Database Info

Galaxy S5 with broken screen

Hi there.
Please could someone suggest how I can migrate all the data from a Galaxy S5 with a broken screen over to a new Galaxy S5 which is the identical model.
The broken phone is not locked and internally is working normally but after being dropped I think the LCD has gone so badly that I cannot make out anything on the screen. It still seems to respond to any touch input OK.
If I could see it I would have simply used Samsung Smartswitch which is installed on both phones to transfer everything. However, without being able to see the screen I can’t find it in the apps to open it.
If I could remotely get the phones desktop up on my PC maybe I could open the app from there. With Smartswitch open on both phones I could see on the new phone where to tap on the old on to make it start the transfer.
Does anyone have any suggestions how I can either open the app remotely or maybe suggest another way to move everything across.

MarylinC said:
Hi there.
Please could someone suggest how I can migrate all the data from a Galaxy S5 with a broken screen over to a new Galaxy S5 which is the identical model.
The broken phone is not locked and internally is working normally but after being dropped I think the LCD has gone so badly that I cannot make out anything on the screen. It still seems to respond to any touch input OK.
If I could see it I would have simply used Samsung Smartswitch which is installed on both phones to transfer everything. However, without being able to see the screen I can’t find it in the apps to open it.
If I could remotely get the phones desktop up on my PC maybe I could open the app from there. With Smartswitch open on both phones I could see on the new phone where to tap on the old on to make it start the transfer.
Does anyone have any suggestions how I can either open the app remotely or maybe suggest another way to move everything across.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have or can get USB debugging enabled on the device, this tool should work well for you.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2786395
If you never personally enabled USB debugging in the system settings on your device, then it isn't enabled, which means you'll have to get it enabled somehow. There are few ways to get it enabled even with the broken screen, but it very much depends on exactly which model number your S5 is. Look in system settings>about phone>device info>model number or system settings>about phone>hardware info>model number to find your model number, or you can remove the back cover and look behind your battery to find the model number.
I'll try to help as much as your device will allow me.
But first, tell me exactly what kind of data you want to transfer.
Do you mean the usual user data such as pictures and etc..?
Or do you also mean the user settings, info for their various logins/accounts, banking info and deeper more personal or even system info?
Does the user have an active Samung account with the broken device registered in their account? If so, you can try transferring via their Samsung account.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

Thanks for replying Droidriven.
The exact model number is SM-G900F.
Just to clarify, it is my brothers phone that is broken and he and I both have the same model. The new phone is also the same model which has been ordered but has not arrived yet. It should arrive either this morning or Monday.
However, for the moment I can at least try things out on my phone first. On my phone USB Debugging is off by default so I am sure it has not been enabled.
As I said previouly, the touch screen seems to respond because I can still answer calls simply by knowing where to swipe. I know where the apps button is on the home screen but obviously I cannot scroll through the apps to find the settings icon.
I am hoping to transfer as much as I can including apps and user settings, texts, etc.
My brother has not registered for a Samsung account.

MarylinC said:
Thanks for replying Droidriven.
The exact model number is SM-G900F.
Just to clarify, it is my brothers phone that is broken and he and I both have the same model. The new phone is also the same model which has been ordered but has not arrived yet. It should arrive either this morning or Monday.
However, for the moment I can at least try things out on my phone first. On my phone USB Debugging is off by default so I am sure it has not been enabled.
As I said previouly, the touch screen seems to respond because I can still answer calls simply by knowing where to swipe. I know where the apps button is on the home screen but obviously I cannot scroll through the apps to find the settings icon.
I am hoping to transfer as much as I can including apps and user settings, texts, etc.
My brother has not registered for a Samsung account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To enable USB debugging, you can try using one phone as a guide to go through the settings menu. On the broken phone, using the working phone side by side while copying the exact motions and touchs try navigating to system settings>about phone>software info>build number(or wherever build number is located in your device settings, it varies), tap 7-10 times really quickly on the spot where build number is located on the list, if you get it right, you'll enable developer options, from there, using the other phone as a guide, go to system settings>developer options>USB debugging and enable it.
Or, try this tool to get USB debugging enabled while in download mode, and then use Odin to flash TWRP custom recovery instead of the stock firmware as described in the guide, you don't need to flash the firmware, just TWRP if you choose to do so while you are at it, TWRP can be used to backup and transfer the data but involves flashing the other device with TWRP also.
http://www.99mediasector.com/enable-usb-debugging-locked-phone-without-access-setting/
Once you get USB debugging enabled there are options:
1) You can use the tool I linked you earlier.
2) You can use adb to backup the data that you want to keep then use adb to transfer the data to the new device, adb works through a command terminal on PC and requires no touch input, you can do everything by command line if you find/know the correct commands to do what you need, as described in the link below, but you can ignore the stuff about unlocking your bootloader.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-nexus/general/guide-phone-backup-unlock-root-t1420351
3) You can flash TWRP custom recovery via Odin and then use TWRP to backup the data that you want to save and then flash TWRP on the device the data is to be transferred to then use TWRP on that device to restore all of the data that you saved onto the new device, if the device that is being replaced via warranty is the exact same device and will be used by the same person, you can completely backup everything on the device and then completely restore all of it on the new device. Just verify that your bootloader is not locked before you flash TWRP, it won't work with a locked bootloader.
4) You can try using Samsung Smartswitch on PC.
Those are just the options I can think of off the top of my head, there may be some other ways, it's just a matter of what you are comfortable with or not.
If you are comfortable with one of these options, I'll try to help you through whatever you need or don't understand. If you choose the stuff that involves flashing the device(s), I need to check some specifics about your device(s) before you do so and I need to be certain you understand how the flash/backup/restore process works in order to make sure that nothing gets messed up or lost/wiped during the process.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

Thank you so much Droidriven. The new phone arrived this morning and your idea of using smartswitch from my windiws PC did the trick.
I only had to touch once on the broken phone to trigger the backup to my PC which worked a treat. After that everything else was plain sailing and the new phone is all set up with all the data intact.

MarylinC said:
Thank you so much Droidriven. The new phone arrived this morning and your idea of using smartswitch from my windiws PC did the trick.
I only had to touch once on the broken phone to trigger the backup to my PC which worked a treat. After that everything else was plain sailing and the new phone is all set up with all the data intact.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to go, glad to help.
I thought it might, I just wasn't sure about whether USB debugging was required by SmartSwitch, I have never needed to use SmartSwitch so I'm not familiar with its ins and outs.
Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

No, USB debugging isn't required on smartswitch.
My brother is like a kid with a new toy now that he has his phone back with all his stuff restored and working.
Thank you again.

Broken AMOLED, digitizer good. Is data recovery a possibility?

Dropped my op6 flat on its face the other day:crying::crying::crying:
Anyways.. I'm trying to get the data off of it before i attempt the feat of replacing the screen. Like the title says, the digitizer is good, l can unlock it by remembering the screen lock, but I fumbled all yesterday trying to cast my screen. I had slivers of screen I could see there, just couldn't get it to send. No usb debugging and I obviously didn't turn usb mode to file share. Please help if you can, thanks.

If you have TWRP installed, reboot to recovery and just connect your phone to your PC via USB - MTP should be active by default. Inputting the decryption code if you can't see much of what you're doing can be a problem, though.
If you don't have TWRP installed however, you can try using scrcpy (just search for it on Google and you should find its GitHub repo with instructions). It uses adb to run, meaning it requires usb debugging to be on, but the good thing is, as long as your phone is unlocked (not on lockscreen), you should receive a prompt asking to enable debugging just by running the scrcpy executable. Since said prompt is always in the center of the screen (screenshot attached), and you only need to click 2 separate things on there (always allow checkbox & the allow button) to get things going, you should be set fairly quickly. Hope this helps!

Thanks for your reply, this did work and it was very simple.

sublim3style3 said:
Thanks for your reply, this did work and it was very simple.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great! Glad it worked for you

Unlock Screen through PC??

My wife dropped her Pixel 4a yesterday and completely broke the screen. You can't see anything except done bright green splotches and lines and it doesn't respond to touch. I bought her a new phone and synced her account, but because her Drive storage was full, the last months photos are not synced. I upgraded her to the 100gb plan and let the broken phone sit hoping it would automatically upload the missing photos but it did not.
So at this point my only options are to somehow connect it to my computer and get them, or replace the screen. I'd rather not pay $140 to replace the screen JUST to get a month's worth of photos.
My question is, can I connect the phone to the PC and remotely enter her PIN and then access the files?
I searched online but the two softwares I found say they will wipe data.

x_orange90_x said:
My wife dropped her Pixel 4a yesterday and completely broke the screen. You can't see anything except done bright green splotches and lines and it doesn't respond to touch. I bought her a new phone and synced her account, but because her Drive storage was full, the last months photos are not synced. I upgraded her to the 100gb plan and let the broken phone sit hoping it would automatically upload the missing photos but it did not.
So at this point my only options are to somehow connect it to my computer and get them, or replace the screen. I'd rather not pay $140 to replace the screen JUST to get a month's worth of photos.
My question is, can I connect the phone to the PC and remotely enter her PIN and then access the files?
I searched online but the two softwares I found say they will wipe data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You MIGHT be able to get the phone to show up on Windows by mirroring it (either over USB or over Wi-Fi).
My phone isn't broken, but I can easily mirror the phone and unlock the lock screen and view it and control it using free software on Windows.
You can also mount the entire phone onto Windows as a drive letter over Wi-Fi if you have a webdav server on it.
Here are some screenshots of what I do, and I have some tutorials here on how to set that up if you need them.

if you didn't enable usb debugging before the accident, nothing can be done now

Nfury00701 said:
if you didn't enable usb debugging before the accident, nothing can be done now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point!
I assumed the op had already enabled USB debugging.
In fact, most people I know (including me) enable Developer Options the instant we get a new phone, and then we enable Mock Location and USB Debugging the second instant, so every Android device I've ever touched has had those two options set as the first things done.
But the user we're both trying to help might not have done that.
If he has any server (FTP, WebDav, SMB, etc.) set up to run at boot time, then he still has a chance (as most people set up one of those also, as far as I know).
If not, this is a lesson to the rest of us to have a failsafe plan if the screen won't work (my personal favorites are Vysor & WebDav).

I'm pretty certain I didn't enable the USB Debugging. Maybe I'll order a cheap screen from eBay just to get it working. Obviously it would be very low quality compared to OEM, but it's a fraction of the price and should get the job done.
Thanks for the replies!
Edit:
Well scratch that idea. Can't get a screen for under $130 now. The repair shop quoted me $140 I think and it's an OEM replacement. Still though, not gonna do it, at least not right now.

x_orange90_x said:
I'm pretty certain I didn't enable the USB Debugging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Drat.
I am racking my brain trying to figure out a way you can access the phone from your PC (over Wi-Fi or over USB) without interacting with the screen, which I do all day, every day, but I'm already connected over a variety of servers that are either on the phone (e.g., WebDAV) or on Windows via adb (e.g., Vysor, Scrcpy).
I guess the lesson for anyone reading this is set up a wireless server now, as they're free, and they need ZERO software on Android.

x_orange90_x said:
I'm pretty certain I didn't enable the USB Debugging. Maybe I'll order a cheap screen from eBay just to get it working. Obviously it would be very low quality compared to OEM, but it's a fraction of the price and should get the job done.
Thanks for the replies!
Edit:
Well scratch that idea. Can't get a screen for under $130 now. The repair shop quoted me $140 I think and it's an OEM replacement. Still though, not gonna do it, at least not right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont know if this will work, and if you need the bootloader unlocked (for the TWRP stuff), but I would try the following.
Try to access the phone in recovery through adb. i think you would of had to have previously authorised adb from your PC to the device, for this to work.
NB: You can run TWRP, without flashing it.
Run adb through TWRP, and try accessing the photos/data. I would guess you wil need to unencrypt the phone first.
Run TWRP, unencrypt the phone and do a backup, and try viewing the contents through 7Zip on your PC

DiamondJohn said:
I dont know if this will work, and if you need the bootloader unlocked (for the TWRP stuff), but I would try the following.
Try to access the phone in recovery through adb. i think you would of had to have previously authorised adb from your PC to the device, for this to work.
NB: You can run TWRP, without flashing it.
Run adb through TWRP, and try accessing the photos/data. I would guess you wil need to unencrypt the phone first.
Run TWRP, unencrypt the phone and do a backup, and try viewing the contents through 7Zip on your PC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds plausible, but I'm no expert on this topic. Remote-running TWRP sounds very promising. I'm willing to give it a shot if you can instruct me or provide me instructions to do so.

x_orange90_x said:
Sounds plausible, but I'm no expert on this topic. Remote-running TWRP sounds very promising. I'm willing to give it a shot if you can instruct me or provide me instructions to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its not what I would call "remote running". Its running it without flashing it.
The following is a log of my script. I copy the TWRP img file to g:\recovery and then run the following in a command prompt on windows.
Code:
>g:
>cd \recover
>PATH=%PATH%;"%SYSTEMROOT%\System32";"C:\Java\x86\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools";
>fastboot devices
08721KEC209540 fastboot
>fastboot boot sunfish_twrp201017-test5.img
Its probably an outdated TWRP, and I changed the return from fastboot devices for privacy

I defer to the extraordinary knowledge of DiamondJohn where all I want to add is that I searched EVERY similar thread on XDA and referenced over two hundred of them, sorted in LIFO order, over here:
What is the best XDA solution to control Android on the PC & recover data over Wi-Fi when the user suddenly has an unresponsive broken screen?
The OP "might" profit from reading some of them, particularly:
Tutorial : How to turn on USB debugging on device with broken screen, by MiroBiala, on Jun 28, 2017
[Tool][Windows] Control a device with a broken screen. Now with touchscreen support!!, by k.janku1 on Jun 17, 2014
[TOOL] ADB Data Recovery (recover data from a phone with broken screen), by FuzzyMeep Two, on Jun 26, 2013
Bear in mind that adb can remotely push buttons from the PC to Android over Wi-Fi if you happen to know the pixel location of those buttons on the Android device (but, of course, adb has to work first).
Good luck. You're in good hands with DiamondJohn (who knows far more than I ever will about this topic).

Question Lower screen damage, unable to unlock.

So a bit of a conundrum, my sisters Samsung ZFlip3 has had some screen damage, and the bottom half of the screen has stopped working this morning so we are unable to unlock the phone.
Due to this we are unable to use Samsung smart switch but need to be able to unlock the phone to allow the smart switch to start.
Tried to use the ADB tool however, even though Windows detects the phone, the ADB tool cannot "see" the device, which I'm guessing is because the screen cannot be unlocked after a restart.
The Samsung Remote unlocking is not activated so cant backup using the Samsung "Find my phone" web app.
Can access Recovery mode fine, so not sure if anything can be done using that?
Any advice would be appreciated.

Did you try Google's Find my Phone too?
You could only wipe it from Recovery but it will still ask for the last used PIN or Google Account password, so not a solution either.
Another solutiom would be connecting an external mouse and writing the PIN by memory or casting the phone screen on another screen.

BredzProh said:
Did you try Google's Find my Phone too?
You could only wipe it from Recovery but it will still ask for the last used PIN or Google Account password, so not a solution either.
Another solutiom would be connecting an external mouse and writing the PIN by memory or casting the phone screen on another screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that suggestion, not sure why I didn't think of that myself. The usb keyboard trick worked like a charm! Currently backing up the device!
Thanks again!

I'm glad everything worked out in the end

Question unlocking

Hello,
Recently a friends son passed away and the family wants to recover whatever is in his phone including his last text messages and phonecalls.
Xiaomi only offered a full wipe which cannot happen even though the phone and receipt is on his mother's name ( the person who currently has the phone).
I'm uncertain if the phone has USB debugging turned on as I havent got it in my hands yet, trying to gather as much info as I can before I try anything on it.
The family also has a second Poco x3 so the idea was to try anything I find on the 2nd phone first to make sure it doesnt wipe.
It is locked with a pattern and face recognition, but they told me it doesnt ask for the face recognition unless its turned off and on again so they keep it charged at all times to prevent that from happening for obvious reasons.
Any ideas or ways or direction is welcome and very much appreciated.

Doesn't matter if phone has USB debugging turned on, you need to actually allow access from inside the phone to allow debugging on untrusted machine. Sorry, don't think there is any way, unless you know the password, or maybe try to face unlock by pointing the phone at a picture of their son? Don't know if this will work.

Popletenec said:
Doesn't matter if phone has USB debugging turned on, you need to actually allow access from inside the phone to allow debugging on untrusted machine. Sorry, don't think there is any way, unless you know the password, or maybe try to face unlock by pointing the phone at a picture of their son? Don't know if this will work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The picture is worth a try. Theres also a google recovery thing when you fail multiple times on the pattern to answer a secret question, so im hoping that he put an easy one so the family can figure it out. Thanks for your suggestion