[Google Pixel 6 Pro] mad-murdock:
Update: Problem fixed as @Lughnasadh said: flash.android.com fixes the issue a buggy fastboot version can create.

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DISCLAIMER:

this might look like a double post.

if I could change the topic, i would have continued the old thread. I saw the topic doesnt reflect that problem very well anymore. I hope I dont break any rules by this.

So, for the history of all this, you can check this post which contains lots of logs: https://xdaforums.com/t/flash-all-sh-vendor-partition-non-existing.4570905/

It also contains the Tip from @Lughnasadh solving the first huddle: fastboot 34+ is flawed, i downgraded to fastboot 33.0.1 and all the inital problems were gone.

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PROBLEM

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I dont talk about the why. If you want to know, look at the outdated post.

Situation: Vendor partition missing. Flashing firmware image isnt possbile because fastbootd cannot be started, because there is no vendor partition. Plus you can only create or modify partitions in fastbootd, not in fastboot.

Is this a classical hen-egg problem and I have a soft bricked phone, or is there any way around I dont see?

Here is some log for you:

┬─[sven@BeineAufsSofa:~/D/raven-tq2a.230305.008.e1]─[03:50:35]─[I]
╰─>$ fastboot update image-raven-tq2a.230305.008.e1.zip
--------------------------------------------
Bootloader Version...: slider-1.2-9465321
Baseband Version.....: g5123b-112825-230302-B-9675756
Serial Number........: 23041FDEE005AM
--------------------------------------------
extracting android-info.txt (0 MB) to RAM...
Checking 'product' OKAY [ 0.000s]
Checking 'version-bootloader' OKAY [ 0.000s]
Checking 'version-baseband' OKAY [ 0.000s]
Setting current slot to 'b' OKAY [ 0.124s]
extracting boot.img (64 MB) to disk... took 0.339s
archive does not contain 'boot.sig'
Sending 'boot_b' (65536 KB) OKAY [ 2.116s]
Writing 'boot_b' OKAY [ 0.116s]
archive does not contain 'init_boot.img'
extracting dtbo.img (16 MB) to disk... took 0.065s
archive does not contain 'dtbo.sig'
Sending 'dtbo_b' (16384 KB) OKAY [ 0.522s]
Writing 'dtbo_b' OKAY [ 0.028s]
archive does not contain 'dt.img'
extracting pvmfw.img (1 MB) to disk... took 0.009s
archive does not contain 'pvmfw.sig'
Sending 'pvmfw_b' (1024 KB) OKAY [ 0.034s]
Writing 'pvmfw_b' OKAY [ 0.003s]
archive does not contain 'recovery.img'
extracting vbmeta.img (0 MB) to disk... took 0.000s
archive does not contain 'vbmeta.sig'
Sending 'vbmeta_b' (12 KB) OKAY [ 0.001s]
Writing 'vbmeta_b' OKAY [ 0.002s]
extracting vbmeta_system.img (0 MB) to disk... took 0.000s
archive does not contain 'vbmeta_system.sig'
Sending 'vbmeta_system_b' (4 KB) OKAY [ 0.001s]
Writing 'vbmeta_system_b' OKAY [ 0.002s]
extracting vbmeta_vendor.img (0 MB) to disk... took 0.000s
archive does not contain 'vbmeta_vendor.sig'
Sending 'vbmeta_vendor_b' (4 KB) OKAY [ 0.001s]
Writing 'vbmeta_vendor_b' OKAY [ 0.002s]
extracting vendor_boot.img (64 MB) to disk... took 0.367s
archive does not contain 'vendor_boot.sig'
Sending 'vendor_boot_b' (65536 KB) OKAY [ 2.130s]
Writing 'vendor_boot_b' OKAY [ 0.116s]
archive does not contain 'vendor_kernel_boot.img'
extracting super_empty.img (0 MB) to disk... took 0.000s
Rebooting into fastboot OKAY [ 0.001s]
< waiting for any device >
fastboot: error: Failed to boot into userspace fastboot; one or more components might be unbootable.

Hmm, while copying this I wonder, if I can supply a vendor_kernel_boot.img, add it to the update zip and then start fastbootd this way. where do i get an up to date vendor_kernel_boot.img though?

Starting googling now. Dont hessitate to meanwhile answer