yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] MichRT:
Google Store Pixel 4a here. Magisk Canary as of today from topjohnwu's GitHub. I have tried to:

2. Uninstall Magisk -> Install OTA -> Install Inactive Slot -> bootloops 3 times and settles on previous boot slot, Android 10, no Magisk

3. Patch Boot.img -> flash-all.bat -> fastboot flash boot magisk_patched.img -> fastboot bootloop with the message "no valid slot to boot"

Can confirm re-flashing stock boot.img or running the full update script successfully boots Android 11, no root of course
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] CSX321:
I would try:

fastboot flash boot_a magisk_patched.img

fastboot flash boot_b magisk_patched.img

fastboot reboot
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] LGHT:
Ok that's what I was thinking after I posted thanks for confirming.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] shrapner:
I wanted to just unroot then take the OTA and not have root. install magisk manager and then flash rooted boot image. But when I start my phone, my screen flickers over and over. when flashing the rooted boot.img, this time it was to slot b but when I flashed it on 10, it was to boot a. I didn't install magisk to the inactive slot.

What do i need to do to get this working properly?
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] MichRT:
I tried this, no dice. I assume at this point that the build of Magisk I'm using is simply not stable/compatible with 11 on the 4a.

Sounds similar to my issue. You can do what I mentioned above, which is either rerun the flash-all script (be careful to modify it if you don't want your data wiped) or simply flash the stock boot.img
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] Zackptg5:
Added OTA instructions to the OP
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] Zackptg5:
If you need to return to stock, the flash-all script is the easiest way to do it. If that's not working for you, unzip everything to one folder, open cmd prompt/terminal from there, and run these commands:

fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-sunfish-whatever.img
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot flash radio radio-sunfish-whatever.img
fastboot reboot-bootloader
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash vendor vendor.img
fastboot flash product product.img

There's usually no need to specify slot, they should automatically flash to the active slot when doing it via fastboot

But the flash-all script is definitely the better way to go.

Which canary are you using? 20420 and 20424 (latest one) are both fine. The builds in between them where bugged. Easiest way to do it is grab the canary apk from the canary page (in the OP) and follow the rooting instructions in the OP

No need to unroot when flashing OTAs either (just added that to OP too) :D
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] cmstlist:
My 4a arrived today. Was able to root and get SafetyNet, thanks.

It is indeed true that you can accept the default Pixel 4a fingerprint in MagiskHide Props Config. This let me pass SafetyNet without giving it an identity crisis :)

Wait: Spoke too soon. It's passing SafetyNet yes, but "Model and hardware" is showing "Nexus 5". Even though I definitely told it to default to Pixel 4a fingerprint. Tried again explicitly selecting Pixel 4a. Now it is back to showing model Pixel 4a.

Interestingly/strangely, my SafetyNet success is now reading as HARDWARE (???). That's odd.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] Tedium88:
Check canary version number

This proved to be the important part for me. I had to download and install the canary "app-debug.apk" and then go into the magisk settings and select the "canary" update channel and check for updates. After that I was able to patch the boot.img, copy to PC, flash, and successfully boot into rooted android 11! Make sure your Magisk says "Latest: 20.4 (20424)" and it should work.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] metalman229:
Thank you! I was finally able to update to 11 after a few hours of messing with it. Any luck getting it to pass SafetyNet on 11?
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] 12paq:
One thing that is worth mentioning, currently when coming from regular Magisk Manager and switching to Canary, once you have the canary Magisk Manager app up and running, you need to go to settings in the app and change the update channel to Canary and then update Magisk and reboot. You need to do these steps to be completely to be updated to Magisk Canary before you patch the boot image for Android 11. If you do not the phone will not boot.

In the future these steps won't be necessary as regular Magisk will be officially updated for Android 11 sometime soon.

Hope this helps.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] tcat007:
I was all up and running, rooted with canary. Decided to switch to 20.4 stable, big mistake! How to get out of bootloop/Android red triangle? I am able to get to bootloader. Can't turn it off, just keeps bootlooping.

Should I reflash the rooted boot img from pc?
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] 12paq:
Hmm.. I'm surprised switching from Canary to stable caused a boot loop. Not sure really what you did there.

First just hold the power button down and see if it'll reboot. If it goes back in to bootloader or fastboot use the volume keys to see if the phone will restart.

If that doesn't work, as long as you can get back into fastboot you can recover. Use the power volume button combinations to get into fastboot. And then fastboot flash the most recent boot image that you flashed.

If that doesn't work, you can recover by flashing the factory image from Google. If you edit the flash_all.bat file in a text editor like Notepad ++ and remove the -w from the script, you can return to stock without wiping your phone.

I'm a little tied up tonight with family stuff. But I hope the above helps. Good luck! And remember, as you probably know, recovering from this stuff is really dangerous and fun at the same time! Hahaha
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] tcat007:
Thanks, will probably mess with it tomorrow. Power button just bootloops. I installed magisk 20.4 within the Canary Manager. The reboot from Canary is what caused the bootloop. Will flashing the root.boot.img overwrite the correct magisk? Do I need to somehow unroot first?
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] 12paq:
You need to get back into fastboot. Use the power volume combinations to get there. Then there are several ways to recover as I listed before.

Good luck, I got to run
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] tcat007:
Like I said, will deal with it tomorrow. I am in fastboot mode (red triangle), but my PC doesn't see it. Had no problem yesterday. Shows up on device list per attached.

Ignore all that, I'm back in business! I just don't know how to use adb ****. Thought it was adb devices, but it's fastboot devices, then it shows up. I reflashed the root.boot img and all is good. Lost nothing. Not going to mess with it until new magisk for a11 comes out! Thanks!
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] DB126:
FWIW - adb and fastboot are completely separate; the latter is not a subset of the former. It's easy to get the two confused when toggling back a forth. Can't count the times I have tried to issue an adb command at the fastboot prompt and vice versa. That's usually a clue (for me) to walk away for a bit before doing something even more stupid.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] shrapner:
same thing happend to me too. tried to switch from canary to stable and got bootlooped. had to reflash the root boot.img.

When doing the root process I didn't flash the root image to both slot a and b, only to the active slot. so i wonder if that might be why it bootlooped when trying to switch to stable channel in MM

---------- Post added at 09:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:19 PM ----------

same thing happend to me too. tried to switch from canary to stable and got bootlooped. had to reflash the root boot.img.

When doing the root process I didn't flash the root image to both slot a and b, only to the active slot. so i wonder if that might be why it bootlooped when trying to switch to stable channel in MM
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] bobbarker2:
There is a magisk-uninstaller.zip for Canary, you can find it on GitHub. Historically, you have to flash that, boot into OS once then flash stable if you want to switch from Canary to Stable. Can't recall if I've uninstalled Magisk from flashing the zip using EX Kernel Manager or similar but I believe it works.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] god_of_wisdom:
Does this work for Verizon also I'm thinking of buying it and some ways the oem be grey out.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] DB126:
Virtually all Verizon branded handsets feature a locked bootloader with no workarounds. Grab direct from Google for the best unlocked experience.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] god_of_wisdom:
Someone said it works
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] DB126:
Well, somehow "someone" hiding somewhere for sometime must know something. Sounds solid.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] god_of_wisdom:
I'm going to buy it bc I have google stadia
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] quangtran1:
Yes!!! "Someone" is bluffing. I've been paying cell phone bills to Verizon for 29 years. I've been such a faithful loyal customer that they called to congratulate me on the anniversary. That's 5 minutes of my life I could never get back, LOL. I also manage 300+ lines on VZW over the years for the enterprise. I really like the service, the reliability, but I haven't bought an Android phone from Big Red since it started locking bootloaders in 2011. Verizon, like other carriers, hold Block C license as 4G service providers. VZW, despite past complaints from consumers and even the FCC, refuses to unlock BL. In reality, most phone manufacturers lock BLs when phones are shipped. However, VZW encrypts them. VZW reasons that this way allows it to provide the best technical support to customers. It cannot support an OS or GUI that it did not verify. I just stopped buying its phones. I still purchase iPhones, just not Android. I've done a lot of strange things to phones since I develop apps for mobile devices. I break them, crash them, brick them, then bring them back to test different scenarios. I haven't cracked bootloaders yet because they're low-level, first occurrence that execute as soon as you push the power button.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] gtown:
Does anyone have any experience with any Canadian carrier versions of the Pixel 4a? Koodo Mobile? Would this work with theirs??

Thank you.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] history:
I can't speak directly to Koodo. The 4a does work with PC Mobility prepaid. Their postpaid plans were moved to Koodo a couple of years ago.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] gtown:
Sorry I should have been more specific.

What I meant was will this unlock of bootloader/root method work with Koodo's version of the Pixel 4a.

Or are will we run into issues like the Verizon version?

Thank you

Gtowb
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] history:
Sorry for the misunderstanding, I have yet to unlock/root the phone.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] thoughtless22:
I have the same question, I'm seriously debating getting this phone with Telus, but I'm worried about being able to unlock bootloader.

Some reading I've done suggests that it's not something Telus (and likely Koodo as well) has ever done, so that has me hopeful, but I'd still like a solid answer before I get this on contract
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] gtown:
Agreed a solid answer on this would be great. Also it might be worth waiting until black Friday or boxing day to buyvdirectly from Google.

Hopefully we can get some firm good news on this soon.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] cmstlist:
Lost SafetyNet this morning. Google must have changed something again.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] bobbarker2:
If you set the device fingerprint to Pixel 4a, it fails attestation even with Force basic attestation enabled because it uses hardware attestation. Setting fingerprint as 3a allows you to pass safetynet.

The 4a has the titan chip.. thus hardware attestation.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] cmstlist:
For the past two weeks, the Magisk plugin in question was able to force BASIC attestation while continuing to identify as a 4a. During this time I was able to pass SafetyNet, use Pay etc. Something changed this morning.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] Zackptg5:
The magisk module did not for basic attestation if you had it set to p4a. Whether or not it's basic or hardware is dependent on the device fingerprint with p4a being hardware. Hardware attestation was passing the last couple weeks but Google flipped a switch on their end
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] cmstlist:
There are multiple reports on this subforum that forcing basic attestation as 4a DID do something and it worked. It changed the behaviour from failing as HARDWARE to passing as BASIC. Now this isn't the case anymore. I do agree that it must be something on the Google side that flipped.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] tcat007:
New magisk canary. Update?
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] Zackptg5:
Working fine here
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] Pro4TLZZ:
Woah Safetynet support that is nice, I will try this out when mine arrives and let you. Been long time since I got a new phone and rooted it
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] LuthDev:
Got my 4a the other day and OTA updated it to Android 11. So far, I haven't been able to successfully root. It's direct from Google. It's not Verizon or locked by any Here's what I've done:

Got the latest platform-tools

Downloaded the sunfish-rp1a.200720.011 firmware from google

Unlocked bootloader successfully

Installed Magisk Stable (20400) and produced a magisk_patched.img

- fastboot flash boot magisk_patched.img

- This resulted in a boot loop, so that's no good. Back to the forums...

Found a user who downloaded Magisk Canary and created a patched boot file and trusted him without cause

- fastboot flash boot magisk_patched_sunfish-rp1a.200720.011.img

- It boots! Magisk says it's installed

- Load up Greenify, tell it to ask for SuperUser access.... and nothing. No prompt, and a minute later it says SU was denied.

- I set up Magisk Superuser to default to Grant and try again

- Still denied super user access. Okay, let's try something else...

Downloaded Magisk Canary app-debug.apk and installed it. Installed: 20424 Latest: 20426

- Used "Update" in Magisk to patch the boot.img file from the firmware and it succeeds, but the output is a magisk_patched.img file of 0 bytes. Completely empty.

So that's it, I don't know what else to try. Any ideas? Any more info I can provide you that could help? :confused:

UPDATE: Figured it out. Trying to create a patched boot.img file while using the already-patched boot.img was causing it to output a zero-byte file. I flashed the original boot.img, went back into Magisk Canary, and patched the boot.img again. The resulting magisk_patched.img file was the correct size and, when flashed, caused the phone to be properly rooted. :) Live and learn.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] LuthDev:
I set mine to emulated a Pixel 3a and it still doesn't pass SafetyNet. :-/
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] Pro4TLZZ:
One thing I would like to ask is does unlocking the bootloader change the Widevine DRM Level?
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] pike-:
My 4a fingerprinted as a 3a passes BASIC safetynet in Magisk but GPay setup still fails. I'm pretty sure google screwed us. I forceflashed back to factory and GPay still isn't happy.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] Pro4TLZZ:
Did you lock the bootloader?
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] pike-:
I didn't bother. Root was more important to me than safetynet so I ran out of curiosity about it.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] Pixel_Newbie:
I have been unable to get this to work on my Pixel 4a (Google store version) as with every attempt I end up in a boot loop that I can only fix by erasing both boot slots and then flashing back to stock Android 10. I would do that with the flash-all batch file that came with that image, but it would fail partway through with an error indicating I should have used fastbootd, but it would still finally boot up at that point.

I updated to Android 11 before attempting this and grabbed the latest sunfish version from Google to get the boot.img file. Unlocking the bootloader went fine, but I hit something unusual during the rooting process where once I selected the "Select and Patch File", it would show me the patching steps, say it was done, but the file would not appear in the downloads folder for a minute or more after that. Also, the magisk_patched.img was only 31.5 MB in size while the boot.img was 64 MB in size. I don't know if that is normal or if that indicates some error. Any assistance anyone can offer would be appreciated. I am uncertain where to locate any logs for Magisk Manager I haven't rooted or flashed custom ROMs since my Motorola Bionic about 8 years ago or more, so I am fairly inexperienced. I am seeking root to install a battery charge limit program.

Thanks.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] gtown:
Does anyone have any info regarding the Koodo Mobile (Telus cheap brand Canadian carrier) of Pixel 4a?

If the bootloader can be unlocked?

I'm contemplating purchasing it (30 day return policy)

Promotion for $120 bill credit ends September 30.

But I don't really want to waste my time and hassle if the bootloader is locked up like Verizon's

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Gtown
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] DB126:
Really not needed with improved charge algorithms and battery packs. Aside from incremental technical improvements mobile devices rarely remain at a high charge level for extended periods unlike laptops that remain plugged in for days or weeks at a time. You're not going to gain much capping charge levels over the lifespan of this device. But hey, if the battery does go belly up after a few years it's a easy replacement given the 4a's modular design.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] cmstlist:
To my knowledge, Canadian carriers have never nerfed Pixel bootloaders. They're just not that involved.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] bobbarker2:
Image is using different compression so it's smaller. That is normal.

You don't need battery charge limiting programs anymore.. you haven't for a while, unless it was a defective engineering problem. 99% of devices have the tech to preserve battery lifespan and also advanced in chemistry of batteries themselves make the "take it off the charger when at 98%" stuff pointless.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] pike-:
you need to use the Canary branch of magisk if you are on Android 11. I'd post a direct link but I've got too few posts. go look at github.com/topjohnwu/magisk_files/tree/canary
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] imna357:
Mine does not pass safety net, installed the gpsqlite 2.2, and GPAy still works, don't know if it will last though, used it today twice and works... Note safety net still fails but GPAy works on tapping to outlet.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] gtown:
Thanks for the info. I have two of them now ordered. I will report back when I get them and make an attempt. :)
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] krotin:
Same situation here
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] Pixel_Newbie:
Thanks. I would suggest updating the directions to include that statement. Switched to the Canary build and it worked fine.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] tcat007:
How to get Playstore certified after rooting?
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] cmstlist:
Hey folks, just wanted to give you a heads up on clearing Google Play Services storage.

If you live in a jurisdiction that uses a COVID-19 contact tracing app (I do, in Canada), and you downloaded it, it's Google Play Services that handles the collection of this data. If you clear Google Play Services storage, you lose a chunk of tracing data. If anyone you were near for long enough in the last two weeks gets later tested positive, you won't be notified if your tracing data from the day you were nearby has already been wiped. Also you'll need to reinitialize the tracing app.

I made this mistake unwittingly and then didn't notice until a few days ago. In a city that's starting to spike way up in daily cases. If this is relevant to you, consider clearing more targeted subfolders of the Google Play Services data rather than all of it.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] jakelewis:
OTA - Install to Active Slot option not shown in Magisk/Install

I've been having issues with the OTA as outlined in this thread.

Please see issue on the Magisk XDA forum https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=83633233&postcount=41775

Jake
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] XDAUser1234:
Picked up the unlocked Best Buy version of the 4a today, haven't connected it online ..... OEM Unlocking is greyed out ... Am I out of luck here? ?
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] damionhh:
i bought directly from google. option was greyed out until i connected to wifi and then it allowed me to throw the switch. i was worried also.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] jakelewis:
Fear not, I bought mine from Best Buy too and I managed to get it rooted and working as described in this very thread.

(upgrading to Android 11 hasn't been as straightforward though......)

Jake
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] timjon:
Rooted fine, but OTA update isn't letting me "install to inactive slot"

I rooted my new european Pixel 4a without problems. System update was telling me I needed to update to Android 11 (which I was already running, but I assumed it was just an update). So I followed the recommended steps:

Use Magisk Manager to uninstall Magisk, but don't reboot.

Use Prefs / System / System Update to install OTA. This went fine, and finally offered me the option to "reboot in 2:00" or "reboot now". I didn't reboot at this point.

Went back to Magisk Manager, Install Magisk - but there was no option for "Install to inactive slot" available, only "Direct Install". So I did "Direct install", then rebooted, and came back up still rooted.

At this point, though, System Update was still saying that it needed to reboot. Magisk Manager still wasn't offering to let me install to inactive slot. So I (stupidly) went ahead and rebooted using System Update, and now I've lost root.

I can reroot again easily enough using fastboot, but what did I do wrong for the OTA update process? Any ideas why I couldn't see the "install to inactive slot" option?

Edit: rerooted using "fastboot flash boot magisk_patched.img", which I was expected to also rollback the OTA, but System Update now says everything up to date, although Magisk itself had reverted to an older version. Still, it would be nice to not have to reflash the boot partition on every OTA (and I'm assuming that might actually cause issues if anything in the OTA updated anything in the boot volume?).
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] XDAUser1234:
Bingo - yup worked for me too. Will work on the root process the next couple days.
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] tcat007:
Anyone know if Magisk 21 works on a11?
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] Zackptg5:
since the latest canary is fine, 21 beta should be fine as well
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] HeadOfMax:
Anyone have any idea what the command would be to re lock the bootloader?
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] SirFronts:
So if I can't get the ctsProfile to pass

What does that mean

Like what will I not be able to do or how will this effect my phone sorry for the noob question
[Google Pixel 4a Guides, News, & Discussion] SirFronts:
This is from https://developers.google.com/android/images