Xiaomi Mi 9 420K+ Antutu Setup! [830Mhz GPU OC + F2FS + ZRAM][M.O.D Kernel][Havoc ROM]

If you want to make the fastest Android smartphone in the world with a Xiaomi Mi 9 Android smartphone, you can use the M.O.D kernel which enables you to overclock the GPU to 830Mhz, converts your ext4 to F2Fs filesystem for faster filesystem, and ZRAM LZ4 data encryption which doubles your memory speeds.  This kernel can be used both on stock MIUI firmware, custom MIUI ROM, or any AOSP custom ROM running Android 9.0 Pie.

Now, this M.O.D kernel has been tested extensively by myself with Havoc ROM, which works flawless out of the box so I do suggest using this ROM first to get it working and once you get the hang of it, you can go ahead and try on other ROMs.

If you end up using this as a daily driver, PLEASE DONATE/BUY THE DEVELOPER of M.O.D Kernel a BEER!  Thank you!(Send donations to his Paypal at nocman43202@yahoo.com) Without his work, we would not have this awesome MOD!

Files you will need:

  • Grab MOD-KERNEL-TOOLS.zip from the M.O.D. kernel on XDA. – Link
  • Havoc ROM – Link
  • Grab ARM64 9.0 Pico Gapps on OpenGapps.org
  • Xiaomi Mi 9 Dev Global firmware v. 9.6.27 – Download (You must use Dev firmware for maximum speed.  (NOTE: DO NOT INSTALL Global firmware on Chinese Mi 9 as it can brick your phone.   If you don’t live in China, you should be good as your phone is Global.  If you do have Chinese model, grab the Chinese firmware instead.  You can also use any other firmware made for Mi 9 but for maximum performance use the Dev firmware.)
  • Get the Pixel 3 camera for Mi9 here – Link (If you want Google Camera w/ Night Sight)
  • ANXCamera unity Magisk module, which will install stock MIUI camera. – Link (If you want MIUI native camera)

Before beginning this tutorial, you should unlock the bootloader and root your Xiaomi Mi 9 first.

Then go ahead and boot into TWRP.  If you lost TWRP(because on stock firmware MIUI will overwrite it on reboot), you can use fastboot.zip and flash the TWRP recovery as shown in video tutorial.

Step 1. UNZIP MOD-KERNEL-TOOLS.zip.

Step 2. Copy over TWRP image, firmware, Havoc ROM, Gapps, fstab_patch_F2FS_MI9.zip.

Step 3. Make a quick back up of boot image to create TWRP backup folder.

Step 4. Copy over “MODkernel-Magisk19.3” folder to /TWRP/Backup/randomletters

Step 5. Install TWRP image and reboot TWRP.

Step 6. Install Global Dev firmware.

Step 7. Wipe data, system, cache.

Step 8. Install Havoc ROM & Gapps.

Step 9. Restore Backup.

Step 10. Install fstab_patch_F2FS_MI9.zip.

Step 11. Change data/cache filesystem to F2FS.

Step 12. Reboot.

Step 13. Sign in.

Step 14. Copy over Magisk Manager APK, Smartpack Kernel Manager APK, and MOD-Kernel-Optimal-Settings.zip, ANXCameraUnity_125.SecretDefinitiveHousefly.zip, and MGC_6_1_021_xcam6_beta3.apk.
to your phone.

Step 15. Install Magisk Manager APK. Make sure WiFi is connected to internet or you have 4G LTE connection then open Magisk Manager. It should ask you to reboot, say yes.

Step 16. Once rebooted, open up Magisk Manager again, then add “MOD-Kernel-Optimal-Settings.zip” in modules.

Step 17. Also add “ANXCameraUnity_125.SecretDefinitiveHousefly.zip” as modules THEN REBOOT.

Step 18. Install Google Camera APK(MGC_6_1_021_xcam6_beta3.apk).

Step 19. Install Smartpack Kernel Manager APK.

Step 20. You are done! You can use the Smartpack Kernel Manager or any 3rd party CPU app to tweak your settings but optimal settings are already applied.

Step 21. Try running Antutu for massive gains!

Step 22. PLEASE DONATE/BUY THE DEVELOPER of M.O.D Kernel a BEER!  Thank you!(Send donations to his Paypal at nocman43202@yahoo.com)

Have a question?

Please post all your questions at the new Android Rehab Center at HighOnAndroid Forum, thank you for understanding!

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Max Lee

Max Lee is the founder of HighOnAndroid.com. Max makes Android tutorials and review videos for people who want to get high on Android over at his YouTube channel and Korean YouTube channel.