yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] JoshuaDoes:
I've ran into a `ErrorCode::kError` issue trying to install the latest official LineageOS 18.1 ZIP, but everything else appears to be working!
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] :
fastboot boot twrp-3.6.0_11-0-bramble.img

It sees partitions and super.

I hit compresson option and confirm/change name and it's backing up. adb appears to work (didnt check too into it). Just booted it and see if I can make a backup--AND I CAN. Good work @JoshuaDoes ! Good good job!
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] JoshuaDoes:
I did a successful data restore earlier today, just remember to disable your PIN first and then reboot immediately after the first boot following the restore
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] :
what if I just have no pin/password. just swipe to unlock? i did see a message in backup log 'sucessfully decrypt with default password'.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] JoshuaDoes:
You're in the best case scenario then, just make sure you always disable PIN before restoring a backup so long as it gives you the warning to do so (I get the warning because I have a PIN, but you should just be free to restore as you please)
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] :
awesome. Only things I notice not there (and in no way complaining as its a WIP) is encryption option, and date seems to be stuck on 1970 and time way off despite changing time zone. But that's minor right now. The fact you got this going is no small feat. I am so glad I got a 4a5g (5/5a would have been fine too) and not a 6. You should put a donate link so we can buy you some coffee or weed or something, lol. Again great job. Feel free to hit me up if you need me to destroy my phone for you (testng). I got a dd backup, and now twrp backup so between all of that and the alfabet of partitions I should be able to restore from just about anything short of EDL crap out and I'm sure if that's not resolvable by now, it will only be a matter of time.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] JoshuaDoes:
Encrypting backups? I didn't realize that was missing so I'll look into it too, but yeah the date is stuck which screws with file and backup times and I def need to fix that. XDA forbids me from putting a donation link in a post, however if you go to my profile and expand the info details about me it lists my PayPal email there and I'd super appreciate it! Because lemme tell ya, it took energy drinks and some good highs to do most of my Android work and thankfully this TWRP build only took me a few hours to tear into lmao. If you got a Discord I'm most active there as well as the Pixel 4a5G/5 Telegram (I can get a link to all if you've got them), and having extra testers for some of what I wanna do would be phenomenal as well! And we're Qualcomm, there's a flash tool out there somewhere for the worst of board states ;)

Sorry for the wall of text lmao, I appreciate the kind words for sure and I'm likely gonna try maintaining this device officially for TWRP too
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] ggkameleon:
Hi ! Thank you for all your work. I was surprised when buying my Pixel 4a 5g when it came out that there was no Twrp because of Android 11. But coming from Xiaomi and Oneplus there were unofficial ones for Android 11 and 12.

When you can update it for A12 I have noob question. After flash the Twrp and boot it (with no pin) I can make a backup of all my Pixel. Copy it on my Pc and them do format data ? Or not necessary ? If I do format it them boot the Pixel and when it start check dev options, adb and reboot to Twrp Root (Magisk) and restore my data ? If not how to make a backup of my data.

Thanks
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] N34S:
Hello. Link is for ver. 0. Ver 0.1 returns 403 Forbidden. Can you please fix it?
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] J0kker:
Been waiting so long for this, thanks a bunch, i'm running lineageos 18.1 so i hope it will work (probably disable automatic updates flashing ?).
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] JoshuaDoes:
I fixed the link for v0.1!
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] JoshuaDoes:
Automatic OTAs will replace TWRP, so disable automatic OTAs and download them with the Updater app whenever you get a notification, then install using TWRP (/data/lineageos_updates) and check "Install TWRP after flashing" before swiping to install (or go to Advanced -> Install Current TWRP before rebooting). Easy as that!

But I may make a Magisk module to handle all this since Magisk has a survival script that works. It'd be a oneshot service that caches the latest copy of TWRP and installs it each boot, so you'd only have to deal with one update cycle that has Lineage Recovery installed.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] J0kker:
Just wondering, i have a game that won't run when rooted (even with magisk hide), i somewhat managed to have lineageos rooted with magisk in slot b, and in slot a magisk installed but no root, so when i want to run the game i switch to slot A from twrp, now i have an update notification, i downloaded it, if i boot to twrp, select slot a, so that it will install update to slot b (rooted), that way it should keep my slot a unrooted, able to play my game right ?

New to this slot a/b i read a lot but still not sure about everything.

Anyway, thanks again for your work, and your answers, i missed twrp so much coming from oneplus 5 =)
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] davythom:
Hi just installed the boot twrp img, worked great! Thank you for your great work. If you were to develop a module through Magisk would that enable the twrp to stick as a recovery and not lose root?
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] lmt1979:
I wanted to say thank you again for building this.

Also, does anyone know if there is a way to exclude a folder (or folders) from TWRP backups? I had this great idea to go from mp3 to flac music when I got 128gb storage on my first pixel and...well...it's too big. Thanks again!
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Angelcho:
Hello,

I am trying to recover some data off of my 4a 5g with a broken display. It seems like my partitions are not mounting correctly.

This is what etc/fstab looks like:

/dev/block/dm-0 /system_root ext4 ro 0 0
/dev/block/dm-3 /system_ext ext4 ro 0 0
/dev/block/dm-4 /vendor ext4 ro 0 0
/dev/block/dm-2 /product ext4 ro 0 0
/dev/block/sda15 /metadata ext4 rw 0 0
/dev/block/sda19 /data f2fs rw 0 0
/auto0 vfat rw 0 0
/dev/block/sda2 /persist ext4 rw 0 0

This is what I get when trying to mount partitions:

bramble:/ # mount -a -v -t f2fs
try '/dev/block/sda19' type 'f2fs' on '/data'
mount: '/dev/block/sda19'->'/data': Invalid argument

My question is, am I doing something wrong here? I suspect data is not decrypted but I have no working display to verify whether I am actually entering the password when booting recovery. Also can anyone please walk me through how to properly enter the password using a USB keyboard
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] yattahey:
Sorry guys , got a new 4a5g and did a fresh Feb 2022 factory install both slots and this 11.0.1 will not boot. Fastboot tools are latest along with drivers and this recovery failed to flash or boot. Fastboot sent the file however in all cases failed to write into recovery partition. Tried all of the builds just in case. Never could get past writing to the recovery partition
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] davythom:
Hi if you can access fastboot try the the android flash tool, I had the same issue and that worked for me
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] javadahut:
Had latest CalyxOS factory image loaded (bramble-factory-22302000), and I was able to boot the twrp image. When I 'Flash Current TWRP', looks like everything goes smoothly, reboot to recovery and get stuck in bootloader. "failed to load/verify boot images".

Installed GrapheneOS, used the same process, and TWRP loaded with no issues.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] xxseva44:
Is anyone having issues with accessing internal storage from their pc? I am comming from the latesT a12 release so that could be causing issues

After flashing the latetes A11 firmware, same issue.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] tripLr:
links broken
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Genesius01:
Please fix the download link! Getting a message "

This site can’t be reached​

files.joshuadoes.com unexpectedly closed the connection."
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] halflifefreeman:
Hi, can please somebody re-up the twrp bramble image?! This qould be great! Thanx
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Slim2none4u:
delete
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] p0werpl:
Can someone upload the latest (twrp-3.6.0_11-0.1-bramble.img)? Thank you.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Slim2none4u:
Look one post back
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] p0werpl:
Thank you. Is that the first version or the second? The OP uploaded a second version (11-0.1) to fix A12 booting.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] halflifefreeman:
Very cool. Thankx. TWRP starts under Pixel 4a 5G (Andr. 12). So I can try to install LineageOS now! Great! Greetings!
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] tripLr:
Hi all

I have backed up @JoshuaDoes build to my Google drive.

triplr - Google Drive

tiny.cc

tiny.cc/triplr

direct drive link

triplr_developer_drive

triplr - Google Drive

drive.google.com
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Pumpino:
Is TWRP 3.6.2 available anywhere?

I noticed on the TWRP website that there haven't been official builds for Pixels since the 4XL. Given how popular Pixels are for custom ROMs, why is this?
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Thisisauser6443:
Brilliant to see that we have TWRP for a 4a 5G, that works on A11 and 12. I know that this thread is more than a year old, but is there a possibility that this could be adapted to 12.1 (12L/SDK 32), or will I need to temporarily downgrade to 12?
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] :
If twrp on 12.1 on the pixel 5 (redfin) works then it would work w/ the pixel 4a5g (bramble) because they share the same kernel (redbull). If im not mistaken a straight up pixel 5 boot of twrp on a 4a5g will boot up but may miss some funtunality (touch) as there may be some build/model/option specifics for the 4a5g vs the 5. I think that's how Joshua was able to modify it further and get all the kinks out to work properly on the 4a5g.

Like you said this is an old thread. Sadly the 4a5g doesn't get as much love as it's more popular brother the Pixel 5. But you can use that to your advantage since the 4a5g and Pixel 5 are very similar and share the same kernel and hardware.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Droid9684:
How would I get this to work for A13? I just bought Pixel 4a 5G recently. When I tried fastbooting twrp it wouldnt write to phone.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Kal-El7:
Has anyone confirmed this as of yet? Looking for a very stable TWRP for 4a5G. I'm sure I could just test it, but I'm trying to save me precious time if someone else can already testify about it. Thanks so much!
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Kal-El7:
Thank you for this.

Please permit me to say that the instructions are confusing at this juncture: "You can find the latest unofficial test build here: twrp-3.6.0_11-0.1-bramble.img. Boot it with `fastboot boot twrp-3.6.0_11-0.x-bramble.img`, decrypt your data if necessary, then install it permanently by navigating to `Advanced -> Flash Current TWRP`. Test by navigating to `Reboot -> Recovery` and you should reboot back into TWRP!"

May I kindly ask for explicit step-by-step? I downloaded your modified TWRP .img file onto my laptop and onto the internal storage of my Pixel 4a5G. I'm fully rooted and bootloader is unlocked and I'm on Android 11 (eleven, which I plan to stay on). No PIN is set, only swipe-to-unlock is set.

I don't know where to go from here.

Thanks so much.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Kal-El7:
Ok, so I figured it out seconds later. I had to drop the .img file into my Platform-Tools folder and launch CMD from within that folder, as it did not work from anywhere else.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] V0latyle:
When pushing files using command line, you can also drag and drop the file you're using into the command window. So, in this case, you'd just type fastboot boot then drag and drop the TWRP.img into the window. Windows then automatically populates the file path.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Kal-El7:
Thank you. That's exactly what I had done. I love that feature of the Command Line. I will be testing out the restore of the backup. 👍
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Kal-El7:
Hey team,

I have an update and follow-up inquiries. As per the OP's instructions, I followed everything to a T and it all worked out. I was able to create my first Nandroid just like I used to do in TWRP for years on other devices. This worked the same. The restoration of the Nandroid worked the same as well and, as OP instructed, you must reboot immediately upon TWRP's restoration and TWRP's rebooting you into your home environment. Meaning, within the TWRP wizard, once the Nandroid is restored, TWRP asks if I want for it to reboot into my phone to which I say yes. Upon doing so, things look different. So you manually reboot again immediate and then things look like how they were. And that's where I get confused.

Although things look like how they were when I initially created the Nandroid, my DCIM camera folder retained data that I created just yesterday - new photos and videos. I was hoping that the Nandroid would restore my backup image that essentially erases current data and replaces my phone's environment with what's archived within the Nandroid, ideally freeing up space again. Furthermore, I see within my restored environment a folder titled "TWRP" and it's occupying 15GB within a subfolder titled "BACKUPS". I did not have that before nor did I create a Nandroid of that, as far as I can recall.

Please allow me to kindly inquire what this all means. The DCIM folder retained data I created yesterday. There's a TWRP folder taking up newly occupied 15 gigabytes worth of space. If I look harder, I may identify other inquiries. Root access was preserved and other apps retained their data, oddly.

I will do a factory reset on my Google Pixel 4a5G (again), start from scratch and try this all over again this morning and report back. Meanwhile, if you guys have seen the above behavior, any feedback you may provide is greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Fam.

p.s. I used Swift Backup to back up and restore my prior apps with data, like Google Duo's long chat history with my family which does not typically provide chat backups akin to WhatsApp, etc. The restoration of these apps with their preserved data worked well.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] DvineLord:
@Kal-El7

The nandroid backup has to be stored somewhere that's why you have the 15 GB folder in /TWRP/BACKUPS. Nandroids backup the partitions you select. so if you backed up /boot /data /system etc and restore those the phone will be exactly the same as before at the time of creation. Also Nandroid restores don't delete /data/media therefore you would still have your internal storage files like DCIM.

You could manually wipe /data/media and /data and just restore /boot /system and whatever else needs to be backed up and restored for this device. My bramble is still stock until it's paid off.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Kal-El7:
Thank you for chiming in. I apologize for not providing better details. I created the Nandroid onto my external microSDXC card initially. This is how I've done Nandroids for years - onto an external microSDXC - and that's what I did this time around for my first Nandroid of my Bramble phone. The attached photo you see here are the only two things I elected to back up.

I elected to test the restoration of the Nandroid. upon doing so, I was able to boot back into my home environment. I noticed that after I had created the Nandroid, somehow a TWRP folder was created in my internal storage and had around 15GB's worth of stuff.

I took the Google Factory Image for my phone and I flashed it onto my phone, making it new out-of-the-retail-box. I retraced all my steps. Oddly enough, I created another Nandroid again, this time of my phone having been reverted back to factory, and this time around there is no TWRP folder with data in it. I do see the TWRP folder in the internal storage, but it's empty. Meanwhile, my TWRP folder on my external microSDXC card does, in fact, have data in it (the nandroid).

Odd.

So restoring a nandroid from an external SD card does not wipe out the onboard data with that of the Nandroid's data that was backed up?

Thanks again!
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] mn1968:
The 4a 5g (bramble) does not have a SD slot so how did you back it up to an external micro SD card?
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Kal-El7:
My friend, this here is magic. I love this thing. That's how I did it. It works flawless and the Nandroid restore worked the first time around. You can connect your Bramble to any external storage. I can connect to almost anything and it works right out of the gate.

I kept my SD card as NTFS, though. No Pixel device recognizes NTSF partitions. I use another app for that from the Google Play Store that works wonders for me called "exFAT/NTFS for USB by Paragon". I paid for it to get the NTFS access, but it also does exFAT and a bunch of stuff. All-in-all, I use microSDXC on my Pixel all the time.

In order to make a full Nandroid with this combo, the microSDXC must not be formatted to FAT32 or else it won't work. File size write limitations won't allow it. Use exFAT. This can be achieved via sticking the microSDXC into a computer and formatting it there or into a Samsung phone and let Samsung format it, which usually is exFAT.

Hope this helps.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] itsnotshaden:
I'm currently running lineage os 19 with lineage recovery but this TWRP img gets stuck on the twrp loading screen and doesn't boot, it also prevents me from rebooting into my currently installed os unless I reflash the os img. Any idea what I can do to make it boot?
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] itsnotshaden:
I did correct my mistake and instead of flashing it I just used "fastboot boot name.img" but its still just stuck on the twrp loading screen. Help would be very appreciated ...
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] :
Brilliant.I'm gonna do this myself too. Not only for TWRP but also to do full partition backups instead of having to use net cat and busybox/toybox over the usb between 2 windows. Thank you!
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] JoshuaDoes:
I apologize for having not maintained this thread, I've had much in life to deal with and other projects I had to tend to.

Back in September, someone made a donation to see about getting a new build working but they were never able to confirm if it worked as they had things in life come up as well, and I promptly forgot about it. Below is that build, and I'd like to know if it works for any of you, or if I need to try to produce an updated build since it's been almost 3 months. My Pixel 4a5G is currently out of commission, and although I can't promise getting it fixed unless enough people donated, any donations at all would surely help so that I can try to, and at least maintain some of my focus here.

Try the twrp-12.1 build from September 28th, 2022 here: [REMOVED by me, fails to boot]

Boot it with `fastboot boot boot.img` and then follow the usual instructions to actually install TWRP onto your device. If all goes well, rebooting to recovery should bring you back to TWRP! If any of this fails, tell me your exact steps you took to reach the point you're at and tell me exactly what you see, or I won't be able to help figure out what went wrong.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] lovebats:
Sadly it would seem this build does not boot on my device. Doesn't even get to the TWRP loading screen like the old build froze on.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] theg00dguy:
Hi,

I have recently got myself a Pixel 4a 5G. I used to have a Pixel 2, but wanted 5G capability.

I had Android 8 on the Pixel 2 and could temporarily boot TWRP using "fastboot boot twrp-3.3.0-0-walleye.img". It was great. I could easily backup my phone when ever I wanted to.

I just tried this on my 4a 5G after unlocking the bootloader, but the temporary boot using "fastboot boot boot.img" and TWRP that JoshuaDoes has kindly built, doesn't boot. Am I doing something wrong, or is it simply not possible to temporarily boot TWRP this way on the 4a 5G?

Many thanks.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] J0kker:
May I ask if you're running Android 13 ?

It seems to me the twrp is built for A12.1 so that could be a point.

I'll try to boot it in the next hours, as I'm still on A12.1, we'll see how it goes 👍
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] J0kker:
So, first of all thanks for this update (y)

But i must confirm what previous posts told, seems like this latest build doesn't boot, even on Android 12.1.

Twrp-3.6.0_11-0.1-bramble boots fine, but latest automatically reboots to android :cry:
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] theg00dguy:
Sorry. I should have said. I am on Android 12, Build SQ3A.220705.003.A1

Thanks
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] Voodoojonny:
This boots only under Android 11...
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] theg00dguy:
Many thanks.

I'll keep taking the pills as as, when and if updates become available.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] theg00dguy:
Hi,

I need to add a little more information, and correct some factual errors. I want to be sure that I haven't led anyone astray with inaccurate info.

* I said earlier that I tried booting my Android 12, Build SQ3A.220705.003.A1 using the twrp-12.1 build from JoshuaDoes. This was wrong. The phone I tried it on was Android 12 Build SQ1A.220105.002. Apologies.

This phone is COMPLETELY fresh with minimum configuration, no network connectivity and no security passcode/pattern.

* I subsequently tried booting the above phone with "Twrp-3.6.0_11-0.1-bramble". It boots into recovery happily :). I was able to create and restore a backup.

If there's anything that anyone would like me to try that might help further development, I'm happy to try. Please bear in mind I'm no expert. I have this "clean" phone for about another week or two before it goes back to it's owner.
[Google Pixel 4a 5G ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Ot] JoshuaDoes:
Thank y'all for testing! I can't test myself unfortunately given the situation, but if the original build listed in the main XDA thread is working, please continue using it for now until I can find the free time to get a tester to help me - I already got a few who can help in real time, I'm just caught up with work and life right now and some other Android projects :P