Recover Data from 5a

guy_758

My 5a has the black screen of death. Other than the screen issue, the phone appears to be functional (bluetooth devices autoconnect and I can make calls over bluetooth). Asurion directed me to google support. Google support says they will repair it, but they will first perform a factory reset. My primary concern is recovering data that I have on the phone, so I do not want to do a factory reset.

Is there any method for me to pull data off the phone without a functional screen?

Thanks in advance and apologies if this has already been asked and answered.

de0u

guy_758 If you have another 5a running GrapheneOS you could put them side by side so you would know where to press on the bad one.

If you have SeedVault already set up you could probably trigger a backup. Or maybe you could install the app for those USB monitor dongles and then you'd have a screen.

treequell

guy_758 Is there any method for me to pull data off the phone without a functional screen?

Unfortunately, it will not be possible to recover any data from your device.

guy_758

de0u Unfortunately the screen does not respond to any touch. I know this since I don't feel the normal haptic feedback on the unlock screen.

I don't have SeedVault set up. Could you point me to a resource on how to set up a USB monitor dongle? Might I also be able to get a keyboard/mouse connected?

Equal2024

treequell I had a few questions related to this topic:

Can't a third-party repairer just repair the screen? They wouldn't need to factory reset the phone to do this...would they? It's just a display.
Isn't there a way to navigate Android by running commands? Something like connect the phone to your computer, mount the filesystems, decrypt them, and then access the files?

guy_758

treequell This is disappointing.. but I knew I was hoping for a minor miracle.

treequell

Equal2024 Can't a third-party repairer just repair the screen? They wouldn't need to factory reset the phone to do this...would they? It's just a display.

I don't know if a third-party repairer can do that, as I have never tried.

Equal2024 Isn't there a way to navigate Android by running commands? Something like connect the phone to your computer, mount the filesystems, decrypt them, and then access the files?

No, read https://grapheneos.org/faq#encryption for more information.

guy_758

Equal2024 When I pressed google on why they needed to do a factory reset, they eventually told me that they often find the blank screen issue is associated with the motherboard. When they replace the motherboard, they also replace the disk storage. So depending on the root cause of my issue, simply avoiding a factory reset may not be sufficient if they trash my storage element anyway.

Equal2024

treequell

No, read https://grapheneos.org/faq#encryption for more information.

Oh, that's a bit disappointing. From my understanding, it's the Titan chip which makes decryption impossible if you try to mount the drives outside of the phone. I wonder if this would be possible if you left the bootloader unlocked—then you could load a recovery ISO, perhaps SSH into it from another computer and start navigating through the shell. Technically, you're still going through the Titan chip then to mount the drives and decrypt them.

Skyway

guy_758 I would contact a 3rd party repair and see about replacing the screen . probably your only option for retrieving data .
If it is a motherboard issue can the storage and chips be swapped to a new board to preserve data and keys ?

Equal2024

guy_758

When I pressed google on why they needed to do a factory reset, they eventually told me that they often find the blank screen issue is associated with the motherboard.

I won't pretend to know anything substantial about repair, but replacing the motherboard is definitely the nuclear option. If a repairer can obtain replacements for the affected parts soldered to the motherboard, they should be able to do board-level repair. OEMs tend to take the easy way out and replace whole components. Third-party repairers are often more willing to do this type of repair, because they're the second option after an OEM has failed customers.

Again, I don't know much, but I'm pretty sure this is accurate. It's worth a shot, at least.

guy_758

Skyway If it is a motherboard issue can the storage and chips be swapped to a new board to preserve data and keys ?

I would be very interested to know.

guy_758

Skyway This got me to think more about what qualifies as a "hardware modification" that would stop the Titan M from releasing encryption keys to the OS. Would a screen replacement be cause for the Titan M to not release encryption keys? I tried to ask Asurion this question today. Their response was not direct, but rather they said something about needing to tell the device that the screen is an OEM part (and that, they say, is why I would need them to do the replacement instead of doing it myself).

GrapheneOS

Equal2024 You're wrong and reading https://grapheneos.org/faq#encryption would make that clear. Both the SoC and the secure element are involved in hardware-based encryption support. Not clear why having proper encryption support is disappointing. Please read our documentation.

Blastoidea

I’m relying on a failing memory here, but I seem to remember that the Titan M chip knows when it is/has been removed from the board.

Equal2024

Blastoidea If that's the case, board-level repair should still work. Well, depending on how it identifies the board as "the same board".

I wonder how this would even work. It's not like the chip runs an OS itself, right?

de0u

Equal2024 It's not like the chip runs an OS itself, right?

It depends on the definition of "OS", but there is code.

If a reputable repair shop is willing to try replacing the screen without wiping the device, that might be your best bet. Or you could try a professional recovery place, but that will be expensive.

@guy_758 How much would you be willing to pay up front to maybe get your data back? If $1000(?) would be fine, maybe try the professional recovery route. If more like $300(?), maybe a screen replacement is the thing to try.

guy_758

de0u This is what I've come to think myself. Trying a screen replacement is my next step. Hopefully google support was exaggerating the likelihood of a motherboard issue. I've also reached out to northridgefix for an estimate on board-level repair. A few $100 would be fine, but significantly more than that for the possibility of data recovery is questionable.

de0u

guy_758 A few $100 would be fine, but significantly more than that for the possibility of data recovery is questionable.

You know better than anybody else what price to put on a possible recovery.

Skyway

guy_758
Im not an expert but in don't see replacing a screen as something that would disable the titan chip . its a very common repair .
I was looking at replacing the screen on a pixel 6 and it only required a calibration to make the fingerprint reader work . the calibration does require flashing back to stock android , but you should be able to boot and retrieve data with out calibrating .
My opinion sounds like they are trying to scare you into having them do the screen replacement. I'm pro diy right to repair , only you can make the decision on weather to replace the screen yourself .

guy_758

Skyway I agree. It felt like they were trying to disuade me from the DIY path while avoiding the Titan M question.