Custom firmware for MI fitness band

#1

Post by ITwork2019 » Thu, Dec 28, 2023, 6:54 PM UTC

Custom firmware for MI fitness band
github.com

Re: Custom firmware for MI fitness band

#2

Post by donatj » Thu, Dec 28, 2023, 10:24 PM UTC

Oh neat. I've got a handful of these things. They're cheap enough that when the band breaks or the screen gets a decent scratch you don't feel bad just buying another one.

Re: Custom firmware for MI fitness band

#3

Post by aphroz » Fri, Dec 29, 2023, 2:26 AM UTC

donatj wrote: post #2

Oh neat. I've got a handful of these things. They're cheap enough that when the band breaks or the screen gets a decent scratch you don't feel bad just buying another one.

It really depends on what makes you feel bad. Funny coincidence, I just found mine yesterday after it sitted 2 years in a drawer as I hate having things tell me what to do.

Re: Custom firmware for MI fitness band

#4

Post by kyriakos » Fri, Dec 29, 2023, 2:48 AM UTC

aphroz wrote: post #3

donatj wrote: post #2

Oh neat. I've got a handful of these things. They're cheap enough that when the band breaks or the screen gets a decent scratch you don't feel bad just buying another one.

It really depends on what makes you feel bad. Funny coincidence, I just found mine yesterday after it sitted 2 years in a drawer as I hate having things tell me what to do.

Note that this fw is for the latest mi band 8

Re: Custom firmware for MI fitness band

#5

Post by doix » Fri, Dec 29, 2023, 3:25 AM UTC

aphroz wrote: post #3

donatj wrote: post #2

Oh neat. I've got a handful of these things. They're cheap enough that when the band breaks or the screen gets a decent scratch you don't feel bad just buying another one.

It really depends on what makes you feel bad. Funny coincidence, I just found mine yesterday after it sitted 2 years in a drawer as I hate having things tell me what to do.

Yep, the waste would make me feel terrible.

Re: Custom firmware for MI fitness band

#6

Post by obilgic » Fri, Dec 29, 2023, 5:35 AM UTC

so they didn't enable the write-protection after flashing?

Re: Custom firmware for MI fitness band

#7

Post by Dunedan » Fri, Dec 29, 2023, 6:02 AM UTC

I'd love to see a full featured open-source firmware for the Mi bands, as the original firmware requires an device-specific Xiaomi-issued key for Bluetooth pairing. For obtaining this key you have to use the Amazfit App with an Xiaomi account at least once. For details check out https://gadgetbridge.org/basics/pairing/huami-xiaomi-server/

While thinking about it, I wonder if that's even compliant with GDPR, as it forces users to provide their email address for no good reason.

Re: Custom firmware for MI fitness band

#8

Post by scq » Fri, Dec 29, 2023, 6:09 AM UTC

obilgic wrote: post #6

so they didn't enable the write-protection after flashing?

It has OTA firmware upgrades, I suppose if they did that they wouldn't be able to update the firmware.

Re: Custom firmware for MI fitness band

#9

Post by Reviving1514 » Fri, Dec 29, 2023, 6:17 AM UTC

scq wrote: post #8

obilgic wrote: post #6

so they didn't enable the write-protection after flashing?

It has OTA firmware upgrades, I suppose if they did that they wouldn't be able to update the firmware.

If I remember correctly you can disable flashing through UART/whatever without disabling OTA flashing.

Eg. The ESP32 has this feature.

Re: Custom firmware for MI fitness band

#10

Post by mcraiha » Fri, Dec 29, 2023, 6:26 AM UTC

The original software on these is really bad. e.g. if move between time zones during the day then Mi Fitness app most likely won't get all data out of device. Also Mi Fitness cannot download data of previous date out of the device. Steps counter is also very bad at keeping track if you move slowly e.g. in your apartment.