The situation when the screen of the Xiaomi Redmi 9 smartphone continues to show the image but stops responding to touch is one of the most stressful for the user: the device turns into a “brick”, access to the functions of which is completely blocked, and the standard method of turning off through the software menu becomes unavailable. Owners of budget models often face software interface failures or physical damage to the digitizer, which requires immediate intervention.
Fortunately, the Android architecture and the MIUI shell provide multiple layers of control to enable a forced reboot even when the touch layer is completely inoperable. You don't need to be an expert in mobile electronics to handle this task, but it's important to follow the sequence of actions to avoid making things worse. In this article, we'll look at all the known ways to reanimate the device.
Before any manipulations, it is worth assessing the nature of the breakdown: if the screen reacts to late or in certain areas, the chances of a successful soft reset are much higher. If the touchscreen is completely dead, you will have to use physical buttons or external peripherals. The main thing is not to panic and keep cool, since chaotic presses can lead to the accidental launch of unnecessary functions.
Method of hardware reboot power buttons
The first and most affordable way every Redmi 9 owner should try is to use a combination of physical buttons. Xiaomi engineers have designed a forced reset mechanism similar to that used in computers when the system freezes, which works at the level of low-level interrupts, ignoring the state of the software.
To perform the procedure, you need to press the power button and hold it for a long time. Unlike conventional locking, it requires patience: the system must receive a critical state signal and initiate an emergency shutdown, which usually takes 10 to 20 seconds of continuous retention.
⚠️ Warning: If nothing happens after 20 seconds of holding the button, do not release it immediately. try to slightly change the pressure force or the angle of pressing, as the mechanism of the button may oxidize or jam.
There is also a variation of this method that doesn't work on all firmware versions, but it makes sense to be tried. Try to press the Volume Up and Power buttons simultaneously. This combination often puts the device in Recovery mode, from where you can also choose the reboot option if the sensor starts working in this menu (which is rare, but possible).
It's important to understand that Hard Reset buttons can cause unsaved data to be lost in open applications. However, in a non-functioning screen, the choice is small: either we lose data or we leave the phone frozen. After a successful vibration and the Mi logo appears, release all the buttons and wait for the system to fully load.
Use of the USB-mouse-wise OTG-cable
If physical buttons fail or the mechanism of their operation is broken, USB On-The-Go technology comes to the rescue. Xiaomi Redmi 9 smartphone is equipped with a Micro-USB port (in some revisions) or Type-C, which supports connecting the external periphery. This is the most effective way to get full control of the interface without a working touchscreen.
To implement this method, you will need a special adapter (OTG-adapter) and a normal computer mouse with USB-Once you connect your mouse to your phone, the cursor should appear on the screen, and even if the sensor is not working, the system recognizes the external input device, which allows you to navigate through the menu and perform a regular restart.
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If you don't. OTG-Check the equipment of other gadgets in the house - often such adapters come complete with Power Bank or new flash drives.
The algorithm of mouse action is as follows:
- 🖱️ Connect. OTG-adapter.
- 💻 Put it in. USB-Mouse in the adapter and wait for the cursor to appear on the screen.
- 🔓 Unlock the device by clicking and swiping with the cursor (if there is a pattern lock or a graphical key). PIN).
- ⚙️ Hover over the notification curtain or find the Settings app".
- 🔄 Select "Switch off" or "Reset" and confirm the action.
This method is particularly valuable because it allows you not only to restart the phone, but also to save important data. As long as the cursor is active, you can copy photos, contacts and documents to the cloud storage or to a connected USB drive (if used). USB-This makes a critical situation an information opportunity before possible repairs.
ADB Teams for Advanced Users
For users who have previously included USB debugging in the developer menu, the most powerful management tool available is Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which requires a computer (Windows, macOS or Linux) and a device driver installed, but it gives full control over the system regardless of the state of the sensor.
The idea is to send a command to restart directly to the operating system kernel, and if the drivers are installed correctly and the computer can see the phone, the device screen may not even be needed to confirm the actions, although the initial connection before the failure had to be authorized to debug.
adb rebootExecuting this command in the terminal command line instantly initiates the reboot process. If the standard command does not work due to the interface freeze, you can try a more rigid option to restart the interface service or force the restart through the bootloader.
adb reboot bootloaderFasting boot mode is also a form of reboot, after which you can choose Start or Recovery, a professional method often used by service center engineers to bypass system locks if they are caused by a touch driver failure.
Where to find ADB drivers for Xiaomi?
Reboot via Recovery Menu
Recovery Mode is a separate mini-partition of the operating system that loads to the main MIUI interface. It is entered by a combination of buttons, making it the perfect solution for a broken sensor, where control is often duplicated with volume buttons, which allows you to bypass the touchscreen problem.
To get into the Recovery menu on Redmi 9, you need to turn off the device (if it's still on, wait for the battery to drain or use the power button method). Then press the Volume Up button and Power button at the same time. Hold them until the Mi logo appears, then release the power button, continuing to keep the volume.
In the Recovery menu, the navigation is done with volume buttons (up/down), and the choice of item is confirmed by the power button. You need to find Reboot or Reboot to System. This action will perform a clean reboot of the phone, bypassing the problem areas of the main interface.
| Action. | Navigation button | Confirmation button | The result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Choice of menu item | Volume Up/Down | - | Moving the cursor |
| Confirmation | - | Nutrition | Execution of the team |
| Exit from the menu | - | Meals (on Reboot) | System restart |
| Data reset (Wipe) | Loudness | Nutrition | Complete deletion of data |
Be very careful on this menu. There are no usual pop-up warnings that you can close, and if you choose a wrong item, like Wipe Data, you will delete all information from your phone completely without recovery, and use this method only to reboot.
What to do if the phone is stuck and does not respond
Sometimes the problem is not just the sensor, but the processor freezes completely, in which case the screen can burn but not react to anything, including attempts to log in to Recovery, which is helped by the "deep discharge" method, which is the last but sometimes the only means.
Leave the phone on until the battery runs out and the device shuts down on its own, which can take hours to a day, depending on the residual charge. Once the screen goes out, plug in the original charger and try turning the phone on in the standard way.
⚠️ Warning: Don't leave a fully discharged lithium-ion battery in storage for a long time.As soon as the phone turns off, put it on charge immediately to avoid a deep discharge that could kill the battery.
Another option is to simulate battery extraction. Although the Redmi 9 battery is non-removable, prolonged (over 1 minute) power button retention combined with a connection to a powerful current source (such as charging from a laptop via USB) sometimes resets static charge from the power controller, bringing the system to its senses.
☑️ Checklist before going to the service
Prevention and policy solutions
After a successful reboot, it is important to understand the cause of the failure so that the situation does not happen again. Often the culprits are conflicting applications or a crowded cache of the system, it is recommended to delete newly installed programs and clear the device memory.
For future cases of such failures, it makes sense to activate the “Unlock on schedule” function in advance or install applications that allow you to control the phone through voice commands. Google Assistant or Xiao AI can execute the command “Reboot the phone” if the microphone and speaker are working properly.
It’s also worth considering installing remote access, such as through TeamViewer QuickSupport or built-in control features from a PC. If the sensor fails again, you’ll be able to control the screen from a computer or another phone to save data or perform a reset.
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Regular updates to the MIUI system and cleaning the application cache reduce the likelihood of software freezes leading to sensor failure.
If the problem is hardware (crack, moisture, plume waste), no software reboot will help forever, in which case, after saving the data, you should contact an authorized service center to replace the display module.