Recover files from a Pixel 2 stuck in bootloop


Question

My Pixel 2 is stuck in the boot loop. I will send it for a replacement but I would like to recover some files that weren't backed up in the cloud.



I can see the phone using adb devices and I was hoping to use the abd pull command but I can't due to permissions. I am using a Mac and my phone is not rooted.



adb shell ls -lah



1|walleye:/ $ ls -lah
ls: ./init.usb.configfs.rc: Permission denied
ls: ./init.recovery.walleye.rc: Permission denied
ls: ./init.rc: Permission denied
ls: ./init.zygote32.rc: Permission denied
ls: ./init: Permission denied
ls: ./init.environ.rc: Permission denied
ls: ./init.usb.rc: Permission denied
ls: ./persist: Permission denied
ls: ./cache: Permission denied
ls: ./postinstall: Permission denied
ls: ./ueventd.rc: Permission denied
ls: ./init.zygote64_32.rc: Permission denied
total 40K
drwxr-xr-x 21 root root 4.0K 2009-01-01 09:00 .
drwxr-xr-x 21 root root 4.0K 2009-01-01 09:00 ..
dr-xr-xr-x 20 root root 0 1970-07-27 04:06 acct
lrw-r--r-- 1 root root 50 2009-01-01 09:00 bugreports -> /data/user_de/0/com.android.shell/files/bugreports
lrw-r--r-- 1 root root 13 2009-01-01 09:00 charger -> /sbin/charger
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 0 1970-01-01 01:00 config
lrw-r--r-- 1 root root 17 2009-01-01 09:00 d -> /sys/kernel/debug
drwxrwx--x 39 system system 4.0K 2018-01-13 17:08 data
lrw------- 1 root root 23 2009-01-01 09:00 default.prop -> system/etc/prop.default
drwxr-xr-x 15 root root 3.8K 2018-07-10 17:30 dev
lrw-r--r-- 1 root root 15 2009-01-01 09:00 dsp -> /vendor/lib/dsp
lrw-r--r-- 1 root root 11 2009-01-01 09:00 etc -> /system/etc
dr-xr-x--- 4 system system 16K 1970-01-01 01:00 firmware
drwx------ 2 root root 16K 2009-01-01 09:00 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K 2009-01-01 09:00 metadata
drwxr-xr-x 10 root system 220 1970-07-27 04:06 mnt
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K 2009-01-01 09:00 oem
dr-xr-xr-x 655 root root 0 1970-01-01 01:00 proc
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4.0K 2009-01-01 09:00 res
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4.0K 2009-01-01 09:00 root
drwxr-x--- 2 root shell 4.0K 2009-01-01 09:00 sbin
lrw-r--r-- 1 root root 21 2009-01-01 09:00 sdcard -> /storage/self/primary
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 60 1970-07-27 04:06 storage
dr-xr-xr-x 13 root root 0 1970-07-27 04:06 sys
drwxr-xr-x 14 root root 4.0K 2009-01-01 09:00 system
drwxr-xr-x 16 root root 4.0K 2009-01-01 09:00 vendor


adb pull /



adb pull /
adb: warning: stat failed for path /charger: Permission denied
adb: warning: stat failed for path /sdcard: No such file or directory
adb: warning: stat failed for path /system/bin/ip6tables-wrapper-1.0: Permission denied
...
...
...


Is it possible to pull all files from the phone or mount it on my Mac? I'm only interested in the pictures really.


Answer

I have used ADB on a Mac before, so it should be possible. I would suggest trying to pull specifically the emulated SD partition using the full path shown by your ls command: adb pull /storage/self/primary



I have seen a variety of "real paths" across different phones/versions of Android. Its actual location may be in emulated or mnt.



If it is stuck in a loop and never booting to Android, then there is little ADB can do.


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