yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Digital DJ:
Hey guys, I tried to do another backup just about 30 minutes ago and got stick in a TWRP loop. I couldn't restart my device after I performed a backup. I tried everything I could, as I want in front of my PC, and ultimately had to reflash the OTA. Now I can't get back into TWRP to flash magisk. Up until the backup, everything has been working fine. I'm not sure what happened. I haven't lost any info and I'm guessing as soon as I get home and reinstall TWRP then reflash magisk and my kernel, I should be good to go. I just don't know why I'm having so many issues trying to perform a backup.

Edit: I was able to fix on the fly, then got home and followed these instructions from the Legendary [MENTION=3730810]Badger50[/MENTION]:

Flashing OTA Zip for Google Pixel 2XL

1. Download the OTA zip again, and put it on your phones internal storage.

2. Disable your screen lock security, set it to swipe.

3. Fastboot into twrp, or just get into it if it's still installed.

4. Hit wipe, select advanced wipe, then ONLY wipe ART/cache. When done, exit out, and go back to your install button.

5. Select your OTA zip, then swipe to install it. It will take a little while, so be patient. When it's done, flash your twrp installer zip, then boot up to your OS to

make sure it's ok. If it is, then go back to twrp and flash your magisk zip, and then your custom kernel if you use one.

6. Then boot up to the OS, and you should be good to go again on the (the monthly) update

I don't understand why I'm having issues with this device. I can only imagine that somewhere along the way, I skipped a step or performed a step out of sequence. Either way, it is fixed now and I lost no data. I am going to give the BACKUP feature another shot and see if it sticks.

UPDATE 1: The backup feature is not working for me. Every time I try and perform a backup I get stuck in a TWRP recovery loop. It will only reboot over and over to recovery until I reflash the OTA/twrp/reboot/Flash Magisk/kernel/reboot/.

Am I missing something? I just want a backup in case stuff goes wrong.

UPDATE 2: Ok I finally figured out wtf I was doing wrong when trying to perform a backup. After the backup completed I would swipe to reboot system instead of clicking the button Do Not Install with regards to installing the TWRP app. I believe all is well now. I guess I just needed to come here to work out my frustrations. Like when you call tech support for something, then while you're waiting on hold you end up fixing the tech issue...
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] carole6m:
What exactly did you do to fix the internal storage? I updated to the February stock and my internal storage folder names are all messed up. Tried reflashing and tried different USB port and a bunch of other things but nothing helped...
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Scottay5150:
I reflashed the stock image.

---------- Post added at 03:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:52 PM ----------

With a different port.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] carole6m:
Can anyone help me get my internal storage back? I was on the January stock and flashed the February image yesterday (I did remove PIN and fingerprints)and tried to flash a custom rom, it wouldn't boot so I re-flashed the February stock. When it booted, my internal folders are all encrypted with messed up folder names, it was also read only so I can't put anything in it to reflash. Since then I've spent hours trying to flash the stock images and nothing fixed the issue. I've tried the January build again, it wouldn't boot, said system was corrupt; tried different usb ports/cables, tried latest platform tools, still nothing. February build boots but still can't access internal storage. Is there anything else I can try without wiping the internal storage? I've never run into anything like this before... I do not have internal storage backed up :(
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] jd1639:
I think you're going to be sol on the internal storage. What happens if you try to boot a twrp image file? You might be able to backup data but it'll probably be encrypted and you won't be able to access it. Also, have you flashed the factory image with the flash all batch file with the -w removed?
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] carole6m:
Yeah never had issues with the internal storage so I didn't back it up. I even did a nandroid backup before flashing the rom... I just don't know what went wrong. I removed the PIN prior to flash anything. I flashed the factory images multiple times (without -w), no luck... Tried the Deuces Bootloop-Recovery & Flashing Script as well, same issue. Twrp image boots fine.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] jd1639:
Twrp decrypts the device? If you made anandriod, and have data backed up you'll at least have your apps and app data. If twrp decrypts the device you should be able to get everything off the internal sdcard. Then use the flash all with the -w.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] carole6m:
No, folders show as encrypted in TWRP as well... When I made nandroid everything was fine, flashed February stock and rebooted and it was fine, put custom rom in phone, wiped data and flashed and it didn't boot. Tried to re-flash and noticed the weird folder names in twrp, thought it was a twrp issue. Reflashed February stock and realized phone storage was encrypted so it wasn't just twrp :( Haven't been able to fix it since then
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Digital DJ:
I have the 64GB version of GP2XL so space is limited. I know having a backup on device storage takes a lot of space (14GB in my case) so I copy the backup to my PC just in case something like this happens.

---------- Post added at 01:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 PM ----------

With regards to apps and app data, the Backup feature in the Pixel settings does a great job of backing up app and app data too. It auto syncs to your google drive.

---------- Post added at 01:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:13 PM ----------

What custom ROM are you using?
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] carole6m:
Pixel Dust
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] simplepinoi177:
Here's an idea...

Re-run the flash-all from the Full Factory image ("-w" removed of course) and load up the system. After successfully loading the system, create a pattern screen lock. After, power down your phone, then power it back up and unlock the phone using the pattern you just set up. Key thing: maybe this will set things up to decrypt your files once more after the "hiccup" of encypting, removing screenlock, and it somehow didn't remove the encyption. If anything, reboot to the bootloader and run TWRP temporarily off of a twrp image file, and hopefully it will ask for the pattern to unlock and decrypt and hopefully/maybe you'll be able to see/access your internal sd...

just a thought...hope this helps and good luck to you....
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Digital DJ:
Can I ask why some say to turn off the lock/pin/swipe feature when going into twrp? I always leave mine on and have never had a problem.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] jd1639:
I have no idea. I've never had a problem either.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Digital DJ:
I get that it is easier to get into TWRP faster, but I think I'd rather not have to remember to turn on my security afterward. Anyway, take care!
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Nergal di Cuthah:
Because previous twrp could not decrypt, but I think this is fixed now.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Digital DJ:
Flashed the Mar 5 security patch just now with no issues so far. It's ready!
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Badger50:
Congrats my friend. Sounds like you've got it figured out now :good::cool:
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Digital DJ:
Yes, I do. My problem was a two-fold problem I think. After I flashed the OTA, then the Twrp installer, I would hastily swipe to reboot. Well, that part I was swiping was to install TWRP as a system app which would cause my device to reboot into TWRP endlessly. I kept failing to read that part every time I tried to reboot lol. The other part of the problem was when you said to go back into twrp and flash magisk "then" kernel, I kept doing that in reverse order bc I thought I read somewhere that the order didn't matter. Anyway, all is well with my phone now. Also, I have been making backups and restoring them for the hell of it just to make sure I've got it working correctly. Thanks again for all the help

---------- Post added at 02:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------

Hey quick question: if I decided to flash a custom rom, would I have to flash the OTA/twrp/magisk/kernel (optional)/custom rom in that order?
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] jd1639:
You won't need the ota. First thing is backup with twrp, at least the data partition, and if you use the app Tipatch it'll backup the internal sdcard. You'll want the app before you do anything as you need to run it when booted into your system. If you have it, backup to an otg thumb drive, otherwise when you wipe it'll get deleted. Put the twrp, rom, magisk, and kernel zip on it too You really should do a wipe in twrp before you install a rom as you might run into problems otherwise. Then install the rom first. Then install twrp, most roms will over write twrp. And then magisk, unless the rom is rooted, many aren't. Then a kernel if you want it. Afterwards you can restore the data partition in twrp and you'll be up and running.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] davidmcw:
Delete

---------- Post added at 09:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:07 AM ----------

Thanks for this. When trying to install 9.0.0 (PQ2A.190305.002, Mar 2019) (taimen-pq2a.190305.002-factory-8f42be1a) I get an invalid zip error. Assuming it's something stupid I'm doing, can you offer suggestions? If you need more details, I have them.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Badger50:
Do you by chance have zip verification turned on in twrp? If so, turn it off :good:

And, do NOT install the twrp app from within twrp!
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] clothednblack:
You want the one that says "taimen-ota" in the name, looks like you may have the full factory March release instead
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] davidmcw:
Thanks. That part I was doing right.

---------- Post added at 12:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:34 PM ----------

Told you it was something stoopid! Thank you--that worked.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] kxhan15:
Can the March ota security update from last night be rooted with this method?
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Digital DJ:
If you haven't rooted your phone yet, I don't see why you couldn't root after taking the OTA. I just rooted mine after taking the January 5, 2019 OTA. If you're already rooted, you don't need to work about it
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] kxhan15:
I have not rooted it yet. The main reason I want to is to get some sort of system wide dark mode, lol For all apps and system
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Badger50:
Absolutely it can! System wide dark mode will require root, substratum, and a good theme like Swift Black or Dark :good:
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Osbor:
About to undertake this adventure, really need to enable hotspot wifi tethering for my overseas trip soon

Wish me luck, i usually don't have much with rooting processes
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Badger50:
Just give a shout out if you need help bruh :good::cool:
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Osbor:
open question: i know google has that whole restore-phone thing where it'll cloud save all your apps and their settings...

i forget if that works post-root, i assume it does since safety net functions with magisk

contemplating how thorough i need to be backing things up before factory reset
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] jd1639:
After rooting a restore of apps and app data from Google still works. I also like to boot twrp and backup the data partition off the device, a USB c thumb drive works great. Then you can boot twrp after a reset and restore it.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] a8ksh4:
Android Q beta images are here! I imagine that the update process will be the same for Q... that's probably what I'll be working on at home this evening. Looking forward to hearing if anyone else has success or issues in the mean-time... :D
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] johnlgalt:
I've just enrolled. I'll give the standard Magisk process a shot and see if it works or not. Worst that can happen is that I have to reload a TWRP backup...which I'm about to make....

Also, just updated my sig so it is current.

---------- Post added 14th March 2019 at 12:08 AM ---------- Previous post was 13th March 2019 at 11:43 PM ----------

Actually, after reading this https://twitter.com/topjohnwu/status/1105968107011665920 I am not inclined to bother trying.

I've only had root for less than a month - I'm gonna remove it, take the update, and play with Q. If John gets it working, great, I'll root Q. If not, I'll probably (knowing me) stay on Q without root.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Droid_Nut:
Can TWRP be permanently installed, or is it just a temporary image injection until you reboot?
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] jd1639:
Yes it can. You want to boot the twrp image file. Then once you're in twrp install the the twrp zip file.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Badger50:
Yes and no. Like [MENTION=4858937]jd1639[/MENTION] said, however, as soon as you fastboot the boot.img, or monthly update, or flash a rom, it will be gone. Then you'll have to fastboot into twrp, and install the installer zip again :good:
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Droid_Nut:
I have to do the same thing with TWRP in my Z3, boot it from PC, and then its gone when I load the system. I guess that is the norm for all A B phones. Not a big deal, after you do it a few times.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Badger50:
You got it bruh :good::cool:
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Droid_Nut:
OP says installing TWRP to the phone causes stability problems? Any one having this issue?
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Badger50:
I've had twrp installed on my device since it was available at the end of 2017. Never had any issues whatsoever :good:
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] jd1639:
If you allow system modifications when you boot into twrp, twrp should survive a reboot. It does on the pixel 3 at least and I assume on the 2 too.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] youssefkr:
Hey everyone, how can I flash the March OTA manually ? My phone is rooted with stock recovery.

Thanks ^^
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Pkt_Lnt:
See post #1 of this thread, scroll down to this section and click on the unhide box:

Updating to a new release (OTA zip):
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Badger50:
Requiring someone to search! Man your mean! ???
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] johnlgalt:
LMFAO!

Worst part is that he did most of the 'searching' for the requester anyway....
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Pkt_Lnt:
No way to link that, I said scroll not search. I know it's hard, but kids these days....

(...old man yells at cloud...) :silly:
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] johnlgalt:
Yah. Kids.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Badger50:
get off my lawn! ?
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] johnlgalt:
Turn that stereo down!
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] eruben:
As far as I understood I can update to Q having root (magisk) and TWRP too the same way I'm updating every month. Please, share an experience if someone already updated.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Badger50:
You might want to look here :good:

https://xdaforums.com/pixel-2-xl/how-to/android-q-beta-details-t3911180
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Osbor:
uh oh, i might be boned

seems to be stuck while flashing the image

i chose 8.1.0 (OPM2.171026.006.H1, Jul 2018) as my image

had to do a bit of a workaround by copying the contents of the image zip into the platform-tools folder, such that the flash-all script had the fastboot command within its scope, otherwise it just complained about fastboot not being a recognized command

i ran flash-all and everything seemed alright but about a minute in it seems to have gotten stuck at sending system_a...

....and right as i was typing this, i tried to highlight the step it was stuck at, right clicked to copy and boom, on that right click it immediately finished that command, went on to the next, and now it's complete

what the hell, windows?
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Osbor:
Ok now i may actually be in trouble.

I'm at the step of patching the boot image using magisk (by going through the magisk manager app directly and using install->install->patch boot image path) and it just doesn't want to do it, when trying to patch the 1.63gb image file it works on it for a bit, then gives a generic unable to unpack boot image error

got the logs, but they aren't much help either

- Copying image to cache
- Device platform: arm64-v8a
- Existing zip found
1038+1 records in
1038+1 records out
1063528 bytes transferred in 0.010 secs (106352800 bytes/sec)
- Unpacking boot image
MagiskBoot v18.1(18100) (by topjohnwu) - Boot Image Modification Tool
Parsing boot image: [/data/user_de/0/com.topjohnwu.magisk/install/boot.img]
No boot image magic found!
! Unable to unpack boot image
! Installation failed

not sure where to go from here, grab some other system image from this page? https://developers.google.com/android/images

the one i used for flashing after unlock, and the one i'm trying to patch, is

8.1.0 (OPM2.171026.006.H1, Jul 2018)

btw i'm going root minus twrp due to concerns about stability , this is my pretty heavily dependent daily driver
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] jd1639:
Why are you messing with a patched boot image. Put the magisk zip on your phone. Then boot twrp, fastboot boot twrp.img. Once in twrp install the magisk zip. Right now you'll probably have to fastboot flash the stock boot image to your device to get it working again.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Osbor:
OP seems to indicate twrp has a higher probability of causing stability problems on the 2 XL

I'm trying my damnedest to avoid that
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] jd1639:
You boot twrp. You don't install it. And the info in this thread is old. TWRP is stable now, but you don't need to install it. What is the status of your device now?
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Osbor:
Most recently ran flash-all using the image 8.1.0 (OPM2.171026.006.H1, Jul 2018) from https://developers.google.com/android/images and booted in

The phone's pretty much just chilling right now, magisk manager is installed but pretty much nothing else (i haven't activated google or done a data restore or anything) since i wanted to be rooted before trying that

If the op is outdated i guess there's no way to update it then

but i'll try the twrp path instead
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] jd1639:
From the link in the OP get the twrp image file and zip file. Put the zip file on your device download folder typically.

If you're using windows here's a pro tip that will save you a lot of headache. I assume you have the sdk platform tools, fastboot and adb, in a folder, I'll call it xyz as an example. Got to Control panel, system and security, system, and the left advanced system settings, Environmental Variables, then go to path and edit it to include the xyz folder. This will allow you to access fastboot and adb system wide so you don't need to have those in the same folder as image files your working with.

When you have twrp on your device boot back into the bootloader. Then open a command window or power shell in the folder you have the twrp image file. Then issue the command:

fastboot boot twrp.img (use the full name of the twrp image)

Your device will boot into twrp. When it does then go to install and choose the magisk zip file. Boot back to your system and you'll be rooted. When you exit twrp don't use the slider, but choose do not install twrp app.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Osbor:
Excellent, thanks, seems to have gone well

win 10 has a nice and pretty new path variable editing page but apparently you need to give it the path format in just right way or it won't like it

anyway, last step is to find that p2xl tether module for magisk to allow hotspot without paying verizon $20 a month for the privilege of pressing a button

and grabbing the latest slightly modified form of tethering enabler version 15 from this post https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=76132374&postcount=76 , everything seems to work, now for the long process of restoring my phone
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] jd1639:
Glad it works. Good luck on tethering.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Osbor:
heh, i'll need it, plan is to use my phone as a mobile hotspot for a group of 4 friends during a trip to europe next week. verizon's LTE coverage map looks absolutely saturated around there, and i have a grandfathered unlimited data plan, so for supposedly $10 a day you get all your data internationally. i plan to absolutely abuse that
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] johnlgalt:
Windows 10 path editing is no different from the way we used to do it in DOS, if you do this:

Once you get to the path variable and click edit, you get a nice little box, in which you can add values, move them around, remove values, etc. But the bottom button, Edit text... displays a different dialog box, similar to editing a registry key, in which you have two entries:

Variable Name which has the value of Path (DO NOT CHANGE THIS!!!!)

Variable Value which has the value of your current $PATH$ variable as a continuous string, just like it did if you edited the PATH variable in DOS / CMD (This is the one you can edit like you used to in DOS / CMD)

HTH

GLWT - make sure you have a backup plan, because, technically, the grandfathered unlimited plans do not allow hotspot / connection sharing (I know because I had the same grandfathered plan up until the Pixel 2 line came out, which was also a couple of months after VZW tacked on an additional $20 / month just because I had that plan and refused to give it up - so I dumped VZW for Fi). If they detect that you're sharing they may do something asinine like throttle you / cut you off / whatever and then simply claim they're having issues. This is speculation on my part, mind you, but based upon stories I've read here and other forums about folks getting shut down when sharing on a grandfathered plan. But there were more than just a handful of such incidents in the past.
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] Osbor:
technically yes but it's difficult for them to enforce it, and enforcement is really inconsistent

i had a rooted nexus 6p around this time last year and used the hotspot quite frequently , racking up like 80gb a month, never heard a peep from verizon
[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] johnlgalt:
Yeah. It never happened to me either. I'm just putting the warning out there as a PSA for ya.