How do I recover my S3 contacts?

[toiletbowlS3]

S3 contact retrieval, Damaged phone

Hello, my Galaxy S3 (T-mobile if it matters) took a bath in a toilet not too long ago.
Naturally I swiped it out. Immediately it seemed fine, However within a few minutes the screen became discolored but still functional. Eventually display crapped out and went blank, but the touch pad and phone are still functional. I can take calls and unlock the phone, but can't do much past that not knowing what fingers are doing.

I tried using KIES to recover my pictures and contacts and met marginal success. I was able to recover my pictures and about 30 of my contacts. Is there a reason why not all of my contacts are recoverable? I would think that it is unlikely only a portion would be corrupted by the water damage. Something else that seems odd is that I don't think it pickuped any of my starred (most contacted?) contacts, this is judging from memory. It also did not pickup any of the antiquated "check belance" or "check minutes" contacts I hadn't taken the time to delete.

Before I tired Kies, I had put my sim card into an older LG g2x which actually required a sim adapter. I did attempt to sync contacts with the sim card and was only able to get said antiquated "check balance" numbers. I have tried kies with and without the sim card in the s3, both with the same exact outcome. Is it possible the remaining contacts were on the SIM and I screwed the pooch?

I also checked to see if my contacts were saved on my gmail, no dice.

What I find odd is every other time I changed phones my contacts moved, now they are no where to be found.

Sorry for being long winded but I thought it best to give all possible info,
Basically my question is: Is there anyway for me to retrieve my contacts at this point?

and is it worth it for me to put a new display in the phone to attempt to retrieve the contacts? The contacts are valuable to me, but I'd rather not spend $100 in an attempt to retrieve, irretrievable contacts.

 

[Rukbat]

Re: S3 contact retrieval, Damaged phone

Hello, my Galaxy S3 (T-mobile if it matters) took a bath in a toilet not too long ago.
Naturally I swiped it out. Immediately it seemed fine, However within a few minutes the screen became discolored but still functional. Eventually display crapped out and went blank, but the touch pad and phone are still functional. I can take calls and unlock the phone, but can't do much past that not knowing what fingers are doing.

Wrong move. Read Wet Phone.

I tried using KIES to recover my pictures and contacts and met marginal success. I was able to recover my pictures and about 30 of my contacts. Is there a reason why not all of my contacts are recoverable?

Damage to the motherboard is keeping the computer from accessing the parts of the database that those contacts are stored on.

I would think that it is unlikely only a portion would be corrupted by the water damage.

If one pin of a memory chip is damaged (eroded away by chemicals or shorted to something), parts of the memory are unreachable.

Before I tired Kies, I had put my sim card into an older LG g2x which actually required a sim adapter. I did attempt to sync contacts with the sim card and was only able to get said antiquated "check balance" numbers. I have tried kies with and without the sim card in the s3, both with the same exact outcome. Is it possible the remaining contacts were on the SIM and I screwed the pooch?

All your contacts should have been entered as Google contacts, not Phone, Device or SIM contacts. They you could go to Google Contacts and you'd see all your contacts. Putting that account into another phone as your Google Account would sync those contacts back to the phone.

I also checked to see if my contacts were saved on my gmail, no dice.

Only Google contacts are.

What I find odd is every other time I changed phones my contacts moved, now they are no where to be found.

You probably saved them to the SIM - now the SIM is damaged and they can't be read.

Basically my question is: Is there anyway for me to retrieve my contacts at this point?

Realistically? No.

and is it worth it for me to put a new display in the phone

No, because the phone is eventually going to rot to the point that it will be unrepairable (except by replacing everything in it).

to attempt to retrieve the contacts? The contacts are valuable to me, but I'd rather not spend $100 in an attempt to retrieve, irretrievable contacts.

If they were Google contacts (that depends on how you enter them - you have a choice with a new contact), they'd be on the site. If they're SIM contacts and the SIM is damaged, nothing you can do to the phone will let you retrieve the contacts. If they're Phone or Device contacts (2 names for the same thing), they can't be retrieved if Kies can't retrieve them.

You are going to keep everything important backed up somewhere other than in the phone from now on, aren't you? (Just consider it an expensive lesson.)