How to Unbrick Xiaomi Mi A2 via Fastboot Commands

Sadique Hassan•Updated Apr 7, 2021

In this comprehensive tutorial, we will show you the steps to unbrick your Xiaomi Mi A2 device via Fastboot Commands. The Chinese OEM has its heavily customizable Android skin MIUI. This comes baked in with a plethora of customizations and tweaks. However, not everyone seems to be in agreement with such a high degree of customizations. But with that said, they don’t want to part ways from Xiaomi as well. So what could they do in this regard?

The smartphone manufacturer was able to find the middle ground. It launched its Android One series of devices that was quite well received by the audiences. Using Android One straightaway translates to the ability to get faster and timely OS upgrades. Along the same lines, you also get a bloatware-free, clean, and fresh stock Android experience. Furthermore, this device was quite an active player in custom development as well.

While it comes with an A/B partition, but that didn’t dent the enthusiasts from trying out tons of tweaks. You only have to keep in mind the active and inactive slot while flashing files and the rest was all well and good. But what if you end up flashing the file to the incorrect partition? Or flashed the incorrect or outdated binary?

Well, in both these cases, the chances of the device going into a bootloop. soft brick or even hard brick. But even if that happens, there is still a handy way out. You could easily unbrick your Xiaomi Mi A2 device via Fastboot Commands and bring it back to life. Interested in knowing how it could be achieved? Well, then here are all the required instructions. Follow along.

Table of Contents

Xiaomi and EDL Mode: It’s Complicated!

Recently Xiaomi made a massive change that leads to disastrous consequences for the tech enthusiasts and developers alike. The only ones who would remain unaffected by this decision are the ones who maintain a safe distance from Unlocking Bootloader, Rooting, and Flashing Custom binary. Rest all the users like us who are engrossed in these tweaks are the suffering party. So what really happened?

Well, if you step into custom development, then it opens the gates to the plethora of customization options. From installing a custom recovery like TWRP to getting access to the system partition via Magisk, the possibilities stand endless. Along the same lines, you could flash custom ROMs, Magisk Modules, Substratum Themes, Xposed Frameworks, and the likes. But these tweaks are risky in nature.

If you end up flashing a wrong binary or flash the correct binary to the incorrect slot (for A/B partition devices), then you are inviting trouble. By trouble, we mean the device would end up in a bootloop, soft brick, or worse hard brick. While the first two are usually easy to deal with, it is the latter one that might be concerning for the users.

Fortunately, the devices that have Qualcomm as the underlying chipset comes with EDL Mode or the Emergency Download Mode. You only need to boot your device to EDL and flash the firmware file and your device will be back from dead. Unfortunately, Xiaomi decided to block this EDL mode for the general users.

So only the users who have an authorized Mi Service Centre ID could flash the firmware via Mi Flash Tool in EDL Mode. As for the general users, there does exist a workaround in the form of using the Mi A2 Patched Firehose File (prog_emmc_firehose.mbn) or the prog_firehose_ddr_unbrick.elf file. However, finding both these files is among the most challenging task ever.

With that said, if your Xiaomi device is stuck in bootloop or soft brick mode, there is still a handy way out. You could easily unbrick your Xiaomi device (which in this case is Mi A2) via Fastboot Commands. We wouldn’t be using any Mi Flash Tool or any other software for that matter. So how will then this task be carried out? Follow along for the detailed instructions.

How to Unbrick Mi A2 via Fastboot Commands

Now that we are done with the explanation part, let’s turn our attention towards the unbrick instructions. As I have already mentioned before, the below instructions are only valid for devices that are soft-bricked or in a boot loop. Furthermore, the process is going to wipe all the data on your device.

So keep this thing in mind before proceeding and take a backup beforehand (if possible y any means). Droidwin and its members wouldn’t be held responsible in case of a thermonuclear war, your alarm doesn’t wake you up, or if anything happens to your device and data by performing the below steps.

STEP 1: Download Android SDK

To begin with, download and install the Android SDK Platform Tools. This is the official ADB binary file provided by Google and is used to execute ADB and Fastboot Commands.

STEP 2: Download Mi A2 Fastboot ROM

Next up, download the Fastboot ROM for your device. As for this guide, I am using the Mi A2 (jasmine) Global Stable Fastboot V11.0.20.0.QDIMIXM. You are free to try any version of your choice, but it is recommended to try the newer builds only and of your region. Here is how to understand the Xiaomi Fastboot firmware version. [Don’t Miss: How to Flash Xiaomi Fastboot ROM without Mi Flash Tool].

11.0.20.0 – Firmware version
Q – Android version (Q-> Android 10).
DI – Smartphone model code (FQ = Xiaomi Mi A2).
MI – Firmware build type (MI for Global | EU for Europe | IN for India)
XM – Firmware version code

Now that you have got hold of the required firmware file, proceed ahead to the next step to unbrick Mi A2 via Fastboot Commands.

STEP 3: Move Mi A2 Fastboot ROM Files to ADB Folder

To begin with, extract the downloaded firmware file. Once the extraction is complete, you should see the following files:
So head over to the Images folder and the following files will be present there:
Select all these files via Ctrl+A shortcut keys and copy them to the platform-tools folder. This is the same folder that you have got after installing the Android SDK.
Once done, proceed to the next step to unbrick your Mi A2 device via Fastboot Commands.

STEP 4: Boot Bootloop/Soft Bricked Mi A2 to Fastboot Mode

First off, boot your device to the Fastboot Mode. For that, power it off.
If you cannot do so (due to your device being stuck in a bootloop) then the only option left is to let the entire battery drain out (remember the good old days when we could easily remove the battery!).
Once your device has turned off, press and hold the Volume Down and Power buttons for a few seconds.
This will boot your device to Fastboot Mode. You should see the famous Mi Bunny Logo with the Fastboot text underneath it.
Fastboot Mode in Xiaomi
Now head over to the platform-tools folder where you have extracted the Fastboot ROM.
Go to its address bar, type in CMD, and hit Enter. This will launch the Command Prompt window. Keep this window opened from now on until the end of this guide.

STEP 5: Flash Firmware via Fastboot Commands to Unbrick Mi A2

Finally, we are down to the most important part of this article. I have shared all the required fastboot commands to flash the stock firmware onto your Mi A2 and unbrick it. To begin with, make sure that your device is connected to the PC via USB in Fastboot Mode. Then head over to the Command Prompt window that is opened inside the platform-tools folder. Now execute the below commands in this CMD window.

command-prompt-adb

I would highly recommend that you execute these commands one at a time, rather than copy-pasting all of them at one go. Furthermore, right before we use the command to boot your device to the OS (fastboot reboot), we would be setting Partition A as the active partition (via fastboot set_active a). So when your device reboots, it will be on the A slot/partition. Just thought of sharing this information as it might come in useful to some of our readers. With that said, let’s turn our attention towards the fastboot commands to unbrick your Mi A2.

fastboot flash bluetooth_a bluetooth.img
fastboot flash bluetooth_b bluetooth.img
fastboot flash devcfg_a devcfg.img
fastboot flash devcfg_b devcfg.img
fastboot flash dsp_a dsp.img
fastboot flash dsp_b dsp.img
fastboot flash modem_a modem.img
fastboot flash modem_b modem.img
fastboot flash xbl_a xbl.img
fastboot flash xbl_b xbl.img
fastboot flash pmic_a pmic.img
fastboot flash pmic_b pmic.img
fastboot flash rpm_a rpm.img
fastboot flash rpm_b rpm.img
fastboot flash tz_a tz.img
fastboot flash tz_b tz.img
fastboot flash hyp_a hyp.img
fastboot flash hyp_b hyp.img
fastboot flash keymaster_a keymaster.img
fastboot flash keymaster_b keymaster.img
fastboot flash cmnlib64_a cmnlib64.img
fastboot flash cmnlib64_b cmnlib64.img
fastboot flash cmnlib_a cmnlib.img
fastboot flash cmnlib_b cmnlib.img
fastboot flash abl_a abl.elf
fastboot flash abl_b abl.elf
fastboot flash boot_a boot.img
fastboot flash boot_b boot.img
fastboot flash system_a system.img
fastboot flash system_b system.img
fastboot flash vendor_a vendor.img
fastboot flash vendor_b vendor.img
fastboot flash mdtp_a mdtp.img
fastboot flash mdtp_b mdtp.img
fastboot flash userdata userdata.img
fastboot flash splash splash.img
fastboot flash mdtpsecapp_a mdtpsecapp.img
fastboot flash mdtpsecapp_b mdtpsecapp.img
fastboot flash storsec storsec.mbn

fastboot erase ddr

fastboot set_active a

fastboot reboot

Once you have successfully executed all the above commands, your device will reboot to the OS. And with this, we conclude the guide on how to unbrick Mi A2 via Fastboot Commands. The best part about this tutorial is the fact that it doesn’t require any Mi A2 Patched Firehose File (prog_emmc_firehose.mbn) or the prog_firehose_ddr_unbrick.elf file.

Furthermore, we didn’t need to make use of the Mi Flash Tool. With that said, if you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments section below. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.

Tags:

Fastboot CommandsUnbrickXiaomi Mi A2

mizz
1 year ago Reply
my device wont turn on what should i do ?
Chung
3 years ago Reply
How this process works if the phone keeps returning error message ” not allowed in Lock State”
- Abraham
  1 year ago Reply
  exactly …