Database Users

Unstoppable bootloop after flashing new ROM

Hey there.
I flashed a new ROM (Kaos Droid 7.0.0) and the fitting gapps some minutes ago from CWM Touch. Everything worked as supposed, no errors, no warnings, nothing. Then I rebooted the Nexus 7 and now it's stuck in the worst bootloop I have seen so far:
The Google Screen appears, stays for some seconds, then I see a screen with the CWM Logo and the text "ClockworkmodRecovery 6.0.38", after this the device seems to reboot and the sequence starts from the beginning again.
I can not get into recovery, I can connect to my PC via USB but connection and disconnection happens every few seconds (because of the bootloop).
I guess that's it for my Nexus 7 or does anyone have an idea what I can try to do. I'd be really thankful.

Jagutherrschaften said:
Hey there.
I flashed a new ROM (Kaos Droid 7.0.0) and the fitting gapps some minutes ago from CWM Touch. Everything worked as supposed, no errors, no warnings, nothing. Then I rebooted the Nexus 7 and now it's stuck in the worst bootloop I have seen so far:
The Google Screen appears, stays for some seconds, then I see a screen with the CWM Logo and the text "ClockworkmodRecovery 6.0.38", after this the device seems to reboot and the sequence starts from the beginning again.
I can not get into recovery, I can connect to my PC via USB but connection and disconnection happens every few seconds (because of the bootloop).
I guess that's it for my Nexus 7 or does anyone have an idea what I can try to do. I'd be really thankful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, Jagutherrschaften...
Try pressing VOLUME DOWN + THE POWER ON KEY and HOLD BOTH for 30 seconds (or as long as it takes to break out of the 'bootloop').
(or BOTH VOL KEYS + POWER ON if the above doesn't work... although it should).
Keep them pressed until you boot you into the bootloader....
You should now be free to run fastboot commands, to either fastboot flash back to factory stock... or you could attempt to just boot into recovery, and maybe do a Nandroid Backup restore from your previous setup (assuming of course, you created one).
Anyway... as long as you can still access the bootloader... all is not lost.
Rgrds,
Ged.

GedBlake said:
Hi, Jagutherrschaften...
Try pressing VOLUME DOWN + THE POWER ON KEY and HOLD BOTH for 30 seconds (or as long as it takes to break out of the 'bootloop').
(or BOTH VOL KEYS + POWER ON if the above doesn't work... although it should).
Keep them pressed until you boot you into the bootloader....
You should now be free to run fastboot commands, to either fastboot flash back to factory stock... or you could attempt to just boot into recovery, and maybe do a Nandroid Backup restore from your previous setup (assuming of course, you created one).
Anyway... as long as you can still access the bootloader... all is not lost.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I forgot to mention that I can't boot into bootloader. I tried every single combination of keys. The bootloop goes on and is completely unimpressed by my keypresses. Bad bad thing.

Jagutherrschaften said:
Sorry, I forgot to mention that I can't boot into bootloader. I tried every single combination of keys. The bootloop goes on and is completely unimpressed by my keypresses. Bad bad thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How fast is the bootloop? and how long are you pressing the buttons for?
Lean on them, as it where, for a good minute or so... the device has to pick up the 'interrupts' sooner or later.
Rgrds,
Ged.

GedBlake said:
How fast is the bootloop? and how long are you pressing the buttons for?
Lean on them, as it where, for a good minute or so... the device has to pick up the 'interrupts' sooner or later.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your answers. I tried every combination and kept the keys pressed for 2 mins. Nothing. The only thing I can actually do is shut the device down by pressing POWER + VOL UP for a long while.

If bootloop doesnt stop and you cant get into bootloader....then just long press power button..that should stop the cycle...and then volm down plus power button....should get u into bootloader..atleast worked for me..
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Now here is what it looks like (doesn't matter if I press keys or not): https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12668781/Nexus7_bootloop.mkv
The normal method you described neo45215 doesn't work for me as well.

Jagutherrschaften said:
Thank you for your answers. I tried every combination and kept the keys pressed for 2 mins. Nothing. The only thing I can actually do is shut the device down by pressing POWER + VOL UP for a long while.
Here is a video what it looks like (if I press keys or not or keep keys pressed or not doesn't matter):
www.michi-fehr.de/Nexus7_bootloop.mkv
(Sorry, youtube messes with me as well. Seems not to be my day today.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mmm... this is a strange one...
Just had a look a your video... and I've seen a few bootoops, but never one involving a Custom Recovery and ONLY the Bootloader Unlock screen (yes, that is the Bootloader - it's just not normally recognized as such, because it's not in FASTBOOT mode).
If you've shutdown the tablet by pressing VOL UP + POWER ON, you've effectively booted the device into APX mode (it looks like it's shutdown, but it isn't) - if it is in APX mode, the device is now awaiting for you to run some nvFlash commands, which currently can't be done (though there is now, a very specific exception, which is not applicable here).
I agree with the previous poster, @neo45215, VOLUME DOWN (hold), then POWER BUTTON, (whilst still holding VOLUME DOWN), should boot you into the bootloader... but I think precise timing is required. Please read the following, carefully, several times.
----------------------------------------
QUOTE from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2133986
"Starting from booted or boot-looping OS:
Power (10-15 seconds) -> Normal OS Boot**
** Bootloader Interrupt: In any of the cases where you hold the power button down to try to break out of the current operating mode, if you press the Vol-Down button right after you first see the black and white screen with the Google logo, the tablet will proceed immediately to bootloader/fastboot mode, rather than booting the normal OS. You need to be ready though - you only get about 1 or 2 seconds to do this! (Thanks to RMXO for pointing this out) Note that this means you can get to the bootloader directly from any other mode!
This also explains why, when attempting a cold start using Vol-Down + Power, if you accidentally let go of the vol-down button when the screen first lights up, the Nexus 7 will boot to the normal OS. In this case, pressing Vol-Down initially is actually superfluous - what makes the device go into bootloader/fastboot mode is the Vol-Down press immediately following the google splash screen - there actually is no unique "Go to fastboot from a cold start" method."
----------------------------------------
I'm at loss to suggest anything more helpful... this looks like the bootloop from hell! But I'm convinced, that with the correct timing and persistence, some key-combo interrupt could break the Nexus 7 out of it.
Rgrds,
Ged.

GedBlake said:
Mmm... this is a strange one...
Just had a look a your video... and I've seen a few bootoops, but never one involving a Custom Recovery and ONLY the Bootloader Unlock screen (yes, that is the Bootloader - it's just not normally recognized as such, because it's not in FASTBOOT mode).
If you've shutdown the tablet by pressing VOL UP + POWER ON, you've effectively booted the device into APX mode (it looks like it's shutdown, but it isn't) - if it is in APX mode, the device is now awaiting for you to run some nvFlash commands, which currently can't be done (though there is now, a very specific exception, which is not applicable here).
I agree with the previous poster, @neo45215, VOLUME DOWN (hold), then POWER BUTTON, (whilst still holding VOLUME DOWN), should boot you into the bootloader... but I think precise timing is required. Please read the following, carefully, several times.
----------------------------------------
QUOTE from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2133986
"Starting from booted or boot-looping OS:
Power (10-15 seconds) -> Normal OS Boot**
** Bootloader Interrupt: In any of the cases where you hold the power button down to try to break out of the current operating mode, if you press the Vol-Down button right after you first see the black and white screen with the Google logo, the tablet will proceed immediately to bootloader/fastboot mode, rather than booting the normal OS. You need to be ready though - you only get about 1 or 2 seconds to do this! (Thanks to RMXO for pointing this out) Note that this means you can get to the bootloader directly from any other mode!
This also explains why, when attempting a cold start using Vol-Down + Power, if you accidentally let go of the vol-down button when the screen first lights up, the Nexus 7 will boot to the normal OS. In this case, pressing Vol-Down initially is actually superfluous - what makes the device go into bootloader/fastboot mode is the Vol-Down press immediately following the google splash screen - there actually is no unique "Go to fastboot from a cold start" method."
----------------------------------------
I'm at loss to suggest anything more helpful... this looks like the bootloop from hell! But I'm convinced, that with the correct timing and persistence, some key-combo interrupt could break the Nexus 7 out of it.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for your help, I have tried everything, I can't get anywhere... neither bootloader nor recovery.
Additionally I can't make the device do anything I want by adb.
And as a "bonus" I can't send my Nexus7 to repair because this stupid bootloop shows "ClockworkMod Recovery v6.0.3.8" :silly:

Jagutherrschaften said:
Thanks a lot for your help, I have tried everything, I can't get anywhere... neither bootloader nor recovery.
Additionally I can't make the device do anything I want by adb.
And as a "bonus" I can't send my Nexus7 to repair because this stupid bootloop shows "ClockworkMod Recovery v6.0.3.8" :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really sorry to hear this... it is baffling:.
I've been hanging around on XDA since January, and I've come across a lot of weird behaviour, reported by other posters. But this is something that is outside my experience.
A few questions... (no guarantees, but I'll try to see if I can come up with something)...
Can you post download links for EVERYTHING you've flashed...
The ROM, the Gapps, the CWM recovery.
Also, what order did you flash them in?
Did you use fastboot? or a Toolkit at any time?
Where you rooted BEFORE you embarked on this endeavour?
How did you acquire root?
How long have you had the Nexus 7?
Is it a WiFi only model or a WiFi and 3G model?
Have you flashed any other Custom ROMs prior to this one?
If, so, any problems?
Do you know your current bootloader version number?
What was the battery status (percentage) prior to you flashing this ROM?
Sorry for all the questions... but something, some tiny litlle detail, might set a 'eureka!' light bulb off in my head.
Rgrds,
Ged.

GedBlake said:
Really sorry to hear this... it is baffling:.
I've been hanging around on XDA since January, and I've come across a lot of weird behaviour, reported by other posters. But this is something that is outside my experience.
A few questions... (no guarantees, but I'll try to see if I can come up with something)...
Can you post download links for EVERYTHING you've flashed...
The ROM, the Gapps, the CWM recovery.
Also, what order did you flash them in?
Did you use fastboot? or a Toolkit at any time?
Where you rooted BEFORE you embarked on this endeavour?
How did you acquire root?
How long have you had the Nexus 7?
Is it a WiFi only model or a WiFi and 3G model?
Have you flashed any other Custom ROMs prior to this one?
If, so, any problems?
Do you know your current bootloader version number?
What was the battery status (percentage) prior to you flashing this ROM?
Sorry for all the questions... but something, some tiny litlle detail, might set a 'eureka!' light bulb off in my head.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I'll try to answer as detailed as possible:
ROM KaosDroid7.0.0
FittingGApps
CWM Recovery (Touch) was installed through ROM Manager Premium
The order of what I did was: I made a backup in Titanium Backup Pro, then I made a nandroid backup by ROM Manager Premium. I went to recovery, wiped /cache and /data, then flashed KaosDroid7.0.0, flashed GApps and rebooted. After my Nexus7 had fully booted I restored some user apps and settings via Titanium Backup Pro. I had to reboot. After that I explored that clock was force closed whenever I tried to access the alarm clock. I wondered if I could possibly have overseen a checkmark when restoring with Titanium Backup Pro (maybe forgotten to untick a system app or setting) which could lead to the force close. So I decided to start over again.
This time I thought about using ROM Manager Premium for wiping and flashing. I started the app and it told me there was an update for CWM Recovery. So I installed this update through ROM Manager Premium - CWM Recovery Touch 6.0.3.8. I rebooted and went to recovery to flash ROM and GApps again the normal way. Before flashing I wiped /cache and /data again. Everything went fine until I rebooted the tablet and found myself in this "bootloop of hell" as you called it... After having tried a lot to break it, I opened the Nexus7 to remove battery for the first time.
OK, now the other questions:
I bought my Nexus7 about 11 months ago, it's the 16 GB WiFi only version. I aquired root by using this Toolkit and everything went really smooth. I tried several ROMs yes, after some time I came across KaosDroid (don't exactly know which version I started with, maybe v5.0.0) and really liked it. I flashed a new version whenever there was one and never had any problems before.
I am not sure about my current bootloader version, I have some not too long ago nandroid backups on my PC, can I find out anywhere in there? About battery, it was 55 % or so before I started flashing, maybe even more.
The way I see this is: It looks like ROM Manager has messed something up. I have never seen a screen like the ROM Manager screen that occurs in the bootloop right after the Google screen before. Unless maybe when making a nandroid backup through ROM Manager, not sure about this. But it shouldn't be there in a normal boot sequence as far as I understand it.
The only way I can access my Nexus7 is via USB on my PC. And I have like 5 seconds to act while this ROM Manager screen is on, that's the time frame when my PC says "Nexus7 connected" and even the Toolkit finds the device and says it's in "ADB mode", then prints the serial number, but sadly after that it waits for the device to enter adb mode forever.
EDIT: And of course I can get access in APX mode, but from what I have read there is no way to do anything because commands etc. to install a new bootloader are not known (yet?).
Thanks a lot for your help and patience, it actually helps to know there is someone who reads this :good:.
It's not the end of the world if I can't reanimate my Nexus7 but it served me so well for almost a year and I really like it .

Jagutherrschaften said:
OK, I'll try to answer as detailed as possible:
ROM KaosDroid7.0.0
FittingGApps
CWM Recovery (Touch) was installed through ROM Manager Premium
The order of what I did was: I made a backup in Titanium Backup Pro, then I made a nandroid backup by ROM Manager Premium. I went to recovery, wiped /cache and /data, then flashed KaosDroid7.0.0, flashed GApps and rebooted. After my Nexus7 had fully booted I restored some user apps and settings via Titanium Backup Pro. I had to reboot. After that I explored that clock was force closed whenever I tried to access the alarm clock. I wondered if I could possibly have overseen a checkmark when restoring with Titanium Backup Pro (maybe forgotten to untick a system app or setting) which could lead to the force close. So I decided to start over again.
This time I thought about using ROM Manager Premium for wiping and flashing. I started the app and it told me there was an update for CWM Recovery. So I installed this update through ROM Manager Premium - CWM Recovery Touch 6.0.3.8. I rebooted and went to recovery to flash ROM and GApps again the normal way. Before flashing I wiped /cache and /data again. Everything went fine until I rebooted the tablet and found myself in this "bootloop of hell" as you called it... After having tried a lot to break it, I opened the Nexus7 to remove battery for the first time.
OK, now the other questions:
I bought my Nexus7 about 11 months ago, it's the 16 GB WiFi only version. I aquired root by using this Toolkit and everything went really smooth. I tried several ROMs yes, after some time I came across KaosDroid (don't exactly know which version I started with, maybe v5.0.0) and really liked it. I flashed a new version whenever there was one and never had any problems before.
I am not sure about my current bootloader version, I have some not too long ago nandroid backups on my PC, can I find out anywhere in there? About battery, it was 55 % or so before I started flashing, maybe even more.
The way I see this is: It looks like ROM Manager has messed something up. I have never seen a screen like the ROM Manager screen that occurs in the bootloop right after the Google screen before. Unless maybe when making a nandroid backup through ROM Manager, not sure about this. But it shouldn't be there in a normal boot sequence as far as I understand it.
The only way I can access my Nexus7 is via USB on my PC. And I have like 5 seconds to act while this ROM Manager screen is on, that's the time frame when my PC says "Nexus7 connected" and even the Toolkit finds the device and says it's in "ADB mode", then prints the serial number, but sadly after that it waits for the device to enter adb mode forever.
EDIT: And of course I can get access in APX mode, but from what I have read there is no way to do anything because commands etc. to install a new bootloader are not known (yet?).
Thanks a lot for your help and patience, it actually helps to know there is someone who reads this :good:.
It's not the end of the world if I can't reanimate my Nexus7 but it served me so well for almost a year and I really like it .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello again, Jagutherrschaften...
Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, but I've been really busy with non-Android stuff all day.
Before I signed off XDA early this morning, (Fri, UK time)... and before you posted your explanation of how you got into your undesirble predicament, I was trying to think why your Nexus 7 is attempting to boot into CWM. It's something I've never seen before... it occurred to me, CWM may have been incorrectly flashed to the boot partition, instead of the recovery partition. This would go some way to explaining why your Nexus 7 is attempting to boot into CWM instead of normal Android.
So in an attempt to replicate your situation, I fastboot flashed CWM on my Nexus 7, to the boot partition with...
Code:
fastboot flash boot recovery-clockwork-touch-6.0.3.8-grouper.img
...instead of (and correctly)...
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-touch-6.0.3.8-grouper.img
Upon completion of this flash, I hit START (from the bootloader)... and as expected my Nexus 7 booted into the Google logo, and then directly into CWM.
...but it didn't bootloop as depicted in your video, it just ran CWM as normal..
I booted several times into CWM, but no bootloop. (It's kind of weird having two custom recoveries installed... there's an option in CWM to restart Recovery, which upon tapping, my N7 booted straight into TWRP !, which is my Custom Recovery of choice. And resides correctly in the recovery partition. I had to make a conscious effort to reboot as normal, in order to boot into CWM).
Anyway, more puzzled more than ever, I fastboot flashed the Jellybean 4.3 stock boot .img back to it's rightful place, rebooted the tablet, to make sure everything was working as normal, and went to bed.
Later, after you posted, I re-read it many times (and took a look at the links), and re-watched your video several more times (by the way, Nandroid backups don't backup the bootloader), and nothing occurred to me; no 'euraka' ! moment.
The bootloader is obviously still intact... if it wasn't, then your Nexus 7 wouldn't boot at all. Besides, it's there, visible, with the unlocked padlock symbol !
I'm inclined to tentatively agree with your assessment that ROM Manager screwed something up. I haven't used ROM Manager for ages, due to known issues on my Advent Vega. And on the Nexus 7, I just use fastboot. On the Vega, you use a command called flash_image to flash images, and is syntactically very similar to fastboot.
Sticking with my Vega for a moment... some users are unable to boot into CWM at all. And nobody seems to know why. But a while ago, somebody did some research into this problem, and it was speculated that on some Vegas there are BAD NAND BLOCKS (like bad sectors on a hard drive, only on a chip instead) in the MISC partition, where a binary state flag is set, telling the tablet to boot into Recovery instead of Android.
Now it's a bit a leap... and hugely speculative... but I wonder if the MISC partition on your Nexus 7 may have become corrupted... ?POSSIBLY? as a result of using ROM Manager... and that is telling the tablet to boot into Recovery instead of Android.
This is a far from satisfactory explanation, though, for several reasons...
* I'm not sure how far you can extrapolate the partition structures of one completely different tablet to another completely different tablet.
* It doesn't explain why your tablet is bootlooping and mine didn't (after replacing the stock boot.img with the CWM recovery .img in the boot partition.
* And finally... I'm still baffled why VOL DOWN+POWER ON doesn't break out of the bootloop and boot directly into the bootloader. Everything I know about the Nexus 7 tells me that this should happen... and it's always been the case, that as long as you can access the bootloader, the tablet is recoverable.
I'm afraid I have nothing else to suggest or try... other than what you've tried already.
I can only offer my apologies that I was unable to assist you... maybe somebody with more technical expertise might offer some new insight or suggestions.
Rgrds,
Ged.

GedBlake said:
Hello again, Jagutherrschaften...
Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, but I've been really busy with non-Android stuff all day.
Before I signed off XDA early this morning, (Fri, UK time)... and before you posted your explanation of how you got into your undesirble predicament, I was trying to think why your Nexus 7 is attempting to boot into CWM. It's something I've never seen before... it occurred to me, CWM may have been incorrectly flashed to the boot partition, instead of the recovery partition. This would go some way to explaining why your Nexus 7 is attempting to boot into CWM instead of normal Android.
So in an attempt to replicate your situation, I fastboot flashed CWM on my Nexus 7, to the boot partition with...
Code:
fastboot flash boot recovery-clockwork-touch-6.0.3.8-grouper.img
...instead of (and correctly)...
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-touch-6.0.3.8-grouper.img
Upon completion of this flash, I hit START (from the bootloader)... and as expected my Nexus 7 booted into the Google logo, and then directly into CWM.
...but it didn't bootloop as depicted in your video, it just ran CWM as normal..
I booted several times into CWM, but no bootloop. (It's kind of weird having two custom recoveries installed... there's an option in CWM to restart Recovery, which upon tapping, my N7 booted straight into TWRP !, which is my Custom Recovery of choice. And resides correctly in the recovery partition. I had to make a conscious effort to reboot as normal, in order to boot into CWM).
Anyway, more puzzled more than ever, I fastboot flashed the Jellybean 4.3 stock boot .img back to it's rightful place, rebooted the tablet, to make sure everything was working as normal, and went to bed.
Later, after you posted, I re-read it many times (and took a look at the links), and re-watched your video several more times (by the way, Nandroid backups don't backup the bootloader), and nothing occurred to me; no 'euraka' ! moment.
The bootloader is obviously still intact... if it wasn't, then your Nexus 7 wouldn't boot at all. Besides, it's there, visible, with the unlocked padlock symbol !
I'm inclined to tentatively agree with your assessment that ROM Manager screwed something up. I haven't used ROM Manager for ages, due to known issues on my Advent Vega. And on the Nexus 7, I just use fastboot. On the Vega, you use a command called flash_image to flash images, and is syntactically very similar to fastboot.
Sticking with my Vega for a moment... some users are unable to boot into CWM at all. And nobody seems to know why. But a while ago, somebody did some research into this problem, and it was speculated that on some Vegas there are BAD NAND BLOCKS (like bad sectors on a hard drive, only on a chip instead) in the MISC partition, where a binary state flag is set, telling the tablet to boot into Recovery instead of Android.
Now it's a bit a leap... and hugely speculative... but I wonder if the MISC partition on your Nexus 7 may have become corrupted... ?POSSIBLY? as a result of using ROM Manager... and that is telling the tablet to boot into Recovery instead of Android.
This is a far from satisfactory explanation, though, for several reasons...
* I'm not sure how far you can extrapolate the partition structures of one completely different tablet to another completely different tablet.
* I't doesn't explain why your tablet is bootlooping and mine didn't (after replacing the stock boot.img with the CWM recovery .img in the boot partition.
* And finally... I'm still baffled why VOL DOWN+POWER ON doesn't break out of the bootloop and boot directly into the bootloader. Everything I know about the Nexus 7 tells me that this should happen... and it's always been the case, that as long as you can access the bootloader, the tablet is recoverable.
I'm afraid I have nothing else to suggest or try... other than what you've tried already.
I can only offer my apologies that I was unable to assist you... maybe somebody with more technical expertise might offer some new insight or suggestions.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey again GedBlake.
The last thing you have to do is apologize for helping me a lot, reading through all my text and making things clear for me. And even more you flashed stuff to your device to test if my situation can be reproduced - good that it's not . You've spent a lot of free time just to help, that's really great :good:.
With my bootloader still being intact and the device being recognized by my PC I wonder if maybe I can manage to fastboot flash a different bootloader and/or a new recovery which might maybe break the silly loop when booting. That's my only idea left but if the bootloader isn't in fastboot mode at some time during the loop this won't work too. But I'll give it a try, it's better than cutting tomatoes on my Nexus7 :laugh:.
Thank you very much for your help. If there is anything worth reporting I will of course.

Jagutherrschaften said:
Hey again GedBlake.
The last thing you have to do is apologize for helping me a lot, reading through all my text and making things clear for me. And even more you flashed stuff to your device to test if my situation can be reproduced - good that it's not . You've spent a lot of free time just to help, that's really great :good:.
With my bootloader still being intact and the device being recognized by my PC I wonder if maybe I can manage to fastboot flash a different bootloader and/or a new recovery which might maybe break the silly loop when booting. That's my only idea left but if the bootloader isn't in fastboot mode at some time during the loop this won't work too. But I'll give it a try, it's better than cutting tomatoes on my Nexus7 :laugh:.
Thank you very much for your help. If there is anything worth reporting I will of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your kind words... they're appreciated.
Unfortunately, before you can fastboot flash anything, the Nexus 7 needs to be properly booted into the bootloader (the screen with the green Android lying on its back, and the word START adjacent to the POWER BUTTON)... and that requires breaking out of the bootloop first.
Indeed, if the VOL DOWN+POWER ON button combo was working as it should... breaking out of the bootloop would AUTOMATICALLY boot your Nexus 7 into the bootloader.
Finally, your bootloader doesn't need to re-flashed. One you have a stable bootloader boot, normally, (and the easiest way), would just be to flash back to factory stock.
Rgrds,
Ged.

GedBlake said:
Thanks for your kind words... they're appreciated.
Unfortunately, before you can fastboot flash anything, the Nexus 7 needs to be properly booted into the bootloader (the screen with the green Android lying on its back, and the word START adjacent to the POWER BUTTON)... and that requires breaking out of the bootloop first.
Indeed, if the VOL DOWN+POWER ON button combo was working as it should... breaking out of the bootloop would AUTOMATICALLY boot your Nexus 7 into the bootloader.
Finally, your bootloader doesn't need to re-flashed. One you have a stable bootloader boot, normally, (and the easiest way), would just be to flash back to factory stock.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey again.
Thanks for your explanation, I am not really a newbie with PCs and Tablets etc. but some things are not very interesting until you really need to know them. Like bootloader and fastboot in Android.
So the conclusion in my case is that maybe some day someone will find out how to get access to the N7 via APX - or to be precise, someone finds out or gets to know the necessary commands to flash something to the N7 over the APX-interface. Right?
Because from what I've read it doesn't really make sense to send my N7 in for repair right? Although it hasn't even had its 1st birthday yet I have no chance to get a warranty repair or exchange as it's very obvious I rooted the device and flashed stuff (the damned ROM Manager-screen clearly shows this). And ASUS charges 90 $ (or €, don't know) just for diagnosis, that's a bit much for a device that cost 199 €.
Any further advise? Could I buy a broken N7 from eBay for example and repair mine this way? I would have to change the mainboard right?
Have a nice sunday everyone .

U said you opened the battery...so wen u plugged it back in again,u shouldn't be in bootloop technically... Just a boot!...wat happens if u press the volm down and power button combo just as u insert the battery?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Jagutherrschaften said:
Hey again.
Thanks for your explanation, I am not really a newbie with PCs and Tablets etc. but some things are not very interesting until you really need to know them. Like bootloader and fastboot in Android.
So the conclusion in my case is that maybe some day someone will find out how to get access to the N7 via APX - or to be precise, someone finds out or gets to know the necessary commands to flash something to the N7 over the APX-interface. Right?
Because from what I've read it doesn't really make sense to send my N7 in for repair right? Although it hasn't even had its 1st birthday yet I have no chance to get a warranty repair or exchange as it's very obvious I rooted the device and flashed stuff (the damned ROM Manager-screen clearly shows this). And ASUS charges 90 $ (or €, don't know) just for diagnosis, that's a bit much for a device that cost 199 €.
Any further advise? Could I buy a broken N7 from eBay for example and repair mine this way? I would have to change the mainboard right?
Have a nice sunday everyone .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, Jagutherrschaften...
Really sorry it had to end like this... but... perhaps it doesn't...
Nothing about your situation makes logical sense... but reading through your posts again, I find this- On the 3rd October, you posted...
Jagutherrschaften said:
Thank you for your answers. I tried every combination and kept the keys pressed for 2 mins. Nothing. The only thing I can actually do is shut the device down by pressing POWER + VOL UP for a long while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
QUOTE FOR EMPHASIS:- "...by pressing POWER + VOL UP for a long while..."
This key press combo doesn't actually shut down the device... it just pushes it into APX mode. It just looks like it's shutdown.
But that's not my point... my point is your Nexus 7 detected that key press interrupt... and acted accordingly.
It did what it was supposed to do.
Maybe you hit the buttons at JUST THE RIGHT INSTANT during the bootloop... and if it can do it for one key press combo... it can do it for another. Namely, POWER+VOL DOWN.
And for this reason... I think you need to try and try and try and try and try again... until you hit the same PRECISE TIMING SWEET SPOT... such that POWER+VOL DOWN takes you into the bootloader.
Vary the timings a bit here and there... alternate pressing the buttons, both before AND after when the Google logo appears.
By your own account... you've already done it once (you just got into the wrong mode... APX mode instead of bootloader mode).
But here's the danger... if after your Herculean efforts, you do manage, finally, to access the bootloader... you absolutely cannot afford to reboot the device normally until after you've fastboot flashed back to factory stock... otherwise the whole cycle will begin again.
So... you need, in preparation...
* A fully charged Nexus 7.
* All the drivers needed (if you don't already have them) installed on your PC.
* The Jellybean 4.3 Factory Stock image downloaded (see my Sig, second link) and unzipped and ready to go.
* A working knowledge of how to use Fastboot.
* And finally... an indomitable spirit! of perseverance... and, of course, a fair amount of free time.
------------------------------------------
I am convinced that your tablet is recoverable.
It's gotta be worth a shot... "once more unto the breach, dear friends", as old Bill Shakespeare would have it.
Anyway... the very best of luck.
Rgrds,
Ged.

GedBlake said:
Hi, Jagutherrschaften...
Really sorry it had to end like this... but... perhaps it doesn't...
Nothing about your situation makes logical sense... but reading through your posts again, I find this- On the 3rd October, you posted...
QUOTE FOR EMPHASIS:- "...by pressing POWER + VOL UP for a long while..."
This key press combo doesn't actually shut down the device... it just pushes it into APX mode. It just looks like it's shutdown.
But that's not my point... my point is your Nexus 7 detected that key press interrupt... and acted accordingly.
It did what it was supposed to do.
Maybe you hit the buttons at JUST THE RIGHT INSTANT during the bootloop... and if it can do it for one key press combo... it can do it for another. Namely, POWER+VOL DOWN.
And for this reason... I think you need to try and try and try and try and try again... until you hit the same PRECISE TIMING SWEET SPOT... such that POWER+VOL DOWN takes you into the bootloader.
Vary the timings a bit here and there... alternate pressing the buttons, both before AND after when the Google logo appears.
By your own account... you've already done it once (you just got into the wrong mode... APX mode instead of bootloader mode).
But here's the danger... if after your Herculean efforts, you do manage, finally, to access the bootloader... you absolutely cannot afford to reboot the device normally until after you've fastboot flashed back to factory stock... otherwise the whole cycle will begin again.
So... you need, in preparation...
* A fully charged Nexus 7.
* All the drivers needed (if you don't already have them) installed on your PC.
* The Jellybean 4.3 Factory Stock image downloaded (see my Sig, second link) and unzipped and ready to go.
* A working knowledge of how to use Fastboot.
* And finally... an indomitable spirit! of perseverance... and, of course, a fair amount of free time.
------------------------------------------
I am convinced that your tablet is recoverable.
It's gotta be worth a shot... "once more unto the breach, dear friends", as old Bill Shakespeare would have it.
Anyway... the very best of luck.
Rgrds,
Ged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@neo45215:
Technically yes, but my N7 doesn't seem to know this . Of course I've tried to get into fastboot mode right after putting back the battery as well. No chance, same bootloop.
@GedBlake:
Thanks for the encouragement, I will for sure give this a try (or several long trys to be precise). Hopefully tonight I'll have a lot of time to press keys .
And my answer to what Bill says would be: "To infinity... and beyond!"

No success so far, I tried pressing buttons for at least 1 h, nothing...
Just wanted to update the status .
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 7 mit Tapatalk 4

Facing same problem
Hello guys. I've done pretty much the same thing and my tab is in the same boot loop that this thread is all about.
The interesting thing is that the ROM I flashed is also KaosDroid7.0.0. I'm unable to prevent any further insight. Sorry for bumping. My clockwork mod version is btw, 6.0.4.1 which proves that the problem might not be clockworkmods or even ROM manager's problem. Since I hadn't used ROM manager.
Also, Is there any way whatsoever to use this APX mode? To fix my nexus.
---------- Post added at 02:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 PM ----------
Well, I followed OP's steps almost exactly. First I'd restored the Kitkat factory image, and then I'd proceeded to install the KD 7.0.0. And after that, I realised I'd forgotten to flash Gapps. So I rebooted and then went into CWM to reflash and after that is when my Nexus 7 became useless :crying:
---------- Post added at 02:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:05 PM ----------
Jagutherrschaften, did you send in your Nexus 7 for repair?

[Q] What to double check before confirming hardware issues?

Hey guys,
I recently went to power on my Nexus 7 (2013) after a weekend of having it off, and it got stuck on the white Google start up screen with no further responses. Holding power the devices still turns off, and I am able to get into Bootloader and Recovery. From bootloader "start" just sends it back to the Google start up screen. I'm able to enter Recovery but the Android logo with the red warning triangle doesn't have the No Command script below it, Power and Vol. Up gets me into the Recovery menu. Entering recovery I get errors of : Can't open, failed to mount, can't mount etc which continues as I try to clear the cache, and wide the partition (I'd post pictures but I can't as a new poster). Moving on I tried some of the guides to flashing a new factory image with fastboot or Adb. Since I don't have normal access to the device I'm sure sure is USB debugging was enabled or not, but in bootloader that shouldn't matter correct? Anyways here is where I hit my snag, my device is still in LOCKED bootloader, and the fastboot oem unlock command gets me to the unlock bootloader screen, but after I select and confirm the option the device freezes and no progress is made. From that screen I am still able to turn it off by holding the power button down, so I'm somewhat confused about it becoming unresponsive to the unlock bootloader command. All of the other fastboot commands like fastboot erase cache come back with "Failed: Too many Links". From my knowledge I've checked through everything I can do software wise, and I was curious if you guys had any input before attributing this all to a hardware failure? I've got some experience rooting and flashing custom ROMS on my phone so I have somewhat of an understand of all this but its by no means vast. Thanks for the help, and I tried to provide you with as much info as possible but I'll attempt to answer additional questions to the best of my ability.
Stock Nexus 7 2013
Version : KTU84P
Bootloader: Locked, FLO-04.02

scbikep2 said:
Hey guys,
I recently went to power on my Nexus 7 (2013) after a weekend of having it off, and it got stuck on the white Google start up screen with no further responses. Holding power the devices still turns off, and I am able to get into Bootloader and Recovery. From bootloader "start" just sends it back to the Google start up screen. I'm able to enter Recovery but the Android logo with the red warning triangle doesn't have the No Command script below it, Power and Vol. Up gets me into the Recovery menu. Entering recovery I get errors of : Can't open, failed to mount, can't mount etc which continues as I try to clear the cache, and wide the partition (I'd post pictures but I can't as a new poster). Moving on I tried some of the guides to flashing a new factory image with fastboot or Adb. Since I don't have normal access to the device I'm sure sure is USB debugging was enabled or not, but in bootloader that shouldn't matter correct? Anyways here is where I hit my snag, my device is still in LOCKED bootloader, and the fastboot oem unlock command gets me to the unlock bootloader screen, but after I select and confirm the option the device freezes and no progress is made. From that screen I am still able to turn it off by holding the power button down, so I'm somewhat confused about it becoming unresponsive to the unlock bootloader command. All of the other fastboot commands like fastboot erase cache come back with "Failed: Too many Links". From my knowledge I've checked through everything I can do software wise, and I was curious if you guys had any input before attributing this all to a hardware failure? I've got some experience rooting and flashing custom ROMS on my phone so I have somewhat of an understand of all this but its by no means vast. Thanks for the help, and I tried to provide you with as much info as possible but I'll attempt to answer additional questions to the best of my ability.
Stock Nexus 7 2013
Version : KTU84P
Bootloader: Locked, FLO-04.02
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A clear explanation of the problem alone with everything that you have tried will do for reporting hardware/software issues and also help others help you.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Q] Stuck on Lenovo Logo while booting

Having replaced my Nexus 7 not too long ago with the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet, I have found it to be quite the sturdy and reliable device despite its older technical specifications. However, after taking it with me to campus today, upon trying to turn it on from off (not sure what caused it to go off to begin with), the device is stuck on the Lenovo logo, and I cannot seem to enter recovery mode (unless I'm doing something wrong). My only speculation for the cause of this odd phenomenon is that the device somehow drained its battery to 0, causing some memory fault. I have not recently tried to do anything regarding system files or anything of the sort.

RinDunois said:
Having replaced my Nexus 7 not too long ago with the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet, I have found it to be quite the sturdy and reliable device despite its older technical specifications. However, after taking it with me to campus today, upon trying to turn it on from off (not sure what caused it to go off to begin with), the device is stuck on the Lenovo logo, and I cannot seem to enter recovery mode (unless I'm doing something wrong). My only speculation for the cause of this odd phenomenon is that the device somehow drained its battery to 0, causing some memory fault. I have not recently tried to do anything regarding system files or anything of the sort.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You did not describe how you were attempting to enter Recovery so can't say if you are "doing something wrong". However, to boot into Recovery, immediately after pressing and briefly holding the power button to commence booting up, repeatedly press and release the Volume Up button a few times (~4) and you should see the single line message indicating its booting into recovery.
Do you have stock or custom Recovery? If the latter, after entering Recovery, see if folders can be mounted with read-write privilege. If not, the memory probably failed and your best option for repair is a motherboard replacement. I did this about a year ago but would move on to a higher spec'd device at this time...

eKeith said:
You did not describe how you were attempting to enter Recovery so can't say if you are "doing something wrong". However, to boot into Recovery, immediately after pressing and briefly holding the power button to commence booting up, repeatedly press and release the Volume Up button a few times (~4) and you should see the single line message indicating its booting into recovery.
Do you have stock or custom Recovery? If the latter, after entering Recovery, see if folders can be mounted with read-write privilege. If not, the memory probably failed and your best option for repair is a motherboard replacement. I did this about a year ago but would move on to a higher spec'd device at this time...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get the "booting recovery kernal image" on the top left corner after doing that, but then I get a black screen afterward, which is why I think I am doing something wrong when trying to access recovery. I am currently in the process of installing the Android SDK and see what I can do via opening a command prompt in that while my tablet is connected.

Good plan. Sounds like you are initiating the boot correctly but the Recovery image may be corrupted or the memory failed. Let us know what you find out...

eKeith said:
Good plan. Sounds like you are initiating the boot correctly but the Recovery image may be corrupted or the memory failed. Let us know what you find out...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, it looks like I can indeed enter recovery (CWM). I was just being a bit too impatient and not give enough time for the tablet to boot into recovery before saying what I said in my previous post. That said, what should I do before I just decide to go with the "wipe data/factory reset" option?

Lenovo Yoga 2 1050L stuck at Lenovo logo/'Fastboot starting...' after rooting attempt

Hello,
before I get into detail with my current problem at hand, I want to say that I'm extremely new to flashing/rooting my tablet and in most cases am very dependent on guides and how-tos. That being said, I've search through this forum among others in order to get my problem solved but had no success so far. So your expertise is basically my last resort and hope.
I have a Lenovo Yoga 2 1050L, as stated above, and tried to root it yesterday using this guide. Unfortunately, I messed up when it came to the system's image from the custom ROM because I downloaded the original firmware for the 10'' version L instead of the further below mentioned recovery firmware in step 3 (though that link was dead anyway). Moreover, I also included the recovery.img in the custom flash process and not only the system.img and I think the error occurred while flashing the recovery partition.
Long story short, the flashing process failed and I was left with a non-booting tablet.
The status-quo is I can boot into the bootloader mode (power button + volume down) where it'll say "normal boot", "recovery mode" etc. at the top with the android figure lying on the ground with an open stomach.
With the help of the Fastboot Tethered Recovery Launcher I can use the T3 option to change the device status to "fastboot-online". From what I understood I can then enter recovery mode if pressing volume up (so I can do a data/cache wipe) but it says
"could not open sys/devices/virtual/backlight" and I couldn't figure out what that's supposed to mean or how I can solve it.
I also tried to flash it again with the stock rom downloaded from here with the Intel Phone Flash Tool 4.4.4.
But that always failed at the "fastboot -s <device> oem wipe ESP" operation. It failed to execute that command resulting in a timeout only to try it once again. After that second attempt ended in a timeout too, it went on to the next step "fastboot -s <device> oem start_partitioning" but that also failed, ultimately making the whole flash process fail.
The curious thing (for me, anyway) was that I could flash the boot.img, system.img and recovery.img individually (by going to "Custom Flash" in the Phone Flash Tool and then selecting only one of those images) and all three processes succeeded. However, I only got the success message on the Phone Flash Tool, the tablet itself got stuck during the first reboot during or after the flash process.
In fact, every boot/reboot results in the tablet being stuck at the display of the Lenovo Logo. Nothing happens after that, it just stays there.
This happens whenever I try to boot normally or boot straight into recovery mode (Power + Volume Up). The only way I can boot my tablet and actually do something with it is the bootloader mode (Power + Volume Down) but as stated above, from there I didn't manage to get anywhere else so far.
Another thing I have tried is to enter fastboot mode because I read that I can also recover from there. But whenever trying to enter fastboot mode the tablet's display goes black, then a small text says "Fastboot starting..." and that's it. Nothing happens after that, no additional text or new screen.
What I also noticed is that whenever the tablet reboots itself or if I try to boot/reboot it, the tablet is not in the list of available devices anymore if I enter "adb devices" or "fastboot devices" in my command line (with connected tablet). Only when I redo the process with the Fastboot Tethered Recovery Launcher (option T3), can I access the device with those commands again (at first I could access it with "adb devices", later on only with "fastboot devices" and to be honest, I don't know why that is).
I actually just want to wipe the data of the tablet and install the stock ROM again because I think there's just some corrupt data that keeps my tablet from booting normally. But right now I don't even know how to do that because everything I've tried so far didn't work. Not even starting the tablet with the so-called "hard reset" (Power + Volume Down + Volume Up) worked, I only got a black screen in that case.
Because I tried to solve this problem myself all day yesterday, my tablet is now also down to about 20% of battery and I don't know if I can charge it up without a proper ROM installed (probably not). So that's another factor that's hindering me from trying out other steps.
I know this is a lot of text but I still hope there's someone out there who can help me with my problem. I am at my wit's end and would highly appreciate anyone who has knowlegde about this situation with this tablet helping me.
Best regards and thank you in advance
XShunyaX

Phone stuck on Bootloader [soft brick]

Hi, just bought a phone for my son secondhand, it's going to be sold again if I can't fix this! The phone was sold cheap as it had software issues (of course) so I figured I could fix these and get it going (install custom recovery, ROM etc). I'm slightly stumped at the moment, so maybe you can help me.
The phone's defaulting to the bootloader screen, lots of info on this but the key thing I noticed was that it says 'the device is locked status code: 2'.
Clicking 'start' takes me a 'warning unlocked bootloader screen' then it runs through the 'hello moto' startup screen and back to bootloader
Clicking 'recovery' - there is definitely no working recovery on it, I just a get the dead robot with 'no command' underneath.
Clicking 'Factory Mode' allows me so far through the startup (after the bootloader unlocked warning), and you can get so far through setting it up, but because the battery is so low (it's permanently on with the bootloader when plugged in) it never seems to charge up enough, and either way the screen freezes at or around the final setup steps and then it reverts back to bootloader. I thought if I got into developer options and security, I could enable the USB debugging, OEM unlock etc, but no go there.
I've installed Motorola USB drivers but it doesn't seem to be registering on the PC (Windows 10).
There is some suggestion on other forums (less reputable!) that the locked status code may mean the bootloader has been relocked, but this seems contrary to what the phone is telling me.
Any ideas welcome, thanks - it's a lovely phone, just not much use at the moment.

GitManMatt said:
Hi, just bought a phone for my son secondhand, it's going to be sold again if I can't fix this! The phone was sold cheap as it had software issues (of course) so I figured I could fix these and get it going (install custom recovery, ROM etc). I'm slightly stumped at the moment, so maybe you can help me.
The phone's defaulting to the bootloader screen, lots of info on this but the key thing I noticed was that it says 'the device is locked status code: 2'.
Clicking 'start' takes me a 'warning unlocked bootloader screen' then it runs through the 'hello moto' startup screen and back to bootloader
Clicking 'recovery' - there is definitely no working recovery on it, I just a get the dead robot with 'no command' underneath.
Clicking 'Factory Mode' allows me so far through the startup (after the bootloader unlocked warning), and you can get so far through setting it up, but because the battery is so low (it's permanently on with the bootloader when plugged in) it never seems to charge up enough, and either way the screen freezes at or around the final setup steps and then it reverts back to bootloader. I thought if I got into developer options and security, I could enable the USB debugging, OEM unlock etc, but no go there.
I've installed Motorola USB drivers but it doesn't seem to be registering on the PC (Windows 10).
There is some suggestion on other forums (less reputable!) that the locked status code may mean the bootloader has been relocked, but this seems contrary to what the phone is telling me.
Any ideas welcome, thanks - it's a lovely phone, just not much use at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, some progress, I have now unlocked the bootloader, so have the UNLOCKED Status Code:3 which is good, unfortunately has not yet helped with my issues. I can't use ADB, but MFastboot tool is working, so can run commands from that (hence me getting to that stage). Tried reinstalling firmware, may try and do this again now bootloader unlocked....

slightly further along...
GitManMatt said:
OK, some progress, I have now unlocked the bootloader, so have the UNLOCKED Status Code:3 which is good, unfortunately has not yet helped with my issues. I can't use ADB, but MFastboot tool is working, so can run commands from that (hence me getting to that stage). Tried reinstalling firmware, may try and do this again now bootloader unlocked....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have now managed to flash stock firmwares using Mfastboot tool, but hasn't unfortunately fixed the boot up issues. However, I have now worked out how to access the recovery, by reading other posts on different Motorola phones:
boot to bootloader, power+vol down
in bootloader select recovery using the volume up/down buttons, press power button to select
phone boots into 'recovery,' showing the dead android with no command
at this point hold down the power and volume up, then release volume up but keep power held down
phones boots, by magic, into android recovery, where you can factory reset, wipe cache adb sideload and install from SD card
I now need to try and get a flashable recovery to sideload, as the attempts to flash it don't work for me. The OS I seem to be on is reteu 7.1.1, so I will try and go for a lower version, and see if that allows me to flash the custom recovery I desperately need.
But....things are improving slowly....:laugh:

GitManMatt said:
I have now managed to flash stock firmwares using Mfastboot tool, but hasn't unfortunately fixed the boot up issues. However, I have now worked out how to access the recovery, by reading other posts on different Motorola phones:
boot to bootloader, power+vol down
in bootloader select recovery using the volume up/down buttons, press power button to select
phone boots into 'recovery,' showing the dead android with no command
at this point hold down the power and volume up, then release volume up but keep power held down
phones boots, by magic, into android recovery, where you can factory reset, wipe cache adb sideload and install from SD card
I now need to try and get a flashable recovery to sideload, as the attempts to flash it don't work for me. The OS I seem to be on is reteu 7.1.1, so I will try and go for a lower version, and see if that allows me to flash the custom recovery I desperately need.
But....things are improving slowly....:laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never try to downgrade using stock firmware.

tyamamoto said:
Never try to downgrade using stock firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK thanks, I read that, but didn't realise it was a thing....should I be able to sideload a custom rom using ADB?