Database Info

HTC One S Chinese Clone (Need a working ROM)

I have been living in China and have been having a difficult time finding a decent phone here. Seems that most of the phones end up being clones. A while ago I bought a phone off taobao.com for 1000 RMB (about $150 US).
Anyhow; the phone looks really slick and the hardware seems to be quite nice, but it is obviously a clone. The phone works quite well except for the fact that the Google Play Store does not work at all (I have tried manually adding the most recent Google Play Store apk and that seems to make no difference).
What I am hoping for is that someone can point me in the right direction to where I can go to download a ROM for this phone, or to modify the existing stock ROM.
I ran AnTuTu Benchmark v2.4 and these are the specs it gave me:
Phone Model: HTC ONE S
Brand: HTC
CPU hardware: Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8660
CPU model: ARMv7 Processor rev2 (v7l)
Screen resolution: 540x960
Android version: 4.2.1
Build number: Dual CORE 1.5GHz HTC ONE S ROM 4G+RAM 1GB_FOR AT&T
Linux version 3.0.13
I originally tried a ROM for the HTC ONE S, but it didn't work.
It has ClockworkMod Bootloader on it but it is a weird Chinese version. I tried to put an English version of CWM on but that did not seem to work either.
I chatted (in Chinese that was not very good) with the technical support of the place that sold me the phone to get the stock ROM.
Sum up:
Where do I go to find a ROM for this phone? or what other info about the phone do I need to know to know which rom I can download?
If I can't find a rom to download, is there any way I can hack the existing stock rom to make the Google Play store work?
EDIT: Just downloaded the Phone Tester App and here are some more stats about the phone:
Device
Brand: HTC
Manufacturer: SAMI
Model: HTC ONE S
Product: HTC
CPU: ARMv7 Processor rev 10 (v71)
RAM: 473MB
OS
Version: IML74K
Release 4.2.1
Kernel: 3.0.13
SDK: 15
Firmware: eng.andrew.134276301

Lets see a pic? Amazing that they would "clone" the phone yet build with the same specs. In my employer's experience, the "clones" of our products are often built by the same people that build them for us, i.e. our products go out the front door, while the extras go out the back...
EDIT, a little googling shows the MSM8660 is the "S3" variant...odd that it also reports 1.5Ghz which is usually an indicator of the S4, but try heading over the the dev section and see what's listed under [S3]...there isn't much, but some work is being done with a Sensation dev to bring Viper ROM to the S3.
The Android 4.2.1 report is also odd as even the latest JellyBean based CM10 is only at 4.1.1. China is a freaky place for understanding technology.
As I understand it, the Google Play store is only supposed to work on phones that conform to a certain standard, i.e. Android is open source, but the Google Apps have restrictions. Have you tried flashing an entire Gapps package from goo.im...maybe you're also missing some google account stuff that comes along with the Gapps?
You should also remove the IMEI from your post. It's not relevant and can be used by bad people for bad things.

Lets see a pic? Amazing that they would "clone" the phone yet build with the same specs. In my employer's experience, the "clones" of our products are often built by the same people that build them for us, i.e. our products go out the front door, while the extras go out the back...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I took some photos just now and attached them... hopefully they help solve the riddle to what this phone actually is.
One sketchy aspect of this phone is how much storage space it has. It looks like it has 4GB or memory; 1GB is partitioned to use for installing apps which leaves 3GB that has been partitioned as the SDCARD. When I put an actual sdcard in, it shows that I have two sdcards.
EDIT, a little googling shows the MSM8660 is the "S3" variant...odd that it also reports 1.5Ghz which is usually an indicator of the S4, but try heading over the the dev section and see what's listed under [S3]...there isn't much, but some work is being done with a Sensation dev to bring Viper ROM to the S3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try that. Good suggestion. I will let you know if I have any luck there.
The Android 4.2.1 report is also odd as even the latest JellyBean based CM10 is only at 4.1.1. China is a freaky place for understanding technology.
As I understand it, the Google Play store is only supposed to work on phones that conform to a certain standard, i.e. Android is open source, but the Google Apps have restrictions. Have you tried flashing an entire Gapps package from goo.im...maybe you're also missing some google account stuff that comes along with the Gapps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah... I think the actual version is 4.0. Not sure how they got the 4.2 unless that have some sort of secret society going on (which they probably do... just not with Google). Notable things that don't work: The Play Store, Voice commands, Face unlock (renders the phone useless when you do this... had to do a factory reset), and CWM Backup... which reminds me... I should take some pictures of CWM.
I have tried flashing Gapps, but it really didn't change anything. Still could not use the Play Store. The only difference I noticed when adding Gapps is that when I would hold the power button, it only showed the options for Power Off or Reboot. Before I added Gapps it also had the option for Airplane mode. I tried modding the ROM a bit but every time I added or left out APKs it made it so that the ROM would not flash (my understanding of modding ROMs is next to nothing).
You should also remove the IMEI from your post. It's not relevant and can be used by bad people for bad things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the heads up. Thought about that as I put it on... Not really sure what the IMEI is, but I no longer have it listed.

Crazy! I wonder if it's actually a Sensation or similar? The little things like the misaligned beatsaudio logo are funny. Looks to me like it's not running Sense, but likely a CM variant (the status icons look right) with some sort of clock app to make it look like Sense (the AOSP Gallery, etc also give it away). BTW, they just added the "dual core" stuff to the build line, so it doesn't mean anything at all...I think the S3 is an overclocked single core?
Don't know much about it, but I've heard of an app called "Market Enabler" that some people need to use in other countries...could just let them download US apps though.

el_smurfo said:
Don't know much about it, but I've heard of an app called "Market Enabler" that some people need to use in other countries...could just let them download US apps though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a good suggestion. I bought a tablet here, and that actually solved a problem for that tablet. Actually; my girlfriend has a tablet and another HTC fake clone. On those, the play stores worked, but didn't show all the apps. The Market Enabler (I think I actually use the Market Unlocker, but have tried both) solves that problem.
The problem with the Play Store on my phone is that it just will not load at all.
I have also tried VPNs thinking that might help solve something, but no VPN will connect on my phone. Seems a bit suspicious because I have an older HTC phone that I brought from America and using all the same VPNs work just fine on that phone.

Here are some more pictures. It shows the ROM I am flashing from the "CWM-Based Recovery."
One other thing I should note. I went to an actual HTC store here to compare this phone with a real HTC One S, and this one looks very close, but is a bit thicker.

I wish we could swap out our battery lol.

PcFish said:
I wish we could swap out our battery lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The real HTC One S does not let you swap out the battery? I guess that is what having a thin phone does for you. I think we can all thank apple for that one.

mckayc said:
The real HTC One S does not let you swap out the battery? I guess that is what having a thin phone does for you. I think we can all thank apple for that one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, on the real one, only a little part comes off the top of the back, maybe 1/3 of the back, to reveal the microsim and no SD slot.

Why don't you buy phones from Meizu or Xiaomi? i guess they are a little bit more expensive but at least you have a very good support from devs community. Buy a clone phone for $150 is kind expensive to me. :good:

tritran18518 said:
Why don't you buy phones from Meizu or Xiaomi? i guess they are a little bit more expensive but at least you have a very good support from devs community. Buy a clone phone for $150 is kind expensive to me. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In retrospect I am sure I would have done quite a few things differently. Didn't know about those other websites, so thanks for putting them up.
Got an new app to help me know some of the hardware on my phone:
CPU Type: Mediatek MT6575 x 1 1 Ghz
Phone Type: JiaYu G2 / Generic MT6575 board / AussiePAD / H928
RAM memory module: 512 Mb DDR (Usable: 473)
GPU Type: PowerVR SGX 531 (single core GPU)

You probably can't connect because your time settings are in correct. Go to date and time. Set it to auto.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SIII

gordonzhao said:
You probably can't connect because your time settings are in correct. Go to date and time. Set it to auto.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SIII
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just checked. Date and time is fine. Already set to auto. Play store still not working.

My sister bought a clone of an iPhone and the store never worked. This was because it was nothing more than a phone, some preinstalled games and a dialer. I wouldn't be surprised to find that your phone doesnt even run android, but instead something that looks like android.

ECEXCURSION said:
My sister bought a clone of an iPhone and the store never worked. This was because it was nothing more than a phone, some preinstalled games and a dialer. I wouldn't be surprised to find that your phone doesnt even run android, but instead something that looks like android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can upload and install apk files just fine, so I think it really is Android. There are some Chinese replacement markets that I can use like the Play Store, but I don't really like any of them (nor do I trust any of them).

Interesting photos..
The flash is on the other side of the camera,
The little speaker (or mic?) next to the camera isn't there on the Ville,
The HTC logo is an outy instead of an inny.
The top cover is way larger
Android 4.2.1 ? Really??!
Firmware: eng.andrew.134276301
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^^ Do you happen to be S-Off?
-Jobo

touch of jobo said:
Do you happen to be S-Off?
-Jobo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question. I doubt it. For me to get into recovery mode, I have to hold down the Volume up with the power button (I think the real phone is supposed to be volume down).
Once I am in recovery mode I get the following options for reset:
Reboot - (this reboots the phone)
Recovery - (this reboots into recovery)
Fastboot (BootLoader) - (this appears to not work as it just reboots my phone)
I honestly don't know much about S-Off (had to look it up when you wrote). It seems like I can check the status in hboot, but I don't know how to boot my phone to that. I tried volume down and power but that didn't do anything.
Is there another way to check to see if I am in S-Off?
Thanks.
EDIT: I just downloaded a program to boot my phone into the bootloader. Tried it on a real HTC phone and it worked fine. Didn't work on this phone. My suspicion is that there isn't even a bootloader. I think S-Off is an HTC thing... which apparently, a fake HTC is not HTC.

Just found a review of my phone here!
http://www.gizchina.com/2012/06/30/exclusive-htc-knock-review/
Does not say where to get the ROM, but at least I now know I am not the only person in the world with this phone.

Just download the apps u want from 4shared then ?
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium

k1llacanon said:
Just download the apps u want from 4shared then ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean? How can I get the files from 4shared? I just want to know which ROM I can download that would work. Normal ROMs for the HTC One S don't work.

[q] tricked into buying gs4 demo phone

I recently bought an unlocked Samsung Galaxy s4 off of Craigslist. I checked the phone, made sure it charges, calls, texts, and works with my carrier. Everything was fine until I came home and the demo ads kept popping up whenever I stopped using the phone. I then realized I just got ripped off, and after various attempts of trying to contact the seller, I finally gave up.
Is there anyway to stop the demo ads from popping up? Everything else in the phone works just fine. I just want to get ride of the ads!
PLEASE HELP!

haquemistress said:
I recently bought an unlocked Samsung Galaxy s4 off of Craigslist. I checked the phone, made sure it charges, calls, texts, and works with my carrier. Everything was fine until I came home and the demo ads kept popping up whenever I stopped using the phone. I then realized I just got ripped off, and after various attempts of trying to contact the seller, I finally gave up.
Is there anyway to stop the demo ads from popping up? Everything else in the phone works just fine. I just want to get ride of the ads!
PLEASE HELP!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I didn't exactly understand your question... but can you show me an example (screenshot) of how those ads looks like? Because I have no idea what kind of ads you're getting on your GS4... If you're talking about seeing ads in apps downloaded from Play Store then that's normal..
AND YEAH, take a look at this thread, it might help you with solving your problem... :good:
And if all else fails then try Factory Resetting the phone and see if that helps...

haquemistress said:
I recently bought an unlocked Samsung Galaxy s4 off of Craigslist. I checked the phone, made sure it charges, calls, texts, and works with my carrier. Everything was fine until I came home and the demo ads kept popping up whenever I stopped using the phone. I then realized I just got ripped off, and after various attempts of trying to contact the seller, I finally gave up.
Is there anyway to stop the demo ads from popping up? Everything else in the phone works just fine. I just want to get ride of the ads!
PLEASE HELP!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got it. You can flash the firmware from sammobile.com for your device.
These generally are display phones and goes to screensaver mode in which samsung ads are played.
Sent from my Micromax A116 using xda premium

Sami Kabir said:
Sorry, I didn't exactly understand your question... but can you show me an example (screenshot) of how those ads looks like? Because I have no idea what kind of ads you're getting on your GS4... If you're talking about seeing ads in apps downloaded from Play Store then that's normal..
AND YEAH, take a look at this thread, it might help you with solving your problem... :good:
And if all else fails then try Factory Resetting the phone and see if that helps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heres a link of the add that keeps popping up
http://i1164.photobucket.com/albums/q578/sum227/e32986d25effd7828548d922d17692ad_zps942dda31.jpg
I tried factory resetting the phone, and it didnt work. I visited a lot of verizon stores and they said its a demo phone, and there is no way to remove the add. I paid 400 dollars for the phone, and now I really dont know what to do. Is there really no way to get rid of it? Everything else is fine.
Thanks in advance.

rajneeshk said:
I got it. You can flash the firmware from sammobile.com for your device.
These generally are display phones and goes to screensaver mode in which samsung ads are played.
Sent from my Micromax A116 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How exactly can I do that? I am a noob when it comes to these things.

haquemistress said:
How exactly can I do that? I am a noob when it comes to these things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
search @xda itself . you can get a detailed method and links.

haquemistress said:
How exactly can I do that? I am a noob when it comes to these things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have owned a Samsung device before I suggest installing the drivers and flashing the stock firmwear through Odin
Use kies for simple driver installing http://www.samsung.com/us/kies/
A list of stock firmwares download the correct one for your device http://galaxys4root.com/galaxy-s4-stock-firmware/
And the Odin download and form if you have questions on how to use Odin I'll try to answer them or another xda member can http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1738841
Sent from my Life Play L100a using xda app-developers app

It's in retail mode.
If you go to Playstore and download APK Manager and open the app you will find an installed app called Retail Mode... uninstall and job done! No more demo video!
Good luck .
Sent from my C6603 using xda app-developers app

saintextreme97 said:
I have owned a Samsung device before I suggest installing the drivers and flashing the stock firmwear through Odin
Use kies for simple driver installing http://www.samsung.com/us/kies/
A list of stock firmwares download the correct one for your device http://galaxys4root.com/galaxy-s4-stock-firmware/
And the Odin download and form if you have questions on how to use Odin I'll try to answer them or another xda member can http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1738841
Sent from my Life Play L100a using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I managed to get rid of the demo screensaver by flashing! Thank you so much! Now that one problem is solved, another has come up. The demo contacts keep showing up, and every time they show up my saved contacts get erased. What can I do to prevent this?

haquemistress said:
I managed to get rid of the demo screensaver by flashing! Thank you so much! Now that one problem is solved, another has come up. The demo contacts keep showing up, and every time they show up my saved contacts get erased. What can I do to prevent this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm I'm not sure try syncing your contacts to google then set the contact list to only display contacts from there
Sent from my Life Play L100a using xda app-developers app

Nexus 5 BRICKED

Ok guise, I'm in some serious need of help here.
Got a new phone, flashed this and that, was trying out new ROMs and stuff, and then I accidentally flashed Faux's MAKO kernel. 028u
Now my Nexus gives no signs of life, isn't recognised via adb, can't get into fastboot with hw buttons or anything at all. What options am I left with?

0rigin said:
Ok guise, I'm in some serious need of help here.
Got a new phone, flashed this and that, was trying out new ROMs and stuff, and then I accidentally flashed Faux's MAKO kernel. 028u
Now my Nexus gives no signs of life, isn't recognised via adb, can't get into fastboot with hw buttons or anything at all. What options am I left with?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sending it to Google.
Next time you should probably be more careful about what you do to a $350-$400 device, eh?

So any kind of hardware intervention wont really help me?
I won't be sending it to Google, since I'm not from the US
What can a qualified service provider(not really sure if that's the correct translation) do for me?

0rigin said:
So any kind of hardware intervention wont really help me?
I won't be sending it to Google, since I'm not from the US
What can a qualified service provider(not really sure if that's the correct translation) do for me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your best hope is jtag. It's a new device so it may not be available yet. Google mobiletechvideos

Wow. I didn't even think a Nexus 5 was brickable.
That's a feat right there.

Bring it to a cell repair shop.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Han Solo 1 said:
Wow. I didn't even think a Nexus 5 was brickable.
That's a feat right there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can brick most devices by flashing an incompatible kernel, same as prior nexus phones.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Introducing the new Nexus Paperweight
No jtag available yet
If anyone has another idea, please, do share!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

hotleadsingerguy said:
Sending it to Google.
Next time you should probably be more careful about what you do to a $350-$400 device, eh?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are smart people out here hooking up their car coolant hoses to transmission breather ports and you expect forethought from street level smart phone users? What backup?

No hate in the thraed plz
Was flashing stuff on Nexus 4 the day before, had everything in the same folder and because of this accidentally flashed a mako kernel... Yeah **** happens. N4 is still an awesome phone though, running 4.3.1 custom makes it much more usable than N5 atm, so I can wait a bit more with ease... Any kind of suggestions/solutions won't hurt no one though

I'd rma it to Google. I wouldn't lie to them or anything. Google is pretty cool about this kind of stuff.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Take a screenshot of what your computer picks the device up as in my computer. I think your bootloader might be toasted (pre- Android bootloader). We might be able to get some kind of bootloader repair going...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

devoureddreams said:
I'd rma it to Google. I wouldn't lie to them or anything. Google is pretty cool about this kind of stuff.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
0rigin said:
I won't be sending it to Google, since I'm not from the US
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
danifunker said:
Take a screenshot of what your computer picks the device up as in my computer. I think your bootloader might be toasted (pre- Android bootloader). We might be able to get some kind of bootloader repair going...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pc does'nt recognize te phone at all. Can't get into fastboot. Can't get it to budge at all.

0rigin said:
pc does'nt recognize te phone at all. Can't get into fastboot. Can't get it to budge at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you in Windows or Linux? If Windows, is there nothing listed under "Other" devices? Also, can you try running Linux and doing an lsusb to try and find the device?

This guy (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2347060 flashed the wrong image on his n4 and was able to recover using the process he outlines in the post. Perhaps this would work for you too (it might be a long shot since your computer does recognize fastboot), but hey, worth considering. Good luck.

After a gazillion tries, managed to get my phone into fastboot.... Don't ask how, because I simply don't know...
Seems like that at least some of the time my phone was also in some sort of bootloop or sth, because 60% of my battery is gone.
Whatever it may have happened, the issues are sorted out and I can continue with flashing....the right kernels hopefully.
EDIT: tried it again and can confirm - I can only get into fastboot when all these criteria are met:
- phone is turned off
- press and hold down the both VOL buttons
- continue holding them down and plugging the phone to a PC(ADB installed of course)
Hope this might be helpful to someone.

[Q] Please help, assaulted while recording

There was this guy vandalizing some stuff in my street. I told him to stop while recording video of the event. He forced me on the ground bruising my neck and damaging my teeth, let me go when I promised to delete the video. How can I recover the video? Any help is very much appreciated.

You wouldn't happen to have your photos/videos back up to Google do you? That's terrible that happened to you I'm sorry.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

grim489 said:
You wouldn't happen to have your photos/videos back up to Google do you? That's terrible that happened to you I'm sorry.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I turned that off because mobile data used to be very expensive here...
Thank you for your compassion

84Guzz said:
There was this guy vandalizing some stuff in my street. I told him to stop while recording video of the event. He forced me on the ground bruising my neck and damaging my teeth, let me go when I promised to delete the video. How can I recover the video? Any help is very much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where this guy at? ima fkin swing my iCrap device at him and crack it and smack it on his face with the glass shards and everything or use like an ipad and smack him repeatedly across the face.
Seriously though i think you should take this to the police first.
Edit: just noticed not in US, umm try Local authorities of what you got there.

markdapimp said:
Where this guy at? ima fkin swing my iCrap device at him and crack it and smack it on his face with the glass shards and everything or use like an ipad and smack him repeatedly across the face.
Seriously though i think you should take this to the police first.
Edit: just noticed not in US, umm try Local authorities of what you got there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did, but they said there's nothing they can do without actually capturing his ass. Thanks for being angry together with me, it helps a lot.

I'm not sure it'd work for you but you could try downloading Dumpster from Google play. The only thing is idk if it recovers deleted files or it recovers files deleted after the app is installed.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

grim489 said:
I'm not sure it'd work for you but you could try downloading Dumpster from Google play. The only thing is idk if it recovers deleted files or it recovers files deleted after the app is installed.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just sample .png... Thanks for this, I'll keep it on there, just pushing my teeth back in place now

84Guzz said:
I did, but they said there's nothing they can do without actually capturing his ass. Thanks for being angry together with me, it helps a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WHATTT!?????????????? You should be mad at your country for not hunting his ass down.

markdapimp said:
WHATTT!?????????????? You should be mad at your country for not hunting his ass down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, it was just 10 minutes. If you ever come to the Netherlands remember it pays to be a criminal.

84Guzz said:
I know, it was just 10 minutes. If you ever come to the Netherlands remember it pays to be a criminal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For all of you wanting to help:
I'm going to go to sleep now, it's 06:30 am over here. If your want to help catch this bastard, reply to this thread with a way to recover deleted videos from a Nexus 5.
I'm sure he was just a dumb kid, as he let me go after deleting the video + some dumb tutorials i shot. I think it would be the best thing to let him know not to do stuff like this again.
Thank you XDA, you're the only place to turn to after paying 1$ a minute trying to reach google, I got more response from you compared to a multi billion dollar company.
Email me at guusvandersluijs at gmail dot com

should have punched him dead in the face!!!

Maybe you can email google and see what they can do in recovering data.
At least they would tell you if that sector has been overwritten or not.

http://www.android-data-recovery.org/google-nexus-5-data-recovery.html
donno if this works,was the first thing that came up after googeling "recover deleted files nexus 5"
and go see a dentist,you dont wanna lose your teeth!
from my CM11 powered Nexus5

You can try this method. I used it on my galaxy nexus, but don't see why it wouldn't work on the nexus 5. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1994705
[GUIDE] Internal Memory Data Recovery - Yes We Can!
sent from my HAMMERHEAD neXus

The first thing to do would be to STOP USING THE PHONE. The more you use it, the higher the chance of the data being overwritten and thus unrecoverable. Remember, "deleting" something only marks it as available on the disk/flash memory.

http://www.icare-recovery.com/free/android-data-recovery-freeware.html
As above, if you carry on using the phone there's a chance you might write over the deleted file, any chance of recovery then becomes much more difficult, maybe even impossible. Try some of the software that's been mentioned above, if the files not been overwritten you should have a good chance of recovery.

84Guzz said:
For all of you wanting to help:
I'm going to go to sleep now, it's 06:30 am over here. If your want to help catch this bastard, reply to this thread with a way to recover deleted videos from a Nexus 5.
I'm sure he was just a dumb kid, as he let me go after deleting the video + some dumb tutorials i shot. I think it would be the best thing to let him know not to do stuff like this again.
Thank you XDA, you're the only place to turn to after paying 1$ a minute trying to reach google, I got more response from you compared to a multi billion dollar company.
Email me at guusvandersluijs at gmail dot com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
correct as the past few posts say if you havnt overwritten that area of your internal storage where the video was saved you should no problem using some recovery tools to get the deleted information. I work as a security analyst doing forensics and e-discovery. I recommend the program r-studio to recovery deleted information. you will have to pay for it unless you can find a free copy on the internet.. lol but you can also get a trial of it which will let you recovery files smaller than like 1mb which might not help you but you can at least use the trial to determine if the video is recoverable.

You can also use diskdigger. The free version should do what you need it to
Sent from my One Xl using xda premium

Thank all of you for your help. I tried several tools, with varying results.
Sadly I can't seem to get anything watchable back. I got a couple of bruises and my jaw still kinda hurts, but it's nothing permanent.
I got an app that can undo removal of photos and videos for the next time something like this happens, also I should be more carefull not to put myself in harms way again. People are unpredictable.
This thread can be closed.

Are you rooted? If not, we're at the end of the road.

Going to buy second-hand N5. What should I look out for?

I'm going to buy a N5 soon from someone, since all the retailers are either out of stock or very overpriced. Although I have bought other phones from him, I like to be super-safe.
So, are there any issues specific to the N5 that I should check for before I buy it? How do I check the life-timer? Can that timer be reset w/o unlocking the bootloader?

What's a life timer?
Sent from my SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app

life-timer = how much time the device has spent turned on

Geo2160 said:
life-timer = how much time the device has spent turned on
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure newer devices have them, or I have just not noticed/found it. Check the usual stuff, sensors, buttons, physical state, charge port etc. Tbh should be OK if you have bought from the same guy previously.
EDIT: Check the screen colours, some people report yellowish tint's - I haven't experienced it though.

radicalisto said:
EDIT: Check the screen colours, some people report yellowish tint's - I haven't experienced it though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's going to be a problem. I'm partially colorblind and I have issues with yellow/red. On the upside, it's not going to bother me, even if it's there xD

Geo2160 said:
life-timer = how much time the device has spent turned on
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well as soon as you reboot your phone it starts back at zero... I wouldn't use that as a reason to buy or not to buy a phone.
Sent from my SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app

radicalisto said:
Not sure newer devices have them, or I have just not noticed/found it. Check the usual stuff, sensors, buttons, physical state, charge port etc. Tbh should be OK if you have bought from the same guy previously.
EDIT: Check the screen colours, some people report yellowish tint's - I haven't experienced it though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kreateablaze said:
Well as soon as you reboot your phone it starts back at zero... I wouldn't use that as a reason to buy or not to buy a phone.
Sent from my SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some phones have a separate counter for the whole life-timer.

Geo2160 said:
I'm going to buy a N5 soon from someone, since all the retailers are either out of stock or very overpriced. Although I have bought other phones from him, I like to be super-safe.
So, are there any issues specific to the N5 that I should check for before I buy it? How do I check the life-timer? Can that timer be reset w/o unlocking the bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't you get a new one from Google, or, a used one on Swappa? Either would be infinitely better than buying one from some guy.

PhilipTD said:
Can't you get a new one from Google, or, a used one on Swappa? Either would be infinitely better than buying one from some guy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Neither of those services are available in my country.

Hello,
1. Make sure the device isn't cracked, scratched.
2. Check for Loose buttons.
3. Check whether the GPS is getting locked or not.
4. Make sure there is no bleeding on the screen
5. Ask for the original receipt/bill and see whether the phone has warranty in your country or not.
By taking a look at the bill date you can get to know the date of purchase and can get a rough idea about the life timer or whatever it's called.
If you have all the above points covered, I guess you are good to go!?

Also, make a phone call with it to make sure the other party can hear you ( very important )