Bricked 3XL - QPST recovery?

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sazeraque

Member
Apr 17, 2021
5
2
Hi everyone, long time XDA lurker, first time poster here. Hope I'm in the right spot.

I have a 3XL that bricked overnight similar to what I've seen on other posts (for example: https://xdaforums.com/t/fix-pixel-3...Rj7bE_8k87pI2zaSnIskWwmvsbMpMeVBlmWrHPsqhUY0c)

Long story short, can't get it to boot, isn't recognized by fastboot/adb. I started following this guide https://www.thecustomdroid.com/qpst-flash-tool-download-usage-guide/ and my phone is recognized, but like one user in the xda post (above), I don't know where to get the raw firmware file that I need to move forward (need elf or mbn file with maybe some xml files?). I've been searching high and low and this is where I'm stuck. I've seen some mentions about needing to get these files from someone who actually has a working 3 XL, but I'm not sure if that's the only option. Does anyone have any insight that could help me move forward?

And on that note, if I manage to recover the phone using this method, will it be recovered right back in the state it was, or will it be freshly formatted? Again, I've read lots on this, but I can't seem to get a straight answer. To be honest, while getting the phone working again would be amazing, my priority is recovering the data from the phone, so if this QPST recovery will only end up giving me back a naked phone, then I'm open to alternatives.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!
 
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stpenn123

New member
Jun 14, 2011
4
0
Milwaukee, WI
Currently in the exact same boat as you, unfortunately...
I'm also mostly interested in just getting to my data, although having a working phone again would be nice.

I can get the serial port to show up in qpst but I'm pretty much at a stand still from there, can't get anything else to work.

Have you had any luck??
 

Aszazell

Member
Jul 13, 2017
13
7
I'm in the same position as you guys, pixel 3 XL bricked, bootloader locked, no recovery just Fastboot Mode (With OEM Locked, any command wil not work there.. thank u so much Verizon), I was looking and this seems to be the only way but I can not find any dump from a pixel 3 xl working to flash in EDL Mode, if you guys can find something let me know, I'm gonna try to find it on my side too :)
 
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sazeraque

Member
Apr 17, 2021
5
2
Unfortunately I never found a solution. QPST recognized the phone, but could never successfully connect to it. While Googling the issue, I noticed that this has happened to a number of other people too, and it often seems to coincide with updates, so it could be linked although good luck getting Google to admit to that.

I ended up swapping the phone out for an S21. This is the first phone that has even bricked itself so bad that I couldn't recover anything from it, and seeing how it has happened on many generations of the Pixel line, I wasn't very tempted to get another one unfortunately.
 

binyah

New member
Apr 17, 2013
1
0
Chiming in with a similar story to the rest of you folks.

I'm an experienced user that knows his way around adb/fastboot and flashing custom ROMS and whatnot, but in this case I have a completely stock Pixel 3XL that I woke up to find in this hard bricked EDL state. I am up-to-date with any and all updates for the OS and I usually pull those down on release day or very shortly after. No idea what update could have caused this, but in my case, I am overseas with a bricked cell phone - SUCKS.

Hopefully the QPST files can be located so that we can recover from this bull****.
 

bpdamas

Senior Member
Nov 17, 2008
210
64
I know some people with a working 3 XL. Are there instructions on how to extract the necessary files from a working phone to flash through QPST on the bricked phone?
 

dishe2

Senior Member
Dec 2, 2020
211
54
I just ordered a 3 XL for my daughter and I'm getting scared seeing these stories. Is it just aged hardware related? Or is it update related? It's weird that it seems to be happening over the last few months on the 3 series which makes me think its either related to an update that rolled out or just mileage until failure of the chips?
 

myklbear

Senior Member
Dec 18, 2012
51
5
Northern New Jersey
I have had for two years a used one year old 3XL and had no problems. If someone has instructions, I would be glad to extract what is needed. At this phase it has only been unlocked to use DNS66 though I consistently ROM'd all my earlier phones. Age related ;-)
 

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    Hi everyone, long time XDA lurker, first time poster here. Hope I'm in the right spot.

    I have a 3XL that bricked overnight similar to what I've seen on other posts (for example: https://xdaforums.com/t/fix-pixel-3...Rj7bE_8k87pI2zaSnIskWwmvsbMpMeVBlmWrHPsqhUY0c)

    Long story short, can't get it to boot, isn't recognized by fastboot/adb. I started following this guide https://www.thecustomdroid.com/qpst-flash-tool-download-usage-guide/ and my phone is recognized, but like one user in the xda post (above), I don't know where to get the raw firmware file that I need to move forward (need elf or mbn file with maybe some xml files?). I've been searching high and low and this is where I'm stuck. I've seen some mentions about needing to get these files from someone who actually has a working 3 XL, but I'm not sure if that's the only option. Does anyone have any insight that could help me move forward?

    And on that note, if I manage to recover the phone using this method, will it be recovered right back in the state it was, or will it be freshly formatted? Again, I've read lots on this, but I can't seem to get a straight answer. To be honest, while getting the phone working again would be amazing, my priority is recovering the data from the phone, so if this QPST recovery will only end up giving me back a naked phone, then I'm open to alternatives.

    Any help is appreciated! Thanks!