Just a warning. Model: Pixel 8a

Harvey Norman advertises unlocked phones. Unsurprisingly to most readers here, they believe that unambiguously means 'carrier unlocked', not OEM unlocked.

Actually, when I first got the device, it looked promising. Unlocking the bootloader in settings (i.e. via developer options) appeared to have worked.

However, despite those settings, the bootloader screen on start-up shows it stays locked.

I updated all the phone's software, tried again several times, but no change: the settings say its unlocked but the bootscreen says its locked.

If it matters, the phone was only connected to wifi. No SIM or account details were entered into it.

The customer experience was awful - I won't bore you with the details - but they are fully aware of the OEM unlocking issue and say what we want to do (custom ROM) is not normal, therefore no refund. (They were incredibly scornful, actually. Really insulting). Burns me up that a retailer can expect me to do only what they envisage with my phone, but... This is our world (and ASIC is toothless).

It took a lot of argument to get the manager to acknowledge there was a problem with the phone, not just with what I wanted to do with it.

Its been sent away for 'repairs' (for which I have had to sign a contract that opens me up to "fees" and "reasonable" time for repairs). If they fix it, I'll post the outcome.

Any recent successful purchases of a Pixel 8a?

    remote-uncontrol Unlocking the bootloader in settings (i.e. via developer options) appeared to have worked.

    Were you able to toggle OEM unlocking in the developer settings? That is what permits you to alter the state of the bootloader, the actual unlocking is a different process that's initiated by our installers. The bootloader will remain locked until then, that's intended.

        spring-onion

        yes, that's what i meant - hitting 'about phone' (<- I think) several times to get developer status, then using the toggle in Developer options to unlock OEM bootloader.

        On reboot, with volume down, it shows "locked" in green writing.

        Are you saying this is normal behavior and I have it all wrong? That your installers will unlock?

            spring-onion
            From installation instructions:
            "Enabling OEM unlocking
            ...
            For the Pixel 6a, OEM unlocking won't work with the version of the stock OS from the factory. You need to update it to the June 2022 release or later via an over-the-air update. After you've updated it you'll also need to factory reset the device to fix OEM unlocking."

            I didn't do that last bit (bold). I ignored this because it was for Pixel 6 a, not 8a.

            I don't have the device atm, so cannot retry. Kicking myself.

                remote-uncontrol if I'm following all this correctly, there might be a bit of confusion.

                The thing in developer options is to enable OEM unlocking. Basically, a setting to tell the bootloader it can be unlocked. It doesn't actually unlock the phone.

                When you restart and are at the screen where you see "locked", you'll be able to unlock the phone from there and then do the rest of the flashing steps.

                  remote-uncontrol Are you saying this is normal behavior and I have it all wrong? That your installers will unlock?

                  Yes, as long as OEM unlocking is enabled that's all you need. You then head to the installer, click on unlock bootloader, that will send the respective command to the phone, you confirm the action on device and there you go, it's unlocked and ready for flashing.

                  remote-uncontrol I didn't do that last bit (bold). I ignored this because it was for Pixel 6 a, not 8a.

                  Yep you rightfully disregarded that.

                  remote-uncontrol I don't have the device atm, so cannot retry. Kicking myself.

                  Unlucky. Also unfortunate that the customer support team had no idea.

                          spring-onion Unlucky. Also unfortunate that the customer support team had no idea.

                          Well, a glowing green word "locked" will convey a certain impression, so I am not too surprised. (But their attitude to the very idea of a custom ROM was contemptuous, so not a lot of sympathy).

                          Thanks for your help, I'll see if I can get it back before they send it off for 'repair'.

                          Could you consider a note in the instructions to this effect? I wonder if others have had troubles, too / will in the future. Something to the effect of "Don't panic if the bootloader screen says 'locked' - the installer will unlock this during installation."

                          Anyway, thanks again.

                            Did you actually try to unlock the bootloader or did you just toggle the setting in developer options? To unlock the bootloader you need to connect the phone with the usb cable after you switched that toggle in developer options and press "Unlock bootloader" using the web installer.

                            https://grapheneos.org/install/web

                            I would read this page very carefully again to be sure you didn't miss anything.

                            If you can switch the toggle in developer options i see no reason why the bootloader couldn't be unlocked.

                            • Also i think an edit is in order because the phone this retailer send you was most probably just fine. Besides them refusing to take the phone back, which you might not agree with, it was you who didn't know what you where doing.

                              DeletedUser131
                              I didn't get to the point of plugging the phone into the computer. There didn't seem much point, since despite toggling OEM unlocking, I was led to believe it wasn't working because the boot screen (restart + vol down) showed "locked" is glowing green letters.

                              Apparently that wasn't the right interpretation, and I feel pretty foolish.

                              Also, if I was going to return the phone, I didn't want to have screwed around with it by a side-channel like USB-to-PC. And they asked that, very pointedly - I had a helluva an argument with the manager.

                              Which makes me feel doubly foolish if it was all unnecessary.

                                  remote-uncontrol Yeah, just to reiterate: "OEM unlocking" does not unlock the bootloader, it is the setting that allows unlocking the bootloader. When you reboot in bootloader mode and send the command to unlock, it will check the state of this flag in non-volatile memory to see if it will allow you to proceed with the unlock.

                                  Therefore you need to (1) enable OEM unlocking, (2) reboot in bootloader mode, and then finally (3) actually unlock.

                                      lbschenkel I just ask that something like that is reflected in the instructions. For those of us who do not swap ROMs very much, this is not clear.

                                      I know, there are programmatic instructions - but even read carefully, from the perspective of the ignorant, there is also ambiguity.

                                      Really depends on what community you want to serve.

                                      Not being ungrateful, just constructive.

                                          remote-uncontrol remote-uncontrol I would edit the original post, but editing is closed.

                                          From the above thread, you can see I made a mistake - the phone was behaving correctly, I just didn't know. Neither did 2 staff members from the store, although they also knew how to activate developer options, OEM unlocking, etc. They eventually admitted it for repair (in this part of the world, a retailer doesn't have to give a refund if repair is available).

                                          The word "locked" really does suggest something is still locked. I install a alternate ROM maybe once in 2-3 years and I've only done it maybe a couple of times. There are lots of people like me. I still think a simple note of this issue in Graphene documentation would be useful, and really easy.

                                          I retrieved the phone from their repair process the next morning.

                                          Graphene OS is successfully installed.

                                              remote-uncontrol I just ask that something like that is reflected in the instructions

                                              The instructions are quite clear on this, though. You enable OEM unlocking, scroll down and skip what doesn't apply to you, then you reach the step where it makes you actually unlock the bootloader. Table of Contents shows this before anything else on the page, although you would be forgiven for skipping it.

                                                I can't make this issue any clearer and I am frustrated at the pushback for want of a few words being added to a html file.

                                                I have come from 10-15 years as a user in the opensource world (Linux, etc). It is entirely routine for otherwise excellent software products to have:

                                                • no documentation
                                                • incomplete, outdated documentation
                                                • documentation with conflicting information
                                                • documentation written in shorthand, jargon, or assuming knowledge of specialist areas that the average user simply does not have.

                                                You don't blindly trust documentation, you tread carefully. You can make a mistake, they can make a mistake - it happens. Mistakes when you flash a phone can brick the device. That's an expensive mistake.

                                                And indeed, GrapheneOS itself has made a mistake. It refers to the wrong package in its CLI installation instructions. I'm not bitching, I'm just saying - and trying to make it better for the next guys. I'll never be able to contribute code and my donations ('cos I ain't rich) are going to be small. This is giving.

                                                When I come across a word on my phone saying "locked" after I go through steps that I thought were unlocking, I think something has gone wrong. I stop right there. I don't have faith and proceed with the instructions - I don't work like a computer. I try to troubleshoot.

                                                One possibility is that the phone will not permit unlocking, which is a known problem installing Graphene on Pixels, depending on the vendor. (The terminological overlap with "carrier unlocking" and "OEM unlocking" does not help, and the unhelpful attitude of many stores to changing ROMs - Harvey Norman was openly hostile - makes it worse, they don't list the info clearly and presumably won't help you if you ask).

                                                Imagine its a door, not a phone. You rock up to the door and its locked. You turn the key you've been given by a stranger, it seems to throw the lock. But if the door still says "locked", you don't try to charge on through it even if your instructions say to go through the door. That would be stupid.

                                                I really could have used a couple of words in those instruction to guide me. Its a "guide", right? So fucking guide me.

                                                That was a seriously stressful confrontation in the store that I could have done without. (When I went back the next day, I saw they'd put up brand new signs saying they have a "zero tolerance policy" towards aggression - its a move that's becoming popular in stores here as people get increasingly pissed off with being ripped off and rolled over by big companies and start reacting. I am certain those signs went up because of me. I've got really mixed feelings about the episode).

                                                Nevertheless, at the end of it, there was myself and two staff (who know how to trigger OEM unlocking) who all thought the phone wasn't unlocking the bootloader, that it was defective, and needed repair at their expense.

                                                I haven't swapped a ROM for years. I've only done it maybe 3 times. Yes, I DO need my hand held, and I'm not ashamed of that.

                                                How many others do you think have been stumped by this, but not said anything? Given up on Graphene all together? Is that what you want?

                                                Just put a couple of extra words in the instructions and be done with it.

                                                [mike drop]

                                                  My input, as someone whose only experience using a non-stock OS is with GrapheneOS: The instructions are clear (enough).

                                                  [mic drop]

                                                  remote-uncontrol And indeed, GrapheneOS itself has made a mistake.

                                                  I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that GrapheneOS made a mistake here. The executable is likely signify on other distributions. If someone has elected to do the cli install rather than using the web installer, it's expected that the person doing the cli install can figure these things out (as the person in that thread did). Also, the website says the cli install is "aimed at more technical users" and (emphasis my own):

                                                  The command-line approach requires being on an OS with proper fastboot and OpenSSH packages, along with understanding the process enough to avoid blindly trusting the instructions from our site.

                                                  I'm sorry you had multiple bad experiences dealing with the vendor and flashing GrapheneOS. The website does say that if anyone runs into any problems they can ask for help here or in the chat rooms. We do help a lot of people with flashing GrapheneOS, so we know many of the problems people encounter. People in the community could have saved you a lot of trouble, it seems!

                                                  As for the instructions, I'm curious exactly which part should be made clearer? It's very clear that OEM unlocking should be enabled from within the OS, then reboot into the bootloader interface, connect to the device, then finally unlock the bootloader. If the instructions say to unlock the bootloader, wouldn't it make sense to see that the bootloader is locked? If you have a specific suggestion on what to change or add, then maybe it can be considered if we think it can be helpful.

                                                      other8026 Thanks for your considered response.

                                                      I really want to move on.

                                                      The mistake referred to on the other thread: I don't want to sound bitchy, (I really mean that), but it is a mistake to supply a command explicitly for Debian/Ubuntu apt and use the wrong package name. It isn't signify, its signify-openbsd.

                                                      Yes, I understood enough to figure it out. But that was an extra bit of messing around to find a) signify doesn't recognise the command supplied, b) signify in the Debian repository is a different package, c) signify-openbsd is what should be used. Take my confusion and multiply that by however many Debian/Ubuntu users Graphene has/is gaining (possibly quite a few?) - that's a lot of people's time. It contrasts with a few minutes of the webmaster's time to correct the command on the instructions for everyone.

                                                      "Mistake", "error", whatever term you wish to apply - the supplied command is wrong. And that's my broader point in this thread - the command is wrong. No matter how much you may trust the devs, mistakes in documentation do happen. In this case (i.e signify), the failure it produces is negligible - just go find the right package. An easy fix, I have the skills to diagnose and correct, no harm done.

                                                      However, my bitter experience has included broken instructions on other projects that produce bootloops/softbricked devices and (on PC) a complete reinstallation of my Linux system (including a travel across town to a friend's place to download a distro). As much as I would like to like Graphene, and I will trust it as an operating system, I still refer to the list above as a reason to be cautious.

                                                      If the device you are working on has cost you 2 weeks' rent, you are very cautious.

                                                      other8026 It's very clear that OEM unlocking should be enabled from within the OS, then reboot into the bootloader interface, [HERE] connect to the device, then finally unlock the bootloader.

                                                      My emphasis on "[HERE]. At this point, if you don't know what to expect (there are no pictures), it looks like unlocking has failed. It looks like the instructions have failed. OR It looks like the phone's software has failed, in which case it could be a phone that does not permit unlocking. The instructions even talk about that issue at this step.

                                                      To add more uncertainty, the instructions then talk about 6a not permitting unlocking. It begs the question - is there also a problem with 8a? With all *a models? Have the authors just not updated the instructions? How common is the 8a anyway - is it overlooked? I have no idea and its uncomfortable.

                                                      To ignore all that uncertainty is asking me to have faith in your 'automagic' webinstaller process, and I'm afraid I just don't. Not with the risk of a brick. It says to me "Stop! Do not proceed until you have figured out this anomaly."

                                                      If your (i.e. anyone's) response is to say "its not an anomaly", that's because you don't know how much you know. Its called tacit knowledge, and this kind of argument is actually really common between technical experts and non-experts, in all sorts of fields, from medicine, engineering, etc. to software. This is my expertise. You need to listen to this.

                                                      If this webinstaller is supposed to be idiot-proof, you are going to have to cater to idiots (like me; I don't mean to denigrate your users). Otherwise, just get everyone to use the CLI instructions.

                                                      Remember, its not just me. Two other people (the store staff) - who were quite motivated to believe it wasn't a problem - were also forced to admit that it seemed to be a problem.

                                                      In any case, here's the simple phrase I think would help, at the end of the bootloader section:

                                                      nb - the bootloader will report a "locked" status at this point. This is normal.

                                                      That simple sentence would have made life a lot easier. 14 words versus hours of my time, stress, and probably many others out there who are silent because they don't want to seem like an idiot.

                                                      At this point, respectfully, I'm done. I look forward to exploring Graphene as an OS, and will donate in the future. Thanks.

                                                      EDIT - also, its nice to see there's such an active community here. Thanks again.

                                                          I had to create an account just to reply to this.
                                                          I used CLI to flash my phone for the first time on the weekend, instructions were clear and easy to understand. From the way you have explained your scenario it is clear that you need to take a breath, read the manual and not blame others at the drop of the hat.... Very hasteful.

                                                          other8026 changed the title to Issues with unlocking bootloader .