Unusual Problem with Google Gmail

I have an unusual 2FA problem. Several years back I setup 2FA with my OnlyKey for my Google gmail account and it was working perfectly. Then several years ago, the 2FA where I tap the button on my OnlyKey suddenly stopped working. I never bothered to try to fix it but ever since then just selected “try another way” and used the SMS message to my phone for 2FA instead. I’ve been using SMS messages for 2FA for gmail ever since. This has never been an issue until recently when my phone stopped working properly. I did a factory reset of my phone (hoping this would fix my unrelated phone problem), and when I went through the beginning stages of the introductory prompts, it asked me for my gmail username and password which I entered. It then showed the “try another way” option, and then I selected the 2FA SMS option. But to my shock there was no way to go passed that screen asking you to now enter the SMS number, and yet I needed to be able to have access to the phone to get it. Clearly some sort of serious Google bug. So since my phone was so old I decided to buy a new one and just move the SIM card to the new phone, login to gmail on my laptop, and receive the SMS number on the new phone that I could now receive SMS messages on. But again to my shock it no longer listed SMS as a possible 2FA option to choose from! So I’m stuck in that I can’t login to my email account, and its completely impossible to reach anyone at google. I wish I could just ask them to turn the SMS 2FA option back on again. I have no idea why they would have turned it off.

My question for you guys is, Is it possible to get the OnlyKey 2FA up and working again that might let me login to my gmail account? I don’t know why it previously stopped working last time. I just assumed at the time that Google didn’t want to allow OnlyKey to use 2FA and maybe they changed something back then to disrupt it. Right now when I type my email address and password it takes me to a 2FA screen that lists a few other options (after I pass the state when I am supposed to tap on my OnlyKey). These options are: Use your security key, Get a one-time security code, and Use your phone or tablet to get a security code (even if its offline).

One thing to try would be to restore a backup of your OnlyKey if you created one when you set it up. If not you could create a backup now and as long as that account is still configured on OnlyKey, restore the backup and it should work. When you try to use OnlyKey as a security key what happens? Does the device light up and you press the button then Google says it failed?

I never changed the setup that I have on my OnlyKey for the gmail, so the 2 factor authentication should still be in place. I do have a second OnlyKey as a backup, but that one fails to login to gmail as well. (And the only backups I have would still have the same setup on the gmail slot as I never changed it)

When I try to login to gmail the following takes place:

  1. I click in the username location, unlock my OnlyKey, and press the button associated with gmail.
  2. It types in my username, presses enter, and it takes me to the screen to type in my password.
  3. The OnlyKey then types in my password and presses enter.
  4. Then it take me to a 2FA screen but then quickly skips to another 2 factor authentication screen that says, “2-Step Verification To help keep your account safe, Google wants to make sure it’s really you trying to sign in There was a problem Try using your security key again or try another way to verify it’s you”
  5. Then if I click “Try again” it takes me back to the first 2FA screen and my OnlyKey’s light flashes back and forth between green and blue. If I press any button on my only key (which should presumably input the 2FA information that I setup long ago) it then takes me back to the failed 2FA screen.

I am certain that my OnlyKey must still have the 2FA information in it in the Gmail slot of the OnlyKey. But several years back I think Google must have changed something that caused it to stop working. I never tried to figure out why it stopped working. Did they stop supporting the 2FA standard that the OnlyKey was using at the time, I don’t know. Therefore I was wondering if it would be possible to extract the 2FA information from my OnlyKey and maybe see if its still compatible with Google, if it can be modified to make it work, or if there is some other way to fix this.