Android 5.0.2 Lollipop has been rolled out for many new smartphones recently. Here’s a good news for the owners of Xiaomi Mi3 that the new working CyanogenMod 12 ROM based on Android 5.0.2 released for Xiaomi Mi3 by the CyanogenMod team. Xiaomi Mi3 is a powerful smartphone that comes with a 5-inch 1080p display, 1GB of RAM and Snapdragon 800 powered quad-core processor clocked at 2.3GHz. Mi3 has 1GB RAM but still it can be considered as the Mi4 alternative. You may know that Xiaomi refused to publish the source code for their kernels, so it was difficult to create a custom kernel for third-party developers.
But CancroCM Team (a group of developers) comprising XDA senior members and they have successfully created a highly stable and functional build of CyanogenMod 12 for Xiaomi Mi3. There are some minor bugs in the ROM but developers are still working to fix them.
Known Bugs:
- Bluetooth connectivity
- NFC
- Camcorder
- USB-OTG
So if you want to install this ROM on your Xiaomi Mi3 using CWM recovery manually then follow the given guide.
Note:
This guide and the firmware are working with Xiaomi Mi3 only. Flashing this firmware on any other variant may brick the device. You can check the model number of your device by navigating to Settings > About Phone
Warning:
AndroidXDA.net will not be responsible for any kind of damage or lose occurred to your Xiaomi Mi3 before or after the installation process. Proceed at your own risk.
Before Getting Started:
- The first thing, backup all your important data on your device using a custom recovery such as CWM or TWRP before proceeding to firmware installation guide.
- Make sure that you have properly installed the correct USB Drivers on your PC for Xiaomi Mi3.
- Enable USB Debugging mode on your Xiaomi Mi3 from Settings > Developer Options
- Xiaomi Mi3 should be factory unlocked.
- Make sure that the bootloader of the device is unlocked.
- Your device must be rooted, otherwise you’ll not be able to install this ROM.
- The battery level of Xiaomi Mi3 should be at least about 80%.
Required Files:
Steps to Install Android 5.0.2 on Xiaomi Mi3 via CyanogenMod 12 ROM:
Step No 1:- First, download CyanogenMod 12 Android 5.0 custom ROM and Gapps for your Xiaomi Mi3.
Step No 2:- Plug your device with the PC and mount USB mass storage of the phone using its USB data cable.
Step No 3:- Transfer the CM12 ROM .zip file to the root folder of your SD Card on the phone.
Step No 4:- Disconnect the device from the PC after copying the CM12 ROM .zip file.
Step No 5:- Turn Off the phone and disconnect its USB cable from computer.
Step No 6:- Boot your Xiaomi Mi3 into Recovery Mode. To do so, turn it on by pressing and holding Volume Up + Power buttons altogether.
Step No 7:- While your device is in CWM Recovery, perform a full data wipe by choosing Wipe Data/Factory Reset.
Step No 8:- Also perform Wipe Cache Partition. It will take a while to format system.
Step No 9:- Perform Wipe Dalvik Cache too by navigating to “Advanced” and click Wipe Dalvik Cache.
Step No 10:- Go back to the main recovery menu and choose Install Zip from SD card
Step No 11:- Select “Choose Zip from SD card”. Locate and select the CM12 ROM .zip file that you have already transferred to the SD Card of your phone. Start the ROM installation by confirming on next screen.
Step No 11:- Install Google Apps (Gapps) by repeating the above two steps.
Step 12 - Go to “+++++Go Back+++++” and select Reboot System Now in the Recovery menu, once the ROM and Gapps installation finished.
Your device will be rebooted now. First boot up process will take about 4 to 5 minutes.
You have successfully installed the latest Android 5.0.2 Lollipop update via CM12 custom ROM on Xiaomi Mi3. Let us know in the comments area below if you are facing any issue to flash CM12 unofficial custom ROM on your Mi3.
Important - Go to ‘advanced’ and make sure ‘active system’ is 1. If active system is 2 then change it to system 1. This is what did the trick for me