Help Extremely odd bootloop issue

[RazorSharp]

Hi all, hoping someone can help. Having a large issue with my N5 today - a short time ago, the screen went blank and it went into a very strange bootloop; it doesn't even reach the flashing circles, it keeps doing the "Google" screen and initial buzz over and over. I held down the volume key and power button during this process to get it into bootloader mode; however, I only saw the menu for a split second before it rebooted over again back to the Google screen. Thinking that it could have something to do with the battery, I plugged in the charger, but the process continued; however, when I unplugged the charger after reading this recent thread that seems very similar to mine, the phone went dead, unresponsive to any button pushes or attempts to restart. When I plug the cord back in, it goes back into the continual boot phase loop.

I haven't used my phone much today, and was not using it when this started happening; I was working and noticed it out of the corner of my eye. I don't think I've done anything out of the ordinary with it recently either. I tell you, I'm definitely missing the ability to do a manual battery pull right now! Does anyone have any hints or tips how I might fix this? Should I let it continue to loop, or will that damage it somehow? Thanks a lot.

 

[Rxpert83]

If you can't get it to stay booted while in fastboot/bootloader, there really isnt much that can be done.

If you bought it from google, contact them and get an RMA started.

It sounds like a hardware failure

 

[RazorSharp]

That's unfortunate I'll reach out via the Google support pages. Thanks.

 

[h.ceeh]

I had the same problem already twice. It appears that the cache partitions on the phone is corrupted and therefore Android won't boot. As long as you have an unlocked bootloader you can bring your phone back to life without loosing your personal files. If your bootloader is locked, you have to unlock it first. This is how it worked for me:

1. Connect your phone to the PC and bring it into fastboot mode
2. Download the Factory Android image from https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images
3. extract the images from the zip
4. run "fastboot flash cache cache.img"
5. restart phone
6. Done

I hope this can be of help.

 

[Rxpert83]

I had the same problem already twice. It appears that the cache partitions on the phone is corrupted and therefore Android won't boot. As long as you have an unlocked bootloader you can bring your phone back to life without loosing your personal files. If your bootloader is locked, you have to unlock it first. This is how it worked for me:

1. Connect your phone to the PC and bring it into fastboot mode
2. Download the Factory Android image from https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images
3. extract the images from the zip
4. run "fastboot flash cache cache.img"
5. restart phone
6. Done

I hope this can be of help.

That would normally work, but in this case his phone won't stay booted in fastboot.

 

[mattyboyo]

Mine started doing this today, if I plug it in it reboots every few seconds. If I unplug it, it does nothing at all. Phoned google and I'm waiting for the email so I can arrange a replacement, been 5 hours since I phoned. Only problem is they don't have any black 32gb ones left in the UK so I'm getting red.

 

[9878]

Curious, did you have a Sensible Missed Call Reminder or Nightskeeper installed?

 

[Mr. Lucky]

Just so as to not overlook a possible low-tech solution, a question:
Is your Nexus in a case that covers the side buttons? If so, it could be misaligned slightly or have a piece of lint or something stuck between the case and button, causing the button to be always depressed. If this applies, try removing the phone from the case.