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Saturday, June 2, 2018

How to install MIUI 10 on the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2/2S, Xiaomi Mi 6, and Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro

The Xiaomi Mi 8, Mi 8 Explorer Edition, and the Mi 8 SE were recently launched at an event in China. With the three smartphone announcements came the release of a MIUI 10 China Developer ROM for several devices. The new "AI" features that Xiaomi is highlighting for the release include AI Preload and AI Portrait. MIUI 10 also brings changes to nearly every aspect of the system UI such as a redesigned lock screen, notifications, recent apps, quick settings, volume panel, and more. Parts of the new UI are reminiscent of the design seen in Android P. If you want to try out this new version of MIUI, you can either wait for Xiaomi to release a Global Beta ROM or sideload the China Beta ROM right now so long as you have the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, Xiaomi Mi 6, or Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro. Don't worry, you can change the language from Mandarin to English and you can install Google apps too!

Why only these devices? Well, MIUI 10 isn't publicly available yet. ROMs for these devices have leaked online which is how we're able to install them right now, but if you own one of the other devices poised to receive an update to MIUI 10 you'll have to wait for a ROM to leak or for Xiaomi to release a build. As a reminder, the following devices are in closed beta testing for the ROM right now with a public beta to follow later this month.

Devices eligible for MIUI 10 China Developer ROM

In late July, the public beta will be available for the following devices:

List of eligible devices for MIUI 10 China Developer ROM in July

Xiaomi Mi Note 3
Xiaomi Mi 5X
Xiaomi Mi 5c
Xiaomi Mi 5s
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
Xiaomi Mi 4
Xiaomi Mi 4c
Xiaomi Mi 4S
Xiaomi Mi Max 2
Xiaomi Mi Max
Xiaomi Redmi 5
Xiaomi Redmi 5A
Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
Xiaomi Redmi 4
Xiaomi Redmi 4A
Xiaomi Redmi 4X
Xiaomi Redmi 3S/ Redmi 3X
Xiaomi Redmi Pro
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Qualcomm/ Redmi Note 4X
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (MediaTek)
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Qualcomm)

MIUI 9 (8.5.11) for the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, and Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro

MIUI 9 Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, and Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro

Screenshots Credit: @XiaomiUI on Telegram

The builds for the Xiaomi Mi 6, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, and Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S are based on Android 8.0 Oreo while the build for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro is based on Android 8.1 Oreo. Once you flash these builds, you should be on the latest May security patches. We're not sure if you'll receive OTA updates to stable releases, but it should be easy to sideload future updates in the same way you're installing these builds. The last thing we should note is that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro build is actually from the Chinese Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 (not to be confused with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 released in India which is known as the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus in China); according to users on our forums, it should still work just fine.

How to install MIUI 10 on the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, Xiaomi Mi 6, and Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro

Sideloading MIUI 10 will require an unlocked bootloader, which you can apply for here. Unlocking the bootloader will wipe the device. Please make a backup of all your data before you attempt the upgrade!

Setup ADB and Fastboot on your computer if you haven't already.
Connect your phone to your PC.
Download the right TWRP image for your phone:
Download the Google apps package here.
Download the right MIUI 10 build for your phone:
Transfer the MIUI 10 ROM and GApps package from your PC to your phone.
Reboot to the bootloader by powering off your phone and holding down the power key and volume down keys simultaneously.
Boot TWRP on your device with the following command: fastboot boot recovery /path/to/twrp.img (Replace /path/to/twrp.img with the actual filename and the location where you stored it.)
Once you have booted into TWRP, tap on "Wipe" and then "swipe to factory reset" to do a factory reset. This may not be necessary if you're already on the MIUI 9 China Stable or Developer ROMs, but it'll very likely be necessary if you're on the MIUI 9 Global ROMs.
Go to "Install" and find where you stored the MIUI 10 ROM. Select it and flash it.
Tap "back" and then flash the Google apps package.
Once the flashing has completed, tap on "reboot system" and you should boot into MIUI 10!
Enjoy MIUI 10 on your Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, Xiaomi Mi 6, and Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro!

Want to share your thoughts on these ROMs and follow all the latest news for your device? Check out the official XDA forums for each device below!

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 Forums

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S Forums

Xiaomi Mi 6 Forums

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Forums

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Developer releases basic 2D Daydream VR launcher for the Lenovo Mirage Solo

The standalone Lenovo Mirage Solo Daydream VR headset is actually capable of launching two-dimensional apps and games, but the device by default provides no way of doing so. You have to use a cumbersome workaround involving installing the app remotely from the Play Store on a PC, then opening Settings on the Mirage Solo, then opening the app settings page that you want to launch, then launching the Play Store details page for the app, and then finally tapping "open" to actually launch the app you want. The full steps outlined by UploadVR show you just how tedious this can be. Fortunately, a developer has released a 2D app launcher that lets you launch other 2D apps without going through this painful process.

As a brief reminder, the Mirage Solo is the first Daydream VR headset with Google's WorldSense technology for tracking your location and Project Seurat for high-fidelity VR scenes. It offers 6 degrees of freedom tracking and ships with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip. (In comparison, the Oculus Go offers 3 degrees of freedom tracking and ships with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, though it retails at $199 compared to the Mirage Solo's $450 price.)

Over on Reddit, developer /u/ssshhhhhhhhhhhhh has released a modified version of the open-source KISS Launcher. (The source code for his modifications can be viewed here.) The modifications they made allow KISS Launcher ('SIKK Launcher') to be launched from the Daydream VR Launcher. Once launched, you can easily search for your installed 2D apps by either typing the name to filter the list or by scrolling through the list with your controller. Previously launched apps are automatically added to the home screen for quick access, and these can be favorited so they'll be pinned to the home screen.

Note: The screenshots above are from my Google Pixel 2 XL since I don't own a Lenovo Mirage Solo.

The benefits of this app, according to the developer, are as follows:

Launch Google Photos and select automatic backup so you can easily backup screenshots and screen recordings.
Launch Bluetooth settings quickly to pair new Bluetooth devices. The developer states that pairing Bluetooth headphones worked for them and that multiple users report that pairing gamepads will work.
Of course, you'll be able to launch your 2D apps much more quickly than before.

Check out UploadVR playing PUBG Mobile as an example of the crazy things you can do with 2D apps and games on the Lenovo Mirage Solo.

There are a few things you should be aware of before you go messing with 2D apps and settings on your Mirage Solo:

Do not disable Bluetooth. Your VR remote relies on Bluetooth to communicate with the headset. If you turn off Bluetooth, you won't have a way to control your device.
Enable USB Debugging and set up ADB. If you do happen to mess anything up, then you can fix most of your problems if you have ADB set up with your PC. (For example, if you accidentally disable Bluetooth but you have ADB then you can toggle Bluetooth on via the following command: svc bluetooth enable).
Bug: The home button sometimes only launches the current app. The developer is unsure why this happens but states a simple reboot will fix the problem.

Are you ready to try this launcher? You can download it from the below link. You'll need to sideload it, though, as the developer states that the high standards of the Play Store prevent him from even attempting to submit this app online. You can sideload the APK with ADB or by downloading it from the original thread via Google Chrome.

Download the modified KISS Launcher for the Lenovo Mirage Solo Daydream VR headset

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Motorola Moto G5S Plus and LG V35 ThinQ now support ARCore

The Motorola Moto G5S Plus and the LG V35 ThinQ now support Google ARCore, the platform for augmented reality applications on Android. Both smartphones were recently added to the list of supported ARCore devices.

Augmented Reality via ARCore:

Succeeding Project Tango, Google ARCore was launched in preview late last year for the Google Pixel and top-tier Samsung Galaxy flagships. Unlike Project Tango, ARCore does not require dedicated hardware such as special cameras or sensors. The platform is designed to work on existing smartphone hardware.
Ahead of Mobile World Congress 2018, Google launched version 1.0 of the augmented reality platform which brought support for many new devices. The first public release saw new features such as environmental understanding of when a user places virtual assets on textured surfaces. With version 1.0, Google also started to allow developers to publish AR apps on the Google Play Store.
Version 1.1 of ARCore hinted at more devices receiving support for the platform such as the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S. (Both devices have since officially gained support for the AR platform.) The 1.1 update added two new APIs to the platform: An API that allows for developers to run their own image processing algorithms on images from the camera and an API that allows for rendering virtual objects to match real-world lighting.
Version 1.2 was announced at Google I/O 2018 and it added features such as "Cloud Anchors," "Vertical Plane Detection," and "Augmented Images."

The list of supported devices grows. The Moto G5S Plus and the recently launched LG V35 ThinQ are just two of the latest devices to join the growing list of ARCore supported devices. According to users on our forums, the Moto G5S Plus supports the platform even on the Android Nougat release. That's great news considering that a Motorola support page (now taken down) suggested that the Android Oreo release was rolling out, but nobody has actually received the update yet. The LG V35 ThinQ hasn't started shipping to consumers yet, so we can't verify if AR apps actually work on it yet. If you want to try an augmented reality app out, then download ARCore and an app like "Just a Line" to play around with AR.

ARCore by Google (Free, Google Play) →

Just a Line - Draw Anywhere, with AR (Free, Google Play) →

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A mid-range Google Pixel with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 may launch in 2019

According to a comment by notable leaker Roland Quandt from WinFuture, Google is reportedly planning on launching a mid-range Google Pixel device with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 system-on-chip in the first half of 2019.

Off to Taiwan for @computex_taipei today, but here's a tidbit for ya: Google is working on a "mobile" device based on the Snapdragon 710 currently scheduled for launch in the 1st half of 2019. Sounds like this might be the (or one of them) upcoming mid-range Pixel phone.

— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) June 2, 2018

A return to their roots?

The Google Pixel series of smartphones is a flagship line-up. They all cost a pretty penny because they feature the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset (the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 on the Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 on the Google Pixel 2 and Google Pixel 2 XL), the latest Android experience from Google with years of guaranteed support, and the best Google software such as the Google Camera app.
Before the Pixel, the Google Nexus was known for their flagship-tier specifications at a mid-range price (though that's really only true for the Google Nexus 4 and Google Nexus 5 as phones like the Google Nexus 6 and Google Nexus 6P were priced quite high at launch.) Many have wondered if or when Google would ever return to their roots by releasing at least a spiritual successor to the last Nexus smartphone.

A mid-range Pixel is just what we've been waiting for.

Indian media reported that Google was preparing to launch a mid-range Pixel smartphone around July-August of this year. If true, the mid-range Pixel could be the revival of the Google Nexus we've all been waiting for, even if it's not carrying the same name.
However, given the launch timing mentioned in Roland Quandt's tweet, it seems like this previously reported mid-range Pixel and the new mid-range Pixel may not be the same device. It's possible that the mid-range device that was rumored to launch this year has been pushed back to early next year, or it's possible that the mid-range Pixel may still launch this year but it will be followed-up by early next year.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 is the highest-end chipset in Qualcomm's mid-range lineup. It may not pack the same punch as the Snapdragon 835 or Snapdragon 845, but combined with Google's prowess in optimizing their software for their hardware, this rumored mid-range Pixel should deliver a similar buttery-smooth experience that existing Pixel owners are used to. The only other Snapdragon 710 device that we know of is the Xiaomi Mi 8 SE.

A lower cost Pixel phone with the Snapdragon 710? Sign me up.

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DOOGEE BL9000 is Now Available on Banggood & Select Pre-orders Get 50% Off

On May 28th, DOOGEE announced its brand new phone called the BL9000, and we went hands-on with it. This new BL model comes with a massive 9000mAh battery. Its continues the business style of the previous model, the BL7000. This phone is the best solution for people looking for a long lasting battery with NFC and wireless charging technology.

This phone is available now on Banggood from May 28th to June 3rd. If you buy the phone within this time frame, you'll be able to get a limited-time $50 discount promotion. If you happen to be one of the first ten orders, you will get a 50% discount at $124.99 as well as a C2 Wireless Charger as a free gift as well as a free 10W Wireless Charger.

While DOOGEE BL9000 includes a few world-firsts by being the first business phone to pack a super large battery, and also being the first phone to have wireless charging with a big battery. This model features a 5.99" display with a FHD+ resolution, Octa-core MT6763 P23 processor, 6GBs of RAM, 64GB of storage, and of course the 9000mAh battery. To make sure you can charge such a large battery in a short amount of time, DOOGEE has implemented their Pump Express 4.0 technology which is three times faster than regular chargers.

The camera features an 5+12MP rear shooter and an 8MP selfie camera with a front facing flash. The large pixel size of 1.25μm gives users better color range and excellent low-light images.

Don't miss your chance to get the BL9000 for only $199.99 for those who preorder.

Buy the BL9000 at Banggood

We thank DOOGEE for sponsoring this post. Our sponsors help us pay for the many costs associated with running XDA, including server costs, full time developers, news writers, and much more. While you might see sponsored content (which will always be labeled as such) alongside Portal content, the Portal team is in no way responsible for these posts. Sponsored content, advertising and XDA Depot are managed by a separate team entirely. XDA will never compromise its journalistic integrity by accepting money to write favorably about a company, or alter our opinions or views in any way. Our opinion cannot be bought.

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Friday, June 1, 2018

How a graphics driver bug on the Samsung Galaxy S6 leaked Google Chrome tab data

Back in late March, a U.K. based start-up firm specializing in testing GPU reliability approached us with a GPU bug they discovered that causes the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ to reboot when visiting a web page. The firm, called GraphicsFuzz, worked with us to report the issue to Qualcomm and Samsung. Some of our readers were interested in learning just how a company like GraphicsFuzz is able to find these vulnerabilities, so we collaborated with the company to showcase how they discovered an older GPU vulnerability. This already-patched vulnerability allowed an attacker to remotely "spy" on the contents of Google Chrome browser tabs on the Samsung Galaxy S6.

This user was viewing their bank's website before visiting the malicious web page. The contents were captured and uploaded to a remote server. Source: GraphicsFuzz.

How GraphicsFuzz finds GPU bugs

A graphics driver works by taking a shader program and sending it to the GPU to be executed and thus render the image. Before sending the shader to the GPU, the graphics driver translates it into a form that the GPU can understand; a faulty translation can lead to rendering failure, program or device crashes, wrong images, and even security issues. GraphicsFuzz has an automated testing suite that allows them to find these bugs based on a set of reference shaders. When a user runs their test, all the resulting images are supposed to look the same. Any image that looks different means there was a bug.

Results of several popular devices running the GraphicsFuzz test suite. The Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy S7, and Samsung Galaxy S8 are included in these charts. Source: GraphicsFuzz.

For the Samsung Galaxy S6, GraphicsFuzz discovered that the images in one of the rows were showing images that were supposed to be in another table. This means that images from earlier tests were leaking into later tests. The team then re-ran the test suite in Google Chrome and discovered that parts of the web page were appearing in the image. Furthermore, they found that opening another tab caused the image to show parts of other tabs. Essentially, this bug allowed one Google Chrome tab to leak information about another Chrome tab! The team behind GraphicsFuzz wasn't intentionally looking for security bugs, but they ended up finding one as a result of their testing. (It should be noted that the team reproduced the bug on the stock Samsung browser on the Galaxy S6 as well as Mozilla Firefox.)

How the bug works

Image used to trigger the long-running bug on the Samsung Galaxy S6. Source: GraphicsFuzz.

The "malicious" web page created by GraphicsFuzz uses WebGL to attempt to draw a space scene inside a canvas as shown above. The color of each pixel is determined by a fragment shader, a program provided by the web page to execute on the GPU. The GraphicsFuzz framework modified the fragment shader which caused it to run for a really long time. When a shader runs for too long, the browser or operating system typically aborts rendering. However, while the GPU aborted rendering after drawing a few pixels, the GPU driver didn't report this to Google Chrome. (If you take a look at the image at the top of the article showing garbage video memory, you can actually see parts of the space scene in the top left.) This means that the pixels that were rendered before the abort are left untouched, meaning the final rendered image is mostly garbage video memory. Since video memory is continuously used to render other web pages, the "garbage" data actually contains previous renderings of other web pages. Thus, other web pages end up being displayed on the "malicious" web page. Crucially, WebGL allows the web page to capture the contents of whatever is being rendered; this image is then uploaded to a remote server.

Diagram explaining the long-running GPU bug causing Chrome tab data to "leak." Source: GraphicsFuzz.

Google Chrome uses multiple processes so different tabs are often isolated, which makes this exploit seem impossible on the surface. However, Chrome interacts with the GPU using a single "GPU process", which means that all tabs share the same GPU memory, thus allowing this exploit to work. The diagram above shows this in more detail.

The bug is demonstrated in this video during the first 22 seconds. Other security issues found by GraphicsFuzz are also demonstrated.

Lessons to be learned

A misbehaving GPU can bypass all of Google Chrome and Android's security measures since WebGL allows any malicious web page to send code to the GPU for execution. Google can't fix GPU bugs since the company doesn't control the hardware and drivers. In this case, it's up to the GPU vendor (in this case, ARM) to fix the bug and the OEM whose devices are affected (in this case, Samsung) to integrate the fix in an update. Add carriers to the mix and it's easy to see how a bug like this can take a really long time to fix—it took at least 5 months for most Samsung Galaxy S6 users to receive the patch.

GraphicsFuzz helps GPU vendors find hard-to-detect bugs such as miscompilation bugs that cause the wrong code to be generated and executed on the GPU. Their automated testing framework allows them to find bugs such as the one showcased in this article. The long-running loop caused by the "malicious" web page has also been shown to cause issues on other devices such as the HTC One M7 and more recently the Samsung Galaxy S9. GraphicsFuzz tests flagship smartphones and publishes a results table which ranks these devices based on their performance on a subset of their tests. Hundreds of crashes and rendering errors have been found during their testing, but most aren't investigated to see if they pose a security threat. However, as shown by this exploit, a misbehaving GPU is a security risk, and it's possible that one or more critical security vulnerabilities are waiting to be discovered. GraphicsFuzz hopes that GPU vendors prioritize improving driver quality in the future.

GraphicsFuzz GPU Stability Results

Comparative reliability of graphics drivers, sorted by the number of total issues. Source: GraphicsFuzz.

Disclosure timeline

In December 2016, GraphicsFuzz reported the bug to the Google Chromium bug tracker because it was eligible for the Chrome Reward Program. After GraphicsFuzz submitted the bug to the Google Chromium bug tracker, the bug was accepted by Google and forwarded it to ARM and Samsung for patching.
Google forwarded the report to contacts at ARM and Samsung.
Samsung silently patched the bug and rolled out the fix in the Android 7.0 Nougat update that was released between March and June of 2017. Although there was no CVE created by Samsung, Google, or ARM and neither Samsung nor ARM released any information on the patch, note that GraphicsFuzz did not report the bug via the proper process.
Later, GraphicsFuzz was able to confirm that both Samsung and ARM had seen the report, and that ARM was able to fix the issue due to the report.
In August 2017, GraphicsFuzz was rewarded $2,000 by Google for the bug report.
In November 2017, the bug report was made public.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 9 reportedly launching in August with upgraded camera

Samsung announced the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ earlier this year, which means the next major flagship will be the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. Samsung traditionally launches the new Note phones in late Summer/early Fall. A report from Bloomberg claims the Galaxy Note 9 will be announced at an "Unpacked" event on August 9th.

Bloomberg doesn't get into specifics, but they do say the device will include an upgraded Qualcomm processor and an upgraded camera. We're probably looking at the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and the camera from the Galaxy S9. Not exactly mind-blowing information, but the event date is still important. Surprisingly, there haven't been many rumors about specs for the Note 9. The last bit of information we covered was about Bixby 2.0 launching on the device.

The report doesn't say anything about the in-display fingerprint scanner. That has been a topic of much discussion for the last several Samsung flagship phones. First, they ran out of time with the Galaxy S8. It missed the Galaxy S9 as well. Then a report claimed it would be absent from the Note 9, but that was quickly flipped. So who knows what will happen with the Note 9. With devices like the Xiaomi Mi 8 launching with in-display fingerprint sensors, it seems inevitable that Samsung will figure it out.

There's still not a lot to go on, but at least we have a date to mark on the calendar. The event will take place on August 9th and we can expect the device to be released by the end of the month. The report did say that plans could still shift, so these dates may change.

Source: Bloomberg

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