HELP! Nexus 4 locked and cracked screen-how can i retrieve photos

[dongemus]

FYI, if anyone else is having this problem you can buy a USB female to micro-USB-male on the internets and then connect a standard USB mouse to any Android phone and unlock your screen with the mouse. You can do most everything with a mouse in fact. The only issue is you can't adb via USB while using the mouse.

 

[D Lennard]

you can buy a USB female to micro-USB-male ... and then connect a standard USB mouse to any Android phone and unlock your screen with the mouse.

does this really work? has anyone else apart from the poster tried this successfully?

 

[MicaBcn]

It does work on my htc one but on my cracked n4 not.

 

[PhoenixMike]

In response to everyone posting about having a lock/pattern when connecting to a computer:
It will not read. It may pop up and recognize the device but won't let you get into the files. I didn't realize that was the reason behind my PC not reading the storage content for a while.

 

[D Lennard]

It does work on my htc one but on my cracked n4 not.

thats what I thought. So, on a cracked N4, anything not backed-up is lost.

 

[D Lennard]

FYI, if anyone else is having this problem you can buy a USB female to micro-USB-male on the internets and then connect a standard USB mouse to any Android phone and unlock your screen with the mouse. You can do most everything with a mouse in fact. The only issue is you can't adb via USB while using the mouse.

Just checked with Google - this is not true. You cannot connect a mouse via USB to an N4.

For Nexus 4, USB is not supported for connecting these devices.

https://support.google.com/nexus/4/answer/2840855?hl=en

 

[rdworianyn]

Try something like this. Grab another phone that is the same as the broken/cracked/locked device and swap the display cables for the working phone. Took me about 10 minutes to get it working and then you can unlock using the screen of the working phone but access data on the broken phone.

 

[rmomoin4]

I broke my N4 screen and I can't unlock it. But i don't care about my data saved into the device. How can I reboot the N4 to stock recovery? My device is not rooted. Is it possible?

 

[asared]

Hi there,

Would like to share the step-by-step process you took to recover your data via the XDA forum please? It would be very useful and helpful info.

 

[revantk]

I faced a similar situation and even though I back up all my pictures to g+, it doesn't back up pictures received on third party apps eg. whats app.

Fortunately, I had set up AirDroid | Your Android, on the Web. on my phone before the screen broke so I could transfer files over wiFi. Even though it won't help people if they didn't have airdroid installed before their screen broke, its a useful app to have.

 

[Ajones Bro]

Well you could look for an auto-teethering app.. I'm gonna to try later as the mouse i was using is in use by someone else. I don't think the mouse i have is compatible with tablet with a broken screen.

 

[kristelkaye]

Thank you SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH!!!!! I was completely heartbroken when I realized that over 600 photos were saved to my phone's storage instead of my SD card because it was full after the screen shattered. I've been holding off on sending the broken phone back to Sprint after receiving my new Galaxy III. Nothing else was working until I saw the picture you posted and tried it. It's now downloading all of my pictures to my computer.

I cannot thank you enough!!!

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH!!!!! I was completely heartbroken when I realized that over 600 photos were saved to my phone's storage instead of my SD card because it was full after the screen shattered. I've been holding off on sending the broken phone back to Sprint after receiving my new Galaxy III. Nothing else was working until I saw the picture you posted and tried it. It's now downloading all of my pictures to my computer.

I cannot thank you enough!!!

http://i.imgur.com/4h31wwW.jpg

Try something like this. Grab another phone that is the same as the broken/cracked/locked device and swap the display cables for the working phone. Took me about 10 minutes to get it working and then you can unlock using the screen of the working phone but access data on the broken phone.

 

[alex_shurup]

Hello everyone.
Not got used to write on forums, however found this thread, and since I have a same problem with my Nexus 4 phone, I read it through.

With various thing to do in order to get your data from the device, I found an easy trick. Just plug in compatible headphones with mic (I used the ones from HTC 8X), press and hold on answer button to activate google voice. Call to any number, to someone of your friends, and then hang up by pressing and hold answer button again.
Your phone now would be unlocked, and you can plug it to your computer in order to get your data. If it's not going to work from the first, play with it until you get the result. I was able to get all information from the device through File Explorer on my Windows Machine.

Regards,
Happy Holidays

 

[Mayssa Chaouch]

but mine unlocks with a pattern and since the screen is cracked i cant touch anything, and the pc doesnt read it, can you help please i REALLY need the data on my phone :-X

 

[Mayssa Chaouch]

I really dont understand how to do it can you explain more please

 

[Paul Lombard]

I have posted this on the XDA developer forum but thought i would ask the good people here if you can help too:-

[Q] Can i retrieve photos from a locked (screen carcked) nexus 4? - xda-developers

Hello, and apologies if this is posted somewhere in the forum already, but there are just so many threads to search through and i'm panicking!

Last night my Nexus 4 fell out of my jeans pocket about 2 ft onto my tiled bathroom floor. it has a diagonal crack from bottom right corner to 3/4 way up to the left side of the screen. I had a pattern lock applied and now because of the damage only the top 3 characters work which means in my case i cant unlock the screen. I am desperate to unlock it before repairing it because i have pictures of our newborn son; just 18 days old.

I have been told that whoever repairs it will hard reset the phone 'due to data protection'. I dont care about anything else on the phone, but i cant replace those photo's, so please, can anybody help me and let me know a way that i could retrieve these precious pictures?

some info that might be helpful? :-

It isn't rooted
Its the 16gb version
its running android 4.2.2
Its a UK handset (i'm based in the UK)
It does recognise the handset when plugged into a computer via USB, but i assume because the handset is 'locked' with the pattern, it won't let me download the pics.

Please help if you can. Thanks in advance.

Cydonian74

 

[Paul Lombard]

I don't know why the repair requires hard reset, I've repaired several of these and never had to hard reset it. It's Pretty much move the motherboard from the old screen to the new one...all info is intact.

 

[Ms_ML]

I just had a similar problem with a cracked Nexus 7 screen, so maybe this will work for you. I bought a OTG (on the go) cable which is a cable with a USB receiver on the end that plugs into the Nexus 7 micro USB port which I believe is the same size the Nexus 4 has (you can check). It was $8.99 at a local place, but Amazon seems to have them for half that. Then I attached a plug and play USB mouse. An arrow will appear on the screen (the mouse cursor) and you can use the mouse cursor to unlock your device and use the mouse to navigate around the tablet as you would on a laptop. You likely can just email the photos or upload them to some other service from there. I did not have to reboot when I attached the cable and mouse. I bought a $6.99 travel mouse by Case Logic. I have read some posts that warned the tablet must be "rooted" for an OTB cable and mouse to work, but I've never rooted mine as I'm not that tech savvy. Best of luck!

 

[Rami801]

FYI, if anyone else is having this problem you can buy a USB female to micro-USB-male on the internets and then connect a standard USB mouse to any Android phone and unlock your screen with the mouse. You can do most everything with a mouse in fact. The only issue is you can't adb via USB while using the mouse.

Hey thank you soooo much. I have a Sony Xperia Z1s and was going through the same situation of a cracked screen, locked and unable to use the touchscreen. I just so happened to order a female to male USB adapter so I could connect my PS3 controller to it. Your mouse idea worked, i was taken back.. thats freakin awesome. Thanks again!!!

 

[Ebbe]

how about making the pattern on a software addon on the pc when opening it?
The owner would know the pattern, so then shouldnt be issue?
I know the pattern for my broken screen phone,
but there is no response when trying to write it on broken screen.
I'd like to copy all over on a pc before sending to repair who kill all content with reset.