How to Install Android O on the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Pixel C, Pixel and Pixel XL

The first developer preview is here, and today I’ll show you how to install Android O on the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Pixel C, Pixel and Pixel XL.

You may already know that Google has just released the first Android O Developer Preview and you can install it right now on supported devices. Many are upset that the Nexus 6 is being retired, so this leaves us with the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, Pixel C, Pixel, and Pixel XL devices.

You probably already noticed that I left the Nexus Player out of the title and that’s simply because I don’t have experience flashing firmware onto it.

It may very well be the same as phones and tablets, but I would rather not pretend I know what I’m doing and clump it in there just because it’s a supported device. If more people start to donate via Patreon or PayPal, then I can afford to get devices for testing and tutorial purposes. So I’ll be sticking to what I know and that will be installing Android O on the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Pixel C, Pixel and Pixel XL. The process is the same for all of them, but you’ll just need to make sure you download the factory images for your specific device.

Before we begin, you will need to have USB Drivers and ADB setup on your computer. For those who have not done this in the past, be sure to check out the guide I wrote about how to install ADB and Fastboot tools on the PC. You’ll then need to follow the guide on how to enable USB Debugging Mode on the phone or tablet. Then go ahead and connect the phone or tablet to the PC and run the adb devices command in a command prompt so that you know everything is setup properly.

How to Install Android O

1. Download the factory images file for your device onto the PC
2. Extract the contents of this .ZIP file
3. Go into the folder that you just extracted
4. Copy/move these individual files to the same directory you have ADB and Fastboot installed
5. Boot the device into Fastboot Mode (Nexus 5X – Nexus 6P – Pixel)
6. Open a Command Prompt and type in the following command. . .
7. flash-all.bat
8. . . .then press Enter on they keyboard
9. Wait for the script to complete
10. Press any key on the keyboard when prompted
11. When the phone or tablet reboots, unplug the USB cable
12. Wait for Android O to boot for the first time

Explanation

If you have ever manually flashed any factory images onto a Nexus or Pixel device in the past, then you should be very familiar with this process. I constantly do this for returning a phone or tablet back to stock, manually updating to a new version of Android, or just trying to fix bugs from a bad install of the OS. There are many reasons why someone would want to manually flash the factory images that Google provides and thankfully the process is incredibly easy.

It may seem difficult to install Android O if you have never done it in the past, but the step by step guide and the video should be able to walk you through the process from start to finish. Since Google makes it so easy to perform with the flash-all.bat file, the difficult part is just getting the PC setup. You’ll just need to make sure you have the proper drivers installed so that the PC recognizes the phone or tablet when you execute the adb devices command (you can see how my device is listed in the video above).

So once that is done, you can then go ahead and boot the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Pixel, Pixel XL or Pixel C into Fastboot Mode (which is also known as Bootloader Mode). I linked to three specific guides in the step by step tutorial above, but the process for the Pixel C will be exactly the same. Once you are in Fastboot Mode, go ahead and type out the flash-all.bat command in the Command Prompt and then press Enter on the keyboard.

As you can see from the video above, this process takes a few minutes so simply wait until it has been completed. I received a FAILED message in the middle of mine, but it didn’t stop the .BAT script from continuing on and finishing the install of Android O. As long as the .BAT script file doesn’t stop itself, then you should be okay to let it finish. I didn’t stop mine and it completed without any other issues and the video shows you that it booted up just fine.

I’ll be covering different aspects of Android O over the next few weeks so be sure to stay tuned, and feel free to ask me any questions you may have about the new update (or maybe something you would like seen in a video).