Related
Hi,
this seems to be the right place for the question, but I'm sure the answer will be applicable to other phone. Assuming there is going to be an answer
Stupidly, yours truly downloaded and installed hotfix from here http://www.htc.com/www/supportdownloadlist.aspx?p_id=140&act=sd&cat=all in the hopes of improving audio quality. Well, this apparently was not meant for CDMA (or US phones). After installing the phone rebooted and got stuck at the Touch Pro screen where it lists FW/SW versions in red towards the bottom. The phone can not get past that point no matter what I do (reset, battery remove/replace) or how long I wait (overnight). Sprint 'suggested' hard reset (thank you very much) and HTC said they have no fix for that either. Well, if you have not guessed it already, I have not backed up the data on that phone. Ever.
Not smart
The phone was running stock SF/FW before. I have not had time to mess with it.
US$64K question is: Could I retrieve the phone book? Any other data that was not on SD card (that one is safe)? Is there a chance to recover data AFTER hard reset? Anything else the smart folk out there can recommend?
Thanks a lot in advance.
try flashing via SD card
If its stuck at the bootloader mode (the tri color screen) i thing its possible to flash it via SD card.
there is plenty of info around or check out the Raphael wiki.
There is a chance it is not bricked.
(i seriouslly doubt is it because the HTC hotfix cannot do that)
Let me know if you need any more help my email me at hotmail
best regards.... Erik
The screen looks like this: http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h15/cadillacjew/TP-1.jpg
with some test indicating SW/ROM etc versions in RED at the bottom. If it is important I can upload the picture of it.
Also may take you up on your offer. Need those contacts, otherwise I'm so screwed
I dunno, it sounds like you're going to need a hard reset. That will fix the problem, I'm sure. Have you tried connecting by active sync? I'm 99.999% positive it won't work, but it wouldn't hurt to at least try and see if you can pull pim.vol off of it. Also, you might download ceregeditor (just google it) and install it on your pc, and see if you can dump the registry from the phone. But I have a bad feeling you're screwed.
Is this really the end of the road?
Yes, I (and Sprint store that I went to) tried connecting the phone via usb and it was not even recognized as a device. Hard reset sounds goo, but it will erase the data. Before I take that drastic measure I'd like to make sure there is nothing else I could do.
I'm willing to pay some money to a forensics company to extract the data, but can not find one that looks trustworthy and experienced when it comes to Win mobile phones. Any recommendations, btw?
I have no clue; you might try one of the rom dumping procedures. I think that some may dump the rom and all the info on the phone; I've never done it myself (well, I've played with grab_it on another device, with little success). I believe that some will dump all the info on the phone (rom + stuff in main memory). But I can't tell you how to do it, I'm afraid, and I have no clue if it will work on your phone.
You can check these tools-maybe there's something there.
Most likely everything is gone.
I have to sadly agree. This sounds like something only a hard reset would fix.
Any possibility of data recovery after hard reset? Anybody knows of a way to that? Of course this is wishful thinking on my part, but I'm pretty desperate now.
fatherof2 said:
Any possibility of data recovery after hard reset? Anybody knows of a way to that? Of course this is wishful thinking on my part, but I'm pretty desperate now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, it seems that you are stuck. I do not know of any way to recover your data if the device is stuck on bootloader since, as you pointed out, the device does not get recognized by the computer.
Anything that you do at this point might end up making things worse if you are not careful. Just cut your losses and hard reset the device.
its not in booloader mode, dumping the ROM sounds like a good and only way to go, try it, it wont hurt you, if that dont work i'd say its pretty much dead with no way to recover it, unless the info is unrecoverable (spell?) hard reset it.....
best regards. Erik
The only issue with your suggestion is that I'm no longer in possession of the phone. I had to leave it in the Sprint store in order to walk out with working phone. I can go back to the store and try to get the data off of my old phone. They are holding it for me.
However, I need to know what to do exactly and be able to do it quickly. So if there are easy to follow instructions that you can point me to, please do so.
Also after dumping ROM what data will I have?
TIA for all your help.
your data will be gone but try putting a raphimg.nbh file on the memory card then holding power and volume down while hitting the reset button, that will flash you off the mem card. good luck. Ive had to do this several times due to bad flashes and vista issues. Oh and as an added thought start using microsoft myphone to back up your data in the future.
Thanks for your suggestion. I will try this in a week or so when I'm back in town.
Also myphone is something that should work. I actually did not know about it until this past Monday. I have not looked at any MS-based backup solutions because I'm not using their software, if I can avoid it. So while I have a Windows PC I do not have Outlook installed and thus have never given my phone a chance to sync up. Kind of silly, I know.
I had bitpm installed on another system that went bad. I've replaced it with a new one, retrieved other files and data, but forgot about Bitpm folder
So few lessons learned ...
Thanks again to all who provided feedback.
It sucks if you lost everything, but you should be able to put your phone in bootloader and connect it to your pc through usb. The only question is if you can dump the rom that way and if you can dump all the files on it with the rom. The only problem is that some of the rom dumping methods (like with pdocread, I think) require you to transfer a file to your \windows directory, which you're not going to be able to do. It's a long shot at best.
I back up my pim stuff 3 different ways-I think you want to do it in multiple ways just to be safe. My main method is using sk tools and its backup tool. You can separately back up the pim database and the messaging databases (not as important to me). You can also back up email accounts with sk tools (using the pim information tool). These are my main backups, and I keep them on my sd card, and occasionally transfer them to a hard drive (it's not that big of a deal if the hard drive backup is a month out of date to me). I also use Pimbackup 2.8, and store that on my sd card (and hard drive). I don't use it for restoring anymore, because it's pretty slow with 6.5 roms in my experience. Finally, I have a file backup mortscript that I use that backs up user data for various apps; I use it to restore the data after flashes. Anyway, included in the script is a command to copy pim.vol to my sd card. I never restore my pim files by copying pim.vol back to main memory, but I like having it saved just in case, and it doesn't take any time to run the script (FYI-all your contacts, tasks and calendar stuff is stored in pim.vol, which is on the root of your device). Anyway, I feel like my pim databases are pretty safe-it would take an awful lot of bad things to happen for them to be lost, and I'd probably be dead in half of those scenarios, lol.
You're going to lose everything. The phone will not boot and as a result, all your data is unrecoverable. Next time, use a back up solution like Google Sync.
Do a hard-reset on it and you should be good to go. Turn the phone off, hold the volume down key, the center dpad key, and then hold the power button. It'll come up to a screen with hard reset instructions. Push the volume up key here. It'll be ready to go like it's brand new out of the box.
Lost everything, but .... happy
Hi,
thanks to everyone who replied. Just wanted to post and update so we can close this thread.
As I indicated before, Sprint has replaced my phone with Touch Pro 2 when I came to them with this problem. They did it beacuse they no longer have loaner phones and because I was about to go on 10 day business trip.
After using the new phone for 2 weeks, I got to tell you that this one is a leap forward compare to the the old. So I'm happy with new device, installing software and trying to recreate my Address Book by dumping my friends and family's data via Bluetooth. Backing up using MyPhone and about to install Outlook (not going to use it for anything else but the backup)
Also, I finally went to Sprint store and asked them one more time if they can think of any other way to recover the data. I even mentioned bootloader. They did not know/could not do it. I asked them to hard reset and after few tries the phone was restored to it's original state. Not a trace of my data .
Would be nice if in the future I could save contacts (and other data) directly to SD card. IMO it will give better chance of recovery, but I'm not sure it is possible.
Again thanks to all who tried to help. Much appreciated.
Same problem sort of
I tried to load Energy Rom 28005 and now can't get pro to do any thing but restart every 15 seconds or so. any ideas on what can be done? tia.
So this is the story, my device is broken as you know, I've been offered a repair but am sceptical.
The device contains (in text files on the sdcard) details of my bank numbers, logins, contact numbers, emails and names.
I have all of it backed up ofcourse but my concern is that Sony would go 'rooting' around on my device and find my bank details.
Is this a normal procedure for them?
Can you do a master reset before you send it back? Unless your device is bricked in which case you cannot boot to perform a factory reset. I highly doubt they're allowed to do any snooping, I wouldn't be worried if it were my device, but maybe I'm too trusting...
Thanks for the response.
I've done a factory reset from the recovery menu, but that only deletes the applications and data, not the sdcard contents.
I've had my bank broken into many times and I'm not willing to take any chances.
SWFlyerUK said:
Thanks for the response.
I've done a factory reset from the recovery menu, but that only deletes the applications and data, not the sdcard contents.
I've had my bank broken into many times and I'm not willing to take any chances.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it not possible to manually delete the files? Honestly I wouldn’t worry that much. A company like Sony won’t take the time to actually go into the setting and fix a problem. They are quick to open the device, replace a part, do complete software wipe, then refurbish the part taken out to use for future repairs. With the labor cost involved to trouble shoot it is more cost effective to replace and wipe clean.
SWFlyerUK said:
I've done a factory reset from the recovery menu, but that only deletes the applications and data, not the sdcard contents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try removing the sdcard...
Or erasing USB memory in settings...
unclespoon said:
try removing the sdcard...
Or erasing USB memory in settings...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the files are on the internal SD card and you can't get past boot screen then theres not really any way you could delete files off.
Sony techs would not generally be looking through the user-space data and would certainly not be accessing or reading individual files, so you should be fine.
When perform the factory data reset under Privacy, check the erase USB storage to clear all user data.
SWFlyerUK said:
So this is the story, my device is broken as you know, I've been offered a repair but am sceptical.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guys read with understanding!! SWFlyerUK has got bricked device, with no access to system settings, adb shell etc. I'm sure that he would not ask about 'how to delete files' in normal way..
Condi my friend, thank you for the clarification, I don't want to be impolite "on the direct German manner". Sometimes I am wondering how lazy someone is and how "special" answers are given.
But now to the "lesson learned": Important an confidential data should never stored unencrypted on a internal or external storage. Bank data, Pin numbers, credit card information and access data should always stored with a tool like password safe or comparable software.
(Yes I know, I am a clever ****! )
Bummer and concern.
obicom said:
Condi my friend, thank you for the clarification, I don't want to be impolite "on the direct German manner". Sometimes I am wondering how lazy someone is and how "special" answers are given.
But now to the "lesson learned": Important an confidential data should never stored unencrypted on a internal or external storage. Bank data, Pin numbers, credit card information and access data should always stored with a tool like password safe or comparable software.
(Yes I know, I am a clever ****! )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately this is a problem. There have been several stories of techs doing exactly what he fears.
Unfortunately there is not much you can do at this point. Have you tried plugging in your tablet to your computer and accessing the files that way?
dtaylorr; no way at all to access the files.
The other option would be to wait until ICS comes out, then buy a new Tablet from the same store (It would be the same build.prop)
Download the file into cache, (assuming that doesn't need root) then updating the zip file on my other tablet and return the one I bought, returns allowed within 14days.
I've heard some stories which is why I was being careful, I'll send it back and cancel my cards if need be.
SWFlyerUK said:
dtaylorr; no way at all to access the files.
The other option would be to wait until ICS comes out, then buy a new Tablet from the same store (It would be the same build.prop)
Download the file into cache, (assuming that doesn't need root) then updating the zip file on my other tablet and return the one I bought, returns allowed within 14days.
I've heard some stories which is why I was being careful, I'll send it back and cancel my cards if need be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You dont need new tab to get new update for your region. I could get it for you when ics will come.
Would you be able to do that condi, if I gave you my version?
Maybe you can try Android commander to access files from your pc.Everythings worth a try
Thanks, I'll give that a go.
I've not given up yet, I managed to sort my other issue out, it's not just about my bank details but also a 66£ charge LOL
Sony as a company would not allow snooping...it has a reputation to keep.
Sent from my Kindle Fire
Ask your question to sony by mail, let them reply with a statement that they would never do that.
That way when the **** might it the fan ( dont think so ) you have proof of them telling you that they dont do that.
of course
ataraxist said:
Sony as a company would not allow snooping...it has a reputation to keep.
Sent from my Kindle Fire
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course the company does not allow it, that's a given. 99% of the time you are fine.
However what an employee does in the middle of a repair is hard to manage. It is more rare than common, but I don't want to be the one.
While we can not always protect everything all the time, it is wise to do the everything we can to protect ourselves.
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/07/computer_repair_1.html
http://www.metafilter.com/62716/Geek-Squad-Steals-Porn
http://www.akdart.com/priv9.html
http://www.bankersonline.com/technology/techtalk2011/techtalk111011.html
Thanks for the responss guys.
I'll wait for ICS and maybe, just maybe Condi might be able to get me the update file needed for my tablet.
A lesson learnt indeed, I thought I'd learnt from my last hicup but obviously not! lol
I wouldnt be too worried
Even if it isnt Sony that will do the actual repair, the guys repairing your unit wouldn't have the time snooping around.
The unit is probably (hopefully) sent to one of the big repair centers sourced by Sony where the operators follow a strict protocol which means troubleshoot for type x for x seconds and so on. Try repair method x (that has stipulated time as well). If not working -> Swap. Then on to the next device.
I just got myself a new note 4 octo core and although its brand new I got it from Europe via eBay and I was thinking could there possibly be any programs secretly left on it (I know its not likely).
So what do you guys do when you get a eBay phone - just wipe and clear cache / factory reset? I did a checkmend report as well...thanks.
Anyone?
I would plug the USB into a computer and snoop for anything before, if nothing is there just simply do a factory reset. Or if you are not nosey do the latter only.
chemman said:
I would plug the USB into a computer and snoop for anything before, if nothing is there just simply do a factory reset. Or if you are not nosey do the latter only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Must admit I did not think of that one although if someone wanted to hide something it might be hard to find bit I'll do it thanks.
Honestly if it were me... I'd flash back to factory if the means is easily available
That's just me.
Sent from my HUAWEI Y536A1 using XDA Free mobile app
Facotry reset
just do a factory reset, it will erase all date and configuration and make the phone in his first state.
Or you can install a new ROM maybe if you want a new os version.
Make it REAL clean
Unlock / disable / crack every possible protection on it(boatloader, etc), root it, install a stable CyanogenMod, WITHOUT the Spy-apps Google-apps and then use it!
(This process might take several evenings)
It is ridiculous, how much effort one has to make to have a real "open" and clean OS and real freedom for a phone.
(freedom does NOT mean, you can choose 300 "different" "flashlight"-apps in a walled garden, called "play-store")
If you dont have such an explicit opinion on the matter, just do a factory reset without preserving any data and enjoy your phone.
Hey there everyone,
Well, my daughter had factory reseted(is that how it spells or just reset?) my wives phone. She propably held the buttons for too long and then panicked when the screen with the options showed. Anyway....as it happens my wife did decide not to backup her photos. I am a a software developer, but of webapps. I have basic understanding of these things, but I wanted to checkin in with you guys about the best approach.
I know the photos are still in there, just flagged as to be overwritten and are (propably? correct me) recoverable. I found some tool Wondershare dr.fone, that apparentlz should be able to recover the lost data, but requires root acces. I did some digging and I came across the way here, how to root her phone. Full understanding of its ups n downs. I wanted to check, if there is actually some other way to recover data without permantly mangling the phone? Do i have to follow the instructions mentioned above? Any tips and helpful advice is appreciated.
Thanks
U.
I contact/hire a data recovery expert if they're that important.
They may already have been over written.
Even if recovered the metadata for each image will be juxtaposed in a hopeless mess; only the image will be recovered.
The odds are pretty grim... personally I'd write them off.
Next time get a phone with an SD card slot and use an SD card as the data drive. Remember to always back that data up to at least two electronically isolated* hdds periodically... if you value your data.
*preferably in seperate locations in earth grounded metal boxes or safe. One near lightning strike can wipe any hdd not in a Faraday cage.
Aight so I have this Samsung Galaxy J7 Max that I've been trying to unlock for more than 2 years now. I of course, don't want to lose the super important data it holds. It got locked out randomly and hasn't been able to take up the pattern I had put on it till date. I'm absolutely sure no one changed its lock screen pattern and its the phone that is unable to recognize the exact same password it had before this happening. I got hold of it today and yet again, started looking for solutions on YouTube and the internet itself. After all of my research, one thing is clear. There is only one way that the pattern lock can be removed in such a condition; by deleting this system folder called gesture.key that lies within the phone itself. I am by no means a nerdy software dev or something but I do have very little knowledge about these workarounds. I used an ADB via a cmd terminal to contact my phone. But it turns out that due to my usb debugging setting not being turned on in my phone, the adb didn't have the required authorization to make any changes to the target. I then got my phone into stock recovery mode and chose the Install through ADB option there. Now when I input the command adb devices, the prompt showed me my device ID, but instead of the "unauthorized" indicator beside it, it now had the indicator "sideload". I had no idea of what had to be done when such happens, so I tried the adb shell > cd data/system > su > rm *.key [taken from an XDA forums thread] commands again. But right on the second step it displayed error this time. I have tried using a key eraser via sd card too, but it just doesn't happen, the sd card folder in the stock mode does not display the contents of the folder.
Now the phone isn't being an obstacle in my life right now, but I really hope there's a way to fix it. Early help would be appreciated. Thank You.
If the data is super important why isn't it redundantly backed up?
Having a set lock screen and storing data on the OS is a sure fire way to lose data, eventually.
Maybe you'll get lucky... is that drive encrypted?
If not it may still be corrupted and unusable.
Don't put yourself in this position again... been there, done that
@blackhawk As I said, this was an absolutely random incident, had never even thought this could've been the case someday. Its not like the phone crashed and then this happened, I turned off my phone's display and the next time I woke it up, the pattern wasn't working anymore. Furthermore, the timed attempts that happen after 5 incorrect tries wasn't existing anymore. Now it could be that someone did get the timed attempts wrong as well [it isn't my own phone]. But I really don't see any other reason to that occurrence.
About the backups, I mean cmon, I was 15 back then, a medico student even more so. I never got my hands around backing up anything. But yes, have been backing up every single bit of data within these two years.
The storage drive shouldn't be encrypted. It was a regular phone bought online that had pdfs, images, recordings and videos stored. The google account was not that of the owner either! It was my uncle's account that was being used ever since he bought it. And since there was never a problem having used his account for quite a while, we never cared to change it to a new google account. Now my uncle's google account itself handles another device, his own phone, exact same model, Galaxy J7 Max. I have tried using his account at the Google Find My Device app to locate and unlock the phone that way [I hope you know it has the three options Ring, Secure and Erase Data]. But it happens so that the Secure phone with password option only for devices that have been lost and don't have a security lock already setup, which wasn't, unfortunately, my case. So that option was greyed out.
For the data corruption, you might be correct. But that phone still does receive SMS texts, calls, whatsapp texts and other notifications. They just don't show up on the lock screen anymore. I honestly had the "Screw the data, I'll erase it anyway" thought yesterday, but during my latest tries, I found the XDA forums website to be quite helpful. Had not it been the damn USB debugging, the solution I approached from this forum would've got the job done in a couple minutes. Again, if the data might've gone corrupted, I will erase the data [I mean I would have to]. But this little glimmer of hope that I experienced yesterday is what is preventing me from doing that. I really hope there is a fix to my situation.
@Chinmay47
a phone can get booted into these modes
Normal ( AKA Android OS )
Recovery
Fastboot
Sideload
EDL
Sideload mode is used to flash OTAs and/or ROMs.
Recovery mode allows you to perform some ADB actions as e.g. pull userdata, but this reqires ADB ( read: USB debug ) got enabled.
So my guess is you can't recover phone's userdata at your own, this would have to be done by an external service who can pull out phone's internal SD-card and has the forensic tools to read it.
@jwoegerbauer Surprisingly the idea of taking the phone to a forensic service struck me yesternight too. As you mentioned, since I can't recover the phone's data myself, all tips and tweaks on the web should now be struck off of my list of solutions. I'll leave the data to some forensic services then. Let's hope the recovery is worth the hassle. The thread is still open to more suggestions though. Thanks for the replies everyone. Really appreciate it!
Chinmay47 said:
@jwoegerbauer Surprisingly the idea of taking the phone to a forensic service struck me yesternight too. As you mentioned, since I can't recover the phone's data myself, all tips and tweaks on the web should now be struck off of my list of solutions. I'll leave the data to some forensic services then. Let's hope the recovery is worth the hassle. The thread is still open to more suggestions though. Thanks for the replies everyone. Really appreciate it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It not a card they can pull. More than likely it's on a BGA chipset, the hardest kind there is to work with.
If they can't access the data on/with the mobo they will have to unsolder the chipset without damaging it then put it into a test jig or another mobo (after pulling that mobo's matching chipset).
If they can access the data on the mobo, not so bad. Otherwise not so good.
Let us know how this plays out for you.
Here's one I found showing you this complex procedure: https://flashfixers.com/recover-data-dead-phone-chip-off-data-recovery/
They may be able to help you, but I have no personal knowledge of this company.
blackhawk said:
If they can't access the data on/with the mobo they will have to unsolder the chipset without damaging it then put it into a test jig or another mobo (after pulling that mobo's matching chipset).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually thought of this idea right after a couple days from the beginning of the problem. Yes its gonna take loads of precision and patience but it does sound doable. Maybe that's what is gonna be the last option for the forensic service too in case, god forbid, they aren't able to do it the "simple" way. Can't say yet, but I'm gonna keep this thread updated with all the developments that take place.
Chinmay47 said:
Actually thought of this idea right after a couple days from the beginning of the problem. Yes its gonna take loads of precision and patience but it does sound doable. Maybe that's what is gonna be the last option for the forensic service too in case, god forbid, they aren't able to do it the "simple" way. Can't say yet, but I'm gonna keep this thread updated with all the developments that take place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they need to remove the chipset the chances of failure increase. Flash memory retension is generally good for 10+ years but it may be damaged in the removal process if so, snake eyes.
Get price quotes up front for the whole process.
Once they got the phone, they got you by the balls. Not saying they aren't trustworthy but feel them out. If it's a couple hundred and you get the data back, you did good.
No idea of the cost though, my guess is $400-1000+ especially if they need to pull the chipset.
That's high risk even if they do it by the book.
If their policy is no data, no charge... expect higher rates to cover their loses.
@blackhawk All of that sounds kinda terrifying if you ask me. Well I mean, there is always a first option that can be tried without any mentions of pull-aparts. Yet I will surely judge the person well before I hand my device in his hands. I would try my level best to not take it to the critical stage, but if it needs be and there is a really high chance of losing my data, I can factory reset my data at home by myself too can't I? Future shall tell I suppose.
If you factory reset it all data will be lost.
It will not be recoverable!
If you want the data you will need to use a service like I showed you. They will need physical access to the phone to recovery the data.
The phone may be scrape afterwards
@blackhawk Sure does look like it would be! But paying to get your phone reset for you is way to harsher than doing it yourself. It is only in case the data is nearly impossible to recover that I'll reset the phone myself.
Chinmay47 said:
@blackhawk Sure does look like it would be! But paying to get your phone reset for you is way to harsher than doing it yourself. It is only in case the data is nearly impossible to recover that I'll reset the phone myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reset? Most likely destroyed.
Do you really want the data?
blackhawk said:
Reset? Most likely destroyed.
Do you really want the data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually do though. But well, if it ain't coming back then why wish for it. Yeah the data was really important.
Chinmay47 said:
I actually do though. But well, if it ain't coming back then why wish for it. Yeah the data was really important.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Call them up and see what they say.
Since it's not physically damaged they may be able to access it none invasively.
blackhawk said:
Call them up and see what they say.
Since it's not physically damaged they may be able to access it none invasively.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll do that and report back ASAP. Thanks for the help sire!