• GeneralPixel 7a

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

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.

            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.

                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.

                    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

                    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.

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

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

                        • zzz likes this.

                          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.

                            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.

                              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.

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