Please help! Black screen of death!

[jcowap]

Hello!

Looked at my S5 yesterday and the screen was black but the phone was clearly on. I googled this and found that the most common fix is to remove the battery SIM card etc and hold the power button for a minute or 2 then start the phone up. This didn't work. I then tried about 8 or 9 more times even holding the button in longer for like 15 minutes - nothing.

I visited 2 local independently owned phone repair shops and they both said it needs a new screen. They didn't even entertain the idea of removing the battery and holding the power button. This made me feel like they just wanted me to spend a lot of money on a new screen.

I've tried holding all the buttons down for 30 seconds and still nothing. I just want my phone screen to work.

I'm due and upgrade anyway but u want to be able to transfer my contacts pictures etc and I'm not sure I can do this now. Plus the phone is on aeroplane mode too. I don't want to have to pay yo fix the phone just to get the stuff off it.

Any ideas at all greatly appreciated

 

[N4Newbie]

1. Go to gmail.com, log into your account, and see if all of your contacts are there.
2. Go to https://photos.google.com/ and see if your photos are there

If no to either of the above, then shame on you for not setting up your phone to ensure that your important data was being backup up.

As to your screen, if you are unable to reach the boot screen, I agree that you likely have a dead device. You said the "phone was clearly on..." How did you make this determination?

 

[jcowap]

It's clearly on as I can hear the start up tone and also I can hear the beep when turning the volume up to alert you that it's hit maximum volume

 

[N4Newbie]

Well then, I agree with the technician - you most likely have a dead screen. However, there is always the possibility that the problem is actually on the mainboard.

Make certain that you will not have to pay for the new screen if it does not actually resolve the problem.

Any luck finding your contacts and photos online?

 

[jcowap]

I never did a back up unless the phone auto backs up. I usually save all my photos to Onedrive but there will be some I wouldn't have.n

I seen a YouTube video showing someone with the same problem connecting his phone to his tv and he could see his screen. My friend also said I should just be able to connect it to a laptop and get the files.

 

[N4Newbie]

I never did a back up unless the phone auto backs up. I usually save all my photos to Onedrive but there will be some I wouldn't have.n

I seen a YouTube video showing someone with the same problem connecting his phone to his tv and he could see his screen. My friend also said I should just be able to connect it to a laptop and get the files.

That depends. With Android 6.x Marshmallow, after connecting the phone to the PC you need to (a) log into the phone if you have security enabled and (b) swipe down the notification bar, tap the USB Connected banner, and then select "File transfer" or something like that; all pretty hard to do if you can't see your screen. With Android 5.x, you must have previously put your phone into the correct file transfer mode.

And, once again, if your phone was properly setup, all of your contacts (Gmail contacts, anyway) should be visible at gmail.com and all or your images should be at photos.google.com. Have you checked?