Help Nexus 5 stuck in the start up screen

[jGagliarde]

After running out of battery and turning off, I charged my Nexus 5 (which is running lollipop and not rooted) until the battery was full, but when I was going to turn it on it got stuck in the "flying dots" animation. I've tried waiting for several hours until the battery drains out and powering off and on again several times, it does not work. I also tried going into recovery mode and doing a wipe cache partition, no result as well. However, when going to the recovery mode, there is the following message at the bottom of the screen:

E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

E: can't mount /cache/recovery/log

E: can't open /cache/recovery/log

E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

E: can't mount /cache/recovery/last_log

E: can't open /cache/recovery/last_log

E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

E: can't mount /cache/recovery/last_install

E: can't open /cache/recovery/last_install

E: failed to mount /cache (invalid argument)

I've seen a lot of replies in other posts suggesting a factory reset, but I really don't wanna do that because I used this cellphone the whole year and took pictures of my trip around europe and I don't have a backup (Yeah, I know...) So if there's any way to access my data before doing a factory reset or other solution at all please help me.
Thanks

 

[Incakola]

Do you have a PC and USB cord? A backup will literally take less than 10-30 minutes of your day. The contents of your pictures will be in DCIM and your screenshots will in you pictures. You select whatever folder that's in your internal that you want to backup.

Refraining from backups is the worst habit have...

 

[lunatic59]

Just to be clear, you are running lollipop as installed from the OTA (from 4.4.x) and you have not performed a factory reset yet?

My thinking is that Android switched from Dalvik to ART in lollipop and you still have some remnants of the old Dalvik cache interfering with the new OS. Clearing the cache in stock recover only clears the system cache, not the Dalvik cache. If you have a custom recovery like TWRP or CWM you could clear the Dalvik cache, but if you said you are not unlocked or rooted, then you'd need to unlock your bootloader to install a custom recovery which will factory reset your phone anyway.

A factory reset will wipe the Dalvik cache, which i suspect is the root of your problem (no pun intended). Seriously consider it.

 

[jGagliarde]

Thanks for the reply. Yes and I did not perform the reset yet. So I think the factory reset really is my only option. Do these softwares that claim they can recover files after a factory reset actually work? Do you know any way to recover the data?

 

[jhawkkw]

If usb debugging was enabled prior to the issue, you might want to try plugging it into a computer to see if either the mtp or adb driver can detect the phone. If so, you should be able to get a copy of those pictures and other files you need to save prior to the factory reset. If not and if the bootloader is still locked, there really isn't a lot of options available. I'm not sure if entering sideload mode in the stock recovery will permit the full array of adb commands or not.

 

[jGagliarde]

I don't remember if I left usb debugging on. When I plug the cellphone into my computer it recognizes the nexus 5 and I can see it in the "Devices and Printers" as a multimedia device. The problem is I can't access the files because the folders in the phone only can be seen in the computer after I unlock the screen, which I obviously can't do because the phone never gets there.

 

[lunatic59]

Technically speaking, a factory reset isn't supposed to wipe the data partition, only the system partition, so theoretically images and media files should still be there. I've seen it where that isn't the case, though, so there is a risk. As for backup apps claiming to recover files ... i wouldn't count on them either.

I don't remember if I left usb debugging on. When I plug the cellphone into my computer it recognizes the nexus 5 and I can see it in the "Devices and Printers" as a multimedia device. The problem is I can't access the files because the folders in the phone only can be seen in the computer after I unlock the screen, which I obviously can't do because the phone never gets there.

Hmmm. Might be worth a shot to try ADB commands. Do you have the Android SDK/platform tools?

 

[jGagliarde]

Well I downloaded Android Studio yesterday but never used it. I don't even know if that's what you're asking because I don't know much about those things...

 

[lunatic59]

Look inside the folder where you installed it. If you see a sub folder called "platform tools" you should be good. We can walk you through the rest of it from there.

 

[jGagliarde]

There is no folder called plataform tools. I downloaded Android Studio from this website http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

 

[lunatic59]

Search in those folders for fastboot.exe and adb.exe. If not you'll have to get them.

 

[xdrc45]

You may want to check out the new N5 Autoflash 5.0 script that flashes 5.0 to your device in 2 mins, whether your device is stuck in a Bootloop, Bootloader Mode and/or in Normal operational State. It's also suppose to work with locked or unlocked bootloaders as well.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/goo...o-flash-5-0-lrx21o-flash-5-0-n5-tool-t2957801

As stated above you may want to try and somehow backup your data though I'd your really concerned about it.

 

[jGagliarde]

Nevermind I found in another folder the plataform-tools. Both .exe files you mentioned are in there. What do I do now?

 

[jGagliarde]

You may want to check out the new N5 Autoflash 5.0 script that flashes 5.0 to your device in 2 mins, whether your device is stuck in a Bootloop, Bootloader Mode and/or in Normal operational State. It's also suppose to work with locked or unlocked bootloaders as well.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/goo...o-flash-5-0-lrx21o-flash-5-0-n5-tool-t2957801

As stated above you may want to try and somehow backup your data though I'd your really concerned about it.

Thanks, I'll check it when I recover my data or when I give up

 

[lunatic59]

What do I do now?

Boot your phone into recovery and plug it into your PC. Then open a command window (start>run>cmd) and change the prompt to your platform tools directory.

CD C:\users\Gagliarde\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\platform-tools

and type

adb devices

if you see a serial number then you will be able to pull your files off using adb commands. We'll get to that once we know it's possible. One thing at a time.

 

[jGagliarde]

No serial number... just "List of devices attached" and nothing else. So I guess it's over for me...

 

[lunatic59]

Awww, nuts. I was hoping. Before you give up, try one more thing ... Put the phone into fastboot mode by, with the phone off, holding down the power and vol. down. It should look like this ...

Once there, plug it into your PC and open a command prompt again. Then go back to the platform-tools folder and this time type

 fastboot devices

If fastboot reports your device as connected (you'll see the serial number) this will assure the drivers are installed and from there it's really time for a factory reset. If fastboot, which doesn't need debugging mode to connect, doesn't see your phone then either the drivers aren't installed correctly or you have a bad cable. You can get generic android drivers from Google, if you need them.

This is what the fastboot screen will look like if successful

Let us know how it works out.

 

[jGagliarde]

Yes, I can see the serial number using this method. Just to be 100% sure it failed, what is the screen I should see on my phone when typing the adb devices code?

 

[Incakola]

Not trying to be sour this entire time but just to confirm, jGagliarde, your bootloader is locked?

 

[jGagliarde]

Not trying to be sour this entire time but just to confirm, jGagliarde, your bootloader is locked?

Actually I don't know... As I said before I don't understand much about these things. How do I know that?

 

[Incakola]

Actually I don't know... As I said before I don't understand much about these things. How do I know that?

Ah, if you see a lockpad on the bottom of the screen during the google boot logo then you previously unlocked it. There is no real way to get passed a nexus device's bootloader without oem unlocking it when coming completely from stock (or towelroot, then bootunlocker both are apps). You may have seen flash tools for phones sold through carriers like samsung (use odin), LG (lg flash tool), etc. but there's no flash tool for nexus. Reason I'm saying this is if we had something like this you could just flash a temporary image (like twrp) and then setup adb from there to perform adb pull commands (extract a folder from your phone).

 

[jGagliarde]

I never unlocked it so... there is no way to perform adb pull commands. Is it time for a factory reset?

 

[lunatic59]

I'm pretty sure you don't have access to the adb shell with stock recovery. That said, i never tried it. The first thing I do with my phones is to unlock the bootloader and install a custom recovery.

Give it a shot. Now remember that fastboot mode is NOT recovery. You have to use the volume keys in fastboot to select recovery and then press power. Once you see the robot with the red triangle, you press and hold POWER, and then press once the Volume Up button. It will look like this ...

From there you plug in your phone and type in the command shell

adb devices

it will look like this if successful ...

 

[Incakola]

I'm pretty sure you don't have access to the adb shell with stock recovery. That said, i never tried it. The first thing I do with my phones is to unlock the bootloader and install a custom recovery.

Give it a shot. Now remember that fastboot mode is NOT recovery. You have to use the volume keys in fastboot to select recovery and then press power. Once you see the robot with the red triangle, you press and hold POWER, and then press once the Volume Up button. It will look like this ...

From there you plug in your phone and type in the command shell

adb devices

it will look like this if successful ...

What exactly does "apply update from ADB" do? Flash a update.zip? Maybe one can make a zip that can just wipe dalvik and cache?

 

[lunatic59]

Actually, I just looked it up. I never really paid much attention to stock recovery. It looks like that does indeed allow adb shell access and the op may be able to pull the files down after all.

@JGagaliarde, while in recovery, select the apply update from ADB option and then try the adb devices command. If that works, we can perhaps save your ass files.