Data recovery from hard-bricked phone - General Questions and Answers

I have a Pixel XL that's hardbricked. Took it to a GSM shop they said the charging port works but something something CPU fried. No gsm shop in our city can fix this apparently but he heard that some folks could do it in New York City.
I don't want to recover the phone, just the data on it. Do you guys know shops that can do this ?

gtech99 said:
I have a Pixel XL that's hardbricked. Took it to a GSM shop they said the charging port works but something something CPU fried. No gsm shop in our city can fix this apparently but he heard that some folks could do it in New York City.
I don't want to recover the phone, just the data on it. Do you guys know shops that can do this ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not at any reasonable price point. What happened to the phone? Recovering the data from the flash devices would involve prohibitively expensive forensic data recovery, to the point of removing the flash devices from the board and interfacing with them using special tools. The people who have the means and the knowledge to do this are few and far between. Assuming there's no physical damage, someone with the Qualcomm Product Support Tool software and the appropriate binaries could potentially perform a low level reflash so the phone will boot...but again, the people who are actually able to do this are few and far between, assuming they even have the necessary files (which are not publicly available). The average repair shop will just replace the board, which means all the data is never recovered.

gtech99 said:
I have a Pixel XL that's hardbricked. Took it to a GSM shop they said the charging port works but something something CPU fried.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speaking of a fried CPU, it means due to overheating CPU’s electrical components like transistors, diodes or capacitors are burned up. You will find overheating happened with some CPUs which didn’t have any fail-safe features or were overclocked by pushing high voltage. Sometimes using a faulty motherboard and faulty PSU can do this type of damage.becauseSo, you if you really ended up with a fried CPU, what is quite rare these days because, as said, modern CPUs have advanced thermal protection ( CPU will shut down automatically if it reaches a high temperature. If CPU temperature rises high due to high clock speed then it reduces the clock speed to a lower level ), you will have the worst luck to recover data from phone.
Note: it’s not possible to fix a fried CPU. Try to replace it with a new one.

V0latyle said:
Not at any reasonable price point. What happened to the phone? Recovering the data from the flash devices would involve prohibitively expensive forensic data recovery, to the point of removing the flash devices from the board and interfacing with them using special tools. The people who have the means and the knowledge to do this are few and far between. Assuming there's no physical damage, someone with the Qualcomm Product Support Tool software and the appropriate binaries could potentially perform a low level reflash so the phone will boot...but again, the people who are actually able to do this are few and far between, assuming they even have the necessary files (which are not publicly available). The average repair shop will just replace the board, which means all the data is never recovered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't done anything special with this phone. Never rooted it or installed other bootloaders, etc. It was a generic bland Pixel XL. It might have overheated a few times in the summer when I was using it in my car for Waze but otherwise nothing.
Before it shutdown for good it had some strange reboots and I think I recall there was some Pixel bug that was causing that. After doing that for a few weeks it stopped turning on completely.
Isn't a procedure like this available for the Pixel ?
https://flashfixers.com/recover-data-dead-phone-chip-off-data-recovery/

gtech99 said:
I haven't done anything special with this phone. Never rooted it or installed other bootloaders, etc. It was a generic bland Pixel XL. It might have overheated a few times in the summer when I was using it in my car for Waze but otherwise nothing.
Before it shutdown for good it had some strange reboots and I think I recall there was some Pixel bug that was causing that. After doing that for a few weeks it stopped turning on completely.
Isn't a procedure like this available for the Pixel ?
https://flashfixers.com/recover-data-dead-phone-chip-off-data-recovery/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I was referring to by removing the flash device from the PCB. You would need fairly specialized tools, incluing a reader that's able to interface with the chip, and you'd have to have significant knowledge of how to interpret the raw data as the actual file structure. If you can find someone who thinks they can do this, good luck...but if it were me, I'd be charging about $150 an hour to do it.
And, this is all assuming that the data isn't encrypted. If it is (which Android does by default) then you're SOL.

V0latyle said:
That's what I was referring to by removing the flash device from the PCB. You would need fairly specialized tools, incluing a reader that's able to interface with the chip, and you'd have to have significant knowledge of how to interpret the raw data as the actual file structure. If you can find someone who thinks they can do this, good luck...but if it were me, I'd be charging about $150 an hour to do it.
And, this is all assuming that the data isn't encrypted. If it is (which Android does by default) then you're SOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, ok. I'd pay 300$ to have this recovered is that reasonable ? Or it might be way more than that ? Guess I need to find a shop that does this sort of thing

gtech99 said:
Ah, ok. I'd pay 300$ to have this recovered is that reasonable ? Or it might be way more than that ? Guess I need to find a shop that does this sort of thing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best of luck to you, honestly I think the money would be better spent elsewhere.

Related

Replace NAND chip

HELLO,
i would like to try to replace the nand chip of my bricked tv box with a new chip
this because the original chip has been damaged shortening two pins trying to put the device in mask rom mode
my device is t-r42 based on rk3188
the price of the nand flash is about $4,
i can found it on some chinese online store
i hope that replacing the nand, my device will go to mask rom mode, enabling me to do the firmware loading through pc (rkbatchtool)
i know that this mode has been designed specifically to load the firmware the first time,
so i hope my device will go to this mode the first time i power on it after replacing it
any suggestion?
any hint?
i know this must be done with :microscopic` attention
thanks!!
Vicolodo said:
HELLO,
i would like to try to replace the nand chip of my bricked tv box with a new chip
this because the original chip has been damaged shortening two pins trying to put the device in mask rom mode
my device is t-r42 based on rk3188
the price of the nand flash is about $4,
i can found it on some chinese online store
i hope that replacing the nand, my device will go to mask rom mode, enabling me to do the firmware loading through pc (rkbatchtool)
i know that this mode has been designed specifically to load the firmware the first time,
so i hope my device will go to this mode the first time i power on it after replacing it
any suggestion?
any hint?
i know this must be done with :microscopic` attention
thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your going to have to find someone with a hot air rework station to unmount and or remount a new chip. the thing of it is, the pcb has to have perfect traces,,, 0 damage. even if that is met, unmounting and remounting a new chip in a perfect world takes a lot of skill and experience. will it get you into mask rom mode,,, I would guess yes. far as I understand it, thats a hardware thing not a os thing (os=firmware). Unless its something you just want to tinker with just to see if you can do it I wouldnt bother. Thats just me. I have crashed units over and over and got into mask rom mode doing the pin short, purposely trying different firmwares to see if they would work. I am not sure if mask rom mode will happen with out the pin short on a blank chip. maybe thats another question.
if you find someone local that does rework on surface chips, best bet would be ask them. Also a better answer here at least for me would be a close up picture of the chip you speak of, it would probly tell a thousand words. I have done rework, not in the past 5 years but I have. it takes a extremely steady hand and a good feel for when the solder is fluid. Theres tricks to it, do it wrong and theres no fixing the torn traces. Maybe craiglist would point you to someone who does this sort of work in your area. Possibly a local flat screen tv repair center may be able to direct you to someone local also, they are packed with sm chips.
Just some thoughts
stinkster said:
your going to have to find someone with a hot air rework station to unmount and or remount a new chip. the thing of it is, the pcb has to have perfect traces,,, 0 damage. even if that is met, unmounting and remounting a new chip in a perfect world takes a lot of skill and experience. will it get you into mask rom mode,,, I would guess yes. far as I understand it, thats a hardware thing not a os thing (os=firmware). Unless its something you just want to tinker with just to see if you can do it I wouldnt bother. Thats just me. I have crashed units over and over and got into mask rom mode doing the pin short, purposely trying different firmwares to see if they would work. I am not sure if mask rom mode will happen with out the pin short on a blank chip. maybe thats another question.
if you find someone local that does rework on surface chips, best bet would be ask them. Also a better answer here at least for me would be a close up picture of the chip you speak of, it would probly tell a thousand words. I have done rework, not in the past 5 years but I have. it takes a extremely steady hand and a good feel for when the solder is fluid. Theres tricks to it, do it wrong and theres no fixing the torn traces. Maybe craiglist would point you to someone who does this sort of work in your area. Possibly a local flat screen tv repair center may be able to direct you to someone local also, they are packed with sm chips.
Just some thoughts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you very much,
i will let you know!!
Vicolodo said:
thank you very much,
i will let you know!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A quick alternative for establishing that it is only a faulty NAND is to try booting Linux from an SD card. If that works, then you could look around for someone who has created running Android from SD card for your device and you could at least still use your device in the interim.

[Q] Signal but no service

Hi! After repairing my Nexus 5 from a water damage (changed all components except the screen and back cover), the phone shows that I have good celluar signal, but no service. The celluar data is working, but I cant make calls and send SMS. I have checked with different antennas, but with no change. What is wrong? Thank you
Well,
Hard to tell. Maybe a hardware issue with the motherboard ? (this coud explain why somebody sold it to you )
I wonder how much you paid for the replacement of all these components...
Have to say....water is evil and replacing things often ends up with discovering more is damaged. In the end, replacing water damaged devices usually ends up being the better choice.
Flash stock and if still no go, it's hardware. Try another radio maybe.
Not much else you can do.
KJ said:
Have to say....water is evil and replacing things often ends up with discovering more is damaged. In the end, replacing water damaged devices usually ends up being the better choice.
Flash stock and if still no go, it's hardware. Try another radio maybe.
Not much else you can do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll second it. Pretty much out of options now. This is the reason water damage is so frowned upon by then OEMs.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Well,
Hard to tell. Maybe a hardware issue with the motherboard ? (this coud explain why somebody sold it to you )
I wonder how much you paid for the replacement of all these components...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It worked fine for 2 weeks after I repaired it, but then I suddenly lost the service. I paid 170 dollars for a new phone with cracked screen and replaced all the components except the screen...
Try dialing *#*#4636#*#* and go into phone information, if you have your phone on LTE when you scroll down you will find LTE only, click on it and try changing it to different things

[Q] [WORST CASE SCENARIO] I need HELP PLZ just PLZ CLICK THIS :(((

Hello guys
I need serious help here
This is my scenario: Day1:
I heard about this flashing custom roms so i thought it would be cool trying it with my phone. So i successfully did flash some roms and had recover many times after bootloop bcuz of nandroid.
But this time its different i try to install xposed installer and was currently using a custom rom. So i got bootlooped again but i wasn't worried cuz i have the powerful nandroid backup . So i restored my stock rom blah3x and it says successful then i reboot my phone . But the logo didnt show up so i tried to go to recovery again AND suddenly it just go back to this useless stock recovery HUHUHU :crying: idont even know why they make this useless ---- errr..
Day 2:
And this day i found this Sp flash tool blah3x . And as what i learned i need a full backup rom and obviously i don't have it and theres no link for it bcuz its very unknown and unsupported device. But luckily i got the scatter file bcuz, before i was using MDK Droid tools to do things that i dont even know how to . So i tried to flash just the recovery . The one i flashed is the TWRP that i've been using for flashing rom and it was stuck in red bar so i unplugged the cable and reboot to recovery but its still the same. And then i was pissed off , so i click the format all + download and i think i saw a text that shows it was success ful( I DID THAT BCUZ I DIDN'T EXPECT IT WILL HAPPEN). After that i cant reboot to recovery and the phone all i have now is this white light when i plug the phone to pc with/without battery. Its hard-bricked right? am i right?
But i think i have some advantage,
-Im still under warranty
-And i formatted everything in my phone as you can see in Day 2 scenario, so that means that they cant know that im rooted right? am i right?
My QUESTION IS WILL THE COMPANY'S WARRANTY SERVICE REPAIR MY PHONE? WITHOUT KNOWING ANYTHING I HAVE DONE??
Note I'M SCARED IF THEY'LL SUE ME FOR LYING ABOUT IT
SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH AND NOT UNDERSTANDABLE AND A VERY LONG ONE STORY
NOTE: IM USING ALCATEL POP C7
Please someone reply it instantly bcuz i have 3 weeks remaining for my warranty to be gone
xmak17(AlcatelPopC7) said:
My QUESTION IS WILL THE COMPANY'S WARRANTY SERVICE REPAIR MY PHONE? WITHOUT KNOWING ANYTHING I HAVE DONE??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe it depends. They might be able to know you did tamper with the phone.
Note I'M SCARED IF THEY'LL SUE ME FOR LYING ABOUT IT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:laugh: Seriously? Worst case scenario they'll void your warranty and ask you to pay for the repair or they will send you back the phone as is.
alray said:
Maybe it depends. They might be able to know you did tamper with the phone.
:laugh: Seriously? Worst case scenario they'll void your warranty and ask you to pay for the repair or they will send you back the phone as is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
heheheheh xD .. do they usually do that? asking me to pay? if they know that i did something with the phone?
well if it depends , im gonna do it tomorrow, wish me luck
but first thing im gonna do is to make excuse for my dad that its an accident :'( i know its wrong but i need to do it cuz i know hes gonna be mad at me for knowing that im doing stupid things to my phone.
ahmm i'm just curious .. how will they find out that your phone is rooted anyway even if its bricked?? its ok if you won't answer that
well if it depends , im gonna do it tomorrow, wish me luck
but first thing im gonna do is to make excuse for my dad that its an accident :'( i know its wrong but i need to do it cuz i know hes gonna be mad at me for knowing that im doing stupid things to my phone.
ahmm i'm just curious .. how will they find out that your phone is rooted anyway even if its bricked?? its ok if you won't answer that
xmak17(AlcatelPopC7) said:
heheheheh xD .. do they usually do that? asking me to pay? if they know that i did something with the phone?
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Click to collapse
I don't know anything about this company's policies but in general, if your phone is bricked because you did something wrong and they can prove it, they will probably not repair it under warranty but most likely ask you to pay for the repair or they will send you back the device as is if you don't pay.
Its the same for most OEMs. If something broke under warranty, they will repair at no cost. If it break because you did something that void your warranty, they'll ask you to pay for the repair, if they can prove it (e.g. If the phone can't power on, then they can't prove anything, if the phone does power on and they can see you have flashed stuff, then they'll most likely charge you for the repair.)
alray said:
I don't know anything about this company's policies but in general, if your phone is bricked because you did something wrong and they can prove it, they will probably not repair it under warranty but most likely ask you to pay for the repair or they will send you back the device as is if you don't pay.
Its the same for most OEMs. If something broke under warranty, they will repair at no cost. If it break because you did something that void your warranty, they'll ask you to pay for the repair, if they can prove it (e.g. If the phone can't power on, then they can't prove anything, if the phone does power on and they can see you have flashed stuff, then they'll most likely charge you for the repair.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as what you said if they cant power on they cant prove anything .. and basically my phone cant power on so they can know right?? YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS .. So ill just make excuse to them that I dropped my phone and it cant power on again stuff like that so they will replace some hardware parts right?
BTW heres that they dont cover :
The Limited Warranty does not cover user manuals or any third party software, settings, content, data or links, whether included or downloaded in the product, whether included during installment, assembly, shipping or at any other time in the delivery chain or otherwise and in any way acquired by the end user.
In addition the Limited Warranty does not cover:
• Normal wear and tear.
• Product's serial number, the mobile accessory date code or the IMEI number has been removed, erased, defaced, altered or are illegible in any way and this shall be excluded from the warranty.
• Defects or damage caused by misuse of the product. Including not following the instructions for use or installation
• Malfunctions caused by external causes (e.g., radio interference from other equipment, power voltage fluctuations).
• Defects or alleged defects caused by the fact that the Product was used with, or connected to, any product, accessory, software and/or service not manufactured, or supplied by Alcatel or was used otherwise than for its intended use.
• Defects caused by the fact that the battery has been short-circuited or by the fact that the seals of the battery enclosure or the cells are broken or show evidence of tampering or by the fact that the battery has been used in equipment other than those for which it has been specified.
• Faulty connections resulting from unsatisfactory radio transmission or caused by the absence of radio relay coverage;
• If the Product has been opened, modified or repaired by anyone other than an authorized service center, if it is repaired using unauthorized spare parts.
• If the Product has been exposed to moisture, to dampness or to extreme thermal or environmental conditions or to rapid changes in such conditions, to corrosion, to oxidation, to spillage of food or liquid or to influence from chemical products.
xmak17(AlcatelPopC7) said:
as what you said if they cant power on they cant prove anything .. and basically my phone cant power on so they can know right?? YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS .. So ill just make excuse to them that I dropped my phone and it cant power on again stuff like that so they will replace some hardware parts right?
BTW heres that they dont cover :
The Limited Warranty does not cover user manuals or any third party software, settings, content, data or links, whether included or downloaded in the product, whether included during installment, assembly, shipping or at any other time in the delivery chain or otherwise and in any way acquired by the end user.
In addition the Limited Warranty does not cover:
• Normal wear and tear.
• Product's serial number, the mobile accessory date code or the IMEI number has been removed, erased, defaced, altered or are illegible in any way and this shall be excluded from the warranty.
• Defects or damage caused by misuse of the product. Including not following the instructions for use or installation
• Malfunctions caused by external causes (e.g., radio interference from other equipment, power voltage fluctuations).
• Defects or alleged defects caused by the fact that the Product was used with, or connected to, any product, accessory, software and/or service not manufactured, or supplied by Alcatel or was used otherwise than for its intended use.
• Defects caused by the fact that the battery has been short-circuited or by the fact that the seals of the battery enclosure or the cells are broken or show evidence of tampering or by the fact that the battery has been used in equipment other than those for which it has been specified.
• Faulty connections resulting from unsatisfactory radio transmission or caused by the absence of radio relay coverage;
• If the Product has been opened, modified or repaired by anyone other than an authorized service center, if it is repaired using unauthorized spare parts.
• If the Product has been exposed to moisture, to dampness or to extreme thermal or environmental conditions or to rapid changes in such conditions, to corrosion, to oxidation, to spillage of food or liquid or to influence from chemical products.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's dead and you want to make sure it really doesn't boot up you could always format it with a very strong magnet. No physical traces and every chip in your phone will be blank.. But it's also irreversible. But it could also fall under rule number 3..
Olivier V said:
If it's dead and you want to make sure it really doesn't boot up you could always format it with a very strong magnet. No physical traces and every chip in your phone will be blank.. But it's also irreversible. But it could also fall under rule number 3..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well i believe that my phone is actually dead and cant boot up except the light turns on when you plug it to the wall ... so will they not find out?? what do you think sir?
I say you should just send it off now
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
Dudmaster said:
I say you should just send it off now
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you think?? ok i will try tomorrow morning .. i dont think they will charge me even if they find out.. its not like samsung brand phones right?? ok thanks everyone ill update if this case will be solved XD
and ahmm also can you/anyone give me a good excuse to cover the whole thing up??
xmak17(AlcatelPopC7) said:
you think?? ok i will try tomorrow morning .. i dont think they will charge me even if they find out.. its not like samsung brand phones right?? ok thanks everyone ill update if this case will be solved XD
and ahmm also can you/anyone give me a good excuse to cover the whole thing up??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just play dumb.. Might be handy if you Google the most common problems with your model phone. Alcatel isn't the most reliable brand in the world..
Sent from my p4wifi using XDA Free mobile app
Olivier V said:
Just play dumb.. Might be handy if you Google the most common problems with your model phone. Alcatel isn't the most reliable brand in the world..
Sent from my p4wifi using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so what im gonna say is my phone just turned off and it wont boot up?
xmak17(AlcatelPopC7) said:
so what im gonna say is my phone just turned off and it wont boot up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something like that yeah. It's up to them to figure it out, they get paid to help you, not the other way around.
Sent from my Z1 Compact

Question Screen weirdness on me the other day.

My pixel 7 pro freaked out on me the other day and went black on me when I played a game and didn't come back for over 15 minutes then finally was responding again. Any reason why this happened . Hopefully software and not hardware. Hasn't happened since but still concerning .
Anyone ?
Redbeardkevv said:
Anyone ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flaky game? I never play games on any tool, which a smartphone is. I wish the OEM's would stop trying to make it even possible. Buy a "gaming" phone which is designed specifically for that purpose. In fact, some of the best phones available today (spec wise) are gaming phones! If it only happened while playing the game then that is where I would look.
jaseman said:
Flaky game? I never play games on any tool, which a smartphone is. I wish the OEM's would stop trying to make it even possible. Buy a "gaming" phone which is designed specifically for that purpose. In fact, some of the best phones available today (spec wise) are gaming phones! If it only happened while playing the game then that is where I would look.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is one of the most ridiculous responses I have ever seen. There is nothing that makes a "gaming phone" special. They're using the same hardware and software as any other phone with gaming-specific gimmicks. The phone has a throttle mechanism to prevent any kind of damage.
EtherealRemnant said:
This is one of the most ridiculous responses I have ever seen. There is nothing that makes a "gaming phone" special. They're using the same hardware and software as any other phone with gaming-specific gimmicks. The phone has a throttle mechanism to prevent any kind of damage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ridiculous...maybe...but the fact remains that you experienced this WHILE playing a game! So I wonder what the problem may be?
Hmmm
jaseman said:
Ridiculous...maybe...but the fact remains that you experienced this WHILE playing a game! So I wonder what the problem may be?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's called a hardware defect if the hardware can't cope. Going blank for 15 minutes is not normal.
Hardware hmm and not software?
Redbeardkevv said:
Hardware hmm and not software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What were you playing? If it was a graphically intensive game, I would definitely lean more towards blaming the hardware. It's very rare that a game can actually make a phone that unstable. In fact I can't remember the last time I've had a game make my phone unresponsive.
Roblox with my nephew
Redbeardkevv said:
Roblox with my nephew
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never played that game but their site seems to suggest some rather low requirements so I would be shocked if an ARMv8 processor like Tensor 2 is going to struggle with it.
Android warning screens
Due to the very large number of Android devices in existence, we cannot be certain that all devices will run optimally even if they are running the correct version of the operating system and do not have a Tegra 2 chipset.
We have 2 levels of unsupported Android devices - skippable and unskippable:
Skippable Devices: These types of devices will get a warning telling you that your device may not be powerful enough to play experiences smoothly. This is just a warning to let you know that while your device isn't specifically supported, experiences might still run though they will likely lag a little (or a lot). Tapping outside the warning box will make it go away and the experience should keep loading.
Unskippable Devices: will get a message that informs you that your device doesn't meet the minimum system requirements. This means the device is not able to play experiences on Roblox. This message usually shows up on devices that use the Tegra 2 graphics chipset or a processor older than ARMv7. These kinds of tablets/phones do not support features that the Roblox needs to be able to function. However, users with these unskippable messages will still be able to access all other parts of the app outside of experiences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://en.help.roblox.com/hc/en-us/articles/203625474-ROBLOX-Mobile-System-Requirements
Yea I was thinking it had low requirements. Maybe bad coding ??? But then again no other app or game has caused that to happen. Sooo. Yea
I don't think it's software. I already had one screen die. Went black and never came back on. I had it fixed under warranty at a local UbreakIFix (Asurion - Google's warranty partner). Techs were aware of a similar problem with the 5a and replaced my screen same day.
I've had a few wonky screen issues that hard locked my phone. Had one go black, but fortunately came back after holding power down. It once went all yellow with weird shapes/sections. And then just had some freezes with artifacts on the screen.
I'm going away for the holidays so I'll send it back when I get home if I'm still having issues. If you're going away, I'd suggest taking a backup phone just in case. Had mine die the first time when I was visiting my folks out of state. It sucked with no backup.
One thing I noticed is the screen does a fuzzy flash whenever I plug in a USB charger. It's only a split second but it is noticeable. Has anyone else experienced that?
Superguy said:
I don't think it's software. I already had one screen die. Went black and never came back on. I had it fixed under warranty at a local UbreakIFix (Asurion - Google's warranty partner). Techs were aware of a similar problem with the 5a and replaced my screen same day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of these failures have been a combination of both hardware and software - nothing is actually wrong with the screen. I'm not sure exactly how it happens, but it seems that this usually involves a OS crash (phone freezing up) followed by an attempt to reboot, but for some reason the bootloader has become corrupted and the device won't start. Fixing it generally involves replacing the mainboard, because most repair centers don't have the QPST or the software needed to perform low level reflash. This is a known issue over several generations of Pixels; the cause is unknown.
V0latyle said:
Most of these failures have been a combination of both hardware and software - nothing is actually wrong with the screen. I'm not sure exactly how it happens, but it seems that this usually involves a OS crash (phone freezing up) followed by an attempt to reboot, but for some reason the bootloader has become corrupted and the device won't start. Fixing it generally involves replacing the mainboard, because most repair centers don't have the QPST or the software needed to perform low level reflash. This is a known issue over several generations of Pixels; the cause is unknown.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What was weird is when mine went black, the phone would still boot and in theory was still usable. Pushing the buttons gave haptic feedback like they were bringing up the power menu or adjusting the volume. I just couldn't see what was going on or use touch to give input.
They told me they just replaced the screen. Didn't touch the motherboard.
I was using one of the custom kernels so I ended up having to wipe it and went back to stock kernel with magisk and some modules. It hasn't acted up as much as it did with the custom kernel, but there are still issues. I suppose it could be something that's messed up in the stock kernel, and perhaps tweaks a dev made in theirs may have exasperated it some.
If I end ups ending it back, I'll try a custom kernel again, but for now, I'm just sticking with stock.
*no disrespect intended or implied to any dev
Superguy said:
What was weird is when mine went black, the phone would still boot and in theory was still usable. Pushing the buttons gave haptic feedback like they were bringing up the power menu or adjusting the volume. I just couldn't see what was going on or use touch to give input.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, that's definitely a display issue. I'm talking about when the device doesn't work or respond at all, maybe vibrates on power up but doesn't respond to anything, and usually will come up as "Qualcomm Bulk USB" or something when connected to PC
Superguy said:
They told me they just replaced the screen. Didn't touch the motherboard.
I was using one of the custom kernels so I ended up having to wipe it and went back to stock kernel with magisk and some modules. It hasn't acted up as much as it did with the custom kernel, but there are still issues. I suppose it could be something that's messed up in the stock kernel, and perhaps tweaks a dev made in theirs may have exasperated it some.
If I end ups ending it back, I'll try a custom kernel again, but for now, I'm just sticking with stock.
*no disrespect intended or implied to any dev
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For sure, active development may or may not have stability issues, it's all a learning process!

Chip-Off on Samsung Galaxy Note 10

Hello everyone.
Months ago I threw my Galaxy Note10 in the pool, result: K.O.
I took it to several repair centers, and they all told me the MB is gone.
I would like to try the chip off, by unmounting the memory chip and remounting it on another MB on new Note10.
Now my question is: Assuming the operation goes smoothly, can I just recover the data, or can I hope to use the new terminal as if it were the old one?
Maybe samsung implemented a secure file system, which only the original note can get access to? And in this case, is there a solution?
This is also because I need to recover the Google Authenticator app which, as you know, only stores locally,
so my hope is in a nutshell: Mount the old memory chip on the new MB, turn on the new phone and find everything as it was on the old one. Is such a thing possible?
Thanks in advance
Please remember to search before posting to ensure you're posting in the right section for your device:
1. Search before posting.
Use one of our search functions before posting or creating a new thread. Whether you have a question or just something new to share, it's very likely that someone has already asked that question or shared that news.
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15. Keep threads / posts on-topic
Whilst a minor amount of off-topic posting may be overlooked, the general rule is that your posts / threads must be relevant to the Forum / thread in which you are posting.
General Forums - For news and announcements relating to your device.
Q&A Help & Troubleshooting Forums - For all question / request threads and posts. If there is no Q&A Help & Troubleshooting forum, use the General Forum of the relevant device
Accessories Forum - For posts related to accessories relevant to the device
Development Forums (ones with the word development in the title) - For Developers to post release threads e.g. ROMs and Kernels including modifications to kernels, bootloaders, ROMs, etc., as well as R&D development discussion threads designed with an end goal
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Click to collapse
As a courtesy, we will move your thread to the Galaxy Note 10 Questions and Answers section.
As for your question...without the specialized equipment used in manufacture of these devices, it is all but impossible. Surface mount devices are incredibly hard to remove from boards without damage. Unfortunately, your data is lost.
V0latyle said:
Please remember to search before posting to ensure you're posting in the right section for your device:
As a courtesy, we will move your thread to the Galaxy Note 10 Questions and Answers section.
As for your question...without the specialized equipment used in manufacture of these devices, it is all but impossible. Surface mount devices are incredibly hard to remove from boards without damage. Unfortunately, your data is lost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The chip-off technique is very common and is used successfully on all smartphones.
Obviously it has to be done by a specialized center with the right equipment, and it was obviously understood that I intend to turn to professionals for this job.
Now, given that the data is not lost at all, and that the chip off almost always works, usually only a data recovery is performed, by inserting the memory chip into special reading tools. To which my question is if it was possible to reassemble the aforementioned chip on a new MB of a working device, instead of only performing a data recovery from a reader.
I also apologize for posting in this section, but the chip off is a universal technique, which affects all types of MB and regardless of the type and brand of smartphone, I wrote the model only for completeness of information even if the question was obviously generalized to the concept. For this reason I chose to post it in the general questions section.
Thanks for the reply
chip off is pointless even if storage is soldered to different mainboard, as the hardware-backed encryption master key is unique for each SPU.
aIecxs said:
chip off is pointless even if storage is soldered to different mainboard, as the hardware-backed encryption master key is unique for each SPU.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, so how is it possible that in 90% of chip off cases on smartphones of many brands, the data is recovered? is there a way to decrypt the data using decryption tools?
Guerrerobook said:
The chip-off technique is very common and is used successfully on all smartphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been in the electronics industry for nearly 18 years. It's not nearly as common as you think, as I describe below....
Guerrerobook said:
Obviously it has to be done by a specialized center with the right equipment, and it was obviously understood that I intend to turn to professionals for this job.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And you'll pay a LOT of money to do it. There isn't much of a market for this kind of specialized repair on "disposable" consumer electronics including smartphones. The reason why is simply cost. OEMs already have established manufacturing processes to produce thousands of boards a day; it's much cheaper to simply replace the entire board in a device than it would be to get the specialized equipment as well as the organic skill necessary to do this. I used to work for a Fortune 100 company that produces military grade avionics; in most cases, we did not replace defective SMD components, but rather the entire board. The cost of a component might be anywhere from the tens to hundreds of dollars, whereas the board could be upwards of $40,000, but again, it's simply more cost effective to replace a manufactured assembly than it is to try to install the "old" flash device onto a new board. In the consumer electronics industry, this difference is even more profound - a supplier can produce complete assemblies for cents on the dollar, and since it's so inexpensive to just replace with new, that's the preferred method of repair instead of replacing components - and that is if they bother repairing the device at all, because in many cases they'll simply replace an inoperable device with a new one.
Guerrerobook said:
Now, given that the data is not lost at all, and that the chip off almost always works, usually only a data recovery is performed, by inserting the memory chip into special reading tools. To which my question is if it was possible to reassemble the aforementioned chip on a new MB of a working device, instead of only performing a data recovery from a reader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I said "lost" I meant in the context of the ability of the average user to recover it. Yes, it is absolutely possible to read the data from the flash devices, but to do so you have to have some pretty specialized equipment and software, which I assume you don't have. Most repair centers won't have this, either, because as I described above, they'll simply replace entire assemblies. If your car's engine loses compression in a single cylinder, most repair centers won't replace the components in just that cylinder - they'll at least replace the entire cylinder head assembly, complete with valves and cams; they might just replace the entire engine if the problem is deep enough, instead of tearing it down to the block. Why? Because it's simply more expensive to replace individual components than entire assemblies.
Guerrerobook said:
I also apologize for posting in this section, but the chip off is a universal technique, which affects all types of MB and regardless of the type and brand of smartphone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm fully familiar with the technique, but I also recognize just how specialized it is and how rare it is actually in practice. If you can find a shop that can do this, all the more power to you, but remember you're asking this question on a forum where most users only have access to publicly available tools and software.
Guerrerobook said:
Thank you, so how is it possible that in 90% of chip off cases on smartphones of many brands, the data is recovered? is there a way to decrypt the data using decryption tools?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again - the possibility of doing so is irrelevant, because it's time and money that's generally not worth spent. Forensic data recovery is yet another specialized process.
Guerrerobook said:
Thank you, so how is it possible that in 90% of chip off cases on smartphones of many brands, the data is recovered?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can only laugh about such statistics.
"The Qualcomm SPU is a sub-chip embedded in a single-chip standalone device which conforms to the Level 2 requirements for physical security. The device is a single integrated circuit in which the die is embedded in a printed-circuit board (PCB) which provides opaqueness in the visible spectrum. The Qualcomm SPU is contained in a tamper-evident enclosure which deters direct observation, probing, or manipulation and provides evidence of attempts to tamper with or remove the Qualcomm SPU. The Qualcomm SPU is made from production-grade components with a conformal coating that provides protection against environmental or other physical damage."
V0latyle said:
I've been in the electronics industry for nearly 18 years. It's not nearly as common as you think, as I describe below....
And you'll pay a LOT of money to do it. There isn't much of a market for this kind of specialized repair on "disposable" consumer electronics including smartphones. The reason why is simply cost. OEMs already have established manufacturing processes to produce thousands of boards a day; it's much cheaper to simply replace the entire board in a device than it would be to get the specialized equipment as well as the organic skill necessary to do this. I used to work for a Fortune 100 company that produces military grade avionics; in most cases, we did not replace defective SMD components, but rather the entire board. The cost of a component might be anywhere from the tens to hundreds of dollars, whereas the board could be upwards of $40,000, but again, it's simply more cost effective to replace a manufactured assembly than it is to try to install the "old" flash device onto a new board. In the consumer electronics industry, this difference is even more profound - a supplier can produce complete assemblies for cents on the dollar, and since it's so inexpensive to just replace with new, that's the preferred method of repair instead of replacing components - and that is if they bother repairing the device at all, because in many cases they'll simply replace an inoperable device with a new one.
When I said "lost" I meant in the context of the ability of the average user to recover it. Yes, it is absolutely possible to read the data from the flash devices, but to do so you have to have some pretty specialized equipment and software, which I assume you don't have. Most repair centers won't have this, either, because as I described above, they'll simply replace entire assemblies. If your car's engine loses compression in a single cylinder, most repair centers won't replace the components in just that cylinder - they'll at least replace the entire cylinder head assembly, complete with valves and cams; they might just replace the entire engine if the problem is deep enough, instead of tearing it down to the block. Why? Because it's simply more expensive to replace individual components than entire assemblies.
I'm fully familiar with the technique, but I also recognize just how specialized it is and how rare it is actually in practice. If you can find a shop that can do this, all the more power to you, but remember you're asking this question on a forum where most users only have access to publicly available tools and software.
Again - the possibility of doing so is irrelevant, because it's time and money that's generally not worth spent. Forensic data recovery is yet another specialized process.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you say is correct if the goal is to repair a device; in this case it is much more convenient to replace it. But here we are dealing with data recovery, a very important and highly sought-after topic in this era, data are far more important than devices.
Ergo, there are many companies that specialize in forensic data recovery, with all the necessary equipment. And the cost for a chip off on a smartphone ranges from about $1000 to $1500.
But as I said in my first question, they just recover the data by inserting the memory chip into a suitable reader.
This is why my question was specifically, if instead of recovering the data in this way, it was possible (I mean technically, beyond costs and specific equipment that I have no problem finding), reassemble the chip on a new smartphone and use this as if it was the old one, working.
aIecxs said:
I can only laugh about such statistics.
"The Qualcomm SPU is a sub-chip embedded in a single-chip standalone device which conforms to the Level 2 requirements for physical security. The device is a single integrated circuit in which the die is embedded in a printed-circuit board (PCB) which provides opaqueness in the visible spectrum. The Qualcomm SPU is contained in a tamper-evident enclosure which deters direct observation, probing, or manipulation and provides evidence of attempts to tamper with or remove the Qualcomm SPU. The Qualcomm SPU is made from production-grade components with a conformal coating that provides protection against environmental or other physical damage."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK thank you. So I look at the problem from another point of view: The smartphone fell into the pool and no longer turned on. Some repair centers told me they couldn't fix it. In your experience, can water damage be that irreparable? or have these repair centers simply not been able to? in a nutshell is there any hope of resurrecting the MB?
the only way to recover data is to repair the phone. this is absolutely possible and I have seen repair centers doing that. they have schematics and measure each component on it's own. there is a colombian forum you can maybe find schematics.
https://www.servicell-arauca.com
(enable subtitles auto-generated and translated into english)
Guerrerobook said:
What you say is correct if the goal is to repair a device; in this case it is much more convenient to replace it. But here we are dealing with data recovery, a very important and highly sought-after topic in this era, data are far more important than devices.
Ergo, there are many companies that specialize in forensic data recovery, with all the necessary equipment. And the cost for a chip off on a smartphone ranges from about $1000 to $1500.
But as I said in my first question, they just recover the data by inserting the memory chip into a suitable reader.
This is why my question was specifically, if instead of recovering the data in this way, it was possible (I mean technically, beyond costs and specific equipment that I have no problem finding), reassemble the chip on a new smartphone and use this as if it was the old one, working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have the money and find someone who has the ability to do it...yes. But as Alecxs pointed out, there's additional problems you'd have to solve to get that flash device or devices to work with the SoC, mainly encryption. The encryption key is unique to each device, so moving the flash devices to a new board wouldn't work.
Honestly, if you are this invested into recovering your data, I think your best bet is to find someone who may be able to get your old device temporarily working, possibly while disassembled on a bench, long enough for you to recover your data so you can transfer it to a new phone. Encryption alone is going to be the biggest issue you'll have to deal with, and the easiest way to defeat it is to get the rest of the system working so that you're able to access the decrypted data "naturally". Most encryption is SHA-256, which for all intents and purposes is unbreakable.
aIecxs said:
the only way to recover data is to repair the phone. this is absolutely possible and I have seen repair centers doing that. they have schematics and measure each component on it's own. there is a spanish forum you can maybe find schematics.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
V0latyle said:
If you have the money and find someone who has the ability to do it...yes. But as Alecxs pointed out, there's additional problems you'd have to solve to get that flash device or devices to work with the SoC, mainly encryption. The encryption key is unique to each device, so moving the flash devices to a new board wouldn't work.
Honestly, if you are this invested into recovering your data, I think your best bet is to find someone who may be able to get your old device temporarily working, possibly while disassembled on a bench, long enough for you to recover your data so you can transfer it to a new phone. Encryption alone is going to be the biggest issue you'll have to deal with, and the easiest way to defeat it is to get the rest of the system working so that you're able to access the decrypted data "naturally". Most encryption is SHA-256, which for all intents and purposes is unbreakable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After falling into the pool, the device got very hot and then turned off.
The repair center that kept it the longest told me they tried to get the MB working long enough to recover the data, but it got too hot and gave up so as not to cause any more damage. In the light of these details, do you think it can be recovered?
Guerrerobook said:
OK thank you. So I look at the problem from another point of view: The smartphone fell into the pool and no longer turned on. Some repair centers told me they couldn't fix it. In your experience, can water damage be that irreparable? or have these repair centers simply not been able to? in a nutshell is there any hope of resurrecting the MB?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless you disconnected the battery asap it's probably toast. Pull rear cover, disconnect battery, flush liberally with anhydrous isopropyl alcohol, drain off as much of the alcohol as fast as possible in a very warm, very dry room. Allow to dry completely for 2-7 days with a fan on it in a very warm, dry room. Try to power up only then...
You should have use a model with an SD card slot to store all of your critical data. Don't repeat this mistake again.
Destroy a new mobo to try and recover the data?
That's wasteful, nuts and will likely fail without lots of prior practice. The pros don't do this.
A recovery specialist service will hot air the BGA chipset off and use a test socket to try and extract, then decrypt the data. It may be successful. Expect to pay around $800 if it is successful.
blackhawk said:
Unless you disconnected the battery asap it's probably toast. Pull rear cover, disconnect battery, flush liberally with anhydrous isopropyl alcohol, drain off as much of the alcohol as fast as possible in a very warm, very dry room. Allow to dry completely for 2-7 days with a fan on it in a very warm, dry room. Try to power up only then...
You should have use a model with an SD card slot to store all of your critical data. Don't repeat this mistake again.
Destroy a new mobo to try and recover the data?
That's wasteful, nuts and will likely fail without lots of prior practice. The pros don't do this.
A recovery specialist service will hot air the BGA chipset off and use a test socket to try and extract, then decrypt the data. It may be successful. Expect to pay around $800 if it is successful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not disconnected the battery. The next day I took it to the repair center. Could data recovery be successful despite the unique encryption key?
Guerrerobook said:
I have not disconnected the battery. The next day I took it to the repair center. Could data recovery be successful despite the unique encryption key?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should have powered down immediately and disconnected the battery asap. Do not attempt to power it up or charge it again.
Take it to a recovery service that specializes in Samsung's. That's the only way to know if the data can be recovered. They can decrypt it probably if they can recover the data intact.
Personally I would have written it off if pulling the battery, drying, etc failed.
Always redundantly backup critical data to at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC on a regular basis. At the very minimum use 2 OTG flashsticks for backup. More lessons from the U of Hard Knocks... they tend to sink in and be retained.
Guerrerobook said:
After falling into the pool, the device got very hot and then turned off.
The repair center that kept it the longest told me they tried to get the MB working long enough to recover the data, but it got too hot and gave up so as not to cause any more damage. In the light of these details, do you think it can be recovered?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. As I said at the beginning, if the device is dead, data recovery is nigh impossible.
V0latyle said:
No. As I said at the beginning, if the device is dead, data recovery is nigh impossible.
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Click to collapse
It's actually not completely dead, as I said the repair center told me they tried to keep the MB running long enough to make a backup but it got too hot and gave up.. So at least the MB turns on..
blackhawk said:
More lessons from the U of Hard Knocks... they tend to sink in and be retained.
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Click to collapse
I didn't understand this part
Guerrerobook said:
I didn't understand this part
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
University of Hard Knocks. Learning from painful mistakes...like losing your data because your device took a swim
Guerrerobook said:
The repair center that kept it the longest told me they tried to get the MB working long enough to recover the data, but it got too hot and gave up so as not to cause any more damage. In the light of these details, do you think it can be recovered?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you tell them your lock screen credentials? Without unlocking, no one can recover data per design, no matter how long the mainboard survives. If service center claim to extract data with chip off method, they are simply scammers. no one can do this (except for secret government backdoors in baseband maybe, qualcomm is american multinational corporation lol)

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