Nexus 4 Recovery Error

[Michael Goodban]

I bought a LG Nexus at a swap meet last weekend with intentions on cleaning it up and possibly using it. When I booted it up, the previous owner did not wipe it and there was a password pattern protecting it. I entered the recovery menu and select recovery and I get an android on his back with a red triangle with an exclamation point. I'm stuck at this point. Is there another way to fix this or did I just buy a fancy brick? Any assistance would be helpful.

Thanks,
Michael

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! You can try a hardware button reset: https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-5994. But be aware that on Lollipop and above, an unauthorized factory reset (i.e., one that was done without first removing the existing Google account) will require the user to enter that Google account's name and password after the factory reset is done. This is to discourage thieves from swiping a phone and then doing a simple factory reset to bypass the lockscreen theirs. If you have no idea who the previous owner was, then you won't be able to get past this (and we don't discuss more hardcore ways of hacking a phone). Sorry!