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Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

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Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#101

Post by yosito »

usui wrote: post #8

Especially with the Pixel lineup, there is a historical quality control issue with Google's phones that I'm worried hasn't been solved yet. I owned: - Pixel 3: Past few months, volume buttons and power buttons gradually stopped working. USB port works for charging, but when connected to a computer, port connects and disconnects in an infinite loop. Bluetooth connection with car always skips/stutters during Maps usage…

> with the Pixel lineup, there is a historical quality control issue

I guess it's hit or miss. I've had a Pixel 3 and now have a Pixel 5. The build quality of both has been far better than any of the other two dozen phones I've owned. No problems whatsoever with the 5. With the 3, I had a problem with the charger occasionally not working, but that was because the port was filled with pocket lint. And there was also what seemed like an occasional speaker problem on video calls, but it turned out to be a software problem with feedback loops and not a hardware problem.

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#102

Post by molticrystal »

The Advanced Hardware Support Team are currently requesting only for phones that are in EDL mode. While the issue tracker has become a graveyard for phones, the particular focus of the engineers are Pixel 3/3 XL phones entering EDL after an OTA update.

If you have had this problem, please star the issue ticket and add a comment about your circumstances.

Some technical explanation about EDL mode is couple pages into the xda-dev forum thread: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/fix-pixel-3-qusb_bulk_cid...

A reddit post that lists just about all the reddit posts at the time on this topic: https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/ongj1j/a_remin...

Some additional news stories on this:

https://9to5google.com/2021/09/01/some-pixel-3-devices-are-g...

https://www.androidpolice.com/phones-devices/google-phones-d...

https://www.phonearena.com/news/pixel-3-and-pixel-3-xl-model...

https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/326636-something-is-brick...

https://slashdot.org/story/21/09/03/019201/pixel-3-and-3-xl-...

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#103

Post by molticrystal »

dmitrygr wrote: post #37

That mode indicates that the boot ROM failed to verify the signature on the bootloader. Generally this means that for some reason your bootloader got corrupted. The way to restore this is a special qualcomm tool, but you also need a properly formatted and signed package to flash using the tool, and i doubt that google would give it to you. How did it get corrupted? FTL issue in an aging eMMC? Bug in linux kernel bloc…

How is under investigation, but the when is much easier, the reports surge in the morning after an OTA update occurs while the owner is asleep.

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#104

Post by aPoCoMiLogin »

usui wrote: post #8

Especially with the Pixel lineup, there is a historical quality control issue with Google's phones that I'm worried hasn't been solved yet. I owned: - Pixel 3: Past few months, volume buttons and power buttons gradually stopped working. USB port works for charging, but when connected to a computer, port connects and disconnects in an infinite loop. Bluetooth connection with car always skips/stutters during Maps usage…

- nexus s: no issues, after 2 years battery was meh - nexus 4: the only issue was usb port after 2 years of use - nexus 5x: no issues - nexus 6p (owned by my girlfriend): strange issue with battery, the phone just shut off after 20% of use and showed 0%; after warranty repair the phone is still working and had no issues - pixel 2xl (owned by my girlfriend): no issues per see, but was droped in the bus and the screen got cracks - pixel 4: no issues so far - pixel 5 (owned by my girlfriend): no issues so far

all of these phones I still own and store them in the boxes, they still are working.

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#105

Post by foxpurple »

rzzzt wrote: post #99
SilverRed wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They slowed down phones to prevent them from crashing on peak voltage. If you remember the android scene around the same time, the Nexus 6P would just crash constantly when the battery got degraded. If you asked the average user if they would rather that their phone crash, or have the top speed capped. They would all rather it did not crash. Of course this should have been more visible to notify the user to get a bat…

> If you asked the average user if they would rather that their phone crash, or have the top speed capped. They would all rather it did not crash. Certainly the average user would choose "no crash _and_ not get slower", conveniently ignoring the either-or nature of the question. (Maybe "get less battery life out of a single charge" if they are trying to come up with an alternative.)

That’s not an option. It’s not that the battery was flat. It’s that when the CPU hit peak power consumption the voltage of the battery would drop low enough to cause the CPU to fail. The only option is to limit power draw or to crash.

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#106

Post by c0d3z3r0 »

derefr wrote: post #80

Googling EDL mode, apparently one way to enable it is to "short the test points on your device’s mainboard." Maybe Pixel 3s are getting these test points bridged by something inside the case, possibly due to e.g. thermal battery expansion pushing something against the mainboard?

Definitely not possible, since the board is not located under the battery but more like "around" it. (I know, because I had opened multiple Pixel 3 in the past) Also, the probability of just shorting exactly the right two pins is reeeeeeeaaaaaaally low

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#107

Post by c0d3z3r0 »

userbinator wrote: post #39
dmitrygr wrote: post #37

That mode indicates that the boot ROM failed to verify the signature on the bootloader. Generally this means that for some reason your bootloader got corrupted. The way to restore this is a special qualcomm tool, but you also need a properly formatted and signed package to flash using the tool, and i doubt that google would give it to you. How did it get corrupted? FTL issue in an aging eMMC? Bug in linux kernel bloc…

The way to restore this is a qualcomm tool, but you also need a properly formatted and signed package to flash using the tool, and i doubt that google would give it to you. I don't know how it is now, but my almost-decade-old generic Mediatek Android smartphone (still working, although seldom used) lets you access the whole eMMC in a special recovery mode using SPFlashTool, and there's no signing required. Looks like…

Don't compare Qualcomm to Mediatek... it's different

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#108

Post by c0d3z3r0 »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #90
dmitrygr wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The official answer is that with no bootloader locking, there is no way to prevent an evil maid attack (replace OS with a replica that logs your passwords, exfiltrate them later). The real reasons are anyone's best guess...

Which doesn't explain why you can't even wipe+unlock.

Read again. It does. The boot ROM fails to verify the bootloaders (XBL) signature for some reason.

Re: Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

#109

Post by c0d3z3r0 »

dmitrygr wrote: post #37

That mode indicates that the boot ROM failed to verify the signature on the bootloader. Generally this means that for some reason your bootloader got corrupted. The way to restore this is a special qualcomm tool, but you also need a properly formatted and signed package to flash using the tool, and i doubt that google would give it to you. How did it get corrupted? FTL issue in an aging eMMC? Bug in linux kernel bloc…

Mostly correct. Just a slight correction: You not only need the right image to flash, which you do get from google (factory images) but you need a signed firehorse/edl binary the boot ROM will accept.
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