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

Comments 36 Comments

1. I tried the above method with flash_all_lock.bat.
   The phone got stuck in a fastboot boot loop.
   I am not even able to unlock bootloader anymore.
   Please help, this is my primary phone.

   Reply

   1. Connect your Mi A3 to the computer while it’s in Fastboot Mode and issue the following command from the computer to check the current slot: fastboot set_active other

      After that, use the fastboot reboot command to boot the phone into the system. Let me know how this goes.

   2. Setting current slot to ‘a’
      FAILED (remote: ‘Slot Change is not allowed in Lock State’)
      fastboot: error: Command failed

   3. Oh, I overlooked that you mentioned about using the flash_all_lock.bat script.

      Anyhow, while the script locks the bootloader, it doesn’t disable the OEM Unlocking switch, as it still needs to be turned off manually. So you can re-unlock the bootloader using the fastboot flashing unlock command. Try that and let me know.

   4. FAILED (remote: ‘Flashing Unlock is not allowed’)
      fastboot: error: Command failed

   5. Also, there was another setting which got turned off, as per fastboot get oem details, called fastboot flashing unlock critical.

   6. C:\Users\aramu>fastboot oem device-info
      (bootloader) Verity mode: true
      (bootloader) Device unlocked: false
      (bootloader) Device critical unlocked: false
      (bootloader) Charger screen enabled: false
      OKAY [ 0.006s]
      Finished. Total time: 0.007s

   7. Okay, let’s now track back a little. Was the flash through the script successful?

   8. Yes

   9. Okay, I think what we can try is formatting the userdata partition. Can you get your Mi A3 into the stock recovery mode?

   10. Whenever I try, it just goes back to fastboot mode.
       I even tried “fastboot reboot recovery”, but same result.

   11. Okay. Try executing the fastboot -w command and see what happens.

   12. Could we please continue on Telegram.
       It is much faster than waiting for the moderators to approve my comment.

   13. I don’t use Telegram. You can connect with me through Google Chat at dhananjaygbhardwaj@gmail.com.

   14. Thank you very much for this post.
       I had try an unofficial version of a custom rom and was so sad, that my loved phone was not working as i used to know it before.
       With these downloads here and the perfect description i finally have it back on stock.
       Okay the recovery of all the apps and data takes some time now, but i am really happy.
       Best regards from austria

2. Is it safe to go from A13 EvolutionX to the August patch of stock ROM?

   Reply

   1. Yes, it’s safe. You can easily roll back to the latest stock Android 11 firmware, which in this case is the August security update.

3. Hello I believe everything was successful however I am stuck on the Android One screen and when I tried the command to switch to slot a I get a message that fastboot is not a recognized as an internal or external command

   Reply

   1. Jeremy, you need to open the command-line window inside the same directory where the fastboot.exe binary is present. I have covered a tutorial to open Fastboot/ADB command window. Please follow the instructions in the tutorial and then execute the .\fastboot set_active a command while your Mi A3 is in Fastboot mode (and not on the Android One screen).

4. 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.

5. 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!

6. .\flash_all.bat

   Reply

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.