Android 9 Pie GSI on Xiaomi Mi A1
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Android 9 Pie GSI on Xiaomi Mi A1: Workarounds

Hiram K.·
Guides and Tips

The expected release of Android Pie continues to elicit a lot of excitement. That’s because it would be the most advanced OS from Google to date. And like most people, we were too eager to wait for an OTA update. So, in a previous post, we tried out an unofficial port of Android 9 Pie GSI on Xiaomi Mi A1.

Some things in that port worked fine, while others didn’t. Stuff like VoLTE, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth–for example–are working okay. But, excessive battery drain remains a problem. And the way OK Google functions is choppy at best.

Still, the Android 9 Pie GSI installation offered improvements that impressed us.

New Android 9 Pie Features

You’d have to install the Android 9 port first to understand why we love it so much. All the same, here are the enhancements that we couldn’t get enough of.

Enhanced Messaging

The messaging experience is way better on the Android Pie than on previous releases. The most notable feature is the use of avatars. Messages now include both the name and picture of the sender. And notifications can even display thumbnails of attached images from the message body.

If you’re a coder, these are the methods that now help you exploit the new messaging features listed above.

Create a sender with an avatar:

Person sender = new Person()
.setName(name)
.setUri(uri)
.setIcon(null)
.build();
Android 9 pie GSI quick reply avatars
Android Pie messaging showing the use of images in avatars. It also shows the quick reply feature. Source Android Developers

Create a message notification that includes an image:

Message message = new Message("Picture", time, sender)
.setData("image/", imageUri);
Android Pie message notifications image thumbnails
Android Pie message notifications that can display image thumbnails. Source: Android Developers

Lockable Rotation Modes

I know you’ll love this one: you can now set the rotation to not change. Say you’re viewing something on your display and you’ve rotated it to landscape mode. In previous OSes, that would change back to portrait mode when you turned the display again. And that was quite irksome if the change in orientation was unintentional.

But thanks to Android Pie, we now have a button that pins the orientation to the mode you’re using at any given moment.

Enhanced display rotation on Android 9 Pie GSI
Enhanced display rotation modes on Android 9 Pie. Source: Android Developers

Enhanced Battery Usage

The Mi A1 used to disappoint us with the way it squandered its battery charge. Thus, it forced us to look for ways to deal with its wakelocks, for example, in an attempt to remedy the problem.

The good thing with the Android 9 Pie GSI port is that it handles battery usage out of the box.

Its Adaptive Battery feature extends battery life by limiting errant, background apps. Using app standby buckets, it allows the active apps to work without interruption. But the idle ones face restrictions, which reduces their battery usage.

Brightness that Adapts to Ambient Lighting

It seems the Android Pie release seeks to solve all the problems the Mi A1 suffers from. And the lack of proper brightness control was one of the most bothersome among these. See, it cascaded into issues like image retention and screen burn-in. But with the Adaptive Brightness feature on Android 9, these may well be a thing of the past.

The enhancement works so well because it learns your brightness preferences. It learns how you set levels and combines that with sensors’ data to try to match the ambient lighting. This means that a user may spend less time tinkering with the display. And this could save the display from premature deterioration.

Installation Recap

Remember, if you followed the previous post on how to install Android 9 Pie GSI on Mi A1, these are the files you flashed:

File Type File Name and Link
Vendor/drivers files
System/Android OS files
  1. P-PR1-sGSI-AB.img by XDA recognized developer, erfanoabdi; and
  2. POST-sGSI_1_v0.14_Pie_Tissot.zip (Update: You may now use the latest version: POST-sGSI_1_v0.22_Pie_GSI_Tissot.zip) by XDA senior member, joeyhaub; and
  3. POST-sGSI_2_v0.17_Pie_Tissot.zip by joeyhaub
Boot/kernel files

Using these, the hardware below works as it should. (But, some bugs do creep in too.)

What Works

  • 3.5mm audio jack
  • Bluetooth
  • SIM, mobile data, and voice calls (both incoming and outgoing)
  • VoLTE
  • Wi-Fi
  • Fingerprint Reader

Still, the ones below do work but users have noted that they are not perfect:

  • Camera: If you have installed the Xiaomi Mi A2, it may crash often
  • Microphone: Mic recording seems to fail sometimes. Thus, it affects apps like OK Google.

Reported Bugs

With that said, you would have noted that the Android 9 Pie GSI installation has a few bugs. These may include:

  • SELinux remains permissive
  • Double tap to wake doesn’t work as expected
  • Fingerprint and capacitive navigation keys may have very weak haptic feedback
  • The Mi A2 camera (we prefer this over the one for Mi A1) crashes often

So, in a second we’ll see how you can fix most of these issues.

How to Fix an Installation of Android 9 Pie GSI on Xiaomi Mi A1

With that out of the way, you can now start addressing the issues below.

Google Backup Stuck on “Waiting to Sync”

  • Enable USB debugging on your Mi A1
  • Connect the device to a computer using a USB cable
  • Force device to sync to Google using these commands:
adb shell
bmgr run
bmgr backupnow --all
  • Reboot

MTP not Working

  • Turn on Developer settings (tap Build Number four times)
  • Go to Default USB configuration
  • Press File transfer

Want to use Substratum Themes

Experiencing Excessive Battery Drain

Android Pie promises better battery performance than previous OSes. So, if you still find that your battery discharges fast, you will have to disable USB debugging.

Mi A2 Camera Crashes: Use GCam Instead

Don’t forget to share whether there is a mod that works better than the ones I’ve listed above. Head on to the comments section for that.

GCam Settings Force Closes

Need an Alternative to Google Photos

  • Install a gallery app from LineageOS. Find the link below.

Need a Boot Logo Alternative

Need Nav Bar Gestures

  • Flash this Magisk mod by joeyhaub using TWRP:
  • Reboot
  • Go to Settings, System, then Gestures
  • Select Swipe Up on Home Button

Note: Your Mi A1’s capacitive keys will no longer work after this process.

Want to Tweak the Launcher

  • If you want to use custom icon packs, change labels, and more then install the app below.
    • Pixel Launcher Mods by XDA recognized developer Quinny899: pixel_launcher_mods_v1.2.apk
    • You can also download the app from its official page. But, you’ll need XDA membership for that.

OK Google Does not Work as it Should

  • Using TWRP recovery, flash the latest modem file by joeyhaub. Find the link below.
  • Reboot

With these tweaks, your Android Pie installation should work smoothly.

But, what if you want to go back to stock ROM? And you want to “un-trebelize” your Mi A1?

The steps below will show you how to remove this Android 9 Pie GSI port from your phone.

How to go back to Stock ROM from Android 9 Pie GSI

Note: The process below will wipe your device clean, so remember to make a backup of your files.

Prerequisites:

  • Download the latest, stable ROM. Find the link below.
  • Download the MiFlash tool and install it. Find the link below.

Steps:

  1. Boot into TWRP recovery. For that, you should restart the phone by holding down the power and volume up buttons.
  2. On the main TWRP screen press Advanced then Tissot Manager
  3. TWRP will display a Disclaimer notice. Click Next after reading it.
  4. On the Tissot Manager screen, press Repartition
  5. The manager will present you with a Repartition for Treble notice. Select the option I wish to repartition this device after reading it. Then, press Repartition
  6. The repartitioning may take a minute. Wait for it to finish then press Reboot TWRP.
    • Note: The repartitioning removes Treble support from your Mi A1–it “un-trebelizes” the phone.
  7. Once TWRP restarts, press Reboot on the main screen.
  8. Then press Bootloader on the Reboot screen
  9. The device will switch to fastboot mode. Now, connect your Mi A1 to a computer.
  10. Run MiFlash v7.4.25 as an administrator on the computer
  11. Select the stock ROM by browsing to where you saved the firmware folder
  12. Press refresh on the MiFlash tool. (Your Mi A1 should now show up on the flash tool.)
  13. Select clean at the bottom of the flash tool’s screen if you want to remain with an unlocked bootloader. Otherwise, choose: clean all.
  14. Press flash at the top of the flash tool’s screen to start the installation of the stock ROM
  15. Wait for the flashing process to finish. Your phone will then reboot into stock ROM

Final Thoughts

Android Pie is Google’s most advanced mobile OS. And we got a chance to try out an Android 9 Pie GSI port on Xiaomi Mi A1. But, the installation had a few issues. So, in this post, I suggested a few tweaks. Using these, Android Pie should be usable smoothly.

Still, for those who would want to go back to stock ROM, I added a guide on how to do so. The process removes Treble support on the Mi A1 completely.

Well, I know this might have been a bit of lengthy post. But, I hope that you got some useful tips from it.

If you have any suggestions or need further help, don’t hesitate to share in the comments section.