Related
Breaking news available via my twitter feed or #vibrantFFC
FFC works in 2.1 with Bionix 1.6. No video calling available yet, but FFC does work.
10/8: There are a lot of changes coming to this thread over the next 12-24 hours. This has turned into a thread with too many functions that is cluttering each other. Due to this, and a few requests from our moderators, I feel I need to make these changes before continuing too much further.
This was originally intended to be a thread on making an FFC work, and getting the expected use out of it, both on the hardware side, as well as some needed software development. I have been asked to move the purchasing buddy system to another thread in Vibrant general as well as a couple other things. I will have these all set up tomorrow.
I would like to apologize for being a bit silent recently. I had been called to take on some projects out of town for work, and just got back into town last night. I have been trying to pack for my move since, and still have some more to do.
Beyond this, I have good news. The first shipment has been ordered with expedited shipping. Should have it in hand by the end of the week. Details for those that have sent pms will be sent out tomorrow to give you details of a private buy it now ebay auction for presales of the first shipment. Once those people have been taken care of, or the shipment arrives, the single item purchase will be open to everyone.
Unfortunately, selling on amazon does not look like it can happen at this time. Once I can get past a couple hurdles, it should be good to go.
Thanks guys. Can't wait to hear everyone talking about their FFC's on their vibrants...
10/5 pm:
Hey guys,
I have gotten a lot of feedback from people interested in the FFC mod, and the wholesaler keeps changing the minimum order like a douche (10/6: Talked to the owner today - He's pretty cool, not a douche, but MOQ will stay set at 3 from now on). So, I am setting up an account on Amazon to sell them individually. The price is going to be about 30.00 bucks (It basically covers the units + wholesaler shipping, Amazon retail account, warehouse storage, and fulfillment services - with a little left over for beer) per unit plus shipping. If you are interested and haven’t contacted me yet, please PM me so I can order enough units to cover everybody.
Also, Amazon has free shipping with a Prime Account. For people who don’t know, you can sign up for a free Prime Account if you have a valid college email address (anything that ends with .edu). The signup page is a little hard to find, so here you go.
To those who have already pm'ed me: I will be sending individual pm's as soon as this is all set up, thanks.
10/5:
Sorry all, I have had a tight schedule the last few days... I will have more info very soon regarding the Amazon stock. Thanks for your patience and showing interest!
10/3:
With the supplier upping the minimum order quantity to three already, I wouldn't put it past them to increase again. With that said, I am looking into a way to do a large purchase of i9k cameras and drop shipping with amazon. I have a couple other ideas... whichever makes the most sense and costs the less I'll roll with. Chances are that after the extra costs, the price will be in the mid $20s to $30 each. If anyone is interested PM so I can get an idea... will have to make an initial purchase with cash out of my pocket, so need to know how many we are looking at. I'll get a chance to make a couple calls tomorrow and update this with more info.
tested, working
Needed:
Replacement Camera with ffc: GlobalPartsDirect.com *** Wholesaler (Min order requirements, keeps changing, had been as high as 10) Working on individual purchases through Amazon **
Eugene's Froyo JP3(Latest as of this writing is R3)
Cameradata file: datapattern_front_420sp.zip (attached to post below)
Other things that can help:
Tools to open phone, fiberglass pen (not confirmed) or denatured alcohol, tear down video
How to do it:
1. Shutdown your Vibrant, remove battery, sim card, sd card
2. Remove each screw in the back plate
3. Using an opener tool (or something to wedge between the back and front plates), snap off the back plate.
4. Disconnect all of the "snap on" assemblies
5. Remove the Camera
6. being careful not to snap the connection to the power button (it is glued on the phone), move the main board to the side slightly so it stays safe.
7. Using your method of choice (paint remover chemical or fiber glass pen), remove the paint inside the circle molding where the FFC mounts to.
8. Install camera when area is fully dry (5 minutes or so)
9. Put phone back together
10. Flash Eugene's Froyo (R3 is latest as of writing) - remember to flash a 2.1 kernel whenever trying to nandroid restore or installing a 2.1 rom so you don't brick your phone during the downgrade
11. adb push cameradata file to /system/cameradata
12. boot up phone, download "mirror app for samsung galaxy s" from the market
13. Check your hair or something using your newly installed FFC!!
Code:
adb push [location to file]/datapattern_front_420sp.yup /system/cameradata/datapattern_front_420sp.yup
More info coming as I get a chance to add it...
UPDATE 9/30: Camera installed... With eugene's r3 froyo + the cameradata file, ffc works without any further set up. I'll update this post in the morning before I get on the road.
UPDATE 9/28: Found a camera from an i9k. Before I link it up, I would like to have some time to make sure its worth your investment. The i9000s camera snaps in as expected, and the rear camera works without a hitch. Need some dev help to get the ffc software into the build environment/kernel. In the mean time, I'll be plundering through the source.
Unfortunately, I am merely a web/db developer and can do bash scripting, but building android is not in my realm of expertise...
UPDATE 9/28: Good news is that the rear camera works as if I never switched cam assemblies. Also, as you can see in the fourth pic attached, if done right, the mod looks factory once done.
Now on to getting the front cam to work!!
Original Post:
Had to tear my Vibrant apart this last weekend, and in the process I did some research on the camera. See attached photos. The camera chip is the exact same chip used in both the Sprint Epic 4G and the international Galaxy S, as is the rear camera. The only difference is the inclusion of a front facing camera on the epic and i9000s. This got me thinking about how to mod the vibrant to have a front facing camera since they are the exact same thing.
On the hardware side, obviously you need a hole for it. BUT WAIT!! Samsung already left an opening in the body mold for the front camera to mount to! All you need to do is drill a hole through the mold. Looks to be a 7/64" bit would be needed. A 1/8" bit looks like it will take too much away.
Next step would be mounting. Well sh*t. The camera snaps onto the main board under the chip.
So the hardware side is easy (assuming I can actually find the camera), so it comes down to software. From what I can tell is that the galaxy source includes the modules for every phone... so this could be easy, correct?
i would love to pull this off, can you mount a replacement camera from the epic or i9000s?
if you need a tester, ill be glad to help.
i bet sammy is going to release an updated version of the vibrant in the feature with a front facing camera, only makes sense since they left the spot in the chassis.
i would love to give this a try, after its been done of course lol but if u get it working plz let me know lol
not sure but i think this is the camera
http://www.littlediode.com/componen...31d4d4e1&xid=761c237b005c7758f0c56efbc4c1b464
I too would love to do this, but I cannot find the damned camera. Still looking though. Put an inquiry into a US based company that has 5 "MC10170's" in stock. Let's see what they get.
Still want to know anyone's thoughts on the software side though....
Julianmgn said:
i would love to give this a try, after its been done of course lol but if u get it working plz let me know lol
not sure but i think this is the camera
http://www.littlediode.com/componen...31d4d4e1&xid=761c237b005c7758f0c56efbc4c1b464
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice find, now we need a dev. willing to work on the s/w part of this hack!
almyz125 said:
Nice find, now we need a dev. willing to work on the s/w part of this hack!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh didn't see that link. I have an email in to them to see if I can get some more info.
siirial said:
Oh didn't see that link. I have an email in to them to see if I can get some more info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
great, i hope this is all possible, i posted over on the captivate forums to take a look at there H/W and see if it is possible for them, more people working on it the better
Well first things, first. We need to find the camera. I have a good feeling about this actually.
Nice find!
masr1979 said:
Well first things, first. We need to find the camera. I have a good feeling about this actually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
we believe this is IT!
almyz125 said:
we believe this is IT!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That may just be the chip only.
yeah im hoping that can be done, im really looking forward to this lol
Very good point. Still think we have to wait for surplus parts to make it's way out there
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
sw33t can't wait until we get some cameras in
almyz125 said:
great, i hope this is all possible, i posted over on the captivate forums to take a look at there H/W and see if it is possible for them, more people working on it the better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I looked at the captivate teardowns and pics. Although they seem to have the same hardware (very much the same), the whole thing is laid differently. From what I could see there is not a spot where a front facing camera would easily go.
siirial said:
I looked at the captivate teardowns and pics. Although they seem to have the same hardware (very much the same), the whole thing is laid differently. From what I could see there is not a spot where a front facing camera would easily go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea i looked at some too after posting, kinda stinks for them, looks like AT&T wanted there iPhone to be the only phone with a front facing camera, lucky for them AT&T users can unlock Vibrants and use them on AT&T! I believe the vibrant supports AT&T's 3g band, correct me if im wrong.
Why could we not just contact samsung and send our phone to them and have them add the camara for us....Our order one from the with the ffc as a option then we would have it all sw and hw....
g1g said:
Why could we not just contact samsung and send our phone to them and have them add the camara for us....Our order one from the with the ffc as a option then we would have it all sw and hw....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i dont think it works that way, but if you want to ask samsung, go ahead.
siirial said:
i dont think it works that way, but if you want to ask samsung, go ahead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha i wasnt going to say anything about that post but, yea go ahead and ask, i put money on Samsung laughing.
This is very interesting. *Crosses fingers for progress*
My Dad got a Note 5 from China. He say it no have Google Play, so he gonna give it to me. Now I want to upgrade it to Marshmallow with a custom ROM(To get rid of Chinese restrictions). But I'm confused if my device is N9200 or N920G. In settings it says N920G. On the back a sticker says N9200. It should be N9200 since it from China. Is there even root, kernel, bootloader and custom recovery for this Model? Here is like the only pic of it my dad sent me.(then he packaged it and put it away till I go to where he is).
fp1707 said:
My Dad got a Note 5 from China. He say it no have Google Play, so he gonna give it to me. Now I want to upgrade it to Marshmallow with a custom ROM(To get rid of Chinese restrictions). But I'm confused if my device is N9200 or N920G. In settings it says N920G. On the back a sticker says N9200. It should be N9200 since it from China. Is there even root, kernel, bootloader and custom recovery for this Model? Here is like the only pic of it my dad sent me.(then he packaged it and put it away till I go to where he is).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I was you, when you get it, I'd go to settings and then about phone.. Because that will tell you which version it really is, cause the Note 5 has a fake replica that looks almost the same, but different softwares and bigger bezels on the sides.
MrMike2182 said:
If I was you, when you get it, I'd go to settings and then about phone.. Because that will tell you which version it really is, cause the Note 5 has a fake replica that looks almost the same, but different softwares and bigger bezels on the sides.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah my Dad originally thought it's fake. I told him to check the Camera and to feel the back(plastic or glass) and sides(if it actually metal. He was positive on those. Then I asked him to go to setting--->about. And that says N920G.
fp1707 said:
My Dad got a Note 5 from China. He say it no have Google Play, so he gonna give it to me. Now I want to upgrade it to Marshmallow with a custom ROM(To get rid of Chinese restrictions). But I'm confused if my device is N9200 or N920G. In settings it says N920G. On the back a sticker says N9200. It should be N9200 since it from China. Is there even root, kernel, bootloader and custom recovery for this Model? Here is like the only pic of it my dad sent me.(then he packaged it and put it away till I go to where he is).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pretty confident that's the real deal looks pretty good for a fake
GOIGIG said:
pretty confident that's the real deal looks pretty good for a fake
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You cannot tell by looking at the back I've seen the fake one and it looks exactly the same on the back of the phone fake or not. The only 2 real ways to tell are the size of the bezels in the front and the system software installed.. It's seriously insane how close they look.
fp1707 said:
My Dad got a Note 5 from China. He say it no have Google Play, so he gonna give it to me. Now I want to upgrade it to Marshmallow with a custom ROM(To get rid of Chinese restrictions). But I'm confused if my device is N9200 or N920G. In settings it says N920G. On the back a sticker says N9200. It should be N9200 since it from China. Is there even root, kernel, bootloader and custom recovery for this Model? Here is like the only pic of it my dad sent me.(then he packaged it and put it away till I go to where he is).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No Google play? Then it must be fake one running on custom rom which needs Gapps installed separately.
Good luck.
Sent from my SM-N920G using XDA-Developers mobile app
People, c'mon... It's from China, of course it's fake.
Sent from my Note 3 running Purify CM13
I think its fake
Dude, it is a genuine device. The back cover of the chinese clone is made of plastic of the same color (usually black or white) and usually that plastic is bended near the camera lens. In the photo you can clearly see that it's glass and it's the original color (shappire blue). As far as I know the SM-N9200 is the dual sim variant so please check if the device has a dual-sim caddy or there's place for a single one. If it isn't dual sim, (and it shows SM-N920G in settings) then it's probably that version and the sticker is just a generic one (judging by how bad it's glued on the phone).
galaxynote2 said:
Dude, it is a genuine device. The back cover of the chinese clone is made of plastic of the same color (usually black or white) and usually that plastic is bended near the camera lens. In the photo you can clearly see that it's glass and it's the original color (shappire blue). As far as I know the SM-N9200 is the dual sim variant so please check if the device has a dual-sim caddy or there's place for a single one. If it isn't dual sim, (and it shows SM-N920G in settings) then it's probably that version and the sticker is just a generic one (judging by how bad it's glued on the phone).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Idk about that. The fake white 1 I had side by side of my real gold colored 1 looked extremely perfect on the back.
Dejan Sathanas said:
People, c'mon... It's from China, of course it's fake.
Sent from my Note 3 running Purify CM13
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But the people who gave it to him wouldn't give him fake crap. They gave him legit 6S. Lenovo Yoga 2 and another Chinese tablet. None of them had Google Play(exception being iPhone).
In China there is a restrictions to use GPlay. You can download http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3179068 to check your legit status. Or just try to enter in download mode.
My dad just told me this device is indeed dual sim. So....
MoHuToP said:
In China there is a restrictions to use GPlay. You can download http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3179068 to check your legit status. Or just try to enter in download mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol how'd i download without play store?
Ask the dev for free apk version. The easiest way is to check download mode - if there is odin dw mode, your device is legit! If there is knox flag, everything is perfectly fine
This turned out to be real
Good for you.
Sent from my SM-N920G using XDA-Developers mobile app
Hi. I received mi mix. Bought http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_502620.html
Package was broken and opened - will share pics later.
Case is missing and i dont have any instruction - nothing ( but just realized what is in box ) ^
Miui version is Global 8.0 Stable 8.0.8.0 MOAHCNDI looks fake for me
I do have play store already YouTube app Chrome
Location is China ( don't know if location china and those app are in china location)
Also have a question. because when i add to card wireless charger was preferred so i bought it. I don't know if this phone can be charge wireless or not? If yes where can i activate it? When i place phone on charger, charger is blinking but phone is not charged.
What should i do in this situation?
I forgot about one more question.
If i place my sim card from att will att register somehow as their phone? I would like to switch to verizon if this phone will work with verizon. Same thing i had with mi max. I tried to switch to verizon and representative said this phone is registered as att's phone.
So can i insert my sim card the switch to verizon? Btw is dual sim so i believe i can if ill work on verizon - just want to make sure
It's widely known that Gearbest were removing the cases and selling them separately.
Regarding the box being opened and the software being fiddled with, that's par for the course. The software tweaks are collectively referred to as 'vendor ROMs' and the best thing you can do for your phone is to reflash it with official firmware.
As for the wireless charger, you've been had - the Mi Mix doesn't support it.
bitpie said:
Hi. I received mi mix. Bought http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_502620.html
Package was broken and opened - will share pics later.
Case is missing and i dont have any instruction - nothing ( but just realized what is in box ) ^
Miui version is Global 8.0 Stable 8.0.8.0 MOAHCNDI looks fake for me
I do have play store already YouTube app Chrome
Location is China ( don't know if location china and those app are in china location)
Also have a question. because when i add to card wireless charger was preferred so i bought it. I don't know if this phone can be charge wireless or not? If yes where can i activate it? When i place phone on charger, charger is blinking but phone is not charged.
What should i do in this situation?
I forgot about one more question.
If i place my sim card from att will att register somehow as their phone? I would like to switch to verizon if this phone will work with verizon. Same thing i had with mi max. I tried to switch to verizon and representative said this phone is registered as att's phone.
So can i insert my sim card the switch to verizon? Btw is dual sim so i believe i can if ill work on verizon - just want to make sure
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My phone was obviously opened, because it did not come with plastic heat shrink like in the youtube videos showing first reviews and box opening. But then again, I have bought my last 4 phones like new condition so I don't care too much.
Got mine from Chinavision. I have same build, with google play store. No chrome, no you tube. I did not get the Quick charger in the box (got the leather case, the type c cable, the sim extractor and instruction pamphlet).
Cheers
Got it. Thank You for answers.
I dont want to create another thread. Can you tell me how i can flash to get OTA update?
I tried many times through updater and mi flash and still cant flash. there was something about .bat. Downlaoded 3 or 4 roms from http://en.miui.com/download-317.html Stable Rom.
Even this http://en.miui.com/a-234.html want work. I mean flash via miflash was successfully ( done in 2 sec. ) but no changebs after boot.
You're buying a phone from Chinese company. What are the chances of them being fake? Where would the fake come from? Parkistan? LOL. Anyway, I bought mine from Flossmall. I was skeptical at first but I was quite happy with them. Phone arrived 5 days later after I paid. Everything is in there. Included original leather case. Not only that, they also sent me a clear case and a tempered glass which I ended up not using because it didnt fit. Phone also came loaded with Playstore already.
Maybe thats why gearbest ignored my question, does it come with vendor rom, it didn't appear on the question and answer page, maybe it should be called question and only answer filtered questions. Got mine pre-order price so they def gonna have the case away.
I received my 6gb mix from Gearbest yesterday. It came in a black box, not shrinkwrapped, but had some tape on it like those when you remove becomes void or to show it was opened. My phone had plastic screen covers on both sides, it had the case, the usb-c cable, and charger. I do have the leather case as well. My phone is currently on MAHCNDI 8.0.8.0. It came "set up" already as I didn't have to create or enter my accounts. Maybe they unlocked the bootloader already but I can't tell. But I can't run android pay because maybe the bootloader is unlocked already.
jazz452 said:
Maybe thats why gearbest ignored my question, does it come with vendor rom, it didn't appear on the question and answer page, maybe it should be called question and only answer filtered questions. Got mine pre-order price so they def gonna have the case away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That won't be specific to GearBest - none of the retailers will admit to flashing vendor ROMs.
Mine was NOT opened and it still has the "vendor" ROM. I do not believe that every retailer that imported Mi Mix's flashed every device they sold. It's impractical, especially since it would take a lot of collaboration between the vendors that sold the phones.
It has to be Xiaomi that flashed the "vendor" Roms because they knew that the phones would be shipped internationally.
Therefore, I believe there should be no reason for anyone to have received a Mi Mix with an open box. I've read here on XDA that GearBest and some other vendors have allegedly and purposefully taken the cases out of the boxes to be sold separately. Maybe this is the case for your shipment. The only flaw with this information I read is that I see absolutely no listings for the original "European Ecco" leather case on GearBest. I would have bought one already.
Can anyone tell me the reason why i can't get Stable Rom and get OTA update ?
Im fighting with it since i received phone and asked in 3 or 4 thread. All answers was about root/open bl/ twrp.
Don't get it. Is seriously impossible to buy from gearbest and install Stable Rom without root/twrp/open bl ?
bitpie said:
Can anyone tell me the reason why i can't get Stable Rom and get OTA update ?
Im fighting with it since i received phone and asked in 3 or 4 thread. All answers was about root/open bl/ twrp.
Don't get it. Is seriously impossible to buy from gearbest and install Stable Rom without root/twrp/open bl ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the vendor ROM disabled OTA update or causes the update to be "incompatible".
Did you check whether or not it's unlocked? My phone is unlocked out of the box and basically I didn't need to request unlock from Xiaomi.
So all you need is fastboot on your PC, it's only a few files. Then in command prompt, type in fastboot oem device-info in that directory.
Mine came back device unlocked: True and Device critical unlocked true. So now I'm looking into how to flash the normal chinese ROM on this before I attempt to go to the EU version.
Thorin78 said:
I think the vendor ROM disabled OTA update or causes the update to be "incompatible".
Did you check whether or not it's unlocked? My phone is unlocked out of the box and basically I didn't need to request unlock from Xiaomi.
So all you need is fastboot on your PC, it's only a few files. Then in command prompt, type in fastboot oem device-info in that directory.
Mine came back device unlocked: True and Device critical unlocked true. So now I'm looking into how to flash the normal chinese ROM on this before I attempt to go to the EU version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eee... What? If you would like to give me some instruction then complete step by step guide is only for me
Is phone locked? Yes. In developer settings i see something about it and is locked. I believe after few days trying many roms and ways installing stable it finally be done somehow.
bitpie said:
Can anyone tell me the reason why i can't get Stable Rom and get OTA update ?
Im fighting with it since i received phone and asked in 3 or 4 thread. All answers was about root/open bl/ twrp.
Don't get it. Is seriously impossible to buy from gearbest and install Stable Rom without root/twrp/open bl ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried to find the answer to this in my thread I started:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-mix/help/mi-mix-rom-clarification-t3524700
xNiNELiVES said:
I've tried to find the answer to this in my thread I started:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-mix/help/mi-mix-rom-clarification-t3524700
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. Just LOL :laugh:
its ridiculous.
Im starting thinking very serious about selling this phone and buy opo3T for example. If OneplusOne will have 6"+ screen im not gonna think even a minute
bitpie said:
LOL. Just LOL :laugh:
its ridiculous.
Im starting thinking very serious about selling this phone and buy opo3T for example. If OneplusOne will have 6"+ screen im not gonna think even a minute
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To each their own, but I must say:
No new one plus one will have a screen to body size ratio as good as the Mi Mix
Additionally, no new one olus one will have a 4400 mah battery
The Mi Mix's bootloader can legitimately be unlocked to flash other ROMs such as the debloated EU ROM.
I do understand though, this is pretty ridiculous. Xiaomi needs to take responsibility for the product they made and support its' customers.
bitpie said:
LOL. Just LOL :laugh:
its ridiculous.
Im starting thinking very serious about selling this phone and buy opo3T for example. If OneplusOne will have 6"+ screen im not gonna think even a minute
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's important to point out OTA would only come to China (Stable Rom), that's the only Official ROM. If you want official Chinese rom for OTA, you will have bloatware and you have to go through steps to get your Google Play and Apps installed. Ask yourself what you prefer? I would pick EU Vendor rom anytime imo.
Another note, I don't get the fuss of OTA, it's not like you don't get the latest update by manually install whatever ROM you want to use, so say at this minute there is an update on Chinese rom, evern if you are on Vendor rom, you can still install the latest Chinese one if you choose to. It's really just an extra 5mins job. It's just a bit strange you want to sell this phone because you are on a ROM you think or assume you don't like.
---------- Post added at 01:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 AM ----------
xNiNELiVES said:
To each their own, but I must say:
No new one plus one will have a screen to body size ratio as good as the Mi Mix
Additionally, no new one olus one will have a 4400 mah battery
The Mi Mix's bootloader can legitimately be unlocked to flash other ROMs such as the debloated EU ROM.
I do understand though, this is pretty ridiculous. Xiaomi needs to take responsibility for the product they made and support its' customers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it's Xiaomi's fault, if it's anything, they just make the bootloader unlock to be too easy for anyone to do it. You didn't purchase the phone from Xiaomi, you purchase the phone from a third party seller who installed the debloated EU ROM for you, that's hardly Xiaomi's fault. For warranty sake, you might don't even have one as you are not running the official CN rom and your bootloader has been unlocked by the third party seller.
I would pick EU Vendor rom anytime imo.
Hmm Sounds better.
So how to switch? ... still same problem
bitpie said:
I would pick EU Vendor rom anytime imo.
Hmm Sounds better.
So how to switch? ... still same problem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see you have been posted the same question a few times already, if you just ask the same question: "How to switch?", people will just keep linking you this link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-mix/how-to/guide-flash-global-china-rom-root-gapps-t3510592
At least tell us more whether you have gone through the steps and where you are stuck. The guide is very easy to follow and unless you make a mistake somewhere, you should be perfectly fine just by following it.
wu5262 said:
I think it's important to point out OTA would only come to China (Stable Rom), that's the only Official ROM. If you want official Chinese rom for OTA, you will have bloatware and you have to go through steps to get your Google Play and Apps installed. Ask yourself what you prefer? I would pick EU Vendor rom anytime imo.
Another note, I don't get the fuss of OTA, it's not like you don't get the latest update by manually install whatever ROM you want to use, so say at this minute there is an update on Chinese rom, evern if you are on Vendor rom, you can still install the latest Chinese one if you choose to. It's really just an extra 5mins job. It's just a bit strange you want to sell this phone because you are on a ROM you think or assume you don't like.
---------- Post added at 01:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 AM ----------
I don't think it's Xiaomi's fault, if it's anything, they just make the bootloader unlock to be too easy for anyone to do it. You didn't purchase the phone from Xiaomi, you purchase the phone from a third party seller who installed the debloated EU ROM for you, that's hardly Xiaomi's fault. For warranty sake, you might don't even have one as you are not running the official CN rom and your bootloader has been unlocked by the third party seller.
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wu5262 said:
I see you have been posted the same question a few times already, if you just ask the same question: "How to switch?", people will just keep linking you this link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-mix/how-to/guide-flash-global-china-rom-root-gapps-t3510592
At least tell us more whether you have gone through the steps and where you are stuck. The guide is very easy to follow and unless you make a mistake somewhere, you should be perfectly fine just by following it.
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I said many times and asked many times and still no answer after tis.
For example #3 http://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-mix/help/how-to-switch-dev-to-stable-t3525211
I don't think it's Xiaomi's fault, if it's anything, they just make the bootloader unlock to be too easy for anyone to do it. You didn't purchase the phone from Xiaomi, you purchase the phone from a third party seller who installed the debloated EU ROM for you, that's hardly Xiaomi's fault. For warranty sake, you might don't even have one as you are not running the official CN rom and your bootloader has been unlocked by the third party seller.
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My entire package was sealed. I don't see how it is possible that the redistributer could have flashed it... Also they didn't install a debloated EU Rom, it's a totally different ROM.
Is it just me or are they completely gone from Amazon? Wonder why?
Wondering the same thing myself. Have one on order should have arrived today but didn't make it, should be tomorrow.
I've read the amounts available will be limited and sporadic. It *may* be they sold out and are waiting for stock. I don't think that's the same as 'being pulled' as you indicate.
I know the supplier I bought from is still selling other phones on Amazon, but that's about it. The listing is gone, but that *could* mean they are just out of stock.
do you know more about it?
I would hope there would be multiple sellers on Amazon but I saw not. However there's still a ton on eBay. So it's got me wondering. Either way I got mine. So far so good.
Nickdroid86 said:
I would hope there would be multiple sellers on Amazon but I saw not. However there's still a ton on eBay. So it's got me wondering. Either way I got mine. So far so good.
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Amazon Germany still sells both phones
I wrote the seller here and he responded. They're just sold out is all, lol. Good to know. I hope sales so really well for this phone.
Just got mine a few hours ago... I'm ecstatic!
A few of the things that are really different than other phones I've had:
1) a Wifi or phone Network connection happens so fast if you blink you'll miss it. I just love that.
2) The hidden antenna results in my t-mo connection (to 2G) is at 5 bars, consistently. Astounding really. My LG G6 sometimes has 3, rarely up to 4, and even falls all the way to 1 (tried to make a call at 1 and it said 'no network available').
3) Volume of the speaker ** IS ** quite loud. More so than other phones I've had for sure.
4) The screen is really fine. With things that are highly video oriented, may be a let down for some, not me. Not a gamer.
5) Android One rocks! It's pretty much just like LineageOS, which I'm very familiar with. It really gets tiring to have to learn
a new UI implementation, MIUI, EMUI, Sammys version, and on and on and on. Hate it. So tired of it. I know, some of the have
a good feature here and there, but it's too few and too far between imho.
Very happy with this phone
I purchased mine at Sunsky from china, good service, also dirty cheap cases and tempered screen protectors.
https://www.sunsky-online.com/v/668810?contact=Grandy&u=57751-twitter
I am eyeballing a china version on ebay in the US because I don't want to wait until september. I know some folks have already found a way to flash the international software on the china phone, but is that needed? Are there major software differences between the chinese and international models other than the google play store being removed? Thanks.
I would avoid the Chinese version, I would avoid any Chinese-market-targeted phone. It's just a bloated spyware and not easy to ROM/root etc.
Wait for the the international version to come out. Worth it.
Why do I say that? I work and live in China, have made this mistake a couple of times. And my lovely girlfriend just purchased this phone without consulting me and now I have to go through the hard work of cleaning it up.
havork said:
I would avoid the Chinese version, I would avoid any Chinese-market-targeted phone. It's just a bloated spyware and not easy to ROM/root etc.
Wait for the the international version to come out. Worth it.
Why do I say that? I work and live in China, have made this mistake a couple of times. And my lovely girlfriend just purchased this phone without consulting me and now I have to go through the hard work of cleaning it up.
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But international version is 12 gb ram only and double the price.
havork said:
I would avoid the Chinese version, I would avoid any Chinese-market-targeted phone. It's just a bloated spyware and not easy to ROM/root etc.
Wait for the the international version to come out. Worth it.
Why do I say that? I work and live in China, have made this mistake a couple of times. And my lovely girlfriend just purchased this phone without consulting me and now I have to go through the hard work of cleaning it up.
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Whats involved in the cleanup? After a bit more research I read its just disabling a few apps and installing the play store.
I agree, some chinese phones can be an absolute disaster for a US user (oppo reno 10x). But hopefully this one isn't because I went ahead and ordered it.
I'm holding the thing in my hand, great hardware, crap software. Bloated with Chinese party Mao spyware. And that's what you can see, imagine what you can't.
Your only hope is to be able to rom it using the international firmware, but that might not be possible according to another thread.
I'm still trying to find a way to at least root it.
Also, seems like you can't set another launcher as default. Option doesn't exist in settings. So no Nova launcher and no sesame shortcuts
havork said:
I'm holding the thing in my hand, great hardware, crap software. Bloated with Chinese party Mao spyware. And that's what you can see, imagine what you can't.
Your only hope is to be able to rom it using the international firmware, but that might not be possible according to another thread.
I'm still trying to find a way to at least root it.
Also, seems like you can't set another launcher as default. Option doesn't exist in settings. So no Nova launcher and no sesame shortcuts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually planning on buying this device when it's available in the states, but seeing what has been said about the launcher issue as well as Gboard not being able to be installed(another thread), i am a bit concerned. Surely they wouldn't put such restrictions on the international edition, otherwise their dales aren't going to be as good as they could've been. They will have lost my purchase if that's the case. The specs are outstanding, but noone is going to tell me what I can and can't install on my nearly $1,000 dollar device.
ZeroKool76 said:
...noone is going to tell me what I can and can't install on my nearly $1,000 dollar device.
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Exactly.
I wonder why these big manufacturers are just getting in our faces.
What's up with all the bloatware and restrictions on rooting and installing custom recoveries?
I'm looking for to the day people get together and fund a project to manufacture a great , clean, and rooted phone out of the box and put these ****s out of business.
havork said:
I'm holding the thing in my hand, great hardware, crap software. Bloated with Chinese party Mao spyware. And that's what you can see, imagine what you can't.
Your only hope is to be able to rom it using the international firmware, but that might not be possible according to another thread.
I'm still trying to find a way to at least root it.
Also, seems like you can't set another launcher as default. Option doesn't exist in settings. So no Nova launcher and no sesame shortcuts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Native Chinese here, I'd say it's just you as a non-Chinese user don't really get used to the culture, basically "bloated" would be considered as "multi-functional" for Chinese users as we don't really like to install tons of apps for every needs. TBH I think the stock CN firmware of this phone has much less apps preinstalled compared to other phones' CN firmware. (However the lack of Classic theme is quite disappointing.)
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ZeroKool76 said:
I'm actually planning on buying this device when it's available in the states, but seeing what has been said about the launcher issue as well as Gboard not being able to be installed(another thread), i am a bit concerned. Surely they wouldn't put such restrictions on the international edition, otherwise their dales aren't going to be as good as they could've been. They will have lost my purchase if that's the case. The specs are outstanding, but noone is going to tell me what I can and can't install on my nearly $1,000 dollar device.
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Click to collapse
As I tried you can totally install other IME but for some reasons it would switch to original IME after some time. I guess that might be unintended, maybe we'll see it get patched in a future update but I'm not really sure.
havork said:
I'm holding the thing in my hand, great hardware, crap software. Bloated with Chinese party Mao spyware. And that's what you can see, imagine what you can't.
Your only hope is to be able to rom it using the international firmware, but that might not be possible according to another thread.
I'm still trying to find a way to at least root it.
Also, seems like you can't set another launcher as default. Option doesn't exist in settings. So no Nova launcher and no sesame shortcuts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I know.
Changing launcher is done only after the first day selling. And root is done 2 days later. So what you are asking is over 1 week after these are done.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=80037367&postcount=79
whyou said:
As I know.
Changing launcher is done only after the first day selling. And root is done 2 days later. So what you are asking is over 1 week after these are done.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=80037367&postcount=79
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The Chinese version is better than the global one especially on ASUS devices and i am not a local citizen, i own the ROG phone 1 and 2. Both come with in built call recorder which is very important to me. Also the Chinese version gets faster updates than the global one add to that if you head to the Chinese forums of the device you will find a lot of support from there for issues unresolved on XDA and other Tech sites.
Regarding the default launcher i created a thread to solve this issue without root check it out: https://forum.xda-developers.com/rog-phone-2/how-to/disable-default-asus-launcher-root-t3955949
ROG 3 Chinese version.
I have just traded in ROG 2 for ROG 3 in Shanghai and I couldn’t be happier. The cost was 757 dollars for 12/256 Gig version, minus the trade in of 300 dollars, (converted from RMB). The Google Play Services app is preinstalled and Google Play Store is in Asus App Store. Here in China, of course, VPN is a must, but in USA, you shouldn’t have any problems without VPN, because the block is administered by my Chinese ISP and you won’t face any restrictions in America. I had backed up my "old"; (if you can call about 8 months old phone old), on USB stick and restore everything on the new phone. It was flawless. So, if you can’t wait, you can’t go wrong getting the phone now. There is only one thing, the new ROG works and feels exactly the same as the old ROG and the only difference is 5G and Wi-Fi 6. It looks like I have traded 3 speed bike for 6 speed bike and I’m not sure if it’s worth to everyone.
Good luck.
---------- Post added at 05:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:15 AM ----------
ZeroKool76 said:
I'm actually planning on buying this device when it's available in the states, but seeing what has been said about the launcher issue as well as Gboard not being able to be installed(another thread), i am a bit concerned. Surely they wouldn't put such restrictions on the international edition, otherwise their dales aren't going to be as good as they could've been. They will have lost my purchase if that's the case. The specs are outstanding, but noone is going to tell me what I can and can't install on my nearly $1,000 dollar device.
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Click to collapse
Sure, you can’t switch launchers readily, but other than that, there is no difference between Chinese and global version and there is a way, contrary to biased/racist opinion of one guy, to change to other launcher. Besides, the stock version of the ROG launcher Is great and I’m using iPhone OS 11 launcher just to show off my ROG to iPhone user, saying, see, I can make my phone look like yours, but you can’t make yours look like mine, but after the show I always switch to the original ROG launcher. I have just traded in ROG 2 for ROG 3 in Shanghai and I couldn’t be happier. The Google Play Services app is preinstalled and Google Play Store is in Asus App Store. Here in China, of course, VPN is a must, but in USA, you wont have any problems without VPN.