Boot loops and bricked updates — software fix or hardware fault?

A boot loop that started right after a software update is usually a corrupted update file or a failed partition write — genuinely software, and often fixable without touching hardware or losing data, through a targeted reflash.

A boot loop that started after a drop, a spill, or with no clear trigger is more often hardware — a damaged power management IC or a cracked solder joint on the board, both of which can mimic a software crash convincingly.

We run a diagnostic that reads the board's error logs before assuming either way, because guessing wrong means either an unnecessary board repair or a software attempt that was never going to work. Getting this right first also matters for the next question — whether your data is recoverable.