Unlock Pixel Bootloader

[#mcl]

Hello all!
Recently I bought a Pixel 4 XL on ebay. Loving the phone, however it turned out to be from AT&T. When it arrived I had a lot of issues, the SIM I use on Spain wouldn't work, and the 2x camera didn't work as well. After a bit of research I find a way to fix those 2 problems, but now I want to flash magisk to improve motion sense gestures, however I can't unlock the Bootloader. I think if I can find where that information about the Bootloader is stored I could try to modify it through the computer. It must be somewhere on the phone, so if I find the file I can unlock it. If anyone has any idea, please let me know.
Thanks in advance

 

[flash713]

@mcl Enable oem unlocking. It's greyed out in your screenshot you posted. Try enabling developer options and USB debugging on phone, disable any lock screen you have set up, set lock screen to NONE in security settings on phone aaaannd change default USB configuration from "charging" to "transfer files" then plug it up to you computer with latest ADB and Fastboot installed and attempt to unlock your bootloader by typing in terminal: sudo adb reboot bootloader (enter) watch your phone close and if a small box pops up when you do this or when you first connect to PC pc
Checkmark it rreally quickly on your phone screen. That allows PC to communicate with your device, send commands, etc...If all has gone well up to now you should now be in "Fastboot mode" aka: bootloader mode on your phone screen. A black screen with "Fastboot mode" in red letters and the word "START" kinda in center of your screen on phone. Now just go back to terminal and type: sudo fastboot flashing unlock (enter) return to device use volume keys to go up or down and confirm unlocking bootloader by pressing power once on the "yes unlock bootloader" thingy. Soon as you push power to confirm bootloader unlock you will reboot automatically and you will bootloader unlocked. Keep in mind unlocking and locking your bootloader can and will factory reset your device. No pics or anything will be on phone, all will be wiped and there's no way to prevent that. Cheers.
If by some crazy situation something I've mentioned above does NOT work like I've said let me know and I'll help best I can. I use Linux Ubuntu on my laptop 18.04.5 LTS. I stopped using Windows MAAAANNNYYY years ago so I'm inexperienced when it comes to setting up adb and fastboot tools on Windows. I do know that the USB driver's used to always be a real pain in the ass to get right for me. I'd have to reboot by computer a few times and update them in device manager to get it working which I don't have to do anything using Ubuntu my PC just automatically sees my phones. Yay!!!
I hope this helps. Feel free to hmu any time. Remember im on central time in the USA.

To get your enable oem unlocking to become not stuck where it's greyed out like yours is you may have to factory reset your device before you do what I've mentioned above. Just factory reset in settings on your device but afterwards make sure you enable developer options and USB debugging and make sure you flip on the "enable oem unlocking" switch towards the top of developer options on your device

 

[#mcl]

@mcl Enable oem unlocking. It's greyed out in your screenshot you posted. Try enabling developer options and USB debugging on phone, disable any lock screen you have set up, set lock screen to NONE in security settings on phone aaaannd change default USB configuration from "charging" to "transfer files" then plug it up to you computer with latest ADB and Fastboot installed and attempt to unlock your bootloader by typing in terminal: sudo adb reboot bootloader (enter) watch your phone close and if a small box pops up when you do this or when you first connect to PC pc
Checkmark it rreally quickly on your phone screen. That allows PC to communicate with your device, send commands, etc...If all has gone well up to now you should now be in "Fastboot mode" aka: bootloader mode on your phone screen. A black screen with "Fastboot mode" in red letters and the word "START" kinda in center of your screen on phone. Now just go back to terminal and type: sudo fastboot flashing unlock (enter) return to device use volume keys to go up or down and confirm unlocking bootloader by pressing power once on the "yes unlock bootloader" thingy. Soon as you push power to confirm bootloader unlock you will reboot automatically and you will bootloader unlocked. Keep in mind unlocking and locking your bootloader can and will factory reset your device. No pics or anything will be on phone, all will be wiped and there's no way to prevent that. Cheers.
If by some crazy situation something I've mentioned above does NOT work like I've said let me know and I'll help best I can. I use Linux Ubuntu on my laptop 18.04.5 LTS. I stopped using Windows MAAAANNNYYY years ago so I'm inexperienced when it comes to setting up adb and fastboot tools on Windows. I do know that the USB driver's used to always be a real pain in the ass to get right for me. I'd have to reboot by computer a few times and update them in device manager to get it working which I don't have to do anything using Ubuntu my PC just automatically sees my phones. Yay!!!
I hope this helps. Feel free to hmu any time. Remember im on central time in the USA.

To get your enable oem unlocking to become not stuck where it's greyed out like yours is you may have to factory reset your device before you do what I've mentioned above. Just factory reset in settings on your device but afterwards make sure you enable developer options and USB debugging and make sure you flip on the "enable oem unlocking" switch towards the top of developer options on your device

Hey thanks for the very detailed guide, however I run into a few problems. First I factory reset(also, after that it wouldn't allow me to enable OEM unlock) the device and disable any lock screen, as you told me and set the usb configuration to data transfer. Later I enable USB Debugging and checked the box to allow my computer to connect to the phone. Finally I run the command to reboot into the boot loader, which worked but the 2 command, to unlock the bootloader show an error(see screenshot). Any idea what could have happened?
I tried this on my MacbookPro 13" Late 2013 with Catalina and the latest version of ADB from google. The phone is running android 11, with the July security Patch.

 

[flash713]

Hey thanks for the very detailed guide, however I run into a few problems. First I factory reset(also, after that it wouldn't allow me to enable OEM unlock) the device and disable any lock screen, as you told me and set the usb configuration to data transfer. Later I enable USB Debugging and checked the box to allow my computer to connect to the phone. Finally I run the command to reboot into the boot loader, which worked but the 2 command, to unlock the bootloader show an error(see screenshot). Any idea what could have happened?
I tried this on my MacbookPro 13" Late 2013 with Catalina and the latest version of ADB from google. The phone is running android 11, with the July security Patch.

Honestly I have no idea. What I know is Linux and what's worked for me. My first assumption is that adb and fastboot need to be updated to the latest release if they are not at this time. That error you are showing in terminal sounds like something is wrong either maybe in your USB cable connecting to your PC or it needs to be updated ooorrr it's some sort of USB driver issue. Unless we are both crazy and somehow your device was already rooted and has an unlocked bootloader and that's how it was when you purchased it used online.. Download a root checker app and see what it says maybe. Also try booting stock recovery and factory reset front it and then reboot and see if anything changes...I know absolutely NOTHING about MacOS or OSX or anything otter than Linux because that's what I've used for eight or nine years now. I'm attaching a picture of my current updated adb and fastboot tools to show what latest release is. Maybe try different ports and USB cables just to see if anything changes. You are running the bootloader unlock command as root correct?

Adb and fastboot latest version: 31.0.3-7562133
I updated mine yesterday to that version from here: https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/sdkmanager

 

[flash713]

You are doing everything exactly how it shows here:: https://www.xda-developers.com/google-pixel-4-root-magisk/ ?
and using the latest adb and fastboot on PC? Does Mac have to have any extra USB driver's like Windows needs to allow fastboot and adb to work or.no? I guess you would know that just type : sudo adb devices (enter)with phone plugged in and on. Maybe reboot bootloader/fastboot mode and run: fastboot devices (enter) and see if your terminal replies with your phones serial number in your terminal? If it does not than something isn't correctly setup because this should work. Did you use homebrew to setup platform tools on your Mac or no? Usually when I can't figure something ike this out it's the most random basic thing like a reboot or something and BOOM it works. Try running the commands again from your PC and see if anything happens. If you can type ./adb devices then hit enter while you are plugged in and slap a pic up of what it tells you like you did before. This is all stuff I would do if I were in the situation that you're in. I'm going to read up more on Mac now. You said you factory reset your device in settings on phone and the greyed out "enable oem unlocking" didn't change to where you can tap the switch and choose to either enable it or not? If it did not change after factory reset and maybe trying factory reset in stock recovery then it sounds like something else could be wrong with your device. I believe you will figure it out. When you did the while process did you ever checkmark a pop up box on phone screen whole you were plugged in to your PC??

 

[#mcl]

Hey!
Ok so first I downloaded the latest ADB for Mac, but I am unsure of the version I have of Fastboot. Do I need to update it on the phone or download something else? What I did was download the latest version of the SDK from Google to my Mac as you show me on the screenshot, and on their webpage they say I don't need to do anything else, like installing USB drivers on windows. Also if I run Fastboot devices command I can see my phone on the terminal. The cable is working I think, but I may try to change it just in case and also change the port I am using. Also I downloaded and app to check if the device is rooted, and unfortunately it isn't. I will boot into recovery and try to do a factory reset from there, but I don't believe it will work as I believe I already try that before.
The commands I run correct, just copy and paste what you wrote before and the computer asked me my user password. However I didn't use homebrew at any moment, directly downloaded the SDK from google and got a zip file, then extracted it to my desktop and open a terminal window, then use cd to get to that folder directory as I used to do in my Windows PC and start using the commands. Until now it worked great because in order to get my SIM working I needed to use ADB to uninstall an app that came with phone, otherwise my SIM wouldn't work, as theoretically the phone should only accept only AT&T SIM, but I am currently using a Vodafone SIM. Also I am leaving a screenshot of what you asked me.
Yeah after factory reset I doesn't allow me to enable OEM Unlock, still grey out.
Finally yes, when I plugged my phone into the computer I got a window asking to allow the computer to connect to phone to debug, and I allow it.

Sooo here is what I think is happening. This phone was bought by someone at an AT&T store. Then the guy sold the phone and I ended up buying it. The problem, according to my findings, are that carriers usually lock down the bootloader and for you to get it unlocked you need to talk with them. Obviously I can't do that, as I would have to do an international call, and I don't even know if the buyer end the payment of the phone. I already got into AT&T webpage and try to get the phone unlock but get always and error. So researching more I found a command that you can use on Fastboot mode, "Fastboot flashing get_unlock_ability"(enter) and the result I got was 0. According to this page, if you get 0 means you need to go on settings and enable OEM unlocking, which changes the value from 0 to 1. So what I need to do is to find where this info is stored, which I suppose is on the bootloader partition, as on Fastboot mode it was able to tell me the value. Once I find it I just need to change it to 1, and then I would be able to unlock the bootloader.

Also thanks for all the help until now, I really appreciate it

 

[#mcl]

I may try this on other OS just in case. Do you know if I can do this on Kali Linux? I already have it download ed but never try it.

 

[flash713]

I may try this on other OS just in case. Do you know if I can do this on Kali Linux? I already have it download ed but never try it.

Pretty sure you can. I've never used Kali , yet but I've used ARC, Morrodoca, Ubuntu, Mint and Fabian and tried a few of the super private distros as well. Pretty cool! Linux rules and is made for this.

I almost said something about carriers encryption bootloader's on devices when we started this but idk I assumed it was a factory unlocked unit. I've had to repeat commands more than once before and things have ended up working. Worth a shot.
I say if you can't get it sell it online and grab a factory unlocked model. If the carrier encrypted the bootloader I don't believe it's possible to get it out of that without their code ever used to do it. Then again I do recall another Pixel model that Google was actually sending users refurnished units that had encrypted bootloader's. That would have really pissed me off. I believe Pixel 2/2XL was that way. But the Pixel 2XL/2 that Verizon sold , Verizon locked the bootloaders and for a long time there was no possible way to get around it. I recall reading many posts all over about people buying them and being told they were unlocked Pixels only to discover later they had encrypted bootloader's and Verizon did it. Shortly after this someone on XDA found a way to bypass it and unlock bootloader and root rge Verizon encrypted models but the phones had to be on a specific older firmware and if they'd been updated past it it didn't work. I'll go find this thread and link you. May have some good info but unless you come up with a back to get around it if bootloader has been locked bt carrier I believe it's a no go. Also careful because messing with encrypted things can cause your device ti bootloop and seeing how your NOT bootloader unlocked that wouldn't be good if that happened. I'll go find this link to what I'm referring to. Brb.

Here was the work round for Verizon for a while on Pixel 2 that had been carrier bootloader locked: https://www.xda-developers.com/how-to-unlock-bootloader-verizon-google-pixel-xl-running-android-10/
Actually this is Pixel 2XL, was P2 work around for this: https://xdaforums.com/t/true-verizo...-google-ver-refurb-devices-look-here.3763443/

 

[flash713]

Pixel 2XL some users report they had to be connected to the net to toggle their allow oem unlocking switch in dev options. On 4XL one of the "How to Root, unlock .." threads says if it's greyed out that factory resetting is mandatory to allow the ability to enable oem unlocking switch.. A couple people claimed once they reset they could flip it. Also I have also read where people used different bootloop unlocking terminal commands and they worked. On 4xl and older Pixies. How long have you had fastboot already installed to your MacBook? Only reason I ask is they must be manually updated or sometimes will not work right. I've had that happy once. Linux has a very similar adb and fastboot tools install as Mac does. I did this process I'm about to mention yesterday to get my adb and fastboot updated because I saw it was on a previous version. I just grab the adb and fastboot from my screenshot from like I posted back some posts ago here then go to where I have adb and fastboot installed already open terminal where I've downloaded and extracted fastboot and adb on PC and reinstalled adb and fastboot using these commands:

sudo install adb dmtracedump e2fsdroid etc1tool fastboot hprof-conv make_f2fs mke2fs mke2fs.conf sload_f2fs sqlite3 /usr/local/bin (Enter)
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/lib64 (enter)
sudo install lib64/libc++.so /usr/local/lib64 (enter)

Then make sure it did it's thing and updated property. sudo adb --version (enter)
sudo fastboot --version (enter)
And it showed newer version of both so done. I use Nathanchnace's Pixel 2xl guide to learn this at first from here in his op:

https://xdaforums.com/t/guide-unlock-flash-root-for-the-pixel-2-xl-taimen.3702418/

 

[#mcl]

Pretty sure you can. I've never used Kali , yet but I've used ARC, Morrodoca, Ubuntu, Mint and Fabian and tried a few of the super private distros as well. Pretty cool! Linux rules and is made for this.

I almost said something about carriers encryption bootloader's on devices when we started this but idk I assumed it was a factory unlocked unit. I've had to repeat commands more than once before and things have ended up working. Worth a shot.
I say if you can't get it sell it online and grab a factory unlocked model. If the carrier encrypted the bootloader I don't believe it's possible to get it out of that without their code ever used to do it. Then again I do recall another Pixel model that Google was actually sending users refurnished units that had encrypted bootloader's. That would have really pissed me off. I believe Pixel 2/2XL was that way. But the Pixel 2XL/2 that Verizon sold , Verizon locked the bootloaders and for a long time there was no possible way to get around it. I recall reading many posts all over about people buying them and being told they were unlocked Pixels only to discover later they had encrypted bootloader's and Verizon did it. Shortly after this someone on XDA found a way to bypass it and unlock bootloader and root rge Verizon encrypted models but the phones had to be on a specific older firmware and if they'd been updated past it it didn't work. I'll go find this thread and link you. May have some good info but unless you come up with a back to get around it if bootloader has been locked bt carrier I believe it's a no go. Also careful because messing with encrypted things can cause your device ti bootloop and seeing how your NOT bootloader unlocked that wouldn't be good if that happened. I'll go find this link to what I'm referring to. Brb.

Here was the work round for Verizon for a while on Pixel 2 that had been carrier bootloader locked: https://www.xda-developers.com/how-to-unlock-bootloader-verizon-google-pixel-xl-running-android-10/
Actually this is Pixel 2XL, was P2 work around for this: https://xdaforums.com/t/true-verizo...-google-ver-refurb-devices-look-here.3763443/

OK thanks! Yeah I saw a few things only about the Pixel 2 Verizon case, but I am going to have a deep look into it. I can't sell this phone and buy an unlocked version, I bought this one because it was over 100 euros cheaper than what I could found here on Europe, so that's not an option.
Also, If I manage to use a Vodafone SIM on this AT&T phone without unlocking I am confident I will manage to find a way to fix the locked bootloader. It may take time and effort, but I will keep trying.
Right now I found there are ways to get root without unlocking the bootloader, its safer but posible. And if I get root access I am confident I would be able to unlock the bootloader. Anyway thanks for all!!!

 

[#mcl]

Pixel 2XL some users report they had to be connected to the net to toggle their allow oem unlocking switch in dev options. On 4XL one of the "How to Root, unlock .." threads says if it's greyed out that factory resetting is mandatory to allow the ability to enable oem unlocking switch.. A couple people claimed once they reset they could flip it. Also I have also read where people used different bootloop unlocking terminal commands and they worked. On 4xl and older Pixies. How long have you had fastboot already installed to your MacBook? Only reason I ask is they must be manually updated or sometimes will not work right. I've had that happy once. Linux has a very similar adb and fastboot tools install as Mac does. I did this process I'm about to mention yesterday to get my adb and fastboot updated because I saw it was on a previous version. I just grab the adb and fastboot from my screenshot from like I posted back some posts ago here then go to where I have adb and fastboot installed already open terminal where I've downloaded and extracted fastboot and adb on PC and reinstalled adb and fastboot using these commands:

sudo install adb dmtracedump e2fsdroid etc1tool fastboot hprof-conv make_f2fs mke2fs mke2fs.conf sload_f2fs sqlite3 /usr/local/bin (Enter)
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/lib64 (enter)
sudo install lib64/libc++.so /usr/local/lib64 (enter)

Then make sure it did it's thing and updated property. sudo adb --version (enter)
sudo fastboot --version (enter)
And it showed newer version of both so done. I use Nathanchnace's Pixel 2xl guide to learn this at first from here in his op:

https://xdaforums.com/t/guide-unlock-flash-root-for-the-pixel-2-xl-taimen.3702418/

The SDK I downloaded this week, Monday I think, so it should be up to date, but I will make sure to check if this is the case. If you get any idea on how to unlock the bootloader, please let me know

 

[#mcl]

Also if anyone was able to unlock a Pixel 4/Pixel 4 XL from any carrier, let me know how you did, maybe I can replicate the process and unlock my bootloader too!

 

[v12xke]

Also if anyone was able to unlock a Pixel 4/Pixel 4 XL from any carrier, let me know how you did, maybe I can replicate the process and unlock my bootloader too!

@#mcl

Not gonna happen. Sorry to hear you got a carrier locked AND bootloader locked phone. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do. There are some shady online unlockers that claim to be able to do this remotely (remote unlock) but you will probably be ripped off.