yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Morgrain:
Couldn't agree more. Google is one of the best smartphone brands for the modding community, because you are actually free to install whatever Kernels or OS you want, with easy bootloader unlocking, and can revert to stock with officially supplied tools from the manufacturer (Google in this case).

This is kind of rare in the Android world, especially since we have the full power of AOSP. Most manufacturers do not want the customers to tinker with their devices, and those try to make your life as a root-user very hard.

It's a bit ironic that the biggest data kraken in the world, which is least trusted by most, is one of the few, if not the only company that actually allows you to create a virtually spy-free, tracking-free phone, by the power of 100% customization.

Well, there is a reason why many IT experts use Pixel phones, with custom software ofc.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Ghisy:
Same here on my P7P. Google just doing Google things I guess! 😅
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Morgrain:
Ah, damn. I checked my wallet and it also notes "doesn't meet security requirements". Seems like we need an updated version of the safety net fix (currently running 2.4.0 mod 1.3 by displax, as most).
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Spookymyo:
I just recently tried to root my pixel 8 pro with disastrous effects. I used the factory image flash all.bat method (which has never worked for me before, but I thought I'd try it because of the P8P's new init_boot.img). It installed to one slot but then booted to the other slot and died. I had to return the phone. Just got the return today.

I have a question though. Since the Pixel 4, I've rooted by letting the system update to the current release. Then I just download the factory image, extract the boot.img, patch it with magisk, push it to the phone, then temp flash with "fastboot boot /magisk_patched_boot.img", then once the phone boots up I go into magisk and then do a direct install. This has always worked for me with no issues. But I don't know if it's installed to both slots or not (not sure if it ever mattered).

I tried the flash-all method because I thought it was a different method this time with having to use init_boot.img instead of just boot.img.

Can I do the same thing on the Pixel 8 pro but of course using the init_boot.img file instead?

The phone came with 14 (UD1A.230803.022.A4), after I updated it was at 14 (UD1A.230803.041).
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Morgrain:
I would recommend that you use the Pixel Flasher.

It's the easiest way. Just follow the steps, and you have a UI to guide you.

📳🔥 PixelFlasher, a GUI tool for flashing / updating / rooting / managing Pixel phones.

DESCRIPTION As the name suggests this is an application to flash (update) Pixel™ phones (possibly all Google™ made phones/tablets, YMMV.) PixelFlasher at its core is a UI layer (with bells and whistles) on top of adb / fastboot commands, hence...

xdaforums.com
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Spookymyo:
I've never used the Pixel flasher before. Can it actually root the P8P? And if so, to both slots?
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Morgrain:
Yes. You simply (in the Pixel Flasher) chose the OTA file (you have to manually download that, however the Pixel flasher conveniently guides you to the exact download page with a green button, for your specific device), extract the init boot img, patch it, select the magisk patched file and then do a 1-click flash with the program, and it will automatically install the update + root.

Apply to both slots is also available under advanced features.

Again, just read the steps and documentary of the Pixel Flasher. It's easy once you understand the UI and what you are supposed to do. You will not have to use any ADB commands, instead you can click on buttons. The only important thing is the order in which you click on the buttons (read the steps).

Also be patient when the flashing happens, the program will freeze, that's normal. Do not abort or close the program. Just wait.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Spookymyo:
Looking at the Pixel Flasher it says "select a boot.img" nothing about "init_boot.img". Does that make a difference?

And should I flash, using the Android Flash Tool on the google dev site, the stock Nov update (14.0.0 (UD1A.231105.004, Nov 2023) from 14.0.0 (UD1A.230803.041, Oct 2023) and then use the flasher? The phone itself doesn't show me the Nov update. 🤔
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Morgrain:
The documentary explains that the Pixel Flasher software automatically choses the init_boot on Pixel 7 or later.

Please read the entire OP that I posted before using the software. You messed up already once and bricked your phone, I would recommend that you use the time and patiently read all of the available info in order to prevent another mistake. The Pixel Flasher is a well thought out software that leaves little room for error, and the creator of the software has created an in-depth guide, so every question should get answered by that guide.

-

You can use the latest update (November).
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Lughnasadh:
Fixed with PIF v12

Release v12 · chiteroman/PlayIntegrityFix

Fixed MEETS_DEVICE_INTEGRITY 🥳

github.com
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Gilg@mesh:
do I remove current one and flash this?
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Lughnasadh:
Already answered in the other thread you posted the same question in.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] dmarden:
I feel slightly confused still after the last conversation... if I install this, do I still need any version of the Universal SafetyNet Fix from Displax? Or would this (and Systemless Hosts being enabled) be the only Magisk modules needed?
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Lughnasadh:
No

To pass the integrity checks, PIF is all you should need.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Gilg@mesh:
just flash this and it removes the Displax one.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] dmarden:
Thank you, kind person.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Edit 2: download is back and it's supposed to be fixed.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Spookymyo:
You were right. I was being impatient. Reading through the guide explained everything perfectly. I'm on the latest android version and rooted running fine.

Thanks.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] roirraW "edor" ehT:
To answer your question, yes, you can do the same thing on the P8P (but with init_boot.img). That's exactly what the factory image method instructions in Post #2 has you do, although I've been using the Full OTA Zip method for the last six months (starting with the P7P).

I missed your post earlier. :)
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] simplepinoi177:
You sure you didn't get that reversed my friend?

I could see you saying that for the P6P as I see that badabing2003 had only changed his preferred method within the last year (P7P or later); but as you stated P8P, and that of course is after the P7P, I find that unlikely that he'd push flashing the Full Factory image now/currently (especially to both slots). He's always maintained that you switch slots when flashing the Full Factory images -- so the inactive slot is kept relatively up to date and if it's required to fall back on then it's not too far behind (as unless the slots are manually changed, flashing Full Factory will just keep flashing the same active slot) -- whereas sideloading Full OTA images to both slots has the benefit of having both slots actively bootable.

Just wanted to clarify and/or educate any readers who weren't aware of these aspects....
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Homeboy76:
I could be wrong, if I am please correct me.

IMHO, there is absolutely no reason to flash the full factory image to both slots. However, I do believe one should edit the

flash-all.bat file

to flash the

bootloader.img

to both slots.

<< Edit >>

Edit flash-all.bat file

@Echo off

PATH=%PATH%;"%SYSTEMROOT%\System32"

fastboot set_active other

fastboot reboot-bootloader

fastboot flash bootloader --slot all bootloader-husky-ripcurrent-14.0-10839436.img

fastboot reboot-bootloader

ping -n 5 127.0.0.1 >nul

fastboot flash radio radio-husky-g5300i-230829-230906-b-10765749.img

fastboot reboot-bootloader

ping -n 5 127.0.0.1 >nul

fastboot update image-husky-ud1a.231105.004.zip

echo Press any key to exit...

pause >nul

exit

Why?

Anti-roll back

The anti-roll back bootloader prevents devices from rolling back to "previous vulnerable versions of the bootloader".

...If the active slot is then flashed with a build that fails to boot, the fallback mechanism of seamless updates kicks in and the device tries to boot from the inactive slot...
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Correct. The only reason to flash the factory image to both slots is to get the bootloader onto both slots, and that's especially important when the phone is brand new, and the second slot won't have even a bootloader on it yet.

The Why can be augmented with simply if something happens that makes the first slot temporarily unbootable, you could be up the creek if it tries booting the second, unbootable slot, but your Why is valid, too.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] djmcnz:
I think this is all a bit dramatic, if you have a corrupt slot (no boot), and an empty slot (no boot), the you can just fastboot flash the empty slot and boot.

99.9% of people don't need to be concerned about this, just do what it says on the tin... if you want a factory fresh phone, flash the full factory image and wipe (default), if you're upgrading only then flash the full OTA and don't wipe (also default). Slot management will take care of itself unless you do something dramatic to stuff it up.

If you want to play around with verity disabled kernels then you need to take more care, and perhaps more precautions, but 99.9% of people needn't bother with those (and I'd highly recommend they didn't).
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Homeboy76:
Doesn't flashing the bootloader.img to both slots :

fastboot flash bootloader --slot all bootloader-husky-aaaaaaaaaa-99.9-99999999.img put the bootloader on both slots?

I edited my post: When you receive you new phone one slot is "loaded". When someone updates their firmware via flashing the "factory image", editing the flash-all.bat file will load the other slot and update the bootloader.img on both slots.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] wangdaning:
I was going to say, the first thing the flash-all.bat does is flash bootloader to both slots.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Homeboy76:
That may be true, but the fastboot command for flashing the bootloader...img doesn't show it:

fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-husky-ripcurrent-14.0-10839436.img
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] wangdaning:
You are right, I shouldn't post things off of memory without checking.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] roirraW "edor" ehT:
I could be remembering wrong, since it hasn't happened to me at all, but some user's Pixels have gotten bricked to a point they need to RMA to Google, so they don't have an opportunity to flash the other slot after the fact. Again, unless I'm thinking about the wrong crisis, this has even happened several times recently with user's P8Ps.

Edit: I think it's because, when the phone can't boot its original slot (say, Slot A), and it switches to Slot B and tries to boot that - since there's no bootloader on Slot B (unless you proactively took care of it), you're now in a state you can't fix. You can't use Fastboot commands if there's no bootloader.

Again, not my first-hand experience, so there may be nuances I'm forgetting.

I honestly don't know or remember. Over time, Google has changed what works with --slot all and what doesn't, and I can't keep track. I never habitually used it, even when I was doing the factory image method every month. I want a fully bootable Android on both, so I just OTA both.

Thanks!
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Lughnasadh:
My 2 cents...

Scenario: You get a new phone with only 1 slot "populated". For some reason you can't get your active slot to boot and the inactive slot is "unpopulated". As long as you can get into fastboot you can flash the factory image to your inactive slot and you should be able to boot into that inactive slot. Same thing goes if you can get into recovery you should be able to sideload the Full OTA and then boot into your inactive slot. This should all be true even if you don't have a bootloader on that "unpopulated" slot as you don't need a bootloader on that slot to flash the factory image or sideload the Full OTA to that slot. The flashing/sideloading of the factory image/Full OTA will put the bootloader on that slot.

Even if when you first get the phone you flash the bootloader to both slots I don't think that will help much if you can't boot into your active slot. If your phone can't boot into your active slot and it reverts to your inactive ("unpopulated") slot, it still won't be able to boot into that slot with just a bootloader on it. There's still no OS to boot in to.

I think the only time it was really important to flash the bootloader to both slots was during the ARB fiasco on the Pixel 6 series when going from A12 to A13.

The real danger, as I see it, is not having USB Debugging and OEM Unlocking enabled (so you can use Android Flash Tool, at least), or not being able to get into fastboot or recovery. Of course, you should still be able to sideload the Full OTA even with USB Debugging disabled as Pixel recoveries have a couple of adb commands enabled by default (unless something has changed), including adb sideload ota.zip. But as long as you can get into fastboot or recovery, you should be able to get yourself out of trouble, whether the slot your are flashing to has a bootloader on it or not.

And even if you flash the factory image to both slots when you first get the phone, one slot will still be unbootable (without doing more, e.g. flashing the factory image to that unbootable slot). However, sideloading the same Full OTA build to both slots will take care of this and make both slots bootable without having to do more.

Thus, I think the best preventive measure is to sideload the same Full OTA to both slots. But I don't think flashing just the bootloader to both slots will help much in most, if not all, scenarios (unless an ARB or the like is involved).

Of course, still haven't had my first cup of coffee this morning so take what I say with a grain of salt...or two 🙃
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Thanks! I'm one coffee and one Mountain Dew up on you, but I still don't think I can talk about this more fluently than you.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Homeboy76:
welp, I read this without my first cup of coffee. I'll read it again after my first cup of coffee and see if anything changes. :ROFLMAO:

I doubt it will, great explanation my friend.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] simplepinoi177:
Spoiler content hidden.

So I learned about the whole state that the phone shipped from the factory is that one slot is unpopulated/unloaded/unbootable thing form @badabing2003 and franticly went about following his advice on the importance of flashing to both slots at least once if I haven't taken an OTA because of what you all have said about the state the phone is in if one never does (at that point, I had gone like 5 months without ever doing either going with the false belief I had the other slot set up to fall back on). Below is what I got from him all in terms of the "slot-all", what I gleaned from how unbootable it would be if switching slots from a device straight from the factory that hasn't gotten an OTA or flashed on the other slot, and while it's not important to Full Factory flash both slots every month it is important to be done at least once (if not an OTA). I'm not sure how the Pixel 8's are set up, i'm just assuming they are similar to the Pixel 7's in this way (as you can see, most of the posts below are from his Pixel 7 threads)....
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] stu5797:
I updated to the new firmware perfectly and I pass the yasnac but now Google pay doesn't work and I am only passing on the middle section of Meets basic integrity on the play integrity api checker app. Anyone know how to pass the first one of meets device integrity so I can use google wallet again?

Thanks so much!
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Gilg@mesh:
🔧 [MODULE] Play Integrity Fix (SafetyNet fix)

PLAY INTEGRITY FIX This module tries to fix Play Integrity and SafetyNet verdicts to get a valid attestation. BEFORE YOU START: - Your ROM must be signed with a private key from maintainer, you can check with this command: unzip -l...

xdaforums.com
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Lughnasadh:
Why is it important to flash the factory image to both slots "at least once" when getting a new phone? Once you flash the factory image to one slot it makes the other slot unbootable so you can't really "fall back" to the new inactive slot without first flashing to that slot again. Both slots would not be bootable in this scenario, so you wouldn't be able to just switch slots and boot. You would first have to flash/sideload the image to the inactive slot before it would boot. On the other hand, sideloading the Full OTA or taking the delta OTA would make both slots bootable, so this would be important when first getting the phone.

Also, you can't use --slot-all when flashing the full factory image (via flash-all). You can for individual partitions such as the bootloader, boot image, etc., but not for the update line.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] stu5797:
That did it! Thank you! Why didnt I need this on the previous build?
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] bosox284:
Good looks. I came across this probably about 5 minutes before you posted. Displax's 1.3 stopped working, tried 2.0 and that didn't work. chiteroman's 12.1 does in fact work.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] chill145:
My confusion is if I sideloaded the November OTA (once), and I do the same thing with December's OTA, shouldn't both slots now be bootable? One would have the November OTA and the other would have the December OTA or would I need to sideload the December OTA twice?
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Lughnasadh:
You should sideload the December OTA twice so both slots are on the same build. This would prevent a scenario where the November slot may not boot if reverted to because it is an older build than your current one.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] stu5797:
So should we uninstall Displax's 1.3? I currently have this and the play integrity module installed.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] roirraW "edor" ehT:
It wasn't the previous build that was the problem. Google changed something behind the scenes. The old version of the Play Integrity Fix also stopped working as well. I don't know if @Displax has plans on developing his fix anymore, but @chiteroman's fix came out first, regardless.

Yes, you shouldn't have both Displax's USNF and the Play Integrity Fix both installed at the same time.

What @Lughnasadh said, and also, since both slots use the same user data, while a November slot might technically be bootable, it might not play nice with the data that has suddenly gone from being used (and updated) on the December firmware, to being used on the November firmware.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] bosox284:
Installing chiteroman's in Magisk should have uninstalled Displax's. At least it did for me.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Lughnasadh:
PIF will uninstall that for you.

EDIT: Ninaj'd multiple times 🤣
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] stu5797:
Yes! I see PIF uninstalled it. Cool and thank for everyone's help!
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Ghisy:
Displax's doesn't work anymore. You can uninstall it and only keep PIF.

Edit: Ninja'd too! 😅
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] badabing2003:
I think, obviously with no direct evidence or accessible means to test, but seeing so many people getting bricked with brand new devices, brand new devices case is similar to ARB fiasco, in that, when one slot fails to boot, and the system tries to boot from the other, it bricks.

In the case of ARB fiasco, it refuses to load an older bootloader because or ARB

In the case of a brand new device, there is no bootloader hence can't load anything and bricks,

In both case the system does not go back to the slot that has a functional bootloader but is not bootable to system, if it did, the phone won't be bricked, and it would be in bootloader mode to be flashed and fixed.

This a mere hypothesis bases on the bricking cases around ARB and new phones, at all other times the reported case counts are few and far between.

For what its worth, all the testing I have done, I have never managed to boot to both slots when the images on the two slots differed.

I'm not sure even if it is technically bootable.

@simplepinoi177

Some of the quoted messages are a year old and predate full OTA method discovery / recommendation.

I'm guilty on this, the term bootable is confusing and overloaded.

Perhaps the proper way of clarifying it would be:

System bootable, meaning that the phone would load all the way to functional system.

Bootloader bootable, meaning that the phone can load the bootloader even if the system is corrupted, it won't necessarily get to the functional system (ie bootloop. corrupt message, recovery), but it would allow you to flash and fix it (assuming that it is unlocked, or if it can load recovery, you would be able to full OTA same build or newer).

Having at the least the latter (bootloader) bootable on both slots is super critical to avoid bricking, and that can be achieved with ota, or even from factory image (if properly applied).

As for the former to work on both slots, the only way known to date is flashing full OTA twice in a row (same full OTA image).
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] roirraW "edor" ehT:
Very good to know, thank you!
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] HipKat:
Yeah, we were talking in one of the threads about the difference between flashing the OTA and the Full Image and flashing to both slots just before I picked up my P8P (or right around the time). I swapped the two files in my post above

📳🔥PixelFlasher for Google Pixel 8 Pro Support Thread.

This is the support thread of PixelFlasher (PixelFlasher is an open-source self contained GUI tool to facilitate Pixel phone device flashing/rooting/updating with extra features). Note: This thread is meant for issues and problems faced in...

xdaforums.com
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] wangdaning:
I am still not sure it is true there is no bootloader file on the unused slot of a brand new device. I think a conclusion is being drawn that we have no specific data to support, just some people bricked their device. Maybe it was a batch that had a fluke or something? First thing I did when I got my device was flash the most current factory image (full image, not OTA). I then used --set-active=b and reboot bootloader. It booted to bootloader of slot b. If slot b did not have a bootloader that should not have happened.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] roirraW "edor" ehT:
It was tested at least on the Pixel 7 Pro. It did not have a bootloader on the second slot before an OTA (or anything else) was flashed to that second slot. It's not speculation based on user's device bricking. The only speculation is whether it's still true that the second slot doesn't contain a bootloader for the Pixel 8 Pro, but that's a fairly safe bet that Google hasn't changed the situation.

What you said is indeed evidence that Slot B does contain a bootloader, although of course, the more users who can report this, the stronger the evidence is that it would be the case for everyone.
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] badabing2003:
I saw one user's logs where brand new device was running from slot b, that is no evidence that slot a bootloader was missing, but I was surprised to see that it was on B.

What would have been great after you performed the factory flashing (assuming that you also rooted) if you had dumped the inactive slot's partitions, most importantly abl, xbl, boot, vendor_boot, init_boot ...

A guaranteed way of switching to the inactive slot would have been using the flag --set-active=other, as that does not make any assumptions of current slot being a
[Google Pixel 8 Pro] Lughnasadh:
I do remember one person (namelesswonder) and myself both reported that on a new Pixel 7 Pro there was no radio on the inactive slot when we got the phone. Was there confirmation that there was no bootloader as well? I thought I remembered one person saying there wasn't and I think I posted their report, but I can't seem to find it, so I may be misremembering. My memory ain't quite the same as when I was in my 50's 😅