Unexpectedly dead Pixel 4A 5G - Google Pixel 4a 5G Questions & Answers

Hi,
My husband's Pixel 4A 5G unexpectedly shut down in the middle of a browsing session. Not sure about the state of the battery, took to a shop where it seemed like the charging port works, but the screen is completely black. Nothing appears on display even when charging. No key combination, holding buttons for XYZ seconds etc that are advised on forums worked. Connected to a PC and the device doesn't show up. I even downloaded a few files recommended on these forums and tried again, spent hours googling the topic and trying a few things but I am truly and well stuck.
Ordered a new phone in the meantime but still trying...
One of the sites called getdroidtip is recommending the download of this zip, but the link doesn't work and cannot find it anywhere else. "Google Pixel 4a 5G_ZS661KS_UNBRICK_EDL.7z"
In fact, when I tried from my mobile the site redirected me to spammy sites and my Chrome on the PC is getting the Norton firewall agitated, it won't open. Edge no luck either.
I found EDL files for other phones but not this.
Has someone tried to revive their phone using this method, and if yes, is it ending with a total reset and data loss, in which case no point spending time on it?
Is it worth investing into a new battery just in case it died?
Please talk to me in plain English, I am a mature girl, lol, and most things here sound Chinese to me. But not computer illiterate and certainly can follow step by step instructions.
Thank you.

Before going down the software route it is indeed important to see if the issue is hardware related first. Based on what you said it could be the battery or the screen. If you can't see any screen damage whatsoever you can venture down the path of trying to replace the battery yourself if you feel adventurous but that's where I would start.

Related

KF Hd 7" stuck in start screen ( I am so freakin lost)

I know nothing of Bricking/Unbricking... Rooting or anything. I have been researching for 3 days now. I know as much now as I did then all of zip!! I cannot get past the on screen. I have done the 20 second poewr button push for up to 5 minutes. I have talked to Amazon support and have been told Im pretty much SOL. I miss my kinde and I am not ready to give up. I have seen others have appreared to be in worse situations with this issue than I am so I am hoping for some assistance.
Every time I look into KFU and understand it it doesnt download right. Almost everything says it cant work on my computer. I have downloaded several versions. I feel screwed. Is there hope for this? all the apps for unbricking and rooting that i have downloaded have been for nothing. I would really appreciate some mojo and super geek help please.
Lisa
OK I can help
korexeileithyia said:
I know nothing of Bricking/Unbricking... Rooting or anything. I have been researching for 3 days now. I know as much now as I did then all of zip!! I cannot get past the on screen. I have done the 20 second poewr button push for up to 5 minutes. I have talked to Amazon support and have been told Im pretty much SOL. I miss my kinde and I am not ready to give up. I have seen others have appreared to be in worse situations with this issue than I am so I am hoping for some assistance.
Every time I look into KFU and understand it it doesnt download right. Almost everything says it cant work on my computer. I have downloaded several versions. I feel screwed. Is there hope for this? all the apps for unbricking and rooting that i have downloaded have been for nothing. I would really appreciate some mojo and super geek help please.
Lisa
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First try and put it into recovery by holding down the volume up until a screen comes up saying to reboot or restore. Also, give me some background info. on how the kindle stopped working.
Is a definite must do. I have an appt I have to leave for in a minute so as soon as I get home I will def take care of the background info and the volume up try. Thank you. I will most assuredly appreciate your help. :highfive:
korexeileithyia said:
Is a definite must do. I have an appt I have to leave for in a minute so as soon as I get home I will def take care of the background info and the volume up try. Thank you. I will most assuredly appreciate your help. :highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem
catching up
Hi again... SO I did the volume up trick until my fingers started to shake. Nothing happened. I did it with the kindle attached to the computer and with out the usb tethered to anything. I did not try it straight off the wall plug tho. Nothing ....
Background. I have had the kindle less than a year. My 8 year old has been stealing it a lot the past few months trying it say is hers ;0 thats ok. Shes been playing games like bakery story Dragon story fashion world and temple run etc... she uses it for the calculator and reading programs. She also uses it for netflix. 5 days ago she watched netflix until the battery gave out. She plugged it in and waited a few minutes and it wasnt coming back in. She told me about it... I looked into everything I could think of. I tried everything I could find. I have downloaded (to my computer) a ton of root and unbricking programs. Nothing makes sense and everything says theres parameters missing. I called kindle. Support took me thru every step I had already tried (power button charging different ways killin the battery all the way doing different things etc) The only two things I see now are a huge battery in the middle of a black screen that has a very small red portion to it or the beginning screen that stays put with the words having the glowy part run across it over and over again... thats all I know for sure. IF theres any information you can help me with I would really appreciate it. Thank you.
Lisa
korexeileithyia said:
Hi again... SO I did the volume up trick until my fingers started to shake. Nothing happened. I did it with the kindle attached to the computer and with out the usb tethered to anything. I did not try it straight off the wall plug tho. Nothing ....
Background. I have had the kindle less than a year. My 8 year old has been stealing it a lot the past few months trying it say is hers ;0 thats ok. Shes been playing games like bakery story Dragon story fashion world and temple run etc... she uses it for the calculator and reading programs. She also uses it for netflix. 5 days ago she watched netflix until the battery gave out. She plugged it in and waited a few minutes and it wasnt coming back in. She told me about it... I looked into everything I could think of. I tried everything I could find. I have downloaded (to my computer) a ton of root and unbricking programs. Nothing makes sense and everything says theres parameters missing. I called kindle. Support took me thru every step I had already tried (power button charging different ways killin the battery all the way doing different things etc) The only two things I see now are a huge battery in the middle of a black screen that has a very small red portion to it or the beginning screen that stays put with the words having the glowy part run across it over and over again... thats all I know for sure. IF theres any information you can help me with I would really appreciate it. Thank you.
Lisa
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might need to get a factory cable. I have to get one because mine won't start up anymore either.
Hi lisa
First off Don't Panic!!! Been where you are about 2 months ago and couldn't/hadn't flashed/used from etc etc before in my life.. but my kfhd was stuffed but the sounds of things similar to you.
The volume up trick will only work once you have 2nd boot working btw.
Go to the 7' android development section of the kfhd forum and read a few threads around getting something called second boot loader.. it actually really simple and very simple to do (as long as you do follow it EXACTLY).. I did get a factory cable to assist this process, and you may need one as well, but I have read that several people have now worked out how to do it without. (Read all the thread about second boot loader there's a lot but its worth it) factory cables are only cheap at worst case..
I'm sure someone will direct you to exactly the link on the xda forum you need shortly, everyone was amazing when I initially stuffed up.keep smiling and as I said don't panic!!
Kgyuszko
Sent from my KFTT using xda app-developers app
Does your Kindle take a charge at all do you know or just always the same screens no matter how long you charge?
3 in one
1st querant Do you buy them on amazon? can i get one closer to home? Is there a price range I should look into?
2nd querant Ill look but be warned that my inner geek has had meltdowns over all of this. Its over my head. I just kinda bug eye and try not to get stupefied.
3rd querant No it will not charge at all.
Thank you all and please be patient with me.
I don`t know if the charging has the same issue as the first gen, it required a running system in order for the battery to charge if it ever became flat. Here`s my suggestion plug it to your pc for several hours set your computer to not sleep and leave it, if you get lucky it will eventually boot good luck. It should not need unbricking by the way.
korexeileithyia said:
1st querant Do you buy them on amazon? can i get one closer to home? Is there a price range I should look into?
2nd querant Ill look but be warned that my inner geek has had meltdowns over all of this. Its over my head. I just kinda bug eye and try not to get stupefied.
3rd querant No it will not charge at all.
Thank you all and please be patient with me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have not done anything to the device to cause this ie: root, custom recovery, flashed anything, then it sounds like you just have a hardware problem. Something went wrong that should not have and would be covered under warranty. I WOULD NOT mess with anything involving root or a factory cable or 2nd bootloader. If you do not know what you are doing when it comes to those things then you could potentially do more harm than good. Did you buy it on amazon? You said you already called amazon, call them back, they will replace it, even if you didnt buy directly from them.. Sometimes the people that answer the phones for amazon are idiots. Just call until you get someone who is helpful. tell them exactly what happened, it died and won't come back on. Don't mention anything about root, factory cable, ect.. These devices havent even been out for a year so all of them are still under warranty unless you've root or installed custom recovery.
Could just be a defective charger ? did you try an alternative mains/usb wall charger, left plugged in with the kindle powered off ? it takes a long time to charge them from flat, mine was approx 12 hours Edit - A computors usb output isn't usually enough to push a charge in only keep the kindle "as is" when in use
onemeila said:
If you have not done anything to the device to cause this ie: root, custom recovery, flashed anything, then it sounds like you just have a hardware problem. Something went wrong that should not have and would be covered under warranty. I WOULD NOT mess with anything involving root or a factory cable or 2nd bootloader. If you do not know what you are doing when it comes to those things then you could potentially do more harm than good. Did you buy it on amazon? You said you already called amazon, call them back, they will replace it, even if you didnt buy directly from them.. Sometimes the people that answer the phones for amazon are idiots. Just call until you get someone who is helpful. tell them exactly what happened, it died and won't come back on. Don't mention anything about root, factory cable, ect.. These devices havent even been out for a year so all of them are still under warranty unless you've root or installed custom recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wouldnt matter if I could root or unbrick it. My computer wont download the system operations for those properly. I did mention that I dont know how. and I did say that I dont understand what they are so I am not doing them. That I had tried the 20 second power button push all thw way up to 5 minutes on the usb to the computer and the wall as well as detached. Nothing worked. Its stuck and they wouldnt explain why. All I got was well sorry thats it we cant help you. *sigh* I have tried calling like 5 times. to no avail. Thanks tho.
I will be the first to say that unless I can figure something out I am not going to try it. My tablet is something I find as a MUST HAVE and I dont want to take any chances on ....
JohnFranklin said:
Could just be a defective charger ? did you try an alternative mains/usb wall charger, left plugged in with the kindle powered off ? it takes a long time to charge them from flat, mine was approx 12 hours Edit - A computors usb output isn't usually enough to push a charge in only keep the kindle "as is" when in use
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its possible because my son was using mine and his to charge his reg KF and it wasnt charging. He tried several alternates power choices on that as well. I have ordered the factory charger but I am going to want to understand everything about it before it gets here on sat. I am going to start researching it tonight when i get home.
Try...
korexeileithyia said:
Its possible because my son was using mine and his to charge his reg KF and it wasnt charging. He tried several alternates power choices on that as well. I have ordered the factory charger but I am going to want to understand everything about it before it gets here on sat. I am going to start researching it tonight when i get home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try testing the charge on a couple different power cords that are know to work and put it on one for 12hrs. Then if it couldn't charge I'll walk you through the steps of using a factory cable.
What kind of computer do you have. These things always work smother on a Windows machine (or Linux). Also did you ever install the drivers for your Kindle on the computer. Nothing will work properly unless you have the drivers on there. They should load automatically when you plug your kindle into the computer. If they don't, here is a thread where you can download the drivers http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1890413 Just download and you can either unzip the file and use what's inside or just double click to install :good:
CVanB said:
Try testing the charge on a couple different power cords that are know to work and put it on one for 12hrs. Then if it couldn't charge I'll walk you through the steps of using a factory cable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Cable will be here Sat. I have tried the charging but will do so again... thank you
korexeileithyia said:
The Cable will be here Sat. I have tried the charging but will do so again... thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont mean to discourage and maybe it will work but the only thing a factory cable is used for is to put the device into fastboot so you can flash partition imgs or other programming features(the cable uses the fifth lead on a micro usb cable to activate fastboot). Even if it goes to fastboot your kindle is not bricked and and you would have no reason or need for fastboot. From what you've said you have not rooted or modified your device at all, there are only two possibilities of what is wrong with it at this point- the charger is bad or the charging port has gone bad. That box with the red bar about a 1/4 full just means the device doesnt have enough charge to power up. It happens all the time on mine and once I charge it for a couple minutes its fine. So your device is obviously not charging and I dont think a factory cable is going to change that. I just want you to have the right info and not go wasting your time and money trying things that are irrelevant to what is actually wrong with your device.
trying
have cable, still lost. Am trying to figure out what I need. Things wont load on the computer. I have a samsung RV515 laptop. I cant get the computer to recognize the muffed kindle. The fastboot screen does show up but then goes no further. It does need to show up on the computer so I can do more things with it. Not so much atm. I have the recommended linked .exe on the computer but it will not run as it says not everything is downloaded and I have to finish d/l it manually. I am not ready to give up but I wont do anything to screw it up more.
No it wont go past the 1/4th charge. I have left it on the charge for 24 hours and not getting further. Again I have seen people not even able to get to the front screen pull it back from the dead. So Im hoping.. thanks
You mean the exe that I linked you to doesn't work?
from my Viped out one x

Phone randomly turns off... It's getting worse.

Hi guys..
Basically what the subject line says... Phone randomly turns off. I turn it on again and it turns off.. II turn it on and finally after a few tries it runs... Sometimes I have to long press the power button to get it to turn on. am running the latest version of Android July 5 Android 12 stock and all apps are updated... I tried a factory reset and continue to have the same problem..
Any thoughts on a solution? Anyone else have a similar problem? I live in Spain and bought it online.. Turns out that I have a USA Google pixel 4a 5g so now its out of warranty after only one year and a half of use... Really disappointed
Well, I sympathize with you my friend. My Pixel 4a5g just died recently after bootlooping for 2 months. I've tried everything from reading and researching tons of threads on Reddit and here on resetting, reflashing, etc, etc. My phone is also out of warranty and so Google support suggests I submit it for repair which will run me $350. For that price it it is simply not worth it. Sorry I don't have good news but I recently submitted a post called "my phone is fubard" describing my experience.
My suggestion is to back up everything you can and start looking for a new device. Basically, out of warranty means out of luck. All the best my friend.

Question Bricked Pixel 5a/QUSB code of death

Bricked Pixel 5a/QUSB code of death
Has anyone found a solution to the QUSB code of death? I entered the club last week. I was using my Pixel 5a as usual, scrolling through social media. Then suddenly, the screen freezes, the phone shuts off, reboots, freezes on the Google logo, then shuts off. Has not turned on since.
I have done all of the rudimentary “diagnostic solutions” but to no avail. When I plug the phone into my computer, the QUSB device code shows up in device manager.
I filed a request to obtain a replacement/repair with Google last week. They gave me the option to replace the device after determining it was bricked. However, Google seems to think it’s liquid damaged and ineligible for repair/replacement under the warranty. The phone has never had any sort of extensive liquid contact.
I am currently waiting to receive the same exact phone back. So far, I have not been able to find a legitimate solution other than sketchy “freezer” fixes and uncontrolled banging around the device with the hopes of it turning on again.
Has anyone figured out a legitimate solution to the same problem among multiple generations of Pixel devices?
can you get into bootloader? power on + vol down.
or a response when you have it plugged in with adb devices or fastboot devices?
or try a force off? power + vol down + vol up for about 30 seconds then try to power on again?
I have already tried those solutions. So far, nothing has worked.
wow. i don't know what's going on. mine did the same thing on sunday. got it to clean flash the official 13 with the chrome flash tool. was getting set back up and it happened again. and i just replied to another thread on here about someone it happened to. they better not tell me mine is suspected to be liquid damaged. but if they're not gonna replace it, i suppose you could try the freezer trick. and the best thing to do would probably buy a cheap 3a and trade it in for a 6a. maybe i shouldn't go with pixels anymore though. only had the 3a and now this one. they should get back to me tomorrow. i gave up trying to fix it the 2nd time it happened. wouldn't boot into userspace fastboot. never saw the qusb issue
Same thing just happened to my wife's 5a while she was browsing Facebook. There is no user accessible fix for this; while the QPST/QFIL programs may be found online, the MBN files necessary to reimage the device are not.
If you bought your device within the last 12 months, you should be able to get it repaired under warranty.
Here is the link for warranty repair.
V0latyle said:
Same thing just happened to my wife's 5a while she was browsing Facebook. There is no user accessible fix for this; while the QPST/QFIL programs may be found online, the MBN files necessary to reimage the device are not.
If you bought your device within the last 12 months, you should be able to get it repaired under warranty.
Here is the link for warranty repair.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My wife's phone now has this issue and we have important pictures on there we don't want lost. Is there a way to use the QPST program to get files off of the phone? Is there another way to get the files off of the phone when we cant get the device to even power on? When I plug it into a computer, I do get the QUSB device to appear.

Question Black screen of death / GrapheneOS Pixel 5a

Tl;Dr - my pixel 5a5g got the black screen of death a few months ago. Last night, I tried using the flash tool to try to flash it back to Android from GrapheneOS - so that Google would be willing to fix it maybe. Flashing seemed to fail. Unsure what to try or do next.
---------------
My Pixel has had the black screen of death for a few months now. I'm assuming it is from falling a few feet to the ground. It had a custom ROM - GrapheneOS - on it. Unless I can reflash to stock Android, it sounds like Google/ubreakifix won't look at it, and thus - no chance of repairing it for free or a smaller charge.
The other night, I tried attaching an OTG keyboard to the phone to log in to it. Since the display is black, I'm not sure it worked. I also tried several times to press where I thought the numbers for logging in would be - on my completely black screen. Somehow, I was eventually able to get my PC and Google's flash tool to recognize the phone. However, I might have messed up on some steps - because I think it might be bricked now.
I think I forgot to remove the grapheneOS key via their Web installer before trying to flash android. I used minimal abd tools to unlock the bootloader (and it still says it is unlocked)... When I tried flashing back to stock android using the android web tool, it went through the motions, but then said something like it needs to detect the phone again after flashing. And it wouldn't detect the phone again. Even if I unplugged then replugged the phone. The directions said I shouldn't/wouldn't need to press any keys on the phone for this step, but it just wasn't progressing further... So, I ended up holding the power button and volume down button - and it went into fastboot(?) again - or whatever that does.
I can repeat the steps of going thru the motions of flashing the device now, but now it gives an error saying something like it can't lock the device.
Being that the 5a screen is completely black, I have no idea what is going on - or what to do from here. I've reached out to some local repair places, but honestly, if I can't flash it myself to stock so that Google/ubreakifix would look at it, then it probably isn't worth sinking money into.... There's decent condition used ones around $120 or something out there... And ubreakifix would probably charge between $160 and $200 for screen replacement + labor - and I'm assuming that's not including a motherboard replacement - if necessary.
Ubreakifix said that they would be willing to look at it, but they can't actually do any repairs to it if it isn't running stock Android. They'd charge for the labor, and they'd temporarily use a screen to look at what it is doing/not doing... But wouldn't actually do the screen repair. I'm assuming the phone never flashed completely, but I'm hoping they can tell me if their diagnostic tools work on it - since I imagine it should work -- IF stock Android is actually installed again on it.
I've also looked into doing something like getting a displaylink adapter + display link app so that I can see the screen on the computer... But even after my multiple attempts of logging in to the phone, I can't send app downloads to the phone. Google Play store shows that the phone was "last seen" months ago... And even if I could push the app download, GrapheneOS still requires manual approval from the user to accept/finalize install of the app... Which would be pretty hard to do without seeing the screen. And obviously since I've tried flashing the phone several times last night, i have no idea what the phone is looking like. Probably app downloads are out of the question now.
Apparently you can't normally do display out of any sort with Pixel phones. The rumor I've seen on here and/or reddit is that Google got rid of it years ago, maybe so that they can sell more Chromecasts...
Does anyone have any further suggestions? I could try using scrcpy or whatever it's called, but I probably should have tried to use that before attempting to flash the phone... It's sure hard to give up on something that I spent good money on. I'd like to think there's something I haven't tried yet that I can do to save it...
You could probably try these steps:
1. Open up Device Manager on PC
2. Connect your phone
3. Hold Power + Volume Down
If you have new device in Device Manager, you can do everything with your device like flashing or try "to remove the grapheneOS key".
Edit: I'm dumb and didn't notice that part where you tried this. You should just boot into fastboot and remove that custom AVB key with fastboot erase avb_custom_key, and then reflash the phone on flash.android.com. Hope that helps!

Question Mi 11 keeps on getting Dead Boot

So I recently updated to MIUI 14 and after using my 55w charger and playing some games, my device won't open anymore and it's just black screen, won't even charge (or what they called Dead Boot)
Then I have it fixed with a local tech, got to use it for 3-5 days tops, then it happened again. Tech says it was due to overheat. Now I am just so afraid to use MIUI 14 and wanted to know what's the best kernel and custom rom you can suggest? Also what are your suggestion to stop my phone from being "deadboot"? Thanks!
Mi 11 users have been experiencing the frustrating issue of their device getting stuck in a dead boot loop. This problem can occur due to various reasons, including an incompatible firmware update or faulty hardware. However, there are a few steps that you can take to try and fix this issue.
Firstly, try restarting your Mi 11 in safe mode by holding down the power button until the screen turns off and then pressing and holding the volume up key until your device starts in safe mode. If this doesn't work, you may need to reset your phone's settings completely or even perform a factory reset.
It's important to note that attempting these solutions may lead to data loss, so it's recommended that you back up all important files before proceeding with any troubleshooting steps.
If none of these methods work for fixing your Mi 11 dead boot issue, it's best to seek assistance from a professional repair service or contact Xiaomi customer support for further guidance.
Despite being frustrating at times, technical issues like this remind us of how much we rely on our smartphones every day. It also highlights the importance of taking care of our devices and keeping them updated regularly.
Tips: https://howtofixapp.com/bootloop-xiaomi/
jack lamters said:
Mi 11 users have been experiencing the frustrating issue of their device getting stuck in a dead boot loop. This problem can occur due to various reasons, including an incompatible firmware update or faulty hardware. However, there are a few steps that you can take to try and fix this issue.
Firstly, try restarting your Mi 11 in safe mode by holding down the power button until the screen turns off and then pressing and holding the volume up key until your device starts in safe mode. If this doesn't work, you may need to reset your phone's settings completely or even perform a factory reset.
It's important to note that attempting these solutions may lead to data loss, so it's recommended that you back up all important files before proceeding with any troubleshooting steps.
If none of these methods work for fixing your Mi 11 dead boot issue, it's best to seek assistance from a professional repair service or contact Xiaomi customer support for further guidance.
Despite being frustrating at times, technical issues like this remind us of how much we rely on our smartphones every day. It also highlights the importance of taking care of our devices and keeping them updated regularly.
Tips: https://howtofixapp.com/bootloop-xiaomi/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! Yeah it kinda sucks how faulty MIUI can be. I'm just so scared to use my phone now unless I found the best custom rom to use it daily again, and tweak it to stop from overheating (couldn't even use my 55w charger now).
I tried different methods before sending it to our local tech. Even draining it for a couple of days didn't work. I've been to more than 10 different tech but only 3 had tried to fixed it. Other says the cpu already needs replacements and such - but everything now looks great and I am happy some of my local techs are great on fixing this issue.
Just hopefully I can found other recommendations to stop this traumatic event from happening again.
Cyan27 said:
Thank you! Yeah it kinda sucks how faulty MIUI can be. I'm just so scared to use my phone now unless I found the best custom rom to use it daily again, and tweak it to stop from overheating (couldn't even use my 55w charger now).
I tried different methods before sending it to our local tech. Even draining it for a couple of days didn't work. I've been to more than 10 different tech but only 3 had tried to fixed it. Other says the cpu already needs replacements and such - but everything now looks great and I am happy some of my local techs are great on fixing this issue.
Just hopefully I can found other recommendations to stop this traumatic event from happening again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, there ain't really a "best" custom ROM tho, but they're all better than MIUI no matter what one you choose.
Just try out a bunch of them and see what's the best fit for you!
Hoping your phone doesn't break again
Ive had a problem after miui update too. Not as bad as yours but my speakers have stopped working rendering it unusable as I take a lot of calls. Only fix is using Bluetooth but I want it resolved so back to my Poco x3 pro. I'm currently in the process of unlocking the bootloader, just need to wait 6 more days.
A shame that warranty only ran out just over a week ago
I have installed custom ROMs before but our of desperation I asked if I could flash a stock rom with fastboot on a locked rom, but no reply and upon further research it just seems too risky. Rather wait the 7 days to unlock it.

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