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Help Nexus 4 KitKat update problem

Z

zchag0b

Newbie
Hello everyone,

Last night I tried upgrading to KitKat and ignored my phone for a while. When I came back it was stuck with some colourful dancing circles which were still there in the morning and until now.

I am quite inexperienced with phones and software but suspect this is a problem.

Has anyone had any similar issues, or know any way to get around this?

I would appreciate any help!
 
i just realised you put that in the thread title, sorry :o

I'll move to the N4 forum, see if the guys there can assist.

Can you get in to the bootloader? Turn the device off, power it back on holding volume down? Factory resetting from there might help.
 
When I press the volume down button it gives me the options to Start, Power Off, Recovery Mode and Restart Bootloader.

Clicking Recovery Mode shows me the Google intro page and then a dead Android with a red "!" triangle over his open belly and "No command".

Clicking "Restart bootloader" just brings me back to the same page as when I hold the volume down button for long.
 
Thanks for your reply.

I am sorry but I don't know what either of the terms you used mean. Last night all I did was click on the notification I got with regards to the update and then clicked to proceed with it and ignored it until I noticed the colourful dots.

I should have had free storage space since I have recently transferred all my photos to the computer (lucky).

I will look into how I can wipe the cache and see if it works, thanks for the suggestion.
 
zchag0b said:
Thanks for your reply.

I am sorry but I don't know what either of the terms you used mean. Last night all I did was click on the notification I got with regards to the update and then clicked to proceed with it and ignored it until I noticed the colourful dots.

I should have had free storage space since I have recently transferred all my photos to the computer (lucky).

I will look into how I can wipe the cache and see if it works, thanks for the suggestion.
Click to expand...

Over-The-Air (OTA) just means that the update was wirelessly sent to your phone; flashing a factory image would require manual action on your part.

To wipe cache:
1) Power off the phone.
2) Press and hold the Volume-Down button and the Power button until you get a screen with an Android lying on its back.
3) Scroll down with the Volume-Down button until you see the words "Recovery mode" at the top of the screen.
4) Select Recovery Mode by pressing the Power button.
5) Once you see a different Android on its back, press the Volume-Up and Power buttons simultaneously to display the menu.
6) Scroll down (with Volume-Down again) to the "wipe cache partition" option, and select it by pressing the Power button.
7) A message will appear to indicate the cache wipe is complete. Press the Power button to reboot.

The reboot may take a while, but hopefully it will correct the issue you encountered with the update.

Good luck!
 
I have followed your advice and it is back to the dancing colourful dots now. Does this mean it is rebooting now? Also, what is a realistic amount of time for me to wait for something else to appear (I ask because these dots were going on all night and nothing changed). Thanks!
 
Yep, that's the new boot animation. It shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes tops. Let us know how it goes!
 
I'm afraid that hasn't helped... :( It has been over twenty minutes and the circles are still going.

Is there anything else I can do?
 
zchag0b said:
I'm afraid that hasn't helped... :( It has been over twenty minutes and the circles are still going.

Is there anything else I can do?
Click to expand...

How attached are you to the data on the device? A lot of things will be backed up with your Google account (email, contacts, some settings, photos/videos if you use Google+, game progress for some games (again, if you use G+)). If you're okay with losing everything else, the next-simplest thing will be a full wipe. Follow those same steps that you did to wipe the cache, except chose the other wipe option "wipe data" or something to that extent (sorry, don't have my phone in front of me right now). That will delete everything and revert to *hopefully* factory defaults, which should get you up and running.

If that doesn't work (or if you're too attached to your data to give that a go just yet), you'll likely need to get quite a bit more involved. We can walk you through that, but it can be a kind of tricky process.
 
Hi,

I am not fussed at all about bringing it back to factory defaults. I tried it as "full wipe/system reset" was one of the options in the instructions you gave me perviously. However, it brought it back to the instructions page and when I clicked system reboot it brought me back to the circles.

Thanks for all your help so far. Is there anything else I can do to bring this phone back to utility, having in mind that I have already wiped everything?
 
zchag0b said:
Hi,

I am not fussed at all about bringing it back to factory defaults. I tried it as "full wipe/system reset" was one of the options in the instructions you gave me perviously. However, it brought it back to the instructions page and when I clicked system reboot it brought me back to the circles.

Thanks for all your help so far. Is there anything else I can do to bring this phone back to utility, having in mind that I have already wiped everything?
Click to expand...

The next attempt will be to manually flash the factory firmware image. It's a fairly involved process, but is pretty much guaranteed to get you back up and running.

To avoid re-inventing the wheel (and because I should probably get some actual work done today ;) ), I'll just refer you to a pretty fantastic step-by-step guide over at XDA: [HOW-TO] How to flash a factory image / return to stock / unlock / root # - xda-developers

That should cover everything that you need, but feel free to pop back in here if you get stuck or confused. I'm glad to help whenever I can!

And do report back and let us know once you're all set :)
 
I am about to lose my patience with this phone! It has taken me several different attempts and literally hours to try and sort this problem but to no avail!

I have tried following the steps in that link you referred me to but while it seems to have helped many people it is just so full of jargon and assumptions that I understand what it is talking about that I simply cannot follow it. Surely an average user of phones like this are not supposed to be versed in this level of technical knowledge?

I am really stuck with my options...
 
I HAVE DONE IT! CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! You were right, when I got to understanding that first link you sent (after a lengthy phone chat with a computer science friend nevertheless) it was really foolproof, as you said. :)

Thank you again for this invaluable help and kindness, I really appreciate it. If you have a G'd may He bless you forever. If you don't, I wish you a life permeated with all of the best things it has to offer!
 
I read an article earlier today that stated that people who installed the OTA while on 4.3 would experience A LOT of bugs where people who were already on KitKat (side loaded the first build) who accepted the OTA were experiencing close to none in bugs. Just a heads up
 
hstroph said:
You find it funny to get popup windows of Russian "girls" ... why would anyone trust the software loaded from such a site?
Click to expand...

Apologies if you were offended by popups - I didn't see any when I visited the site. In fact, none of the images actually loaded for me (probably do to being on a military network). I just shared the link because it looked to be a concise and easy-to-digest step-by-step guide for flashing the factory images.

As for the "software loaded from such a site," all of the download links were pointing either to official software downloads from Google or to a reputable Android file host.
 
hstroph said:
You find it funny to get popup windows of Russian "girls" ... why would anyone trust the software loaded from such a site?
Click to expand...

I'm not seeing any popups either, I have however tagged the post accordingly just in case any one else sees them.

Regardless, the instructions seem to have worked for the OP (which is the most important thing).

Thank you codesplice. :)
 
hello everyone!

apparently my phone is doing the same thing!!! =((

when you say the first boot takes a long time, it is less then 20 minutes?

also, i think this doesnt look good right?
 
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