Narrative:

I was the first officer (first officer) and the pilot flying. We took off from ZZZZ and upon gear retraction; we noticed that although all the gear came up; the nose gear doors remained open. We notified ATC indicating that we may have a problem. I engaged the autopilot. I remained the pilot flying on autopilot. The captain verbalized that we should try cycling the gear; down then up again. I concurred. The gear came down normally with no abnormal indications. However; the second time he raised the gear handle; only the mains retracted; but the nose gear stayed down. Of course we couldn't continue this way; and the captain verbalized that we should return to ZZZZ. I continued to fly; and took the radios; declaring our desire to return. ATC cleared us to 5;000 feet; direct to zzzzz to hold as published. We made the decision to land overweight on runway 28 after the relief pilot determined that the runway was adequate. Meanwhile; the captain; ran checklists; made pas; briefed flight attendants and briefed the approach. The gear handle was placed down in anticipation of our landing and all gear down indications were normal. The rest of the approach and landing were uneventful. The reason for this report is because in hindsight; the cycling of the gear is not SOP. As with any abnormal; there are many things to think about and accomplish in what appears to be a limited amount time. In a rush to 'fix' our problem; we cycled the gear instead of slowing down and waiting to see if there was a checklist to follow. We should have slowed down. There was no dire emergency. We should have asked ATC to enter a holding pattern to run checklists.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B777 flight crew reported a landing gear malfunction after takeoff.

Narrative: I was the First Officer (FO) and the pilot flying. We took off from ZZZZ and upon gear retraction; we noticed that although all the gear came up; the nose gear doors remained open. We notified ATC indicating that we may have a problem. I engaged the autopilot. I remained the pilot flying on autopilot. The Captain verbalized that we should try cycling the gear; down then up again. I concurred. The gear came down normally with no abnormal indications. However; the second time he raised the gear handle; only the mains retracted; but the nose gear stayed down. Of course we couldn't continue this way; and the Captain verbalized that we should return to ZZZZ. I continued to fly; and took the radios; declaring our desire to return. ATC cleared us to 5;000 feet; direct to ZZZZZ to hold as published. We made the decision to land overweight on Runway 28 after the Relief Pilot determined that the runway was adequate. Meanwhile; the Captain; ran checklists; made PAs; briefed Flight attendants and briefed the approach. The gear handle was placed down in anticipation of our landing and all gear down indications were normal. The rest of the approach and landing were uneventful. The reason for this report is because in hindsight; the cycling of the gear is not SOP. As with any abnormal; there are many things to think about and accomplish in what appears to be a limited amount time. In a rush to 'fix' our problem; we cycled the gear instead of slowing down and waiting to see if there was a checklist to follow. We should have slowed down. There was no dire emergency. We should have asked ATC to enter a holding pattern to run checklists.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.