Now we are on the last part of step-by-step upgrade to MIUI 9 by flashing of Redmi Note 4 under Windows 10 32-bit. Installing driver shown in previous chapter seems easy, but if the driver is not correct, the last part described here will not work. Please ensure all the requirement and driver are available before starting flashing. Disclaimer: Do flashing at your own risk. I did flashing because I need it and ready to accept the risk. Risk including here (but not limited to): Bootloop, Bricked, and Hard Bricked. A failed process usually can be mitigated by repeating the process. If the problem persists, go to a professional service station.

Upgrade to MIUI step by step procedure:

1. Extract the ROM file (with .TGZ extension) to our desired folder. We will get .TAR extension. Cut the file to previous folder and extract again. After that, cut all the files inside the extracted folder to previous folder. We can delete .TAR file. We need to put the files in the first created folder to avoid long file name (including its folder name) which may be a problem in 32-bit environment.
2. Extract Cust-global.rar to our desired folder. Copy img file to extracted ROM folder and replace existing Cust.img file. This file is necessary to avoid ERROR: STATUS_SEC_IMG_TOO_LARGE (0xC0020005) as following:
3. Extract files: SP+Flash+Tools+&+Drivers+for+Nikel_by+MrRaines.rar to your desired folder.
4. Open exe
5. Click “Download Agent” button and choose bin
6. Click “Scatter-loading” button and choose txt. The file is in extracted ROM folder, specifically in “images” folder.

7. Select all options in the table that appears in the application. Compared to some tutorial, we need to select all the options when we update from 8.0.5.0.0 ROM to 9.2.2.0 official ROM. Some tutorial mentions to not select “Preloader”.
8. Turn off your cellphone. Connect one end of USB cable (either to the phone or to the computer).
9. Click “Download” button in the application. Then, press (-) volume button and hold it. Connect the cellphone to computer via USB cable. Hold it until “Chip info” appears on the left side (below the cellphone picture) or progress bar at the bottom part turn into yellow.

10. If ERROR: STATUS_DA_EXCEED_MAX_NUM (0XC0070005) appears, repeat process number 9 but without holding volume button. Just plug-in the USB cable. We encounter this error during the process.
11. Wait until the process is finished and “Download Ok” dialog box appear.
12. Unplug the cable and turn on the cellphone. Wait until it boots. It will take 5 to 15 minutes.

As mentioned in previous post of upgrade to MIUI 9, we need several preparation such as suppoting files and tools. After we get all the necessary files and tools, we need to prepare PC/Laptop. Particularly, preparing the driver, SP Flash Tools, and the ROM. This method is working for Windows 10 32-bit only. Please refer to link that I mentioned in the previous article.

Installing Mediatek VCOM drivers:

1. Disable Windows 10’s “Driver Signature Enforcement”.

Before installing the driver, we need to disable “driver signature enforcement”

• Go to “Start” ⇒ “Settings”.
• Choose “Update & Security”.
• Go to “Recovery”.
• Under “Advanced Startup”, choose “Restart Now”.
• When restarting done, choose “Troubleshoot”, then click “Advanced options”.
• After that, choose “Startup Settings” and click “Restart” on the next page.
• Find item number 7 and choose it (press 7 on your keyboard) to disable driver signature enforcement. Windows will be started, and we can install the driver. The enforcement will be back once we restart the Windows.

2. Driver Installation from the first source.

After disabling the “driver signature enforcement”, we can start installing the driver.

• Extract files: SP+Flash+Tools+&+Drivers+for+Nikel_by+MrRaines.rar to your desired folder.
• The original tutorial asked to install from “MTK_Driver_Installer_.1352 ext” folder. Unfortunately, it did not work for Windows 10 32 bit.
• Go to “Driver_Auto_Installer_.1612” folder and double click “DriverInstall.exe”.
• Click “Yes” if User Account Control asks for permission.
• Follow setup procedure until finish.
• If Windows asks for permission to install unsigned driver, click “Yes”

3. Install driver from the second source.

Then, we also need second driver to be installed.

• Extract files: Windows+10_MTK+VCOM+USB+Preloader+Drivers.zip to your desired folder.
• Right click on “Start” / “Windows” button. Click “Device Manager”
• Inside “Device Manager”, choose the computer name. Right click on it, and choose “Add Legacy Hardware”

• In the dialog box, click “Next” and select “Install hardware that I manually select from a list (Advanced)”.
• Choose “Show All Devices” and click “Next”
• Click “Have Disk” and locate the driver in the extracted folder. Select “x86” for 32-bit driver. Click “Open” and then click “OK”
• There are five drivers need to be installed:
  • MediaTek DA USB VCOM Port
  • MediaTek PreLoader USB VCOM Port
  • MTK USB Debug Port
  • MTK USB Modem Port
  • MTK USB Port

Select the first one and click “Next” to install.

• Before continuing install the rest of drivers, we need to remove the newly installed driver. We only need to remove the register. Do not delete the software for this device. Go to “Device Manager”, choose newly installed driver. Right click on it, click “Uninstall”. It will ask for removal confirmation. Do not tick “Delete the driver software for this device”. Click “OK” when all set.

Driver installation is finished. Once this step of upgrade to MIUI 9 finished, we can continue to the next chapter.

In this article, I want to share my experience to upgrade to MIUI 9. It was all started when I had a problem with my cellphone, a one-year-old cheap cellphone, which is really giving me a headache. The problem is simple, the battery is barely keeping any voltage. However, with current non-removable battery design, it is very hard to do battery replacement. Then, I decide to get a new cellphone. My choice was Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 which has big battery capacity 4000 mAh and 5.5” full HD screen. It also has 3 Gb RAM and 64 Gb storage. I got Helio X20 Mediatek version which is slightly cheaper.

Upgrade to MIUI 9 problems

The problems came when the upgrade to MIUI 9 is rolling out. I wonder why my Xiaomi did not get OTA update despite my effort to update manually (Go to “Tools” folder, choose “Updater”, tap vertical button, choose “Download Update”). Then, I search around Xiaomi’s MIUI forum (en.miui.com) only to find that my cell phone is using unofficial ROM. What a problem. I found similar problems here http://en.miui.com/thread-524481-1-1.html.

Solution to upgrade to MIUI 9?

After that, I searched inside the MIUI forum how that I can revert to official ROM. The conclusion is I need to do flashing to update the ROM into the official one. There are some tutorials how we can flash our Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 as following:

http://en.miui.com/thread-370620-1-1.html

http://en.miui.com/thread-371349-1-1.html

However, both upgrade to MIUI methods cannot work for me as-is. In fact, there are some steps that need to be done to get the tutorial work, particularly if we use Windows 10 32-bit PC.

Finally, working solutions of upgrading to MIUI 9

First, we need to prepare the following:

1. Enable “USB Debugging” in the cell phone.

Go to “Settings” ⇒ “About Phone” ⇒ Tap “MIUI Version” 7 times to activate “Developer” menu.

Go to “Settings” ⇒ “Additional Settings” ⇒ “Developer Options” ⇒ Turn on “USBDebugging”

2. Back-up your data. Flashing the cell phone means deleting all your data.
3. Charge your cell phone battery. Minimum is 50%. 100% is advised.
4. Use USB cable from the package.
5. Download all required files:

a. Windows 10 drivers for Mediatek USB VCOM drivers. The driver is very important to enable communication between PC and the phone.

b. SP Flash Tool. I use the edited version provided in the forums above:

c. Redmi Note 4 Fastbot ROM. The ROM can be obtained from http://en.miui.com/a-234.html

d. img file. This file is needed to avoid flashing problem by replacing original Cust.img.

6. PC/Laptop that has no problem.
7. Spare time.

For next step of upgrade to MIUI 9, you can follow this link to continue.