Joined because Galaxy S2 died after a funeral, seriously, need my data resurrected

[LostOnes]

I've had a Samsung Galaxy S2 for less than a year; in fact, I have 84 days left on my warranty.

I like its functionality, but I'm horrified it just randomly died after I added a bunch of contacts and texts messages related to a death in our family.

So that's what brought me to this forum. I need help figuring out why it won't turn on when there was no water damage, no impact, and no warning that I was going to lose the most important information of my just hours before I was going to backup my contacts, texts, etc.

Bad karma? No. I don't even kill spiders in my house. I just relocate them outside. Ghosts? I hope my cousin wouldn't haunt me like that at his wake...

So I'm here because I have yet to find any help anywhere else on the known internet, and I know there are some really helpful, super intelligent people who can give me some direction on recovering this mission critical data.

I believe the phone can be repaired (without data loss) in the proper hands. Really, the data is on the chip-- move the chip to a working mainboard (my suspicion) to bring the device back. (Has anyone ever tried this??? I know the manufacturer refurbs phones, so why not some electrical engineer who can solder?)

Anyway, I intend to scour the known internet until I can find someone capable of helping me recover the data I need. And I'm starting with forums because those who participate are the most helpful people I've ever had the pleasure of encountering.

My Creed: Never, never, never give up. There is ALWAYS a way to get things done.

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[Ollie]

Are you positive it isn't a battery issue? There are ways to recover data, but it is way above my head.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[Ventus]

I've had a Samsung Galaxy S2 for less than a year; in fact, I have 84 days left on my warranty.

I like its functionality, but I'm horrified it just randomly died after I added a bunch of contacts and texts messages related to a death in our family.

So that's what brought me to this forum. I need help figuring out why it won't turn on when there was no water damage, no impact, and no warning that I was going to lose the most important information of my just hours before I was going to backup my contacts, texts, etc.

Bad karma? No. I don't even kill spiders in my house. I just relocate them outside. Ghosts? I hope my cousin wouldn't haunt me like that at his wake...

So I'm here because I have yet to find any help anywhere else on the known internet, and I know there are some really helpful, super intelligent people who can give me some direction on recovering this mission critical data.

I believe the phone can be repaired (without data loss) in the proper hands. Really, the data is on the chip-- move the chip to a working mainboard (my suspicion) to bring the device back. (Has anyone ever tried this??? I know the manufacturer refurbs phones, so why not some electrical engineer who can solder?)

Anyway, I intend to scour the known internet until I can find someone capable of helping me recover the data I need. And I'm starting with forums because those who participate are the most helpful people I've ever had the pleasure of encountering.

My Creed: Never, never, never give up. There is ALWAYS a way to get things done.

That does seem to be a very complicated problem.
- Does it charge?
- Tried another battery?

Otherwise, if you were on the ICS update for the SII:
- Did you format any system partition?
- Did you format cache?
- What about the Dalvik-cache?
(If you even know what I'm talking about)

If you were on the ICS update, you might just have been striken by the EMMC bug that has plagued many, many users.

It's a bug for when you format anything in the system the kernel corrupts the entire filesystem, causing lost data and severe irrecoverable filesystem corruption.

The only way to fix it is by doing an insane repartition of everything in the filesystem, which requires an app that someone developed, but unfortunately it wasn't released due to licensing issues.

I am sorry, but I don't think there is any way to recover your data, unless that person releases the chip-reading app.

Sent from my GT-S5830 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2

[LostOnes]

Are you positive it isn't a battery issue? There are ways to recover data, but it is way above my head.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Yes. I have another S2, never used, that I used to charge the new battery. Still no joy with the new battery and I used the old battery to power on the new S2. (I had planned on rooting my first S2, keeping current backups, and then restoring to the second S2 in case of catastrophic failure... except I ran out of time. I didn't get to root my phone before it just died.)

I did discover, however, that the top portion of the screen gets hot when the dead S2 has a battery in and is connected to the USB charger. So I know power is getting to the board, but my pc doesn't recognize the device and nothing comes on the display.

I have tried every trick and recovery method found on the internet to get my phone working just long enough to get the data off, but it's not happening.

At this point, I'm trying to determine if there are any reputable third-party repair companies that could just move the chip over to another board without losing the data. Samsung will just replace the phone but I need the data

[LostOnes]

That does seem to be a very complicated problem.
- Does it charge?
- Tried another battery?

Otherwise, if you were on the ICS update for the SII:
- Did you format any system partition?
- Did you format cache?
- What about the Dalvik-cache?
(If you even know what I'm talking about)

If you were on the ICS update, you might just have been striken by the EMMC bug that has plagued many, many users.

It's a bug for when you format anything in the system the kernel corrupts the entire filesystem, causing lost data and severe irrecoverable filesystem corruption.

The only way to fix it is by doing an insane repartition of everything in the filesystem, which requires an app that someone developed, but unfortunately it wasn't released due to licensing issues.

I am sorry, but I don't think there is any way to recover your data, unless that person releases the chip-reading app.

Sent from my GT-S5830 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2

Thank you for your thorough insights, especially about the ICS issues. Fortunately, I've worked in IT long enough to know that new releases and OS "updates" always have defects; therefore, I refused to update any of my software since my phone was perfectly stable.

Also, I confirmed it's not a battery issue-- I tried a known-good battery and the old battery powers on my new-in-box S2 (bought as a backup for when I was going to root the one that died).

I hadn't formatted any system partition and unfortunately, didn't get to root it for backup purposes. It was still running AT&T's stock Gingerbread.

Ultimately, I suspect the issue was the 100 degree weather to which the phone was subject in my cargo pocket.

So on the assumption the phone overheated, I'm looking at either sending the phone to a forensic recovery center or to a repair center that "may" be able to diagnose the defect and repair the phone without data loss. Of course, I'm having a hard time finding a reputable, competent company where my life's data is protected.

(And unofficially, I've already had the phone apart to look for visible damage to the board and components, but I didn't see anything similar to the fried motherboards and chips I see in the PCs and Macs that I diagnose as part of my profession...)

So I know the data is there, I just can't get it unless I send it somewhere that does have chip-reading capabilities... or I risk soldering the old chip on the new phone's board by myself, not something I'm willing to try right now.

I'm hoping to find some "crazy smart" electrical engineer/genius/savant who can diagnose the problem, recover my data, and repair my phone instead of having to resort to only forensic data recovery...

There has to be someone on the internet that has successfully resurrected a smartphone with a hardware "transplant". I just have to find that person and compensate them for their expertise...

[Ventus]

Thank you for your thorough insights, especially about the ICS issues. Fortunately, I've worked in IT long enough to know that new releases and OS "updates" always have defects; therefore, I refused to update any of my software since my phone was perfectly stable.

Also, I confirmed it's not a battery issue-- I tried a known-good battery and the old battery powers on my new-in-box S2 (bought as a backup for when I was going to root the one that died).

I hadn't formatted any system partition and unfortunately, didn't get to root it for backup purposes. It was still running AT&T's stock Gingerbread.

Ultimately, I suspect the issue was the 100 degree weather to which the phone was subject in my cargo pocket.

So on the assumption the phone overheated, I'm looking at either sending the phone to a forensic recovery center or to a repair center that "may" be able to diagnose the defect and repair the phone without data loss. Of course, I'm having a hard time finding a reputable, competent company where my life's data is protected.

(And unofficially, I've already had the phone apart to look for visible damage to the board and components, but I didn't see anything similar to the fried motherboards and chips I see in the PCs and Macs that I diagnose as part of my profession...)

So I know the data is there, I just can't get it unless I send it somewhere that does have chip-reading capabilities... or I risk soldering the old chip on the new phone's board by myself, not something I'm willing to try right now.

I'm hoping to find some "crazy smart" electrical engineer/genius/savant who can diagnose the problem, recover my data, and repair my phone instead of having to resort to only forensic data recovery...

There has to be someone on the internet that has successfully resurrected a smartphone with a hardware "transplant". I just have to find that person and compensate them for their expertise...

I know in XDA there's this "unbrickable mod" for Samsung Galaxy devices.......might wanna check that out....

[smalltowngirl13]

Hello and welcome to the forum...sorry to hear about your phone issue - were your contacts by chance backed up to Google?

I am not familiar with the GSii, but did you back up any of your data / info to your SD card (if it has one) and have you tried that in the other GSii?

[LostOnes]

I know in XDA there's this "unbrickable mod" for Samsung Galaxy devices.......might wanna check that out....

Thank you for your insights!

I'll check out the post.

I did join XDA, in fact, but most people have suggested that unless I can procure software to read the chip or send it to a forensics/data recovery lab, I've got a wonderful paperweight.

I have a new Galaxy S2 that I'm using as a basic phone, but my quest has never been about buying a new device: It's about getting the old one running again without data loss.

Again, I'll take a look at XDA. There are definitely some "scary smart" members there, as there are on this and the other major forums!

Thanks!

[LostOnes]

Hello and welcome to the forum...sorry to hear about your phone issue - were your contacts by chance backed up to Google?

I am not familiar with the GSii, but did you back up any of your data / info to your SD card (if it has one) and have you tried that in the other GSii?

Unfortunately, it was a work phone that I wasn't allowed to backup to Google due to corporate privacy issues.

I also couldn't back up my contacts to my Exchange account, lest my boss have access to my personal info as well.

With regard to storing my contacts on my SD card, I didn't get a chance to try. I had synced a my phone with Kies back in January, but I lost all my subsequent contacts. My SD card was full of photos and videos and works in my new S2.

The greatest needs are the call log (to prove to my boss, yes, I did talk to Client A for 93 minutes) and the text messages for same reason.

Oh, and there's the voice records, and memos, and a few photos that didn't get saved to the SD card.

So at this point, I'm trying to find either a data recovery company or an electronic forensics lab that will give me back my phone intact (broken or fixed) with my data in a format I can use...

unless a major miracle occurs and the phone turns on the next time I try it...

[Ventus]

Thank you for your insights!

I'll check out the post.

I did join XDA, in fact, but most people have suggested that unless I can procure software to read the chip or send it to a forensics/data recovery lab, I've got a wonderful paperweight.

I have a new Galaxy S2 that I'm using as a basic phone, but my quest has never been about buying a new device: It's about getting the old one running again without data loss.

Again, I'll take a look at XDA. There are definitely some "scary smart" members there, as there are on this and the other major forums!

Thanks!

XDA is dangerous thread carefully.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Ace (GT-S5830) and proud of it!