Dear all,
My partner gave me a couple of years ago his antique Pixel (1, Sailfish) for me to play with. I successfully installed the /e/OS that was available for it at the time, and I was super happy. I was only a bit bothered by the message that appeared at boot (“bootloader unlocked … danger etc”), but I left it at that. Forward to last week, when I realised that the community has released yet a newer version of the software (thank you, community!). That too I could install by following the excellent instructions provided on the /e/OS site. I was mightily happy.
Until I screwed bit time. Still slightly bothered by “bootloader unlocked” message, I thought perhaps I should lock it then, and from the OS disabled OEM unlocking, and issued the command
fastboot oem lock
which warned me that this would erase data and reset to factory settings, something I would have been fine with.
The result is that the phone does not boot anymore into /e/OS (I see a google sign flashing intermittently). With volume down + power I get to a screen which offers alternatively Restart bootloader, Recovery mode, Barcodes, power off, none of which gets me back to the OS. I see there too that Boot slot is a, Console is disables, secure boot is production, and devide is locked. From what I read later on on forums, it was a huge mistake to lock the bootloader for OS such as ours (OS not signed or something?). Solutions I’ve seen for bricked phone usually requires OEM unlock, even in EDL mode (which I’m not sure I am in). I’ve tried flashing a stock rom (which I believe I found), but I always hit the wall with the error:
(bootloader) Please unlock device to enable this command.
The only command that does not refuse me is
fastboot devices
which returns the device.
One solution that comes up online is to use the online Android flash tool. Unfortunately, it only supports pixel from pixel 2 (this is 1). Another solution is to use this QPST windows program for qualcomm chip that would bypass the bootloader. Seems to need an mbn, or hex file, which I have been unable to source for pixel 1.
Although this is my “play” phone (my “other” phone is also an /e/OS…haven’t bricked that one yet), and it’s ancient etc., it has become personal now and I would really love to find a way to re-install it. I would welcome any ideas/wisdom other users may have! For instance, I know that on Android Studio I can emulate the pixel 1; couldn’t I extract an mbn file from there?
Thanks in advance!
Anne-Christine