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How to recover information off a water damaged phone
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2018-03-28 at 10:52 PM UTC
Originally posted by Speedy Parker Freezing IDE HDDs did often work.
Yes and if it didn't work, you almost certainly caused even more damage to the drive when condensation forms on it, ruining it. It was only ever meant to be a, "I have tried everything else and I don't care THAT MUCH if the data is destroyed forever" technique. -
2018-03-28 at 10:58 PM UTC
Originally posted by -SpectraL We can't negate the fact that rice does, in fact, have moisture absorption capabilities. We wish we could just discard the notion, like the baby with the bathwater, but we can't. Now, whether that absorption capability would assist in the recovery of the phone's functions in any way, shape or form, and to what degree, is another question entirely. Nobody knows. It will remain a mystery, lost to the annuls of time.
While rice does absorb moisture, no one is arguing that, it is not suited or helpful to use in a water damaged electronic device in any way. Ever. -
2018-03-28 at 11:06 PM UTC
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2018-03-28 at 11:45 PM UTCAs iPad Rehab puts it, "It's like putting a bowl of soup next to a bag of rice and hoping you wake up to a nice risotto"
Not gonna happen.
We all want it to work, we're hoping it will work, but the fact is, it doesn't. Any temporary restoration of functions always goes to shit in the coming hours or days because it doesn't treat the problem.
It's like loosely lying a bandaid over a gaping, gushing wound and saying, "all better!" -
2018-03-28 at 11:50 PM UTC
Originally posted by Grimace As iPad Rehab puts it, "It's like putting a bowl of soup next to a bag of rice and hoping you wake up to a nice risotto"
Not gonna happen.
But the truth is it's not like that at all. That's just a self-serving embellishment from someone who wants everyone to think they know it all. And, yes, I play that character from time to time, just to provide a kind of mirror people can look into. -
2018-03-29 at 4:03 AM UTC
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2018-03-29 at 11:32 AM UTC
Originally posted by Grimace Yes and if it didn't work, you almost certainly caused even more damage to the drive when condensation forms on it, ruining it. It was only ever meant to be a, "I have tried everything else and I don't care THAT MUCH if the data is destroyed forever" technique.
I don't care enough about what you think to correct you -
2018-03-29 at 11:52 AM UTC
Originally posted by benny vader off topic i kno
but do you know what causes phone screens to blink and have lots of interlaced lines across them ????
What happened to the phone? Was it liquid damaged? Took a fall? Sat on/crushed in some way?
Sounds like a damaged LCD, but it could also be that the LCD ribbon connector has come loose, either by being dropped or from a mistake during installation if it was a replacement.
Some phones, like the LG G3 was known for their PMIC failing and it causes the phone to temporarily begin booting, getting to the LG logo, and then the screen begins to flicker/flash and often there are lines in it. Reflowing the PMIC offers a temporary solution and replacement usually corrects it.
Kinda depends on the model and what happened to it, Benny -
2018-03-29 at 12:13 PM UTC
Originally posted by Speedy Parker I don't care enough about what you think to correct you
Well, lucky for you, I do care enough to correct you. It's important for people to stop believing in such magical fixes so they stop spreading them online and stop a number of people from attempting said magical fixes.
This is what the inside of a hard drive looks like after a few moments of being removed from the freezer. Just like a glass of ice water outside on a hot summer day, it "sweats", or, condensation builds. This occurs whether you set the drive in the freezer bare or wrapped in multiple ESD bags, like many online "guides" suggest you do. It doesn't matter.
What do you think happens when you power that drive up? Frost that remains on the drive's platters is being cut into by the heads. Condensed water spreads across the heads of those drives, causing significant damage to them often making any actual data recovery attempt by a professional useless.
Here are a couple videos that essentially tells the same story. Don't put your hard drives in a freezer. Don't tap them with a hammer. Don't drop them from 4' high. Don't put your water damaged devices in bags of rice.
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2018-03-29 at 12:24 PM UTCWhy you shouldn't use the power of magic rice:
The mystical power of magic rice isn't going to microsolder your backlight coil back in place. It isn't going to completely replace that badly corroded FPC connector. It isn't going to track down and remove the bad capacitors and diodes or reflow corroded solder joints. While throwing your phone in a bag of rice might absorb the liquid, it does absolutely nothing for the damage that has already occurred due to trace minerals and water + electricity. Rice is nothing more than a hopeful idea that just doesn't work for this application.
Want to clean up a spill on the floor? Throw some rice on it. Want to keep moisture down in a small container? Add some rice or rice husks. Phone took on liquid damage? Don't put it in rice. Liquid damage and electronics...the clock starts ticking as soon as it happened. The longer that phone sits and festers in its damage, the less likely you're going to be able to get data off it, let alone use it.
In an ideal world, you would have immediately taken the battery out, disassembled the phone, and then submerged in 91% or higher isopropyl alcohol and allowed to sit overnight and then gently brush the board with an old toothbrush or acid brush to remove any visible corrosion. Allow to air dry. If you had a hot air station, it wouldn't hurt to add some flux and to some light reflow over the entire board. 390C, 5-6 air speed. This creates good strong solder joints again where corrosion made them bad. Again wash the board to clean the flux off and reassemble the phone. Insert a brand new battery and power on the phone while being connected to a PC so you can immediately transfer data to the computer as fast as possible. There is no guarantee the phone will work, or for how long it would work, or which components of the phone will continue to work, but if you're lucky, you can get it to work long enough to retrieve your data and get another phone.
If you've been stupid however, and have attempted to power on the phone multiple times, have thrown it in rice, and it's now been several days and you've made no attempt to open the phone to properly clean the boards, then you can almost certainly kiss it goodbye. -
2018-03-29 at 12:52 PM UTC
Originally posted by Grimace Well, lucky for you, I do care enough to correct you. It's important for people to stop believing in such magical fixes so they stop spreading them online and stop a number of people from attempting said magical fixes.
This is what the inside of a hard drive looks like after a few moments of being removed from the freezer. Just like a glass of ice water outside on a hot summer day, it "sweats", or, condensation builds. This occurs whether you set the drive in the freezer bare or wrapped in multiple ESD bags, like many online "guides" suggest you do. It doesn't matter.
What do you think happens when you power that drive up? Frost that remains on the drive's platters is being cut into by the heads. Condensed water spreads across the heads of those drives, causing significant damage to them often making any actual data recovery attempt by a professional useless.
Here are a couple videos that essentially tells the same story. Don't put your hard drives in a freezer. Don't tap them with a hammer. Don't drop them from 4' high. Don't put your water damaged devices in bags of rice.
Again I don't care that you have bad info -
2018-03-29 at 4:39 PM UTCRice is fine to dry the phone out; I wasn't aware people actually thought it fixed anything. Even if the phone's dry it doesn't undo any physical damage or clear residue from the circuitry
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2018-03-29 at 4:53 PM UTC
Originally posted by Grimace What happened to the phone? Was it liquid damaged? Took a fall? Sat on/crushed in some way?
old age i guess. first it appeared on the bottom of the screen, just a few pixels high black bar.
then it crept slowly higher, with some part of blinking, then to about 1/3 screen. then it started to blink more often. it will light up, slowly fade to black and then light up again ....
eventually the entire screen is filled with evenly spaced interlaced lines in addition to the pulsating, while another half of the screen is black.
its a cheap, but pretty rare phone that came out somewhere in 2014 and i'd hate to let it go. -
2018-03-29 at 7:20 PM UTCWhat if we used molecular sieves
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2018-03-29 at 8:46 PM UTC
Originally posted by benny vader old age i guess. first it appeared on the bottom of the screen, just a few pixels high black bar.
then it crept slowly higher, with some part of blinking, then to about 1/3 screen. then it started to blink more often. it will light up, slowly fade to black and then light up again ….
eventually the entire screen is filled with evenly spaced interlaced lines in addition to the pulsating, while another half of the screen is black.
its a cheap, but pretty rare phone that came out somewhere in 2014 and i'd hate to let it go.
Probably just a poorly made LCD that failed. -
2018-03-29 at 9:09 PM UTC
Originally posted by Grimace The "put it in rice" thing is an internet myth. If you want to further destroy your phone, throw it in rice.
The only PROPER way to handle this is to CEASE FROM ATTEMPTING TO USE THE PHONE.
You'll need to disassemble the phone to remove the motherboard, remove any heat shields that cover the various ICs, and then soak the board in 91% or higher isopropyl alcohol overnight.
The next day, gently scrub the board with an acid brush or old toothbrush, being sure not to brush so hard you knock off components.
Use a qtip to clean the ribbon cable connectors with more 91% iso, allow the fully dry, then reassemble.
It would be better if you had an ultrasonic cleaner with auto frequency scanning capability like a repair shop would (like I have), but you can follow what I said as a pretty straight forward way of trying to get data back.
Also, replace the battery. It's gotten wet, so go ahead and assume it's finished. Power on ONLY AFTER doing everything I said and with a new battery.
Have it connected to a PC and be ready to transfer data ASAP because you never know HOW LONG the phone will work for. Don't wanna spend precious time dicking around with it.
EDIT: https://youtu.be/oUCbbzNNirQ
You can use that video to disassemble your phone and reassemble.
Yes, obviously. It's just a tool to dry it out, and rice is just as effective as a silica packet. More practical too, since most people don't keep hundreds and hundreds of silica packets around.
When I opened it up I used a microfiber sponge to soak what I could and left it disassembled on top of rice in a bag. The only thing I didn't get is the battery. Didn't really have the tools to get it out. Day 2 I did an ISO cleaning. Then I put it back in the rice.
Pretty sure I broke it when I first grabbed it out of the washer. It has a fingerprint sensor and I always touch it when I grab it.
Nobody anywhere in this thread claimed sticking it in rice was all you had to do. -
2018-03-30 at 12:19 AM UTCI wouldn't buy a phone that didn't have a removable SD card, sim card and battery
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2018-03-30 at 5:18 AM UTC
