HELP, data recovery of broken Samsung Galaxy S5

[whitey]

So yeah it happened and I do take periodic backups but want to be sure I didn't miss anything. Dropped my phone (apparently for the last time or JUST right) and now I have a black/blank screen, trying to recover/validate files, kies3 is a POS, I got my phone unlocked using a USB OTG cable, none of the programs I have thrown at this can detect/access data.

WTF, should it really be this hard. Really don't wanna have to go into adb madness, cannot get usb debugging mode enabled to let programs such as wondershare, myjad, phonepaw, kies3 working apparently. I am passing a usb ctrl through a vSphere host up to the win7 VM I am trying to use to recover. Looked at MTP madness in linux but have limited access to settings/menu's as I cannot see shit on the screen.

BOO :-(

Am I being a tard monkey?

EDIT: I see some comments abt rebooting into recovery mode w/ download enabled, dunno what the hell this is abt just yet...what I DON'T wanna do it reset to factory/wipe lol while I am tinkering/researching/testing. Off to RTFM some more. Good hell!

 

[Patrick]

Yikes! Google drive/ MSFT OneDrive

 

[T_Minus]

What exactly do you want to recover?

Downloaded files or pics or all of the above?

Dropbox for camera works great to autosync them to dropbox/desktops, other files I think you can do too but I've never set that up.

 

[whitey]

I need to check/backup/clear the internal memory. Pics/vids/files/etc. I typicall use AndFTP to wirelessly send files to SFTP ZFS box but w/out a screen I am SOL. May have a month or two of files to sync still. GRRRR. This kies3 SW is a real POS, tried on two VM's now, wonder if I need to use a phys laptop. BS.

 

[whitey]

QTADB looks rockin' too bad it requires USB debug mode as well.

 

[pricklypunter]

If your phone is still working properly, just a duff screen, can't you use an HDTV/ MHL adapter to display your desktop on a TV?
That would at least allow you to see what your doing. Of course it doesn't help you if the digitiser is also farked, but maybe worth a shot

 

[SycoPath]

You should be able to get to the recovery console by pressing and holding power+volume up+home from a powered off state. The phone should give you a quick single vibrate when it starts booting recovery. There is a tool called Odin for Samsung that is mostly used for recovery but it can dump too. ADB is really what you want to use. Also, make sure the right drivers are installed. Samsung phones are super picky, generally don't work at all for recovery on USB3 ports. I can only imagine virtualized USB being nearly impossible to get working. Here is a good place to start.

Creating Custom ROMs/Backups for Odin

 

[Twice_Shy]

Chances are decent that your data is lost. :-/ I hope i'm wrong - I have a just broken Galaxy Note 2 that I had some data not yet backed up.

Best practices are to regularily mirror data from the phone with something like Titanium Backup, or set up applications to save ALL data to the SD card (which you can still pull and import on a PC), or to set up applications to instantly upload any data you are creating as it's created. (like people often sync the camera to Dropbox I believe)

That's all preventative.

Data already lost stands a good chance of being lost, or obscenely expensive to try and reimburse. I'm HOPING someone who knows better could prove me wrong because i'd like to use the same strategy to recover stuff from my Note 2 - but i'm pretty sure the Flash drive is embedded into the motherboard in modern phones, so even if you replaced the mobo, short of "IC surgery" on either surface mount or ball grid array "wave solder" or micro-pitched IC chips, you are not accessing the old flash without serious work. Nothing is made for easy user servicing or recovery in such modern shrunken electronics.

Backup backup backup! (wish i'd listened to my own advice too)

 

[SycoPath]

You could always pay for a screen replacement. Very unlikely the motherboard is trashed. Just depends on how much the data is worth to you. I'm curious, did you ever get into the phone? If so, what worked? Share your knowledge!

 

[Twice_Shy]

I would think if you cant see anything via USB the motherboard is damaged... if the computer side can see it in some kind of download mode it should be easy to pull data from it even if a screen is broken i'd think. (though i'm not a cellphone expert)

 

[whitey]

It's not a mobo/usb issue, tried on a Windows vSphere VM as well as re-imaged an old laptop to win7 and no luv either. Carrier said to use Samsung Smart Switch, again that failed due to MTP mode not being turned on. Garbage, only thing I can think of it to order a new digitizer/screen from China for about $100 and let a friend of mine that does that type of work have at it.

 

[pricklypunter]

The TV adapter didn't help?

 

[whitey]

I don't have a mini hdmi off hand and you can imagine if I ain't got one of those I never did hook my phone to my TV ever, guess I read some reports of that same idea but apparently there is a setting that you have to toggle/switch on to swap displays or get it to link, dunno how true or not that is but obviously 'I think' I can get it unlocked via OTG usb and keyboard but then I am blindly navigating menu's, may just throw in the towel for a bit on this until I see a digitizer/screen for $50 or so, right now they look to be abt $110.

Samsung Galaxy S5 OEM LCD Digitizer SM-G900A G900V G900P (Black) Shadow FLAWLESS | eBay

I must admit that I am not impressed w/ the lack of simulator or something else in SW that can output/emulate a busted arse screen just for a temp fix...the TV screen would be great if I could get that going w/out having some other pre-req. I seriously want a ssh server running on it (w/ scp/sftp avail), look at dhcp and see what it picks up for wifi IP addy, ssh to it, browse media, scp data off. Hell if I could get 5 mins of access and use andftp just cranking out the contents of built-in flash bank via scp to my ZFS box I'd be happier than a pig in sh|t.

BOOOO

 

[pricklypunter]

I have the S6edge but no MHL adapter to try it out with, but my Son had the S5 last year and as I remember he just used to plug his in and away he went. He has a Pixel now though, got rid of the S5 after dropping it and breaking the screen! I do remember something to do with plugging the power adapter in first before connecting it to the phone, but like you, not sure if you need to do anything else to get it working. The MHL adapter he had was like $10 out of Walmart

 

[whitey]

That's good to know and I may try that for sure, something like this?

Amazon.com: Co-link Hdmi Cable Adapter 1080p Hdtv for Samsung Galaxy S5 S4 S3 Note 2 Note 3 Note 4 N7100 N9005 T999 R530 I9300 I9500 I747 I535: Cell Phones & Accessories

My whole thing is I bet I have to toggle a setting...now if someone can say tap settings, go three clicks down, enter, MHL enable/screen mirror/whatever they call it then maybe. I'm not optimistic at this point, lesson learned, data loss on a phone sure makes me feel silly though, it's not lost, I just can't do shit to get it off of it I suppose currently.

 

[pricklypunter]

I know how you feel. I remember sitting here when I first got my S6 (first sammy for me) and feeling pretty stupid trying to move my contacts/ messages etc over to it from my old faithful MotoG. The Samsung software is all but useless for anything except bragging about how great it is imo. I ended up using a trial wondershare product, can't even remember what it was called now, that looked more like a virus than any sort of useful tool, to move my stuff to my PC, then on to the S6, and even that was a pita. It managed it though, something Samsung's own crap couldn't achieve, I'll give it that at least. I swore right there, no more sammy's for me, when this one dies, I'm looking elsewhere for another handset

Oh, that adapter looks fine. My son's one had a separate power supply as I remember, but I think it's the same thing

 

[WANg]

So yeah it happened and I do take periodic backups but want to be sure I didn't miss anything. Dropped my phone (apparently for the last time or JUST right) and now I have a black/blank screen, trying to recover/validate files, kies3 is a POS, I got my phone unlocked using a USB OTG cable, none of the programs I have thrown at this can detect/access data.

WTF, should it really be this hard. Really don't wanna have to go into adb madness, cannot get usb debugging mode enabled to let programs such as wondershare, myjad, phonepaw, kies3 working apparently. I am passing a usb ctrl through a vSphere host up to the win7 VM I am trying to use to recover. Looked at MTP madness in linux but have limited access to settings/menu's as I cannot see shit on the screen.

BOO :-(

Am I being a tard monkey?

EDIT: I see some comments abt rebooting into recovery mode w/ download enabled, dunno what the hell this is abt just yet...what I DON'T wanna do it reset to factory/wipe lol while I am tinkering/researching/testing. Off to RTFM some more. Good hell!

Deep breath, homey. Several questions:

a) Is the phone otherwise working? Like, if you call it with something else, does it ring? Is it a shattered screen, or a backlight that's broken?
If you squint hard at it, does it show a faint ghost of your screen, or is it rainbow unicorn fart lines up and down?

b) Have you considered using an MHL adapter to see if you can get some output to an external screen? They are about $15 on Amazon. It's NOT MicroHDMI (which looks completely different)

c) Do you plan to keep it for a bit longer, or have someone you can pass the chassis down (like an elder or a cousin)? If so, you could in theory buy the screen/digitizer set from eBay and swap it, then later on, gift the phone away when you upgrade. Note that the LCD and the digitizer are glued together, and you can't really fix one without breaking the other, so they have to be swapped as a set. You'll need to know which specific S5 model (SM-G900<whatever>), though, mind you - there are 5 variants in the US alone, one for each major carrier and 1 for US Cellular. If you plan to buy/swap a screen, keep in mind that the cheapest products are typically "good enough" clones dropshipped from Mainland China with some questionable fitment issues - expect to pay between $35 to $70 for it. As for how to do it, iFixit's got your hookup. The S5 is probably the last easy-to-repair phone in Samsung's product lineup. I should know, I repaired every phone that I got my hands on. it's either a testament to my hardware game, the shit I subject my phones to, or why you should always get a decent case for your device.
(Interesting aside, a Blackberry Z10 of mine survived a 30 foot drop in a shopping mall - that rubber case totally did its job)

Okay, regarding recovery mode, eeeh, the original factory recovery is...crap (you know, Pull battery, then pop back in, and hold Vol+, Home and Power at the same time until the Samsung logo goes away). It basically asks you if you want to blow the contents of the phone away. If you want something better, install something like TWRP. At least that's a real recovery with options to backup/restore your phone contents to a MicroSD card. I don't think you need to root the freaking thing before you install it.

AFAIK Samsung took away the ability to dump filesystems in Odin - that'll probably require some ADB tomfoolery, but if USB debugging is disabled...well, that's gonna be tough.

 

[WANg]

stuck at the first step. How to enable USB debugging on screen-broken phone?

First, connect the phone to an MHL adapter and see if you get any output. Chances are it should.