Chosen Solution
My wife has a HTC Nexus 9. She has had it a few years and it suddenly has a problem. She has not done any updates or rooting or anything, and the last thing she remembers installing was a Nonagram-type puzzle game. When she switches it on it gets to the Google logo, then resets and loops. I have gone into recovery mode and tried “wipe cache partition” and a few other things but it makes no difference. When I connect it to my pc it isn’t detected. It looks like the only option left is factory reset, but my wife doesn’t want to lose her family photos and videos. She does not have a backup. Is there anything I can try before resorting to factory reset?
Try disconnecting the battery - just ribbon cables - press power button to discharge power. Reconnect ribbon cables and try to get into Safe Mode - holding down Volume Down when rebooting - to disable third party apps. Nexus 9 Battery Replacement Does it still loop?
Using ADB to transfer files from an Android phone or Tablet to a PC This guide shows you how to easily install the Android SDK (Software Development Kit): https://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-… How to setup ADB: https://www.androidauthority.com/about-a… https://www.androidauthority.com/android… Note: Normally if USB Debug is not set up on your phone ADB will not be able to see and transfer files. However you wife’s tablet may have MTP mode (MTP stands for “Media Transfer Protocol.” This connection mode is more universal in comparison to ADB since it allows connecting not solely Android devices, but many other ones as well, like mp3 players or digital cameras). MTP rather than exposing your Android device’s raw file system to Windows, MTP operates at the file level. You know this is a very technical problem and I can’t just tell you what to do off the top of my head. It take either a lot of experience with Android devices or the interest to explorer and not give up. You could experiment with Mount /system: This gives access to core files and folders that are usually inaccessible. You can mount a partition to view data and edit it.
Fit a new battery before doing a restore. If it’s a few years old the battery is probably exhausted.
I would try flashing android manually. It worked for me when I bricked my Acer tablet! Android OS Download If it is a Wi-Fi tablet, then you will need this latest version of android for your nexus You will need ADB like @aactech mentioned. Below is how to manually flash the firmware: Download the latest OTA image for the Nexus from that pageReboot into recovery modePress the volume up and power keys at the same time to activate the hidden menuWith the volume keys, highlight “apply update from ADB” and press the power button to choose itFrom your computer, execute adb sideload otaFilename.zip
