Help 5.1.1 broke my nexus - need help resetting

[Fruban]

After downloading the update, my tablet now gets stuck when booting normally on the "Google" screen:

It will stay here forever until I unplug and let it die.


However, I believe it can be salvaged somehow, as I can still get to the bootloader/fastboot and select from these options:



When I select Recovery mode, it takes me here:



From here, I don't know what to do. Can anyone help me finish the process of reflashing a working version of Android onto my Nexus 7 2013?

 

[Madbat]

That's stock recovery. From there hold volume up and tap power. That's recovery. But recovery won't help you. You haven't even begun the process of restoring it yet. You need fastboot. And you need to fastboot flash the whole factory image from Google's factory image page.
You can try wugfresh nexus root toolkit. It does all that for you.
http://www.wugfresh.com/nrt/

 

[Fruban]

Thanks! This looks promising. However, I can't get it to auto-detect (it looked like it almost did once but froze) and it lists four 5.1.1 builds (LMY47V, LMY48G, LMY48I, LMY48M). Since I can't access the build numbers in the settings since it won't fully boot, is it safe to guess at the build number just for the purposes of unlocking the boot loader so I can reflash the device, or get it to a point where I can auto detect?

I figured it out to the point where it's guiding me through with the Flash Stock + Unroot button, having selected that Soft-Bricked/Bootloop button. I got to the point where it had to unlock the bootloader. I selected yes, but the device seems to be frozen from there and won't continue. It says it may take a moment to register that I pushed the power button to select the command to unlock bootloader, but I feel like for a simple command like that, it shouldn't take more than a few minutes at most. I have a bad feeling about this.

Selected yes...and it just hangs.

Methinks it's irreparably bricked, no?

 

[Fruban]

Fiddling around some more, I got to a new screen:



To me it looks like bad news bears, but maybe someone else who can interpret what this means better than I can tell me if there's any hope of reviving this.

Another update: Looks like I can't wipe cache but I can wipe data, which I did. I wonder if there's a way to do something through the "apply update from ADB" option to force it to reinstall or correct the folders and boot correctly?

 

[Fruban]

From what I'm gathering on the internet, if the tablet gets stuck while trying to unlock the bootloader, the device is essentially irreparably bricked or there is a hardware issue. Is this incorrect?

 

[Madbat]

It may be. Many have had that problem, and it usually means a brick. Sorry bro. That new screen you had is stock Android recovery. The apply update from adb is for sideloading updates, not flashing whole systems.
In wugs kit, it didn't matter what build you chose. You can flash any build you want on a nexus.
But it sounds like you have the famous lollipop brick. It happened to a lot of folks. It's a very small percentage of nexus owners, but it added up to a lot of ppl. Sorry to hear it.
If it helps, a motherboard replacement fixes it. I know that's not the news you wanted.
You can get nexus 7(2013) 's pretty cheap now though. I saw them new on Groupon for like $119. It's still worth that price in my book. Get em cheap on eBay too.

 

[Fruban]

I opened it once to fix the touch screen issue by reseating and taping down the connector, but if I'm going to spend over 100 on a new tablet I might as well save up for something newer. And I'm not sure I'm up for replacing a whole motherboard. I replaced a screen once on an HTC thunderbolt and that was a huge chore since it had a huge black splotch, had to take it all apart again, send it back, get a replacement part which took another week, and even that had two noticeable stuck pixels but at that point I just dealt with it.

I got this one when it just came out anyway, and although it's been many months since I decided to try and fix it I got a good solid two years or more of heavy use out of it. I bet I could sell it for parts at least and put it towards a nexus 9 or something. Any idea how much a tablet in great physical condition would sell for? Other than the motherboard, lol.

I mostly upset about having wasted my Friday night on this. What a headache. At least I learned some stuff and found a great tool for my next Nexus. Silver linings! Oh and thanks for the responses.

 

[Madbat]

Anytime. I moved to a nexus 9. It's a love hate kinda thing with the 9. It has some performance issues. It handles games great because its a beast of a processor, but I'm a grownup and don't play many games, lol. Chrome browsing sucks too, every time you switch tabs it has to reload the whole page.
As long as you find one kinda cheap its worth it, and all the issues it has can be solved with custom ROM and kernel.