I have been waiting for someone to release a bypass for the screen lock problem in Windows Mobile 6.5. Haven't found one yet. It's been almost 3 years. Thought I'd throw some ideas out there to see if anyone can help me. As you know, this happens mysteriously if your battery dies and you have a password on the phone. It will not unlock after that.
My first idea is just to somehow copy all the data off the phone and onto your storage without unlocking the phone. This could be done somehow through the bootloader. Perhaps, change the bootloader so that you can read system files. Or, use some software that works along with the bootloader to download the phone's internal memory to the computer or copy to SD car. Another way might be to create an autorun file that runs on the SD card after the phone boots up. This autorun file copies the desired data to the SD card. Maybe, the autorun could just image the system files to the SD card in the background.
A second idea is to perform a hard reset and then try and recover the information with an undelete software of some sort. I really don't like this idea, and don't really consider this a solution.
A third idea is to somehow JTAG the phone or some other method of directly connecting to the phone's memory outside of the system. This might require soldering. It might takes many many hours. It might blow up in my face. I still prefer this to the formatting method.
A fourth idea is to somehow corrupt the screen lock application so that it cannot run, and the phone does not lock up after I boot it up. By the way, when I boot it up, I can see the home screen for a split second before the lock screen comes up. Can't tell you how many times I try to press the "backup" button on my home screen hoping to get my backup out of the phone.
A fifth idea is to flash a small linux operating system to the bootloader partition, so that I can read the data off the phone through linux. I don't care if the phone is bricked after this. This data is really important to me.
A sixth idea is to somehow keep the phone busy when it boots such that the screen lock application does not have an opportunity to load. In other words, the task priority is set to the lowest one possible. Thereby, giving me enough time to go ahead and backup my data while the screen lock application is still loading.
Corrupt the password registry so the screen lock application crashes.
Force the screen lock application into the background. It is designed to load into the foreground. Trying to think of a way to push it into the background so I can basically ignore the screen lock application.
Close the screen lock application with an autorun on the SD card or a shortcut from the keyboard.
There are so many ideas I have. I will add more as I come up with them. Let me know if you are interested in helping me. Which idea do you like? How can we tackle this challenge? Any and all help is appreciated. Please do not try to convince me into hard resetting. Thank you.
Have you seen a method for Windows Mobile 6.1 and lower? I can't seem to find much...
Wouldn't it be easier to just *not* have a screen lock password?
Just sayin.
Related
My MDA III for some reason has a screen problem. It won't turn on, but if I connect it to the dock ActiveSync finds it and syncs correctly.
Soft reboots bring up the screen for the T-Mobile initial boot screen then something weird happens. Very gently over about 10 seconds the screen fades to black and then there is no life in it after that. The screen it fades from is not the boot screen, and it could just be random stuff but it looks like some kind of fantasy art. I know that sounds odd but I can't really describe it. It's like a faint version of something like this: h++p://www.cise.ufl.edu/~fishwick/art/sub.jpg
Anyway, is there a way to do a full backup without using the device itself? I'd like to try a cold reboot but was hoping I could backup everything first. If I just try and copy the files I get sharing violations and I have no idea if the file system can be accessed from the command-line. If it could I could try using robocopy to copy files off.
You can copy everything that is not in your rom through ActiveSync, i have no idea of full backup without accesing the device. Most important for you maybe is contacts and appointments and calendar entryes which you can sync with Microsoft Office Outlook and then back resynk in the device after hard reset, the softwarecan be copied to your computer but when you hard reset the device when you put it back it may not work
On second thoughts the image on screen is the T-Mobile boot screen, it just looks odd as it flashes up and then fades away quickly.
I do have a backup I made in early March but as I've installed so much software since I was hoping I could salvage it. I have copied off everything it will allow, might try and grab the registry contents as well if I can find a way, then I'll be doing the hard reset.
Just out of curiosity I installed Pocket Controller to see if I could remote control it. The screen is empty so obviously not. It allows me to see the tasks running as well, do any of these look dodgy?
NK.exe
filesys.exe
gwes.exe
device.exe
srvtrust.exe
services.exe
shell32.exe
connmgr.exe
IA_Caller_ID.exe
CommLoader.exe
repllog.exe
rapisrv.exe
rnaapp.exe
udp2tcp.exe
tmail.exe
mstli.exe
cprog.exe
I am not sure what is going on, my Dash was connecting fine but all of a sudden, it is trying to connect to email and draining the battery in the process. It is also failing to download weather info on the widget on the home screen. Memory is being drained and RAM is loaded down more and more. I cannot connect to MMS anymore (That was the first sign of trouble) and it seems to take forever to go from one part of the home screen to another.
I actually had a similar problem with the previous Dash that I had which culminated in it finally cutting off at random times, especially when connecting to the internet or in a call. I was able to solve the problem when it got bad by doing a hard reset but, you can imagine, I hate going to such an extreme all the time since I have to reinstall everything over and over again!
A couple of questions:
1. Is there a way to save the home screen settings? Especially the Favs and Application settings and restore them when restoring after a hard reset?
2. Can I increase the memory on RAM without having to resort to a hard reset or re-flash?
Thanks in Advance!
jarroyo said:
I am not sure what is going on, my Dash was connecting fine but all of a sudden, it is trying to connect to email and draining the battery in the process. It is also failing to download weather info on the widget on the home screen. Memory is being drained and RAM is loaded down more and more. I cannot connect to MMS anymore (That was the first sign of trouble) and it seems to take forever to go from one part of the home screen to another.
I actually had a similar problem with the previous Dash that I had which culminated in it finally cutting off at random times, especially when connecting to the internet or in a call. I was able to solve the problem when it got bad by doing a hard reset but, you can imagine, I hate going to such an extreme all the time since I have to reinstall everything over and over again!
A couple of questions:
1. Is there a way to save the home screen settings? Especially the Favs and Application settings and restore them when restoring after a hard reset?
2. Can I increase the memory on RAM without having to resort to a hard reset or re-flash?
Thanks in Advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there's a couple of backup softwares that you can perform a full or a custom backup of your system , like a computer, it creates an .exe file that you save on your sd card, so when you have to do a hard reset, all you got to do is run your backup file and it installs everything back to how you had it when you created the file. You can search for sprite backup or spb backup.
I think the only way to access more memory on ram is to flash a lite version of a rom.
roloracer; think the only way to access more memory on ram is to flash a lite version of a rom.
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Or use the PagePool tuner, then you have to sacrifice speed for memory, you would have to modify the .nbh so have to flash again.
Tried the Backup but...
Well, that sounds good but it just restores to the same problems. Is there a way to identify the menu (CHOME) settings, which includes the favs, and still do the hard reset? It is a pain to have to restore everything. At least, after getting everything restored from scratch, I can THEN do a back up so I won't have to go through this again. It seems like this is a common occurrence with Dash/and/or Win 6.1.
As an aside, the weather is not downloading anymore either. Email hangs either Connecting or Disconnecting. I am using Stylez 1.7 Rose (which, other than these problems, I do really like!
J
roloracer said:
there's a couple of backup softwares that you can perform a full or a custom backup of your system , like a computer, it creates an .exe file that you save on your sd card, so when you have to do a hard reset, all you got to do is run your backup file and it installs everything back to how you had it when you created the file. You can search for sprite backup or spb backup.
I think the only way to access more memory on ram is to flash a lite version of a rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now things have gone south! It won't reboot! Before this, it was saying that there was no RAM, to uninstall a program to solve this problem. Since I had just done a hard reboot, I knew it could not be loaded up with too many programs!
I decided to do a soft reset, using the reboot from the new task manager. I realized that it had started to reboot but was hung up on the HTC Excalibur Energy Star Compliant screen (the new black screen in the NRG Rose rebuild.)
It is still there and I have tried to do a hard reset using the WIKI instructions but still hangs in the same place. I can't get past this screen. I perfectly realize that, should this continue, I am Screwed! HELP! I can't make a connection to reflash even!
Thanks in Advance!
10 pm: I did the hard reset following Stylez instructions, it is still being a pain, I may have to do another hard reset to get things back. I am able to send and receive SMS messages and sync up again, to some extent but things are not as they were yesterday even. Not sure what to make of this.
Okay, this is not much fun, I did a hard reset, installed minimal programs. Now not hitting the internet and it shuts off randomly. I could not get it rebooted for the longest time this morning. Finally just decided to start up and ran all day. Tried to check a web site and it was not connecting. I changed the settings and it just shut itself off. I tried to reboot but, 35 minutes later, still not coming up. It goes through the HTC Screen and vibrates then shuts off. ONCE it go all the way to the new Energy star screen but it shut off after that.
Argggggggggggggggggggggg
I just noticed that the little light is flashing red. It will do that if it actually makes it far enough in the boot up process. I have seen this before, the device is reading the battery as dead or almost dead. Since it had a full charge when it shut down, I am pretty sure that this is misreading the battery. I am trying to take the battery out and reinserting to get it to read the battery correctly. I happen to have an extra battery at home and might use that, or put it on the charger, so I can reboot and reflash the Dash.
I've managed to activate "device lock", as in personal -> device lock (or well "Lås" in Swedish..)
The problem is that at first it worked, once, then it stopped working as in I couldn't unlock it although I was using the same 4 digit numerical code. I'm confident that I'm still using the same code that actually did work once and it's the same code that I put in for starters.
I read that more people are having this problem, but I couldn't find any other solution to it than doing a hard reset - seeing as my phone is off. I can't turn it on, and "Active Sync" says its locked etc...
I was promted to enter "a1b2c3" after typing the "wrong" code 3 times in a row, twice. The "Unlock" button seemed to become less and less responsive as I entered "faulty" codes.. And it got worse...now I can't even press the "Unlock" button at the lower left of the screen, nor can I hit Enter on the keyboard.. I would say that I typed in the wrong code at least 7-8 times.
And now, possibly, it's being slow on purpose? Or is it a software bug? I can press the button, so it "flashes" white, but really, nothing happens. I left the phone alone for 1 hour once today, and it let the button work once.. though obviously I typed the wrong code again.
So I'm wondering, how do I hack it? I'm new to Windows Mobile, so I really have no idea! Any suggestions? I need all the stuff in the phone memory and making a hard reset would be costly for me.
All help is appretiated!
// Chris
Ohh and by the way I'm using a Sony Ericsson X1peria with the latest released update of windows mobile, which ever version that is!
If you installed Spb Backup in your device, you can connect it and ignore the password screen. Force backup using Spb Backup Sync (from Windows PC) and hard reset.
I had the same issue last year. But by it method, I can restore my data.
When restoring, make sure you check the option "Don't restore device password."
And if you want to use password for locking, I recommend you to use 3rd party software. The built in lock is suck. It won't remember any password after you soft reset your PDA.
And the slowness is the locking mechanism. It has timeout. From what I know, it multiply the time by 2. After you put a1b2c3, the lockdown time is in effect. First 2mins, if you put wrong pass then the time multiplied by two before you can put any password again.
It's made like that to prevent brute-force hack...
How did you make Spb backup ignore the password screen? Did you do anything in particular? Cause it doesn't seem to work for me, Active Sync tells me the device is locked and Spb Backup doesn't seem to detect it.
And yes! The built in "device lock" obviously suck, I can't belive they still haven't fixed the issue, I mean it's not a minor one. If it comes with a timelock it's multiplied by more than 2..
Umm, the device will still stuck in password screen, but the Spb Backup run in the background (obscured by password screen).
And I do nothing else....
Hmm, I think so, last time it made me wait for 40 minutes just to enter my password.... >,<
Yesterday I rooted my HTC Droid Incredible (AMOLED). Following that I installed Cyanogen Mod 7, Build 30. The rom was running perfectly until earlier today. Half way through the day, at a point at which I'm sure I still had battery power, the screen no longer functions. Restarting is responsive, but still leaves a blank screen. The same goes with the method of holding the volume down key and the power button.
How may I restore function to my phone, whether it be unrooting or however else? Whatever the method, how can it be done without a visual onscreen?
Less important but still of interest, what is the likely cause that transformed the phone from one working to bricked so randomly?
Thank you.
Did you drop it or get it wet?
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
Were you ever able to use ADB before this happened? If so, then can you try it now. If you can at least see something, you could give that a try and try some trouble-shooting from within. I'd guess that if something serious happened to the actual screen or interface to it, that it might show up as a hardware error in the log. (#logcat, dmesg, ).
Have you yanked the sdcard and mounted it on a PC? (if you can, you might be able to save the content, reformat 'fat32' and maybe for starters just try to restart it with the blank reformatted card. If that works, well, you're OK.
Do you think it is booting fully, but just not able to output to the LCD or do you think it is only doing the first stage and dropping into the recovery screen? Was this thing overclocked? If so, have you tried a 'safe boot' yet (which disables anything past a vanilla startup like setcpu type things)? (instructions are around XDA somewhere).
Without seeing.. I suppose you can put a standard image on the phone (as in RMA) if you get the 'timing' down for when to push buttons, (assuming that is still doable).
Hi, I need help and looked almost everywhere for answers. For the past few days, I've been trying to recover the photos and videos on my phone. The screen went completely black last week and I've restarted it thinking this would fix the problem. It didn't and now I can't even get past the PIN unlock. The phone still works when connecting with an HDMI cable, but I'm unable to get past the pin unlock.
I tried using an HDMI adapter hub and connected with a keyboard to no avail. The keyboard powered on, but anything I tried pressing on my keyboard the phone didn't respond to the keys, numbers, and all. Also even tried using a mouse.
I also tried using Samsung Dex, but I just couldn't get past the startup PIN.
What can I do to retrieve my files?
A data recovery specialist may be able to retrieve them.
Always regularly and redundantly backup critical data.Another disadvantage of not having a SD card slot as it's data if unencrypted it would by accessible
Thank you for your kind response. Would it be possible to have the screen fixed then I'd be able to have a working phone?
You're welcome.
Perhaps. That may increase the risk of data lose though. If it was me I would have written the lost data off already. I've lost a database that was 30 yo and not replaceable. Some lessons are learned the hard way.
Man, that's a terrible and awful lesson to learn. But you are right, that's the hard way. I'm going to try one last thing, I can't give up, I'm going to purchase a wireless keyboard and pray that I can type my pin in.
skyhonor said:
Man, that's a terrible and awful lesson to learn. But you are right, that's the hard way. I'm going to try one last thing, I can't give up, I'm going to purchase a wireless keyboard and pray that I can type my pin in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also connect a USB mouse, but then you have to find out where on the screen the numbers normally appear.
M1chiel said:
You can also connect a USB mouse, but then you have to find out where on the screen the numbers normally appear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Templates help.
skyhonor said:
Man, that's a terrible and awful lesson to learn. But you are right, that's the hard way. I'm going to try one last thing, I can't give up, I'm going to purchase a wireless keyboard and pray that I can type my pin in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm thrilled that my solution worked! I'm now using Samsung DEX in combination with a universal adapter hub, a wireless mouse, and keyboard, and transferring files to an external SSD. I am grateful for the advice provided by others.
Edit: After further exploration, I've realized the solution was even when the screen was black. I can still swipe up and type my pin blindly while using Samsung Dex. (The screen isn't active when not in Dex, but in Dex, it works somehow.)
Edit2: The only way to get past my pin was to blindly type my pin like this the way to get access to my phone data was to blindly accept the access from computer. (I say blindly because I could not see the what I was pressing and it was just through memory that I was able to do it)
Edit 3: If you are suffering from a dead screen issue and are unable to access the data from your phone, there is still hope. But first, you must remember your pin and where each press goes. Although you cannot see your screen, swipe up (this would allow you to type your pin). Type your pin, and if done correctly you have unlocked your phone (although you cannot see this). You should however be able to access your phone through Samsung Dex, see your screen, and access your files. Sometimes Samsung Dex just doesn't want to work. It's okay, now, connect your phone to your computer. You should see your internal storage. If not, then your phone is asking permission. (You can't see this) Simply tap on the bottom right of your phone to OK the permission. I hope this was helpful. Thank you
Some notes; a day before my screen went completely black, the top half of my phone was not touchable (the touch screen just didn't want to work.) I was very lucky the bottom half to type my pin was still working even though I could not see (just through memory).
Kindly change the thread to SOLVED thank you