[Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Questions & Answers] mkohan:
Hi there,

I think I (soft? hard?) bricked my whyred today after trying to install Pixel Experience (Android 10). At this time, I'm left with a flashed PE Plus that is stuck at the Google logo animation (e.g. unable to access USB debug settings); stock MIUI recovery; and fastboot, which is not recognized by ADB as I haven't had a successful boot since I flashed PE, so I can't turn USB debug on. I think I've exhausted my options, but maybe someone has a smart solution.

For those who think they can help, let me describe in detail what I did:

0) I became a dev, turned USB debug on, installed Minimal ADB and Fastboot, latest Xiaomi drivers, moved flashable zips into internal storage etc.

1) I unlocked my bootloader through Mi Unlock.

2) I successfully flashed TWRP-3.3.1.0-whyred via ADB/Fastboot and rebooted. After getting back into MIUI, I booted into recovery, which was back to stock (MIUI seems to have overwritten my recovery). At that point (probably a big mistake) I gave up on flashing TWRP and went ahead to boot right into it via ADB instead, without flashing.

3) After a successful boot into TWRP 3.3.1.0, it asked me for a decryption password. Nothing worked, so I kept googling and found out that my version of android needs TWRP 3.3.1.1, which was not on the official TWRP website yet, to decrypt automatically. I booted into TWRP 3.3.1.1 via ADB (but didn't flash), made a backup of my stock ROM, did a wipe (art/dalvik cache, cache, data, system, vendor), flashed Pixel Experience and rebooted.

4) Bootloop, I was stuck on the Google loading animation for over 20 minutes, nothing happened.

5) I panicked.

6) I tried to flash TWRP 3.3.1.1 via ABD but my PC didn't recognize my phone - probably because, for lack of successful boots, I have not managed to turn on USB debug.

7) I tried to connect to Mi Assistant through stock recovery. It didn't recognize my phone, probably for the above reason.

8) I did a data wipe through stock recovery and rebooted, hoping for whatever issue kept PE from booting normally to get resolved.

9) I'm stuck on the same Google loading animation for over 40 minutes now, no progress.

Does any of you guys see a way out, or is this story over? To recap, I have: 1) PE Plus in bootloop, no access to dev settings, 2) stock MIUI recovery with options to reboot, wipe data or connect to Mi Assistant, 3) stock fastboot, 4) a backup of my previous system on internal storage, 5) ADB on my computer that doesn't recognize my phone - no USB debugging. I don't know where to turn. I don't care much about data, I have everything in the cloud, but I'd like to save the phone if possible.

Thanks a lot.

Edit: Problem resolved - even though the connected device didn't show up in ADB on PC (adb devices came back empty), the phone was still responsive to fastboot reboot and fastboot flash recovery via PC, so I could flash TWRP 3.3.1.1 & clean flash PE. For anyone struggling with PE bootloops: make sure to 1) use TWRP 3.3.1.1 to flash, 2) do a dalvik/cache wipe after flashing the ROM and 3) not to install the TWRP app before the first successful boot - it was neglecting either 2) or 3) that caused my bootloop. The ROM itself is amazing!