Question Getting photos off of Samsung A41 with PIN-locked broken screen

[CatDaddy60]

Hi

A friend gave me their A41 to see if I could recover some photos from it for them. They dropped it and the screen just doesn't work anymore. The phone seems OK but when connected to my Windows 10 PC it just shows up in File Explorer as "Fred's A41" and I can't browse the storage. I know the PIN code for the phone and tried to submit that using adb shell commands but all I get returned is "error: closed". The owner didn't use a Samsung or Google account on it.

I've tried getting the phone display on to a monitor and also my TV using two different USB-C to HDMI hubs (with mouse & keyboard attached) and umpteen different HDMI cables but both monitor and TV just state that they can't pick up an HDMI signal. Maybe that can't be done with this model? I've no idea to be honest as I don't use Samsung myself.

I've also tried various bits of trial software which claim to do what I want to do but they either don't cover this model, presume that debugging mode is already On or instruct me to enable it on the phone. If I could see the display to do that then I wouldn't need their software!!

The photos are of sentimental value and I'm trying my best but I work in IT - not phones - but anything vaguely technical seems to head my way.

Can anyone offer any suggestions for things to try?

Many thanks

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! See if this old method still works: https://forums.androidcentral.com/t...-a-locked-phone-with-a-cracked-screen.376515/

 

[CatDaddy60]

Welcome to Android Central! See if this old method still works: https://forums.androidcentral.com/t...-a-locked-phone-with-a-cracked-screen.376515/

Thanks for that. I don't have a second phone to use for creating a screen template unfortunately but I did see one of the responders mention plugging his keyboard into the OTG cable. I know my phone provides power to the keyboard I use via a USB-C to HDMI hub because certain keys light up. So, I could try that method but it would be repeatedly stabbing in the dark with the PIN, reconnecting the phone to the PC, and repeating the operation time and again if unsuccessful. I'll try though.

One thing I don't understand is why neither TV or PC monitor picks up the phone's display via HDMI cable from the above hub. In all the YouTube clips I've watched of people using this method it works perfectly - but not for me and this phone. Slightly baffled

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Thanks for that. I don't have a second phone to use for creating a screen template unfortunately but I did see one of the responders mention plugging his keyboard into the OTG cable. I know my phone provides power to the keyboard I use via a USB-C to HDMI hub because certain keys light up. So, I could try that method but it would be repeatedly stabbing in the dark with the PIN, reconnecting the phone to the PC, and repeating the operation time and again if unsuccessful. I'll try though.

One thing I don't understand is why neither TV or PC monitor picks up the phone's display via HDMI cable from the above hub. In all the YouTube clips I've watched of people using this method it works perfectly - but not for me and this phone. Slightly baffled

Press and hold both volume keys for a few seconds to avctivate Talkback, a screen reader mostly intended for blind and partially sighted people. It will take a bit of getting used to , but it will enable you to navigate the phone using your keyboard with no screen.

 

[CatDaddy60]

Press and hold both volume keys for a few seconds to avctivate Talkback, a screen reader mostly intended for blind and partially sighted people. It will take a bit of getting used to , but it will enable you to navigate the phone using your keyboard with no screen.

Thanks for the tip but it doesn't seem to work on this phone. From a quick Google it suggests that you have to make some settings changes on the phone itself before that key sequence is recognised. I doubt the previous owner did that.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Thanks for the tip but it doesn't seem to work on this phone. From a quick Google it suggests that you have to make some settings changes on the phone itself before that key sequence is recognised. I doubt the previous owner did that.

I thought it was available by default... Has Google assistant or Bixby been set up on the device? You should be able to turn it on via either of those.

 

[CatDaddy60]

I thought it was available by default... Has Google assistant or Bixby been set up on the device? You should be able to turn it on via either of those.

I doubt it very much as the owner knows even less about phones than I do

If I could just find out why it won't output the phone's display to monitor/TV that would make a huge difference. I can't find any info on that anywhere and I've tried 2 different USB-C/HDMI hubs and several HDMI cables - zilch.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

I doubt it very much as the owner knows even less about phones than I do

If I could just find out why it won't output the phone's display to monitor/TV that would make a huge difference. I can't find any info on that anywhere and I've tried 2 different USB-C/HDMI hubs and several HDMI cables - zilch.

The a14 is a pretty low end device and doesn't support wired video out..

 

[CatDaddy60]

The a14 is a pretty low end device and doesn't support wired video out..

Did you mean A41 - that's the model in question?

 

[B. Diddy]

One thing I don't understand is why neither TV or PC monitor picks up the phone's display via HDMI cable from the above hub. In all the YouTube clips I've watched of people using this method it works perfectly - but not for me and this phone

Not all devices support video output via USB-C. In other threads I looked at about the Galaxy A41, it seems like that phone doesn't have USB-C video output.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Did you mean A41 - that's the model in question?

Yeah, just a typo.

 

[CatDaddy60]

Not all devices support video output via USB-C. In other threads I looked at about the Galaxy A41, it seems like that phone doesn't have USB-C video output.

Typical. I guess I'm out of options then. Trying to push the PIN to it via adb commands didn't work either - I just got 'error: closed', whatever that means.