Solved Samsung Galaxy A5 won't start up (black screen)

[Anders A]

I got an old Galaxy A5 that slipped out of my hand and crashed onto the pavement about 1½-2 years ago. The screen ruptured and was full of decent cracks hereafter but I was still able to use the touch screen without any issues other than a few glass particles here and there. The functionality though was just like before it hit the ground.

I quickly got myself a new Android and transferred all of my important files etc. from the old phone to the new one almost instantly. Hereafter, I wanted to reset the old phone to factory settings due to safety and privacy concerns and then dispose of it.

However, I somehow forgot about the latter and left it lying around in my apartment for those approximately 1½ years before I came to stumble upon it again a couple of days ago and decided, that now was the time to reset the phone and get rid of it.

To my big surprise though, the formerly well-functioning phone wouldn't turn on no matter how long I charged it nor what advice I followed that I found on the internet. I tried several approaches such as holding down the power button for 5-7 seconds as one user advised to do, then another one where I'd hold the power button down for about 30 seconds and then wait about 2 minutes after which I tried to power it on once more without success. I also pushed the power button and respectively the volume up and volume down button at the same time as well as the volume down and the home button at the same time, but to no avail.

I am running out of ideas and am puzzled as to why the battery(?) or the phone(?) itself isn't playing along.

The phone hasn't been moved nor touched and was on a shelf in my apartment without being exposed to any extreme conditions such as moist etc. during the entire time all while being in its protective cover, resting "face down".

Can anyone advise on how to get the phone going again and if impossible, what anyone's suggestion or recommendation would be to get rid of it without risking someone being able to salvage and access the files and other sensitive data, which are still on the phone?

Thanks in advance for any help given.

 

[winmod21]

~
Can anyone advise on how to get the phone going again and if impossible, what anyone's suggestion or recommendation would be to get rid of it without risking someone being able to salvage and access the files and other sensitive data, which are still on the phone?

I would just spread open a hefty-type garbage bag, or big paper bag, in a large cardboard box, outside, then put ear & eye protection on, and a mask (unless you have a full face shield), and an old long-sleeve shirt (unless you have coveralls), then close the bag, and take a 2# mallet or maul, or similar, and smash it real good. Then drop it off at your local municipalities elec device/equip waste drop-off. No one's going to try to retrieve anything from it.

 

[B. Diddy]

Agreed. The reason why it won't power on is probably because the battery has completely failed, which can happen with devices that have been sitting around unused for a while.

If you don't trust your local municipal e-cycling center, you could also send it to Gizmogo.

 

[Anders A]

Thanks for the great suggestions and all the answers.

I think, I'll call my local recycling center about their security policy and handling of e-waste and see, what they got to say about this situation.

In terms of the advice to smash the phone to pieces and then dispose of it in a safe manner, I came to think of that our local municipality, when disposing of IT-equipment, always drills a hole in for instance, harddisks and the like, before they sent it off to recycling due to GDPR-rules.

I was wondering, if one could do the same with a phone and achieve a similar effect? Or could that be dangerous due to the potential of ie. the battery spontaneously exploding/incinerating or leaking toxic chemicals/acid etc. in the process?

 

[winmod21]

Thanks for the great suggestions and all the answers.

I think, I'll call my local recycling center about their security policy and handling of e-waste and see, what they got to say about this situation.

In terms of the advice to smash the phone to pieces and then dispose of it in a safe manner, I came to think of that our local municipality, when disposing of IT-equipment, always drills a hole in for instance, harddisks and the like, before they sent it off to for recycling due to GDPR rules.

I was wondering, if I one could do the same with a phone and achieve a similar effect? Or could that be dangerous due to the potential of the ie. battery spontaneously exploding/incinerating or leaking toxic chemicals/acid etc. in the process?

I suppose you could carefully pry it open, donned with the same protective gear previously suggested, plus gloves, and then carefully just smash or drill the mainboard components.

 

[Anders A]

I suppose you could carefully pry it open, donned with the same protective gear previously suggested, plus gloves, and then carefully just smash or drill the mainboard components.

I called the local recycling center the other day. They said, that they didn't have a specific container for "sensitive e-waste" but on the other hand, they confirmed, that the e-waste simply gets sent off to a recycling plant where it is immediately taken apart and each of the pieces sent off to each of the companies, handling the former.

As such, it should be safe enough for a non-working phone with a dead battery, I reckon.

Thanks again, for all the time, help and input of anybody in this thread, participating and throwing in their "50 cents".

 

[mustang7757]

Another thing is to go to Google find my device or Samsung find my device choose factory reset that way anyone put a new battery or connects to Wi-Fi it will automatically erase your device.
Because the battery went into a big sleep after dying you could try slow charging it for over a day see if it brings that battery back up like charging from a computer or anything low charging output

 

[Anders A]

Another thing is to go to Google find my device or Samsung find my device choose factory reset that way anyone put a new battery or connects to Wi-Fi it will automatically erase your device.
Because the battery went into a big sleep after dying you could try slow charging it for over a day see if it brings that battery back up like charging from a computer or anything low charging output

Ah, pity. I should have seen this before I disposed of the phone which I did shortly after my last message. But it's all good.

However, the idea is quite good.

I knew, that I never used Samsung's find my device but Google's I did use before. Also, I use Prey to keep a tab on my devices. But neither Google nor Prey do have the option to wipe the device and although Prey lists my old device, Google doesn't even show a registry of the latter.

Samsung's find my device does have this option but as mentioned previously, I never used it on my old phone.

Neither did I know about the slow-charging option. Might have been worth a try. I'll keep it in mind for next time if the problem should arise again.

Thanks anyhow for your kind help and the time you took to do so.

 

[mustang7757]

Ah, pity. I should have seen this before I disposed of the phone which I did shortly after my last message. But it's all good.

However, the idea is quite good.

I knew, that I never used Samsung's find my device but Google's I did use before. Also, I use Prey to keep a tab on my devices. But neither Google nor Prey do have the option to wipe the device and although Prey lists my old device, Google doesn't even show a registry of the latter.

Samsung's find my device does have this option but as mentioned previously, I never used it on my old phone.

Neither did I know about the slow-charging option. Might have been worth a try. I'll keep it in mind for next time if the problem should arise again.

Thanks anyhow for your kind help and the time you took to do so.

Yeah would of be interesting if it worked , your welcome!