Help recover data from a friend's phone - Huawei P20 Pro Questions & Answers

Hello XDA community! I just registered here with the hope of you guys to atleast give me some directions of how to recover data from a friend's Huawei P20 Pro, who unfortunately passed away last month, due to leukemia. I gave an advice to his family to send email to Huawei or hire someone with years of experience, but unfortunately nobody was capable of helping them, so I'm their last hope. They also told me they have a lot of pictures with him on his phone, and that's all they want to get.. This is android, everything's possible and I'm sure of this, because I have unlocked many phones in the past, but not having to keep the data and that's of main priority in this case.
Right now the phone is sitting on the PIN code screen(not the simcard pin), will the good old emergency trick work? I've done it years ago, I don't exactly remember the steps to try. Is data encrypted and when the correct pin is entered it gets decrypted? If it isn't encrypted : Removing FRP -> Unlocking the bootloader -> flashing TWRP -> then data gets erased, but I can recover it if it isn't encrypted, that's a question I really hope to get answered. Any other way that I don't think of? If data is encrypted can I safely bruteforce the pin? Do kernel panics cause some in-built data erase protections? Any exploits available out there? Or maybe the too good to be true way to flash twrp without causing any data loss? Any directions/clues will be highly appreciated, even just telling me where I could repost this to get more attention will be very much appreciated too. And by the way I want to do this to help his parents keep the last memories of him stick forever. I know for sure if time passes, exploits will come out, but I really wonder what could be done now. Thank you all in advance !

Related

Need help to retrieve pics from deceased person's phone

My friend's father just passed away and they are bringing an HTC One to me to try and PIN unlock the phone. They feel there are pics on it.
Now I've personally owned an htc one m7 and now an M8.. I've rooted, worked with adb, write apps myself, custom rom/recovery, everything..
My question is can anyone privately message me on how i can retrieve the pics. I'm assuming the phone does not have adb debugging enabled, or rooted, etc..
My old m7 and my m8 requires the screen to be unlocked to browse the drive.. The pics are on /data/media/0 if I remember correctly. If I do a factory reset, it will most likely also wipe the sdcard partition right? No one knows any of his account info.. they don't even know his g-mail, so recovery this way isn't possible.. unless there is a way to find what g-mail account.
Any tips, suggestions, etc. I've done a bunch of searches and the phone is on the way to me, i'd like to be able to help the family. Research my name I've been a member here a long time, I'm not trying to steal anyone's info or stolen phone or w/e. I'm my friends and family's tech guy so they always bring me stuff like this.. usually for a living person though. PLEASE REACH OUT TO ME VIA PM (if need be) AND HELP ME THANK YOU.
I think the family can contact Google to ask for the gmail password to be reset. It may have to be the wife though.
Not sent from a browser. Keep it to yourself though.

Found a Lumia 635 (rm-975 model) on street NEED PASSCODE HELP TO RETURN TO OWNER

hello ALL!
i am an AVID android user, and have been using xda for YEARS, even contributed many things to this site, in way of help, mods, and other things, never built roms but worked closely as a tester with some big developers.
recently while riding my bike home from work, i saw a phone scattered in pieces down the street. i picked up all pieces and put back together when i got home, and surprisingly it turned on with no issue, didn't even need to charge battery.
so now, i cannot access it because it has a pin passcode(ive tried all your "run of the mill ones" Plus after a few guesses and then battery dying, , it is NOW telling me I HAVE to WAIT 2680 MINUTES until next attempt....seriously?!?! 2680 MINUTES?!?! THATS NEARLY TWO DAYS!!!!!!
anyways
i need someones help here, i am TRYING to return this device to it's owner, but without a valid passcode to enter, i cannot get into their contacts and try to call anyone they might know in order to return the device.
so if ANYONE knows of a toolkit, or command line thing i can do/use in order to remove/change this pin lock, i would be very grateful.
i DONT want to wipe the device and end up without ANY info on the owner or even anything that might help me return it.
ANY IDEAS ???
I HAD SEEN MENTION OF WINDOWS PHONE RECOVERY KIT
would THAT be useful in this situation?
or basically am i stuck with resetting the phone and HOPING something is left on sdcard that will have info as to the owner of device???
ashclepdia said:
hello ALL!
i am an AVID android user, and have been using xda for YEARS, even contributed many things to this site, in way of help, mods, and other things, never built roms but worked closely as a tester with some big developers.
recently while riding my bike home from work, i saw a phone scattered in pieces down the street. i picked up all pieces and put back together when i got home, and surprisingly it turned on with no issue, didn't even need to charge battery.
so now, i cannot access it because it has a pin passcode(ive tried all your "run of the mill ones" Plus after a few guesses and then battery dying, , it is NOW telling me I HAVE to WAIT 2680 MINUTES until next attempt....seriously?!?! 2680 MINUTES?!?! THATS NEARLY TWO DAYS!!!!!!
anyways
i need someones help here, i am TRYING to return this device to it's owner, but without a valid passcode to enter, i cannot get into their contacts and try to call anyone they might know in order to return the device.
so if ANYONE knows of a toolkit, or command line thing i can do/use in order to remove/change this pin lock, i would be very grateful.
i DONT want to wipe the device and end up without ANY info on the owner or even anything that might help me return it.
ANY IDEAS ???
I HAD SEEN MENTION OF WINDOWS PHONE RECOVERY KIT
would THAT be useful in this situation?
or basically am i stuck with resetting the phone and HOPING something is left on sdcard that will have info as to the owner of device???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try to put the SIM in an other phone, he might have contacts stored on his SIM.
Also same thing with the SD Card but doubt there'll be anything helpful in there.
On WP unfortunately there is no way to remove the lock without doing a hard reset which will wipe everything except the SD Card and contacts on the SIM so it's the same as inserting the SD and SIM in an other phone, better not hard reset it so the owner doesn't loose all he has on there.
I like how you use the word "unfortunately" about there being no way to bypass the one crucial security feature of the phone... The lock screen is there for a reason! If you'd tried messing with my phone that way, it would already have wiped itself.
To the OP, leave it powered on and connected to the Internet, and the owner will be able to find it eventually. The "my Windows Phone" (or whatever it's called now) website allows the owner to get the phone's GPS location, and also to display a message (such as "please email me at <this address> if you found my phone!") on the screen. If they never come for it, then... free phone, I guess? I'm not usually a fan of "finders keepers" but there's no excuse for a WP owner not even trying the existing tools to get the phone back, if they want it back at all.
If you really want to go above and beyond the call of duty, I suppose you could check the SIM from the phone and see what carrier it's for, then call the carrier and see if they have any way to get in touch with the phone's owner...
This has likely long been resolved, but here's what I would do.
Take the SIM, put it in another phone. Check "about" to see what the phone number is. Call that number.
If you get an answer, there's your missing phone's owner with a new phone and SIM card. Let them know you found their phone. No answer, leave voicemail.
PepperdotNet said:
This has likely long been resolved, but here's what I would do.
Take the SIM, put it in another phone. Check "about" to see what the phone number is. Call that number.
If you get an answer, there's your missing phone's owner with a new phone and SIM card. Let them know you found their phone. No answer, leave voicemail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are correct, has been resolved, good tip though thank you, found owner and was told to keep device, they had gotten new one, they don't know how it ended up on side of street, but I ended up giving to someone I had worked with who was in need of an at&t device.
Thank you, and all others, for all assistance.
Ended up that the owner actually knew someone that I was working with at the time, small world huh, funny how it all worked out, was just happy to help everyone out in the end. Was just a funny circle of events that led to the device getting to who has it now.

Help with Verification Failed on Note 9

Hi everyone! First I just want to say thanks to anyone who has any information to help me.
I have a Note 9 and I enabled the directional lock (to unlock the phone). My phone is also encrypted so it will prompt me to enter the the directional lock anytime the phone is turned on and then again to unlock the screen. I turned my phone off the other day. When I turned it back on I saw the screen prompt for a directional lock. My friend needed help with something so I ended up talking to her before I even tried to unlock it (big mistake). When I got back in my truck to use my phone the screen was black and the message appeared, "Verification Failed, Unable to restart your device. The integrity verification has failed. You need to reset your device to factory default settings. This will erase all your data. I am not sure if while I was talking I accidentally touched the screen causing this message.
The biggest problem is I do not have a backup of certain files. They are on the internal memory of my device. So I DO NOT want to do a factory data reset. I just want to know a solution to get back into my phone again.
Here are the things I have tried:
-Soft reset with Power and volume key
-Wiping cache partition
-Calling Samsung
-Calling T-Mobile
-Downloading Samsung Switch (Does not Recognize device)
-All options in recovery mode (except factory data reset)
-Download mode
My phone is not rooted but it did go through a series of OTA updates and now is running Android Pie. I have came across a few other people with this issue and it happened after updating.
I want to know if there is a way to get in the phone or is there a way to recover my encrypted data and then decrypt it. I also would like to know if I can have the steps to use Odin (already downloaded on my computer) to reinstall the current firmware on the phone. I am wondering if anyone has ever done this and still kept their data (pictures, videos, memos, documents and text messages). I have only flashed my device probably about 10 years ago. So step by step directions would be amazing. Also I do have developer options enabled.
I have searched the forum and the only advice I have seen is to reset but I want to know how to keep my data. The only thing I have came across is a store that has a "Samsung" machine that will do a Home Restore without losing your data. He told me if something is corrupted that I could still lose my data. I have over 100gbs of data I need to access and it would be horrible to lose it.
Finally I have one last question is to back up all my encrypted data so that if I find a way to decrypt it later?
PLEASE any advice besides the things I have already tried would be so helpful. If anyone is able to help me I PROMISE I will help you with whatever you are trying to do and believe me.... I have the resources to do so. It will be a way I will show my thanks.
tt5 said:
Hi everyone! First I just want to say thanks to anyone who has any information to help me.
I have a Note 9 and I enabled the directional lock. My phone is also encrypted so it will prompt me to turn on the directional lock anytime the phone is turned on and then again to unlock the screen. I turned my phone off the other day. When I turned it back on I saw the screen prompt for a directional lock. My friend needed help with something so I ended up talking to her before I even tried to unlock it (big mistake). When I got back in my truck to use my phone the screen was black and the message appeared, "Verification Failed, Unable to restart your device. The integrity verification has failed. You need to reset your device to factory default settings. This will erase all your data. I am not sure if while I was talking I accidentally touched the screen causing this message.
The biggest problem is I do not have a backup of certain files. They are on the internal memory of my device. So I DO NOT want to do a factory data reset. I just want to know a solution to get back into my phone again.
Here are the things I have tried:
-Soft reset with Power and volume key
-Wiping cache partition
-Calling Samsung
-Calling T-Mobile
-Downloading Samsung Switch (Does not Recognize device)
-All options in recovery mode (except factory data reset)
-Download mode
My phone is not rooted but it did go through a series of OTA updates and now is running Android Pie. I have came across a few other people with this issue and it happened after updating.
I want to know if there is a way to get in the phone or is there a way to recover my encrypted data and then decrypt it. I also would like to know if I can have the steps to use Odin (already downloaded on my computer) to reinstall the current firmware on the phone. I am wondering if anyone has ever done this and still kept their data (pictures, videos, memos, documents and text messages). I have only flashed my device probably about 10 years ago. So step by step directions would be amazing. Also I do have developer options enabled.
I have searched the forum and the only advice I have seen is to reset but I want to know how to keep my data. The only thing I have came across is a store that has a "Samsung" machine that will do a Home Restore without losing your data. He told me if something is corrupted that I could still lose my data. I have over 100gbs of data I need to access and it would be horrible to lose it.
Finally I have one last question is to back up all my encrypted data so that if I find a way to decrypt it later?
PLEASE any advice besides the things I have already tried would be so helpful. If anyone is able to help me I PROMISE I will help you with whatever you are trying to do and believe me.... I have the resources to do so. It will be a way I will show my thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u can try with odin and flash latest firmware but it will not remove encryption. none the less it might at least get you access to the unlock screen and allow you to unlock but it might not.
read up about odin and get latest version.
read up on stockfirmware and your phone model and which carrier CSC code you are on and get latest version. via samfirm tool or frija or sites like sammobile
flash it in odin by filling the different .md5 files to the according slots. but for CSC slot use home_csc.md5 to not wipe data.
but what i dont understand is what does the landscape/portrait have anything to do with this?
bober10113 said:
u can try with odin and flash latest firmware but it will not remove encryption. none the less it might at least get you access to the unlock screen and allow you to unlock but it might not.
read up about odin and get latest version.
read up on stockfirmware and your phone model and which carrier CSC code you are on and get latest version. via samfirm tool or frija or sites like sammobile
flash it in odin by filling the different .md5 files to the according slots. but for CSC slot use home_csc.md5 to not wipe data.
but what i dont understand is what does the landscape/portrait have anything to do with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for the response!! My Phone is from T-mobile ]. I have been reading up on it and I did download Odin but I am unsure of how to exactly use it. I could figure it out with directions but I am afraid to do the wrong thing because I have only done it one and that was with Samsung Kies ( a long time ago.)
I am unsure what you mean by Portrait and Landscape mode in my post. I don't see where I mentioned it. Maybe you are referring to the directional lock. That is how you unlock the phone (with a series of directions). For instance... left, left, down, down, right, left, up. I mentioned it because that could be causing this issue. That is the method to get past the secure startup as well. A lot of people don't know about that option because you have to enable it in accessibility menu.
tt5 said:
Thank you so much for the response!! My Phone is from T-mobile ]. I have been reading up on it and I did download Odin but I am unsure of how to exactly use it. I could figure it out with directions but I am afraid to do the wrong thing because I have only done it one and that was with Samsung Kies ( a long time ago.)
I am unsure what you mean by Portrait and Landscape mode in my post. I don't see where I mentioned it. Maybe you are referring to the directional lock. That is how you unlock the phone (with a series of directions). For instance... left, left, down, down, right, left, up. I mentioned it because that could be causing this issue. That is the method to get past the secure startup as well. A lot of people don't know about that option because you have to enable it in accessibility menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh instead of a pin or biometrics the pattern lock screen?
but if it was locked because of too many tries then dont think you can do anything. you should have received a message through the email used to register your samsung account and follow it to get it unlocked.
any talk of circumventing this type of lockout isint something that can be discussed on xda because there is no way to prove that it was by accident. and even if it was and there really was a way to bypass it, it would give criminals insight. so sorry but there isint much more that can be said.
bober10113 said:
oh instead of a pin or biometrics the pattern lock screen?
but if it was locked because of too many tries then dont think you can do anything. you should have received a message through the email used to register your samsung account and follow it to get it unlocked.
any talk of circumventing this type of lockout isint something that can be discussed on xda because there is no way to prove that it was by accident. and even if it was and there really was a way to bypass it, it would give criminals insight. so sorry but there isint much more that can be said.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is an option instead of the regular pattern. I like it because it is hard to copy for anyone looking at you unlock your phone and if you lose it... even looking at the screen will not tell them how to unlock it because they need to know the sequence.
I am unsure what caused it.. maybe me or the updates. I have never had this problem before in my entire life. I had the Note 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9. (Yes, I love my Notes.) Not one of them have done this and I only noticed the directional lock beginning on the Note 5. I have an S10 as well and I could't find the option. So I am not sure if it is just specific to Galaxy Notes.
I never thought of giving someone else insight on how to get into phones. That is a good point! I understand that not being allowed. I have known about XDA developers for a long time. I think back somewhere in 2007 -2009 when I was very active on Tmonews forums. So I really haven't been on a forum in like 10 years. I am sure a lot of things have advanced since then but I REALLY appreciate the time you took to respond.
I just have two more questions... I am paying for this phone like $30 a month and I also have the $15 insurance. I can't do anything to this phone that would void the warranty. However, the place that told me they may be able to help me is an authorized Samsung repair center. He said he would have to download the firmware and reinstall it on the phone. He also told me that he could do it without losing data (Home Restore) but if something is corrupted it also could erase. It is with a machine that is directly given to them from Samsung. If somehow I lose my data....can it be recovered if I pay a data recovery company? These pictures are VERY important. Honestly, my data is more important to me than the phone.
Lastly, I remember my email I used for the Samsung account however it was an outlook email and it gave me so much trouble trying to log in (even when the phone was fine). However, if I am able to get in do you think it would take the message off the screen? I know my directional lock to get back in. All I need to do is get back to that screen but it won't pop up.
Again seriously.... I thank you so much for trying to help!
tt5 said:
Yes, it is an option instead of the regular pattern. I like it because it is hard to copy for anyone looking at you unlock your phone and if you lose it... even looking at the screen will not tell them how to unlock it because they need to know the sequence.
I am unsure what caused it.. maybe me or the updates. I have never had this problem before in my entire life. I had the Note 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9. (Yes, I love my Notes.) Not one of them have done this and I only noticed the directional lock beginning on the Note 5. I have an S10 as well and I could't find the option. So I am not sure if it is just specific to Galaxy Notes.
I never thought of giving someone else insight on how to get into phones. That is a good point! I understand that not being allowed. I have known about XDA developers for a long time. I think back somewhere in 2007 -2009 when I was very active on Tmonews forums. So I really haven't been on a forum in like 10 years. I am sure a lot of things have advanced since then but I REALLY appreciate the time you took to respond.
I just have two more questions... I am paying for this phone like $30 a month and I also have the $15 insurance. I can't do anything to this phone that would void the warranty. However, the place that told me they may be able to help me is an authorized Samsung repair center. He said he would have to download the firmware and reinstall it on the phone. He also told me that he could do it without losing data (Home Restore) but if something is corrupted it also could erase. It is with a machine that is directly given to them from Samsung. If somehow I lose my data....can it be recovered if I pay a data recovery company? These pictures are VERY important. Honestly, my data is more important to me than the phone.
Lastly, I remember my email I used for the Samsung account however it was an outlook email and it gave me so much trouble trying to log in (even when the phone was fine). However, if I am able to get in do you think it would take the message off the screen? I know my directional lock to get back in. All I need to do is get back to that screen but it won't pop up.
Again seriously.... I thank you so much for trying to help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i doubt that the samsung repair shop would be able to do anything for your data. but i guess it might be good to give them a call and explain the situation.
but i think they would basically do what was discussed earlyer using odin.
regarding the rest on how to get back in the phone I've never been locked out so i hope someone can chime in and see if there is a way to get it to prompt again or maybe have a remote unlock. co to samsung.com, login with your account that was used to setup the phone and check around. i know there is a remote dashboard on there to find your phone and do other commands remotely. i know for a fact that locking remotely exists. maybe its just as simple as having the phone online, lock it remotely and maybe the prompt will be seen on the device.( trigger it so to say)
good luck
bober10113 said:
i doubt that the samsung repair shop would be able to do anything for your data. but i gutess it might be good to give them a call and explain the situation.
but i think they would basically do what was discussed earlyer using odin.
regarding the rest on how to get back in the phone I've never been locked out so i hope someone can chime in and see if there is a way to get it to prompt again or maybe have a remote unlock. co to samsung.com, login with your account that was used to setup the phone and check around. i know there is a remote dashboard on there to find your phone and do other commands remotely. i know for a fact that locking remotely exists. maybe its just as simple as having the phone online, lock it remotely and maybe the prompt will be seen on the device.( trigger it so to say).
good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much! I actually got locked out of my Samsung Account and my email so I called Samsung and they got
me right back in. The first person told me they couldn't do anything but then she gave me a number (855-795-0509) to call. She said it was for the "find my mobile" department so I could see if could unlock it. The second lady helped me get back into my account. She was a huge help! I was able to access the remote unlock but it didn't work. I guess because the phone isn't connected to data at all. Is there anyway to force it to connect to a network? I reinserted my sim so it would recognize my number and also so it would have data to connect.
My last option is to go back to the store and see if what he does can fix it. The lady at Samsung said that people have been reporting issues with this update so it wasn't just me. I literally have to keep these files or it could be my life. I have to edit video for a celebrity and a lot of it is on the internal memory. I had to put it there because I use Adobe Clip and it never finds files that are on my SD card. It is just easy to me because I can do it on the go and not have to carry around my laptop everywhere. Next time I will surely back it up somewhere. This is the first time I haven't.

Help please! New Member

Hello I am sorry for posting here it is not the correct place. Whoever is able to move this to the right place I thank you and it'd be much appreciated. I have a Galaxy Note 8 verizon N950U I believe, It us currently with straight talk. As of lately I have been suffering from hacking issues. Not entirely sure how or who but it is clear they are professional because apparently I may not be able to factory reset it. It appears as if the software or firmware rather has been replaced with a compromised version that behaves different. For instance, when I very first purchased this device when you would factory reset it you would have to custom put in straight talk APN settings to have access to data, sms/mms etc all at once. Now when I attempt to factory reset device, 4Glte connectivity remains. With use of netguard I was able to determine nonstop cell when mobile disconnected,connections would resume on home LAN. Anyways, can someone A. Point me in direction of recording necessary logs to report attacks and determine maybe who is responsible. B. How to Totally wipe device and reinstall the most current stock firmware for specific device. C. How to REALLY protect myself from future intrusion. Thank you. This is a most desperate situation for me. I have ALMOST 2 years in recovery all matters of substances that destroyed my life. This is driving me crazy. It puts my family and my health in jeopardy. Thanks guys.

IMEI Status NG. Need help with Chimera. A humble request.

So I bought Galaxy note 9 in full working mint condition. It was a demo phone so it was already patched. I upgraded it and IMEI went to NG.
I've tried custom roms, factory reset, you name it, I've done it. Only solution is patch certificate with chimera again.
Now I don't want to spend the money for a whole years subscription because that would be useless for me afterwards. and the phone market is wayyyyyy to far from my home and I don't particularly trust people with my data on the phone.
I had a backup of EFS while it was working but that doesn't restore the NG status.
If someone would be kind enough to help remotely or maybe give me credentials for one day I can flash and get my phone working again and they can change the credentials afterwards. I know trusting someone unknown with credentials is very difficult, but it's a humble request.
Kind regards
Dr. Ali Abdullah Azeem

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