I think I posted on Facebook a few days back that my personal phone was down and recovered the next day.
So here's the story.
I was at a seminar when my phone prompted me to update it. Since there was WiFi, I decided to update it there and then lest I forget it when I get home.
It took about 25mins or so for the entire update to complete. And I mean, downloading and rebooting after application. But here's the catch...
...
After updating my phone, I was greeted with a blank white screen after I slide the wallpaper off. Initially, I thought it was only a lag. But it didn't recover after 5mins. Then when I slide it off again, it was the same. Again and again. Shock and in a panic, I took another hour or so to reboot and try all ways to recover it but still failed.
So, I used my iPad, which was also connected to the net to search for solutions and at the same time, connected the Mi service chat. Did I mention that I'm using XiaoMi? Yes, Mi4i. So, the lady at the service chat, whose name I'd forgotten told me to get to a PC, connect my phone and fastboot it. And she sent me a set of detailed instructions, which I'll get to in a minute. So, I told her that I don't have any PC around me at the moment and will try her method when I get home. Before ending off, she warned me that data might be wiped in the process. I mean. If the phone can be recovered, I guess data being wiped is just a little price to pay.
Worried although irritated, I didn't know if i would be able to revive the phone before meeting my friends for dinner and drinks that night. Managed to contact my friend via Facebook messenger which functions on my iPad as well. Smart right? Hahahaha. But seriously, who remembers numbers at this age right? Except my parents and my own mobile numbers, I doubt I remember any one else's.
Anyhow, when I got home, I started fumbling with the set of detailed instructions given by the service chat lady - which by the way was quite outdated. As the screenshots featured were of an older version of the fastboot application. There were many more buttons on this new application that the screenshots didn't have. Even though that manual was rather detailed, I had to figure my way out around the on my own. After which, there was no effect on my phone. I still saw the same white screen after the wallpaper. Yes, potentially I might have already wiped my data but I didn't recover my phone.
Angry and with dampened spirits, I didn't meet my friends for dinner nor drinks cause there was simply no mood. Found the designated service centre in Singapore and decided to visit that place first thing the next morning.
When I arrived at the service centre, I patiently waited for me turn. If was probably a quick 10mins wait. Then when it was my turn, I explained the situation to the friendly guy at the counter. Literally showing him what I meant. So he smiled and asked, "this happened when you updated your phone ya? So what's your lock type?"
I couldn't really understand what he meant so after few clarifications, I realised he wanted to know if my phone lock was pattern or numeric and if numeric, he would like to know the combination. And so I told him. And the magic happened. Hahahaha. He started keying in the password on that white screen, assuming where the numerics are and wala! The screen came alive! After all that fuss, the only issue was one thing. And simple at that - the theme I was using was not compatible with the latest update. So by changing the theme, everything became normal again! It took less than a minute for me to get my phone back. Was actually a little mad at the lady that told me to fastboot my phone and prepare for the loss of data because it was not the problem at all. Sigh.
Yeah. So that was the bad scare. Hahahaha. Probably wasted a few minutes of your time but yeah. Don't trust those service chats! Hahahaha. Go XiaoMi!
