[Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Questions & Answers] Nafee Naeer:
Hello all,

First off, please note that I'm fairly new to XDA, but an android enthusiast never the less. Managed to brick and then un-brick a few devices via tutorials and a bit of (brainy :p ) improv, that's all.

!!!DO NOT BLAME ME FOR ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS TO YOUR DEVICE, I'M ESSENTIALLY A NOOB, YOU MUST KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING BEFORE DOING IT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!

Moving on, I own a kate variant, (NOT the Kenzo variant) of Redmi note 3 Snapdragon device >> http: //en.miui.com/thread-299743-1-1.html (remove the spaces between ":" and"//")

I didn't know it was kate at the time of purchase, I have no regrets tho.

I searched all over the net for methods of flashing a custom rom (CyanogenMod ) on this variant.

Regardless of what variant it was, UNLOCKING THE BOOT-LOADER was persistent in all the tutos i came across. This was really the biggest hurdle for me. Unlocking the boot-loader unofficially could cause complications whereby only SafeTWERP is adviced to be flashed and used. So I applied for official unlocking method; and you guessed it right.......stuck at 50% :rolleyes: . It was the same after 10 days on the global dev ROM MIUI 8.

I finally resorted to unofficial method for unlocking the boot loader. It worked! But flashing twerp afterwards resulted in a boot loop. "adb reboot edl" command via ADB while in fastboot mode and then flashing the global stable via MiFlash tool helped me pass that horrid screen. But the boot loader got re-locked and no custom recovery, essentially back to square ...... 0 :(

A couple o'days later, I came across this tutorial by Michael Warner at his blog "Mike's Tech Life"

http: //mikestechlife.blogspot.com/2016/10/installing-cm13-on-xiaomi-redmi-note-3.html

(remove the spaces between ":" and"//")

and it worked!!! YESSS !!!! :victory:

Long story short.....

****PLEASE DON'T READ THE FOLLOWING STEPS BEFORE COMPLETELY READING AND UNDERSTANDING THE GUIDE POSTED AT MICHAEL'S BLOG AT "MIKE'S TECH LIFE" !! YOU MUST KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, BEFORE DOING IT!!

ONLY YOU, AND NO ONE ELSE WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING GOOD, OR BAD THAT HAPPENS TO YOUR DEVICE.****

Just download Alka TWRP, rename it to "recovery.img" from "recoveryalka.img" >then>

>> copy renamed file and replace it with "recovery.img" found in the "images" folder of EXTRACTED fast-boot rom >then>

>> Flash modded ROM via MiFlash while in EDL mode >then>

>>reboot straight to (recovery) TWRP(alka) > change language to english >swipe to allow modifications> reboot> system> swipe to allow disable>allow the phone to boot up> set up the phone minimally >then>

>> place downloaded/desired .zip files (nightly CM build, open Gapps and Kate radio files) to sd or internal storage > then>

>> reboot to twrp recovery again>backup> select all partitions> swipe to initiate backup> wait for completion> store the backup in a safe place > home button of twrp >then>

>> wipe>advanced wipe> check everything except "internal storage" and "MicroSDcard"> swipe to wipe> go back to home screen of twrp >then>

>> install> navigate to previously placed .zip files in sd or internal storage > swipe to flash/install .img/.zip files in the following order> ROM .zip file first, open gapps second and kate radios lastly >then>

>> reboot>system>swipe to allow disable>phone reboots.

cm should start within 10 - 15 minutes, may take longer. You are now done with flashing cm successfully.

****TROUBLESHOOTING****

Near the last stages of his tutorials ( when booting into recovery for very the first time, on moded miui rom )Michael clearly explains :

"It is important not to flash CM13 at this stage - the phone needs to boot up initially to correctly size the internal storage.

"

I didnt follow it(flashed CM straight away :silly: ) and the result was 7 gigs of internal storage and 25GB locked away for the os :eek: .

Cyanogen Mod booted fine ( I didnt notice it untill later ). But in my attempt to fix this issue, I flashed a completely stock, stable miui 7.5.2.0 version. Ended with Boot loops :mad: :mad:

I got past that by flashing the modded fastboot stock rom (which you can come up with easily whilst following his guide,it's basically the same ROM except, for the fact that it has the alka twrp custom recovery instead of stock recovery) and flashed it via MiFlash on EDL mode.

Then I booted straight into (recovery) TWRP(alka) (before anything else could've happened)> selected language to English > swiped to allow modification > reboot > system> swipe to allow disable stock recovery replacement>>> if phone successfully boots, storage partition sizes are fixed, if boot-loops, try again,

If you made it eventually, check the [settings > storage] right after you set up your device.

in my case, kate rebooted and twrp fixed the partition sizes back to normal state in the process

. I then flashed CM via twrp followed by open gapps (ARM 64 6.0.1 Nano) followed by Kate radios available from Michael's blog. Phew! ..

In essence, i suppose locking the boot-loader wasn't a smart move Xiaomi made by ANY means; and to make matters worse, they have an idiotic unlocking procedure to support their idea of "security" :mad: With Michael's help, I managed to flash a custom ROM (many custom ROMs in fact), without having to unlock the boot-loader, AT ALL.

It goes without saying that all credits belong to Michael.

All the attention from XDA moderators and devs for making this post better, more relevant and useful, or entirely moving it under the correct category/topic is welcome and highly appreciated.

Since this is my first large post at XDA, take it easy folks? :highfive:

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My Requests/Questions for devs: I understand CM 14 /14.1 is WIP, I also heard rumors that devs are going to add official support for kate variant. can anyone, please give me a solid verification that CM 14.1 will be available to kate/kenzo devices like cm 13 is; and not just be a project that'd be dropped in the middle of development. Also, please don't stop coming up with new roms for this device anytime soon! I love all your work!!

Thanks!!