safe to downgrade to March firmware? - Google Pixel 2 XL Questions & Answers

I am on on April firmware and it is giving me some crazy headaches cuz of the increase in saturation in the display. Is it safe to flash and go back to the March firmware?

EnIXmA said:
I am on on April firmware and it is giving me some crazy headaches cuz of the increase in saturation in the display. Is it safe to flash and go back to the March firmware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will have to do a full wipe and clean fastboot of the March factory image if you want to do so :good:

EnIXmA said:
I am on on April firmware and it is giving me some crazy headaches cuz of the increase in saturation in the display. Is it safe to flash and go back to the March firmware?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried going into the display settings and setting the color to natural?

Yes.

Weird, there are no notes about changing saturation. I can't say that mine is anymore saturated than before using natural mode either.

I haven't noticed any difference in saturation with the April update. Have you tried adjusting the temperature in display settings?

I am reading here ----> https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-2-xl/how-to/guide-unlock-flash-root-pixel-2-xl-t3702418
... in the section 'Flashing Factory images' ...
NOTE #1: You CANNOT downgrade factory images. Google has prevented users from doing so to keep them safe from vulernabilities that were patched. You should only upgrade or reinstall the current image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Myrrhman said:
I am reading here ----> https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-2-xl/how-to/guide-unlock-flash-root-pixel-2-xl-t3702418
... in the section 'Flashing Factory images' ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True.. the phone did not boot when I flashed the March firmware.. reflashed the April one and changed color settings to basic

Are you able to flash an older factory image using TWRP custom recovery instead? Would that bypass Google's restriction to downgrade?
I want to get back to January release of stock and then root to block OTA updates from there.

No, twrp restore did not bypass for me.

Why would you want to downgrade? The colors are identical, not to mention that you lose so many bugfixes.

EnIXmA said:
True.. the phone did not boot when I flashed the March firmware.. reflashed the April one and changed color settings to basic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That thread quote is incorrect. The poster acknowledged that when I pointed it out, guess he never updated it.
Didnyou unlock critical when you in locked your phone? If not when you flashed stock the bootloader failed to flash, and that would cause your boot issues.

I did unlock critical and bootloader did not fail to crash

There's a post on another thread which says that you should be able to downgrade it (regardless of anti roll back).
https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-2-xl/help/downgrade-8-1-to-8-0-t3726641/page2
Maybe this'll help, it talks of flashing to both slots (if my understanding is right)

channi3 said:
Are you able to flash an older factory image using TWRP custom recovery instead? Would that bypass Google's restriction to downgrade?
I want to get back to January release of stock and then root to block OTA updates from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No this would not work, you would be attempting to restore a backup that has a January security patch from TWRP on a device that is currently running a March or April security patch (which ever version you are currently on)
As for bypassing Googles downgrade restriction, I am not sure why you would see this as something that needs to be bypassed. You can downgrade to any release you want. You just need to flash the factory image to your device, it will delete all the content on your device. If you try to flash the factory image with removing the -w from the flashall.bat file your device will not boot.
If I were you and needed to restore the backup I had from January for some reason, what i would do is the following. Save the TWRP folder to my computer or flash drive, the folder that has the backup you are wanting to restore. Flash the January image to your device allowing the device to be completely wiped clean. Once your phone reboots, download the version of TWRP you were using when you made the January backup. Reboot to boot loader, fastboot twrp to your device, once in TWRP, flash the TWRP zip you just downloaded and reboot. From here transfer the TWRP folder from your computer or flash drive that has the TWRP folder containing the January backup you are wanting to restore. Make sure it is the only TWRP folder on your device, since you have yet to make a backup it should be. Reboot your phone into recovery, go to the restore box in TWRP and restore your previous backup.
If you don't need anything vital from that back up, i would suggest just backing up all your data and apps with titanium back up, saving the folder on your computer, flashing the January factory image and just restoring your apps and data that way, it is much easier and will take a lot less time.

channi3 said:
There's a post on another thread which says that you should be able to downgrade it (regardless of anti roll back).
https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-2-xl/help/downgrade-8-1-to-8-0-t3726641/page2
Maybe this'll help, it talks of flashing to both slots (if my understanding is right)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can verify this works. when I ordered my tamien it came with 10 factory, and using youtube and maowdroids video on flashing to stock I was able to go back to 9. You do have to flash everything from factory twice, boot into stock then you can start flashing 9 stuff.

Related

8.0 with Magisk OTA update to 8.1 bootloops

I was on the Nov 17 update (taimen-opd1.170816.025) with latest magisk 15.1 on beta chanel, when I followed the magisk steps to take an ota update. ie, restored boot, ran the ota update and let it complete stage 1. When the ota started stage 2, I went back to mgisk manager and disk an install to the second slot. After ota update completed stage 2, I let the phone reboot... and it went into boot loops.
How do I rescue my phone now, and get it back to the Nov 17 update or to the latest 8.1, preferably without losing data?
I read some stuff and it seemed like reverting back to the factory image without wiping data would be a good solution.
So I downloaded the factory image (taimen-opd1.170816.025), latest platform tools, edited the flash-all.bat to remove the "-w", then ran flash-all. This completed successfully.
But upon reboot, I get the colorful G screen, with the progress bar going along underneath it, and it's stuck at this screen for a long time now.
Help?!
try using the latest image 8.1 because i think it was upgraded to 8.1, so try using 8.1 factory image without wipe of course.
Try flashing just the boot.img and the dtbo.img
webbrowser said:
I read some stuff and it seemed like reverting back to the factory image without wiping data would be a good solution.
So I downloaded the factory image (taimen-opd1.170816.025), latest platform tools, edited the flash-all.bat to remove the "-w", then ran flash-all. This completed successfully.
But upon reboot, I get the colorful G screen, with the progress bar going along underneath it, and it's stuck at this screen for a long time now.
Help?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you on 8.0 or 8.1 when you tried this?? Checking the build #, it looks like that factory image is 8.0. You can't downgrade unless you wipe all data.
yousif666 said:
try using the latest image 8.1 because i think it was upgraded to 8.1, so try using 8.1 factory image without wipe of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Badger50 said:
Were you on 8.0 or 8.1 when you tried this?? Checking the build #, it looks like that factory image is 8.0. You can't downgrade unless you wipe all data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh! I was originally on 8.0. The OTA to 8.1 had completed both stages but didn't seem to work on reboot, so I thought it was not working and tried to flash the 8.0 images. But now I see that may be the cause of the problem. WIll try to flash 8.1 without wiping.
...
Hooray, it works! My phone is working again.
Any idea what was wrong with my steps for doing the OTA with magisk though? I was doing this.
webbrowser said:
I was on the Nov 17 update (8.0 taimen-opd1.170816.025) with latest magisk 15.1 on beta chanel, when I followed the magisk steps to take an ota update. ie, restored boot, ran the ota update and let it complete stage 1. When the ota started stage 2, I went back to mgisk manager and disk an install to the second slot. After ota update completed stage 2, I let the phone reboot... and it went into boot loops.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
equlizer said:
Try flashing just the boot.img and the dtbo.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could this have been the problem with the ota update? Would this have rescued my 8.0 -> 8.1 bootloops? Are there any further instructions on this (e.g. which slots and how to flash these) since it doesn't use the flash-all.bat script?
\
webbrowser said:
Oh! I was originally on 8.0. The OTA to 8.1 had completed both stages but didn't seem to work on reboot, so I thought it was not working and tried to flash the 8.0 images. But now I see that may be the cause of the problem. WIll try to flash 8.1 without wiping.
...
Hooray, it works! My phone is working again.
Any idea what was wrong with my steps for doing the OTA with magisk though? I was doing this.
Could this have been the problem with the ota update? Would this have rescued my 8.0 -> 8.1 bootloops? Are there any further instructions on this (e.g. which slots and how to flash these) since it doesn't use the flash-all.bat script?
\
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I had this same problem and it also happened with the jan security update.
I wish I knew what is going on because it seems like everyone else is updating with no problems, but I cannot.
Any input would be greatly appreciated
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't get why people are going the OTA route when flashing the factory image is easier (fastboot flash-all.bat (with or without the -w), fastboot TWRP, flash TWRP zip (optional), flash cust kernel (optional), flash magisk (optional), reboot, profit.
No messing with slots, or anything.... what's the benefit of flashing OTA versus factory image?
The magisk ota route should be possible even without a computer. If it works reliably, I think it is more convenient.
Not sure if you guys get everything working or not. Mine definitely not working...
Originally I have my system on OPM1.171019.011 (8.1, Dec version) with Magisk root. Everything runs smoothly. However, I tried to flash (via FASTBOOT, I had my dtob.img fixed) OPM1.171019.013 (8.1, Jan/5 version). The Magisk root lost (of course) but system works ok.
Then I tried to use Magisk Manager to patch the boot.img (since there is no boot.img in Jan/5 OTA zip, I used the boot.img in OPM1.171019.011 (8.1, Dec version) for Magisk Manager to modify.
I flashed the modified boot.img but then my Pixel 2 XL is booting with Google logo with a horizontal line running underneath. It doesn't go into system. (boot loop?)
Did I missed anything here?
Thanks!
----- Update... My bad... I should download the factory image and get boot.img from there..... Sorry for bother...

Best/Safe way to Update

Good morning all,
I am on the first version of android 9 and would really like to update because of many bugs. I have root and FlashKernel that I installed by temp booting to TWRP (without install). That seems to have broken my OTA. What is a safe way to update to the latest version of the OTA?
joshuadjohnson22 said:
Good morning all,
I am on the first version of android 9 and would really like to update because of many bugs. I have root and FlashKernel that I installed by temp booting to TWRP (without install). That seems to have broken my OTA. What is a safe way to update to the latest version of the OTA?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either temp boot into twrp again and flash the latest OTA zip, or, fastboot the factory image with the -w removed from the flash-all.bat file. Neither will wipe your data. Always a good idea as well to backup all your data before you begin, and to remove screen lock security and substratum themes so as not to have any unwanted problems :good:
Badger50 said:
Either temp boot into twrp again and flash the latest OTA zip, or, fastboot the factory image with the -w removed from the flash-all.bat file. Neither will wipe your data. Always a good idea as well to backup all your data before you begin, and to remove screen lock security and substratum themes so as not to have any unwanted problems :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, thanks! I figured that was all it took but I wanted to double check so my Sunday isn't spent unbricking. All went smooth. Thanks!

Prep for December patch

I have made a lot of changes to the November build such as TWRP, root with magisk, custom kernel and Tulsa mods to the systemUI and framework.
I am thinking that I will need to reset to factory default in order to get the December update. I have not done a factory reset yet.
Sounds like I use Flashall.bat with the - w option removed and the phone in Fastboot mode.
Do Magisk or TWRP need to be removed before Flashall?
Will there be a full December build or do I flash an old build and then take the updates?
Any other suggestions on the best way to update to the Dec build?
swieder711 said:
I have made a lot of changes to the November build such as TWRP, root with magisk, custom kernel and Tulsa mods to the systemUI and framework.
I am thinking that I will need to reset to factory default in order to get the December update. I have not done a factory reset yet.
Sounds like a use Flashall.bat with the - w option removed.
Will there be a full December build or do I flash an old build and then take the updates?
Any other suggestions on the best way to update to the Dec build?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There Dec flash-all batch file, without the -w, will over write all your modifications and that's all you should need to do. It's always best to backup everything you can just in case.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
So can you not download the ota from Google's website and flash it in TWRP? Then just flash TWRP and root again before rebooting?
hatdrc said:
So can you not download the ota from Google's website and flash it in TWRP? Then just flash TWRP and root again before rebooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not in TWRP, but you can ADB sideload it then reroot. The flash all after removing the-w also saves data and apps.
hatdrc said:
So can you not download the ota from Google's website and flash it in TWRP? Then just flash TWRP and root again before rebooting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't install the permanent TWRP, and just use the bootable image, you can place the OTA on your phone and use the stock recovery to install it. The OTA will install without wiping data.
spotmark said:
If you don't install the permanent TWRP, and just use the bootable image, you can place the OTA on your phone and use the stock recovery to install it. The OTA will install without wiping data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, but then you need to reroot with a PC. I have TWRP permanent so I was hoping you could just boot into TWRP and flash it, then flash TWRP again and then root and be back to the way it is now.
So in my case I need to just download the images, remove -w and then flash. Temp boot TWRP and flash root. Don't think I'll put TWRP on permanently this time since that was the only reason I did the last time.
Thank you everyone for your help

Pixel 3xl cannot update it

my phone was rooted and i was using custom rom
i want to back full stock and lock bootloader
when i do that and flash stock image on both slots
it boots normally and work but when i update it through OTA it give me update installation problem
if i join Q beta program it download the package and istall it but when it reboot it gives me cannot find a valid OS
thanks god i didnot lock OEM other wise i could not flash any thing
i return back to custom rom till i find a solution to become full working stock
do you have any solution
TIA
Dont flash on both slots, download factory image and just run flash all but remove this line, -W or leave it if you want clean slate. when you clean install factory image slot a is image and slot b is image_other, is not a full image, unless of course google do it different to android one, i've not touched my pixel 3 xl yet but i assume its the same. Someone correct me if i'm wrong.
boe323 said:
Dont flash on both slots, download factory image and just run flash all but remove this line, -W or leave it if you want clean slate. when you clean install factory image slot a is image and slot b is image_other, is not a full image, unless of course google do it different to android one, i've not touched my pixel 3 xl yet but i assume its the same. Someone correct me if i'm wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
could you please elaborate
or just write me the required steps
thanks for help
eldode said:
could you please elaborate
or just write me the required steps
thanks for help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download the factory image for your phone
toggle oem in dev options
boot to bootloader
unlock flashing
extract factory image to the same folder with your adb tools or direct the adb tool to the folder in command prompt(windows)
if you want to keep your data edit the flash_all.bat and remove -W otherwise just run flash_all.bat
If succeeded all the partition will be correct and ota will work, ota only ever goes wrong when flashing the main system image on both slots. From what i can gather the system_other image is whats needed for seemless ota and always gets flashed on slot b while the the phone is set to active slot a, this give the ota the desired state for installing, after this it will swap between slots on each ota
Correct me if im wrong anyone.
boe323 said:
Download the factory image for your phone
toggle oem in dev options
boot to bootloader
unlock flashing
extract factory image to the same folder with your adb tools or direct the adb tool to the folder in command prompt(windows)
if you want to keep your data edit the flash_all.bat and remove -W otherwise just run flash_all.bat
If succeeded all the partition will be correct and ota will work, ota only ever goes wrong when flashing the main system image on both slots. From what i can gather the system_other image is whats needed for seemless ota and always gets flashed on slot b while the the phone is set to active slot a, this give the ota the desired state for installing, after this it will swap between slots on each ota
Correct me if im wrong anyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i followed your steps
but when i try to update fro june to july it give me installation error
but when i opt in android Q beta 5 it works normally
i donot know the difference and why pie fail while Q succeeded
eldode said:
i followed your steps
but when i try to update fro june to july it give me installation error
but when i opt in android Q beta 5 it works normally
i donot know the difference and why pie fail while Q succeeded
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fastboot flash the very latest full P image (July) and let it wipe your data. Flashing the stock image without editing the flash-all script will restore your phone to the "out of the box" state.
v12xke said:
Fastboot flash the very latest full P image (July) and let it wipe your data. Flashing the stock image without editing the flash-all script will restore your phone to the "out of the box" state.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It could be the Q beta opt in, if youve opted in for Q beta it could be looking for the Q ota to install, do what this guy said and flash the lates july image, on every ota just manually adb sideload it. Leave your oem toggle enabled, its safer while doing lots of flashing.

Preparing system update, then nothing

Phone is rooted with magisk, running Feb '20 build.
Last month (early Feb) for a split second, I saw the message 'preparing system update' when going to settings - system - system update. Then it went to 'system up to date' (back then it was obviously running Jan '20 update). So I had to download the factory image, patch the boot image and flash it in fastboot to be updated and rooted.
Saw the March update was available, went to system update again, no and behold. Same story. Split second 'preparing system update' and then nothing.
Oddly enough device updated to the januari update through magisk ota procedure just fine.
Has anyone else encountered this? How did you fix it?
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
I encountered this last month. Did the Magisk OTA update like you for January and wanted to do the Feb OTA update but it never became available on my phone. Just checked System Update and it says system is up to date. Haven't seen the "preparing system update" for March - yet.
Same here. Magisk OTA method in January then the preparing message then up to date last month and this month.
Seems Google is on to us.
When I get home I am going to unroot via Magisk, not reboot and check again.
TonikJDK said:
Same here. Magisk OTA method in January then the preparing message then up to date last month and this month.
Seems Google is on to us.
When I get home I am going to unroot via Magisk, not reboot and check again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exact same thing on my wife's phone; it just says system is up to date with January update. There has to be something going on because there are a number of users who have experienced this issue.
jlokos said:
Exact same thing on my wife's phone; it just says system is up to date with January update. There has to be something going on because there are a number of users who have experienced this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use This guide: Do #4 'keep data' then #9 to root.
It only takes 5 minutes.
Note: Before you start disable all your Magisk modules.
So long story short: download factory image and remove -w (wipe flag), flash everything, patch boot image with magisk, and flash image via fastboot. Now what I don't see (or I overlook it), do you flash the patched image via
Flash boot patched_boot.img or to both boot_a and boot_b?
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
Ch3vr0n said:
So long story short: download factory image and remove -w (wipe flag), flash everything, patch boot image with magisk, and flash image via fastboot. Now what I don't see (or I overlook it), do you flash the patched image via
Flash boot patched_boot.img or to both boot_a and boot_b?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
#9. A. 11.
fastboot flash boot --slot all magisk_patched.img
Homeboy76 said:
#9. A. 11.
fastboot flash boot --slot all magisk_patched.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you advising to just use the factory image to update or are you saying the OTA updates will work after reflashng factory image?
willyumlu said:
Are you advising to just use the factory image to update or are you saying the OTA updates will work after reflashng factory image?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@willyumlu
Flash the Factory Image, the OTA update is what you are having problems getting installed.
Also, if you are rooted take a look at #9. B. OTA Installation
Homeboy76 said:
@willyumlu
Flash the Factory Image, the OTA update is what you are having problems getting installed.
Also, if you are rooted take a look at #9. B. OTA Installation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it's not showing any OTA updates since ~January. I think there's some corrupt folder/file permissions after one of the OTAs or something - I can't use a log viewer app to check the logs. Tried to just flash stock Feb thru fastboot like you suggested and afterwards, even with the stock boot, I couldn't find any updates. I'll try to do a factory reset when I have time to see if that solves the issue
EDIT: Got it working after I used https://pixelrepair.withgoogle.com/ to reflash. When I tried factory resetting by follow @Homeboy76 's guide (w/o using the laptop), it still wouldn't find an OTA. The site got me back onto Feb stock and I rerooted and applied the OTA afterwards
willyumlu said:
Yeah it's not showing any OTA updates since ~January. I think there's some corrupt folder/file permissions after one of the OTAs or something - I can't use a log viewer app to check the logs. Tried to just flash stock Feb thru fastboot like you suggested and afterwards, even with the stock boot, I couldn't find any updates. I'll try to do a factory reset when I have time to see if that solves the issue
EDIT: Got it working after I used https://pixelrepair.withgoogle.com/ to reflash. When I tried factory resetting by follow @Homeboy76 's guide (w/o using the laptop), it still wouldn't find an OTA. The site got me back onto Feb stock and I rerooted and applied the OTA afterwards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you got the OTA
I'm curious what # was, "factory resetting by follow @Homeboy76 's guide (w/o using the laptop), it still wouldn't find an OTA."
factory image method didn't work (flashing feb build and patching boot image). pixel repair isn't available in belgium. Still no OTA
Homeboy76 said:
Glad you got the OTA
I'm curious what # was, "factory resetting by follow @Homeboy76 's guide (w/o using the laptop), it still wouldn't find an OTA."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
#3b
Ch3vr0n said:
factory image method didn't work (flashing feb build and patching boot image). pixel repair isn't available in belgium. Still no OTA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe a factory image with -w would work? I'm not sure what exactly the pixelrepair site does but it seemed like it was doing a sideload after wiping data since it asks you to go into recovery mode
Don't care what the pixelrepair does, as I said. I can't use it. Probably Geo restriction.
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
willyumlu said:
#3b
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was pointing out the benefits of flashing the factory image #4 'keep data' an re- rooting #9. So, I was surprised to see factory reset in your response. :good:
Ch3vr0n said:
Don't care what the pixelrepair does, as I said. I can't use it. Probably Geo restriction.
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I'm suggesting flashing the factory image without removing "-w" to do what the site did since you can't access it
Yeah I ain't doing that in the middle of a week after work. I can't go without phone during the week if something goes wrong, or spend hours after restoring the auto-backup and setting up mail etc all over again. Maybe over the weekend.
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
I had to Flash the factory Image too. No Ota arrived since the Dec 2019 update.
I remived the -w Option and everything is fine. No data loss.
Patching the boot.img with magisk didn't work. Magisk 7.5.1 always crashed. I tried Magisk 7.5.0 and everything worked.

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