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 1

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.