Xiaomi Mi 8 SE (小米8SE) with Xiaomi.EU MIUI ROM

[gnarly]

Hello fellow Xiaomi users!

I created my account today because I'd like to thank everyone for their contributions to this strong Xiaomi.Eu community and more importantly for providing this wonderful MIUI ROM. I also like to share (albeit little) what I know about flashing, where to locate certain files and etc. I have some experience with unlocking bootloaders on Mi 5 and Zuk Z2, flashing custom roms on my Zuk Z2, and switching from China rom to Global Developer rom on my Mi 5.

Backstory: A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a Xiaomi 8 SE online from a local reseller in my country (Singapore). The seller listed it as Global ROM, even able to update OTA when available. Therefore I ordered the phone under the impression that there was an official global rom available in other regions. To my surprise, the phone came with an unlocked bootloader and pre-installed with Xiaomi.EU beta rom 8.6.28. When I enter the Updater app, the xiaomi.eu 8.8.30 was available, but the funny thing was that I could not update to the latest 8.8.30 Xiaomi.Eu rom via OTA, with the message saying I'm already updated or something. I'm not sure how the supplier flashed this Xiaomi.Eu rom into the phone, my guess is that they did a dodgy job. People who ordered their Mi 8 SE from AliExpress may also encounter the same.

I wanted to update to the latest 8.8.30 rom, the stock recovery installed was Mi Recovery which I have no clue how to use it. I tried flashing TWRP via Fastboot onto my phone and it failed. The error message I got was "Command write Failed (too many links)", it was my first time encountering this. I Google around and found out that it was actually an issue with the cable used to connect from the PC to the phone. I switch to a deep flash cable I purchased sometime back on eBay and it worked! After flashing TWRP, I successfully installed the latest Xiaomi.EU 8.8.30 rom.

Here are the links to where I got my TWRP and some instructions I followed to get the job done.

Latest TWRP: https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-8-se/development/recovery-twrp-recovery-3-2-3-lr-team-t3828854
Guide on TWRP: https://forum.xda-developers.com/mi-8-se/development/recovery-twrp-recovery-3-2-1-mi8se-t3813311
More guide (If need be): https://xiaomifirmware.com/guides-and-tips/how-to-flash-twrp-and-root-the-xiaomi-mi-8-mi-8-se/

TLDR: Used a deep flash cable to flash TWRP on my Mi 8 SE, successfully installed the latest Xiaomi.Eu rom.

I hope I have not violated any forum rules by posting some links from other sites.

Thanks again to the amazing people who created this multi-language MIUI for all to use. Cheers

 

[rodrigo.zf]

Hi, my friend, I read your post and found it super cool, congratulations.
I am waiting for XIAOMI to release my unblocking that will be done in 17 days only, as I am still within the established hours.
But I would like to know how the ROM is and if you could share the experience and if everything is translated and functional what can you say about your experience with this ROM.

 

[MiUser]

Very useful post

 

[gnarly]

I'm glad that the post has helped other Mi 8 SE users

Big shout out to @ingbrzy and the rest of the Xiaomi.EU Dev team, thank you for all the hardwork. Having weekly OTA updates make this Mi 8 SE a really awesome phone. I'd say this is similar or maybe even better than being on the official Global Developer ROM, coming from my experiences with the global dev rom on the Mi 5.

 

[Jon Delma]

Can you update via OTA now ? or do you still use flashing ?

 

[gnarly]

Via OTA when the EU Rom's update is available for Mi 8 SE.
First you will have to update/flash to the latest TWRP as the older TWRP will be wiped after updating to Android 9 (Pie).

Edit: Typo

 

[ckarv]

Also had a similar experience (trouble) flashing MIUI.eu on to off whatever was on the mi 8 SE when it shipped. I installed twrp through fastboot, but had to format data partition to be able to boot into MIUI10 (stable) after installation.

 

[Jon Delma]

Via OTA when the EU Rom's update is available for Mi 8 SE.
First you will have to update/flash to the latest TWRP as the older TWRP will be wiped after updating to Android 9 (Pie).

Edit: Typo

I failed in updating.
I think the twrp flashing went well, but updating the version, not so well.
"the recovery mode" does not start, and updating via fasboot (adb) says "does not contain android-info.txt"

 

[gnarly]

I failed in updating.
I think the twrp flashing went well, but updating the version, not so well.
"the recovery mode" does not start, and updating via fasboot (adb) says "does not contain android-info.txt"

Have you tried wiping the data? In TWRP you can execute a factory reset and format data, before flashing EU rom.

Make sure you are on the latest TWRP for sirius.

 

[Jon Delma]

Have you tried wiping the data? In TWRP you can execute a factory reset and format data, before flashing EU rom.

Make sure you are on the latest TWRP for sirius.

Ok done but quite complicated.
it didn't work with the latest TWRP ; i tried with the 1227 version first and it was a total fail : no recovery mode, nothing ...
so i took an older version 0810 and it worked.
i donwloaded the rom on my phone and chossed the "package" via the updater.
I updated the TWRP then to the 1227 version.
Thank you again for your help.