His bootloader will take unencrypted uploads if it doesn’t have a password, but if it’s compiled with a key, it will only accept (correctly) encrypted hex files.

Several people were able to unlock the bootloader on the Verizon Pixel 2 Normally, Verizon models of the Pixel 2 come with locked bootloaders, though a workaround seems to unlock their bootloaders.

HIGHLIGHTS A step by step guide to help you unlock your Android's phone bootloader and install a Recovery.

The bootloader, in almost any computing environment (not just Android), is executable code that runs before the operating system loads and starts to run.