[Google Pixel 2 XL Questions & Answers] simplepinoi177:
Greetings all! You might have seen me around "these parts", but for the first time I'm creating a thread and pleading for some help and insight -- it's a curious feeling when I'm usually the one that's offerring outside ideas...

Some background info: When running the January update via Full Factory image and the flash-all script, the update froze/failed in the middle. After that point, it would only boot into Bootloader Mode with various errors (red and yellow) displaying on the bottom (most relevant error dealt with slot being "unbootable") as well as the recovery not being able to load and just spits it back to the bootloader. The experience is utterly identical to the issue here (*you can even see me post in the thread): https://xdaforums.com/pixel-2-xl/help/pixel-2-bricked-t3889296 . To resolve the situation, I ended up bringing my device to my local Ubreakifix location. What they said they ended up doing was to replace the motherboard (i'm not sure if it's important or not, but I now have a new serial & imei number). So now you're all caught up; so here's the issue…

I am having the darndest time unlocking the bootloader! And it seems everything should be working, and yet it's all a no-go!

Here's everything "going" for me: Once I started up the device, and connected it to wifi, I would browse for a couple of minutes on Chrome, and the OEM unlocking ticker would be blue (not grey) and set to the right. I would even reboot and shut down a couple of times just to be sure that it remained "ticked". But whenever I would go into Bootloader Mode and run the fastboot flashing unlock command, it would fail. So, then, I updated from 8.0.0 to Pie/9 via the system updater and the OTA, and it initially was "greyed out", but after resetting the device, and going through the set up, skipping everything, and connecting it to the wifi, it would be blue and "tickable" once again -- I can turn it off (enabling "protection feature") and on. But still, it fails when going into the bootloader and attempting to "unlock". Also, I've gone to Bootloader Mode various different ways; including holding the power button and clicking restart and holding the Volume+Down button, from being powered off and holding the Power button and the Volume+Down button, executing the adb reboot bootloader command, executing the fastboot reboot bootloader command. And, of course, I've done the obligatory made sure the platform tools were up-to-date (r28.0.1; not that it's been changed since September it seems…), don't have a USB-C port on my computer so it's the usual USB-C to USB-A cord, and I have tried all 3 ports (two usb 3.0 ports, one 2.0)… Now here is all relevant information from fastboot in Bootloader Mode (getvar all, get_unlock_ability, flashing lock, etc.):

(bootloader) avb_err:0(0)

(bootloader) is_avb_critical_error:no

(bootloader) have_oem_lock_id:yes

(bootloader) avb_stored_rollback_indexes:

(bootloader) avb_user_settable_key_set:no

(bootloader) avb_version:1.0.0

(bootloader) mid:G011A

(bootloader) version-main:1.02.0.100

(bootloader) imei:35753708752####

(bootloader) boot-mode:FASTBOOT

(bootloader) logical-block-size:0x1000

(bootloader) erase-block-size:0x1000000

(bootloader) unlocked:no

(bootloader) off-mode-charge:1

(bootloader) charger-screen-enabled:1

(bootloader) battery-soc-ok:yes

(bootloader) battery-voltage:4110

(bootloader) version-baseband:g8998-00253-1805232234

(bootloader) version-bootloader:mw8998-002.0071.00

(bootloader) variant:

(bootloader) partition-type:userdata:ext4

(bootloader) partition-size:userdata: 0xD49BFB000

(bootloader) partition-type:vendor_b:ext4

(bootloader) partition-size:vendor_b: 0x1F400000

(bootloader) partition-type:vendor_a:ext4

(bootloader) partition-size:vendor_a: 0x1F400000

(bootloader) partition-type:system_b:ext4

(bootloader) partition-size:system_b: 0xA0000000

(bootloader) partition-type:system_a:ext4

(bootloader) partition-size:system_a: 0xA0000000

(bootloader) partition-type:boot_b:raw

(bootloader) partition-size:boot_b: 0x2000000

(bootloader) partition-type:boot_a:raw

(bootloader) partition-size:boot_a: 0x2000000

(bootloader) has-slot:radio:yes

(bootloader) has-slot:bootloader:yes

(bootloader) has-slot:vendor:yes

(bootloader) has-slot:modem:yes

(bootloader) has-slot:system:yes

(bootloader) has-slot:vbmeta:yes

(bootloader) has-slot:dtbo:yes

(bootloader) current-slot:b

(bootloader) has-slot:boot:yes

(bootloader) slot-retry-count:b:5

(bootloader) slot-unbootable:b:no

(bootloader) slot-successful:b:yes

(bootloader) slot-retry-count:a:6

(bootloader) slot-unbootable:a:yes

(bootloader) slot-successful:a:yes

(bootloader) slot-count:2

(bootloader) cid:00000000

(bootloader) secure:yes

(bootloader) serialno:MB8021A0####

(bootloader) hw-revision:MP1

(bootloader) product:walleye

(bootloader) max-download-size:0x20000000

(bootloader) kernel:uefi

all:

Finished. Total time: 0.183s

C:\Users\simplepinoi177\Desktop\platform-tools\platform-tools>fastboot flashing get_unlock_ability

(bootloader) get_unlock_ability: 1

OKAY [ 0.003s]

Finished. Total time: 0.004s

#*note: 1="allowed" 0=not ; can see the description from "fastboot -h" or "fastboot –help"

C:\Users\simplepinoi177\Desktop\platform-tools\platform-tools>fastboot flashing lock

(bootloader) Erase all configs

FAILED (remote: 'Device already : locked!')

Finished. Total time: 0.087s

C:\Users\simplepinoi177\Desktop\platform-tools\platform-tools>fastboot flashing unlock

FAILED (remote: 'Flashing Unlock is not allowed')

Finished. Total time: 0.006s

C:\Users\simplepinoi177\Desktop\platform-tools\platform-tools>fastboot flashing unlock_critical

FAILED (remote: 'unknown command')

Finished. Total time: 0.004s

So…pretty much…by all accounts, I really should be able to get this thing unlocked! I even got confirmation with the never-used-before get_unlock_ability and seeing it available in getvar all… I honestly don't have any other ideas; which is why I'm imploring for your guys's help! And then I have my mind going around in circles thinking of "outside" ideas (outside of fixing via my own computer or fastboot commands) trying to "weigh" between going back to Ubreakifix (I'm not even sure they'd help unlock the bootloader; but they may be responsible to have inadvertently disabled an important feature) or attempt to have Google RMA the device and hope they don’t send me a device that isn't unlockable (Verizon variant)… And I'm just going 'round and 'round in circles in my head and am desperate for any/all advice, ideas, and thoughts…

And…to come clean…this is actually my girlfriend's Pixel 2 non-XL/walleye/non-taimen; if you haven't noticed in the log. But, I am pleading, I am most familiar with the thread here for the 2 XL taimen and believe that most experts either may not go to the walleye thread and/or I'm also most familiar and confident with the one's here…so I hope this can be forgiven, excused this one time and overlooked…

Again, I'm desperate for any/all advice, ideas, and thoughts so please…

Thank you in advanced…