19 ms·

Google Pixel 3 (XL) bricking out of nothing

155 points by c0d3z3r0 5y ago

c0d3z3r0 5y ago
Phones are stuck in EDL mode with no way to recover, due to Google not releasing the signed firehorse files. https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/192008282 https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/192008282 https://www.google.de/search?q=pixel+3+brick&tbm=nws https://www.google.de/search?q=pixel+3+brick&tbm=nws I am not affected (yet). If anyone from Germany is interested in figuring out what the issue is and can risk losing their data, feel free to ping me on libera IRC. I have the ability to desolder and dump the UFS memory to start some investigation.
- Dracophoenix 5y ago
  Have you tried asking on Reddit or the XDA forums? r/Andriod and r/googlepixel might have a bigger audience than HN.
  - edoceo 5y ago
    The OG thread is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/android_beta/comments/o7h1li/pixel_3_not_turning_on_black_screen/ https://www.reddit.com/r/android_beta/comments/o7h1li/pixel_...
- doublepg23 5y ago
  I’ve got a Pixel 3 (non-XL) with a cracked screen that’s been sitting on my desktop for two years now I’m willing to part with.
SilverRed 5y ago
I recently has a pixel 2 die on me in a similar sounding way. Was working perfectly fine and then suddenly it won't turn on and won't take a charge. Tested with one of those usb tester things and it shows 0amp being drawn.
errantmind 5y ago
Unfortunately there is a sign-in wall to this content.
- nkozyra 5y ago
  I don't think so, just a ToS agreement.
  - jffry 5y ago
    Accessing the linked issue tracker (https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/192008282 https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/192008282) in an incognito window prompts me to login with a Google account
    - edoceo 5y ago
      Same. Unfortunate. I mean, I have a G account - but I like seeing info w/o sign-in Edit: from an auth'd account, there is a TOS checkbox/modal.
- jffry 5y ago
  Here's a mirror https://archive.is/wmfel https://archive.is/wmfel
- madars 5y ago
  Try this: https://archive.is/G8MXx https://archive.is/G8MXx
rtkwe 5y ago
Huh my Pixel 3 XL also just died in a very similar way the battery was starting to lose charge faster than expected and a few nights ago it died again and then wouldn't power on. It was taking charge, I plugged it into a powerbank with a wattage meter, and it was pulling just 5W over USBC. (The powerbank supports full PD) It's probably the wrong spot to report this sadly so it's probably been muted it seems like a hardware issue not an issue with Android itself.
usui 5y ago
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 even though iPhones and other Android devices work fine. - Pixel: Camera stopped working - Nexus 5X: Infinite boot loop issue, contacted Google and replaced it using warranty - Nexus 4: No hardware issues - Nexus One: No hardware issues The Nexus phones were less problematic. I suspect it's because they were co-designed/manufactured by LG. As time goes on, I use my phone less, not more, and I haven't dropped Pixel phones, unlike the Nexus ones. I'm wary of purchasing the Pixel 3a, 4, or 5 since I don't want to be burned a 3rd time by specifically Google-designed phones. I think it would be best to avoid Android OS updates as much as possible as well. I'm looking for the next smartphone to be modular. Heavily considering a Linux phone easier to DIY repair.
- schmichael 5y ago
  This is what got me to switch to iPhone. Ewaste is a big problem with Google phones. My wife has always bought iPhones and has gone through half as many phones as me.
  - usui 5y ago
    I fixed the USB port connecting and disconnecting by replacing the USB port. I fixed the power+volume buttons not working by replacing the entire connector. The Bluetooth issue remains as I haven't looked into exactly which parts are responsible for it or how to fix it. I can try to keep at it forever but it's an uphill battle. I can keep replacing parts on the Pixel 3, but one day the motherboard might die. Unfortunately, I don't want to purchase a hot air rework station and handle reflowing those chips as the pitch of the joints is too fine.
  - madars 5y ago
    How do you deal with lack of uBlock Origin? It's Android's killer feature: you can have real browsers with extensions.
Razengan 5y ago
If this was about iPhones this would have 999 comments and 10 times as many upvotes, but any other brand and people are like oh no, anyway.
jeffbee 5y ago
I can’t believe they inflict buganizer on the innocent public.
- jsolson 5y ago
  Awwww, I kinda like Buganizer -- but also it allows for much more direct engagement between Googlers and the issues reported by the public.
malkia 5y ago
I've had similar issues with all Pixel phones I've got too :( I do like the fact that nothing fancy gets installed on the phone (unlike Samsung, the rest), but my Samsung N9 Note has been working for 2-3 years no issues! (yes, I don't like the crap that they add, but got used to it... by ignoring it)
- zamadatix 5y ago
  Samsung has hardware issues over time the same as the rest, heck it was only 5 years ago their premium model had quality issues so bad they had 2 rounds of recalls and cancelled the model completely. I still went with OnePlus again with the 9 Pro even though the initial (or maybe all, I stopped checking after I heard the initial reports) 8's were troublesome. OnePlus isn't half as good as what they use to be but at least you can get a decent phone without overdone software. That they actually let you just unlock the bootloader on new devices says a lot to me even though I don't think I'd deal with custom ROMs anymore. The main thing I've found when getting an Android phone is more than which brand is reliable wait a couple of months for the first batch of common users (not reviewers) to see how it actually is before going for it. Yeah you're eating into the short update lifecycle Android phones have but you know it's not bad out of the gate and there is no crystal ball telling you which phone models this generation are going to have unforeseen issues in 2 years (though I guarantee it will be some). If only the iPhone let me install apps from 3rd party sources... I'd jump on that hardware in a heartbeat.
wyldfire 5y ago
I have no idea what EDL mode is but some googling led me to an open source utility [1] called "Sahara." I wonder if you could use it for recovery? [1] https://github.com/openpst/sahara https://github.com/openpst/sahara
- shakna 5y ago
  As noted by the project: > It should be noted that devices that are hard bricked and in Sahara mode (Qualcomm USB PID 9008) and have secure boot enabled (pretty much EVERY production device) will only accept signed programmers. This means that it is not only device specific (i.e. MSM8x26,MSM8974,etc) but vendor specific as well (i.e. LG, HTC, etc) since OEMs generate their own private keys to sign all firmware images, including EDL images. Google have _not_ released the signed firehose files required to be able to fix this.
- samueldr 5y ago
  Short answer "not really". While it could be used to recover the phone, it requires a "programmer" program, which is signed by the vendor (Google, here) that hasn't been leaked. Or, really, I should say that these programs should be made available as "software rights to repair". --- Some reading: https://alephsecurity.com/2018/01/22/qualcomm-edl-1/ https://alephsecurity.com/2018/01/22/qualcomm-edl-1/ A more up-to-date open source tool: https://github.com/bkerler/edl/ https://github.com/bkerler/edl/ EDIT: see also this sibling (to you) reply: - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28545937 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28545937
thatcat 5y ago
Just had a pixel 3a brick out of nowhere a few weeks ago after the battery died
- jqquah 5y ago
  Mine too like 4 months ago
dmitrygr 5y ago
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 block device driver? Malicious code? Sheer dumb misfortune? Who knows...
- userbinator 5y ago
  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 they have locked down things since then, ostensibly for security but more likely for corporate control and planned obolescence...
  - dmitrygr 5y ago
    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...
    - Dylan16807 5y ago
      Which doesn't explain why you can't even wipe+unlock.
      - c0d3z3r0 5y ago
        Read again. It does. The boot ROM fails to verify the bootloaders (XBL) signature for some reason.
        5y ago
shp0ngle 5y ago
Crap. I’m now considering buying a new Pixel phone - I need to switch from iPhone to Android for certain reasons, and I hate pre-installed crap of Samsung. (Samsung Internet? Really?) But I also don’t want to deal with HW issues and my family never had any HW problems with Samsung… so I guess Samsung it is?
- Justin_K 5y ago
  Ive been blow away at how great my OnePlus 8 is. Camera is not as good as Samsung but everything else is great.
- vorpalhex 5y ago
  If you don't need the latest and greatest, Nokia ships relatively vanilla android phones that are durable as hell.
  - shp0ngle 5y ago
    They don't do vanilla android anymore and the new models have some shovelware stuff.
- therealcamino 5y ago
  Before I had a Pixel 3 I had a couple of Motorola phones, and they didn't have much extra crap installed.
- sundvor 5y ago
  Samsung Internet is actually surprisingly good. Highly performant, and a plethora built in adblockers (sadly not Origin). Night mode works across all sites, it clearly was written by a team enthusiastic about their jobs.
  - mekster 5y ago
    Galaxy somehow makes owning phones actually fun. Pixel makes me feel I got a bare bone phone except I like the camera better than Galaxy's which feels a bit too vivid. Kudos to the Galaxy team.
908B64B197 5y ago
Pixel 3 is EOL anyways as of October 2021. No more software updates and no security patch. Makes sense the hardware is EOL as well. Meanwhile an iPhone SE from 2016 can upgrade to the latest iOS. It just works.
- zerocrates 5y ago
  As a long-time Android user, it is a little ridiculous how short Google's timeframe for even security support is, on their own hardware. Updates to Android that were supposed to help remedy this problem haven't seemed to make a dent. I'm sure, being Google, they've done all sorts of data analysis and cost-benefit and shown that it's a small group that keep phones that long and that people don't care that much about the support period... but it's just another seemingly penny-pinching situation from them that I think hurts their brand more than it could possibly be saving. I like my 3a a lot, and bought it cheap later in its lifecycle, and it's a little galling to check and see that the support "guarantee" only goes up to next May, and the security timeframe is the same! If they stick to that schedule I'll have only basically their dead minimum of 18 months of support from when they stopped selling a device, or close to it. Is there really that much upside to these cutoffs? If anything, they should be using the Pixel line as a cudgel (or let's be nicer, example) to encourage longer support timeframes from other Android manufacturers.
- Nition 5y ago
  > Meanwhile an iPhone SE from 2016 can upgrade to the latest iOS. It just works. Which is especially good considering no decent phones in that size have come out since! Edit: I'm downvoted to zero, but there really aren't any. Try this custom search on GSMArena: https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3?nYearMin=2016&nHeightMax=125&sFormFactors=1&nOrder=1 https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3?nYearMin=2016&nHeightMa...
- floatingatoll 5y ago
  > Meanwhile an iPhone SE from 2016 can upgrade to the latest iOS. It just works. Please don't say things like this here. That part of your comment is inappropriate and incendiary, and contributes at best nothing and at worst drama to this discussion. This particular bit of your comment does not contribute to the problem under discussion, to the potential solutions or work in progress, or to any other related concern. It is not tangentially-related to Android problems or to Pixel problems. It does no benefit to the post topic, "Pixels bricking unexpectedly", to start a flamewar about iPhones. HN does not benefit from conversational arson directed at some random Android device post, that has nothing to do with how you feel about Apple versus Android. There are enough fires on HN as it is. If you feel very strongly that we should consider and discuss your views about the relative hardware warranty times of iPhone versus Pixel, then write a blog post and submit it to HN. Sincerely, another HN reader.
jqquah 5y ago
My Pixel 3A bricked suddenly as well. It’s now just collecting dust in the cabinet, very disappointing. Meanwhile, my iPhone 6S still works but with a deteriorated battery.
icecap12 5y ago
Huhn. My wife's Pixel 3 broke just days before the 5a was released (this happened just a few weeks ago). Her LTE radio seemed to be having problems. It wouldn't connect to the cell tower, even after a factory reset. Sometimes, removing the SIM card and reinserting it would cause the phone to magically start working, but it quickly would lose it's connection again. We tried different SIMs, and finally it was totally dead and she used my old iPhone 6 for a few days while we waited for the 5a to arrive.
derefr 5y ago
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?
- c0d3z3r0 5y ago
  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
  - derefr 5y ago
    > Also, the probability of just shorting exactly the right two pins is reeeeeeeaaaaaaally low Ah, I was assuming that the "test points" were pads, not test pins. (You've opened these: are they pins?) JTAG is usually pads on most motherboards; it allows factory QA automation to prod the pads with pogo pins, while introducing a bit of setup friction in the way of doing an Evil Maid attack in the field, since there are no self-aligning pins or ports to quickly plug a cable onto. Pads are pretty easy to bridge if whatever surface the board is facing is has electrically-conductive elements; especially if the pads don't have much separation. (Often in ruggedized embedded devices you'll see the JTAG pads specifically have been kapton'ed over by the integrator, presumably because of an anxiety about something exactly like this happening due to e.g. metal shavings getting in.)
    - c0d3z3r0 5y ago
      Sorry, actually I meant pads. However, there's nothing there that could bridge them. Btw. there were several reports of signature validation errors right before the phone finally "died".
RHSeeger 5y ago
I liked this exchange Case ID [9-2313000031523] Me: I am also recording this conversation Support: We do not allow you to record Me: So you can record, but I can't? Support: That is correct. I'm pretty sure that, in the US, even in "2 party consent" states, once both parties are aware the call is / may be recorded, you're on solid ground. As such, if the Google end says "this call may be recorded", you can record. (IANAL, etc... just my understanding)
least 5y ago
I really loved my nexus 5 phone from Google until it got stuck in a bootloop and wouldn't charge. It was a a couple weeks out of warranty but they were nice enough to send me another one (with a charge hold) that almost immediately became a brick as well with the same issue and that one they would not replace. It kind of sucks to see that this is still an ongoing issue on their newer and (much) more expensive phones. I've already sworn off getting another device from Google and this just reinforces this point. Samsung's hardware (with uh, one Note-able exception) has been solid and while it didn't get the same updates and of course had all the nonsense that Samsung added on top of the base android experience, was much better than any other Android device I've owned. That said, the iPhone 4s I owned and the iPhone Xs Max I currently own are the two best phones I've owned and it's really not close. Of course it's frustrating dealing with the limitations of the OS and man would I love to sideload some of the great applications they have on Android, but the reliability and support are just unparalleled, not to mention iOS just kind of gets a lot of basic things right which makes it a much more enjoyable experience without tinkering.
EugeneOZ 5y ago
- My phone is bricked... - Please go to Settings... that was hilarious :)
- c0d3z3r0 5y ago
  Keyboard missing. Press F1 to continue. :P
loso 5y ago
I will buy a Google made phone for Development purposes since they get updates fast but as far as everyday use? Never again. My Nexus 6P bricked just because I forgot to charge it and it went down to 0. And when I did my research online about the problem it was a known issue. That made me furious. It made me move over to a Samsung Galaxy which I love. I can't believe this is still an issue with them.
molticrystal 5y ago
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-xxxx_sn-xxxxxxxx.4205331/ 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_reminder_as_the_july_security_update_is_still/ 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-getting-bricked-by-an-edl-mode-issue/ https://9to5google.com/2021/09/01/some-pixel-3-devices-are-g... https://www.androidpolice.com/phones-devices/google-phones-devices/pixel-3/ https://www.androidpolice.com/phones-devices/google-phones-d... https://www.phonearena.com/news/pixel-3-and-pixel-3-xl-models-are-bricked-when-stuck-in-edl-mode_id134710 https://www.phonearena.com/news/pixel-3-and-pixel-3-xl-model... https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/326636-something-is-bricking-pixel-3-pixel-3-xl-phones https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/326636-something-is-brick... https://slashdot.org/story/21/09/03/019201/pixel-3-and-3-xl-phones-are-getting-stuck-in-edl-mode-and-seemingly-bricked https://slashdot.org/story/21/09/03/019201/pixel-3-and-3-xl-...

155 points by c0d3z3r0 5y ago

Phones are stuck in EDL mode with no way to recover, due to Google not releasing the signed firehorse files. https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/192008282 https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/192008282 https://www.google.de/search?q=pixel+3+brick&tbm=nws https://www.google.de/search?q=pixel+3+brick&tbm=nws I am not affected (yet). If anyone from Germany is interested in figuring out what the issue is and can risk losing their data, feel free to ping me on libera IRC. I have the ability to desolder and dump the UFS memory to start some investigation.

Dracophoenix 5y ago
Have you tried asking on Reddit or the XDA forums? r/Andriod and r/googlepixel might have a bigger audience than HN.
- edoceo 5y ago
  The OG thread is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/android_beta/comments/o7h1li/pixel_3_not_turning_on_black_screen/ https://www.reddit.com/r/android_beta/comments/o7h1li/pixel_...
doublepg23 5y ago
I’ve got a Pixel 3 (non-XL) with a cracked screen that’s been sitting on my desktop for two years now I’m willing to part with.

SilverRed 5y ago

I recently has a pixel 2 die on me in a similar sounding way. Was working perfectly fine and then suddenly it won't turn on and won't take a charge. Tested with one of those usb tester things and it shows 0amp being drawn.

errantmind 5y ago

Unfortunately there is a sign-in wall to this content.

nkozyra 5y ago
I don't think so, just a ToS agreement.
- jffry 5y ago
  Accessing the linked issue tracker (https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/192008282 https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/192008282) in an incognito window prompts me to login with a Google account
  - edoceo 5y ago
    Same. Unfortunate. I mean, I have a G account - but I like seeing info w/o sign-in Edit: from an auth'd account, there is a TOS checkbox/modal.
jffry 5y ago
Here's a mirror https://archive.is/wmfel https://archive.is/wmfel
madars 5y ago
Try this: https://archive.is/G8MXx https://archive.is/G8MXx

rtkwe 5y ago

Huh my Pixel 3 XL also just died in a very similar way the battery was starting to lose charge faster than expected and a few nights ago it died again and then wouldn't power on. It was taking charge, I plugged it into a powerbank with a wattage meter, and it was pulling just 5W over USBC. (The powerbank supports full PD) It's probably the wrong spot to report this sadly so it's probably been muted it seems like a hardware issue not an issue with Android itself.

usui 5y ago

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 even though iPhones and other Android devices work fine. - Pixel: Camera stopped working - Nexus 5X: Infinite boot loop issue, contacted Google and replaced it using warranty - Nexus 4: No hardware issues - Nexus One: No hardware issues The Nexus phones were less problematic. I suspect it's because they were co-designed/manufactured by LG. As time goes on, I use my phone less, not more, and I haven't dropped Pixel phones, unlike the Nexus ones. I'm wary of purchasing the Pixel 3a, 4, or 5 since I don't want to be burned a 3rd time by specifically Google-designed phones. I think it would be best to avoid Android OS updates as much as possible as well. I'm looking for the next smartphone to be modular. Heavily considering a Linux phone easier to DIY repair.

schmichael 5y ago
This is what got me to switch to iPhone. Ewaste is a big problem with Google phones. My wife has always bought iPhones and has gone through half as many phones as me.
- usui 5y ago
  I fixed the USB port connecting and disconnecting by replacing the USB port. I fixed the power+volume buttons not working by replacing the entire connector. The Bluetooth issue remains as I haven't looked into exactly which parts are responsible for it or how to fix it. I can try to keep at it forever but it's an uphill battle. I can keep replacing parts on the Pixel 3, but one day the motherboard might die. Unfortunately, I don't want to purchase a hot air rework station and handle reflowing those chips as the pitch of the joints is too fine.
- madars 5y ago
  How do you deal with lack of uBlock Origin? It's Android's killer feature: you can have real browsers with extensions.

Razengan 5y ago

If this was about iPhones this would have 999 comments and 10 times as many upvotes, but any other brand and people are like oh no, anyway.

jeffbee 5y ago

I can’t believe they inflict buganizer on the innocent public.

jsolson 5y ago
Awwww, I kinda like Buganizer -- but also it allows for much more direct engagement between Googlers and the issues reported by the public.

malkia 5y ago

I've had similar issues with all Pixel phones I've got too :( I do like the fact that nothing fancy gets installed on the phone (unlike Samsung, the rest), but my Samsung N9 Note has been working for 2-3 years no issues! (yes, I don't like the crap that they add, but got used to it... by ignoring it)

zamadatix 5y ago
Samsung has hardware issues over time the same as the rest, heck it was only 5 years ago their premium model had quality issues so bad they had 2 rounds of recalls and cancelled the model completely. I still went with OnePlus again with the 9 Pro even though the initial (or maybe all, I stopped checking after I heard the initial reports) 8's were troublesome. OnePlus isn't half as good as what they use to be but at least you can get a decent phone without overdone software. That they actually let you just unlock the bootloader on new devices says a lot to me even though I don't think I'd deal with custom ROMs anymore. The main thing I've found when getting an Android phone is more than which brand is reliable wait a couple of months for the first batch of common users (not reviewers) to see how it actually is before going for it. Yeah you're eating into the short update lifecycle Android phones have but you know it's not bad out of the gate and there is no crystal ball telling you which phone models this generation are going to have unforeseen issues in 2 years (though I guarantee it will be some). If only the iPhone let me install apps from 3rd party sources... I'd jump on that hardware in a heartbeat.

wyldfire 5y ago

I have no idea what EDL mode is but some googling led me to an open source utility [1] called "Sahara." I wonder if you could use it for recovery? [1] https://github.com/openpst/sahara https://github.com/openpst/sahara

shakna 5y ago
As noted by the project: > It should be noted that devices that are hard bricked and in Sahara mode (Qualcomm USB PID 9008) and have secure boot enabled (pretty much EVERY production device) will only accept signed programmers. This means that it is not only device specific (i.e. MSM8x26,MSM8974,etc) but vendor specific as well (i.e. LG, HTC, etc) since OEMs generate their own private keys to sign all firmware images, including EDL images. Google have _not_ released the signed firehose files required to be able to fix this.
samueldr 5y ago
Short answer "not really". While it could be used to recover the phone, it requires a "programmer" program, which is signed by the vendor (Google, here) that hasn't been leaked. Or, really, I should say that these programs should be made available as "software rights to repair". --- Some reading: https://alephsecurity.com/2018/01/22/qualcomm-edl-1/ https://alephsecurity.com/2018/01/22/qualcomm-edl-1/ A more up-to-date open source tool: https://github.com/bkerler/edl/ https://github.com/bkerler/edl/ EDIT: see also this sibling (to you) reply: - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28545937 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28545937

thatcat 5y ago

Just had a pixel 3a brick out of nowhere a few weeks ago after the battery died

jqquah 5y ago
Mine too like 4 months ago

dmitrygr 5y ago

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 block device driver? Malicious code? Sheer dumb misfortune? Who knows...

userbinator 5y ago
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 they have locked down things since then, ostensibly for security but more likely for corporate control and planned obolescence...
- dmitrygr 5y ago
  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...
  - Dylan16807 5y ago
    Which doesn't explain why you can't even wipe+unlock.
    - c0d3z3r0 5y ago
      Read again. It does. The boot ROM fails to verify the bootloaders (XBL) signature for some reason.
      - 5y ago

shp0ngle 5y ago

Crap. I’m now considering buying a new Pixel phone - I need to switch from iPhone to Android for certain reasons, and I hate pre-installed crap of Samsung. (Samsung Internet? Really?) But I also don’t want to deal with HW issues and my family never had any HW problems with Samsung… so I guess Samsung it is?

Justin_K 5y ago
Ive been blow away at how great my OnePlus 8 is. Camera is not as good as Samsung but everything else is great.
vorpalhex 5y ago
If you don't need the latest and greatest, Nokia ships relatively vanilla android phones that are durable as hell.
- shp0ngle 5y ago
  They don't do vanilla android anymore and the new models have some shovelware stuff.
therealcamino 5y ago
Before I had a Pixel 3 I had a couple of Motorola phones, and they didn't have much extra crap installed.
sundvor 5y ago
Samsung Internet is actually surprisingly good. Highly performant, and a plethora built in adblockers (sadly not Origin). Night mode works across all sites, it clearly was written by a team enthusiastic about their jobs.
- mekster 5y ago
  Galaxy somehow makes owning phones actually fun. Pixel makes me feel I got a bare bone phone except I like the camera better than Galaxy's which feels a bit too vivid. Kudos to the Galaxy team.

908B64B197 5y ago

Pixel 3 is EOL anyways as of October 2021. No more software updates and no security patch. Makes sense the hardware is EOL as well. Meanwhile an iPhone SE from 2016 can upgrade to the latest iOS. It just works.

zerocrates 5y ago
As a long-time Android user, it is a little ridiculous how short Google's timeframe for even security support is, on their own hardware. Updates to Android that were supposed to help remedy this problem haven't seemed to make a dent. I'm sure, being Google, they've done all sorts of data analysis and cost-benefit and shown that it's a small group that keep phones that long and that people don't care that much about the support period... but it's just another seemingly penny-pinching situation from them that I think hurts their brand more than it could possibly be saving. I like my 3a a lot, and bought it cheap later in its lifecycle, and it's a little galling to check and see that the support "guarantee" only goes up to next May, and the security timeframe is the same! If they stick to that schedule I'll have only basically their dead minimum of 18 months of support from when they stopped selling a device, or close to it. Is there really that much upside to these cutoffs? If anything, they should be using the Pixel line as a cudgel (or let's be nicer, example) to encourage longer support timeframes from other Android manufacturers.
Nition 5y ago
> Meanwhile an iPhone SE from 2016 can upgrade to the latest iOS. It just works. Which is especially good considering no decent phones in that size have come out since! Edit: I'm downvoted to zero, but there really aren't any. Try this custom search on GSMArena: https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3?nYearMin=2016&nHeightMax=125&sFormFactors=1&nOrder=1 https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3?nYearMin=2016&nHeightMa...
floatingatoll 5y ago
> Meanwhile an iPhone SE from 2016 can upgrade to the latest iOS. It just works. Please don't say things like this here. That part of your comment is inappropriate and incendiary, and contributes at best nothing and at worst drama to this discussion. This particular bit of your comment does not contribute to the problem under discussion, to the potential solutions or work in progress, or to any other related concern. It is not tangentially-related to Android problems or to Pixel problems. It does no benefit to the post topic, "Pixels bricking unexpectedly", to start a flamewar about iPhones. HN does not benefit from conversational arson directed at some random Android device post, that has nothing to do with how you feel about Apple versus Android. There are enough fires on HN as it is. If you feel very strongly that we should consider and discuss your views about the relative hardware warranty times of iPhone versus Pixel, then write a blog post and submit it to HN. Sincerely, another HN reader.

jqquah 5y ago

My Pixel 3A bricked suddenly as well. It’s now just collecting dust in the cabinet, very disappointing. Meanwhile, my iPhone 6S still works but with a deteriorated battery.

icecap12 5y ago

Huhn. My wife's Pixel 3 broke just days before the 5a was released (this happened just a few weeks ago). Her LTE radio seemed to be having problems. It wouldn't connect to the cell tower, even after a factory reset. Sometimes, removing the SIM card and reinserting it would cause the phone to magically start working, but it quickly would lose it's connection again. We tried different SIMs, and finally it was totally dead and she used my old iPhone 6 for a few days while we waited for the 5a to arrive.

derefr 5y ago

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?

c0d3z3r0 5y ago
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
- derefr 5y ago
  > Also, the probability of just shorting exactly the right two pins is reeeeeeeaaaaaaally low Ah, I was assuming that the "test points" were pads, not test pins. (You've opened these: are they pins?) JTAG is usually pads on most motherboards; it allows factory QA automation to prod the pads with pogo pins, while introducing a bit of setup friction in the way of doing an Evil Maid attack in the field, since there are no self-aligning pins or ports to quickly plug a cable onto. Pads are pretty easy to bridge if whatever surface the board is facing is has electrically-conductive elements; especially if the pads don't have much separation. (Often in ruggedized embedded devices you'll see the JTAG pads specifically have been kapton'ed over by the integrator, presumably because of an anxiety about something exactly like this happening due to e.g. metal shavings getting in.)
  - c0d3z3r0 5y ago
    Sorry, actually I meant pads. However, there's nothing there that could bridge them. Btw. there were several reports of signature validation errors right before the phone finally "died".

RHSeeger 5y ago

I liked this exchange Case ID [9-2313000031523] Me: I am also recording this conversation Support: We do not allow you to record Me: So you can record, but I can't? Support: That is correct. I'm pretty sure that, in the US, even in "2 party consent" states, once both parties are aware the call is / may be recorded, you're on solid ground. As such, if the Google end says "this call may be recorded", you can record. (IANAL, etc... just my understanding)

least 5y ago

I really loved my nexus 5 phone from Google until it got stuck in a bootloop and wouldn't charge. It was a a couple weeks out of warranty but they were nice enough to send me another one (with a charge hold) that almost immediately became a brick as well with the same issue and that one they would not replace. It kind of sucks to see that this is still an ongoing issue on their newer and (much) more expensive phones. I've already sworn off getting another device from Google and this just reinforces this point. Samsung's hardware (with uh, one Note-able exception) has been solid and while it didn't get the same updates and of course had all the nonsense that Samsung added on top of the base android experience, was much better than any other Android device I've owned. That said, the iPhone 4s I owned and the iPhone Xs Max I currently own are the two best phones I've owned and it's really not close. Of course it's frustrating dealing with the limitations of the OS and man would I love to sideload some of the great applications they have on Android, but the reliability and support are just unparalleled, not to mention iOS just kind of gets a lot of basic things right which makes it a much more enjoyable experience without tinkering.

EugeneOZ 5y ago

- My phone is bricked... - Please go to Settings... that was hilarious :)

c0d3z3r0 5y ago
Keyboard missing. Press F1 to continue. :P

loso 5y ago

I will buy a Google made phone for Development purposes since they get updates fast but as far as everyday use? Never again. My Nexus 6P bricked just because I forgot to charge it and it went down to 0. And when I did my research online about the problem it was a known issue. That made me furious. It made me move over to a Samsung Galaxy which I love. I can't believe this is still an issue with them.

molticrystal 5y ago

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-xxxx_sn-xxxxxxxx.4205331/ 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_reminder_as_the_july_security_update_is_still/ 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-getting-bricked-by-an-edl-mode-issue/ https://9to5google.com/2021/09/01/some-pixel-3-devices-are-g... https://www.androidpolice.com/phones-devices/google-phones-devices/pixel-3/ https://www.androidpolice.com/phones-devices/google-phones-d... https://www.phonearena.com/news/pixel-3-and-pixel-3-xl-models-are-bricked-when-stuck-in-edl-mode_id134710 https://www.phonearena.com/news/pixel-3-and-pixel-3-xl-model... https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/326636-something-is-bricking-pixel-3-pixel-3-xl-phones https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/326636-something-is-brick... https://slashdot.org/story/21/09/03/019201/pixel-3-and-3-xl-phones-are-getting-stuck-in-edl-mode-and-seemingly-bricked https://slashdot.org/story/21/09/03/019201/pixel-3-and-3-xl-...