Pixel 6A || Corrupt OS - after phone died during the compilation process.

GhostLead

Good afternoon everyone,

Could anyone offer some pointers on how I can recover a device that refuses to boot? My lady allowed her 6A to die during the compilation process and now the device refuses to boot.

So far we can make it to the Graphene OS logo and it does flicker slowly as normal

Steps taken so far:

Power + Volume - fastbootd > Restart Bootloader
Same result, does not go beyond GOS logo.
We've force rebooted 6 times so far
Same result does not go beyond the GOS logo.
Bootloader locked

Thanks in advance,

[deleted]

GhostLead You can try factory resetting the device into GrapheneOS from the bootloader menu. I'm not sure if sideloading an update would work but here is the documentation on it if you want to try that first and not lose your data.

de0u

GhostLead Have you tried safe mode?

If you already have... I am not an expert on this sort of situation, and you might want to seek expert advice on the Matrix channels...

...but you might try charging the battery up for a long time and sideloading an OTA image, because I believe that is a safe thing to try. And then, if it comes up and starts recompiling, try to provide it a good power source while it does that!

I believe that for a 6a this is the appropriate OTA image: https://releases.grapheneos.org/bluejay-ota_update-2023101300.zip (I found it here).

de0u

GhostLead Were you able to restore the 6a to operation? If so, what worked? If not, what has been tried since your initial post?

Dro212

Unfortunately, this maybe a case of needing to reinstall the OS from the web installer.

You may need to first revert to the stock OS and then install Graphene OS again.

GhostLead

Hi all,

I finally just got the device from a friend. Currently when booting the following happens:

1) An attempted boot from FULL power down will lead to the Google.

2) after getting into Fastboot mode I made the attempt to download he latest update from 11/7 to no avail. Received an error {Error: Bootloader replied with failed: command (snapshot-update:) is not allowed when locked.

pressing volume down and power will get me to Fastboot Mode. But not sure where to go from here.
Volume up and Power leads me to the green android on its back with stomach open and the words "no command"

Any ideas would be really appreciated. Really want to save the phone at the point I could careless about the data.

Thanks in advance.

de0u

GhostLead after getting into Fastboot mode I made the attempt to download the latest update from 11/7 to no avail. Received an error {Error: Bootloader replied with failed: command (snapshot-update:) is not allowed when locked.

Can you provide more details about "download the latest update" (what exactly was downloaded?) and how the error was received (what command did you type?)? A step-by-step list would be good.

You might also try getting real-time help via the GrapheneOS general Matrix room.

GhostLead

de0u

I tried to use the web installer with the hopes of just flashing the latest release. After successfully connecting the 6a to my laptop and then downloading the latest 11/07 release I tried to flash it, which then led to the snapshot error mentioned above.

de0u

GhostLead I tried to use the web installer with the hopes of just flashing the latest release.

I believe the suggested approach was sideloading an OTA image, which is expected to work whether or not the device is OEM unlocked, as long as the OTA image is signed by the same signature as the installed OS.

I believe the regular web installer is not expected to work unless the device is OEM unlocked. The reported error message sounds consistent with such a scenario.

GhostLead

Hi All, believe it or not but a simple wipe data and factory reset from recovery fixed my issue. Pixel 6a operational again albeit with a total data loss but that is a hell of a lot better than the boot loop.

Thank you all for your assistance with this.

~ Mods please mark this as solved.