[Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] UbinTook:
Is this N5 hosed?

Android 5.1.1

( I know the following because I have a second N5 that was purchased at the same time that Is still running flawlessly and they both would update within a day or so of each other, assuming this info is the same)

Baseband Version

M8974A-2.0.50.2.26

Kernel Version

3.4.0-gbebb36b

android-build@vpbs1.mtv.corp.google.com#1

Tue Mar 10 18:17:45 UTC 2015

Build Number

LMY48B

I have a completely stock N5 that started presenting problems some months ago with random reboots, just occasionally. It would just restart no big deal, didn’t worry to much about it pretty soon the restarts came more often.

I installed the “Device Assist” App as suggested in a google forum group, to which it immediately started to recognize “Device Randomly rebooting? Try Safe Mode” ( which I didn’t at that time) it did give me the option to call a google tech and speak with them about the issue, they saw, through device assist that indeed the device had been randomly restarting. The tech ran me through clearing the device cache from the recover menu, I rebooted and everything worked fine for several weeks.

Then the reboots started again, but this time more seriously, often the unit would just power down and attempt to reboot would be meet with a short vibrate with a flash of the word google.

Eventually it would boot back up, often it would run through an “optimizing apps” routine.

I remembered as well, often the reboot(s) would begin with the “power off” screen coming up, even if I didn’t choose it it would shut down anyway and often if I dismissed it, it would wait 10 seconds or so then shut down.

All really strange.

So I got a hold of a google tech again, this time they suggested rebooting in safe mode and running several days like that to see if it was a software or hardware issue.

In safe mode it ran without issue for 48 hours( normally this would have resulted in a handful of restarts at best. Google tech seemed to think it was an app issue since the problem didn’t return in safe mode and suggested a complete factory restore,( and to setup the phone as a new phone rather than restore any back info form google) I was backed up so I ran the factory restore from system settings “back up and restore” .

Once restored it worked fine for a day and then it all went downhill from there, power off screen would appear (often when I short pressed the power button to sleep the unit) and again if I dismissed that dialogue it would power down anyway and it would take numerous tries to get it to power back up, almost every time it would run through the “optimizing apps” routine.

Within a day, it just stopped powering up. If I plug the unit in to charge it does this odd cycle of black-screen/short vibrate/Flash the word Google, about every 2 seconds, it never shows a battery charge indicator

If it is not plugged it won’t do anything, if it is plugged in when I tried to boot into recovery, the recovery screen would appear for a brief second and then it will start the vibrate/flash “google “ cycle.

It does nothing when placed on a wireless charging plate.

Google tech said it is out of warranty ( which I knew) and gave me a number to LG to see what options they suggested.

I suspect it has something to do with a sticky or malfunctioning power button, but wanted to see if anyone here has and experience with this type of issue or has a suggestion.

Thanks