Bootloader blocked, a nightmare in Xiaomi

Several months ago the Xiaomi company began to block the bootloader of its devices. Currently several of its models come in that state, including the Xiaomi MI 5. A blocked bootloader can have certain advantages for the user, but in case of problems with the mobile (which are possibly more “realistic” than the benefits), it becomes at the worst obstacle to deal with. Before buying a Xiaomi, this is an important detail to know, especially considering how common or typical software failures are in smartphones.

What is the bootloader

The bootloader or boot loader is software maestro which is basically in charge of controlling the device’s power-up and modifying the operating system. In a very basic way, a blocked bootloader does not allow that it can be installed or flash third-party software on the mobile, such as installing unofficial patches or an operating system that is not the original from the manufacturer, to prevent the device from being damaged or user data from being compromised. In that state you can NOT get root or install a custom recovery, for example.

The problem of a stuck bootloader

The drawback is that in Xiaomi devices, the fact that the bootloader is blocked is a gigantic limitation if the cell phone at some point does not want to turn on normally due to improper manipulation of the software or some unintended error on the part of the user. If the mobile gets stuck in the logo restarting in an infinite cycle, practically all the solutions to this failure are useless.

When the bootloader is blocked and the equipment does not want to turn on due to an error in the Android system, the user will not be able to restore it from boot mode Recovery (Recovery) and also not from a computer, two procedures that are applicable on other devices and allow them to be easily recovered in those ways (1, 2). The recovery mode is inaccessible on these Xiaomi computers with a blocked bootloader and control from the PC using text commands is rejected.

It is assumed that even if the bootloader is blocked, you can still reinstall the original Android system on these phones, which would fix the aforementioned problems. In fact, Xiaomi has a web page where you can download the firmware or ROM for several of its models, but unfortunately it is not of much use because this firmware cannot be installed or “flashed” with the MiFlash or MI PC Suite programs, which is the software used for this procedure. The reason is that, in the case of MI Phone, the blocked bootloader rejects the reinstallation of the ROM (although it is official) and in the case of MI PC Suite, it has bugs: it requires updating the equipment previously (although the equipment is already up-to-date) or requests that you first start the computer in normal mode (which is absurd if the computer does not boot normally).

The locked bootloader of the Xiaomi MI 5 does not allow installing or flashing a stock ROM with the MiFlash program

The solution

The solution when the Xiaomi device with locked bootloader cannot boot normally is probably to unlock the bootloader first (assuming this is possible on a damaged device or brickeado), and then proceed to restore it from Recovery mode or from a PC. For this, the user must ask the Xiaomi developers to help him unlock the equipment, explaining the reasons why he wants to do this. And once the application is done (indicating a couple of data and a phone number to receive a verification code), approval to unlock the bootloader can be given up to several weeks from now. This is more complicated than what happens with Motorola, for example.

This situation of the phone being seriously damaged at the software level can occur when deleting something improper on the computer or deactivating an application (as in my case, having disabled the Xiaomi App Store). It is better to be very careful if you touch the wrong thing on the computer if the bootloader is blocked. Before you want to experiment, it is best to have it unlocked so that you can restore your computer in case things do not go as expected.

Unlock Xiaomi bootloader: en.miui.com/unlock