yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[General Topics] harryspar:
It is very frustrating that this capable device is limited by bands.

There is a thread in Reddit where someone says if you flash the F30 ROM onto the F21, it will unlock the bands. However the Reddit poster is not giving out the F30 ROM dump.

I am looking for somebody with the F30 software so I can try flashing it on my F21.

Reddit post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/dumbphones/comments/105upqc
[General Topics] Ridoy khan:
Hi I am using qin F21 PRO PLUS (unisoc soc). How can i used google play store???( Sorry for Bad English)
[General Topics] Jbazt_katuforzs:
In theory, an F30 that has an unlocked bootloader can be flashed with TWRP. TWRP can backup modem/radio and maybe restore that to an F21 pro firmware. Since both phones can have a full backup, its safer to try stuffs and just restore the backup when something goes wrong
[General Topics] harryspar:
Yes. I am trying to find someone who has a backup of the f30 ROM so I can flash it to my F21
[General Topics] Jbazt_katuforzs:
I think rom is only the firmware partition in the slot (System,Data,Boot,Cache,). You should look for the F30's backup of the Vendor, Persist, Modem, and EFS then try to flash that to F21 pro's respective partitions
[General Topics] harryspar:
Thank you. By the way I am told that you can only flash the f30 to the f21, not the F21 pro. But in any case I can't find anybody with the f30 firmware to try. I'm working on it.
[General Topics] Jbazt_katuforzs:
Maybe they talking about the flashtool method? But with TWRP, I think its possible. Lke Samsung can use different firmware from different country but with different modem and csc files
[General Topics] jayloh:
Did you ever successfully find the F30 firmware? I’ve got an F21 and am hoping to flash the F30 modem/radio, or alternatively just do a full flash of the F30 firmware.
[General Topics] harryspar:
Someone posted a full backup of his F30 to mediafire. The link doesn't work anymore though.

I tried flashing it and it wouldn't boot. So I restored my own F21 backup and flashed just what looked like a modem partition. After booting it didn't read my SIM, but I did a factory reset and when I booted up it was reading my SIM.

I think the radio is better but I'm not 100% sure. It's possible that getting the right APN active would help (I'm on Mint Mobile) but the F21 is very glitchy when it comes to APN settings.
[General Topics] stani-stani:
Hello,

two questions please:

After instalation the “Custom Firmware” will the “Quick Settings” stay on the phone? Quick Settings = possibility to assign different functions to buttons 1 – 0.

Is there an FM radio module in the Qin F21 Pro phone? I mean FM terrestrial broadcasting, offline.

thanks
[General Topics] jayloh:
Do you happen to recall which partition you flashed? I got a copy of the F30 system dump, and I found two partitions that look like modem (md1img_a and md1img_b) and flashed them both, but then my phone wouldn’t recognize that it had a wireless connection at all. I wound up having to restore the original partitions from a backup.
[General Topics] harryspar:
Hi - after flashing the modem partitions do a factory reset and restart and the wireless connection should be better.

I'm sorry I didn't respond to your earlier DM I simply haven't been on XDA for a while due to being busy IRL. My apologies.
[General Topics] yoberxda:
Hi!! I am looking to buy an F21 pro and I kinda suck at reading so sorry if this has been asked before or is mentioned in this thread

If I buy the Chinese model of the MTK F21 will I be able to flash the cfw, root, and gapps myself? Is the bootloader unlocked on those? or should I get a F21 with preloaded gapps
[General Topics] PapaBrickolini:
Flashing the md1img_a and md1img_b partitions, just as jayloh did, also makes my F21 lose all cellular ability, even the ability to recognize or read SIM cards. I tried doing a factory reset (twice) after flashing, with no change. It's clear these partitions affect mobile networking, but are these the partitions I should be flashing? Thanks!
[General Topics] harryspar:
I thought those were the correct partitions but either I'm wrong or there's a difference between models. I'm really not sure.
[General Topics] dugu1248:
help, when I used this method ,an error happened, how to solve it?
[General Topics] CatStoleTheCrown:
TLDR: in the rom; is TWRP on boot.img and can I just flash that for TWRP on F30 or is there more/something else I need? and is md1img.img the modem (YES it is, I used Google to find out =P )

edit: looks like others above me are trying to do the same things =) good to know. Anyone have any luck?

Hey everyone, I am trying to install TWRP (ONLY) onto the Qin F30 KOSHER. I managed to unlock the bootloader (what a headache for me).

I am following this guide mostly but I do not want to install the ROM or the MODEMs (as the F30 works perfectly in the USA). So I was just FOR NOW going to install TWRP and make backups and such from there. Because I do not want to use the modem or anything in case I mess up royally with my future tinkering.

So any help is appreciated. I was going to use the SP Flash tool for this. Is TWRP installed on the boot.img? Do you think its safe to just flash the boot image only for TWRP? So I loaded the scatter file and I was only going to have the boot.img selected to be flashed over. Unless I may need more or something else for TWRP.

Thanks.

Second question: is the md1img_a the modem??? Because if so, I would like to try and back this up on the F30 and try flashing it to the F21 and see what happens too. See if I can get the F21 to work in the USA better with the F30 bands.

For those who don't know the F30 is simply a re-named and USA working F21.

I am nearly positive you are doing this correctly, but maybe only the md1img_a partition. Do you have the F30 modem files I can download? I would love to try this out myself. I am trying to extract them from my device too, but if you can supply that would be nice as well =)

Could I get a copy of this system dump please? My guess, which is NOT very educated at this point is that you only need to do one or the other. If you look at the ROM file for this thread you only flash the md1img in the a partition. So either try only that, or if the F30 has the extra b partition, try only that too. I plan to try this out as soon as I either get a copy of the F30 dump or dump it myself, which I am trying to do in my above post.
[General Topics] Sense_101:
please let me know if you have the f30 rom, it would be awesome if I could use that. I can help you dump it if you need
[General Topics] CatStoleTheCrown:
Well I have an F30 ready for dumping as soon as I can figure it out, so if you can help with that definitely hit me up. My plan was to install TWRP and do a back-up dump. I use the F30 currently as my daily, and I have a 4/64 F21 that I want to turn into an F30 with the upgraded specs, or possibly just flash the F30 modem to it. I have a few ideas I want to tinker with =)
[General Topics] Jbazt_katuforzs:
-unlock f30's bootloader

-port f21 pro's twrp to f30's stocked recovery

-flash ported twrp recovery to f30

-backup f30's modem, etc

-backup f21pro's modem, etc and save it somewhere safe

-flash f30's backup to f21pro's modem partition using twrp

goodluck
[General Topics] PapaBrickolini:
Awesome, glad you're trying to move forward with this! You had asked before if I could supply you with the F30 rom I have. I believe the rom I have had its uploads taken down by the person who initially uploaded it, and they probably don't want it shared anymore. I didn't plan on using it anymore myself. It seems like only a handful of people have made the F21 to F30 flashing work, hope you make progress!
[General Topics] CatStoleTheCrown:
My progress so far : successfully unlocked F30s bootloader and installed TWRP. Once my work week starts I have limited time to do anything else so I got to do everything on the weekend for the most part. I've been slowly backing up the F30s ROM but having issues with certain files that are too large or don't want to be backed up like the user image (it just pulls data constantly and turned into a massive 24gb file somehow).

I've attempted to Flash the F30s "a" modem to the F21 and the F21 lost all ability to read a Sim card.

-Update on my progress-

Fully backed up the F30's firmware, except for the userdata image.

I was able to Flash the F30's images to the F21 EXCEPT the Pre-loader which continued to fail. I was using the scatter file from the F21 on this post though, so I think that is why.

Can anyone tell me how to create my own scatter file for the F30? Or another way to Flash the pre-loader?

I believe this is the only thing holding me back from getting the SIM cards to read on the F21. At the current moment it appears mobile data is turned off completely and cannot read SIM cards.

Next thing I want to try, after I successfully Flash the F21 into an F30 is to try Flashing the F30 into an F21 with the modems working, lol.

-Update 2-

Tried creating my own scatter file via several methods. Nothing is working. =/ One program gives me an unknown rom error, and the other more complicated method can't seem to pull the files I need from my device. I am at a bit of a loss.

I know someone from Reddit who claims to have made a scatter file for the F30 and I am asking to get their copy.
[General Topics] Jazz0852:
Hi,

Thank you so much for this tutorial!

I'm currently stuck on step 14 of the 'HOW TO ROOT' part of the tutorial.

When I open the terminal emulator, I can only type numbers. I also don't get the option to switch keyboard inputs. I don't have this problem in the browser for instance.

It did say at first when installing the busybox for NDK module that the installation failed, but then it did show up as installed in Magisk. Could that be the problem?

What should I do?

Cheers
[General Topics] Potential_Threat:
Go to language and input settings

Tap on On-Screen-Keyboard

shut off the "Duoqin Ime" and only leave on "Android Keyboard"

That should solve your issue.
[General Topics] CatStoleTheCrown:
Hello everyone, here is my current progress turning an F21 into an F30, or getting the US Bands to work.

I did it! - but not exactly how I wanted to =(

Other people seem to just be able to flash the modem and it works, this didn't work for me at all.

I had a file that contained my IMEI from my F30 and flashed it over to the F21 and this is the only thing that seemed to work for me (in conjunction with flashing the modem and a few other files). Worked beautifully too I might add. I checked in Engineering mode and all the US bands were there. (I will say there might be a little more to it, as the F21 seems to have one less bar on average in certain areas where the F30 has one extra)

Now I obviously do NOT want two devices with the same IMEI (some say its like a car vin, and could get my device blacklisted from service - but as long as I don't have them both on the same service at once I should be okay).

So if anyone knows how to replace an IMEI let me know. I found tutorials online, but they only work when you are running stock firmware (I think) - which we are not after using this thread's firmware... so everything I am finding is unable to connect/flash to my phone. Or only masking my IMEI, but not truly changing it - I want to restore my original F21's IMEI to the device.

This doesn't help others though with F21's and no F30... so I'd like to still find a solution for those who have an F21 only =( as I am not willing to hand over my IMEI file...

If you own an F30 and an F21 I can tell you how to do it. This is obviously only beneficial for maybe two reasons 1) F30 is only 3GB ram 32GB storage, and the F21 can be 4GB ram and 64GB storage, so better device. 2) F21 can be completely unlocked, with GAPPS, such as with this ROM on this thread. But the F30 can be flashed with this ROM as well =) as long as you do not flash/overwrite the modem file during the process (please back up your files!)

If you've already flashed this ROM or any others to your F21, have an F30 and want your F21 to have US Bands, I believe you will not lose anything after the flashing, so you'll be good to go :D but you WILL need to back up files from your F21 - or risk losing them (such as the IMEI and bands) for good.

A nice HEX editor may be able to help solve our issues too - but I have no idea how to use/read them. I just see a bunch of numbers and gibberish on the sides usually.
[General Topics] murtaza217:
Can someone help me figure out if my bootloader is now locked? My F21 pro bootloader wad defo unlocked when I bought it. (the toggle in Dev Options for OEM unlocked said its already unlocked / this firmware flash/twrp/root all worked smoothly.

but the oem toggle in developer settings now makes it look like its locked, as in: the toggle is available and off

Am I overthinking? Is the bootloader still unlocked
[General Topics] CatStoleTheCrown:
Here it is!! I figured it all out - for those with an F21 that want US Bands :)

https://xdaforums.com/t/guide-xiaomi-qin-f21-pro-with-us-bands.4579393/
[General Topics] DEV845:
Hi

I can't install magisk, I am not able to install it from the phone itself, I had to do it through WebADB, and once it's on my phone I can go further from this screen.

Anyone please?
[General Topics] CatStoleTheCrown:
Magisk will be installed once you modify the boot image and Flash it. It's modified through the magisk app, then you boot back into TWRP and Flash wherever the modded file went. Probably the download folder
[General Topics] DEV845:
I have done all the steps up until 17, then when it comes to installing apps, the only way it works for me is with WebADB and when clicking on Magisk, this picture comes up. How can I modify the boot image?
[General Topics] DEV845:
Basically it can't go further from that screen to install Magisk, or even enable to new patched boot img...

Could be my phone is bricked?
[General Topics] Jbazt_katuforzs:
Use 3rd party file manager to locate the magisk apk. I can confirm sometimes you cant install apk 1st boot after flashing the firmware

Or try settings > storage > files > file manager pops > locate magisk apk
[General Topics] Jbazt_katuforzs:
what model/variants you have?

did you flashed the firmware from the download link?
[General Topics] Jbazt_katuforzs:
Because you need to install Gboard apk (included in folder), and activate it (gives you the option to switch input) as an alternative keyboard
[General Topics] shulemf:
My phone is in a bootloop into TWRP recovery after flashing, any solutions except reflashing?
[General Topics] Jbazt_katuforzs:
Only reflash. What model/variants?
[General Topics] Jbazt_katuforzs:
hurray! grats on figuring it out. about the imei, others can copy imei of other US phones (broken/trashed) just replace the last two or three digits (random). It should work and should give their modded f21 with US bands unlocked an imei thats accepted in your region without an f30 phone. way back nokia dumbphone days, we used to do it on changing imei and it works
[General Topics] Jbazt_katuforzs:
It will only be re-locked if you flash an official firmware via flash tool overwriting the unlocked bootloader.

Ignore what you see in dev options.
[General Topics] Pannette:
Hi there, another novice here, just took a crack at this project and had the same issue. I unlocked the phone via this method and successfully installed TWRP, but it didn't seem like Magisk was entirely installing (as mentioned in another post) so I found a 22.1 apk and tried to download that to see if it helped. I went through steps 1-13 in the ROOT AND GAPPS section and didn't see anything too out of place besides these messages at the top of the page, which appeared when I tried flashing the supposedly patched boot img and the zip folder included in the download. I have the 4/64 so that also shouldn't be a problem and I did manage to get the Play Store installed, accompanied by the annoying repeating notification. Any thoughts? I've spent like six hours trying to figure this out today and it's really not my forte. Appreciate any responses you all might have.
[General Topics] Jbazt_katuforzs:
If you follow the steps correctly, u shouldn't have any problems like others.

- you dont need to find magisk installer anywhere because its included in the download. And there's a specific instructions up to where you need to update the app.

- you should posted a screenshot of your magisk app and not the ss of twrp because thats your problem.

-- you've successfully installed TWRP? But TWRP will be installed along with the custom firmware. Did you flashed this firmware too 1st? Coz if not, then you failed to follow the instructions. And the problem you may encounter will be hard to troubleshoot.

- apparently there are different versions on f21pro. This tutorial works with the variant that came with the white box (older/1st version) others with the blue box might have problem making this work.

-you need to flash the firmware thats from the download. If you just unlocked the bootloader and installed TWRP manually, then you're still on stocked oem firmware?. Rooting it might be different due to firmware version. I can't answer you what went wrong if your phone variant is different. You have to figure it out yourself or try other tutorial on rooting it.

- the boot file in the zip is the bootfile for the custom firmware. If you didn't flashed the firmware, you're on different firmware which means the boot file from my zip you patched might not work. What you should try is to patched your firmware bootfile extract it using adb
[General Topics] Pannette:
Thank you for the reply! What I didn't know when I wrote my previous message is that somehow, despite following all the steps in both parts of the tutorial so far, it doesn't seem that my phone is actually rooted? According to a friend, seeing my phone's name in the About tab and also seeing a $ in the terminal emulator instead of an @ (maybe it was the other way around, but the wrong one was visible) means that this is the case. I'm not really sure what went wrong. However:

- I did flash the firmware, but unfortunately I do have the blue box version :( so that might just be what's causing the problems.

- I didn't just unlock the bootloader and install TWRP manually - I followed the unlocking procedure in the link in my previous post and then came here and followed every step (1-17 in the first part, then 1-23 in the root/gapps section), so whatever was in this thread's tutorial, that's how I installed TWRP and Magisk. I did make sure to go slow and double checked that I didn't miss any steps.

- I know the bootfile in the zip is for the custom firmware. I supposedly flashed it, but it seems like in spite of that, something isn't working. Again, might just be the blue box issue. If that's the case, do I need to revert to an earlier point and adb to pull the stock firmware or something? Or can I do that from the stock backup I made somehow at the start of this?

Sorry for the long post, but again, I appreciate you or whoever gives this a look over. Here is a screenshot of my Magisk in case that's still relevant.

EDIT/UPDATE: So I tried to do a system restore, almost broke some stuff, but I reflashed it and am now more or less back to the point in the tutorial before installing the apks. Is the boot img file included part of the stock OS or is that part of the custom firmware?
[General Topics] Jbazt_katuforzs:
If flashed the custom firmware, you shouldn't have any problems.

Looks like magisk files and magisk manager are installed correctly.

Can install root checker and post the results?

Can you check settings > about and post your firmware? If this shows 1.1.1 then the boot in the zip is fine
[General Topics] moogpunk:
delete
[General Topics] zmanjnr:
Hey, after I flashed the boot.img in twrp, my phone has gone into a bootloop - duoqin logo on and off. Turns on to logo, than turns off. No matter what key combination/owl star and power, or up, it just turns itself off and on. I even took out the battery, but right when I put it back in it began turning itself on then off. Can't get into twrp, or even turn the phone on or off on my own - when it died, I plugged it in, and it just restarted again on it's own

Any help please???

Thanks
[General Topics] amberumbrella:
I am on step 12 of rooting. I can enable magisk hide but the "hide the magisk app" is greyed out/unable to tap it.

Magisk shows i have installed 22.1 (22100). My F21 is the 4/64gb model, originally with google play store on it.

I have gone over all the steps multiple times to make sure i did them all. Any ideas? I am struggling to figure this out.

Sidenote: when I opened google play store after step 11, I did not get the "device isn't playstore certified" notification, but it instead says that there is a problem communicating with google servers and doesnt allow me to attempt to sign in. (I am not yet trying to sign in, just noting that it's there) Not sure if this could be relevant in any way
[General Topics] shulemf:
Check your internet connection.

Try connecting to a different network
[General Topics] amberumbrella:
Thanks! Got it working :D
[General Topics] Pannette:
I realized my mistake - I apparently didn't install the device manager .apk. Whoops! Got it sorted out and now it's all working just fine for the most part, but with one exception: have you had any trouble receiving MMS messages? I'm gonna post this on the other thread about unlocking the Verizon bands too, but I haven't been able to receive MMS messages since I made the switch. Worked just fine on my previous phone (Light Phone 2).
[General Topics] Gunnoh:
After flashing gapps, I get the error "unkown file system: ' ' " at the top of the log. The flash "completes", but when I go to boot to system, I just get kicked back into TWRP. I was able to boot into the system after flashing the magisk patch.

Anybody got a fix?
[General Topics] Potential_Threat:
Try reflashing the gapps again
[General Topics] Gunnoh:
I've already tried 5 times, but sure. You don't think the error I'm getting is relevant?
[General Topics] Potential_Threat:
Did you flash the boot1.img to boot partition? That's what sets up the file system.
[General Topics] Gunnoh:
I did. Retrying after wiping everything first, I'll report back in a bit
[General Topics] Gunnoh:
No longer able to even flash the magisk patch. Really hoping someone will make a video guide so I can see where Im ****ing up.
[General Topics] Potential_Threat:
What's stopping you from flashing the magisk patch?
[General Topics] Gunnoh:
I flash the custom firmware, install boot_2.img , Go trough installing all the APKs, and make the patched file using magisk. I then proceed to install the patched image to the boot partition using TWRP, but afterwards I am only able to boot into TWRP.
[General Topics] Potential_Threat:
🤔 Sorry dunno what could be the problem..

I'll try putting together a video when I have time.
[General Topics] vertizontalish:
First off, thank you OP for the great guide. I followed this, along with the band guide here: https://xdaforums.com/t/guide-xiaomi-qin-f21-pro-with-us-bands.4579393 and thought I was up to speed.

However, I noticed yesterday my phone was a bit quiet as far as calls. I then tried to dial a friend and my dialer stayed at "calling...". I also attempted to download Google's phone launcher and got the same results. This happens for any number I dial regardless of Wi-Fi Calling or not.

I'm using Mint mobile with its corresponding APN settings from the official website and all other features of the phone work (SMS, MMS, Data).

My phone number in the android system settings is correct.

I can confirm the bands using the band mod are active using the diag menu accessed by the phone.

Anyone have any clue what could be going on here?
[General Topics] ben00:
Is there a way to just flash TWRP on my F21 with an unlocked bootloader? I don't want to flash a new Firmware on the phone. It already came with the Playstore and Google apps. I just want to do the US Bands modification.