My new Pixel 9 is suspicious

Kiba

Hello everyone,

I just bought a Pixel 9 Pro XL 256Gb on a webmarchand (Rakuten).

The box that arrived looks quite original except that ... The phone's storage capacity is not mentioned.

The phone looks new and original, the box was in plastic but when I went to the developer options, the “OEM bootloader unlock” was already active.

I find all this strange.

What do you recommend?
Theoretically, if GOS is installed, it must be an original phone, right?
Is there anything I should check in particular after installing GOS?

Thanks in advance.

n3t_admin

Kiba I would check warranty directly on Googles site, to check if there are any discrepancies.

MineralWater

Kiba

The boxes aren't wrapped in Plastic. I have a normal Pixel 9 and it came like Apple Phones completely without plastic wrapping, just a seal had to be pulled of, so that you can release the slide out of the box.

Looks to me that the phone is either a refurbished one of unknown origin or a fake product. The phones Google sends out or those which are sold in markets don't come with open bootloader.

wuseman

Check what the Auditor app says.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.attestation.auditor.play

graphuser

I don't know about the storage issue, but if the device was unlocked you should have seen it at boot time if I'm not wrong and understand this flow correctly:

https://source.android.com/docs/security/features/verifiedboot/boot-flow

It should show an orange warning for 10s when the bootloader is unlocked (and yellow when booting a locked custom os such as google os)

Kiba

The bootloader was locked, the OEM unlock was activated.

So I was able to unlock the bootloader using Fastboot without activating anything in the developer options.

Regarding the IMEI on Google's website, it finds it for me but doesn't give me too many details:

“Check repair options for the device with this IMEI number or serial number in the hardware warranty center.”

Concerning Auditor it's more annoying. I can check my Pixel 6 under graphene without any problem.

But when I want to check this Pixel 9 Pro XL it puts me :

"Error encountered generating attestation"
"java.security.ProviderException: Failed to generate key pair.

Strange. I flashed it under GOS and it runs fine, but I'd like to be sure of my purchase while I can still send it back.

GrapheneOS

Kiba Auditor should work fine. Does it have network access?

de0u

Kiba Regarding the IMEI on Google's website, it finds it for me but doesn't give me too many details:

“Check repair options for the device with this IMEI number or serial number in the hardware warranty center.”

The warranty information may reveal prior use of the device.

de0u

Kiba "Error encountered generating attestation"
"java.security.ProviderException: Failed to generate key pair."

This has been seen before: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/9459-pixel-8-auditor-failed-to-generate-key-pair/20

Kiba

GrapheneOS Yes, it does have network access enabled.

If I use it as a “device performing verification” it works and verifies my Pixel 6.

If I use it as “device being verified” I get this red screen with the above error about key generation.

This is a fresh installation performed from the command line and without any backup restoration.

Is it serious? What else can I do to help?

Kiba

de0u I tried the adb commands in this topic without success. The error remains the same.

Moreover, the problem came from restoring the data, which I didn't do.

But it's the same error. 🤔

Kiba

Here's a link to the image of the box, which contains no mention of storage capacity.

It's a 256Gb and is well recognized as such in Graphene OS.

https://cloud.r-virtuel.net/s/gQQZqEX7n6worZ9

MineralWater

Kiba

If the two parts that have been pulled off have been wrapped with plastic around the box, it means the package was opened and the phone probably used already.

Or did you pull these off after removing the plastic?

There shouldn't be any plastic as far as I know.

Kiba

MineralWater The box was under plastic but the seals were still there. I removed them myself.

MineralWater

Kiba ok, that sounds good.

Kiba

However, I realize that the battery already shows 125 cycles.
The box was new, I'm sure, but maybe that's why the capacity isn't mentioned, he'd have a set of “original” boxes or like and they'd do some kind of reconditioning of some phones?

What bothers me most is the fact that the Auditor app doesn't work.

I've checked the “hash” displayed on startup and it matches the one I'm supposed to have for a Pixel 9 Pro XL.

Hat

Kiba I realize that the battery already shows 125 cycles.

If the appliance is marked "new" in the ad, you can report the store to an anti-fraud organization and request a refund.

Kiba

Let me add one more element:
Via the google site for product repair (the link given above):

The serial number for this Pixel 9 Pro XL cannot be found according to Google.
The IMEI number is OK but tells me I need to contact the warranty center.

On my pixel 6, both the serial number and the IMEI give the same (good) result.

I wonder if it's just a renewed phone or if there have been other, deeper alterations. What could justify the serial number being unknown to Google? 🤔

Either way I guess the advice would be not to trust this phone?

n3t_admin

Kiba What could justify the serial number being unknown to Google?

May have been a demo device.

wuseman

Kiba Either way I guess the advice would be not to trust this phone?

If my life depended on it, I'd sell it and buy another one

If not, I would let Auditor decide. If it thinks everything is OK, I would keep using it.

Kiba

wuseman I bought this phone as a new product for €747 including tax, which is a great price.

I can live with the battery cycles given the price. But what bothers me the most is that I can't get Auditor to work on it.

I don't get a yes or no from it, just a key generation error. I don't know if this error should be understood as a defect or a manipulation of the device, or if it's just some kind of bug.