When you want to start installing custom ROMs or unsigned zip files of any description, such as those you might find with SuperSU and other rooting file alternatives, you won’t be able to achieve it from the stock recovery partition. Instead, you’ll need to wipe the stock recovery with a custom recovery, since you can only ever have one of them at any given time.

Those searching for what custom recovery to install should look for a version of TWRP. There have been other custom recovery images in the past, and many of those download links are still live as of today, but they are no longer in development. Anything that isn’t being developed could have compatibility issues with ROMs and rooting files that have recently been released.

So what made TWRP take the reins in the world of custom recovery images and why isn’t there any competition? The original custom recovery image people installed was ClockworkMod. It relied on using the Volume keys and the Power button for functionality—those were the buttons one would need to press in order to navigate within the recovery and confirm the actions. TWRP doesn’t do that, instead managing to make use of the touch display that all mobile devices have, allowing for navigation with finger tapping much the same way people were already doing when using the Android operating system outside of the recovery partition. In other words, TWRP came up with something that people were more familiar with and preferred doing . . . it was just the better custom recovery image.

TWRP is an open source custom recovery, and it takes a large number of people’s constant efforts to continue it’s development, all of whom are able to do that working as a team, thanks to its open source environment. ClockworkMod was only being developed by its founder, Koushik Dutta. Thus, it was difficult for ClockworkMod to compete with so many minds and hands. It isn’t out of the question that another custom recovery image comes along and takes TWRP’s place. But there isn’t any features that TWRP is lacking, and since all those developers who wanted to contribute to a custom recovery already are, it’s not difficult to see why TWRP would stop being the world’s preferred custom recovery anytime soon.

Details of Note

  • The custom recovery images available in this guide are only to be installed on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A or Xiaomi Redmi Y1 smartphones. Most devices have a custom recovery image developed specifically for it, and you shouldn’t install one that is intended for another device unless advised it is okay by a professional.
  • You can follow this guide on any of the major three computer operating systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux. You just need to download the right platform-tools file from the Android SDK package when you’re on the Android website, which is walked through during the guide below.
  • You can install the official TWRP Recovery application from the Google Play Store or from the TWRP website as an apk, if you have root access on the device already, and get the TWRP installed that way, no adb required. Once the app is installed, it will be in your Downloads folder. Navigate to the Downloads folder and select the TWRP application. When the application opens tap on the option for flashing the TWRP.

Files Required

How to Install TWRP Custom Recovery on Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A or Xiaomi Redmi Y1

If you already have TWRP installed on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A or Xiaomi Redmi Y1 smartphone, then you can just install the latest version of TWRP directly from the custom recovery itself by uploading it there. Achieving that would go as follows: download the TWRP to your computer, connect your device to the computer using the USB cable, transfer the TWRP file to the internal storage folder, disconnect the device from the computer and then boot it up into the Recovery mode where you would then flash the file.

For everyone else who hasn’t yet installed TWRP on the Google Pixel XL smartphone before now, you’ll need to do as follows:

1. Make sure you’ve installed the universal ADB drivers on the computer. That will make it possible for you to use adb commands as well as the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A/Xiaomi Redmi Y1 smartphones. If you can’t get the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A/Xiaomi Redmi Y1 smartphones connected to the computer, then you can also download the Xiaomi USB drivers instead so the computer has both the ADB drivers and Xiaomi drivers installed . . . you then can’t go wrong.

2. You need to have the platform-tools part of the Android SDK on your computer. From the download link scroll down until you get to the command line tools section and then download the package that is made for your operating system.

3. Once you have the SDK Manager on your computer, check the box only for the platform-tools, so you end up with the adb and fastboot binaries installed on the computer. (You could also install the drivers from there as well if you wanted.)

4. Pick up the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A/Xiaomi Redmi Y1 smartphones and navigate to the Settings > About and tap your finger over the build number at least seven times so that the Developer Options menu becomes unlocked. Then go back to the Settings, enter the Developer Options menu and then enable the USB debugging mode.

5. Connect the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A/Xiaomi Redmi Y1 smartphones to the computer by using the USB cable that it comes with.

6. Now on the computer open the Command Prompt and type the adb reboot bootloader command and hit “Enter” on your keyboard to get the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A/Xiaomi Redmi Y1 smartphones into the bootloader mode and ready for the flashing.

7. Make sure you have copied the TWRP image file to the same folder as the adb and fastboot binaries. Also when you’re there, change the name of the TWRP to “twrp.img” by right-clicking the mouse pointer on it and selecting the “Rename” option from the menu.

8. From the command line type the fastboot flash recovery twrp.imgcommand and hit “Enter” on your keyboard to flash the custom recovery.

9. Lastly type the fastboot reboot command and as soon as the Motorola Moto G5 Plus smartphone reboots, hold down the key combination to boot directly into the recovery mode. (If you don’t sometimes the stock recovery will wipe over the custom recovery you just installed.)

The custom recovery image for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A/Xiaomi Redmi Y1 smartphones is now installed, and you are ready to boot into recovery mode and start flashing the custom ROM or rooting zip files.

TWRP App Installation Method (Root Required)

If you decided to download the TWRP application from the Google Play Store or the apk file from the official TWRP website, then after you open the application you will be given a few different options to choose from. But before even going that far, it’s important to note that you should only install the TWRP apk file from the official TWRP website. If you’re installing it from Git, or any other file hosting website, it might not be the official version, and thus, it won’t have been built or tested by the official TWRP developers and maintainers.

Once the application is open, you’ll need to agree to not hold anyone from TWRP responsible for any issues that your device may face while using the application. This is a standard disclaimer that Team Win puts on top of each of the recovery image files from the official website as well, so it’s nothing new. It just explains that it is your decision to put the custom recovery on your device, and while they work hard to provide a quality product, there are no guarantees that your device isn’t susceptible to damages relating to TWRP while the custom recovery is installed. You can grant the application root permissions now as well. Root access can be obtained by flashing SuperSU, or other appropriate rooting files, from the custom recovery itself. Without root, you won’t have access to some of the app’s features, such as image flashing. It’s here also where you can enable InsightCore (a feature to monitor and record the network performance of your device).

Once you’ve accepted the agreements, you’ll see the TWRP application’s home screen, where you can choose to flash TWRP or view the network statistics. When choosing to flash the custom recovery, you’ll need to scroll and select your device from the list to make sure you are flashing the correct file. When the device is chosen, the TWRP application automatically then searches for the latest version of the TWRP for that device and will continue doing so every day for as long as the app is installed. This interval can also be altered from the Settings in the top right-hand corner of the device’s display when the apps open.

If root access has been enabled, you’ll see the chance to select the custom recovery image and the buttons for flashing the images to boot or from recovery. You should choose to flash the images to recovery. Only use the boot image flashing when you are flashing full boot images, not just kernel zimages.

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