Help Kitkat bricked my Nexus 4

[teaurn]

Hi, new to forum, and have a slight problem here...

My Nexus informed me of a system update and like a fool, I thought 'why not?'

Well, having run through the update, then 'optimised' my apps, it hung on 'finishing upgrade'. After a while it started to get a bit hot...

Eventually, I thought I'd better try to restart it, so held down the power button for about 10 secs.

The screen went black, so I left it a couple of mins, then hit the power button again.

All seemed ok, the Google logo came up, then the little blobs came in and joined together, all pulsing as normal.

Unfortunately, that's as far as it goes...

It's been sat like that for an hour now. I've plugged it in, so power isn't an issue, but I have to admit I'm worried.

Any ideas fellas?

 

[El Presidente]

Can you still get to the bootloader? Turn the phone off, then turn it back on whilst holding volume down.

If you can, when you connect to your PC, does your PC register the connection?

It would mean wiping the device clean, but if you can do the above, we can try reflashing a factory image to reinstall everything from scratch.

 

[teaurn]

Hi, thanks for the reply! I just tried the bootloader, and found I can get to it, and I have bitten the bullet and wiped the device now. It's a pain, but at least it worked...

I now have Kitkat, and all's well. Apart from having to setup the phone all over again.

So, if anyone else reports a similar problem, there's a proven 'fix'.

Thanks again.

 

[El Presidente]

Glad you're up and running again.

 

[slick9456]

I did a factory reset and still can't get past the google logo.. I started it exactly the same way too.. woke up, saw an updated.. and now im screwed.. Help! I'm not too sure how I can load a factory image off my computer..

 

[jhawkkw]

I did a factory reset and still can't get past the google logo.. I started it exactly the same way too.. woke up, saw an updated.. and now im screwed.. Help! I'm not too sure how I can load a factory image off my computer..

Did you ever unlock your bootloader?

 

[SiempreTuna]

I wouldn't be surprised if the length of time the upgrade takes and the number of re-starts it involves will catch out quite a few people.

Apart from anything else, time it takes a lot of people's batteries could die

(Always have mine on charge for anything like this)

I thought my phone was kiboshed at one point when it appeared to be repeating the exact same, never-ending step it had only just completed. Fortunately, I resisted touching anything and it did finally all go through.

 

[lunatic59]

^^This^^

The first thing I tell people who apply system updates is to BE PATIENT. These can take what seems to be a long time. 15 or 20 minutes is not uncommon and if you force power off or run out of juice, your phone could be easily borked.

My rule of thumb is to let an update process for at least two cups of coffee (and the two subsequent trips to the bathroom ) before even considering that something has gone awry.

 

[slick9456]

I did. During the update though, I actually got an ERROR message.. which I knew was all down here after that... Im trying to figure out how I can even get the phone back to any version of android now. I have no drivers installed on my computer so im not even sure if ADB would work...

 

[lunatic59]

Can you get into fastboot?

Try Wug's toolkit. It should be able to get you back to stock.

 

[slick9456]

I can get into fastboot. I'll give Wug's a shot and update back. Thanks!

 

[lunatic59]

Once you get back to stock, apply the OTA before you root, just to be safe.

 

[bjacks12]

I prefer using the SDK to do fastboot/adb.

I won't touch WUGs after it soft-bricked my Nexus last month.

 

[codesplice]

I prefer using the SDK to do fastboot/adb.

I won't touch WUGs after it soft-bricked my Nexus last month.

Agreed. Fastboot is really just as easy as the toolkit - and a lot harder for something to go wrong. Not to mention that having a decent understanding of how to work with fastboot makes it that much easier to recover if something does go sideways. There's really no need for a toolkit on a Nexus device.

 

[El Presidente]

You can at least use Wugs toolkit to ensure the drivers are installed correctly.

Even if you're not comfortable using fastboot/ADB, there's a batch file in the image zip which will flash the images for you.

https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images#occamkrt16s