My Pixel 7 running GrapheneOS has a malfunctioning screen (it intermittently displays static/white noise instead of a correct image – I didn’t damage it; it legitimately randomly failed). I managed to get Amazon to accept a return for it, but now I need to figure out how to wipe it and reinstall the stock firmware without being able to see what I’m doing. Any advice?
Edit: I was researching the problem and found this article talking about Pixel 10s doing the same thing.
(My phone screen looks just like that, except tinted blue instead of pink.)
It made the point, which I had also suspected, that it might be a software problem rather than a hardware one because it sometimes fixes itself. Is this a known issue for the Pixel 7 and/or phones running GrapheneOS, rather than on only the Pixel 10 on stock firmware? Has progress been made on diagnosing or fixing it since last September when the article was written?
(Should I be worried about flashing the stock firmware back on “fixing” it, such that my return might be rejected even though I still need to replace it since I can’t trust it anymore?)
I had this issue with my Pixel 4a. GrapheneOS from first day of use. But something else was also happening prior to the screen soft-glitching: the bars under Storage were adjusting to random values within the first few seconds of checking. They would rise and fall, and then settle to some new value each time. Stranger even, was the error message crying about low on storage, even though under inspection from my PC it had a good 30GB free. So I took it into the phone repair shop, only citing the screen issue, and paid to have it replaced. I’ll be damned if when I got it back, if the screen didn’t glitch out again same day. It would show the bootscreens, then sometimes would unlock, and immediately glitch out like yours, before the screen went black. I seriously think it’s software. Still have it, because I can’t wipe it, I’m in the same situation.
You can use a USB keyboard to open the settings menu and enable adb. You might need another of the same phone with the same OS to figure out all the shortcuts and keystrokes. I had a friend rescue some photos that way.
Happily, I’m running KDE Connect, so stuff like rescuing photos isn’t a problem at all. The advice I need is really just for the wiping/re-flashing stock firmware part. The documentation suggests using Google’s web browser-based flashing tool, but I’m not sure if there’s anything about that procedure that relies on interacting with the screen.
Probably just enabling ADB over USB and approving the connection from the PC.
I’m not sure if Amazon returns policy varies by region, but I have returned faulty electronic devices that have been reformatted/had firmware updated and Amazon returns have never checked it. I suspect it just gets thrown onto a recycle pile. It’s cheaper for them to send a new one than it is for them to pay someone to do some basic diagnosis.
This was a refurbished phone from a third-party seller. Also, it was out of the alleged 90-day return window the seller had supposedly set, but within the 365-day one claimed on the product page:
The system didn’t let me do a return automatically; I had to persuade a customer service rep to honor it.
Point is, I don’t really want to push my luck.
Ah okay, understood. Is the screen consistently broken, or does it work occasionally?
It stayed broken for a few days, then worked again for a few days, and is now broken again.
I guess, get an environment prepped for flashing stock firmware back on it ready, and then next time the screen is working focus on getting that done? I don’t really see any other way of doing it, you’re going to need to interact with the screen in some way to get the bootloader unlocked (if it’s locked) and get it into fastboot mode.
You should be able to do it all via USB cable and ADB, if you have USB debugging enabled and the PC has been approved on the phone. All that will require a functioning screen.
But once those 3 things are set, the stock OS will flash from the PC using the script included with it.
So download the factory OS from Google, extract it. Ensure ADB is available on the PC.
Once the screen is working, enable USB debugging, connect to PC, approve PC, then use ADB on PC to send a reboot to recovery command (I think it’s: adb reboot recovery).
Once in recovery the flash script can be run on the PC.
Edit: I’ve done this dozens of times - the flashing script simply overwrites the partitions with the factory software.
