yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] simplepinoi177:
In your sequence of things, you "need root access because...[you] need restore some data" because you "accidentally did a factory reset (please do not ask, stupid like ...)", but if you accidentally factory reset, most of that data is gone/wiped/formatted. Then, you want to unlock the bootloader to achieve root access, but I think what @T.A.R.D.I.S. meant that in order to unlock the bootloader, you're going to have to format/wipe the phone

AGAIN

. That's a twice wiped/formatted device you're going to attempt to data recover on. That, or I'm misunderstanding the way you are saying things ("Now I want to restore some data and therefore need root." has me a bit tripped up) and you may be under the wrong impression that you have to have root access to restore data on -- which wouldn't make sense because you would have to initially have root to have restored it in the first place... I believe that's also why T.A.R.D.I.S. asked what was your backup method; if it is through Google One or cloud backup, you wouldn't require root access.

I'm unfamiliar with tools like DroidKit or Dr. Fone, but I doubt they'd be able to do much with this phone and/or this type of situation. Maybe if it was an external sd card.... I do data recovery often on computers so I am well aware that formatting doesn't necessarily mean data is lost unless you start writing new data on the disk, but I don't think either Android/Pixel devices has the proper software or data/file-system structure to be able to restore data in the same way...

In any case, to answer your initial question, yes you can unroot and relock your bootloader and the Pixel's aren't like Galaxy's where there is a physical mechanism that will "trip" in the system board when its bootloader is unlocked and/or device is rooted -- so it is doubtful (outside of Google breaking down and deeply diving into the device, I imagine) that anyone would be able to tell if it had ever been rooted/bootloader-unlocked before or not. Just be

very very VERY

careful locking your bootloader! Please, do as much research as you can before you attempt. More than enough people have permanently hard-bricked their Pixels dating all the way back to the very first OG Pixel attempting to relock their bootloader! Most experts even state/suggest that there's really no reason to relock it -- Google will take the device unlocked if a replacement/trade-in is processing and usually selling it or giving it away wouldn't mind or care; the only situation that come to mind is if one is ridiculously security paranoid about or other specific circumstance. The sole method I suggest (and have successfully relocked twice on 2 Pixel 5's) is using the Official Google Android Flash Tool. Again, please do as much research as you can if you go this route; I believe you have make sure to flash to both partitions or some such and to make sure to flash the right Android version...

Either way, I wish you success and hope everything works out!
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] Freddzen:
Wow, thank you very much for your long and detailed answer, really appreciated! I know the Samsung Galaxy Knox discussions, thats where I came from.

My assumption is/was that it could work like in the comnputer world - you only delete the "entry in the register" not the file itself. But yes, after doing some research my chances are not that well. Maybe I just take it as a lessons learned (memo: next time check which of your phones is in your hand..).

And thanks especially for your warning regarding the relock-process. I will take my time and read before doing this, if I am rooted.

Again, great forum member, double-like ;)
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] teknowiz23:
I understand it's rare, but if I can have Verizon carrier unlock the pixel 7 pro I just bought, does that mean the bootloader can be unlocked as well?
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] simplepinoi177:
Unfortunately, it's more than just rare; the answer is no. I don't think there's ever been a case where simply getting Verizon to carrier unlock a Pixel meant the ability to unlock the bootloader as well...

In cases like T-Mobile and AT&T, that can be the case (on top of also fully paying off the device sometimes), but for Verizon, no -- they want to be particularly intractable about it.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] teknowiz23:
I understand it's rare, but if I can have Verizon carrier unlock the pixel 7 pro I just bought, does that mean the bootloader can be unlocked as well

Awesome thanks that seals the deal! Paying off my other line and going with t mobile or att eventually. Irregardless, returning the Verizon pixel 7 pro and going to buy an unlocked version
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] simplepinoi177:
"This is the Way...."

*especially if you must be on Verizon
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] Josh:
Guys sorry for bother can someone help? Trying to unlock bootloader but when I reboot to bootloader only see Android phone and android bootloader interface without Android Composite ADB Interface so cannot list device,I already downloaded usb drivers. I have samsung usb c cable. Thanks
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] EtherealRemnant:
This is the same problem I had. Go into the control panel and find the device, right-click, and update the driver with what you downloaded. You have to do this while in the bootloader.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] bradhoschar:
Yes, I know. I mis-typed.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] bradhoschar:
Flashed January update normally, no issues, except some of my apps are crashing that were fine with Dec. Play store, some banking apps, and a couple others crash when opening. Play store for instance. I wiped cache, data, and as soon as I open it again, it crashes. Same with the other apps, but I uninstall, re-install and they still crash.

Anyone else getting this?
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] MarcoReckless:
I'm not getting any crashes but I also did a full wipe when installing the january factory image, so that maybe led to some issues?
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] efkosk:
what method did you use to update?
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] bradhoschar:
Online flash tool
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] Freddzen:
So maybe to help others:

I rooted my device because I accidentially did a factory reset (dont ask) and wanted to recover data. Unfortunately, this is impossible. I tried many different sofware (free and paid) and in the end contacted 3 firms which recover data from smartphones professionally - there is no way to get any data back, they said.

So I unrooted and relocked the bootloader using Official Google Android Flash Tool (OEM Unlocking needs to be toggled on - you do not have to manually unlock the bootloader - their site will do that on its own) and selected the options to:

- Wipe

- Force flash all partitions

- Re-lock bootloader

and used the same build which was already installed.

Thanks again everyone for your help!
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] simplepinoi177:
I found that apps that behave like this, even if I were to wipe cache, data, uninstall updates (restore back to stock) or even install a previous version (APK Mirror), a lot of times crash like this because, even without giving any kind of alert, crash due to root and/or detecting root. Some apps wouldn't occur to me to put in the DenyList, but once I do, they would launch all of a sudden. If they are in any kind of DenyList and you still think this might be the culprit, I suggest unrooting (removing Magisk and flashing stock init_boot) and seeing if these apps still give an issue. If they do, then it would prove my reasoning is wrong...
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] bradhoschar:
Yup. That's what I had to do. I had totally unroot, download magisk, patch init_boot, configure denylist etc.....

Now everything's working as intended. What a weird hiccup though
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] CZ Eddie:
Thank you to roirraW "edor" ehT for the guide. It saved me a lot of time!

FYI to anyone who comes across this issue below..

I did the flash-all and it went well until it crashed & burned at this point:

Sending 'vendor_kernel_boot_a' (65536 KB) OKAY [ 0.246s]
Writing 'vendor_kernel_boot_a' OKAY [ 0.080s]
extracting super_empty.img (0 MB) to disk... took 0.000s
Rebooting into fastboot OKAY [ 0.000s]
< waiting for any device >
Sending 'super' (5 KB) OKAY [ 0.000s]
Updating super partition FAILED (Status read failed (Unknown error))
fastboot: error: Command failed
Press any key to exit...

This part:

Updating super partition FAILED (Status read failed (Unknown error))

This happened because I was using a 10' long sync cable.

I switched back to a 6' sync cable and re-ran the flash-all and it went through just fine on the second try and my phone is working properly.

I know these longer cables aren't good for software updates or installs.

I just forgot I was using it.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] whitewallman:
Thank you so much for all your help! And thanks for the mod!
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] i5lee8bit:
USNF 2.4.0 so far working perfectly on P7 Pro, Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra, And Galaxy Tab S7+ for those hesitant on flashing. Like Displax mentioned before it would be, it was an easy update through Magisk Manager.

I didn't have any weird bugs on any of the devices (I did have the Huawei thing temporarily several factory resets ago in the early P7 days, but it never lasted or came back) so there's nothing to report that it "fixed", but everything does continue to work as before including banking, GPay, etc as far as I can tell so far.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] roirraW "edor" ehT:
As @i5lee8bit says, @kdrag0n's Universal SafetyNet Fix 2.4.,0 is official.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] i5lee8bit:
Lol thanks for linking. I was gonna do that but then instead mentioned the updating through Magisk Manager thing. I edited and bolded that part so ppl know they could do either =)
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] roirraW "edor" ehT:
The demise of HDMI over USB-C (Alt Mode) and more power in cables

True USB-C to HDMI adapters are no longer going to be a thing. The HDMI Alt Mode is more or less history, and DisplayPort has won. Notebookcheck spoke to HDMI LA and the USB-IF about it. Furthermore, there is hope that more devices can be powered directly over HDMI in future.

www.notebookcheck.net
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] Schroeder09:
I need to wipe a p7p and return it

Amazon replaced it. I don't want the phone inspected and my free phone revoked. I need to wipe and re-lock the bootloader. The only method outlined is the android flash tool. I've never used it. Will flashing the stock firmware for the latest security patch without removing the "-w" from the flash-all.bat do everything I need? I've never flashed anything to slot b. Everything has always been on slot a.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] Lughnasadh:
You should use Android Flash Tool, select force flash partitions, wipe and lock bootloader. It's probably the safest method to use to make sure you are completely stock before you lock the bootloader so you don't brick your device.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] Schroeder09:
And these instructions get me to completely stock?
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] simplepinoi177:
Yes.

Actually, there are steps for this -- albeit straightforward simple ones -- in the OP in Post #3 in the "How to unroot" section. You may have missed it because it refers to "unrooting" while it actually is to relock the bootloader and resetting phone to stock.

The only thing I might suggest is, when in the Android Flash Tool, you will have the option to select what Full Factory image version to use, and I suggest -- to minimize any kind of incompatibility or issue (because, when manually re-locking & flashing bootloader, if you apply the wrong one, it could hard-brick) -- to choose the Full Factory image version to the one on the the phone currently, if you can remember what version it would be.

I've done this when sending back my Pixel 5's for trade-in and it's a very simple and straightforward process; there are proper prompts and directions on the website/tool -- just follow them (i.e. don't touch anything unless told to, don't restart it manually or stop it, only touch and do when directed). It's very similar to badabing2003's PixelFlasher (if you've used it before); maybe he gained inspiration from it.

Good luck to you and hope this helps...!
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] Schroeder09:
This is from the OP

the android flash tool tries relocking the bootloader without booting the phone. There is no opportunity to flash the stock init_boot image. Are these instructions incorrect? After wipe and flashing everything do I need to stop the android flash tool before relocking the bootloader, boot into bootloader, flash the stock init_boot image, and

then

re-lock the bootloader by selecting

only

that option from the android flash tool?
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] Lughnasadh:
The portion of the post you quoted describes 2 different methods. Method 1, Android Flash Tool, will do everything for you. Just run it.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] simplepinoi177:
My apologies.... I maybe should've mentioned to only do method #1...it wasn't meant to be perceived as steps but different methods organized by numbers...I think @roirraW "edor" ehT put it in that section because while

both

does unroot the phone, one actually resets and locks bootloader as well...I only meant it as a reference...

It's just as Lughnasadh says, the Android Flash Tool should automatically do everything for you....nothing for you to manually flash or do...
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] badabing2003:
Technically speaking, no.

Practically, yes.

In this case it does not apply to you because you said you never touched the alternate slot.

Consider the scenario where both slots are currently patched, if you do just Android flash tool, it will not flash to both slots, it will turn the current slot into stock but the alternate slot will remain non-stock.

I doubt that anyone will bother inspecting your returned phone's inactive slot, but if you want to be 100% stock, factory flash to both slots first and lock after.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] State.of.mind:
Has anyone experienced an issue with answering calls on the January update? When I press accept, the call does not answer.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] dexlemaffo:
Try resetting your carrier settings and reboot your phone.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] State.of.mind:
Thanks. I can receive calls but when I press answer on my phone it doesn't answer the call. I have to swipe answer from my smartwatch.

Could it be because after I updated to January, I accidentally flashed the stock boot image instead of the patched boot image when I tried to re-root?
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] Schroeder09:
does flashing the factory image

without

removing the "-w" return the device to stock and do the same thing as android flash tool? in the root threads for various phones- not just the p7/p- this was always considered a "wipe" and reset to get back to stock. Is it not?
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] badabing2003:
Devices with dual slots, factory flashing with flash all or AFT is only performed on the current slot.

If you pass -w it will also wipe the data partition, which you definitely should

If you pass --force, it will recreate / resize the partitions to match the firmware being flashed (recommended)

If you pass --slot all, it is supposed to flash both partitions, however there is a bug with some devices which fails to flash both partitions, the solution is flash one, then change the slot and flash again.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] teddysx3:
Hello everyone, quite a huge thread, nice!

Have some questions, I'm back from a long pause with Android, so bare with me.

I'm going to root my Pixel 7 now, pretty straight forward.

1) Using Magisk, when taking init_boot and running it through magisk, does this create the image to root the phone only? When wanting to upgrade to newer builds, do I need to do the same, take init_boot from the new build, run it through magisk and then flash that image agian to the init_boot slot, or can I just flash the new original init_boot.img, just trying to get familiar with what magisks actually does, only for first time rooting, of for all images with a rooted phone.

2) Do I need to have Magisk installed and the modules on the phone when flashing the already magisk patched init_boot.img (initial root and future builds). I mean I will now flash my Pixel 7, I already have the magisk_init_boot.img but I have reset my phone because I unlocked the bootloader after I installed magisk.

Made sure all Magisk Modules have been updated.

Disable all Magisk Modules.

UNhide

Magisk!

How do you do these steps, and I'm sure they are needed after each updated, and not for initial rooting.

3) When updating to new builds - this:

* FAB VERY important - Edit the flash-all.bat (on Windows) or flash-all.sh (on Linux) and remove the -w from the fastboot update image-cheetah-etcetera.zip line. This will keep the script from wiping your phone when you run it.

Extract only the init_boot.img file from the image-cheetah-etcetera.zip to the same platform-tools folder.

Copy the init_boot.img from the PC to the phone's internal storage.

* FAB Run commands:

Code:

adb reboot bootloader

flash-all.bat (on Windows)

or

flash-all.sh (on Linux)

Running the command flash-all.bat, when the file is not in platform-tools, will it take the command? We put the init_boot.img and magisk file to the platform-tools folder and then run commands to flash, doest the init_boot.img file go to where the flash-all.bat file is and take it, or does the .bat file need to be in the same folder as the init_boot.igm, I'm confused. This step to edit the .bat file looks a little usless, unless the .img file looks for it and finds it and uses it on it's own.

Thank you all, sorry for the detailed and confusing questions!
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] hochoch:
Check out pixel flasher. I used to do all this editing of the .bat fine and extracting and patching files. It makes it so much easier to install magisk and do monthly updates. These's forums for it here and the 7 pro. Do yourself a favor and try it. Dev is active and updates frequently.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] badabing2003:
Every time you flash a new factory image, the phone reverts to stock.

You need to extract the init_boot, patch it and flash that to get root again.

It does not apply to first use, and you don't need Magisk Manager installed to flash a patched init_boot.

You can install Magisk Manager afterwards.

flash_all will flash the factory image.

flashing init_boot is a separate step.

If the latest version of platform tools is in your system path, then they don't need to be in the same directory, otherwise you do need it in the same directory so that the fastboot commands are found.

the bat file and the init_boot don't have to be in the same folder, but then you need to specify the full path to the init_boot when you issue the fastboot command.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask questions if you're not sure about something.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] badabing2003:
Thanks for the support, yeah it makes it easier, but it's better to go through the manual steps first, understand the process, know how things go, and then when repeating this month after month it gets tedious, you can use quick tools to make it easy.

Knowing the process is priceless, that takes you out of problems if / when you encounter them.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] hochoch:
Words of wisdom for sure! I used to enjoy doing all that, but once you get used to the convenience of the flasher it's hard to go back! Plus i do 2 phones every month....
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] Paz9:
Noticed battery draining faster on the Jan build.

Been a couple days still draining faster than Dec.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] simplepinoi177:
The step to edit the .bat file IS

NOT

USELESS! I very much caution not to skip this step as this step is what directs the flash-all to

NOT

wipe your phone back to stock! Especially when doing this each time you flash an update -- probably each month...!

I believe @roirraW "edor" ehT directed to put the init_boot.img file to the platform-tools folder simply for the reason of merely keeping track of the file -- for when you transfer it to your phone for Magisk to patch. You actually can put it anywhere you wish, as long as you can keep track of it for when you transfer it to the phone.

Having the magisk patched init_boot.img file (magisk_patched_######.img) is best in the platform-tools folder so when running the fastboot command, it automatically knows where the file is as it's in the same folder vs. it somewhere else and you would need to specifically type out the whole filename with its folder details in the syntax...
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] kenbrownstone:
Guys my battery is awful and the signal continues to drop off and on ..I'm with TMobile..I have 5g in my area . I have a OnePlus 10t and 8t ..Those phones have no signal issues ..I'm and the beta 2 . You guys got any ideas what should be my best course of action ..Never had a phone suck this bad with network issues. .My first pixel and probably my last . Unfortunate because my nephew got this for me for Christmas and I know he paid a high price to get it .
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] simplepinoi177:
Uh, do you think it might be because you're on beta 2? I mean....it is a beta, which almost inherently involved bugs because....that's kinda the point of releasing betas (to work out bugs); positives being having the cutting edge releases of features. Although I haven't come across users exclaiming such issues with their devices and TMobile, so there's a good chance it might be specific to your device.

I would hope you would consider not judging this device too badly based on the network issues that may be due to being on the beta (you have not indicated if your issues were pre-existing before going on beta) and/or it merely being this single device and, if you were to get it replaced because this would be an issue covered under its 1 year warranty, maybe have a better experience with your replacement (and, hopefully, future pixels; because hopefully you wouldn't swear all of them off forever).

Have you installed any battery apps to see what might be draining your battery; i.e. wakelocks? Have you tried disabling/turning off 5G and seeing if the signal stabalizes?

Worse comes to worse and none of those things bring anything to light, you might consider/try getting off of the beta; although, as far as I'm aware (I've never been on a QPR), be aware this wipes your device. I wouldn't know where to begin to get off of the beta; I wish I could help -- I think you either have to go to a Google website and choose to get off of it or something (official locked bootloader way, I imagine) and/or manually flash a Full Factory image that isn't a beta, but i'm sure you have to prep your device in some way first or there might be some incompatibility/bootloop risk/softbrick.

Good luck to you!
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] Schroeder09:
For sure. There's a thread in this pixel 7 forum called "poor battery." The general consensus is that the November release had the best battery life. December and January have been a step down and bad real life. It's disappointing. Personally, my main issue has been idle drain. I could run this phone for probably 10 or 12 hours before it died. That's not exaggerating at all. Idle drain increase from about 0.3 or 0.5% on the November bill to a consistent 1.5 to 2.5% on the December and January builds.
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] teddysx3:
Thanks for your reply! Really helps!

So to everytime I flash a new factory image (update) the phone reverts to stock, but unrooted? And I have to root it again with magisk init_boot.img file correct?

Also, now the magisk.img file is only in the plaform tools folder, without the factory image that I downloaded because I'm not actually flashing a new image, just rooting in my understanding.

My quesiton is, when updating to a new image, how and what files/folders do I have to copy to platform-tools, everything that's inside the factory image folder? there are flash.bat files and a folder called image and the .img files are there, copy the whole folder as it comes from the releases in the plaformt tools, so when running flash.bat file it will flash with all the needed files, do I understand this properly?
[Google Pixel 7 Pro] Paz9:
Not happy :(