11–20 of 359 posts
> I bought a Pixel 7 Pro from store.google.com (Canada) ... being sold “unlocked” by Google Carrier-locking is not permitted in Canada, so all the discussions about where the phone was bought and that the full price was paid are immaterial.
The title of the article is misleading. The author says the phone cannot be bootloader unlocked without first connecting to the Internet. Once they have connected they are able to unlock the bootloader.
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> I consider this a customer-hostile practice. I should not have to connect a piece of hardware to the Internet, even once, to use all of its features. If I hadn’t connected the Pixel 7 Pro to the Internet, then “OEM unlocking” would have stayed greyed out, thus I would not have been able to unlock the bootloader, thus I would not have been able to install GrapheneOS
The author then describes connecting the phone to a networking sandbox and monitoring its traffic, all the way through where they were eventually able to unlock it after giving it internet access.
The title of the article is misleading. The author says the phone cannot be bootloader unlocked without first connecting to the Internet. Once they have connected they are able to unlock the bootloader.
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> If I hadn’t connected the Pixel 7 Pro to the Internet, then “OEM unlocking” would have stayed greyed out, thus I would not have been able to unlock the bootloader, thus I would not have been able to install GrapheneOS.
The title of the article is misleading. The author says the phone cannot be bootloader unlocked without first connecting to the Internet. Once they have connected they are able to unlock the bootloader.
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> >Google sold it to me with “OEM unlocking” greyed out.
> So no unlocking even with internet access.
Reading the whole article reveals that the option is enabled after providing internet access.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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> Have you read that part? > >Google sold it to me with “OEM unlocking” greyed out. > So no unlocking even with internet access. Reading the whole article reveals that the option is enabled after providing internet access.
> Request to Google: ungrey the “OEM unlocking” toggle in the factory, before shipping store.google.com devices to customers. Do not make your customers connect the device to the Internet before they are allowed to install the operating system they want. That won't happen. I can think of two big reasons off the top of my head: 1. Supply-chain attacks, someone gets a hold of the phone before it gets to you and unlocks…
> Request to Google: ungrey the “OEM unlocking” toggle in the factory, before shipping store.google.com devices to customers. Do not make your customers connect the device to the Internet before they are allowed to install the operating system they want. That won't happen. I can think of two big reasons off the top of my head: 1. Supply-chain attacks, someone gets a hold of the phone before it gets to you and unlocks…
> Request to Google: ungrey the “OEM unlocking” toggle in the factory, before shipping store.google.com devices to customers. Do not make your customers connect the device to the Internet before they are allowed to install the operating system they want. That won't happen. I can think of two big reasons off the top of my head: 1. Supply-chain attacks, someone gets a hold of the phone before it gets to you and unlocks…
I swear it's been a clause in their phones since they were called Nexus instead of Pixel where you breach the warranty when you unlock the bootloader. I never bother anymore but when I used to swap the Android versions myself I recall running into something saying as much.
They can’t deny warranty coverage because of a user modification unless they can prove the modification caused the damage?
> Request to Google: ungrey the “OEM unlocking” toggle in the factory, before shipping store.google.com devices to customers. Do not make your customers connect the device to the Internet before they are allowed to install the operating system they want. That won't happen. I can think of two big reasons off the top of my head: 1. Supply-chain attacks, someone gets a hold of the phone before it gets to you and unlocks…
I swear it's been a clause in their phones since they were called Nexus instead of Pixel where you breach the warranty when you unlock the bootloader. I never bother anymore but when I used to swap the Android versions myself I recall running into something saying as much.
Under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act in the USA, activities such as unlocking the bootloader, launching a service menu, removing a sticker or opening a case cannot by themselves void a device's warranty.
If I understand correctly, in order for the warranty to be voided, it is the manufacturer who has to prove that what you did to the device has indeed damaged it or made it otherwise unsuitable for further warranty service.
Unlocking the bootloader is a reversible action. The phone might implement some one-way unlocking mechanisms though. For example, a fuse which needs to be blown. Or some encryption chip whose private key needs to be erased while a new valid private key can only be generated by the manufacturer. Then it would be a process that is irreversible for a regular customer.
That being said, undertaking such activity would only result in some control mechanism being triggered and some software flag being set. It might be permanent, similar to you scratching the case of your phone. But that does not mean it makes the phone unfit for warranty service.
The phone's functionality would remain unaffected.
It would be on the manufacturer to prove that the presence of a flag indicating an open bootloader is in some way detrimental to the device's functionality.
There might be similar laws elsewhere.