I would like to return to stock Android on my Pixel4a. Unfortunately, there is a problem. Google's Android Flash tool recognizes my device, but it reports the following error:

Device Inspection Failed

The selected device was not able to be opened. Confirm it is not in use by another application and then try removing the device and reconnecting it to continue.

I have already taken the following steps:

  • Tried various different cables (USB C to USB C / USB C to USB A).
  • Operating system Fedora Linux and Live System Ubuntu
  • The command echo 0 | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers_autoprobe to prevent Gnome from claiming exclusive control over it.
  • Switching from Gnome to KDE
  • Chrome and Chromium

Always the same problem.

Can anyone help me with this?

    treequell I just tried it again. Opened Chrome and went directly to the Android Flash Tool. GrapheneOS Web Installer is not running.
    The problem is still there, unfortunately.

      I also tried it from 2 different laptops (Fedora with Gnome and Fedora with KDE). And once also from a live operating system (Ubuntu). Somehow the common denominator seems to me to be the phone. Each time the same error message.

        Thermos4940 Live OS won't work, so Ubuntu Live won't work.

        Fedora is a pain because it's difficult to install the udev rules on it.

        Do you happen to have another Android device nearby? You could try connecting that phone to your Pixel with a USB-C to USB-C cable and running the flashing tool from that.

            Okay, I've made progress. I have changed the USB connection mode to "File Transfer". Before it was set to " charge only". This allows Android Flash Tool to connect and the process actually starts. But, as soon as the device reboots it loses the connection. In the browser appears:

            Action required to continue

            Failed to connect to your device. Try disconnecting and reconnecting it.

            Below it the name of my device and the error message:

            Connection error

            When I then unplug the device and plug it back in, the message appears again and again and again.

            And my device is stuck in fastboot mode, where I can only bring it out and start it by pressing "Start".

              treequell

              Do you happen to have another Android device nearby?

              Not directly here. But I will try to install another operating system fix on a laptop (not live).

              Fedora is a pain because it's difficult to install the udev rules on it.

              Do I have to install these udev-rules manually?
              Would Microsoft Windows be more promising?

                Thermos4940
                Hi, I'm a Fedora user too, but I used my work laptop with Windows 10 to install GOS on my Pixel 6a.
                Theoretically Fedora should work, but I preferred to avoid potential problems since it is not officially supported in the prerequisites.

                    treequell Do you happen to have another Android device nearby? You could try connecting that phone to your Pixel with a USB-C to USB-C cable and running the flashing tool from that.

                    I tried, does not work.

                    eautalus Hi, I'm a Fedora user too, but I used my work laptop with Windows 10 to install GOS on my Pixel 6a.

                    I will try first on Ubuntu and then on Windows

                        • [deleted]

                        • Post #11
                        • Edited

                        Hey there, I totally hear you on the struggles of installing GrapheneOS from a Linux machine. I tried to do the same thing and ended up having to use my sister's Windows 10 laptop to make it work.

                        I found out that it was a necessary step to boot my Pixel 6a into fastboot and so install the Android driver by checking for updates and so clicking optional updates on the Windows machine to get the android driver.

                        After installing the Android driver on here laptop and rebooting it, everything went smoothly from here browser with the GrapheneOS web-ui installer.

                        In any case, just wanted to chime in and say you're definitely not alone in your experience!

                          • [deleted]

                          • Post #13
                          • Edited

                          Equal2024 oh wops, well the same thing should work as the google web installer needs drivers installed.

                              [deleted] For my part, I installed GrapheneOS on Arch Linux with Sway and had no difficulties. It seems OP was able to install GrapheneOS with no difficulties, either (though they have not said this, it is implied); it's the Google Web Flashing tool they're having issues with. If Google released their flashing tool under a free license, it would be easier for developers to investigate why the tool was not working, but alas.

                              @Thermos4940 Though this is unlikely to be related to the issue you're facing, make sure you've removed the GrapheneOS key before using the flashing tool; text from GrapheneOS web installer:

                              The GrapheneOS factory images flash a non-stock Android Verified Boot key which needs to be erased to fully revert back to a stock device state. Before flashing the stock factory images and before locking the bootloader, you should erase the custom Android Verified Boot key to untrust it

                              If you're having trouble using Google's web flashing tool, the docs provide some assistance: https://source.android.com/docs/setup/build/flash

                              Here's one thing you haven't tried yet:

                              Caution: If you have Android Debug Bridge (adb) installed on your machine, stop the adb service with the command below before proceeding as the service interferes with the flashing process.

                              adb kill-server

                              If you can't get the flashing tool to detect your device properly to select the right image to flash, no matter what, Google also gives you the option to flash the images manually: https://developer.android.com/about/versions/13/download#flash

                                  Thermos4940

                                  Which browser did you use? There's this paragraph on the GrapheneOS guid:

                                  Officially supported browsers for the web install method:
                                  Chromium (outside Ubuntu, since they ship a broken Snap package without working WebUSB)
                                  Vanadium (GrapheneOS)
                                  Google Chrome
                                  Microsoft Edge
                                  Brave
                                  You should avoid Flatpak and Snap versions of browsers, as they're known to cause issues during the installation process.

                                  In case any of that applies to your situation you could try to download chromium or brave (https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.51.114) directly.

                                  I used Arch to install GOS, so in case you're in for distro hopping Arch would be a safe bet.

                                      Phead OP mentions they tried these browsers in the top post:

                                      Chrome and Chromium

                                      Edit: Ah, I see you're referring to whether they've used the Flatpak or Snap versions of the browsers; my bad. This might be the case, as they've used Fedora and Ubuntu. In addition to this, using a containerized version of a browser is not a good idea anyway, because it replaces the much more robust browser sandbox these browsers are using with the Flatpak or Snap sandbox; see some discussion here:

                                      [0] https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/is-it-a-good-idea-to-replace-the-default-firefox-with-the-flatpak-one/30370/30
                                      [1] https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/is-it-a-good-idea-to-replace-the-default-firefox-with-the-flatpak-one/30370/34
                                      [2] https://seirdy.one/notes/2022/06/12/flatpak-and-web-browsers/

                                          Equal2024

                                          True but it was not stated if it was installed from flatpak or snap. Don't know if chromium or chrome is available on flatpak, just wanted to make sure though.

                                              Phead This is definitely worth mentioning because Ubuntu absolutely uses the Snap version for browsers by default. I don't think Fedora does this for Flatpak, but Fedora Silverblue plans to do this.

                                                7 days later

                                                Thank you all!

                                                Phead I used Arch to install GOS, so in case you're in for distro hopping Arch would be a safe bet.

                                                Yes, ArchLinux would have been worth a try too. I originally used this to install Graphene OS.

                                                Equal2024 Edit: Ah, I see you're referring to whether they've used the Flatpak or Snap versions of the browsers; my bad. This might be the case, as they've used Fedora and Ubuntu. In addition to this, using a containerized version of a browser is not a good idea anyway, because it replaces the much more robust browser sandbox these browsers are using with the Flatpak or Snap sandbox; see some discussion here:

                                                I used the Chrome browser as the browser. I installed Chrome directly and neither as a flat pack nor as a snap. But it still didn't work.

                                                Equal2024 Here's one thing you haven't tried yet:

                                                Caution: If you have Android Debug Bridge (adb) installed on your machine, stop the adb service with the command below before proceeding as the service interferes with the flashing process.

                                                adb kill-server

                                                adb was not running at the time I tried this from different Linux systems. I had checked that. But it still didn't work.

                                                My Solution:

                                                The only thing that worked was finally installing Windows 11 and doing the whole thing from Windows. It was a hassle to install the correct drivers, but I managed.

                                                Equal2024 @Thermos4940 Though this is unlikely to be related to the issue you're facing, make sure you've removed the GrapheneOS key before using the flashing tool; text from GrapheneOS web installer:

                                                The GrapheneOS factory images flash a non-stock Android Verified Boot key which needs to be erased to fully revert back to a stock device state. Before flashing the stock factory images and before locking the bootloader, you should erase the custom Android Verified Boot key to untrust it

                                                Having already flashed Stock Android I almost forgot to wipe the Graphene keys, but luckily I remembered that at the last moment so I could do it before locking the bootloader again.

                                                          Thermos4940

                                                          Glad you found a solution. Could you elaborate on what you had to do to make it work with Windows 11? Just in case there are other users with similar problems.