[Google Pixel 2 XL Guides, News, & Discussion] deskjet390:
What im beginning to see here is evidence that it looks like the "Call Home" is necessary for both a Google or Verizon variant device to receive its unlocking abilities with this phone. The ability to unlock or to not unlock looks to be determined by matching your devices IMEI? (or whatever unique identifier or a combination of unique identifiers it uses) against a database that would logically have to be hosted by Google themselves.

This is why even a Google unlockable variant has to connect to the internet FIRST before the OEM UNLOCK checkbox can become toggled because it has to "Call Home" and recieve the unlock ability granted to it by being part of the UNLOCKABLE database. The internet the phone needs can either come by strictly WIFI or through a SIM card of ANY carrier as the SIM card in this device appears to have no bearing on whether it can or can not be unlocked.

There are many different types of IP protocols that could be used to enable the OEM unlock and activate the needed fastboot commands...but one thing is certain...a transaction takes places between an activity/process on the mobile device, and it takes a path to a remote database.

What we need is a LOGCAT and a Wireshark at the time a GOOGLE PIXEL 2 XL's OEM unlock button goes from greyed out to becoming selectable!!!

The steps to capture this are as follows Remember we have to set up the phone AND also set up Wireshark on a PC that is connected to the internet via an ethernet cable that also has a WIFI adapter so we can set up a WIFI hotspot and capture all the traffic flowing in and out of that interface.

ON PHONE

1. Make sure GOOGLE EDITION PIXEL 2 XL has locked bootloader.

2. Factory reset device and remove sim card.

3. Power on device and go through setup process and do not connect to WIFI.

4. Enable Dev Options and USB debugging in settings

5. go ahead and connect USB cable to PC (you should have ADB installed on PC already)

6. Now move on to the ON COMPUTER section below and go through it all before going to the section called CAPTURE TIME!!

ON COMPUTER

1.Make sure your PC is connected to the internet through your ethernet port and your WIFI adapter is turned on but disconnected from any wifi network around you.

2. If you have windows 10 (which you should by now....its not that bad anymore) Click on your network status icon in the bottom right hand of your screen and click on "Network & Internet Settings"

3. A window will open that shows you your network status and it should say you are connected to the internet!!

4. On the left hand side of that window there is a section labeled "Mobile Hotspot" CLICK ON IT

5. Then proceed to read the screen and setup your "Mobile Hotspot" network name/password/ 2.4 or 5ghz

6. Finally click the toggle to "ON" at the top that says something like "Share my internet connection with other devices" MAKE SURE YOU SELECT YOUR ETHERNET LAN CONNECTION FROM THE "Share my Internet Connection From" drop down

***ABSOLUTELY DO NOT CONNECT YOUR PHONE TO THE MOBILE HOTSPOT YET!!!***

CAPTURE TIME!!​

1. Open Wireshark

2. Start a capture using your WIFI hotspot interface as your capture source and no other sources selected.

3. Now open a command prompt on your PC

4. type in "ADB Devices" and make sure your phone says its in USB debugging mode

5. Type in "adb logcat -d long > oemunlocktoggle.txt"

6. Hit enter (NOTE ALL YOU WILL SEE IS A FLASHING CURSOR ON A NEW LINE FOR NOW AND ITS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT I PROMISE)

7. Now that we have both WIFI traffic and a Logcat being captured lets connect your phone to WIFI

8. Go to settings and enable WIFI and find your hotspot and connect to it.

9. Go to google.com on your phone and then go to settings and developers section and keep going in and out of it until you see the option availible and toggle it and notate the exact time you saw it come on (will help in narrowing down the capture)

10. Now go to the command prompt window you had open and click in it and then press CTRL+C and your logcat is now saved as "oemunlocktoggle.txt" in the current directory path your prompt is sitting at.

11. Stop your wireshark capture and then press File and SaveAS and save it.

12. We should have all we need now to identify the exact process that controls the Unlock functions of the device......as well as the destination it reached out to recieve authorization to do so. THIS WILL GREATLY HELP THE VERIZON PIXEL 2 XL USERS HERE IF SOMEONE WOULD CAPTURE THIS INFO AND KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING!!

SAVE THOSE FILES AND STUDY THEM AND MAYBE GET THEM IN THE HANDS OF SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT TO LOOK AND FILTER FOR BOTH ON THE LOGCAT AND THE WIRESHARK!!!

I do but im not demanding you send files to me but it would be very nice to see what is happenning as I do not have a Pixel 2 XL and really want to know what is happening .