I Think I Bricked It

[bobvanjr]

I got the phone about a week ago planning on using Straight Talk. I have another phone (a Note) that I use ST on.

I decided to throw the Sim card in the Nexus while waiting for my new one from ST. It wouldn't turn on. I took out the Sim and it just kept going through the boot up animation.

I pulled the battery and turned it on. It came up with a picture of an Android with an open chest compartment and an exclamation point.

Right now it's just cycling through the Google screen with a padlock symbol at the bottom over and over again.

What did I do?

Can it be fixed?

 

[bobvanjr]

Man, this really sucks. I have no idea what to do. I've never even used the dang thing. I had it turned on once with no sim and that was it.

I'm sure hoping there is something I can do.

 

[googol]

Have you done anything else to the phone? Is the bootloader unlocked? Did you root the phone? Is it running a custom ROM?
The answer to your question is as long as it starts up and something show up on screen, it can be fixed. What you can try doing is to flash the factory images for the GNex from https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images. This will overwrite everything and bring the phone back to complete stock. The phone should work fine after that. Make sure you use the right images -GSM or CDMA. You should be able to find instructions for unlocking the bootloader and flashing the factory images in the forums. If there are any problems, you can post back here.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[bobvanjr]

That sounds a bit complicated.

I haven't done anything to the phone. My intention was to use it on Straight Talk. I've had it for about a week and have just never got around to activating it. A guy at work was pestering me about it because he is interested in one so I brought it in to work. I turned it on to show him but really couldn't do much without a data connection.

I got the bright idea to put my Note sim in it which I thought would be fine and that's when all this started.

 

[googol]

If you haven't done anything to it, I don't know why you would be facing such a problem. Have you tried factory resetting the phone? This will wipe all data on the phone and bring it back to the out of box state. Make sure the battery is charged before doing this (around 75-80% at least)

1. Power off the phone.
2. Hold down the power button and volume rocker (in the middle so that you are pushing down on both the up and down volume buttons). After a few seconds, the phone will boot into fast boot mode.
3. From there, use the volume rocker to select Recovery. Press the power button to boot into recovery.
4. You will now see an Android figure with a warning symbol. From here, hit the volume down and power button simultaneously to get into the recovery menu.
5. Here you will find an option for wipe/factory reset. Use volume to highlight that option and press power button to select. It will ask for confirmation. Once you confirm, the phone will reset and reboot. It should be fixed at that point.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[Andrew Martonik]

If you haven't done anything to it, I don't know why you would be facing such a problem. Have you tried factory resetting the phone? This will wipe all data on the phone and bring it back to the out of box state. Make sure the battery is charged before doing this (around 75-80% at least)

1. Power off the phone.
2. Hold down the power button and volume rocker (in the middle so that you are pushing down on both the up and down volume buttons). After a few seconds, the phone will boot into fast boot mode.
3. From there, use the volume rocker to select Recovery. Press the power button to boot into recovery.
4. You will now see an Android figure with a warning symbol. From here, hit the volume down and power button simultaneously to get into the recovery menu.
5. Here you will find an option for wipe/factory reset. Use volume to highlight that option and press power button to select. It will ask for confirmation. Once you confirm, the phone will reset and reboot. It should be fixed at that point.

I'd definitely try this first. If it doesn't work, you should download the stock images and load them up via Fastboot.

OP, you are SO far from bricked. If your phone turns on, you can get it back to running unless there's a severe hardware fault (in which you should be entitled to warranty claim). I can guarantee the SIM had absolutely nothing to do with it. Just a coincidence.

 

[Richard Devine]

It's a Nexus. It won't be bricked

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[bobvanjr]

Ok, I got it into recovery mode where it has the Android with the open front cover and exclamation point. It won't let me go past that. Power and volume down have no affect.

What now? Probably easiest to just return it (anyone know the return policy for the Play store?) and get a new one.

Not the experience I was hoping for with my first Nexus

 

[googol]

EDIT - I tested on my GNex and it worked. Press middle of volume rocker and power button simultaneously once you get to the open bugdroid with the warning symbol. Hit both buttons together and not one after the other.

You have to hit power and volume simultaneously. It is a bit finicky at times, so it takes a few tries. I may have been wrong. I think you have to hit the middle of the volume rocker like before plus the power button. I know it is a frustrating experience, but this should work. Post back with any questions or if successful.

Sent from my cm_tenderloin using Android Central Forums

 

[bobvanjr]

I got it to work and it was finicky. It says it's formatting data now. Hopefully it'll work.

Thanks a lot. I'll post back with my results.

I'm still wondering what and the heck happened. Using my Note Straight Talk sim in the Gnex should work right?

 

[bobvanjr]

It took awhile but it says data wipe complete. There are a bunch of E:failed to mount/cache E:can't mount cache and a bunch more E:can't open/can't mount/failed to mount etc.

Now I have the same options as before the wipe. I'm assuming I should reboot system now? That's what im gonna try.

 

[bobvanjr]

Ok, I hit reboot system and it had a bunch more failed things come up and the screen went blank. It hasn't done anything and it isn't responding to the power button. How long should it take? I'm guessing it isn't just going to magically come back to like on its own.

I'll try again in the morning.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[googol]

From what I read on the Straighttalk website, as long as you have the GSM HSPA+ variant of the GNex it should work just fine. I don't know what caused your problem, but I doubt it was because of the SIM. Hopefully, this reset fixes the boot problems.

Sent from my cm_tenderloin using Android Central Forums

 

[googol]

Ok, I hit reboot system and it had a bunch more failed things come up and the screen went blank. It hasn't done anything and it isn't responding to the power button. How long should it take? I'm guessing it isn't just going to magically come back to like on its own.

I'll try again in the morning.

Thanks for the help so far.

Sorry to hear that the reset didn't work. Since you are within the return period, you should just return the device for a new one. Just tell them the device wouldn't boot after you put the new SIM in. Don't give up on the idea of a Nexus device. As with all technology, there are always devices that get shipped with problems and you were one of the unlucky ones. Hopefully, the new device works for you.

Sent from my cm_tenderloin using Android Central Forums

 

[bobvanjr]

So I should be able to swap Sims even though it was already used (in use) in the Note? I thought that was how it SHOULD work.

The reset didn't seem to work. I guess I'm going to have to get ahold of Google somehow and see about returning it.

Thanks for the help.

 

[googol]

So I should be able to swap Sims even though it was already used (in use) in the Note? I thought that was how it SHOULD work.

The reset didn't seem to work. I guess I'm going to have to get ahold of Google somehow and see about returning it.

Thanks for the help.

There are still some things you can try like flashing the factory images like I had suggested earlier, but it is not worth it if you are still within the return period.

Sent from my cm_tenderloin using Android Central Forums

 

[fender7217]

Swapping SIM's should have no effect. Sounds like you just got a lemon of a Nexus. Return it for a new one. :-\

 

[bobvanjr]

I tried the reset again this morning and it went really quick. I then had to select reboot. Now it's stuck looping on the colorful startup screen. One time after about 5 minutes it stopped doing that and it had a black screen with some colored horizontal lines and I had to pull the battery.

Back it goes!

One good thing is that according to The Playstore, my N7 had shipped although I haven't received a confirmation email.

 

[bobvanjr]

So I called Google today (Sunday morning at 09:00 Eastern) and I was walked through the hard reset procedure with obviously the same results as before. He said it looked to be a DOA and that he was going to put me in contact with Samsung. Then he said they were having trouble conferencing in with Samsung so he would just transfer me directly to them. He came back on the line and asked if I could call back tomorrow after 11:00 and I said sure.

So, I guess he tried. I don't like having to deal with Samsung and I wish Google would have just sent me a return label and I could have gotten my new Nexus from Google but I guess that isn't how they do it. Dang. This is going to slow things down.

 

[googol]

Thanks for the updates. Hope things work out in the end.

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