[Q] How to retrieve data from, and wipe a damaged phone

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n00bsh1t

Member
Dec 2, 2011
22
0
Hi all,

I damaged my phone after dropping it. Now I'm trying to recover my data from the phone, and also wipe it, before I send it to the service centre.

1. Screen, touch, and possibly more is damaged.

2. It boots to a certain extent (not sure to what extent). Holding the power button for 3 seconds causes flashing of capacitative buttons, and a quick vibration (similar to how I force reboot when it was working). Obviously, I couldn't tell how far in the boot process it went.

3. Searching for answers, it seems like my best bet would be adb. I can't remember whether I enabled USB debugging on the phone (I probably had at some point, just hope that I had not disabled it). Connecting it to PC via USB and then typing the adb commands showed the phone in an "offline" state.

4. dmesg output:

Code:
[ 4239.366740] scsi15 : usb-storage 1-1.1:1.1
[ 4239.575414] usb 1-1.1: USB disconnect, device number 11
[ 4240.284869] usb 1-1.1: new high-speed USB device number 12 using ehci_hcd
[ 4240.390958] scsi16 : usb-storage 1-1.1:1.1
[ 4241.390427] scsi 16:0:0:0: Direct-Access     HTC      Android Phone    0000 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[ 4241.391633] sd 16:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[ 4241.403112] sd 16:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk

5. The line "[sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk" made me quite hopeful, but unfortunately when I tried to mount /dev/sdc, I got

Code:
mount: no medium found on /dev/sdc


I feel that my best bet would be to get the "offline" adb device "online"

Any advice, please?
 

n00bsh1t

Member
Dec 2, 2011
22
0
another idea. i have CWM (5.8.4.0) installed on the phone.

if i could get into recovery (big "if", because I'm not sure if the volume buttons are working).

then *if* i remember correctly:
- CWM has a feature for enabling USB storage connection
- HTC recovery and CWM can use volume and power buttons for navigation (again, assuming volume buttons work)

but I would really need help with the sequence of volume up/down and power button presses to, firstly, get into CWM (from HTC recovery), and secondly, enable USB mass storage.

thanks!
 

INDIAN-MAfIA

Senior Member
Dec 11, 2013
344
238
New Delhi
If you're sending it to the service station, you can request them either not to wipe data or make a backup of data (as you're unable to) and give it you later, either in a flash drive or in the repaired phone.
 

n00bsh1t

Member
Dec 2, 2011
22
0
Hi,

Any help, please? Really, I just need the sequence of volume and power buttons to get me from HTC recovery to CWM, and then to themount USB storage function.

BTW, I just found that just maybe, the touchscreen and display could be the only damaged components. Because this morning, the phone alarm clock rang. And I also elicited response by using the capacitative buttons.

Thanks!
 

athulele

Senior Member
Oct 11, 2011
1,911
1,381
25
USA
Hi,

Any help, please? Really, I just need the sequence of volume and power buttons to get me from HTC recovery to CWM, and then to themount USB storage function.

BTW, I just found that just maybe, the touchscreen and display could be the only damaged components. Because this morning, the phone alarm clock rang. And I also elicited response by using the capacitative buttons.

Thanks!

Download the CWM from cyanogemod11 thread.

Then use volume buttons to navigate up/down and power button to select.

I guess you need to go to Advanced -» mount Usb storage

Sent from my HTC One X
 

n00bsh1t

Member
Dec 2, 2011
22
0
Download the CWM from cyanogemod11 thread.

Then use volume buttons to navigate up/down and power button to select.

I guess you need to go to Advanced -» mount Usb storage

Sent from my HTC One X

yes, that's what I intend to do, and I already have CWM in the phone. but the display is broken, so I'm doing blind, and need to know the sequence of volume up/down and power button that will get me to mount USB storage.
 

athulele

Senior Member
Oct 11, 2011
1,911
1,381
25
USA
yes, that's what I intend to do, and I already have CWM in the phone. but the display is broken, so I'm doing blind, and need to know the sequence of volume up/down and power button that will get me to mount USB storage.

Can you try to follow this image?

http://i1.wp.com/techverse.net/wp-c...orkmod-recovery-on-any-android-phone-easy.jpg

You can see the number of clicks needed to go into mounts ans storage. But I couldn't find a image showing mounts and storage options so you'll have to go by trial and error

Edit : I think that Mount USB storage is the last option. So go into mount and storage and click volume up once and then the power button.

Hope this helps.

Sent from my HTC One X
 
Last edited:

n00bsh1t

Member
Dec 2, 2011
22
0
Can you try to follow this image?

http://i1.wp.com/techverse.net/wp-c...orkmod-recovery-on-any-android-phone-easy.jpg

You can see the number of clicks needed to go into mounts ans storage. But I couldn't find a image showing mounts and storage options so you'll have to go by trial and error

Edit : I think that Mount USB storage is the last option. So go into mount and storage and click volume up once and then the power button.

Hope this helps.

Sent from my HTC One X

thanks! just what I needed!

one more thing.

iirc, when you first boot into recovery (i.e. volume down + power), it doesn't go straight into CWM, but rather into the HTC recovery menu (http://img.wonderhowto.com/img/48/6...nto-real-htc-one-google-play-edition.w654.jpg) right?

and just like to confirm that "RECOVERY" is the second item (as per the image because I really can't remember)?

thanks!
 

athulele

Senior Member
Oct 11, 2011
1,911
1,381
25
USA
thanks! just what I needed!

one more thing.

iirc, when you first boot into recovery (i.e. volume down + power), it doesn't go straight into CWM, but rather into the HTC recovery menu (http://img.wonderhowto.com/img/48/6...nto-real-htc-one-google-play-edition.w654.jpg) right?

and just like to confirm that "RECOVERY" is the second item (as per the image because I really can't remember)?

thanks!

Yes, recovery is the second option.



Sent from my HTC One X
 

n00bsh1t

Member
Dec 2, 2011
22
0
UPDATE

i tried a few times, and don't seem to manage to get to the mount usb storage (well the storage device doesn't show up on my connected PC).

so just to confirm the following sequence:
1. volume down + power
-> get into HTC recovery
2. down, then power
-> get into CWM
3. up, up, then power
-> get into mounts and storage sub menu
4. up, then power
-> activate mount USB storage

could someone that has HTC One X and CWM, kindly kindly please help me to verify the sequence above (or tell me what's wrong)?

on the other hand, i found that i could ADB into the phone when i'm in recovery. adb devices shows the phone in "recovery" state (as opposed to "offline" earlier), and i can do adb shell

however, the filessystem appears quite empty. /sd-ext, /sdcard, /data were all empty. is there anything else i have to mount to see the files that usually can be seen when the phone is in normal (i.e. non-recovery) state? or did i somehow wiped the phone already?

thanks!