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Redmi Note 3 Pro Bootloader Unlock -Unofficial or Official method?

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Redmi Note 3 Pro Bootloader Unlock -Unofficial or Official method?

I just got this phone, and while it's great I'd like to get CM 13 installed. If you have the Redmi, you know that it's a bit of a pain to get the boot loader unlocked.
There are two ways, official and unofficial.

The official way, you're waiting about 1 to 2 weeks after applying to get the boot loader unlocked. I have applied, but obviously I am eager to get CM 13 installed.

Now there is an unofficial way to get the boot loader unlocked, but the chances of inadvertently bricking your phone are significantly increased by loading a modified boot loader.

Just wondering if anybody has used the unofficial method to unlock this phone, and do you think that maybe I'm being paranoid by wanting to wait for the official unlock process?

I have a few other questions for those who might know, a user called Umang or something like that posted a modified CM13 which fixes a lot of the bugs with the Redmi, however I guess he stepped on a few toes when he did so and his posts have been deleted, but I was able to snag a copy. Just wondering if anybody has tried his ROM at all?

I know that a few RFD users have went ahead and flashed to CM13, just wondering about your thoughts on the boot loader unlocking methods

Thanks in advance
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Burlington
Thought I'd give you my input regarding the Redmi Note 3 Snapdragon. I got a response after only a few days when I applied to Xiaomi to unlock my bootloader and since I applied right after placing my order on Aliexpress, didn't really have to wait at all. I think I got approved with a text message after only 3 or 4 days.

Second, unlocking it took me hours but that was because I couldn't figure out a few details early on. Basically, I had to use a VPN to change my IP address to somewhere in the USA before their servers would process my unlock request. Once I figured that out it only took seconds.

Then it was rather quick and easy installing the official CM13 onto the phone and that's what I'm still using now, the nightly build. The only issue/bug I noticed was after putting it on the charger overnight and waking up, the display was all wonky with it dimming, then flashing, then weird colors, etc and a reboot was needed. Now I'm on the 17AUG2016 nightly build as of yesterday and when I woke up this morning, there were none of those issues. Haven't noticed anything else.

What issues/bugs have you heard about with the official CM13?
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Hi, thank you so much for your response!

I think he fixed an issue with flashing lights during charging and a few other things. From what I understand now, he's doing a kernel called radon.

I can't find the specific post which mentions what bugs are fixed.

Out of curiosity do updates get pushed every night to the phone?





http://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-n ... m-t3416732

The file is here, but be advised I have not tried it

https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=24591000424953497
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Since I don't have any issues with official CM13, I see no need to change ROMs at this time or look into anything else personally. One thing to note though about the blinking lights during charging... I think that's actually a warning of a charging issue. I notice that only happens when I try and use a quick charger (either 2.0 or 3.0). When I see the blinking lights, I get reminded and then use a regular 5V/2.0A charger and the blinking lights stops and it charges quickly without issues. So it may actually turn out to be a protection warning of some sort baked in.
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How do you apply for bootloader unlocking of a Xiaomi phone?

Also, I read that you have to register on their forums and get to a certain post threshold to have a hope of being approved? Which is why their boards are unreadable, as countless people continuously make worthless one-liners to get codes to unlock their bootloader.
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soljah12 wrote: Thought I'd give you my input regarding the Redmi Note 3 Snapdragon. I got a response after only a few days when I applied to Xiaomi to unlock my bootloader and since I applied right after placing my order on Aliexpress, didn't really have to wait at all. I think I got approved with a text message after only 3 or 4 days.

Second, unlocking it took me hours but that was because I couldn't figure out a few details early on. Basically, I had to use a VPN to change my IP address to somewhere in the USA before their servers would process my unlock request. Once I figured that out it only took seconds.

Then it was rather quick and easy installing the official CM13 onto the phone and that's what I'm still using now, the nightly build. The only issue/bug I noticed was after putting it on the charger overnight and waking up, the display was all wonky with it dimming, then flashing, then weird colors, etc and a reboot was needed. Now I'm on the 17AUG2016 nightly build as of yesterday and when I woke up this morning, there were none of those issues. Haven't noticed anything else.

What issues/bugs have you heard about with the official CM13?
Would you mind walking us through the steps? I assume the code given is a use once thing given the need to connect to a server. Having to connect with a US IP is kind of onerous.
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You go to the MIUI forums and create an account. Then apply to unlock bootloader. Then unlock and do what you'd like.

First, go here for all the info you need on unlocking the bootloader. Then create your account. Then, click here to apply to unlock your bootloader. I got a response via text message within about four days, which to me was pretty quick. I applied right after ordering it online before getting my phone and I didn't even have one post on my MIUI account.

Like I've previously said, having the unlocking program accept my Canadian IP address didn't work at all. I could only get it to work with a VPN and a USA IP address but I had to try a few before one would work.
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will888 wrote: Would you mind walking us through the steps? I assume the code given is a use once thing given the need to connect to a server. Having to connect with a US IP is kind of onerous.
The code means nothing as the approval is attached to your MIUI account. When you sign in to the unlocking program, you use your MIUI account and then it checks your account to ensure you have the unlocking privilege. Then it was only a few seconds for the actual unlocking of the bootloader.

What steps are you looking for? I hadn't seen your post before my previous post but in that post I provided the link I used when trying to find out how to unlock the bootloader. I just followed that post and was able to unlock after I realized the program needed a different IP address. Also, make sure you're on latest global developer build of MIUI 8 before you try to unlock your bootloader.
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soljah12 wrote:
will888 wrote: Would you mind walking us through the steps? I assume the code given is a use once thing given the need to connect to a server. Having to connect with a US IP is kind of onerous.
The code means nothing as the approval is attached to your MIUI account. When you sign in to the unlocking program, you use your MIUI account and then it checks your account to ensure you have the unlocking privilege. Then it was only a few seconds for the actual unlocking of the bootloader.

What steps are you looking for? I hadn't seen your post before my previous post but in that post I provided the link I used when trying to find out how to unlock the bootloader. I just followed that post and was able to unlock after I realized the program needed a different IP address. Also, make sure you're on latest global developer build of MIUI 8 before you try to unlock your bootloader.
Well I have never been through this kind of unlock process. The most convoluted process was HTC where I needed to download a file from their site. I am kind of confused with the discussion about getting a text message, having to use VPN. I am thinking of getting one of these phones to try. Unlocking the bootloader is a must. Anyway, I am still confused by this approval process. So, I need to sign up for an account and ask for permission. I need to do this with a VPN? What am I using to unlock? Is it a special program that I download when I am given permission to unlock the bootloader? How is the permission applied during unlock? Is it a code that is entered?
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will888 wrote: Well I have never been through this kind of unlock process. The most convoluted process was HTC where I needed to download a file from their site. I am kind of confused with the discussion about getting a text message, having to use VPN. I am thinking of getting one of these phones to try. Unlocking the bootloader is a must. Anyway, I am still confused by this approval process. So, I need to sign up for an account and ask for permission. I need to do this with a VPN? What am I using to unlock? Is it a special program that I download when I am given permission to unlock the bootloader? How is the permission applied during unlock? Is it a code that is entered?
No worries. I'll try and be a clear as possible.

1. Go to the MIUI forum and create an account. I'm not sure it's necessary but after creating my MIUI account, I edited my profile information to select which Xiaomi device I had (Redmi Note 3). No VPN needed for this step.

2. Then I went to the Xiaomi bootloader unlocking page I posted previously above. I simply followed the instructions of applying to unlock my bootloader. I entered my cell number and my reason as to why. I just stated something like, "I want to unlock my bootloader so that I may install and try different ROMs on my Redmi Note 3 Pro Prime." No VPN needed for this step.

3. You will get a text message letting you know that your bootloader unlock has been approved. Mine said this, "You've been granted the permission to unlock your device (Mi Account **********). Download Mi Unlock Tool at http://en.miui.com/unlock/." No VPN required as this will be received via text message on your cell phone with the number you specified when you requested the unlock.

4. Download the unlock tool as per the text message approving your request for unlock instructed you to. Install after downloading. No VPN required for this step.

5. Download the latest Global MIUI 8 Developer ROM for your Redmi Note 3 Snapdragon. If you don't know where to find it, click here and then download the Developer ROM. No VPN needed for this step.

6. Flash the latest Global MIUI 8 ROM onto your Redmi Note 3 Snapdragon. If you require assistance for this step, click here for detailed instructions on how to flash a ROM on your Redmi Note 3 with a locked bootloader. This is what I used as reference when I did it.

7. After you have the latest Global Developer ROM flashed onto your Redmi Note 3, then follow these three steps:
Step 1. Run the Mi Unlock program and sign in with your Mi Account (when you sign into the Mi Unlock program, it would verify your MIUI account have been approved to unlock the bootloader);
Step 2. Shut down your phone manually, and hold Volume down key and Power button to enter Fastboot mode;
Step 3. Connect your phone to PC using USB cable and click "Unlock".
*NOTE* - This is where I had to use a VPN and had to try several locations before the Mi Unlock program would even let me sign into my account. If it doesn't like your IP address, then you'll get a "network error" message when trying to sign into the Mi Unlock program with your MIUI account. This took me a couple hours to figure out as I would try, thought it was really a network error and then wait a bit, then try again just repeated this until about 4 tries and a couple hours later figured it must be an IP address thing.

That's it. The actual unlocking of the bootloader is definitely quick (seconds).

Let me know if you have any additional questions and I can try and help out.
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soljah12 wrote:
will888 wrote: Well I have never been through this kind of unlock process. The most convoluted process was HTC where I needed to download a file from their site. I am kind of confused with the discussion about getting a text message, having to use VPN. I am thinking of getting one of these phones to try. Unlocking the bootloader is a must. Anyway, I am still confused by this approval process. So, I need to sign up for an account and ask for permission. I need to do this with a VPN? What am I using to unlock? Is it a special program that I download when I am given permission to unlock the bootloader? How is the permission applied during unlock? Is it a code that is entered?
No worries. I'll try and be a clear as possible.

1. Go to the MIUI forum and create an account. I'm not sure it's necessary but after creating my MIUI account, I edited my profile information to select which Xiaomi device I had (Redmi Note 3). No VPN needed for this step.

2. Then I went to the Xiaomi bootloader unlocking page I posted previously above. I simply followed the instructions of applying to unlock my bootloader. I entered my cell number and my reason as to why. I just stated something like, "I want to unlock my bootloader so that I may install and try different ROMs on my Redmi Note 3 Pro Prime." No VPN needed for this step.

3. You will get a text message letting you know that your bootloader unlock has been approved. Mine said this, "You've been granted the permission to unlock your device (Mi Account **********). Download Mi Unlock Tool at http://en.miui.com/unlock/." No VPN required as this will be received via text message on your cell phone with the number you specified when you requested the unlock.

4. Download the unlock tool as per the text message approving your request for unlock instructed you to. Install after downloading. No VPN required for this step.

5. Download the latest Global MIUI 8 Developer ROM for your Redmi Note 3 Snapdragon. If you don't know where to find it, click here and then download the Developer ROM. No VPN needed for this step.

6. Flash the latest Global MIUI 8 ROM onto your Redmi Note 3 Snapdragon. If you require assistance for this step, click here for detailed instructions on how to flash a ROM on your Redmi Note 3 with a locked bootloader. This is what I used as reference when I did it.

7. After you have the latest Global Developer ROM flashed onto your Redmi Note 3, then follow these three steps:
Step 1. Run the Mi Unlock program and sign in with your Mi Account (when you sign into the Mi Unlock program, it would verify your MIUI account have been approved to unlock the bootloader);
Step 2. Shut down your phone manually, and hold Volume down key and Power button to enter Fastboot mode;
Step 3. Connect your phone to PC using USB cable and click "Unlock".
*NOTE* - This is where I had to use a VPN and had to try several locations before the Mi Unlock program would even let me sign into my account. If it doesn't like your IP address, then you'll get a "network error" message when trying to sign into the Mi Unlock program with your MIUI account. This took me a couple hours to figure out as I would try, thought it was really a network error and then wait a bit, then try again just repeated this until about 4 tries and a couple hours later figured it must be an IP address thing.

That's it. The actual unlocking of the bootloader is definitely quick (seconds).

Let me know if you have any additional questions and I can try and help out.
Thank you. I give you credit for figuring out how to solve the problem with IP address. Why should they care where you are geolocated?
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I actually thought they might have blocked IP addresses from anywhere in the world where they don't officially sell their phones. lol So I first tried New Delhi, India on my VPN and logging in worked right away, however, it appeared to be quite slow. Then when I did a speed test using the New Delhi IP address, it was only about 1-3Mbps. Since I wasn't quite sure how the unlocking would be done (whether the initial check is done through your MIUI account and then the program runs directly from your computer vs the initial check and the unlocking is done through the program communicating with the Xiaomi servers), I figured I would play it safe with a much faster connection and eventually found a US IP address that worked no problem.

I'm not sure why it matters where your IP address is located. I haven't found a lot of input from other Canadians on the internet about their experience unlocking the bootloader and therefore don't know if this was just a weird isolated incident or if their servers were actually having issues that caused it to not work properly. All I know is my own personal experience.

I will say that I absolutely love this phone though! I love it so much, I bought another one in white and silver and this time just used the free shipping option so I'm currently waiting for it to be delivered but expect it to take another few weeks. The one I have now is the gold version and I don't like the colour at all. I don't feel it's gold at all but to be honest, I bought it because I wasn't sure if I'd like the phone and when I bought it was much cheaper than the other colours (approx. 15USD cheaper). This phone to me would be the perfect phone for my use if it just had a better camera. The front camera is fine as I don't really use it for selfies, I just use it for video calling but the back camera leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. I will say that if you have the time when taking photos to fidget around with the settings, you can get some decent shots, but that takes too much time and the point and shoot capabilities are just non-existent in my opinion.

Me personally, I know they're working on a new Mi Max phone as per their forum as they've asked for input on what users would like improved most on a new version. The vast majority have voted for a greatly improved camera and if they listen, that would be an amazing phone assuming they keep the specs in line with the original (Snapdragon 650 or 652 depending on model, something like 4,850mAh battery, 6.44" screen, etc). If they come out with a new version, has at least the same frequency bands as the Redmi Note 3 Snapdragon, has an improved camera, and similar price to the current version, I will absolutely be buying that as my new backup phone and it could actually end up becoming my primary phone which as of right now is the gray Axon 7.
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Just wanted to add to Soljah's excellent notes. (thank you sir!)

**use a valid sim in the phone with a phone number when signing up for the mi account. If even just for setting up the account, applying for unlock and then unlocking the phone.


1. Have a sim in the phone and also make sure find my device is turned on and log into mi cloud from your computer as per this video
otherwise it will hang at 50%


phew finally unlocked!!!!


*just wanted to note that I waited 3 days for approval to unlock, so much better than doing bootloader hacks.

Also had no issues with my rogers ip address.
Last edited by Kuurgen on Aug 20th, 2016 11:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Congrats! I don't know about you but it felt really good finally getting the bootloader unlocked knowing all the options and good stuff that is now an option for the phone.
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soljah12 wrote: Congrats! I don't know about you but it felt really good finally getting the bootloader unlocked knowing all the options and good stuff that is now an option for the phone.
It was a huge sigh of relief when the unlock went through lol. Flashing cm13 was a cakewalk in comparison. Just about to boot up into cm13 for the first time :)
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Kuurgen wrote: It was a huge sigh of relief when the unlock went through lol. Flashing cm13 was a cakewalk in comparison. Just about to boot up into cm13 for the first time :)
So what CM13 ROM did you go with or did you just use the official? How are you liking CM13 on the RMN3?
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soljah12 wrote: So what CM13 ROM did you go with or did you just use the official? How are you liking CM13 on the RMN3?
I went with the official. TBH I'm very impressed with the phone, but ultimately this unlocking and stuff came about from my wife who is the true recipient of the phone. This all came about because I upgraded her from a Moto X to this as a birthday present.
She didn't like the factory software and was giving me a hard time about the location drop down not having Canada. So I of course had to go through the arduous unlocking process and get her on Cyanogen.

So long story short *I* like it, and I'm pretty sure my wife likes it, her one complaint was she missed the waving her hand over the proximity sensor to wake the screen. So then I spent an hour identifying and trying to get this function installed. (Installed Xposed framework etc)

Turns out there is an app for that called Wakeup Touch Nexus which does that.

Having said all that, this phone is a beast. I have an LG G3 and use Google for voice commands. On my Lg G3 it's a bit laggy. On the Redmi Note 3 Pro Prime, it's butter smooth.

I had to hurry to get the phone here so my cost was about $259.00 CAD give or take (thats all costs in, including the dhl brokerage and duty)

I could see myself buying one for me, but ordering by slow boat to save a few bucks.

The cases I got coming off ebay, because i felt goldway's price was a bit too high, but over all I'm impressed. I tried finding cases at Pmall, but no luck.

The question I'm curious about, is do you think I could use the same unlock approval on another phone?

One note for those ordering from Hong Kong Goldway....they are FAST if you use DHL. I think 4-5 days?


One last observation, on the factory rom sim slot 1 seemed fine. After I installed the Cm13 just didn't want to connect to Telus. Moved it to SIM slot 2 and it worked, so not sure if it was impatience or an issue with the rom.
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In the last 4-6 weeks, I've used the LG G4, Huawei Honor 5X, Moto X Pure Edition, Moto X Play, ZTE Axon 7, and this Redmi Note 3 SD. Aside from the ZTE being just on another level, I have found that I like the Redmi Note 3 SD better than all the other phones. I actually was debating cancelling my pre-order for the gray Axon 7 but ultimately wanted a better camera experience and kept it. Like you, I find the RMN3 SD is such a smooth and fluid device without stutters, lag, or other usual problems. I also seems to get great reception with it and the battery life is by far the best I've ever experienced with any smartphone and is actually quite amazing!

As stated before, I ordered another Redmi Note 3 SD (32GB/3GB) for $167 USD but this time used the free shipping option to save some money since I have no rush to get it here. The one I'm using now I ordered using DHL as well the same as you and in fact ordered it from Hong Kong Goldway as well. I did order some cheap TPU cases and tempered glass screen protectors from Aliexpress that got here in about 9-10 days and they were only a few bucks each. I just needed something to protect from scratches for now as I really tend to baby my phones and don't drop them (knock on wood now).

From what I've read, the request for unlocking apparently will only work for one phone attached to your account and will only work for something like a month. Since I don't have my second one yet, I'm unable to verify but once I get it I'll be able to verify.

As for your sim card slot issue, I haven't experienced that myself. I used my Bell and Fido sims together with MIUI and CM13 without any issues on either. I actually used each sim in both slots with MIUI and CM13 as well without any issues or errors too. Right now, using just my Fido sim with the RMN3 SD and a micro sd card and it's rock solid.
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soljah12 wrote: 6. Flash the latest Global MIUI 8 ROM onto your Redmi Note 3 Snapdragon. If you require assistance for this step, click here for detailed instructions on how to flash a ROM on your Redmi Note 3 with a locked bootloader. This is what I used as reference when I did it.
7. After you have the latest Global Developer ROM flashed onto your Redmi Note 3, then follow these three steps:
Step 1. Run the Mi Unlock program and sign in with your Mi Account (when you sign into the Mi Unlock program, it would verify your MIUI account have been approved to unlock the bootloader);
Step 2. Shut down your phone manually, and hold Volume down key and Power button to enter Fastboot mode;
Step 3. Connect your phone to PC using USB cable and click "Unlock".
*NOTE* - This is where I had to use a VPN and had to try several locations before the Mi Unlock program would even let me sign into my account. If it doesn't like your IP address, then you'll get a "network error" message when trying to sign into the Mi Unlock program with your MIUI account. This took me a couple hours to figure out as I would try, thought it was really a network error and then wait a bit, then try again just repeated this until about 4 tries and a couple hours later figured it must be an IP address thing.
Sorry for bumping an old thread. Just kinda wanna share my experience of attempting to get bootloader unlocked.

Step 6. if your phone has official rom installed, you can actually flash it to the developer ROM by placing it in internal or external storage, then go to Settings > My Device > MIUI version, then tap the 3 dots on the top right corner and pick "Choose update package" to choose the zip file from your storage. This might be a bit easier for most people than going through the Qualcomm 9008 method.

Step 7. I actually just attempted to get my Mi phone unlocked except the I got the "Couldn't unlock. After 72 hours of trying to unlock the device." I wonder if I would have been able to avoid this error if I have associated my Mi account to my phone beforehand. Most of the guides I read online didn't really mention about turning on Developer Options and get your Mi account associated with the phone under MiUnlock Status under Developer options, probably a given for experienced users but not for newbies.

I also got my unlock permission granted almost instantly, then the 72-hr error.. heh... I'll try again 72 hours later and report back.
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Finally unlocked bootloader + flashed to official Global Stable Rom... except... it was displaying HSPA+/4G on China Stable ROM, now only 3G on Global ROM. Now debating if I should try to root then modify NV values to see if it improves.

After reading up a bit on MIUI forum + XDA regarding unlocking bootloader, basically even if you have been granted unlock permission, you will still have to wait 72 hours from when you first bind your Mi account to your Mi device. Some people on MIUI said you could bypass that limit if your device is older + using an older unlock software.

http://en.miui.com/thread-652939-1-1.html <- This is roughly what I've gone through to unlock the bootloader.
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