Locked out of phone with LONG enforced wait times between unlock attempts

zzz

Maybe a kind mod could look at some kind of logs on your device?
Can others reproduce this on other GOS phones?

Otherwise, you may be out of luck.
Hard to distinguish the situation described from that of an attacker trying to gain unauthorized access.

duffieldde

I read through the link but it doesn't mention if like stock android, the timer will go away after a certain period of idle time, or if there will be a timer on there between single unlock attempts forever now.

Another question I have is if I reboot the phone, it doesn't show the "wait 3 million seconds before trying again.." message until I try and enter a PIN. I am wondering is that first PIN entry attempt after restart a real attempt (it would unlock the phone if it were my real PIN) or if it's automatically rejected because of the timer which just doesn't show up until after I make one attempt?

de0u

duffieldde Another question I have is if I reboot the phone, it doesn't show the "wait 3 million seconds before trying again.." message until I try and enter a PIN. I am wondering is that first PIN entry attempt after restart a real attempt (it would unlock the phone if it were my real PIN) or if it's automatically rejected because of the timer which just doesn't show up until after I make one attempt?

I suspect that first attempt must be rejected (otherwise no delay longer than a minute or two would be meaningful). Whether or not that rejection counts toward increasing the delay, I don't know.

de0u

duffieldde Is this limitless timer a GrapheneOS feature?

I believe this is how the hardware works.

duffieldde How long must I leave the phone untouched before the single attempt it gives me goes away and I am able to make several consecutive PIN attempts again?

I believe it is necessary to successfully unlock the device before it will reset to normal behavior.

duffieldde Why is the PIN I always use not working to unlock the phone after I wait for the phone to allow me to make another unlock attempt?

If you have entered the same PIN 130 times, probably entering that one in again isn't going to work. But if you are sure there is nothing else you could enter, I would recommend writing it down on a piece of paper and then asking somebody to enter it for you.

duffieldde What could have happened? Why is the PIN I always use not working to unlock the phone after I wait for the phone to allow me to make another unlock attempt?

In theory the secure element (which is hardware) might have failed. This is genuinely quite unlikely, but in theory it can happen, just as any piece of hardware can fail.

duffieldde

de0u In theory the secure element (which is hardware) might have failed. This is genuinely quite unlikely, but in theory it can happen, just as any piece of hardware can fail.

If it's hardware failure and I bought a new phone, is it possible to somehow clone the image of the locked phone (in its encrypted state) onto the new one and try to unlock using the PIN? It's too hard to believe that I am forgetting the same PIN I've been entering for over a year. I wish grapheneos didn't have such a crazy upper limit on its attempt timer.

de0u

duffieldde If it's hardware failure and I bought a new phone, is it possible to somehow clone the image of the locked phone (in its encrypted state) onto the new one and try to unlock using the PIN?

For that I think it would be necessary to consult a professional data recovery service.

duffieldde I wish grapheneos didn't have such a crazy upper limit on its attempt timer.

I expect the current situation is very troublesome, but, again, I believe that the observed phenomenon is the way that Pixel hardware works, not a choice made by GrapheneOS.

locked

duffieldde No, this is likely impossible because you would need the secure elements keys from the original device.

raccoondad

duffieldde its not possible to copy device data or decrypt it outside of the pin method on the original phone, sorry.

Type it slowly, is my best advice, when you get the option to unlock it again.

locked

Just type your pin very slowly being careful about every character you type, including the green check at the end. The only other thing that I can think of is a keyboard layout anomaly. Unlikely on the PIN screen, however, if the device is in a different region/language, you might be typing the wrong keys

GrapheneOS

zzz These throttling times were fully accurate but we likely need to update it for the newer releases of the firmware.

leafnose

GrapheneOS
Today, after several failed attempts (BFU), but less than 10 or not many more, I had 300 s, then 900 s, and then 700 s (or something between 600 s and 700 s) waiting time.

Does it make sense, is it only possible for throttling times to get backwards?

Upstate1618

Next time before entering your password, you can try to swipe up from the bottom of your screen instead of tapping the lock icon to enter the password. There's a UI bug introduced recently.

duffieldde

Upstate1618

Thanks Upstate1618 I will try that next time it lets me enter another PIN which will be about 30 hours. I hope the problem is this UI bug you mentioned. That makes more sense than me forgetting my PIN.

duffieldde

The throttling times don't max out at 24 hours. I'm now up to over 133,000 seconds which is 36 hours between attempts.

Pocketstar

duffieldde I am not sure if anyone mentioned this before (could not find it) but is it not your SIM-pin you have to input instead? Because after a reboot, it may prompt for a SIMcard pin first before your actual unlock pincode. Also, after three faulty attempts, that needs to be your PUK-code instead)

It is best to read the pincode screen carefully and see which pin it refers to, and does it have a SIM-icon on the screen?

Furthermore, it is possible to confuse a 2-factor fingerprint pin with the actual unlock pin.
So it is best to 1: reboot, then 2: fill out the SIM or PUK-pin, then 3: your actual unlock pin.

If you cannot get past the SIM pin, it is best to turn off the phone and then remove the SIMcard, reboot and fill out the unlock pin rather than the SIM/PUK pin.

DeletedUser495

duffieldde do have your data backed up in any way? Factory wipe will enable you to start afresh and use your device again.

Satoichi

I have the exact same problem, Pixel 9,
Somehow my PIN changed?? And I'm not able to go into recovery mode to do a factory reset.
When I try to go into recovery-mode I get the "No Command" prompt.

Help!

other8026

Satoichi Somehow my PIN changed?

It won't change by itself. There's probably some other explanation.

Satoichi When I try to go into recovery-mode I get the "No Command" prompt.

Push and hold the lock button then push the volume up button (if I remember correctly, if not, try volume down). You should see a menu after doing that.

Satoichi

Great that worked for me!
Thank you @other8026 !

de0u

leafnose Does it make sense, is it only possible for throttling times to get backwards?

After the delay ramps up for a while it goes back down for a while. I think the idea is that if somebody picks up your phone and idly tries to break in it will get mad, but it would be bad if somebody could lock you out if your phone for a whole day, so after it gets mad it relents a little.

synccd

After I layed kn my phone I now have a 43,204 lockup. Aster swatting and correctly entering my, password the time just to 40k again.

I'm unable to use my phone

de0u

synccd By "swatting" is "waiting" intended?