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[laurel_sprout] Xiaomi Mi A3 bricked

  • /e/OS version: e-2.7-u-20250123-UNOFFICIAL-laurel_sprout
  • Device model(s): Xiaomi Mi A3 (M1906F9SH)
  • Impacted Application: ~
  • Affected application/URL:
  • Browser/client and version:

This an issue we are creating after talking with @rhunault by email (sorry for the delay).

The problem

After flashing an unofficial ROM from the forum (https://community.e.foundation/t/unofficial-builds-xiaomi-mi-a3-laurel-sprout-for-e-os-u/65622) we end up with a bricked Xiaomi Mi A3: no response to any button, no screen display or led when charging to sector, no detection when plugged to a PC

Steps to reproduce

I will give as much as possible details about the process with flashing this phone, sorry if it's too long.

Preparation

Someone registered for our flash-party in Lyon with a Xiaomi Mi A3. First we exchanged by mail, and explained that Xiaomi have this locking where you need to register a Mi Account and wait for 30 days, so we tell him to do that with some steps. He didn't find the Mi settings, and after some messages we agreed to do the unlocking during the flash-party and reschedule a flashing if we have to wait the 30 days.

Flashing the recovery

It turns out this smartphone is too old (2019) so we doesn't have to do the procedure, "OEM unlock" is already available in the developers settings. The person had already done the unlocking by himself when he came. So next steps were : reboot to fastboot, unlock and unlock_critical, then flash TWRP and then flash the ROM.
First difficulty was with TWRP (twrp-3.7.0_9-laurel_sprout, it's an official version) : flashing had no effect (fastboot flash recovery twrp.img) and trying to boot directly either (fastboot boot twrp.img), we searched online for a while, and finaly found people saying SHRP works better. So I downloaded it (https://xdaforums.com/t/recovery-official-laurel_sprout-skyhawk-recovery-project-v2-3-1-08-06.4069883/), there was 3 versions, the OS was still the stock one based on Android 10 so I choose the first "SHRP_v2.3.1_laurel_sprout-STOCK_PATCHED.img". We flashed it and it worked, we were able to be in the recovery.

Flashing /e/OS

We format "data" and "cache", we sideloaded /e/OS zip file (e-2.7-u-20250123-UNOFFICIAL-laurel_sprout.zip). The installation was successful so we rebooted. /e/OS launched and we go through the welcome screens. We noticed WiFi can't be started, but we continued, arrived at Bliss launcher and used a little the OS. I searched on the internet why the WiFi is not working and I found people saying we just need to reboot. So we did that, and after a normal shutdown it never started back : this is where the bricking happened.

Possible solutions

The person entrusted us with his phone, so @mossroy have it. We hoped that the phone was stuck in a loop, and that it will consume its battery if we let it unplugged for a moment. It did discharge itself and now when pressing power button a white led was blinking. But he didn't get anything else, and when recharged this behavior stopped. He buys an EDL cable to try to see if there is any response from the phone, but with no success. And now the last resort seems to remove the back of the phone to try to reset it by unplugging the battery.

If you have any idea why this happened or what we can try to unbrick it, please tell us. Or if you have any questions.

Technical details

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Edited by Poisson Libre