Trouble Installing Google USB Drivers (w/ fastboot) onto Windows 10

zzz

Hi all,

I'm following the official Web Installer instructions, and having trouble getting Windows 10 to install the Google USB Driver (with fastboot) onto Windows 10 via the Computer Management tool. Could I get your help / advice? Below is my experience so far.

I'm using the following:

Dell laptop with built-in USB-C ports (no adapters or dongles needed)
Windows 10, fully updated at the beginning of each session via the Windows updater in settings.
Microsoft Edge browser
Non-carrier Pixel 7 phone, connected directly to the laptop's USB-C ports with an OEM cable, with developer mode on, with OEM unlocking on, unlocked with 30 minute screen timeout, with USB preferences set to "USB Controlled By -> This device" and "File transfer / Android Auto"

Per the Gaphene's official Web Installer instructions, in the "Connecting the phone" section, there are two options for Windows users:

1st Option, the "Windows Update's Automatically Detected Optional Update":

"On Windows, you need to install a driver for fastboot if you don't already have it. No driver is needed on other operating systems. You can obtain the driver from Windows Update which will detect it as an optional update when the device is booted into the bootloader interface and connected to the computer. Open Windows Update, run a check for updates and then open the "View optional updates" interface. Install the driver for the Android bootloader interface as an optional update."

This approach has not worked for me. Windows does not provide drivers no matter how many reboots or update checks I do within Windows Settings, with and without the phone plugged in directly to my laptop's ports via an OEM cable at different stages of the process.

So that leaves me with the 2nd option, "Manual Install via Windows Device Manager":

"An alternative approach to obtaining the Windows fastboot driver is to obtain the latest driver for Pixels from Google and then manually install it with the Windows Device Manager."

Included there is a link to the developer.android.com manual driver install guide, which instructs:

"Windows 10
To install the Android USB driver on Windows 10 for the first time, do the following:

Connect your Android device to your computer's USB port.

From Windows Explorer, open Computer Management.

In the Computer Management left pane, select Device Manager.

In the Device Manager right pane, locate and expand Portable Devices or Other Devices, depending on which one you see.

Right-click the name of the device you connected, and then select Update Driver Software.

In the Hardware Update wizard, select Browse my computer for driver software and click Next.

Click Browse and then locate the USB driver folder. For example, the Google USB Driver is located in android_sdk\extras\google\usb_driver.

Click Next to install the driver."

After hitting "Next" on step 8, Windows gives me the following message:

"The best drivers for your device are already installed
Windows has determined that the best driver for this device is already installed. There may be better drivers on Windows Update or on the device manufacturer's website.
MTP USB Device

After that message, the options presented to me are:

Close

Search for updated drivers on Windows Update

Neither of which solve the issue.

As part of my troubleshooting, I right clicked on the Pixel 7 entry in the Computer Management tool and selected "Properties". I can see that the current driver is:

Digital Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 2006-06-21
Driver Version: 10.0.19041.746
Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows

Clearly this is the wrong driver - but how can convince windows to use my "Google USB Driver w/ fastboot" instead?

I've tried going ahead to the "Unlocking the Bootloader" step in the official instructions, but as expected the response from Edge's popup window is:

grapheneos.org wants to connect
no compatible devices found

With the only option to "Cancel". After clicking that, the web page says:

Error: Failed to execute 'requestDevice' on 'USB': No device selected.

This confirms my impression that driver install was not successful.

I've searched on the forums, and the best answer I've seen so far is to remove the generic windows drivers first, then try installing the Google USB Driver. By right clicking Pixel 7 in the Windows Computer Management tool, I can see the following options:

Disable Device
Uninstall Device

Forgive my noobishness - I'm unsure which option is really removing the driver, and afraid that the wrong selection could lead to something very bad.

I'm a bit at a loss - does anyone have advice?
Related question - when removing the generic driver, is it better for the phone to be unplugged, or plugged?

Apologies in advance for the long message, I just want to make sure this is easily searchable for future aspirants to GOS.
Big love to you guys - this is my first post and first try at installing GOS after years of observing the project from afar. Seeing Proton's fundraiser was the vouch that tipped me over the edge, and now I'm a full-fledged pilgrim in search of the promised land. Thank you very much for the work you do.

-Z

54ysysw5y4s5n

To get Windows to download the fastboot driver make sure you have it set to even download drivers, and also, it might show as kind of an odd name, for instance mine was "LeMobile Android Bootloader Interface"

zzz Edge's popup window is:
grapheneos.org wants to connect
no compatible devices found

With the only option to "Cancel". After clicking that, the web page says:
Error: Failed to execute 'requestDevice' on 'USB': No device selected.

This confirms my impression that driver install was not successful.

And this part doesn't necessarily mean the driver isn't installed. I initially had the same problem but it turned out to be a cable/port issue, so try different cables and ports if you can. The only way I was able to get the browser to consistently recognize the phone, and complete all steps, was by using a usb-A to usb-C cable in a 2.0 port specifically. Both C to C and A to C in 3.0/3.1 ports did not work.

zzz

Thanks so much for the reply.

54ysysw5y4s5n About driver installation:

make sure you have it set to even download drivers

Yep, I believe this is already the case. Whenever I click the "check for updates" button, usually 1 or 2 Intel and Dell drivers are downloaded and installed. But seemingly none are related to Android / Google USB Drivers.

There doesn't seem to be any other options that specifically enable extra driver downloads within Windows Settings.
I do always select the "optional updates" dropdown and include those.
I've even gone into:
Settings -> Windows Update -> Advanced Options -> Enable "Receive updates for other Microsoft products when you update Windows"
But nothing new shows up after that.

54ysysw5y4s5n About USB cables and ports:

The only way I was able to get the browser to consistently recognize the phone, and complete all steps, was by using a usb-A to usb-C cable in a 2.0 port specifically. Both C to C and A to C in 3.0/3.1 ports did not work.

Ahh good to know. I checked the product page for my laptop, and my ports are:

2x USB-C Thunderbolt 3
2x USB 3.1 Gen 1

Hopefully this laptop isn't totally unusable >.<
I ordered an OEM C to A cable to try out those USB3.1 Gen 1 ports, hopefully that should give me extra options to try out down the road.

I'm pretty sure that installing the driver is still my bottleneck though.

Are there other ways to check which driver I currently have (besides what I described in my first post)?

For the Windows auto-update route, any other specific options I should look for in Windows Update?

For the manual driver installation route, any suggestions on how to get Windows to overwrite the generic drivers and install the manually downloaded Android / Google USB drivers?

Shendai

If nothing else works, you might try this:

1) Disconnect your phone from the computer
2) Open an admin cmd prompt
3) Type the following in the command prompt window:
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
4) Type the following in the command prompt window:
devmgmt.msc
5) Look in all relevent sections (Human interface devices, System Devices, Universal Serial Bus controllers) then right click & uninstall any drivers related to your pixel. They should be greyed out if the device is disconnected, as it should be. Take your time, be thorough. Make sure you wipe out all references to your pixel and only your pixel.
6) Next, confirm your pixel has the "OEM unlock" toggle enabled, then reboot it into fastboot mode.
7) Connect your pixel to the computer using the originally packaged USB cable. Wait until the computer tries to recognize it. We expect it to fail.
8) In Device Manager, right click over the new, unknown device that is your pixel and select Update Driver. Choose "Browse my Computer for Drivers."
9) Now, you should have unzipped the driver folder from the Google download and put it on your desktop or somewhere similar where you can find it easily. Point to this folder when prompted and the driver should install.

Hope this helps!

zzz

Shendai Thank you very much for the detailed guide, I will follow that and report here with results very soon.

Macca

Shendai
Thanks for your troubleshooting steps.
I am pretty new to this, have a Pixel4a, and HP computer with Windows 10 (sadly my Macs are pre OS11 so can't use them)
I have had exactly the same issues as zzz, OEM unlocked, error message - Error: Failed to execute 'requestDevice' on 'USB': No device selected
Windows seems intent on having selected "the best driver" for the pixel (as per the Device Manager, driver details / update attempts).
I have viewed drivers in the Human Interface, System Devices, USB controllers, nothing mentions Pixel4a or any apparent connection to the Pixel, are there any other suggestions you might have to circumvent Windows 10 auto select of drivers?
I did try to map the environment variant to a SDK downloaded package, but this didn't have any effect.
Try a number of connectors to no avail.
Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Hopefully you may be able to resolve it zzz.
Thanks

FaPs

Shendai MUAH MUAH MUAH i made this account just to reply to you i love you

Macca

Well... success...
Lessons re-read instructions in detail on GrapheneOS
Essentially my bootloader wouldn't unlock (not recognised) via Grapheneos, so manually unlocked device using fastboot unlock in command screen. Dr E provides a good outline on YouTube for pixel4a unlocking.
All working now, hope you too can resolve your install zzz
good luck

zzz

Hey all, thanks so much for your help.

Like Macca, I found the same core of my problem - not reading the instructions carefully enough! My Pixel 7 was in the normal stock android homescreen while I was attempting to install drivers, not in the Bootloader Interface.

The instructions clearly state that the order of operations is:
Booting into the bootloader interface Connecting the phone (-> install the latest driver for Pixels) Unlocking the bootloader

So when I did the steps in the right order, everything went well.
When installing the android drivers on Windows 10 via Computer Management, there were no default drivers for the connected Pixel 7.
Windows did not get in my way when selecting the right android drivers. They installed just fine, and now the "Unlock Bootloader" button on the web install page works great.

Thanks again all
-zzz