Google Pixel 9a Black screen on start

Dishonerd

I was using phone like normal when it either died or just crashed and shut down. Since then it won't boot when i hold the power button, and when i do the power button + up button it lets me boot back in but after about 5 seconds it shuts down again and i have to do the power + up to get it to start again. Anything I can do to repair the OS or get it out of this loop?

de0u

Dishonerd Try this:

Connect it to power.
On the yellow "another OS" screen, when it says to tap the power button to pause booting, tap the power button to pause booting.
Wait at least 30 minutes.
Tap the power button to continue booting.

Dishonerd

I left it on that screen since posting, I just tried and it got stuck on the lock page. After force restarting it's back to the black screen loop.

de0u

Dishonerd Try leaving it on the lock screen for at least 30 minutes (while charging)?

Dishonerd

No Effect, Same loop.

de0u

Dishonerd When you write that it "gets stuck" on the lock screen, exactly what happens? Pressing buttons has no reaction at all?

Dishonerd

buttons has no reaction, the screen wouldn't react, the fingerprint scanner wasn't flashing to try and read, only sign of life was the screen being on.

de0u

Dishonerd Is the situation different with a safe-mode boot? https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/2852139

Dishonerd

indeed, was just frozen no responses. I did just test with a 30 minutes charge into a safe boot but it still crashed instantly, I did see the text on the bottom left of the phone to confirm it did boot into it though.

de0u

Dishonerd I did just test with a 30 minutes charge into a safe boot but it still crashed instantly, I did see the text on the bottom left of the phone to confirm it did boot into it though.

The exact behavior of the device is not yet clear to me. Is the device displaying an unresponsive lock screen, is there a "black screen loop", is it showing the GrapheneOS logo for a while and then crashing back to the bootloader...?

Is it possible to post a video, starting from when the device is off, showing it powering on, then showing its behavior until it goes back to the bootloader?

Dishonerd

The OS not being detected is new.
https://youtube.com/shorts/6xvZXhW7-ac?feature=share

de0u

Dishonerd Thanks for posting the video!

The "no valid operating system" screen -- even if intermittent -- is consistent with flash-storage failure. That, in turn, is consistent with the other described symptoms.

Can you boot into Recovery?

Dishonerd

It shows the poor android guy dead with a no command.

de0u

Dishonerd It shows the poor android guy dead with a no command.

That is Rescue mode. I think if you wait a few minutes it will give up and reboot.

To get into Recovery, turn the device off (for example, by holding the power button down for a long time). Then press and hold the volume-down mode while holding the power button long enough for the device to come on; it should be in fastboot mode. Use the volume-up/down buttons to select Recovery, then press the power button.

If you are selecting Recovery but are ending up in Rescue mode... again that would seem consistent with a flash storage failure.

Dishonerd

Selecting Recovering seems to be sending me to rescue, has happened twice in a row.

de0u

Dishonerd Unfortunately, I believe that the device's flash storage has failed.

Skorp

Dishonerd

Rescue mode and Recovery mode look nearly identical. Do this again, but when you reach the screen with the laying down Android, hold power and click the volume up button once to get to the GUI. From there you should have the option to sideload an OTA (Apply update from ADB).
https://grapheneos.org/usage#updates-sideloading

This will require another desktop computer with Android platform-tools and a USB data cable to complete.

There is no guarantees with this if it really is flash storage failure.

Dishonerd

What would that mean and what should I do?

de0u

Dishonerd If the device's flash storage has failed, it is probably not possible to retrieve any data from the device (though in theory a forensic data recovery company might be able to recover something). If it's not possible to get into Recovery then there is no way to reformat the user data partition or reinstall the operating system.

I think it might be necessary to take it to a repair shop and look into whether it is still covered under the warranty.

Dishonerd

Well it randomly started booted for no reason so It is at least half working, I'm going to try and keep the screen from turning off just in case but is there a way to post any logs here that I may have access to now that may help reveled what happened?