Google Pay on Mi MIX 2S

I wrote about getting the Mi Mix2S as a replacement for my trusty Redmi 1. After some investigation, the phone was sold with a MIUI 10 Global Beta loaded on a Chinese model.

This is suppose to be a bad combination.

I was trying to configure Google Pay when it complained that the phone is modified or rooted. Duh! The bootloader was unlocked to first install MIUI 10.

TWRP turned out to be really difficult to install. On reboot, it kept being overwritten by the stock recovery! I got nowhere, I thought the bootloader may be locked or the anti rollback is in effect, it wasn’t. After a few weekends, I decided to put everything on the backburner. A few days ago, the XiaoMiTool V2 was released. So thought I try my luck again. This time TWRP was flashed successfully and I quickly put in Magisk. link

The phone was stuck in a recovery boot loop. I fixed this by flashing the stock version of MIUI 10 Global beta from MIUI forums. In another words back to square 1.

After browsing some XDA forums, turns out I need to flash Magisk to prevent TWRP from being overwritten.

To get out of the boot loop, I need to change the name in build.prop. The phone booted successfully. link

The root method works, I can download Ad Blocker and access system folders. Safetynet cannot pass, due to Profile problems.

Further research shows that I have to change the signature and hide Google Play store, Framework and Backup. Finally, Google Pay accepts my credit card. link link

Unfortunately now Pokemon Go does not work. <facepalm>. I fixed this by unhiding Google Services Framework.

Updates:

28 Mar 19 – Shortly after I posted, I cleared the Google Pay config to register my credit cards in reverse order. Now Pay broke again. Back to square one.

29 Mar 19 – It was not just me but a global thing. Google Pay broke for everyone. Update to beta Magisk 19 and all is fine. Unhide others, except for Google Play Services (GMS). Hide this via a terminal app, “su magiskhide – – add com.google.android.gms”. Clear it by renaming this folder /data/data/com.google.android.gms

15 Apr 19 – Whenever I flash an update to MIUI, everything gets returned to stock. I have to :

• Flash TWRP
• Flash Magisk 19
• Still in recovery, mount system partition
• Edit the product name “polaris” in build.prop
• Uninstall Google Pay
• After booting, rename com.google.android.gms
• Restart
• Install Google Pay
• Register my cards.

I am going to try skip renaming Google Play Services and instead, go with clearing all data. It should be the same.