Broken Samsung Galaxy S4 Screen - how to retrieve data?

[BradSCJB]

I broke my screen pretty good. Doesnt display anything. The phone still boots up and I am able to get to the "VZW Software Upgrade Assistant" mapped drive for a bit, then it goes away and shows the Portable Media Player if I plug the USB into the computer.

I need to copy off at least my pictures/videos from the phone.

The screen has a lock on it. I am not sure if I had USB Debugging enabled or not.

Is there any chance I can pull this data from the internal storage before I send it back on the insurance claim?

 

[inphoenix]

I broke my screen pretty good. Doesnt display anything. The phone still boots up and I am able to get to the "VZW Software Upgrade Assistant" mapped drive for a bit, then it goes away and shows the Portable Media Player if I plug the USB into the computer.

I need to copy off at least my pictures/videos from the phone.

The screen has a lock on it. I am not sure if I had USB Debugging enabled or not.

Is there any chance I can pull this data from the internal storage before I send it back on the insurance claim?

More than likely you will have a $100 deductible on your insurance. For less than that you can get a new screen on this phone.

Note to self : Make sure to save all pics on SD card. Check!

 

[BradSCJB]

its more than a broken screen...bezel is cracked....the ribbon for the 3 bottom buttons is ripped. its not an easy fix.

 

[BradSCJB]

Anyone?

 

[scorpiodsu]

Anyone?

If the computer recognizes your phone but won't let you see any files then that would seem that USB debugging is not enabled. Here's an older thread where someone had the same issue with an S3. You may want to look at some of the suggestions here http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...w-transfer-files-galaxy-s3-broken-screen.html

You may also want to try options using adb as you'll be able to use the windows command prompt to accomplish functions on the device. But again, I'm not sure how that would work (or not) without debugging mode enabled. Here's a thread over at XDA where someone suggests adb and the proper commands Trying to use keis to back up GS3 with broken screen (phone locked) - xda-developers It's for the S3 but I would imagine the process is still the same for the S4.

Good luck.

 

[SpookDroid]

Note to self : Make sure to save all pics on SD card. Check!

Not to Note to self: This phone HAS issues with SD Cards, so you're better off saving all pics to SD Card AND a Cloud backup in your service of choice.

 

[BradSCJB]

If the computer recognizes your phone but won't let you see any files then that would seem that USB debugging is not enabled. Here's an older thread where someone had the same issue with an S3. You may want to look at some of the suggestions here http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...w-transfer-files-galaxy-s3-broken-screen.html

You may also want to try options using adb as you'll be able to use the windows command prompt to accomplish functions on the device. But again, I'm not sure how that would work (or not) without debugging mode enabled. Here's a thread over at XDA where someone suggests adb and the proper commands Trying to use keis to back up GS3 with broken screen (phone locked) - xda-developers It's for the S3 but I would imagine the process is still the same for the S4.

Good luck.

Thanks for the suggestions....I downloaded the SDK and tried to run ADB.....when I run 'adb devices', it doesnt show any devices. I rebooted the phone and also did a 'adb kill-server' and a 'adb start-server' and still no luck. I am not too familiar with ADB to troubleshoot it too much. Google renders results that are way over my head.

 

[trailblazen]

take it to radio shack (did my transfer for free when I bought my phone) and they use their transfer machine to pull it off the old phone and can put on a new/replacement phone. Verizon charges for theirs I think.

 

[STARGATE]

Not to Note to self: This phone HAS issues with SD Cards, so you're better off saving all pics to SD Card AND a Cloud backup in your service of choice.

Wait! When did that happened?

I first got my Galaxy S4 on July 1 and never had any trouble with any of the 3 different SD cards that I've used!
All 3 were different brand and different capacities.
No problems whatsoever!

Sent From a Galaxy S4 Away!

 

[inphoenix]

Not to Note to self: This phone HAS issues with SD Cards, so you're better off saving all pics to SD Card AND a Cloud backup in your service of choice.

Never had issue with SD card BUT I do use a cloud service to save pics and videos. Dropbox is almost full so I am on to copy (copy.com) now.

Highly recommend using a cloud service to save pics.

 

[BradSCJB]

I tried Kies...its able to connect, but wont let me in because the screen is locked.

Still not able to get ADB to detect it....

 

[trailblazen]

Heck if you can get a backup phone to pull them to go to radioshack like I said to recover it all. I was watching as they pulled my data from my Nexus to my S4 I bought this last Saturday and they have the option to pull everything from contacts/photos/video/text messages. they also don't charge. So if you can get your hands on another phone with enough storage to transfer everything over then you should be ok.

 

[SpookDroid]

Wait! When did that happened?

I first got my Galaxy S4 on July 1 and never had any trouble with any of the 3 different SD cards that I've used!
All 3 were different brand and different capacities.
No problems whatsoever!

Sent From a Galaxy S4 Away!

It's a known issue, just look it up in the forums and you'll see them pop up. Granted, not everyone has the issue but also, most people DON'T EVEN NOTICE IT. The SD Card will usually mount/unmount randomly and by itself, most of the time while the device is in standby, thus not letting you see it's happening. Some people have had the bad luck of having bad pictures written onto the SD Card but only find out when they're browsing for the picture afterwards. Others, in a worst case, have had permanent damage to their cards. But this is not a new issue, it's been happening since the Note 2 and S3 and especially (for some reason) with SanDisk 32GB cards. Again, it might not happen to you, and I hope it doesn't, but if you have a Cloud backup option, you'd be better off being safe

 

[bridget sexauer]

This just happened to me! Phone works but screen and LCD broken and unresponsive. I had a screen lock too so what I did was I took off the back plate, removed the battery, and unscrewed the six screws to uncover the PCB board under the back housing. Then I carefully disconnected all the tiny ribbon connectors. I waited a minute just to be superstitious and then reconnected all the ribbon connectors and put everything back to how it was. Then I downloaded Kies from the Samsung website, pluged my phone into a computer via USB and was able to view all my files! Something about disconnecting the PCB board resets the default settings to factory state but doesn't delete any data at all. Good luck and I hope this helps someone out there

 

[DJ1423]

worked fine with my note 2. thanks

 

[trd 4rnr]

I had the same problem with a black screen but the phone still received calls (that I had no way to answer of course).
I was using a pattern lock and was able to plug my phone into my computer and then draw the pattern on the screen.
The screen never came on but the computer recognized the phone as a disc drive and I was able to pull off all my data.
-mk

 

[Bilalabiad@gmail.com]

How did you manage to unlock using the pattern if your screen is broken?

 

[trd 4rnr]

I've put that pattern in so many times - it just came naturally - I even got it on the first try.

 

[Poppaof3almost]

so what exactly did you run (program wise) to be able to enter your pattern? mine is broke with no touch response as well and am unable to access through kies? maybe not exploring all options? need help.

 

[trd 4rnr]

so what exactly did you run (program wise) to be able to enter your pattern? mine is broke with no touch response as well and am unable to access through kies? maybe not exploring all options? need help.

This is what I did:
1. Plug S4 into USB drive on my laptop.
2. Restarted S4
3. Waited 5 minutes
4. Pressed power button quickly on the S4
5. Made an educated guess as to where the "dots" would have been on my screen and preformed my Pattern password.
6. And shockingly - my S4 was recognized by my laptop and I was able to pull all my data off of it.
*please note:
The lights in the lower left & right of my screen were still working - as was the LED indicator.
I was also able to receive calls (but couldn't remember where to press on the screen to answer them)