Install PixelExperience on beckham
Back to the overviewDo not continue after something fails!
Basic requirements
- Read through the instructions at least once before actually following them, so as to avoid any problems due to any missed steps!
- Make sure your computer has
adb
andfastboot
. Setup instructions can be found here. - Enable USB debugging on your device.
- Make sure that your model is actually listed in the “Supported models” section here (exact match required!)
- Boot your device with the stock OS at least once and check every functionality. Make sure that you can send and receive SMS and place and receive calls (also via WiFi and LTE, if available), otherwise it won’t work on PixelExperience either! Additionally, some devices require that VoLTE/VoWiFi be utilized once on stock to provision IMS.
- PixelExperience is provided as-is with no warranty. While we attempt to verify everything works you are installing this at your own risk!
Unlocking the bootloader
- Connect the device to your PC via USB.
- On the computer, open a command prompt (on Windows) or terminal (on Linux or macOS) window, and type:
adb reboot bootloader
You can also boot into fastboot mode via a key combination:
- With the device powered off, hold Volume Down + Power.
- Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC finds it by typing:
fastboot devices
If you don’t get any output or an error:
- on Windows: make sure the device appears in the device manager without a triangle. Try other drivers until the command above works!
- on Linux or macOS: If you see
no permissions fastboot
try runningfastboot
as root. When the output is empty, check your USB cable and port!
-
Follow the instructions at Motorola Support to unlock your bootloader.
Note: If your device is not supported by the Motorola Bootloader Unlock website, you may be able to use an alternative bootloader unlock method like SunShine, though they only support some devices/firmwares. - Since the device resets completely, you will need to re-enable USB debugging to continue.
Booting a custom recovery using fastboot
-
Download the PixelExperience Recovery. Simply download the latest recovery file.
Important: Other recoveries may not work for installation or updates. We strongly recommend to use the one linked above! - Connect your device to your PC via USB if it isn’t already.
- If your device isn’t already in fastboot mode, on the computer, open a command prompt (on Windows) or terminal (on Linux or macOS) window, and type:
adb reboot bootloader
You can also boot into fastboot mode via a key combination:
- With the device powered off, hold Volume Down + Power.
- Once the device is in fastboot mode, verify your PC finds it by typing:
fastboot devices
If you don’t get any output or an error:
- on Windows: make sure the device appears in the device manager without a triangle. Try other drivers until the command above works!
- on Linux or macOS: If you see
no permissions fastboot
try runningfastboot
as root. When the output is empty, check your USB cable (preferably use a USB Type-A 2.0 one or a USB hub) and port!
Tip: Some devices have buggy USB support while in bootloader mode, if you seefastboot
hanging with no output when using commands such asfastboot getvar ...
,fastboot boot ...
,fastboot flash ...
you may want to try a different USB port (preferably a USB Type-A 2.0 one) or a USB hub. - Flash a recovery on your device by typing (replace
<recovery_filename>
with the actual filename!):fastboot flash boot <recovery_filename>.img
Note: Outdated fastboot releases dropped legacy A/B support, so it might attempt to flash toboot__a
/boot__b
rather thanboot_a
/boot_b
if you try to flashboot
. In this case, you must updatefastboot
to a release newer than or equal to31.0.2
. Alternatively, you can manually specify which slot to flash to based on what slot fastboot failed to flash to. For example, if fastboot fails to flash toboot__a
, you must flash toboot_a
. - Now reboot into recovery to verify the installation.
- Use the menu to navigate to and to select the
Recovery
option.
Note: If your recovery does not show the PixelExperience logo, you accidentally booted into the wrong recovery. Please start at the top of this section! - Use the menu to navigate to and to select the
Ensuring all firmware partitions are consistent
In some cases, the inactive slot can be unpopulated or contain much older firmware than the active slot, leading to various issues including a potential hard-brick. We can ensure none of that will happen by copying the contents of the active slot to the inactive slot.
To do this, sideload the copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip package by doing the following:
- Download the
copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip
file from here. - Sideload the
copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip
package:- On the device, select “Apply Update”, then “Apply from ADB” to begin sideload.
- On the host machine, sideload the package using:
adb sideload copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip
- Now reboot to recovery by tapping “Advanced”, then “Reboot to recovery”.
RETROFIT INSTRUCTIONS:
You will not be able to use TWRP at all, it will leave your device in an unusable state, follow the instructions below:
1- You need an AOSP-like recovery (preferably PixelExperience recovery):
- If you’re coming from PixelExperience 12, you’re ready to go and don’t need retrofit step. Flash PixelExperience, factory reset and enjoy;
- If it comes from another rom eg lineageOS or AICP and has rom recovery you can use it without problems;
- If you don’t have it installed, download PixelExperience recovery here.
2-You need to install retrofit zip to convert your device, this step only need to be run once per device. Download here.
3- Go to PixelExperience recovery and format your data, then sideload or install from sdcard previosly downloaded retrofit.zip. Format your data and reboot to recovery.
4-Download the updated build of PixelExperience from here, sideload or move to your sdcard and install the updated system, format your data and done
FAQ: 1- Can I install magisk in this retrofited system? yes, you can either sideload by adb or install from sdcard renaming magisk.apk to magisk.zip
2- Why the hell use the retrofited system? Our system partition is too small. Retrofited system allow us to ship all the pixel goodies reference here.
3- How do I go back to the old schema: Easy as you converted:
- Pick any rom with a/b schema (eg lineageOS or PE 12)
- Reboot recovery
- Format data
- Flash a/b zip -Done
DO NOT USE TWRP FOR RETROFITED ROMS, IT WILL BREAK YOUR PARTITIONS
Installing PixelExperience from recovery
- Download the PixelExperience installation package that you would like to install or build the package yourself.
- If you are not in recovery, reboot into recovery:
- With the device powered off, hold Volume Down + Power, then select “Recovery mode” using Volume keys.
- Now tap Factory Reset, then Format data / factory reset and continue with the formatting process. This will remove encryption and delete all files stored in the internal storage, as well as format your cache partition (if you have one).
- Return to the main menu.
- Sideload the PixelExperience
.zip
package:- On the device, select “Apply Update”, then “Apply from ADB” to begin sideload.
- On the host machine, sideload the package using:
adb sideload filename.zip
.Tip: Normally, adb will reportTotal xfer: 1.00x
, but in some cases, even if the process succeeds the output will stop at 47% and reportTotal xfer: 0.98x
oradb: failed to read command: Success
. In some cases it will reportadb: failed to read command: No error
oradb: failed to read command: Undefined error: 0
which is also fine.
- Once you have installed everything successfully, click the back arrow in the top left of the screen, then “Reboot system now”.
Get assistance
After you’ve double checked that you followed the steps precisely, didn’t skip any and still have questions or got stuck, feel free to ask on our Telegram group.