Pixel 3 and 3 XL Phones Are Getting Stuck In EDL Mode and Seemingly Bricked (androidpolice.com) 72
New submitter throx shares a report from Android Police: For months users of the three-year-old Pixel 3 series have been complaining of a common and dreadful problem: seemingly random shutdowns that completely lock their devices. The Pixel 3 and 3 XL have been plagued by the "EDL Mode" bug, which locks the device with no screen or button inputs and makes it more or less impossible to use. To date there's no clear solution to this problem, at least not one that's easily available to even advanced users.
Google's official support channels are aware of the issue, and that it seems to be accelerating in terms of users in the last few months. But since more or less every Pixel 3 and 3 XL sold is out of warranty at this point, options are limited. You can start an official support ticket with Google and pay for a repair, or (as one volunteer on the Google support forums suggests) take it into an authorized repair shop to see if their Qualcomm tools can get the phone to wake up. At the time of writing there doesn't seem to be any indication of a user-accessible fix for the EDL issues.
Google's official support channels are aware of the issue, and that it seems to be accelerating in terms of users in the last few months. But since more or less every Pixel 3 and 3 XL sold is out of warranty at this point, options are limited. You can start an official support ticket with Google and pay for a repair, or (as one volunteer on the Google support forums suggests) take it into an authorized repair shop to see if their Qualcomm tools can get the phone to wake up. At the time of writing there doesn't seem to be any indication of a user-accessible fix for the EDL issues.
Pushing past supportability (Score:5, Insightful)
The state of the cellphone market is such that the push to sell handsets has far exceeded the manufacturer's willingness to design truly good handsets and to properly support them.
We need new constumer protection laws that compel cell phone vendors to support the software on their phones for five years past retail sale of the last unit, and we need laws tht require support for software bugs that render devices unusable for something like eight years.
With devices that are half a grand we need to not be expected to throw away something that stops working through no fault of us as owners.
Stuck in EDL mode? (Score:5, Funny)
They get stuck in Entry Descent and Landing [nasa.gov] mode?
Well, it's nice that the phone will make sure to have its heat shield correctly oriented and the parachute ready to deploy. But it's annoying when you need to use your phone and you discover it just landed on Mars.
Re:Stuck in EDL mode? (Score:5, Informative)
I know you are joking, but for all of those who didn't know (like me) one of the articles says it is Emergency DownLoad mode.
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This has always been a problem with Google though. I bought the Galaxy Nexus and they stopped supporting it after only about 9 months in the UK. I bought their original 7 inch tablet and they artificially slowed it down to be 100% unusable (you can tell, because you reset to factory and it's fine, update, and it's literally unusably slow).
So frankly the odds are that as usual Google are using software to kill your device to force you to upgrade. It wouldn't be the first time, and I doubt it's the last. That
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Literally the opposite. A Google phone is about all you can buy that will guarantee OS updates well beyond 2 years and doesn't have any of that unremovable OEM bloatware shipped with it. Your ramblings are that of a senile geriatric
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Re: Pushing past supportability (Score:1)
This is the first I've heard of Google rebadging Galaxy products. I wonder if they do that anywhere besides the UK... Do you happen to have a photo of the Google-logoed Galaxy phone? For those of us in the US whose Galaxy phones have a Samsung logo, it would sure be a novelty to see! Also, do they sell Pixel products alongside the rebadged Galaxy phones in the UK? I can't figure out the business advantage of selling products developed by a competitor in competition with a company's own directly competing pr
There outta be a law... (Score:2)
We need new constumer protection laws that compel cell phone vendors to support the software on their phones for five years...
Such a law would be pretty expensive, and basically preclude products like the PinePhone [pine64.org] or Librem 5 [puri.sm] from existing.
Realistically -- and I say this as a user of old tech -- it doesn't make sense for a manufacturer to support a product line, of which the majority of units aren't in use. Many people buy new phones every 3 years, either due to loss, screen breakage, battery life, or wanting new features (5G anyone?).
I'd love a phone that has indefinite support.... but I totally understand why that's unlikely to
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Re:Pushing past supportability (Score:4, Insightful)
What we need is right to repair including a release of manuals, debugging tools, etc. While this particular problem might remain out of the average user's reach, there is no good reason a corner repair shop or an advanced user shouldn't be able to have everything they need to fix this issue.
Corrupted flash (Score:2)
Smells like the flash memory wore out. I hate that the google devices don't have a micro sd port for apps to be installed on where you can just replace the bad flash after it wears out.
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This seems likely that they got a bad batch of non-volatile memory chips (maybe all of them?) and they are starting to wear out. Or some part of the upgrade process wore them out by writing to them too many times.
I have lost a number of devices from the nvram failing to write anymore. Sometimes it has happened because of firmware/process defects causing overwriting, sometimes it seems to be a miscalculation of how long the device would last under normal operating conditions.
And often when they are bad
For Google this isn't a problem (Score:2)
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-But then I'm not a Millennial.
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Yeah, if you want a defect to force new hardware purchase, you throttle down the speed.
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Is that why Windows is running slower?
Google must still fix them in the EU (Score:5, Informative)
The Pixel 3 [wikipedia.org] was released in October 2018, the Pixel 4 was released in October 2019 - less than 2 years ago. EU law also stipulates that you must give the consumer a minimum 2-year guarantee (legal guarantee) as a protection against faulty goods, [europa.eu] so Google should fix them, however I expect long delays will make this moot as most people will need it working within a few days at most. Google could give a (partial) refund, but do not hold your breath.
Re: Google must still fix them in the EU (Score:2)
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The Pixel 3 [wikipedia.org] was released in October 2018, the Pixel 4 was released in October 2019 - less than 2 years ago. EU law also stipulates that you must give the consumer a minimum 2-year guarantee (legal guarantee) as a protection against faulty goods, [europa.eu] so Google should fix them, however I expect long delays will make this moot as most people will need it working within a few days at most. Google could give a (partial) refund, but do not hold your breath.
The 3 and 3xl are over two years old; so the 2 year rule is moot. No mention is made of the 4 which is close to two years as well.
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The Pixel 3 [wikipedia.org] was released in October 2018, the Pixel 4 was released in October 2019 - less than 2 years ago. EU law also stipulates that you must give the consumer a minimum 2-year guarantee (legal guarantee) as a protection against faulty goods, [europa.eu] so Google should fix them, however I expect long delays will make this moot as most people will need it working within a few days at most. Google could give a (partial) refund, but do not hold your breath.
The 3 and 3xl are over two years old; so the 2 year rule is moot. No mention is made of the 4 which is close to two years as well.
I meant to say for probably a significant number it is moot since Google apparently no longer sells it. I wonder if NOS is covered?
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The 3 and 3xl are over two years old; so the 2 year rule is moot. No mention is made of the 4 which is close to two years as well.
I think that the EU law starts counting 2 years from when the phone is bought by the user, not from when Google/whoever first makes it. This is as it should be, not what a manufacturer wants.
Re: Google must still fix them in the EU (Score:2)
Check out my "brand new" still in the box original Nintendo! Just picked it up the other day!
This seems like it's not too far into you get to some silly situations if you startrd things from when you bought it...
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Why do tech people keep referring to the date of a products release as the age of a product? If I buy a new PC today with Windows 10 preinstalled it's not six years old. If I go to a store and buy a brand new Pixel 3 or 4 it's not 2 years old.
If I bought a 2017 model car in January 2018 with a 5 year warranty, the warranty would not expire at the end of this year nor the next. It would expire in January 2023.
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1. you're right.
2. they're not that bright.
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It's because it's the easiest way to get the age of something. You can buy new stuff with old things
This will be interesting (Score:2)
I just bought a new in box Pixel 3 for my son. Since it's brand new, it comes with it's warranty. We'll see what Google does if he has the problem.
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I'm guessing he will have the problem right after warranty runs out.
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Just so you know, while it may have a warranty, it won't be getting software updates past next month:
https://support.google.com/nex... [google.com]
I bought my Pixel 3a used a few years ago with full knowledge that I wouldn't be getting software updates past 5/22. I figured I would upgrade to the 4 or 5 or some other phone by that time.
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Having a 3a, updates are all you're getting. Has your battery got better than 70% capacity?
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My 3a is about two years old, and works just as well as it did the day I first turned it on. I'm not sure I do, though.
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My battery lasts about 1.5 days of normal use. This is down slightly from when I first bought it. But I also, at some point, turned on Google GPS tracking which does suck the battery down a bit faster than it would go down otherwise. I share my real-time location with a few family members in case of emergency and also just so that they can see where I am at any given time for planning purposes. I really like that feature.
One thing that I have noticed is that for the last 6 months or so, the Android UI will
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Sadly my 3a is down to 49% battery capacity. If this is due to my charging habits, it's a first since having several HTC phones and a BLU in between that didn't show such battery health issues. I'll think about a new Pixel, but I'm more open than ever to something new. Just can't quite bring myself to taking on a iPhone yet, but never say never.
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Manufacturer's are often cunts about when the warranty starts. For example, if you buy something from a "non-authorized" retailer, you warranty starts when the reseller purchased the item. Complete bullshit, but have fun having that fight.
It is not unreasonable for a manufacturer to limit warranties for gray market goods by establishing the start from the first date of sale by an authorized dealer to someone else. If I buy say a 100 items to resale on the gray market, the warranty starts then and anyone that buys one from me is buying used goods which may have no warranty except what I offer. If they have a problem they must get me to find a remedy, not the manufacturer.
Out of warranty? (Score:2)
A less than 3 year old device is out of warranty and is now suffering catastrophic failure? And it seems to be affecting more and more of those devices? Sounds like a class-action lawsuit.
Any device which fails so miserably after less than 3 years should be repaired at cost by the manufacturer, warranty be damned.
I do not own any of these phones, but this is inexcusable.
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Doesn't need to be a class action. I personally sued (and won) against my TV manufacturer because it broke after something like 3 years.
Not mine (Score:2)
...so far...my 3xl continues to work well (until I hit Submit on this post, probably ;-) )
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My 3XL is also still working... Knock on wood...
Should have traded it in (Score:1)
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Traded in the SO for a latter model because no one expects them to last forever either.
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These trade in programs depend on being able to sell the old device on secondhand markets like woot for a significant portion of the "discount" being given to you in the trade up deal. When the old device is suffering significant failure rates, your credit is lesser.
I guess we should congratulate you on contributing to a disposable society though?
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These trade in programs depend on being able to sell the old device on secondhand markets like woot for a significant portion of the "discount" being given to you in the trade up deal. When the old device is suffering significant failure rates, your credit is lesser.
I guess we should congratulate you on contributing to a disposable society though?
I, like you, like to make my statements sound/read like questions?
This is just Google anything (Score:2)
TLDR; never buy Google if you're planning for long term support.
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BytePusher snarled:
Google has no commitment to anything that's more than two years old. Why? There's no glory in maintenance. I learned this with their Nexus devices. I bought them from Google assuming the developers of Android would be the best people to buy and Android device from to avoid obsolescence. What I found out is that they're the worst to buy an Android device from, because eventually the push an update that breaks the device and then never fix it.
FWIW, I bought Nexus 6 phones for my wife and me in October, 2014. The last official update to them was 7.1.1 - which introduced zero new bugs that I have experienced - and they both still work fine. Sure, their batteries don't last as long as they used to, but the Nexus 6 has a gigantic battery by comparison to other phones of the same era, so I hardly notice the reduced charge life.
Of course, I mostly use mine as a tool. Y'know: for making calls, getting (occasionally terrible - but tha
Does it go to edl on every reboot? (Score:1)
EDL != bricked (Score:2)
Scanning through the XDA forum post it seems the problem is that nobody has a qualcomm recovery file, and tbf they don't know if the impacted devices have a corrupted bootloader or if a hardware problem is preventing a good bootloader from working.
Qualcomm or Google should be able to provide this file, but chances are they've been refusing due to dubious "security" concerns (i.e. you don't own your own phone).
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> Qualcomm or Google should be able to provide this file, but chances are they've been refusing due to dubious "security" concerns (i.e. you don't own your own phone).
Same thing happened to Essential phones - Qualcomm's contract prevented release of the repair key and there was a known bug that could only be fixed at the factory - gratis while it was still running.
This is my #1 priority for Right to Repair in whichever state passes a good-enough statute. I have a phone here which just needs a wake-up wit
Pixel Slate battery issues too (Score:2)
Since slashdot has no editors: (Score:3)
EDL = "Emergency DownLoad"
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Thank you for explaining what EDL means...
Does draining power help? (Score:2)
Question - does this problem persist if the phone is left on until the battery completely drains (or you disconnect the battery)?
I'm asking because there a lots of devices (cough ComcastModem) which don't fully reset when turned off & a power disconnect is required.
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Kinda hard to "disconnect the battery" when its "permanently" installed... One of the MANY MANY things I HATE about current phones..
Re: Does draining power help? (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah, this is an increasingly big problem with devices that are glued shut & depend upon virtual touchscreen buttons to access recovery modes. With at least a few real buttons, you can embed an independent circuit to watch for certain unlikely button-press combos independently of the OS, and use it to physically force a hard reboot... but with most current devices, you're LUCKY to have 3 physical buttons ("power-toggle", vol+, and vol-).
I remember how at one point around 2014, some phones used the headphone jack as an additional source of reset-logic... but then, companies got rid of headphone jacks,
With removable batteries, you could always force a hard reset by taking out the battery & waiting for every capacitor to fully discharge... but now, phones are glued shut, and disconnecting the battery isn't necessarily easy if you get it open.
In theory, most Android phones have USB host chips that can work as a JTAG bridge... but vendors are LOATH to give out the details that would allow end users to do their own JTAG fixes, because the same details would potentially make it easier for end users to defeat things like bootloader locks (many of which depend upon security-by-obscurity... think: robust lock with uncopyable key, with the lock hidden behind the doorbell button, and the key buried in a flower pot 5 feet away).
I vaguely remember reading on XDA about one Chinese phone that literally NEEDED JTAG to handle a cold boot. They'd boot it at the factory via JTAG, charge it fully, put it into deep sleep (what passed for "off"), and if its battery ever fully discharged (or you disconnected it), it was effectively bricked without their secret JTAG software to resurrect it. I doubt whether it was, or will be, the only one of its kind.
One alternative to requiring eternal warranty coverage would be to let vendors off the hook for any problem that a savvy end user *could* fix themselves. So, in the Pixel 3 case, if Google released the software (for free... at least, "free as in beer") that would enable anyone with a non-proprietary JTAG interface (or at least, published details that would enable third parties to implement it themselves) to fix the problem, it's off the hook. Otherwise, it is, and subject to HEAVY fines & liquidated damages to affected users if it stonewalls them.
Vendors refusing to 'support' old hardware in perpetuity is nothing new, but allowing old hardware to get bricked in ways that end users can't fix due to security/obscurity & vendors refuse to fix per business strategy IS a relatively new scourge.
IMHO, the way for Congress to handle "right to repair" shit like this is to look at how cars are regulated. A computer/phone/etc vendor should be held to the same long-term standards as automakers (ie, if you won't make & sell parts, you AT LEAST have to enable someone ELSE to do it, and can't throw arbitrary & unreasonable barriers at them).
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Question - does this problem persist if the phone is left on until the battery completely drains (or you disconnect the battery)?
I'm asking because there a lots of devices (cough ComcastModem) which don't fully reset when turned off & a power disconnect is required.
We've tried this one. No - doesn't work. Just goes back to EDL mode when you plug power back in.
Planned obsolescence (Score:1)
Just testing their little time bombs.. This is the future. Without sufficient pushback it will become quite normal and acceptable
Ironic (Score:2)
Linux started out as a free software, which you can install, now Android is locked down and most vendors don't allow you to do it.
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Users who do not aggressively demand and support FOSS get what they signed up for. This must be relentlessly pointed out now as in the beginning.
Stallman was right. If a vendor comes out with a modern, fast Linux phone (not Android which should be rejected outright as contaminated) with a non-shit UI (something FOSS devs seem to resent because artistic/autistic vision or whatever, but it's a self-inflicted roadblock) many geeks will buy it then spread the word.
Tired of the 3 letter acronyms.. (Score:2)
Not all of us who have Pixel3/Pixel3XL's are as smart as the person posting this article. Kindly explain what an
"EDL Bug" is...
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Not all of us who have Pixel3/Pixel3XL's are as smart as the person posting this article. Kindly explain what an "EDL Bug" is...
Not smart enough to use Google? Seriously? Took me 5s.
EDL Mode is "Emergency Download Mode" on devices with Qualcomm chipsets that allows force-flashing a device. It seems this "EDL Bug" is about these devices getting bricked into EDL mode for no apparent reason.
Interestingly I might have the same problem (Score:2)
I have a Coolpad Legacy CP3705A Android 9
I am always checking for updates and keep bloatware to the least amount.
Since about 8 or 9 weeks ago, I find the phone stalling or stopping.
interestingly enough, touching the button on the side to sleep and
waking brings it back to normal.
Might be a hint that android needs.
I was frustrated enough that I did a hard reset to my phone. and it was not solved.
Strategic bricking of old phone (Score:2)
Just in time for the role out of new phones...
EDL? (Score:2)
WTF?
If your going to use acronyms please say what they are before you start using the TLA for it.
I assume the 3a XL also (Score:2)
Mine is just over 2 years old and still works,, but tomorrow it may not. It would be nice to know if there's something which triggers this. Why do some fail, while others don't? I'm sure mine gets used a lot less than average and I don't install a whole lot of apps.
It's a good reminder to make sure I've got anything I care about backed up.
I probably won't buy another Pixel - if I do, I will consider it more carefully than I did this one. I'm mostly happy with it, but I have a couple of other complaints whi
This happened to me (so I submitted the story) (Score:2)
This happened to me. Had my Pixel 3 charging overnight and when I woke up it was black screen and unresponsive. Plug into PC and see the Qualcomm USB device turn up, and can see it rebooting when you hold the power button. Quick search for the device shows it's stuck in Emergency DownLoad mode, due to a bootloader failure. Only ever goes back to EDL mode, so no adb or fastboot options.
3 months out of warranty. Google techsupport is worse than useless and offers to diagnose it if I ship it across the co