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Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

androidcentral.com

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Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#201

Post by bmaupin »

jeroenhd wrote: post #185
bmaupin wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I looked through all the sunfish repos first, which is how I found this: https://android.googlesource.com/device/google/sunfish-kerne... But apparently sunfish-kernel only contains binaries. Given there's an update to Image.lz4, that seems there's an update to the kernel. I also compared the binary to the previous version and found some new strings possibly related to battery charging profile. Next I checked out the…

If those pre-compiled binaries aren't based on GPL software, I don't think you'll have much luck getting their sources. Android's source code is a maze of branches and tags, unfortunately. The change can have been made in the generic cross-device kernel tree, or it could've been a separate module, or it could've been a binary. One thing you could consider is checking out the kernel for a project like LineageOS: https…

Image.lz4 is definitely a Linux kernel, and it's definitely changed: https://android.googlesource.com/device/google/sunfish-kerne...

Would changes to external closed-source binary files change the kernel image itself? There are kernel modules in that commit but it looks to me like they all come directly from here: https://developers.google.com/android/drivers

Google does provide detailed instructions for downloading all sources for the kernel, and I didn't see any changes since 2023 to any source files: https://source.android.com/docs/setup/

Thanks for the extra places to look. I'll check them out.

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#202

Post by ChoGGi »

KORraN wrote: post #125
OliveMate wrote: post #75

Hi, (soon to be ex) Pixel 4a user here. Regardless of why this update has happened, the way Google have went about this update is sketchy at best, and deceitful at worst. To be plain: this phone has been EOL for 1½ years now. This update has appeared out of the blue and specifically decimates the battery + charging capabilities. My most charitable view is that Google have found a major fault with the Pixel 4a battery…

Great comment, even though I'm concerned whether my Pixel is a ticking bomb now. The update has been downloaded to my device, but before installing it, I decided to check Reddit and found out the battery issues. Since then, I'm dismissing the update prompt, praying to not miss-click. The article got it wrong - even before the update has been published, Google already sent e-mail to registered users with a note that t…

The Dev options have a setting to not apply updates on reboot. I'm hoping that'll work if I forget.

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#203

Post by NeveHanter »

sacckey wrote: post #33

This reminded me of when my Nexus 5X went into a boot loop.

Yeah, mine did the same and later died completely, and only now I found that the LG was refunding the full price of phones or fixing them for free if they had this specific HW issue...

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#204

Post by NotPractical »

bmaupin wrote: post #197
NotPractical wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't imagine something like this would be implemented in the kernel? Might help to search system apps/binaries for the string displayed in the notification alert: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nathan-contino/images/main...

Why not? The kernel seems to handle low level charging and battery logic, for example: https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/msm/+/refs/heads/and... I'm not hoping to argue, only to learn. This isn't my area of expertise.

I should clarify that it isn't my area of expertise either; if you already found something in the kernel, by all means, keep looking there! I was more trying to suggest a starting place but it seems you're past that point already, good work :)

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#205

Post by pxmpxm »

1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #200
OliveMate wrote: post #75

Hi, (soon to be ex) Pixel 4a user here. Regardless of why this update has happened, the way Google have went about this update is sketchy at best, and deceitful at worst. To be plain: this phone has been EOL for 1½ years now. This update has appeared out of the blue and specifically decimates the battery + charging capabilities. My most charitable view is that Google have found a major fault with the Pixel 4a battery…

"Either of these are terrible. At no point has Google came out and stated -why- they're pushing this update in the first place." As I can still remember the days of software before "updates", I am still baffled by the always unsolicited "advice" amounting to "always update" without even considering what's in an "update". This "advice" is everywhere. Software quality control is at all-time lows I guess. Then came "aut…

> always update

There's seems to be an army of aspiring CVE bros cargo-culting this idiocy; they pretend to live in a parallel universe where state-sponsored intelligence groups are spending millions to get at the cat photos on their phones.

Obviously the premise that you should just blindly update a device where you have no recourse if the update breaks workflow/functionality/user experience (android, ios) or tries to monetize the hardware you actually own (msft) is prima facie stupid.

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#206

Post by nullc »

kristopolous wrote: post #94
OliveMate wrote: post #75

Hi, (soon to be ex) Pixel 4a user here. Regardless of why this update has happened, the way Google have went about this update is sketchy at best, and deceitful at worst. To be plain: this phone has been EOL for 1½ years now. This update has appeared out of the blue and specifically decimates the battery + charging capabilities. My most charitable view is that Google have found a major fault with the Pixel 4a battery…

I am still on a 4a. I really hate how in subsequent generations, they faithfully cloned Apple's design decisions of removing ports and making the device gigantic. "For customers who are dissatisfied with iphones, Our product is a slightly different iphone-like device." I mean come on now, what the hell... About twice a decade google makes a good phone and the others are just iphone knockoffs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotelling%27s_law

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#207

Post by brailsafe »

JudasGoat wrote: post #155
gruez wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Once you have Magisk stabilized, install the Advanced Charging Controller, and configure it to halt charging at 80%. That will reduce future wear, but won't suddenly make the battery better. If anything it'll make the battery even worse, at least in the short term.

My 4a went from 3 day battery life to less than a day, immediately after the "update".

This seems surprisingly high to me, unless you're constantly on extreme power saving mode. I liked the 4a and still have it in a drawer, but replaced it partly because I couldn't order a new screen and the battery life was frustratingly terrible after a while

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#208

Post by brailsafe »

silon42 wrote: post #106
kristopolous wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am still on a 4a. I really hate how in subsequent generations, they faithfully cloned Apple's design decisions of removing ports and making the device gigantic. "For customers who are dissatisfied with iphones, Our product is a slightly different iphone-like device." I mean come on now, what the hell... About twice a decade google makes a good phone and the others are just iphone knockoffs

Also the OS is copying Apple, making it worse.

Nah the OS is way better than iOS, unless you're joking about the update retroactively degrading the device.

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#209

Post by brailsafe »

kristopolous wrote: post #94
OliveMate wrote: post #75

Hi, (soon to be ex) Pixel 4a user here. Regardless of why this update has happened, the way Google have went about this update is sketchy at best, and deceitful at worst. To be plain: this phone has been EOL for 1½ years now. This update has appeared out of the blue and specifically decimates the battery + charging capabilities. My most charitable view is that Google have found a major fault with the Pixel 4a battery…

I am still on a 4a. I really hate how in subsequent generations, they faithfully cloned Apple's design decisions of removing ports and making the device gigantic. "For customers who are dissatisfied with iphones, Our product is a slightly different iphone-like device." I mean come on now, what the hell... About twice a decade google makes a good phone and the others are just iphone knockoffs

Did the 4a have anything other than an aux port? I definitely still miss it, having moved onto a Pixel 7, but on the other hand I've also mostly stopped listening to anything with headphones from it. In surprising fashion, the fact that my screen is still intact and I feel pretty comfortable watching videos in the shower has proven more valuable.

Re: Google Pixel 4a's old firmware is gone, trapping users on buggy battery update

#210

Post by duskwuff »

kllrnohj wrote: post #159
AnthonyMouse wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing actually requires Android to be that way. They chose poorly but every new release is an opportunity to fix it.

> They chose poorly Did they? Immutable system images are a pretty solid feature to have. It's a lot less "fall over broken as shit randomly" than desktop Linux is...

Piecemeal updates are also absolute hell to support - they rapidly lead to an untestable combinatorial explosion of possible software loadouts. Even Ubuntu doesn't officially support installing packages from a mixture of point releases (e.g. installing Ubuntu 24.10 packages on the 24.04 LTS); it might be technically possible, but if anything breaks, you get to keep the pieces.
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