Hi,
I'm trying to install GrapheneOS on my Google Pixel 6 (oriole, 128GB). The phone originally bricked after a standard Android OTA update.
Here is a full summary of everything I've tried.
Device info:
Model: Google Pixel 6 (oriole)
Serial: 16261FDF6000HX
Storage: KIOXIA UFS 128GB
The problem:
After every GrapheneOS installation (done via the official web installer at install.grapheneos.org), the phone boots to the GrapheneOS logo, reboots 2-3 times, then falls back to fastboot mode automatically. Both slots always remain slot-successful: no. The phone never manages to complete the first boot.
Everything I have tried:
Multiple clean GrapheneOS installs via the official web installer → same result every time
fastboot erase userdata + fastboot erase metadata before each install → no change
Tried booting without locking the bootloader → same bootloop
Flashed the 2021 factory image (oriole-sd1a.210817.015.a4) → Android booted successfully ✅
Tried installing GrapheneOS over the working 2021 Android → same bootloop ❌
Manually flashed the recent bootloader (slider-16.4-14548185) via fastboot flash bootloader
Then flashed the latest factory image → brick again ❌
Additional observations:
Recovery mode is inaccessible — the phone immediately reboots to Android when selecting "Enter recovery" from fastboot
The 2021 factory image boots fine, but the phone cannot receive OTA updates from Settings (too old, no incremental update available)
fastboot getvar all shows slot-retry-count:a: 1 and slot-retry-count:b: 3 after multiple failed GrapheneOS installs
Any idea what could prevent GrapheneOS from completing its first boot? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not a professional, please reply and explain in detail.