Lollipop’s tasty trend is all over and the first ones to receive the updates is the Nexus series, however many other devices including the Moto X, Moto G, Galaxy Note 3, Nvidia Shield Tablet, HTC One (m7 & m8) GPE, Galaxy S5 and many more are eligible. While some are receiving the OTAs directly, others are making an attempt to update manually by re-flashing the complete firmwares or factory images.
We have already covered the latest article to Install Lollipop 5.0.2 Factory Images on Nexus 7 & Nexus 10, but installing a factory image tends to work only on unlocked devices and removes all your data. If you’re someone who doesn’t want to risk over the data and keep your N7 locked, you are welcome to this guide. These instructions will help you Install Lollipop 5.0.2 on Nexus 7 2012 and 2013 variants by manually flashing the OTA, which will not only remove the risk of unlocking the bootloader but also preserve all your precious data after the update. The OTAs were captured by XDA members EthanFirst and zlogic42, so give them the appreciations they deserve. Below, we will instruct you to flash the OTA update manually via the stock recovery. Get ready with the requirements and then follow up to the steps.
Warning!
Flashing updates manually may be risky, if done wrong. DroidViews or any of its members shall not be held responsible for any damage to your Android device. Understand the instructions first and proceed thereafter.
Before You Begin
- A Nexus 7 2012 with LRX21P build or Nexus 7 2013 with LRX22C build.
- Grab a compatible USB data cable.
- Enable USB debugging. Don’t know how? Use our detailed guide.
- Backup your Nexus 7 completely. If you’re not yet rooted, follow our guide.
- Charge your device to at least 60% battery life to avoid any mishaps when the steps are being carried out.
- Download Android tools package (ADB and fastboot) and extract it.
- Download the OTA update file and move it to the android-tools folder extracted in the above step.
Downloads
Nexus 7 2012 OTA zip: Link
Nexus 7 2013 OTA zip: Link
Install Lollipop 5.0.2 on Nexus 7
Installing Lollipop 5.0.2 OTA on the Nexus 7 requires booting into the stock recovery mode and flashing the OTA file from within the device.
- Open the android-tools folder where the tools and OTA zips are present.
- Inside the folder, press SHIFT key and right-click on an empty space inside the folder.
- Select Open command window here from the pop-up menu that appears.
- Connect your Nexus 7 to the PC via USB cable, making sure USB debugging is enabled.
- Boot your N7 into bootloader mode:
adb reboot bootloader
- Press the volume keys until you see Recovery mode on the bootloader screen. Now press the power button to select the option. Once you see an Android bot with warning icon, press power button and tap Volume up button a few times to boot into stock recovery mode.
- The device will now be in recovery mode displaying Android system recovery <3e> at the very top.
- Use the volume down button to highlight apply update from ADB and select it using the power button.
- Now, type the following command to sideload the OTA update to your Nexus 7 2012:
adb sideload a6645eee89af34f58db74f6a1ad93fe400fcfc7b.signed-nakasi-LRX22G-from-LRX21P.a6645eee.zip
- Or, if you’re using Nexus 7 2013, type:
adb sideload 5189573323c8a232cbe42fc3413ce006c585c7cb.signed-razor-LRX22G-from-LRX22C.51895733.zip
- Wait for the device to complete the update and once done, select reboot system now from the recovery screen.
IIt’sdone! You have successfully installed Lollipop 5.0.2 on Nexus 7 2012 and 2013 variants. The 5.0.2 update has bought some real fixes for the Nexus 7, enjoy them.
Provide us with your valuable feedback and help us build a better community.
I have a rooted Nexus 7 2012 running Lollipop 5.0.1. I have received notification that 5.0.2 is available but I can’t do update through OTA because my device is rooted. Everytime I tried to update it raised error.
Will this guide here work? Thank you.