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’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.