For some reasons you may want to completely re-install Android OS running on your Xiaomi phone either Mi series or Redmi series. While updating the ROM is simply a one-tap action through Over The Air (OTA) Update mechanism, reinstalling a full Android OS which in this case is stock MIUI ROM is not that simple. It requires series of steps which are basically not newbie-friendly. Therefore, here is a full step-by-step guide on how to properly flash MIUI Fastboot ROM on any Xiaomi phones using Mi Flash tool. We will try to simplify all the steps so you will not be too confused. Simply follow all mentioned steps accordingly and you should good to go. This guide works on Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and 10. It is also applicable to any series of Xiaomi phone from Mi
Why should I flash MIUI Fastboot ROM? Most users opt to use Fastboot ROM over its Recovery one because they want to completely reset the phone. Some others choose to use this method to fix their bricked Xiaomi phone (soft-bricked). For many cases, Xiaomi phones which are in bootloop state can also be fixed be simply flashing the MIUI ROM again.
However, if you don’t have any of those reasons or if you just want to upgrade the MIUI version to latest one then we strongly suggest you to go with OTA Update or Recovery method.
Read: How to flash MIUI Recovery ROM.
About Fastboot ROM
Xiaomi releases two build of ROM: Recovery and Fastboot. Recovery ROM is always in .zip format whereas Fastboot ROM is always in .tgz format. Both Recovery and Fastboot ROMs are available for each variant: China Stable, China Developer, Global Stable, and Global Developer ROMs.
Requirements
First, this guide is for any Xiaomi phones powered with Qualcomm chipset and will not work on those powered with MediaTek chipset. Hence, you’ll need a Qualcomm-based MIUI device.
Download all necessary software :
- Appropriate version of MIUI Fastboot ROM depending to your Xiaomi phone variant. The file should end with .tgz extension. Browse around at official MIUI download page or use search form above.
- Latest version of Mi Flash tool.
- Minimal Fastboot and ADB package installer.
- Qualcomm QDLoader USB Driver.
Prerequisites:
- Make sure your phone’s bootloader has been unlocked officially. Otherwise, you have to firstly apply for bootloader unlocking permission from official Xiaomi website.
- Enable USB Debugging on your phone. Of course you have to firstly enable Developer Options since this option is available there. Follow this sequence: Settings >> About phone >> Tap on MIUI version 7x (or more). That will activate Developer Options. Now go back >> Additional Settings >> Developer Options >> Enable USB Debugging (toggle it on). Moreover, if you see USB Debugging (Security Settings) option then you have to enable it and accept all displayed warning.
- On your computer, disable driver signature enforcement. Follow our previous guide on how to disable Windows 7, 8, 10 Driver Signature Enforcement mechanism.
- Install Mi Flash tool you’ve downloaded.
- Install Minimal Fastboot & ADB files.
- Extract the downloaded MIUI Fastboot ROM .tgz file. Winrar or 7zip may come in handy for this task.
- Prepare the USB data cable. Using the original/stock cable – the one shipped with your phone – is strongly recommended.
- Make sure your phone as at least 75% battery power remaining.
Flashing Procedure
Step 1 – Assuming you have enabled USB Debugging on your phone. Now turn off your phone completely and then reboot into fastboot mode by pressing Volume Down (-) and Power button simultaneously until the Fastboot Bunny logo appears.
Step 2 – Connect your phone with your computer using its USB cable.
Step 3 – Launch fastboot interface on your computer. Simply click the “Minimal ADB and Fastboot” shortcut icon which you can find it in Desktop.
Step 4 – Now issue following command lines (hit Enter after each line):
adb version adb devices adb reboot bootloader fastboot oem edl
alternatively, you may also want to try these (if above do not work):
adb version adb devices adb reboot edl
Your device shall now reboot into Emergency Download Mode (EDL Mode).
Step 5 – Open Windows Control Panel and launch up Device Manager. Look up at Other devices section and you’ll see something like “QHSUSB_BULK“.
Step 6 – Right-click on it and then choose “Update Driver Software“. A dialog box will then appear. Now choose “Browse my computer for driver software“.
Step 7 – Now locate the Qualcomm USB QDloader driver you have installed / extracted.
Step 8 – As usual, a notice that you will install unsigned driver will appear. Simply choose “Install this driver software anyway“.
Step 9 – Now you have just installed Qualcomm USB Driver Software.
Step 10 – You can verify whether the driver has been installed correctly or not by accessing Windows Device Manager again. You’ll see something similar to this one:
Displayed as Ports (COM & LPT) : “Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 (COM3)” or another figure for the COM port (like COM10 in example above).
Step 11 – Now you have installed Qualcomm USB Driver and your device is still in EDL mode. Next, open up Mi Flash Toll you have installed previously. Just double-click on the “XiaomiMiFlash.exe” icon in your Desktop.
Step 12 – Click “Select” button >> locate / browse for the extracted MIUI Fastboot ROM. Choose the folder name which is 1 upper level of “images” folder following by clicking the “OK” button (see screenshot pic below).
Step 13 – Now click the “Refresh” button and make sure Mi Flash Tool can detect your device.
Step 14 – Finally, click the “Flash” button to start flashing. Now just sit tight and wait for the tool to complete the MIUI flashing process.
Once done, you will see the result shown as “Success” with green highlight.
Step 15 – Finally, press and hold the Power button on your phone to turn it on. Please keep in mind that initial system booting after ROM flashing shall take place longer than usual.
Example on Mi Mix:
Congratulation!! You have successfully updated your Mi / Redmi phone into new version of MIUI.
Credits belong to Feds64. You can use the same steps above to flash or to update MIUI 7, MIUI 8, and may be any upcoming version (MIUI 9, MIUI 10 – we hope so). Do not forget to share it with your friends in facebook or twitter if you found this article useful.