newbie: how to get near-stock MotoG out of boot-loop? summary:

phone: near-original-condition MotoG {2013, 1st gen}, Android version==4.4.4

me: Android newbie, Linux vet

problem: infinite boot-loop

need: newbie-oriented instructions regarding how to fix or further debug

details:

I am very underinformed regarding Android and pretty much all things phone, and put off getting a smartphone until 2015. ~8 months ago I got a refurbished CDMA/Verizon MotoG (which I believe to be  {2013, 1st gen}) for an MVNO's BYOP program, but have been too busy to do much with it, other than


update it from Android version==4.4.2 to 4.4.4
twiddle some settings (e.g., configure wireless, copy some icons to the launcher)
lock the launcher (i.e., require PIN entry for access)
make phonecalls (I realize that's sooo 20th-century :-)


I.e., unlike all the posts I've looked at in the boot-loop tag-wiki, I have not knowingly done anything experimental to either the hardware or software (e.g., rooting, flashing ROM, replacing components).

Yesterday I squeezed its power button to wake the MotoG to check the time (probably my main use for it :-) and ... it booted: the MotoG showed its usual initial powerup screen (white with "powered by android" at the bottom), then the various HD Motorola planets, then the lockscreen. If it had stopped there, I would have been merely annoyed. Instead, almost as soon as I started to key in its PIN, it went back to first powerup screen, and then through the entire sequence. And again. Each time, it goes through the entire normal sequence of boot-time screens, then displays the launcher/lockscreen for ~5 sec (barely enough time to key in the PIN), then back to the initial boot screen. (Note that the MotoG restarts itself after the same amount of time in the lockscreen whether or not I key in its PIN.)

At this point I did not even know the term boot-loop, but certainly knew what an infinite loop looked like (my {background, work experience} is IT, mostly Linux). I let the MotoG drain its battery doing its boot-loop, hoping that might cure the problem. It did not: as soon as I put it on its charger, it resumed boot-looping.

Can someone give me simple, Android-newbie-oriented instructions for how to fix or debug the problem? Or, better yet, pass pointers to existing, simple, Android-newbie-oriented content regarding how to fix or debug the problem. Extra credit if the content helps me (et al.) to learn more about Android and this hardware platform: I'd like to know more, but just haven't had time to learn.
Do a Reset via Recovery. 


You first have to power off your Android smartphone. In order to do that, press the power button and select “power off”.
Wait a few seconds and then press the volume up and volume down buttons along with the power button at the same time for about 3, or 4 seconds.
Release the buttons; the Moto G boot menu must be now displayed on your phone.Use the Volume Down button in order to scroll down and also up as the Volume Up button can be used only for selecting an option.Scroll down until you reach “recovery” and the press the Volume Up button once.
The android logo will now be displayed on your phone.Hold down Volume Up and Volume Down buttons for about 5 seconds and press power button once.The recovery mode menu should now be displayed.
That was all; you can now choose to hard reset your Moto G or you can return to Android OS by selecting “reboot system now”.