I am experiencing the same reboot loops (fun) for the first time in a *long* while (first time for my N810).

I didn't have anything weird installed. A few apps from the Chinook repo but no core stuff changed. I also didn't uninstall the version metapackage or switch to the unlocked one so there should have been no strange core component updates creeping in.

One thing that I did notice was halfway though the update (after the download), the wifi connection went down. Not sure what the cause was. The update proceeded normally so I didn't worry about it. The update progress bar was about 75% complete and it just stopped and the updatable application list refreshed with a bunch of new updates available.

I waited a few minutes for something to happen (error dialog, popup asking to reboot, etc.) but nothing did.

I didn't bother trying to update those other apps yet but I did try to reconnect the wifi but no AP selection window would pop up.

I tried the power button to reboot. No popup there either which is strange since that seems to work no matter how hooped your desktop might be.

The only way I could reboot is to login as root and do a 'shutdown -r now'

Now endless reboot loops until I popped the battery out.

So when I get home, I'll try disabling the watchdogs and see if the boot proceeds normally. In the past, some of my desktop applets have been the culprit (omweather to be exact).