[Nexus 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] VideoSavant:
I've done some further work on this and have checked the file permissions on my Nexus 5 to see if there are any obvious differences between the files in my root directory.

Here's what I found...note that the first file listed in each group is the N7 2012 and the second is my N5. Where there files on one device not found on the other, the listing consists entirely of dashes for that file entry.

Comparison

The File Permissions For "/" are:

drwxr-xr-x root root 2014-06-10 13:33 acct

drwxr-xr-x root root 1970-07-23 04:56 acct

drwxrwx--- system cache 2014-06-10 13:36 cache

drwxrwx--- system cache 2014-06-10 13:03 cache

---------- ---- ---- ------ ---------------- -------

-rwxr-x--- root root 272364 1969-12-31 18:00 charger

dr-x------ root root 2014-06-10 13:33 config

dr-x------ root root 1970-07-23 04:56 config

lrwxrwxrwx root root 2014-06-10 13:33 d -> /sys/kernel/debug

lrwxrwxrwx root root 1970-07-23 04:56 d -> /sys/kernel/debug

drwxrwx--x system system 2014-06-10 13:34 data

drwxrwx--x system system 2014-06-10 05:30 data

-rw-r--r-- root root 132 1969-12-31 18:00 default.prop

-rw-r--r-- root root 302 2014-06-03 00:08 default.prop

---------- ---- ---- ------ ---------------- -------

-rw-r--r-- root root 302 2014-06-03 00:08 default.prop~

drwxr-xr-x root root 2014-06-10 13:34 dev

drwxr-xr-x root root 1970-07-23 04:56 dev

lrwxrwxrwx root root 2014-06-10 13:33 etc -> /system/etc

lrwxrwxrwx root root 1970-07-23 04:56 etc -> /system/etc

-rw-r--r-- root root 10388 1969-12-31 18:00 file_contexts

-rw-r--r-- root root 8983 1969-12-31 18:00 file_contexts

-rw-r----- root root 1509 1969-12-31 18:00 fstab.grouper

-rw-r----- root root 2653 1969-12-31 18:00 fstab.hammerhead

---------- ---- ---- ------ ---------------- -------

dr-xr-x--- system system 1969-12-31 18:00 firmware

-rwxr-x--- root root 154432 1969-12-31 18:00 init

-rwxr-x--- root root 179416 1969-12-31 18:00 init

---------- ---- ---- ------ ---------------- -------

-rwxr-x--- root root 919 1969-12-31 18:00 init.environ.rc

-rwxr-x--- root root 19438 1969-12-31 18:00 init.grouper.rc

-rwxr-x--- root root 16671 1969-12-31 18:00 init.hammerhead.rc

-rwxr-x--- root root 1718 1969-12-31 18:00 init.grouper.usb.rc

-rwxr-x--- root root 5710 1969-12-31 18:00 init.hammerhead.usb.rc

-rwxr-x--- root root 19885 1969-12-31 18:00 init.rc

-rwxr-x--- root root 20216 2014-06-03 00:10 init.rc

-rwxr-x--- root root 1795 1969-12-31 18:00 init.trace.rc

-rwxr-x--- root root 1795 1969-12-31 18:00 init.trace.rc

-rwxr-x--- root root 3915 1969-12-31 18:00 init.usb.rc

-rwxr-x--- root root 3915 1969-12-31 18:00 init.usb.rc

drwxrwxr-x root system 2014-06-10 13:33 mnt

drwxrwxr-x root system 1970-07-23 04:56 mnt

---------- ---- ---- ------ ---------------- -------

drwxr-xr-x root root 1969-12-31 18:01 persist

dr-xr-xr-x root root 1969-12-31 18:00 proc

dr-xr-xr-x root root 1969-12-31 18:00 proc

-rw-r--r-- root root 2109 1969-12-31 18:00 property_contexts

-rw-r--r-- root root 2161 1969-12-31 18:00 property_contexts

drwx------ root root 2013-06-12 01:49 root

drwx------ root root 2014-03-17 17:13 root

drwxr-x--- root root 1969-12-31 18:00 sbin

drwxr-x--- root root 2014-06-03 00:50 sbin

lrwxrwxrwx root root 2014-06-10 13:33 sdcard -> /storage/emulated/legacy

lrwxrwxrwx root root 1970-07-23 04:56 sdcard -> /storage/emulated/legacy

-rw-r--r-- root root 611 1969-12-31 18:00 seapp_contexts

-rw-r--r-- root root 656 1969-12-31 18:00 seapp_contexts

-rw-r--r-- root root 66139 1969-12-31 18:00 sepolicy

-rw-r--r-- root root 74620 1969-12-31 18:00 sepolicy

d---r-x--- root sdcard_r 2014-06-10 13:33 storage

drwxr-x--x root sdcard_r 1970-07-23 04:56 storage

drwxr-xr-x root root 2014-06-10 13:33 sys

dr-xr-xr-x root root 1970-07-23 04:56 sys

drwxr-xr-x root root 2013-09-04 08:46 system

drwxr-xr-x root root 1969-12-31 18:00 system

---------- ---- ---- ------ ---------------- -------

drwxr-xr-x root root 1970-07-23 04:56 tmp-mksh

-rw-r--r-- root root 1224 1969-12-31 18:00 ueventd.grouper.rc

-rw-r--r-- root root 2204 1969-12-31 18:00 ueventd.hammerhead.rc

-rw-r--r-- root root 4024 1969-12-31 18:00 ueventd.rc

-rw-r--r-- root root 4024 1969-12-31 18:00 ueventd.rc

lrwxrwxrwx root root 2014-06-10 13:33 vendor -> /system/vendor

lrwxrwxrwx root root 1970-07-23 04:56 vendor -> /system/vendor

On those items where only one device contains the file listed, I have included a full line of dashes to indicate there is no equivalent file on that device (remember, Nexus 7 is listed first, N5 is listed second). I have no idea if this is part of my problem, but I'm listing those variations here in the interest of being complete.

Of those files/directories that are found on both devices, the only difference is the STORAGE entry, where the Nexus 7 is "d---r-x---" and the Nexus 5 is "drwxr-x--x". At this point, I'm unable to make any changes to the STORAGE component on my Nexus 7, as it doesn't appear to be accessible via the Nexus Root Toolkit tool available for altering permissions.

Does anyone know if this would explain why my N7 is starts up, begins loading home pages and initial apps and then (after 2-3 minutes) crashes and reboots? This happens repeatedly. If so, how do I go about changing this STORAGE entry permission?

Thanks again in advance for any help...