Install a Chinese ROM, create a recovery custom, test the most advanced beta features … the bootloader allows all this. But let’s start at the beginning: in every smartphone there is a tool in charge of starting the system. On your Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO that tool is called a bootloader. This bootloader decides when to run the system, when to reboot, or to opt for mode recovery if you detect something strange.
But beyond this basic and imperceptible management, since it is carried out automatically, one of the most attractive functions of the bootloader resides in a function that provides: be able to install different ROMs (global, beta phase, local, etc.). We tell you how to do it.
Unlock the bootloader, step by step
The first step is to check if we have the bootloader unlocked. To do this, the first thing we will have to do is activate the “options for developers”.
The steps to follow are:
- Enter ‘Settings’ and tap on the first option’Over the phone‘.
- Now tap on the option ‘MIUI version‘. This will have to be done up to five or times in a row.
- Finally the message “developer options are already enabled“, which means that you can now access the new secret menu for devs.
Once this menu is unlocked, you will be able to access the My Unlock option, which is nothing more than access to the bootloader. The steps to follow are those:
- Enter once more in the section of ‘Settings‘from your mobile.
- Now go down to the section ‘Additional settings‘.
- Within this new window, thing about the option ‘My Unlock Status‘.
At this moment and if you have never used it before, My Unlock will throw a message where it informs of the permissions it needs, such as access your account and your ID, in addition to collecting other terminal data such as IMEI or IMSI.
Unlocking the bootloader can damage your device. It is not dangerous but if you decide to do it, inform yourself well and make sure you know the risks
Once inside, it is important to keep two notes in mind: to unlock the device we will have to disable WiFi and verify that we own the terminal and the account we are using. This is as simple as verifying it from our email account and removing the WiFi simply by unchecking it within the Control center. We will see a window like this:
These are simple security measures but even so when we perform an unlocking the mobile becomes less secure -as Xiaomi itself indicates-, since it is exposed to violations in case of theft, that is why when reinstalling a new ROM all information is erased during the process.
Once this process is validated, you can unlock the bootloader and install any other more advanced international ROM than the one you had in your terminal.
This is a process that you can also do from a PC using the official Mi Unlock app and its My Flash Unlock Tool, which only requires downloading and installing. First we will have to log in from the MI account with the same data as our user registration, connect the terminal via USB and, once it has been recognized, click on ‘Unlock’.
Before performing any reset, we recommend creating a backup in the cloud or on a local device.
Of course, the application will ask you what is the reason to carry out this process. You can indicate that it is because your device is stuck in the startup logo, that it restarts cyclically and does not exit this process or for any other reason.
The system will detect the main data of the terminal, although we will have to enter others such as the phone number, country, accept the disclaimer and wait up to 70 hours for the final unlock, an additional security measure. Finally, if we want to reverse the process, we can do it through ‘fastboot’, which blocks the Bootloader again.