How to Install Pixel Experience ROM without TWRP

In this guide, we will show you the steps to install Pixel Experience ROM on your device without using TWRP recovery. One of the biggest advantages of having an open source ecosystem like Android is the ability to try out a plethora of mods and tweaks. In this regard, replacing the stock ecosystem of a device with a custom firmware has always been one of the preferred changes for end users. And the reason is hardly a secret.

The fact that you get a plethora of extras and features right out of the box has always managed to grab all the headlines. But that’s not the only reason there. These custom ROMs also bless your device with the latest OS upgrades, even if the OEM’s official cycle is over. So this brings us to the most important question – how to install a custom ROM? Well, taking the help of a custom recovery like TWRP has always been the best choice for tech enthusiasts.

You just need to factory reset the device and then flash the ROM ZIP file.To address this major concern, various custom ROM developers such as Lineage, Arrow, and Pixel Experience have started porting their recoveries with ROMs. So you have to flash their custom recovery first and then flash the ROM using that recovery. Following this footsteps, this guide will show you the steps to install Pixel Experience ROM on your device. Follow along.

How to Install Pixel Experience without TWRP Recovery

STEP 4: Download Pixel Experience ROM and Recovery

Now, get hold of the Pixel Experience ROM and Recovery files from their official site.
The ROM file will be present as a ZIP whereas the recovery will be an IMG file.
Once both the files have been downloaded, transfer them to the platform-tools folder on your PC.
Next up, rename the recovery file to recovery, so that the complete name becomes recovery.img.
Likewise, rename the ROM file to rom, so that the complete name becomes rom.zip.

STEP 5: Boot to Fastboot Mode

Connect your device to the PC via USB cable. Make sure USB Debugging is enabled.
Then head over to the platform-tools folder, type in CMD in the address bar, and hit Enter. This will launch the Command Prompt.
After that, type in the following command in the CMD window to boot your device to Fastboot Mode

adb reboot bootloader

To verify the Fastboot connection, type in the below command and you should get back the device ID.

fastboot devices

Flash Vendor Boot Partition

Some devices require an additional vendor boot zip file to be flashed for custom recovery to work properly. So grab the file from below and check out these instructions

NOTE: Only the following devices need to flash the Vendor Boot ZIP file, the rest should skip this step.

MI 11 DOWNLOAD
MI 11 LITE 5G DOWNLOAD
MI 11 PRO DOWNLOAD
REDMI K40 PRO / REDMI K40 PRO+ / MI 11X PRO / MI 11i DOWNLOAD
PIXEL 4A 5G DOWNLOAD
PIXEL 5 DOWNLOAD
PIXEL 5A DOWNLOAD

To begin with, download the Vendor Boot file from above
Then transfer it to the platform-tools folder. Likewise, rename it to vendor_boot.img
Now launch CMD inside the platform-tools folder
Finally, execute the below command to flash this file:fastboot flash vendor_boot vendor_boot.img

STEP 7: Flash Pixel Experience Recovery

Some devices come with a separate recovery partition. Hence the Pixel Experience Recovery should be flashed in the recovery partition on those devices.
On the other hand, in many devices, the recovery partition has been replaced by the boot partition. So you will have to flash the Pixel Experience Recovery in the boot partition on those devices.
We have prepared a list for the same at the end of this guide [FAQ 2]. You should refer to it and then use the flashing command accordingly-

Device with boot partition: fastboot flash boot recovery.img
Device with recovery partition: fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

Once the flashing is complete, use the hardware keys to bring up the Recovery menu and hit the Power key to confirm it.
Your device will now boot to the Pixel Experience Recovery [it is a touch-based recovery, so you could use it without interacting with the hardware keys].

Copy Content of Slot A to Slot B

To maintain firmware version consistency between the two partitions on your device, we will now copy all the contents of slot A to slot B.

NOTE: Only the below-listed devices should flash this file, the rest should skip it.

MOTO EDGE S/ MOTO G100
MOTO G7 PLUS
MOTO X4
MOTO Z3 PLAY
ONEPLUS 7
ONEPLUS 7 PRO
ONEPLUS 7T
ONEPLUS 7T PRO
ONEPLUS 8 PRO

Download the copy-partitions ZIP file and transfer it to the platform-tools folder on your PC.

Then on the Pixel Experience recovery, select Apply Update > Apply from ADB.

After that, open CMD inside the platform-tools folder and execute the below command

adb sideload copy-partitions-20210323_1922.zip

Once flashed, go to Reboot and select Recovery. Your device will reboot to Pixel Recovery.

Factory Reset Device

From the Pixel Experience Recovery, go to Factory Reset.
Then select Format Data/Factory Reset > Format Data.
Your device will now undergo a reset.
Once done, you shall get the “Data wipe complete” message.

STEP 10: Install Pixel Experience ROM

From the Pixel Experience Recovery, go to Apply Update > Apply from ADB.
Then head over to the platform-tools folder, type in CMD in the address bar, and hit Enter.
This will launch the Command Prompt. So type in the below command to flash the ROM file via Sideload:

adb sideload rom.zip

The process will now begin and once done, you shall get the Total xfer: 1.00x message [Got an error? See FAQ below].
Now go back to the home screen of the recovery and select Reboot System Now. Your device will now boot to the newly installed OS.

that’s it. Here are the steps to install Pixel Experience ROM without using TWRP Recovery. If you have any queries regarding the above steps, let us know your doubt and the tool you are using in the comments. We will contact you with a solution as soon as possible.

FAQ 1: Error during ADB Sideload

If you get one of the following error messages, it indicates a successful installation and you can reboot the device to the OS without any issues.

Total xfer: 1.00x
adb: failed to read command: Success/No error
adb: failed to read command: No error
(~47%) adb: failed to read the command: No error
adb: failed to read command: Undefined error: 0

FAQ 2: Devices with Boot and Recovery Partition

Boot Partition

Here is the list of devices with boot partition. These devices should use the fastboot flashboot recovery.img command to flash the recovery file.

GOOGLE PIXEL 2
GOOGLE PIXEL 2XL
MOTO EDGE S/ MOTO G100
MOTO G7 PLUS
MOTO X4
MOTO Z3 PLAY
MOTO ONE VISION/MOTO P50
ONEPLUS 7
ONEPLUS 7 PRO
ONEPLUS 7T
ASUS ZENFONE MAX PRO M1
ASUS ZENFONE MAX PRO M2
LENOVO K10 NOTE
LENOVO Z5S
LENOVO Z6 LITE
LENOVO Z6 PRO
MI 10S
POCO X3 PRO
REDMI K40
REDMI NOTE 10
REDMI NOTE 11
PIXEL 3
PIXEL 3XL
PIXEL 3A
PIXEL 3A XL
PIXEL 4 [ANDROID 11 FIRMWARE]
PIXEL 4XL [ANDROID 11 FIRMWARE]
PIXEL 4A [ANDROID 11 FIRMWARE]
MI 11
MI 11 LITE 5G
MI 11 PRO
REDMI K40 PRO / REDMI K40 PRO+ / MI 11X PRO / MI 11i 
PIXEL 4A 5G
PIXEL 5 
PIXEL 5A

Recovery Partition

Given here is a list of devices with the recovery partition. These devices should use the fastboot flash recovery recovery.img command to flash the recovery file.

ONEPLUS 7T PRO
ONEPLUS 8 PRO
ONEPLUS 3
ONEPLUS 5
ONEPLUS 5T
ONEPLUS NORD
REALME 5 PRO
REALME 6 PRO
MI 10 LITE 5G
MI 10 LITE ZOOM
MI 8
MI 8 LITE
MI 8 SE
MI 9
POCO F1
POCO F2 PRO
POCO M2 PRO
REDMI 9 PRIME/POCO M2
REDMI K20 PRO
REDMI K30
REDMI NOTE 10 PRO
REDMI NOTE 8 PRO
REDMI NOTE 8/8T
REDMI NTOE 9
REDMI NOTE 9 PRO 5G/MI 10i/MI 10T LITE