Installing to Pixel 3a

Fizz

Hi all-

Now that i am in the proper sub-forum...

I have finally received my new(ish) pixel 3a and am going about the process of installing Ubuntu Touch (Focal, OTA-3).

The instructions say the phone first needs to be on factory image PQ3B.190801.002 . My phone is on a later version of Android, so i need to downgrade it first before attempting UT. I have found that image and downloaded it to my laptop (not on the phone).

To do the downgrade, I have been following the instructions here: https://developers.google.com/android/images#sargo But there are some points i don't understand.

I have the phone in Fastboot Mode. The Device State says "locked" (though when i ordered it the seller said it was unlocked... hrmmm). Anyways, apparently i need to run

fastboot flashing unlock

But it's not clear to me where or how i run this command. In Fastboot Mode, i see no command prompt- no way to enter keyboard input. I have downloaded the SDK Tools from here:
https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools
to my laptop, but my laptop does not seem to "see" the phone even though it is connected via USB cable. Does running fastboot "find" the phone itself?

Once that is done, i will need to run

flash-all.sh

But again, where do i do that? Do i run it from my laptop- does the script know how to find the phone (conncected via USB)?

I've not done this before, and don't want to turn my new phone into a brick, so i'm hopeful someone can walk me through this. Spare no details please!

Thanks!

-Fizz

MrT10001

@Fizz Ok, where your fastboot and adb executable files are (assuming using Windows here) make sure they are unzipped to a folder. Then in the folder, right click and choose open in command prompt/powershell.

Edit - you are using the latest drivers with platform tools (good) - navigate to that folder and open the command prompt there.

When the phone is in fastboot mode, then run the command in the command line on your PC (it is usually fastboot oem unlock) and follow the instructions.

Once the device is unlocked allow it to boot and set up Android again. Then re enable developer options, enable USB debugging and reboot to fastboot mode.

In your unzipped factory image PQ3B.190801.002, copy the files to the power-tools folder, but NOT in a folder. Run the flash-all.sh from there with your phone connected and in fastboot mode.

The other alternative is to flash the ROM through Chrome Browser using the Android recovery tool>

Read this.

Fizz

@MrT10001

Actually, my laptop is Linux, not Windows.

When you refer to the "adb executable-files", are you just referring to all the files that come with platform-tools? I downloaded platform-tools (from https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools) and unzipped them to their own folder.

Do they have to be installed somehow? If i am in the platform-tools folder and trying running fastboot, the terminal tells me it is not found but can be installed with apt install fastboot. So do i need to do more than just download it from the link and unzipped?

I did try the Android recovery tool (flash.android.com), as it sounds like it should be the easiest method. But it won't ever see my phone. That makes me worry. I was using Vivaldi rather than Chrome. Would that make a difference, even though Vivaldi has the Chrome engine underneath?

-Fizz

MrT10001

@Fizz Ok, Linux, a bit more. I tend to run from the Command line in the Platform-Tools folder... However, install ADB and fastboot in the CLI. You have to use Chrome Browser (not any other inc. Chromium) to run the Android recovery tool.

The recovery tool won't see your phone as it needs ADB and fastboot installed.

What flavour of Linux are you running?

Fizz

@MrT10001
I am running Linux Mint 20.3.

OK, so i'll install both fastboot and ADB via the command line first. Then i'll try Vivaldi and Brave again, and failing those, install Chrome.

sudo apt install fastboot
sudo apt install adb

Looks like i already had adb installed, just not Fastboot.

-Fizz

MrT10001

@Fizz If you unzip the factory image PQ3B.190801.002 to the platform tools folder, then run the flash-all.sh from there you won't need to use Chrome and the Android recovery tool (it only works on Chrome, tried it on others it won't work).

Fizz

@MrT10001
OK, so i have downloaded platform-tools and unzipped it into its own folder.

I have also installed fastboot via the command line, and adb was already installed.

So now i'm moved the factory image to the platform-tools folder. So my platform-tools directory contains the following:

bootloader-sargo-bootloader-sargo-b4s4-0.1-5653622.img
flash-all.sh
flash-all.bat
flash-base-sh
image-sargo-pq3b.190801.002.zip
radio-sargo-g670-00011-190411-b-5457439.img

Also there is the lib64 folder, files adb, fastboot, and all the others that came with platform-tools.

My phone is connected via usb, it's in Fastboot Mode.

Do i first need to unlock with fastboot oem unlock? Or do i go straight to flash-all.sh ?

Sorry if i'm being annoying with excessive questions. I want to be sure i understand things completely, as I've not done this before and i don't want a brick.

-Fizz

MrT10001

@Fizz Unlock the bootloader first (try fastboot oem unlock).

Reboot to Android, set it up again when you have done that, reboot to fastboot mode.

When in fastboot mode run the flash-all.sh command.

Let it run, when it finishes the phone will reboot.

Set Android up on the phone again (again) and enable developer options and USB debugging.

Then run the UT installer and follow the onscreen instructions.

Fizz

@MrT10001
Thanks for all your help. If i end up with a brick i'll track you down... lol.
OK, here goes....

-Fizz

MrT10001

@Fizz You won't brick it, I haven't had an unrecoverable brick yet.

If your Pixel 3a hangs at the Google logo see my previous mentioned thread.

Be patient, UT takes time to install.

Fizz

@MrT10001
Well, the first step went well, i was able to unlock the bootloader. Note the exact command was actually "fastboot flashing unlock".

I let Android reboot, went through the basic setup, etc. Once that was done i rebooted to Fastboot Mode.

But I just tried to run flash-all, and my laptop tells me the command is not found. I've tried "flash-all.sh" as well as "flash-all", but neither is recognized. The file is right there in the current folder. What've i done wrong?

-Fizz

MrT10001

@Fizz Try sudo flash-all.sh. I am not on my Linux system so I cannot remember the exact command. If sudo soesn't work try sh flash-all.sh or ./flash-all.sh.

Fizz

@MrT10001
Hmmm.... the latter two suggestions work- it executes. But now it tells me:
fastboot too old; please download the latest version at https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools.html

But that link just redirects to the same file that i downloaded and unzipped earlier.

Hrmmm... so not sure what i need to do here...

-Fizz

MrT10001

@Fizz On your laptop, you are in the platform tools folder and you have the unzipped Android ROM - factory image PQ3B.190801.002 - in there too? You have opened a command prompt in that folder as well?

Fizz

@MrT10001
Yes, i created a folder named platform-tools, which has the contents from android's site (https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools ).

In that same folder i have moved the contents of the image download ( from https://developers.google.com/android/images#sargo ).

So the contents of the folder are:

lib (folder)
adb
etc1tool
fastboot
hpor-conv
mak_f2fs
mak_f2fs_casefold
mke2fs
mke2fsconf
NOTICE.txt
source.properties
sqlite3
bootloader-sargo-bootloader-sargo-b4s4-0.1-5653622.img
flash-all.sh
flash-all.bat
flash-base-sh
image-sargo-pq3b.190801.002.zip
radio-sargo-g670-00011-190411-b-5457439.img

I know there is still a .zip file in that folder, but from what i read that should be left alone- not unzipped.

In the terminal, i am in that same directory, platform-tools, where all the files are.

-Fizz

MrT10001

@Fizz Odd it should work? Maybe someone more advanced on Linux could chip in?

I downgraded generally with chrome and the android tool on Windows 11( Yes I know), it has worked for me.

Fizz

@MrT10001
Well, what i'll try next is installing Chrome on my laptop, and seeing if the flashing will work through the flash tool. Will let you know how it goes.

-Fizz

Fizz

@MrT10001
Well, the Chrome method seems to be working- it has recognized the device and i've pointed it to the correct build.

Quick question- the flasher is asking me:
You are downgrading your bootloader, which normally means you are flashing an older build. This usually requires a factory reset to successfully boot the device.
Would you like to factory reset your device?

Do i want to do this? I've no data on the device i care about.

-Fizz

MrT10001

@Fizz Yes. It is best too.

Fizz

@MrT10001
Well, things aren't going well so far. It does the download of the desired image. But i run into problems shortly after the install attempt.

When it starts the install, it says Rebooting Device into Bootloader. The phone screen flashes briefly, but comes back to the Fastbook Mode screen almost immediately.

A few seconds later, the installer says
Flash Failed
Timed out waiting for device to disconnect

It gives me the option to "retry", but it never works. The only way i can really start it again is to close Chrome (per the instructions the installer gives), re-open it and try again. In that case, it does a full download of the image again. And unfortunately this pattern just repeats.

I'm on my third attempt now, downloading the image again. The install definitely did something, as the phone won't boot Android at all anymore- i can only get it to Fastboot Mode. But it's not getting far with the install either. Ugh.

UPDATE- well third time it made it a lot farther. It got through few stages of writing the image, and appeared to be loading Android (white page with Google logo), but then i again got the Flash Failed Timed out waiting for device to disconnect error.

-Fizz