and then everything else flash what you want
Here ist the Link of 1.6 A2020Gpro Firmware: yadi.sk/d/0d8uKQ1nEd8ZVA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your answer.
I have tried flashing both phones with the following:
1) Full edl from newly purshased phone with v1.1
2) All edl from newly purchased phone with v1.1
3) A2020G v1.6 pro firmware
4) Several other firmwares which the edl would not accept as valid.
None of these worked. Actually, they made things worse. I cannot not even get to fastboot anymore. They both used to give a splash screen that quickly looped. Even that is now gone. Pressing any combination of buttons results in absolutely nothing or edl mode.
The only conclusion that I can make is one of two things:
1) Bricked both all hope
2) edl flashes that I am using are set up for A slot, when the phone is trying to use B slot. I thought when one slot was unbootable it would automatically switch to the other but that doesn't seem to be happening.
Does anyone know of a way to force the phone to boot to the other slot from edl mode? OR some flag that I can edit to switch the slots? OR some command that I can issue to switch slots using fh_loader.exe or emmcdl.exe or another edl tool?

There's no command to switch active slots that I know of and I've gone into the source on fh_loader.
What phone version do you have? Is there some reason you didn't download the EDL tools I uploaded recently instead? The original EDL tool has a few bugs. Read the newer EDL tool thread for some helpful information related to unbricking.
The fact that you aren't getting a ZTE logo at all indicates that you do not have a mixed up slot a/b situation anyway. It probably means you need to fix your AOP files. Of course the original EDL tool doesn't really let you do that. If you have the US version you can use the tools I uploaded to target just the AOP files and try restoring them from your original backup... either the a or b slot one should work.
Make sure you keep your original ALL/FULL backups (both) from the EDL tool, they're probably 99% good and you'll be doing yourself a favor not to delete or modify them.
groundslug said:
Thank you for your answer.
I have tried flashing both phones with the following:
1) Full edl from newly purshased phone with v1.1
2) All edl from newly purchased phone with v1.1
3) A2020G v1.6 pro firmware
4) Several other firmwares which the edl would not accept as valid.
None of these worked. Actually, they made things worse. I cannot not even get to fastboot anymore. They both used to give a splash screen that quickly looped. Even that is now gone. Pressing any combination of buttons results in absolutely nothing or edl mode.
The only conclusion that I can make is one of two things:
1) Bricked both all hope
2) edl flashes that I am using are set up for A slot, when the phone is trying to use B slot. I thought when one slot was unbootable it would automatically switch to the other but that doesn't seem to be happening.
Does anyone know of a way to force the phone to boot to the other slot from edl mode? OR some flag that I can edit to switch the slots? OR some command that I can issue to switch slots using fh_loader.exe or emmcdl.exe or another edl tool?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

You can only change the slots if you are in Fastboot. You have doing it wrong ... if you have an A2020G you can flash the firmware ... if you have the A2020u version then you should ... flash the correct one
so in itself quite simple .... flash edl firmware and then unlock .. then you boot into the fastboot mode and then you have to use these lines
fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
Then
fastboot --set-active=a
in any case you have to unlock to access the fastboot menu
then you should be able to boot
---------- Post added at 04:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:36 PM ----------
remember to flash Android 9 edl firmware because otherwise the unlock won't work
---------- Post added at 04:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 PM ----------
also remember that some firmwares have to be in the flash folder or in the backup folder if it doesn't work

bobthenormal said:
What phone version do you have? Is there some reason you didn't download the EDL tools I uploaded recently instead? The original EDL tool has a few bugs. Read the newer EDL tool thread for some helpful information related to unbricking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A2020U on both.
Many thanks for your edl tools! The problem was at least very close to what I thought. Active slot a. Fix bootable partition on your edl tools brought both back to their previous state. (This a/b slot scheme is intentionally over complicated and for modders makes bricks instead of preventing them.) The newly purchased phone is now unlocked and bootable into v1.1. I will proceed with lineage next. The old phone is still a brick with a locked bootloader, but it has fastboot now. I keep you posted. Other life duties call at the moment. Thanks!

groundslug said:
A2020U on both.
Many thanks for your edl tools! The problem was at least very close to what I thought. Active slot a. Fix bootable partition on your edl tools brought both back to their previous state. (This a/b slot scheme is intentionally over complicated and for modders makes bricks instead of preventing them.) The newly purchased phone is now unlocked and bootable into v1.1. I will proceed with lineage next. The old phone is still a brick with a locked bootloader, but it has fastboot now. I keep you posted. Other life duties call at the moment. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's great to hear I was able to help save from that terrible bricked feeling!
For the 2nd phone - you can try this to unlock it manually without getting it to boot... First do a full backup using my EDL tool. Then use the "FRP" tool I included to write an "unlocked" version of the FRP partition. Then go into fastboot and do the unlock manually - I think it's "fastboot flashing unlock".. but just search to make sure that's right.
Otherwise.. I'm slow but I'll eventually upload the locked stock ROMs.

bobthenormal said:
It's great to hear I was able to help save from that terrible bricked feeling!
For the 2nd phone - you can try this to unlock it manually without getting it to boot... First do a full backup using my EDL tool. Then use the "FRP" tool I included to write an "unlocked" version of the FRP partition. Then go into fastboot and do the unlock manually - I think it's "fastboot flashing unlock".. but just search to make sure that's right.
Otherwise.. I'm slow but I'll eventually upload the locked stock ROMs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both are unlocked now, thank you!
I am still having trouble getting lineage OS to go though. Here's the steps I follow:
1) Fashboot flash twrp from here. https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ha8j5crsdmbmx/ZTE_Axon_10_pro_stuff
2) Fastboot flash vbmeta from here. https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ha8j5crsdmbmx/ZTE_Axon_10_pro_stuff
3) Boot to twrp.
4) Twrp flash lineage 16 OS. Tried both from here. http://samson.nwwn.net/~unjust/Axon 10 Pro/LineageOS/
5) Twrp flash lineage 16 OS root addon arm64 from here. https://download.lineageos.org/extras
6) Wipe data and cache.
This results in the previous state in which only edl, no fastboot is available. So I flash my all backup using the edl tools and I am back to the beginning. I must be missing a step???
EDIT: I also tried restoring aop and uefisecapp files via edl after above steps as suggested in your readme. Same with vbmeta. Again, edl only, no fastboot.

groundslug said:
Both are unlocked now, thank you!
I am still having trouble getting lineage OS to go though. Here's the steps I follow:
1) Fashboot flash twrp from here. https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ha8j5crsdmbmx/ZTE_Axon_10_pro_stuff
2) Fastboot flash vbmeta from here. https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ha8j5crsdmbmx/ZTE_Axon_10_pro_stuff
3) Boot to twrp.
4) Twrp flash lineage 16 OS. Tried both from here. http://samson.nwwn.net/~unjust/Axon 10 Pro/LineageOS/
5) Twrp flash lineage 16 OS root addon arm64 from here. https://download.lineageos.org/extras
6) Wipe data and cache.
This results in the previous state in which only edl, no fastboot is available. So I flash my all backup using the edl tools and I am back to the beginning. I must be missing a step???
EDIT: I also tried restoring aop and uefisecapp files via edl after above steps as suggested in your readme. Same with vbmeta. Again, edl only, no fastboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just replying real quick since I have a min and I saw a few things you can try... 1. make sure you're installing twrp itself with the zip after you boot into it with fastboot, 2. use the two flags when you write vbmeta just in case (I forget them but one is dm verify and the other is no verity, should be in the original LOS16 thread) and 3. try the fix bootable partition tool from my tools after you install. the LOS16 image has a similar problem as all other images that it has a specific slot it works on (B I think) so if you end up installing and trying to boot it from the other slot it locks into a fast bootloop. Don't bother installing the addons until LOS is booting, so just do a reboot to system after you flash it, fix bootable. If it doesn't boot then it has to be something I'm not thinking of. Goodluck!

It's been a while, but I wanted to follow up.
I did finally get lineage working. The two things that I was missing:
1) Fastboot to flash boot partition with los-twrp-magisked-boot.img
There is another file named twrp-magisked-los-boot.img that did NOT work for.
A third file named Magisk20.3-twrp.img would appear to be yet a third option for flashing boot. I did not try it because I had a working boot.
All three files can be found at link already given: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ha8j5crsdmbmx/ZTE_Axon_10_pro_stuff
2) Fastboot to flash system partition with system.img
I used python and a python module called payload dumper (use google to find tutorial) to extract the .img files from the lineage 16 zip file.
This gave me 5 files.
boot.img - Did not use. See #1
dtbo.img - Flashing it led to a brick, if I remember right. Do not use.
system.img - Yes!
vendor.img - I flashed it too, but I do not think it is necessary.
vbmeta.img - Did not use. Use vbmeta disabled as noted above.
I use the lineage 16 dated 20191029 that used to be available at the following link. It appears to be dead as of today. Maybe will return.
http://samson.nwwn.net/~unjust/Axon%2010%20Pro/
Other versions of lineage will probably work with this method, but I can not say for sure.
In summary, use fashboot to flash los-twrp-magisked-boot.img and system.img. Obtain boot from link above. Obtain system from python module payload dumper from lineage 16 zip file. See other threads on this forum for details regarding unlocking bootloader with EDL tools and how to make vbmeta disabled. Hope this helps someone avoid the headaches I had!

groundslug said:
It's been a while, but I wanted to follow up.
I did finally get lineage working. The two things that I was missing:
1) Fastboot to flash boot partition with los-twrp-magisked-boot.img
There is another file named twrp-magisked-los-boot.img that did NOT work for.
A third file named Magisk20.3-twrp.img would appear to be yet a third option for flashing boot. I did not try it because I had a working boot.
All three files can be found at link already given: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ha8j5crsdmbmx/ZTE_Axon_10_pro_stuff
2) Fastboot to flash system partition with system.img
I used python and a python module called payload dumper (use google to find tutorial) to extract the .img files from the lineage 16 zip file.
This gave me 5 files.
boot.img - Did not use. See #1
dtbo.img - Flashing it led to a brick, if I remember right. Do not use.
system.img - Yes!
vendor.img - I flashed it too, but I do not think it is necessary.
vbmeta.img - Did not use. Use vbmeta disabled as noted above.
I use the lineage 16 dated 20191029 that used to be available at the following link. It appears to be dead as of today. Maybe will return.
http://samson.nwwn.net/~unjust/Axon%2010%20Pro/
Other versions of lineage will probably work with this method, but I can not say for sure.
In summary, use fashboot to flash los-twrp-magisked-boot.img and system.img. Obtain boot from link above. Obtain system from python module payload dumper from lineage 16 zip file. See other threads on this forum for details regarding unlocking bootloader with EDL tools and how to make vbmeta disabled. Hope this helps someone avoid the headaches I had!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot! I'm stuck in the same spot, I have the solutions but I can't connect fully with sahara or qpst? Is this why you went with the payload dumper? Sorry I'm unfamiliar but I'm up to use it.

Rise55Chrom said:
Thanks a lot! I'm stuck in the same spot, I have the solutions but I can't connect fully with sahara or qpst? Is this why you went with the payload dumper? Sorry I'm unfamiliar but I'm up to use it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By sahara, you mean the EDL protocol, yes? (I am not familar with qpst.) Are you using the EDL tools published by unjustified and bobthenormal on this forum? I had problems with the sahara protocol too when adding the firehose. I initially fixed it by opening the back case and disconnecting and reconnecting the battery connector. That's a big headache, especially if you don't already have the back case open. (I had it open because I had previously replaced the screen.) I found that to be unnecessary. If you press all three buttons to enter EDL mode, just press them again and again until the sahara works and the firehose goes in.
Regarding payload dumper, I used it simply because nothing else gave me a bootable phone. I did use the EDL tools to unlock the bootloader and to set the active slot (only bobthenormal's EDL tools will set the active slot).
Here's the payload dumper tutorial that worked for me.
Extract Android OTA Payload.bin File using Payload Dumper Tool
Learn how to dump and extract Android OTA Payload.bin file to get the boot.img (for rooting with Magisk), vendor.img, and other other partition images.
www.thecustomdroid.com
Don't forget to flash los-twrp-magisked-boot.img and vbmeta disabled as noted above. Also, if you use this method, let me know if it was necessary for you to flash vendor.img. Above all, do a complete backup via the EDL tools before making any other changes!

groundslug said:
By sahara, you mean the EDL protocol, yes? (I am not familar with qpst.) Are you using the EDL tools published by unjustified and bobthenormal on this forum? I had problems with the sahara protocol too when adding the firehose. I initially fixed it by opening the back case and disconnecting and reconnecting the battery connector. That's a big headache, especially if you don't already have the back case open. (I had it open because I had previously replaced the screen.) I found that to be unnecessary. If you press all three buttons to enter EDL mode, just press them again and again until the sahara works and the firehose goes in.
Regarding payload dumper, I used it simply because nothing else gave me a bootable phone. I did use the EDL tools to unlock the bootloader and to set the active slot (only bobthenormal's EDL tools will set the active slot).
Here's the payload dumper tutorial that worked for me.
Extract Android OTA Payload.bin File using Payload Dumper Tool
Learn how to dump and extract Android OTA Payload.bin file to get the boot.img (for rooting with Magisk), vendor.img, and other other partition images.
www.thecustomdroid.com
Don't forget to flash los-twrp-magisked-boot.img and vbmeta disabled as noted above. Also, if you use this method, let me know if it was necessary for you to flash vendor.img. Above all, do a complete backup via the EDL tools before making any other changes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Phenomenal! Best advice, I have received... Thank you so very much. You hit it right on the head. I'll be sure to fill ya in asap when I have the time to get after it. Appreciate you.

bobthenormal said:
EDL tool
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, where can I find this program? EDL tool

Coming from an OP3T need help regarding the new partitions

I own a 3T currently and am planning to get an 8T as it is getting good custom rom traction. One thing I am really confused about the is the new partitioning scheme. Can someone please link me an article where I can read more about it? Also what's with the specific twrp's and installer zips for each rom and how does one flash magisk, xposed and other things?
What I am used to doing on my 3t is, wipe data, system, cache and then flash rom zip + gapps + magisk. I would really appreciate it if anyone can explain the additional steps that would be required to do this on the 8T

It's a very different world with the 8T (I also come from a 3T).
The 8T has A/B partitions as well as virtual A/B partitions. It also supports streaming OTA and seamless OTA updates. It has fastboot and fastbootd.
There's lots of good information on all of this in:
Virtual A/B Overview | Android Open Source Project
source.android.com
A/B (Seamless) System Updates | Android Open Source Project
source.android.com
platform/system/update_engine - Git at Google
Moving Fastboot to Userspace | Android Open Source Project
source.android.com
And more on this at the same site.
And, if you get into serious trouble, the unbricking tool is really easy to use and works wonderfully.

pratyush28 said:
I own a 3T currently and am planning to get an 8T as it is getting good custom rom traction. One thing I am really confused about the is the new partitioning scheme. Can someone please link me an article where I can read more about it? Also what's with the specific twrp's and installer zips for each rom and how does one flash magisk, xposed and other things?
What I am used to doing on my 3t is, wipe data, system, cache and then flash rom zip + gapps + magisk. I wouls really appreciate it if anyone can explain the additional steps that would be required to do this on the same thing on an 8T.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to try to give you a brief, yet precise enough guide to doing the basics on a device with partitions like the 8T.
Okay, so basically, the 8T custom ROMs, when flashed, are going to consist of the following partitions:
boot
dtbo
system
system_ext
product
recovery
vendor
odm
vbmeta
vbmeta_system
So when performing fastboot/adb commands with these newer devices, you're going to start off in the normal bootloader (i use the volume +/- and power at the same time command to enter this from a powered off state).
Now there's also a mode called fastbootd mode. It's often just called fastboot, especially when booting from bootloader (fastboot reboot fastboot now takes you to this fastbootd mode). This is where you're going to do the majority of flashing/modding from.
So to start off, enter bootloader, then perform this command in terminal to do a wipe of data:
fastboot -w
Then, flash recovery partition:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img (this is the recovery.img from the ROM zip you are attempting to flash)
Then, reboot to fastbootd:
fastboot reboot fastboot
Next, I like to make sure I'm on partition A for flashing. This is just something I've been told to do and it works so I stick with it. So do this by:
fastboot set_active a
Now you can start flashing the paritions:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash dtbo dtbo.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash system_ext system_ext.img
fastboot flash product product.img
fastboot flash vendor vendor.img
fastboot flash odm odm.img
fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
fastboot flash vbmeta_system vbmeta_system.img
Then, boot up the ROM:
fastboot reboot
So that's the basic rundown.
Now for a few things to keep in mind:
Always make sure you're on the latest version of OxygenOS before doing any of this. I like to start off by unlocking bootloader, then setting up phone. Then I do an update to both partitions to the latest version of OOS (must be on both partitions. Not just on one). So I just put the latest OOS zip on my phone via USB transfer from PC, do an upgrade with that file (Settings > System > Update > Top right menu button > Select Internal Storage or whatever it says like that, then select the file (make sure the OOS zip file is in the MAIN root directory of your phone. So basically, the folder that contains the Pictures, Downloads, Music, etc. folders.
So after you do this system update, it will prompt you to reboot phone. Do this. Then, go to settings and do the same thing again. Select the OOS zip and do an internal storage update, let it do its thing, it'll ask to reboot, go ahead and do so. Now this second update you do will either start from 0% and go to 100% like the first time, or it will go from 0% directly to 99%, then 100% after a few seconds. This is okay, it just means you already had the latest OOS on one of your partitions. So anyway, go ahead and do that reboot when it tells you. Now you are unlocked and on the latest firmware and ready to flash.
Oh, and btw, to unlock bootloader, do the normal steps through developer options, then reboot to bootloader and this is the command used:
fastboot flashing unlock
That will let you confirm to unlock bootloader, etc. like I'm sure you've done on the 3T.
So anyway, after unlocking and updating to latest OOS (Open Beta or Stable usually both work fine btw), you can reboot to bootloader, then do the steps I told you above for wiping, flashing recovery, flashing partitions, booting, etc.
Oh, and to get these partition images from the custom ROM zip you choose to flash, you need to first unzip the ROM zip file, then take the payload.bin file that will result of the unzip, and use a payload_dumper script. Those are linked all over or can be found on a google search or Github. It'll take your payload.bin and turn it into these .IMG files that I list in the flashing steps. Each partition will have a file named PARTITIONNAME.img. These are all you need to flash a custom ROM over OOS.
To flash an update to a rom, do all the same stuff but don't do the
fastboot -w
and you also don't need to do the
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
part because the recovery partition is already there from the ROM when you originally flashed.
I realize this is all a bunch of random notes and guides, and my brain kind of works in a weird way, but it's pretty much all there I think. If you need help clarifying any of this or just have any questions in general, PM me or respond back here and tag me. I'll help as much as I can or point you to someone who can help if I can't.
Hope this helps. Take care.

dpryor88 said:
I'm going to try to give you a brief, yet precise enough guide to doing the basics on a device with partitions like the 8T.
Okay, so basically, the 8T custom ROMs, when flashed, are going to consist of the following partitions:
boot
dtbo
system
system_ext
product
recovery
vendor
odm
vbmeta
vbmeta_system
So when performing fastboot/adb commands with these newer devices, you're going to start off in the normal bootloader (i use the volume +/- and power at the same time command to enter this from a powered off state).
Now there's also a mode called fastbootd mode. It's often just called fastboot, especially when booting from bootloader (fastboot reboot fastboot now takes you to this fastbootd mode). This is where you're going to do the majority of flashing/modding from.
So to start off, enter bootloader, then perform this command in terminal to do a wipe of data:
fastboot -w
Then, flash recovery partition:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img (this is the recovery.img from the ROM zip you are attempting to flash)
Then, reboot to fastbootd:
fastboot reboot fastboot
Next, I like to make sure I'm on partition A for flashing. This is just something I've been told to do and it works so I stick with it. So do this by:
fastboot set_active a
Now you can start flashing the paritions:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash dtbo dtbo.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash system_ext system_ext.img
fastboot flash product product.img
fastboot flash vendor vendor.img
fastboot flash odm odm.img
fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
fastboot flash vbmeta_system vbmeta_system.img
Then, boot up the ROM:
fastboot reboot
So that's the basic rundown.
Now for a few things to keep in mind:
Always make sure you're on the latest version of OxygenOS before doing any of this. I like to start off by unlocking bootloader, then setting up phone. Then I do an update to both partitions to the latest version of OOS (must be on both partitions. Not just on one). So I just put the latest OOS zip on my phone via USB transfer from PC, do an upgrade with that file (Settings > System > Update > Top right menu button > Select Internal Storage or whatever it says like that, then select the file (make sure the OOS zip file is in the MAIN root directory of your phone. So basically, the folder that contains the Pictures, Downloads, Music, etc. folders.
So after you do this system update, it will prompt you to reboot phone. Do this. Then, go to settings and do the same thing again. Select the OOS zip and do an internal storage update, let it do its thing, it'll ask to reboot, go ahead and do so. Now this second update you do will either start from 0% and go to 100% like the first time, or it will go from 0% directly to 99%, then 100% after a few seconds. This is okay, it just means you already had the latest OOS on one of your partitions. So anyway, go ahead and do that reboot when it tells you. Now you are unlocked and on the latest firmware and ready to flash.
Oh, and btw, to unlock bootloader, do the normal steps through developer options, then reboot to bootloader and this is the command used:
fastboot flashing unlock
That will let you confirm to unlock bootloader, etc. like I'm sure you've done on the 3T.
So anyway, after unlocking and updating to latest OOS (Open Beta or Stable usually both work fine btw), you can reboot to bootloader, then do the steps I told you above for wiping, flashing recovery, flashing partitions, booting, etc.
Oh, and to get these partition images from the custom ROM zip you choose to flash, you need to first unzip the ROM zip file, then take the payload.bin file that will result of the unzip, and use a payload_dumper script. Those are linked all over or can be found on a google search or Github. It'll take your payload.bin and turn it into these .IMG files that I list in the flashing steps. Each partition will have a file named PARTITIONNAME.img. These are all you need to flash a custom ROM over OOS.
To flash an update to a rom, do all the same stuff but don't do the
fastboot -w
and you also don't need to do the
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
part because the recovery partition is already there from the ROM when you originally flashed.
I realize this is all a bunch of random notes and guides, and my brain kind of works in a weird way, but it's pretty much all there I think. If you need help clarifying any of this or just have any questions in general, PM me or respond back here and tag me. I'll help as much as I can or point you to someone who can help if I can't.
Hope this helps. Take care.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cannot thank you enough for taking out so much time and explaining everything in detail. I really appreciate it and this will be very very helpful for me.
Unfortunately, I purchased the 8T from OnePlus' official website and they sent me a refurbished piece with a cracked back panel and scratched screen. I was stupid to opt for OnePlus' site just because there was a small discount, now to get a replacement I have to go through a painful process of contacting their incompetent support and an eternal wait until they decide to revert. I'm glad that I recorded the unboxing video, so at least they cannot blame this on me.

pratyush28 said:
I cannot thank you enough for taking out so much time and explaining everything in detail. I really appreciate it and this will be very very helpful for me.
Unfortunately, I purchased the 8T from OnePlus' official website and they sent me a refurbished piece with a cracked back panel and scratched screen. I was stupid to opt for OnePlus' site just because there was a small discount, now to get a replacement I have to go through a painful process of contacting their incompetent support and an eternal wait until they decide to revert. I'm glad that I recorded the unboxing video, so at least they cannot blame this on me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah man! I'm so sorry to hear that! Their support is horrible I must admit. Not as bad as Google Fi's support haha (that's another story), but it's bad yeah.
I got mine from the OP website also (North America model as I live in California) but I got it shortly after the phone was released. I can't believe they're selling refurbished, broken devices now. That's horrible. The company has been going a bit downhill with some aspects I've realized in the past few years.
Anyway, I really hope you get that sorted out (sooner than later hopefully). It's a nice device. Software support/updates are a little iffy with OP these days, but no one's perfect. But once you start flashing some custom goodness on the phone, it really shines. Nothing wrong with Oxygen in my opinion, but choice is nice
Let me know if/when you get the device if you need any help with anything.

dpryor88 said:
Ah man! I'm so sorry to hear that! Their support is horrible I must admit. Not as bad as Google Fi's support haha (that's another story), but it's bad yeah.
I got mine from the OP website also (North America model as I live in California) but I got it shortly after the phone was released. I can't believe they're selling refurbished, broken devices now. That's horrible. The company has been going a bit downhill with some aspects I've realized in the past few years.
Anyway, I really hope you get that sorted out (sooner than later hopefully). It's a nice device. Software support/updates are a little iffy with OP these days, but no one's perfect. But once you start flashing some custom goodness on the phone, it really shines. Nothing wrong with Oxygen in my opinion, but choice is nice
Let me know if/when you get the device if you need any help with anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks mate, I won't hesitate to ask if I need help once I get the new device

@dpryor88 Finally after a 21 day battle with the OnePlus support, today I received my replacement device.
It happens to have LPDDR5 ram. I checked this xda article where they mentioned that the unbrick tool fails on this variant.
https://www.xda-developers.com/oneplus-8t-oneplus-9r-shipping-faster-ram/amp/
Which variant do you have? Also, did you try using the unbrick tool?

pratyush28 said:
@dpryor88 Finally after a 21 day battle with the OnePlus support, today I received my replacement device.
It happens to have LPDDR5 ram. I checked this xda article where they mentioned that the unbrick tool fails on this variant.
https://www.xda-developers.com/oneplus-8t-oneplus-9r-shipping-faster-ram/amp/
Which variant do you have? Also, did you try using the unbrick tool?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the other model. Unbrick tool works fine on mine.

pratyush28 said:
@dpryor88 Finally after a 21 day battle with the OnePlus support, today I received my replacement device.
It happens to have LPDDR5 ram. I checked this xda article where they mentioned that the unbrick tool fails on this variant.
https://www.xda-developers.com/oneplus-8t-oneplus-9r-shipping-faster-ram/amp/
Which variant do you have? Also, did you try using the unbrick tool?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My 8T has ddr_type of 1 and I've had no problems using the unbrick tool (and I've used it a lot as I've been testing/learning lots of stuff with TWRP) on my KB2000.

BillGoss said:
My 8T has ddr_type of 1 and I've had no problems using the unbrick tool (and I've used it a lot as I've been testing/learning lots of stuff with TWRP) on my KB2000.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's some good news, mine is KB2001 I wonder if that will make a difference. Also, have you tried flashing custom roms? If yes, was there any firmware incompatibility?

pratyush28 said:
That's some good news, mine is KB2001 I wonder if that will make a difference. Also, have you tried flashing custom roms? If yes, was there any firmware incompatibility?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I installed a couple of custom ROMs and they were fine.
The only place I know that matters is the xbl and xbl_config partitions. The full OOS ROMs have an extra -lp5 set of files that get flashed on lp5 phones instead of the "normal" xbl files.
But since this only applies to firmware and the xbl partitions are never touched by custom ROMs, there cannot, therefore, be incompatibilities due to lp4 vs lp5.

How to install a GSI? (I have a problem).

Hello.
I find myself with the need to install a GSI in my Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018) (A750G), since with the stock firmware, for some strange reason the power button does not unlock the screen.
The thing is, I was previously using Phhussom's GSI AOSP (https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations) with TWRP recovery (https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/recovery-root- twrp-3-2-3-1-galaxy-a7-2018-a750.3876798 /) and after re-flashing the stock firmware, now I find that the TWRP I was using does not work, which led me to use this recovery https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/recovery-unofficial-pbrp-3-1-0-for-galaxy-a7-2018.4280553 and try again to install the Phhussom GSI AOSP.
However I did not succeed. And after following many guides that had incomplete files (dead links) or methods that do not work, I find myself with the problem of not being able to install GSIs.
Does anyone know any method that works? I am puzzled.

Never flash GSI with Custom Recovery. GSIs are meant to be flashed by fastboot mode with command-line commands.

LinhBT said:
Never flash GSI with Custom Recovery. GSIs are meant to be flashed by fastboot mode with command-line commands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung does not have fastboot.

uphragbvfccved said:
Samsung does not have fastboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It just under different name, and have weird way to boot into it. At the end of the day, no android devices can work without bootloader is it my friend?

just flash a older version of the firmware i.e a november 2020 firmware

LinhBT said:
It just under different name, and have weird way to boot into it. At the end of the day, no android devices can work without bootloader is it my friend?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I have concerned, the bootloader mode (ADB reboot bootloader) redirects to download mode, which only supports .tar images.
Also, a bootloader can exist without fastboot. Activating every piece of hardware, load the drivers, load the kernel, and give control to the Android OS, which as far as I know is what the bootloader does, does not necessarily need a user accessible fastboot mode.
There is still a way to flash GSI in theory, by renaming the gsi system.img, putting it into a zip, and rename the zip into xxx.tar, and Odin flash it. No guarantees though.

LinhBT said:
weird way
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you going to show us how to short circuit testpoints and make fastboot commands magically work on a Samsung phone?

LR7875 said:
Are you going to show us how to short circuit testpoints and make fastboot commands magically work on a Samsung phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Testpoint is diff from each device, and I think you can easily find it for your device on google.
2. Yes, a bootloader, in fact, exist in almost every devices, only be called with different names ( like BIOS on the computer ). About it's functions, yes, you listed some of those. But one thing you may mis-understanding : Fastboot. Fastboot or fastbootD or Download mode, are just names. And they are, in fact, is the bootloader command-line environment. Besides, flashing a GSI on Samsung device is not that complicated, I think you guys may look on other places than just XDA to find solutions sometimes.

Ok to me it is not too easy to search a method to use command line mode on Samsungs.
As far as I know fastboot commands does not work in Odin download mode.
For those interested in custom recoverys, some custom recoverys succeed in flashing GSIs on a galaxy J7 pro (android 7, unofficial project treble port)with h-vendor BUT at the end of the day it might not work on newer devices like the A7, because of vertified boot( AVB 2.0) that is putted into android since Oreo! And AVB 2.0 is the real thing that you need to disable via a command line interface.

LinhBT said:
Never flash GSI with Custom Recovery. GSIs are meant to be flashed by fastboot mode with command-line commands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you point to a good guide/tutorial on howto do this?

blazzer12 said:
Can you point to a good guide/tutorial on howto do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I mentioned, I always use command-line to flash GSI. The order and commands may a little different from devices, but basically should be as below :
- adb reboot bootloader ( to boot into bootloader enviroment )
- fastboot devices ( to check and verify the connetion between computer and devices, can be skipped )
- fastboot reboot fastboot ( to boot into fastboot/fastbootD/Download mode - names may different from devices. Also, in some device, as for Scamsung, can be different - also depends on devices )
- fastboot --disable-verification flash vbmeta vbmeta.img ( to flash blank/patched vbmeta.img into vbmeta partition, some devices don't need this step )
- fastboot erase system ( erase system partition )
- fastboot flash system system.img ( flash system.img into system partition )
- fastboot -w ( do a factory reset )
- fastboot reboot bootloader ( boot back to bootloader enviroment )
- fastboot erase userdata ( erase userdata partition to prevent configs, same as you do the wipe data in OF or other custom recoveries )
- fastboot reboot ( yeah, it is )
As I mentioned before, this's only the basic structure of commands to flash a GSI ( apply for dynamic partition devices also ). Depends on which device u have, may need to slightly change the commands or order. Means, this method is not applied for ALL DEVICES.
Last but not least, always have backups and do find other solutions may have to figure out which is right for you, do things at your own risks.

Samsung does not support fastboot so I used heimdall still resulted in bootloop. Are you sure system parition needs to be erased?
Can you tailor this to "Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)" a bit?

LR7875 said:
AVB 2.0 is the real thing that you need to disable via a command line interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How to do it for A7?

blazzer12 said:
How to do it for A7?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only devices launched after 2018 have this.

Custom Rom For POCO C40

Hi everyone, new custom rom for POCO C40?? I cant find any available

gsi roms are working. android 13 roms have some issues with the camera tho. 11 and 12 roms are fine according to my initial testing.
lineage android 12 https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/gsi-12-lineageos-19-x-gsi-a64b-64b.4358041/
crdroid android 11 https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/unofficial-crdroid-r-mod-crdrom11.4269719/
you can check these...

zenfone selfie said:
gsi roms are working. android 13 roms have some issues with the camera tho. 11 and 12 roms are fine according to my initial testing.
lineage android 12 https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/gsi-12-lineageos-19-x-gsi-a64b-64b.4358041/
crdroid android 11 https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/unofficial-crdroid-r-mod-crdrom11.4269719/
you can check these...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much!!!

and here's a pixel experience 12.1 https://sourceforge.net/projects/meowice-gsi/files/Pixel Experience 12/
i'm still testing. 11 roms feels a bit faster but that might be placebo lol ill test today and tomorrow and choose between the two. either pixel experience plus 12.1 or crdroid11
you can find the full list here https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/wiki/Generic-System-Image-(GSI)-list
there are some minor issues. like not having adaptive brightness... and screen recorder app crashes the system. but the general experience is pretty good so far.

zenfone selfie said:
and here's a pixel experience 12.1 https://sourceforge.net/projects/meowice-gsi/files/Pixel Experience 12/
i'm still testing. 11 roms feels a bit faster but that might be placebo lol ill test today and tomorrow and choose between the two. either pixel experience plus 12.1 or crdroid11
you can find the full list here https://github.com/phhusson/treble_experimentations/wiki/Generic-System-Image-(GSI)-list
there are some minor issues. like not having adaptive brightness... and screen recorder app crashes the system. but the general experience is pretty good so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to change my stock rom of my POCO c40, which one do you recommend?
currently the stock rom has a lot of Bloatware API calls

Phantom_KNA said:
Thank you so much!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you tried any?

mahshadows said:
I want to change my stock rom of my POCO c40, which one do you recommend?
currently the stock rom has a lot of Bloatware API calls
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
android 13 roms have a problem with the camera. makes it look green
android 12 roms can't use the screen recorder
didn't test 11 roms extensively. but screen recorder was working on it.
since screen recording is not important for the user of this device, i installed pixel experience plus 12.1
this is the most recent android 11 gsi release if you wanna try it: https://sourceforge.net/projects/meowice-gsi/files/LineageOS/
and here's the android 12.1 lineageos https://sourceforge.net/projects/andyyan-gsi/files/lineage-19.x/
i feel like pixel experience is better but you can try and compare it yourself.
i only noticed 3 issues on pe-plus so far
screen recorder as i mentioned.
status bar notification icons are bigger.
touching the fingerprint sensor while the screen is on registers random clicks on the screen. tho fp sensor works fine to unlock the phone.
and in the phh treble settings app you have to be careful, don't mess around with random settings... enabling "use alternative camera profile" option will cause a boot problem. it'll stuck on the boot animation screen and requires data wipe.

zenfone selfie said:
android 13 roms have a problem with the camera. makes it look green
android 12 roms can't use the screen recorder
didn't test 11 roms extensively. but screen recorder was working on it.
since screen recording is not important for the user of this device, i installed pixel experience plus 12.1
this is the most recent android 11 gsi release if you wanna try it: https://sourceforge.net/projects/meowice-gsi/files/LineageOS/
and here's the android 12.1 lineageos https://sourceforge.net/projects/andyyan-gsi/files/lineage-19.x/
i feel like pixel experience is better but you can try and compare it yourself.
i only noticed 3 issues on pe-plus so far
screen recorder as i mentioned.
status bar notification icons are bigger.
touching the fingerprint sensor while the screen is on registers random clicks on the screen. tho fp sensor works fine to unlock the phone.
and in the phh treble settings app you have to be careful, don't mess around with random settings... enabling "use alternative camera profile" option will cause a boot problem. it'll stuck on the boot animation screen and requires data wipe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks,
Is this the pixel experience plus 12.1 rom? https://sourceforge.net/projects/andyyan-gsi/files/lineage-19.x/
or do you have any other link?

mahshadows said:
thanks,
Is this the pixel experience plus 12.1 rom? https://sourceforge.net/projects/andyyan-gsi/files/lineage-19.x/
or do you have any other link?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
meowice-gsi - Browse /Pixel Experience 12 at SourceForge.net
This repo includes newly built low-maintained GSI ROM...but with the latest security patches and sources.
sourceforge.net
PixelExperience_Plus_treble_arm64_bvN-12.1-20230217-1612-meowice-gsi

zenfone selfie said:
meowice-gsi - Browse /Pixel Experience 12 at SourceForge.net
This repo includes newly built low-maintained GSI ROM...but with the latest security patches and sources.
sourceforge.net
PixelExperience_Plus_treble_arm64_bvN-12.1-20230217-1612-meowice-gsi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
excelent, thanks!!

mahshadows said:
excelent, thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you unlocked the bootloader and know how to install gsi roms, right?
it's my mother's phone and she's not tech savvy, so if she had any other problems she would've told me. using as a daily driver with no issues.
her apps were being killed in the background, couldn't do any multitasking on miui. that problem is now fixed with pe plus.

zenfone selfie said:
you unlocked the bootloader and know how to install gsi roms, right?
it's my mother's phone and she's not tech savvy, so if she had any other problems she would've told me. using as a daily driver with no issues.
her apps were being killed in the background, couldn't do any multitasking on miui. that problem is now fixed with pe plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I already have the bootloader unlocked, I just need to know how to install the GSI ROMS, can you please explain it to me?

mahshadows said:
I already have the bootloader unlocked, I just need to know how to install the GSI ROMS, can you please explain it to me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if the bootloader is unlocked, first i'd recommend updating to the latest official firmware.
download it from here https://xiaomifirmwareupdater.com/miui/frost/stable/V13.0.20.0.RGFMIXM/
you need the fastboot rom, 5.7gb one. extract the files to a folder, boot to fastboot mode and run flash_all.bat
boot it once and check if the rom is updated properly. your version should be V13.0.20.0.RGFMIXM now.
download platform tools https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools and extract it to a folder.
extract the pixel experience rom, place it in the platform tools folder. extension should be .img
copy the vbmeta.img and vbmeta_system.img files from the official rom and place em in the platform tools folder.
open the cmd in the platform tools folder, boot your phone into fastboot mode again.
run these commands:
Code:
fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta_a vbmeta.img
fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta_b vbmeta.img
fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta_system_a vbmeta_system.img
fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta_system_b vbmeta_system.img
fastboot reboot fastboot
now you should be in the "fastbootd" mode.
fastboot erase system
fastboot delete-logical-partition product_a
fastboot delete-logical-partition product_b
fastboot flash system PixelExperience_Plus_treble_arm64_bvN-12.1-20230217-1612-meowice-gsi.img
fastboot reboot recovery
then perform a factory reset from the recovery.
you can always go back to the miui by flashing the stock rom with flash_all.bat again.

@mahshadows did you install it?

zenfone selfie said:
@mahshadows did you install it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm away from home without access to my laptop with the tools, as soon as I do, I'll confirm the result, thank you very much!

zenfone selfie said:
if the bootloader is unlocked, first i'd recommend updating to the latest official firmware.
download it from here https://xiaomifirmwareupdater.com/miui/frost/stable/V13.0.20.0.RGFMIXM/
you need the fastboot rom, 5.7gb one. extract the files to a folder, boot to fastboot mode and run flash_all.bat
boot it once and check if the rom is updated properly. your version should be V13.0.20.0.RGFMIXM now.
download platform tools https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools and extract it to a folder.
extract the pixel experience rom, place it in the platform tools folder. extension should be .img
copy the vbmeta.img and vbmeta_system.img files from the official rom and place em in the platform tools folder.
open the cmd in the platform tools folder, boot your phone into fastboot mode again.
run these commands:
Code:
fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta_a vbmeta.img
fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta_b vbmeta.img
fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta_system_a vbmeta_system.img
fastboot --disable-verity --disable-verification flash vbmeta_system_b vbmeta_system.img
fastboot reboot fastboot
now you should be in the "fastbootd" mode.
fastboot erase system
fastboot delete-logical-partition product_a
fastboot delete-logical-partition product_b
fastboot flash system PixelExperience_Plus_treble_arm64_bvN-12.1-20230217-1612-meowice-gsi.img
fastboot reboot recovery
then perform a factory reset from the recovery.
you can always go back to the miui by flashing the stock rom with flash_all.bat again.
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I am trying to install it, however, when entering fastboot it does not detect it, did you have a similar problem?

mahshadows said:
I am trying to install it, however, when entering fastboot it does not detect it, did you have a similar problem?
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probably you should manually point the driver from device manager, but how did you unlock the bootloader if you didn't fix that issue in the first place? bootloader unlocking requires fastboot as well... i'm not on my windows environment rn so can't help but its a simple thing. if u need, i can try guiding you when i'm back to windows but it might take some time.

zenfone selfie said:
probably you should manually point the driver from device manager, but how did you unlock the bootloader if you didn't fix that issue in the first place? bootloader unlocking requires fastboot as well... i'm not on my windows environment rn so can't help but its a simple thing. if u need, i can try guiding you when i'm back to windows but it might take some time.
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I did the unlocking from another PC, I had to manually load the drivers, and I'm already loading the new software.

zenfone selfie said:
@mahshadows did you install it?
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I am already installed and it works very well so far, thank you very much for the support!

mahshadows said:
I am already installed and it works very well so far, thank you very much for the support!
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now in phh treble settings:
you can enable dt2w in xiaomi settings tab
and fix bluetooth audio by enabling "Force-disable A2DP offload" in misc settings.
i didn't touch other settings, as i said before, some of those settings can cause a problem and would require a factory reset from the recovery again. these 2 are safe.
also if you root the phone please tell me how it goes... i didn't try that yet but might need root to customize some stuff then unroot it back. since its my mother's phone i don't wanna give a rooted phone to her. she might accidentally grant root access to unknown apps and she's using banking apps.