Help restore some data from water bricked phone!! - Xperia Z1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So, my Z1 is more than 3 years old and I already changed it's battery, which means that it was opened before and probably is no longer waterproof. So, I went to the beach and used a waterproof bag (what was supposed to be a waterproof bag) with the phone inside. I had tested it some times and it worked, everything inside remained dry. But on my second day using it with the phone inside ssome beach water went in and it was enough to brick my phone.
The day before this I got a number of a girl I met, but didn`t made any backup, so it is possible to get my contact list of a watered bricked phone? I don't even want to get the phone back, just the contact list... The phone doesn't turn on, when I plug the charge the red led turns on and stay on. Can't enter in fastboot or flashmode, hrd reset doesn't work. I already opened it and dried its inside and left it ona a closed bag full of rice for more than 1 day.
Tried the hard brick fix but I just can't make the test point thing wrk, computer won't recognize the SEMC DEVICE.
I don't know what else can I do, I just want my contact list, there is any way to solve tis, maybe some software?
PLease help!

Dry phone with rice or silica gel, and plug it in wall charger to charge phone, mabye the battery is drained and go to Sony PC Companion and start software update. That could help to unbrick phone. For contacts try using Google accounts if your phone did back up automaticly.

Related

Phone Hard Resets after being charged all night?

So, last two nights my phone has done this. I leave it charging all night, then get up, and check my messages or something, and the phone will freeze up, or won't be able to send a text. so I push reset (xda shutdown also doesnt work...) or pull the battery and it hard resets...
Actually, I'm not even sure if this is a hard reset. Not only does it delete everything including my contacts, it has to reinstall the whole rom, "windows is now preparing your device for first use" and so on...
The day this happened, I was eating Gyros, and I spilled some of the sauce down my side, and into my pocket, and some got on the phone, and into the charger socket. The thing is though, it still charges fine. So I'm not sure if anything bad actually happened...
think this is a hardware or software problem?
Superman22x said:
So, last two nights my phone has done this. I leave it charging all night, then get up, and check my messages or something, and the phone will freeze up, or won't be able to send a text. so I push reset (xda shutdown also doesnt work...) or pull the battery and it hard resets...
Actually, I'm not even sure if this is a hard reset. Not only does it delete everything including my contacts, it has to reinstall the whole rom, "windows is now preparing your device for first use" and so on...
The day this happened, I was eating Gyros, and I spilled some of the sauce down my side, and into my pocket, and some got on the phone, and into the charger socket. The thing is though, it still charges fine. So I'm not sure if anything bad actually happened...
think this is a hardware or software problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would make sure that everything is clean and dry and all buttons are free and unstuck ( canned air ) Then reflash the rom , followed by a hard reset.
If the problem persists, it is probably not a software problem
By now anything is dry, and the buttons all apear to be good. So, I am reinstalling and hardreseting.
I guess, on the bright side, if my phone is borken, it's a good exuse to by a G1 right?? lol
even if it is dry i would use some kind of cleaning fluid on the mini usb connector, obviously ensure the battery is out of the phone and then leave it to dry for a day, as the sauce may still be making a connection across the power circuit, which is why it is most likely hard resetting when it powers off on charge.
Have you tried setting the phone to not switch off while it is on charge overnight? if you wake in the morning and its still working then thats the problem, its short circuiting on the power due to the sauce making a connection
I always leave it on over night. I just reinstalled the rom, and plugged it into the charger for about half hour with no problems. The thing is though, the orange LED flashes instead of holds steady.

Read out memory

Hi guys,
I recently wrecked my p990 (fell into a lake ) and it won't boot anymore. Is there a way I can read out the memory without booting the phone? I would like to at least save my contacts.
Thanks for your help!
You should have a backup under Google mail or something. Try checking it.
Otherwise try this:
This may sound ridiculous, but could work.
Pull off your cover, pull out battery, soak it inside a back of uncooked rice, yes rice. Fully cover the phone with uncooked rice and leave it overnight. They'll soak up the water inside the phone automagically. Then put your battery back in and try booting it up.
xIceCream said:
You should have a backup under Google mail or something. Try checking it.
Otherwise try this:
This may sound ridiculous, but could work.
Pull off your cover, pull out battery, soak it inside a back of uncooked rice, yes rice. Fully cover the phone with uncooked rice and leave it overnight. They'll soak up the water inside the phone automagically. Then put your battery back in and try booting it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope nothing on Gmail :/.
I already dried it for 2 days and I got it working today but I switched it off at work and couldn't boot afterwards. I give the rice a try maybe it'll help.
Thanks.
try keeping it in dessicant environment - that basically means water absorbing - usually calcium chloride is used with electronics.
just in case you get your cellphone running for a while, backup /data/data/com.android.providers.contacts and /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony databases...given that you have rooted phone.
also, if you have stock ROM, maybe you have synced contacts with PC? just in case!!
Hi guys,
ok, I can switch on my phone again BUT Im now stuck at s/w upgrade ? My computer detects all the drivers but I cant sync it with lg pc suite :/ any ideas?
nothing on http://contacts.google.com either ?
Hi,
I finally got my phone working, (I plugged the phone in tried to start it with battery then again without battery repeated that like about 100 times and suddenly it worked lol) its really slow and my display is a mess but I managed to sync my contacts and some other stuff. Thanks for your help!
@nefarus that's why we have a community here!!

[Q] Hardbricked handset whilst charging overnight

I've recently been experiencing some charging issues with the handset taking forever to charge, the latest charge was taking well over 15 minutes increase 1%. I tried various chargers, including a brand new original one (the one in the box).
Well, last night I put the phone on charge with the handset turned off around 2am, woke up around midday today and the handset was showing the green LED, so it was almost, or fully, charged. Went downstairs to have a cup of coffee and came back ten minutes later to find the LED off. Tried turning the phone on and nothing happened. Tried the reset combination and the red button under the SIM flap, nothing, tried connecting to SEUS, nothing. Tried connecting to Flashtool, nothing. I left the phone on charge for another hour and tried the same things again, nothing.
No lights, no vibrations, no screen activity. The phone isn't even getting warm like it normally does on charge (confirmed that with another charger)
My girlfriend said that whilst I was downstairs she did take it off charge and put it back on charge straight away when it wouldn't wake up BUT she wasn't sure if she put the charger back on the right way (the magnetic one) however the pins don't actually touch if the plug is the wrong way round as the pin towards the bottom of the phone is offset slightly so I don't believe it has shorted.
So great, my almost new Z1 is now a paperweight. Sony won't touch the handset as the back glass has a small crack in so they just spout off about water damage. The phone has never been near water, let alone in it.
C6903 on 757 firmware, bootloader relocked and non rooted. No nasty apps installed and basically running stock,
Anyone have any ideas? I'm resurrecting my old BB for the time being.
I bet its been shorted
Leave it on mains charger for 24 hours
gregbradley said:
I bet its been shorted
Leave it on mains charger for 24 hours
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I'm thinking. The design of the dosk pins should prevent that, but apparently it doesn't!
As probably there is stripes to check if water was inside I will exclude that. Also the magnetic connector have his way to plug so is close to impossible to revert it, hardly if you try maybe it will, but I did many time and nothing happened. At last I think you girlfriend mess up with you phone and now she now don't remember because she knows you will be furious...LOL...
BTW, I will press Sony to take look at it. They don't have to replace the cracked glass, they have to check where is the problem.
eclyptos said:
As probably there is stripes to check if water was inside I will exclude that. Also the magnetic connector have his way to plug so is close to impossible to revert it, hardly if you try maybe it will, but I did many time and nothing happened. At last I think you girlfriend mess up with you phone and now she now don't remember because she knows you will be furious...LOL...
BTW, I will press Sony to take look at it. They don't have to replace the cracked glass, they have to check where is the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you say, none of the water indicators (if I'm actually looking in the right place) are a different colour to normal. The dock pin is offset to one side slightly, it can be seen if you look closely so you are right, it really shouldn't have damaged the handset.
She isn't even sure if she did plug it back in! She was half asleep so I don't know lol
Sony will be getting some nasty words in a letter if they fail to do anything. I don't care about the glass, it doesn't bother me, as long as the phone works,

Hard bricked Motorola Atrix HD

Hi, as the title of this thread says, my mobile just died i dont know how but i cant do anything, i cant enter in recovery mode, i cant enter into fastboot mode, it wont recognize any command i put. The only thing it does, its that when i plug in the usb cable it turns on the green led and wants to start but when it gets to the "Warning: Bootloader unlocked" advice, it turns off again and starts again. I dont know if this can be fixed, i hope so. Thanks
PS: Sorry about my english XD
matiamb said:
Hi, as the title of this thread says, my mobile just died i dont know how but i cant do anything, i cant enter in recovery mode, i cant enter into fastboot mode, it wont recognize any command i put. The only thing it does, its that when i plug in the usb cable it turns on the green led and wants to start but when it gets to the "Warning: Bootloader unlocked" advice, it turns off again and starts again. I dont know if this can be fixed, i hope so. Thanks
PS: Sorry about my english XD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a guess, but you might have a bad battery. To test that, you can either buy or make a Motorola Factory Cable (google it) or get a new battery. Factory Cables power the phone directly from USB, bypassing the battery -- meaning if it works with the Factory Cable, the problem is with the battery. If it doesn't work with the Factory Cable, you might be screwed and need an actual repair from Motorola.
Also, try powering on the phone holding down all the buttons. That's how you access the boot menu, if you can get to that menu, you should be able to access fastboot and recovery.
And don't charge it with a PC, use the wall plug charger or a car charger. The phone treats a PC connection differently than the rest, even if the phone is off and only being plugged in to be charged -- it'll force boot/power on with a PC USB connection when it's turned off (it does for me). See if it'll take a charge with the wall/car.
My Bravo acts like this when that battery is really, really low and I plug it into a PC to charge when it's low....it also did exactly what your post said a year ago and I had to replace the battery....don't by a cheapo generic battery, I did and I regret it very badly (it has already gone out and doesn't work...the generic battery).
skeevydude said:
Just a guess, but you might have a bad battery. To test that, you can either buy or make a Motorola Factory Cable (google it) or get a new battery. Factory Cables power the phone directly from USB, bypassing the battery -- meaning if it works with the Factory Cable, the problem is with the battery. If it doesn't work with the Factory Cable, you might be screwed and need an actual repair from Motorola.
Also, try powering on the phone holding down all the buttons. That's how you access the boot menu, if you can get to that menu, you should be able to access fastboot and recovery.
And don't charge it with a PC, use the wall plug charger or a car charger. The phone treats a PC connection differently than the rest, even if the phone is off and only being plugged in to be charged -- it'll force boot/power on with a PC USB connection when it's turned off (it does for me). See if it'll take a charge with the wall/car.
My Bravo acts like this when that battery is really, really low and I plug it into a PC to charge when it's low....it also did exactly what your post said a year ago and I had to replace the battery....don't by a cheapo generic battery, I did and I regret it very badly (it has already gone out and doesn't work...the generic battery).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It might be the battery, because my mom dropped it into the water some weeks ago. I'll try factory cable now and see what happens. I tried holding down all the buttons but nothing happens. Just minutes ago I made it into fast boot mode, and now I'm scared of turn it off haha. I'll see what happens and let you know. Thank you for the reply!
matiamb said:
It might be the battery, because my mom dropped it into the water some weeks ago. I'll try factory cable now and see what happens. I tried holding down all the buttons but nothing happens. Just minutes ago I made it into fast boot mode, and now I'm scared of turn it off haha. I'll see what happens and let you know. Thank you for the reply!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just leave it in a wall charger for a few hours then. Sounds like you might get lucky.
My Dad has dropped his in the toilet twice now (seriously, twice...figured he'd learn the first time) and on the second time, it had to be powered off, wrapped in a paper towel, and left in rice for 24 hours before it worked again (6 hours on his bed the first time). Rice draws out the moisture and is a cheap easy way to dry the internals of a phone if its soaked....just telling ya for future reference.
Mines been wet, but never soaked. These phones aren't hard at all to take apart and put back together (I repaired my Dad's cracked digitizer a few days ago in under a half hour...never taken one apart before then...the 22 #5 torx that are removed are damn annoying), so you could take it apart, blow dry it (warning: don't say on any one area for more than 5 seconds, you'll risk both unsticking the glue that holds the screen on as well as warping the motherboard), and use some PC cleaner or isopropyl alcohol (99% alcohol) and clean the board up being careful to not get alcohol on the screens -- (warning: alcohol can weaken certain plastics, but it's perfectly fine as a cleaning agent for a silicon based motherboard...alcohol also dries and removes trace amounts of moisture and can clean oxidation spots.
I can see oxidation on the battery terminals making the phone act like this. IRL, I install custom, solar powered, automatic iron gates, and the #1 repair I have to do is cleaning battery terminals. 30 seconds, a terminal post cleaner tool (glorified wire brush), and some WD-40 (acts as a sealant/water repellent) can make a non-functional gate into a working gate. Bad power flow is hell on electronics.
Just look at the EB40 mod guide. It has the exact same steps you'll need to do if you want to attempt cleaning the terminals, well, except for that step where you put in a better battery.

Repairing water damaged phone

Hi,
i send my phone down the river and probably killed it. backplate was broken and charging lid as well, there is no warranty any more.
i dried it for a week in a box covered with rice and tried to turn it on afterwards. No reactions on buttons, but after i plugged in the charger, the LED got red and Display turned on showing the "Sony" Screen. after a second or two LED and screen went black and the procedure started again. and again. after a few repetitions i put the plug away. so i didn't charge the phone any longer than ~5min and have not plugged it to the PC.
first question is if someone has encountered the same symptomes and can give a statement of chance to revive the phone. Second one is: Where to start? there are lots of guides to disassemble the phone, thats not a problem i think, i have all the tools i need and a little bit technical knowhow. I want to start checking the battery, pretty shure its dead. afterwards i want to check the board for signs of corrosion. but then?
grateful for any tipps, especialy want to know whats the real death sentence for a water damaged phone. after i have seen the screen working i thought main functionality is there and only the battery died.
xant05 said:
Hi,
i send my phone down the river and probably killed it. backplate was broken and charging lid as well, there is no warranty any more.
i dried it for a week in a box covered with rice and tried to turn it on afterwards. No reactions on buttons, but after i plugged in the charger, the LED got red and Display turned on showing the "Sony" Screen. after a second or two LED and screen went black and the procedure started again. and again. after a few repetitions i put the plug away. so i didn't charge the phone any longer than ~5min and have not plugged it to the PC.
first question is if someone has encountered the same symptomes and can give a statement of chance to rivive the phone. Second one is: Where to start? there are lots of guides to disassemble the phone, thats not a problem i think, i have all the tools i need and a little bit technical knowhow. I want to start checking the battery, pretty shure its dead. afterwards i want to check the board for signs of corrosion. but then?
grateful for any tipps, especialy want to know whats the real death sentence for a water damaged phone. after i have seen the screen working i thought main functionality is there and only the battery died.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would leave it plugged in and see if you can build up any sort of charge in the battery. It seems that changing the battery would be an obvious first step, if you can get enough charge in the phone to fire up the mainboard, then you will see what else needs to be changed. leave it plugged into a charger for 24 hours.
Do you want to repair it to salvage what data is on the phone or is it financial reasons? tbh the cost of new mainboard and battery, plus replacement back screen is going to be more than a second hand phone off ebay. If it's a science project then bravo, not enough people try to rescue thier old kit from the bin, but I'm saying there are easier options than pulling it apart.
Having never pulled a phone apart myself I can't really offer any more advice, but you might want to drop @Chamelleon a PM, as he regularly contributes with hardware fixes and knows his stuff.
its more about financial reasons, data is all backed up. Buying a new phone should be the last option. i want to repair it cause i like repairing things and i want to make clear that the phone is absolutely dead or not. i dont think i would buy a new mainboard/display/battery if i am not completely shure that this will fix all problems. in this case id rather buy a new phone.
i am a bit afraid that if i charge the battery for 24h and still have a circuit on the motherboard i will completely destroy it.
xant05 said:
its more about financial reasons, data is all backed up. Buying a new phone should be the last option. i want to repair it cause i like repairing things and i want to make clear that the phone is absolutely dead or not. i dont think i would buy a new mainboard/display/battery if i am not completely shure that this will fix all problems. in this case id rather buy a new phone.
i am a bit afraid that if i charge the battery for 24h and still have a circuit on the motherboard i will completely destroy it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A week in rice in a warm place means there's no moisture in the phone.
The phone won't be damaged by trying to charge the battery and you need to find out if there's anything working from a full charge.
I recently had a waterdamage too. I took it apart and i saw that there was some corrosion on the board by the display connector. I put the mainboard in isopropyl alcohol (you can get that in the pharmacy). I carefully cleaned the affected part with a soft toothbrush and let it dry for a while. And now my phone is back a life and everything works as it should
Good Luck!
Didgesteve said:
A week in rice in a warm place means there's no moisture in the phone.
The phone won't be damaged by trying to charge the battery and you need to find out if there's anything working from a full charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, turns out this guy is right. Phone is working after charging. Vibration is dead and there are some residues of the wather in or behind the display, but nothing else i can find now. i think i will still disassemble the phone, and clean all parts. Maybe i will replace the vibration motor, but i think i can live without one...

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