The sudden appearance of an image with a hare fixing an android on your smartphone screen can cause panic in any Xiaomi, Redmi or Poco owner.This mode, known as Fastboot, is designed to deeply diagnose and flash the device, but in everyday use it most often signals a system failure or accidental button pressing. Understanding what is happening to your gadget is the first step to successfully solving a problem without going to a service center.
Fortunately, in the vast majority of cases, getting out of this state does not require complex hardware or special programming knowledge. Hardware reset via a key combination helps in 90% of situations where the software failure is temporary. However, if the device is stuck due to damage to system files or a failed update, more radical measures may be required, up to a complete flashing through the computer.
In this article, we will discuss in detail all known methods, from a simple restart to the use of specialized software. You will learn why the phone could go into this mode on its own, how to prevent data loss and what actions you absolutely can not do not to turn your smartphone into a βbrick.β
Why the smartphone is in Fastboot mode
Before you start taking action, you need to understand the nature of the problem. Fastboot is a low-level interface built into a Qualcomm or MediaTek bootloader that allows a computer to interact with the phone's memory parts directly, and users usually get there by accident: when they pull the smartphone out of their pocket, and the volume button is pinched at the same time as the power button.
But there are more serious reasons to be aware of: If the system detects a critical error when you boot Android, it can automatically redirect the device to Restore Mode or Fastboot for data security, and this often happens after an operating system update fails, when new files conflict with the old settings or the recovery partition.
β οΈ Warning: If the phone goes into Fastboot mode on its own immediately after turning on without your involvement, this may indicate a physical malfunction of the volume button (βDownβ) or a sticking plume.
Another common reason is experimenting with superuser rights (Root) or installing customized recavers, errors in a modified bootloader cause the regular system to fail to start, and in rare cases, a discharged battery is the culprit when the voltage is only enough to illuminate the screen, but not enough to fully load the processor.
The easiest way: hardware restart
The first thing to do when you see a rabbit on the screen is to not panic and try the standard exit method, which works if the failure is software-based and the operating system is not damaged. You need to pinch the power button and hold it for a long time. Depending on the Xiaomi or Redmi model, the retention time can vary from 10 to 20 seconds.
This method simulates battery extraction by forcefully wiping out the main components of the board. The screen should go out, after which the device will start the standard boot procedure. If after the appearance of the Mi logo, the phone returns to the image of the rabbit, then the problem is deeper, and a simple reboot will not work.
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If the phone doesn't respond to a long press of the power button, try plugging it into the charger for 10-15 minutes, and then repeat the procedure. Low charge can block the response of the touchscreen and buttons.
Sometimes a combination of volume buttons helps. Try to press the Volume Up and Power buttons for 10-15 seconds at the same time. On some models with a MIUI or HyperOS shell, this causes a forced reboot or a menu for choosing a language from which to go to normal mode. Don't be afraid to experiment with combinations, since it is almost impossible to "break" the device with buttons with software.
Using the Volume button to exit
If the long-term retention of the power button failed, there is a specific combination designed specifically to exit the Fastboot on Xiaomi devices, which is based on hardware interruption of the boot process, you need to simultaneously press the Volume Up button and the Power button.
Hold both buttons approximately. 10-15 At some point, the screen will go out and the device will go into reboot. It's important to keep the buttons on until the Mi logo or the image of the hare disappears. This is effective when the system is stuck in the waiting cycle for commands from the PC.
βοΈ Check before leaving Fastboot
There's also a variation of this method for devices with separate physical buttons. If you have an old smartphone with a non-removable battery, sometimes extraction helps. SIM-cards on (although this rarely works in Fastboot mode) or connecting to a computer before pressing the buttons. The main thing is to get the moment when the screen completely goes out.
Exit through the computer and the ADB utility
When hardware is powerless, software tools come to the rescue. To do that, you'll need a Windows computer that's working. USB-cable and installed drivers ADB (Android Debug Bridge is considered more secure for data, as it does not require flashing, but only sends a command to restart.
First, make sure that your PC has drivers for Fastboot installed. These usually come bundled with the Mi Flash Tool or can be installed separately. Connect your phone with a cable to your computer. Open the command prompt (cmd) in the folder with the ADB installed or enter a command in the terminal.
fastboot devicesIf the computer sees the device, you'll see the serial number. If the list is empty, check the drivers in Device Manager.
fastboot rebootβ οΈ Warning: Do not use fastboot erase or fastboot oem unlock if you are not sure what you are doing.
Once you input the fastboot reboot command, the phone should immediately restart as normal. If the command runs, but the device returns to the Fastboot again, the boot partition is damaged, and you need to flash it back. ADB is a powerful tool that gives you full control of the device, bypassing the damaged operating system.
Reflashing the device through the Mi Flash Tool
If a software failure is critical, the only solution is to completely reflash the software, using the official Mi Flash Tool, which requires you to download the full firmware (Fastboot ROM) for your particular model. Note that the firmware should be in the format of Fastboot (extension.tgz), not Recovery (.zip).
The process is as follows: download and install the Mi Flash Tool, unpack the archive with the firmware to the root of the disk (the path should not contain Cyrillic alphabets), put the phone in Fastboot mode (if it is already there β great), connect to the PC and click the βRefreshβ button in the program. Once the device appears, select the βClean allβ mode or βSave user dataβ (save data, does not always work).
| Parameter | Description | Risk of data loss |
|---|---|---|
| Clean All | Complete cleaning and installation of the new system | High (all removed) |
| Save User Data | Trying to save photos and contacts | Medium (not always working) |
| Clean All + Lock | Cleaning and returning the loader lock | High (all removed) |