Download and Install Xiaomi Mi A3 Stock Firmware to Unbrick, Unroot, and Fix Software Issues

Comments

1. Hello Dhananjay,
   My phone upgraded to Android 11, and it’s a living hell😭 it’s like owning a budget phone from 6 years ago.
   I just want to go back to android 9 or 10
   Any suggestion on how to do this?
   Thanks friend

   Reply

   1. I am afraid that won’t be possible, Layla. Please refer to my reply to Belarmino in the comments to know why.

2. Hello Dhananjay, is it safe to perform this procedure to downgrade from Android 11 to 10?

   Reply

   1. No, please don’t try that. Several users over at XDA and someone here have already bricked their Mi A3 while attempting the downgrade.

      I firmly believe this is due to Xiaomi’s own anti-rollback protection.

3. I went through all the steps and now my mi a3 is not showing anything it’s bricked, I am not even able to access fastboot 🙁

   Reply

   1. Rishabh, were you running the latest Android 11 firmware and tried to downgrade to Android 10 by flashing the fastboot ROM?

4. The touch screen of my Mi A3 stopped working after upgrading to Android 11

   I’m trying to go back to Android 10 to see if this problem ends

   I hope that the fact that I am unable to open any settings on the smartphone does not hinder the process

   Reply

5. Hello Dhananjay sir

   I am using miui 11 in my mi A3 on android 9 pie I want to

   move on miui 12 what can I do ??

   Please reply

   Reply

   1. Monu, the Xiaomi Android One devices (like the Mi A3) come with stock Android installed. It’s completely different than MIUI that’s found on the other devices by Xiaomi.

      So, did you install MIUI 11 port on your Mi A3?

      Or, are you asking if you could upgrade the phone’s software to Android 10?

6. Hi Dhananjay,
   I am trying this method to install the original system but am with mac computer and I can’t use the dat files.

   So I tried to use the “flash_all_lock.sh” file by writing in the terminal ./flash_all_lock.sh and it gives me the following message:

   laurel_sprout fastboot flash tools
   usage: grep [-abcDEFGHhIiJLlmnOoqRSsUVvwxZ] [-A num] [-B num] [-C [num]]
   [-e pattern] [-f file] [–binary-files = value] [–color = when]
   [–context [= num]] [–directories = action] [–label] [–line-buffered]
   [–null] [pattern] [file …]
   Missmatching image and device

   Maybe you have an idea of the problem? Is it possible to do this with a mac? I am a little desperate and I have the impression that with each problem a new one arrives …

   Reply

   1. Hi. Please tell me if it’s the Global or the European variant of the Mi A3 you’re using? Also, please mention the filename of the fastboot ROM you have downloaded.

7. Thank you for this post.

   Reply

8. hola dhananjay como estas tengo un problema con mi xiaomi mi a 3 le instale una rom miui 12 pero instalo con errores cuando quise regresar a android one 10 se me quedo en el logo del conejo y no me avanza que puedo hacer me urge

   Reply

   1. Hi Andres. Did you install the stock Android 10 firmware using the instructions above?

9. Flash_all.bat file syntex error in line 5. Please help me

   Reply

   1. Hi Vishal. Could you please share a complete screenshot of the error message you’re referring to?

10. Hola instalé el sistema pero queda en el bucle de inicio leí la nota de iniciar la partición en a pero no comprendo bien eso ¿podrías ayudar porfa?.

    Reply

    1. Yes, sure I would try my best to help.

       After step #12, the phone restarted automatically, yes?

11. HELLO. So I was trying to root my phone but something went wrong and I was stuck in fastboot mode. I thought going back to stock firmware might help. i followed all the instructions but i am stuck at this page. please help me with this.

    Reply

    1. Hi Himanshu, that’s normal. Just give it more time and it will move forwards. Have you tried using a USB 2.0 port on your PC? USB 3.0/3.1 and fastboot don’t play well occasionally.

    2. That’s odd. Why is it showing “???????” when you enter fastboot devices command? Is your Mi A3 in Fastboot Mode when connected to the PC?

12. Hi, Greetings..

    I just came here searching a better simpler way to flash my Mi A3 with a stock ROM.
    This post helps me a lot. Thanks for your works.
    But, i have some doubts, for which reason I’m wanting to “downgrade my Android 10″ to Pie.

    I’ve noticed a consistent battery drain after I’ve updated to 10 just recently (which i hadn’t given permission to install, but accidently updated, seeing a message stating to Install May security patch)

    But, i strongly believe the battery drains a lot faster now.
    Is there any work around..?

    It was like the battery percentage was almost frozen when i was on Pie, and made me wonder to the extent that the phone might never deplete on battery…

    But now I’m very much worried.

    I’ve read above, reflashing to Android 9 would break the sensors etc.
    I don’t want to get into that trouble also..

    Hence, kindly suggest an idea for my battery drain issue.

    Note: I ONLY USE MY PHONE FOR TAKING PHOTOS AND LISTENING TO MUSIC.
    Because i have another device and ” i had taken this solely for the CAMERA “

    Reply

    1. Hi Amal. Thank you for being in touch and for those kind words, you’re very welcome.

       Battery drain on Android 10 isn’t a known bug, which means it could be just specific to your unit. Have you tried performing a factory reset? A factory reset could fix the most unusual software problems like lags, or battery drains like in your case here.

       Before you attempt to downgrade, I think it would be wise to consider a factory reset as an option. Of course, this would erase all the data on your phone, so, make sure that you take a backup of all your important data like photos, videos, music, documents, and everything stored on the phone’s internal storage.

       Instructions for performing a factory reset on your Mi A3 could be found on this page.

       As for the issue with sensors, I recently covered an article on how to fix it. However, that issue is primarily caused only when if you have installed and used TWRP custom recovery in the past. If not, then I don’t think downgrading should pose any problems to the sensors in normal cases.

       Please do let me know how if goes.

    2. Hi Dhananjay,

       Thank you so much for your reply. As of now i have a huge data of photos and videos mostly 4k on my device and a reset need to transfer those to my PC.
       I’m a part Photographer, so i mainly depend on this device.
       And i really appreciate how it handles every shots perfectly.
       Added to that, i noticed recently the stock camera has been updated with more PRO features like, focus peaking etc.. and there’s an ev control with others.
       Overall I’m satisfied with the camera performance with this update.
       My only concern being the battery drain.

       Let me see in future, if the case worsens, I’d consider a master reset and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try downgrading to Android 9.

       Thanks for your time and help 😊👍

    3. You’re welcome Amal. I hope it resolves on its own. Please keep me posted if you try any of those things. Good luck!

13. Thank you! All the others tutorials were confusing and yours clarified every doubt I had. The crucial thing for me was when you said that we had to extract the ROM, and then extract again, before copying it to the platform-tools. I was stuck on it, because no one explained step by step as you did. So again, thanks for helping the beginners, and for taking your time answering the comments!

    Cheers.

    Reply

    1. Hi Rodrigo. It makes me so happy reading your comment! I believe the small details always matter because people are often new to some things.

       I am glad you had it working! Thanks for such kind words.

14. Hello, I installed the stock firmware, before that I was on android 10 and the wifi failed me, so when installing your firmware the system works well, but the proximity, infrared and rotation sensors do not work, it does not rotate my screen, which I can do?

    Reply

    1. Hi Pipe, so your phone was running Android 10 and then you installed the Android Pie firmware to downgrade it, am I correct?

    2. Yes it was in android 10, when updating it already recognizes the sensors, but in android 10 I have an error with the wifi, it only happens with my phone Mi A3, it is not an error of the router of my house.
       So that’s why I decided to install android 9 pie with your guide, but the sensors fail me.

    3. Hi again. I’d suggest installing Android 10 again from fresh, using the fastboot ROM. After you flash it, see if the WiFi works, as well as sensors.

       In case even after updating to A10, they do not work, then boot your phone into the stock recovery and perform a factory data reset.

    4. Hello, for the moment I am in android 9 stock, the sensors work in android 10, but my problem with android 10 is a wifi error when it is disconnected from the network I must restart the phone so that they re-identify the network, until the patch of the month of may this problem keeps happening to me when updating android 10.

    5. Hi Pipe. I would like you try something.

       Please flash Android 10 stock fastboot ROM. Then boot up the phone and check if the WiFi works or not.

       In case it doesn’t, boot your phone into fastboot mode, connect it to the PC, and flash the below-linked dtbo.img using the following command:
       fastboot flash dtbo dtbo.img

       Link: https://github.com/derflacco/Fenix-ALS-Mi-a3/releases/download/0.9.4/dtbo.img

15. Hello, I successfully installed the stock firmware taking android 10, but I lost my proximity sensors and rotate the screen, what can I do.

    Reply

    1. Hi Felipe. Did you install Android Pie firmware or Android 10? What was the phone previously running?

16. Hello friend, when installing the stock firmware, I lost my sensors, now the screen no longer rotates horizontally, what can I do?

    Reply

    1. Hi Pipe. Did you downgrade from Android 10 to Pie? If so, then this is caused due to an error in the /persist partition of the phone. For working sensors, you will need to upgrade back to Android 10 again.

17. Thankyou so much bro, I almost bricked my phone but you saved me…. Thanks again

    Reply

    1. Hi Shubham, I am so glad it helped you! You’re most welcome.

18. Hi, how have I done the flash process, but when I finish the process and restart, it stays in a loop and it can only go into fastboot mode, if there is a solution, could you explain to me how to solve the problem,

    Reply

    1. Hi Victor. This could be because your phone is trying to boot into slot “b” which only has a dummy system image installed. Please have a look at the yellow notes box right after the instructions on how to fix this.

19. Hi Dhananjay
    This guide is different from the other where we install the latest stock firmware (3 methods), isn’t? Here I wonder, is there any need to update with the latest stock as well or not?
    Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Hi Fanis. Yes, it’s different because we are only using the official fastboot images. Unlike some unofficial fastboot ROMs, the official ones include a flashing script which makes the job a whole lot easier, as shown in the instructions.

       As far as I know, Xiaomi’s Anti-Rollback protection doesn’t apply to the phone, you can flash any fastboot ROM of your choice. But, it’s still recommended to install the latest one.

20. Can I use this same set of instructions, merely change out the boot image or recovery image, and load a custom OS instead of the stock version?

    Reply

    1. Hi Mathew. If you want to do that, please start here instead.

       Follow the instructions to install TWRP recovery on the phone. Once you have that, you can easily install a custom ROM and further root your phone.

21. Hi, I wanted to congratulate you, and ask for help, I’m trying to follow this guide to recover my MIA3, but the moment I type: flash_all_lock.bat / sh to install the firmware, the terminal says to me: term ‘ flash_all_lock.bat / sh ‘not recognized as a cmdlet name. there are 3 problems related to this that I know: wrong name (I would exclude it), wrong path (possible), missing modules (possible), now in case 2 and 3, do you have any idea how it can fix it? 🙁
    I would be very grateful to you.
    -user from Italy

    Reply

    1. Hi Robb! Could you share a screenshot of the error screen? And are you performing the restore on a Windows, macOS, or Linux PC?

    2. http://www.mediafire.com/view/xllt1ko1ela57hz/Cattura.PNG this is the link of the screenshot,
       be pacient, i need help, thank you guy

    3. Thanks for providing the screenshot. Okay, so the issue is that the command is incorrect. Since you’re using Windows, you do not need to use the PowerShell.

       Simply double-click the “flash_all_except_data_storage.bat” file that’s included in the extracted firmware.

       Perhaps, this isn’t your fault, but an error on my part for not being able to make the instructions much clearer and easy to understand. I will make sure to amend this and revise the instructions as soon as possible.

    4. thanks you very much man, but now i have othet problem, http://www.mediafire.com/view/ftw77rnu7jyam8y/firmware.PNG , this is the result of “flash_all_except_data_storage.bat”. I think that is for bootlader blocked, but this is a problem, because, my mia3 is blocked in fastboot, and i don’t remember if AOM is active ore not, i have trying to use miflashunlock, but result is: couldn’t unlock (I THINK THAN IS FOR THE AOM DISACTIVE) how i can fix man? SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH AND THANK YOU SO MUCH, YOU CAN SAVE ME :))

    5. THANK YOU SO MUCH, BUT NOW I HAVE NEW PROBLEMS, THE RESULT OF flash_all_except_data_storage.bat / sh is THIS: http://www.mediafire.com/view/ftw77rnu7jyam8y/firmware.PNG, I THINK IT’S DUE TO THE BOOTLOADER LOCKED, BUT PROBLEM, BECAUSE MY MIA3 IS LOCKED IN FASTBOOT MODE, AND I DON’T REMEMBER IF THE OEM RELEASE IS ENABLED OR LESS, I TRY TO UNLOCK THE BOOTLOADER WITH MIFLASHUNLOCK, BUT THE ERROR THAT GIVES ME IS: COLUDN’T UNLOCK, (I THINK BE FOR THE OEM DISABLED) HOW CAN I RESOLVE, YOU CAN SAVE MY LIFE FRIEND;)) THANKS IN ADVANCE

    6. Yes, that’s right. It’s because the phone’s critical partitions weren’t unlocked. You have to connect your phone to the PC while it’s in fastboot mode and then use the following two commands in PowerShell:
       .\fastboot flashing unlock
       .\fastboot flashing unlock_critical

       You can refer to this guide for the complete step-by-step instructions: https://www.thecustomdroid.com/how-to-unlock-xiaomi-mi-a3-bootloader/

       The Mi A3 doesn’t support bootloader unlocking via the Mi Unlock tool, you need to use fastboot commands as mentioned above.

    7. OKAY, THANK AND SORRY FOR DOUBLE COMMENT, LAST ANSWER, IN WICH FOULDER I MUST OPEN POWERSHELL?

    8. In the same folder where the Android SDK platform-tools (like adb.exe, fastboot.exe, etc) are present.

    9. .\flash_all.bat

22. This procedure saved my A3. Thanks from Italy 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hi! Thanks a lot for confirming! And you’re most welcome 🙂

23. Hello Dhananjay,
    I bricked my boot img trying to install magisk with an old soft version (v10.3.17) after a software update (v10.3.20) and thanks to you I was able to completly restor it to the 10.3.14.with flash_all.bat/sh and the command line for the bootloop.
    So I reinstalled the magisk manager, rerooted the phone, no problem. But when I install Magisk module they install fine but never appear after the reboot (was working before the brick). So my question is what in the stock firmware installation process can cause this problem and how to solve it ?
    Thanks !

    Reply

24. Hello,
    First, thanks for your free training. I have downgraded from Android 10 to Android 9, but those aforementioned sensors have stopped working. How can I fix that?

    Reply

    1. Hi Hamid. This is primarily caused if your had TWRP installed on your phone in the past. Please check out the fix here.

25. good day where I have to put this command fastboot set_active a ????

    since it still keeps leaving me in fastboot mode

    Reply

26. why always missmatching image and device. help please

    Reply

    1. Hi Krol. Please elaborate on your problem so that I can help. I cannot exactly figure out through your current comment.

27. I installed the latest global rom and my gyroscope, accelerometer, proximity, magnetic and optic sensors stopped working

    Reply

    1. Hi Dweep. Have you tried performing a factory reset manually after restoring the firmware?

    2. After I installed the firmware none of the sensors are working plz help

    3. I have installed the latest rom and all the sensors have stopped working( I haven’t factory reset my device manually)plz help

    4. Hi Madhur. Which one of the included flashing scripts did you use to install the stock firmware?

    5. Hi again, Madhur. It seems to be a known issue. Did you install Android 10 and had TWRP prior to installing it?

28. i downgraded from android 10 to this stock version, after some minutes, my phone said “the system has been destroyed” and no OS installed

    Reply

    1. Hi MrSOLO. Did you switch the phone to slot ‘a’ after the downgrade process finished?

29. Your last important note means that we must reinstall the stock image in the slot a, or simply execute the command above and the phone will automatically reboot into the system (OS)?

    Reply

    1. Hi Fanis. No, you do not have to flash the stock image, it has already been flashed. You just have to execute that command only if your phone fails to enter the OS after the flashing is complete.

30. I followed this guide and it worked like a charm. Thank you.
    On XDA they say som system got destroyed when using the relock command if you have a unlocked bootloader.

    By misstake i also used this command and got a “System destroyed” text on my phone, then it rebooted to bootloader again. When trying to reflash it said i couldn´t be done because of locked bootloader.

    I managed to unlock it again via ADB, but i think i was lucky. Some people couldn´t and ended up with a hard brick.

    Best regards Johan

    Reply

    1. Hi Johan. I am happy that it proved useful to you.

       That message you mentioned in your comment shows up when the phone is not completely stock, which means either of the two slots has some sort of modification.

       You tried the relock command after finishing this tutorial?

31. para mim só funcionou depois que depois que antes de qualquer procedimento executei o comendo “fastboot set_active a” antes tentei varias vezes e nenhuma deu certo

    Reply

    1. Hi Joao. So, it worked after issuing the “fastboot set_active a” command at the end? Please try and reply in English so that I can understand better.