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Unlocking Bootloader / Rooting / Updating | SafetyNet working again | ADB/Fastboot & Windows USB Drivers

Unlocking Bootloader / Rooting / Updating:

How to Root the first time / aka How to unlock the Bootloader:
Unlocking the bootloader will factory reset your device. There is no way around this. I highly suggest never re-locking your bootloader once you unlock it. If you do ever re-lock the bootloader, only do so after restoring the phone to 100% stock by using the latest Pixel 7 Pro Factory Image or Official Google Android Flash Tool.

Verizon variants:

Will never be able to have their bootloader unlocked. It's like winning the lottery, and just as rare and relatively random. There is nothing that anyone on XDA can do to help you unlock your Verizon variant.

T-Mobile and AT&T variants:

Can be unlocked once you pay the phone off, then you contact the carrier and arrange to Carrier unlock the phone. Once the phone is Carrier unlocked, then you can unlock the bootloader with the usual caveats (will wipe the device and there's no way around it).

The direct-from-Google (or other retailers who aren't U.S. Carriers), the factory Carrier Unlocked Pixels:

Can be bootloader unlocked at any time. I'd try it first before putting a SIM card in the phone. If OEM unlocking is grayed out, try connecting to Wi-Fi, and reboot if necessary. If it's still grayed out, try with your SIM card, and reboot again. Historically on Pixels, most of the time you can toggle OEM unlocking immediately, but occasionally some users have found it took a little while after being either connected to Wi-Fi or having your SIM card installed in it, and then eventually (hours? day? days?) you can toggle OEM unlocking.

The rest of the world's carriers:

No idea. Feel free to ask in the thread and hopefully, someone with specific knowledge will answer.

Other than trying the things above I mentioned, there is nothing else that anyone on XDA can do to help get OEM unlocking to be ungrayed.

Unlocking Bootloader (required in order to root)

The one-time first steps are:
Android Settings

About phone

Click on Build number repeatedly, about seven times

Go back to the main Android Settings

System

Developer options
Toggle OEM unlocking on. See @Namelesswonder's tip below (this won't help with variants that are supposed to be bootloader locked):

Namelesswonder said:

Also a little tip for anyone trying to enable OEM unlocking on a device and it is grayed out, you can force the phone to check for eligibility by connecting to the internet in whatever way, going to the dialer, and dialing *#*#2432546#*#* (CHECKIN).
You should receive a notification from Google Play services with "checkin succeeded" and OEM unlocking should be available immediately if the device is eligible.
Google account not needed, SIM not needed, no other setup required. Works on completely-skipped-setup-wizard. Just need to make sure to connect to the internet and select the connection as metered to avoid any updates.

Click to expand...

Toggle USB debugging on.

[Optional] I highly suggest you also disable Automatic system updates. Note that in a situation such as the Android 12 serious bootloader security issue, this setting will not keep Google from forcing an update to come through anyway.

How to actually root follows the same steps below as how to update each month.

Download the latest ADB/Fastboot (SDK Platform Tools) and Windows USB Drivers.

Unzip the Platform Tools and Drivers.

NOTE: If you have USB drivers for other Android devices installed, like Samsung, they can alternately sometimes work and not work with Google Pixels. I recommend uninstalling those drivers, or at least updating that driver to Google's driver as instructed below (the Device Manager entry may be different with other OEMs).
The Windows USB Drivers may have to be installed twice:
The first time while your phone is running and unlocked as normal.
In Windows, right-click on the Start Button and choose Device Manager.

Plug your phone into the computer and look for the new hardware entry in Device Manager. Near the top of Device Manager should be Android Device. Click the drop-down arrow to the left of it.

Below Android Device, it should now show Android Composite ADB Interface

Right-click the Android Composite ADB Interface and choose Update driver

Choose Browse my computer for drivers

Click Browse and navigate to where you unzipped the Windows USB drivers to.

Follow the prompts to install the driver.

Keep Device Manager itself open - you'll need it again in a minute, but you can close any other Device Manager windows after you have installed the driver.

Open a Command Prompt and navigate to the platform-tools folder.
Run command:
Code:
adb devices
On your Android device, you'll get an ADB prompt. Check the box to always give ADB permission and click OK.

Confirm that the command results in a list of Android devices. When doing these producedures, you should only have the one device you want to work on connected, to keep things simple.
The second time to install the driver is while the phone is in Bootloader (fastboot mode), notFastbootD (fastbootd) mode. I know it's confusing.
Run command:
Code:
adb reboot bootloader
Repeat the instructions above starting with "Right-click the Android Composite ADB Interface".
Run command:
Code:
fastboot flashing unlock
On the phone, press either the up or down volume button once until you see Unlock the bootloader |>| beside the power button.

Press the power button. The phone will go black for a second and then show near the bottom Device state: unlocked.

After these first-time steps to unlock the bootloader, if you want to root, continue below at the step:
Download the latest Pixel 7 Pro Factory Image (at the bottom of the "Cheetah" section).
Click to expand...

How to update each month (and also how to root) [requires an unlocked bootloader for updating via this factory image method]

If you are going to use the Official Google Android Flash Tool, then skip the steps I indicate with FAB (Flash-All.Bat).
- If using the Android Flash Tool, you should have the following items not selected:
  - Deselect Wipe
  - Deselect Force Flash all partitions (which will also wipe)
  - Deselect re-lock bootloader
Always use the latest ADB/Fastboot (SDK Platform Tools) and Windows USB Drivers.
Unzip the Platform Tools.
Download the latest Pixel 7 Pro Factory Image (at the bottom of the "Cheetah" section).
Unzip the factory image to the same platform-tools folder, i.e. so that flash-all.bat and all other files are in the same folder as ADB and Fastboot from the platform-tools.
* 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)

On the phone:
- Wait for the phone to boot normally. Unlock the phone.
- Apply Magisk Stable to it. NOTE: It is always possible that an Android Update (Monthly, QPR [Quarterly Platform Release], new major Android versions, and Beta versions) might need a new version of Magisk Stable, Beta, or Canary from GitHub to work correctly. XDA forum for Magisk is here.
  - Launch the Magisk app.
  - Beside "Magisk", click "Install".
  - Click "Select and Patch a File", and choose the init_boot.img that you just copied to the phone's storage.
  - Made sure all Magisk Modules have been updated.
  - Disable all Magisk Modules.
Copy the Magisk'd init_boot.img (filename similar to magisk_patched-25200_1a2B3c.img)back over to the computer.
Open a Command Prompt and navigate to the platform-tools folder.
Run command:
Code:
```
adb reboot bootloader
```
After phone has rebooted into Bootloader (Fastboot) mode, run command:
Code:
```
fastboot flash init_boot magisk_patched-25200_1a2B3c.img
fastboot reboot
```
Confirm that the phone boots completely normally.
Cautiously re-enable Magisk Modules.
Reboot.
Confirm everything worked fine.
If the phone won't boot correctly after having enabled Magisk Modules, see either of the two solutions below:
- Jon8RFC said:
  For the future, you don't need to go into safe mode unless that's your preference. I forgot what all it resets, but it's many settings and it's bothersome. I'd rather just reinstall my modules and not have to figure out those Android settings/changes which I come across days or weeks later when I infrequently do something. Have your phone reboot and run this:
  
  Code:
  
  adb wait-for-device shell magisk --remove-modules
  
  I like to just do this first:
  
  Code:
  
  adb devices
  
  So the server is running, then I have the long one pasted and ready to go once the phone turns off.
  Click to expand...
- Find problem apps by rebooting to safe mode section in my next post. After following that link, you may have to scroll up a little bit and the section title will be highlighted.