Well, I'm in a bit of a predicament.
Last week I installed a custom rom, and almost immediately after, I completely destroyed my phone's LCD and digitizer. Fortunately, the phone still functions fine, but obviously I have no screen and I can do nothing except essentially press the home button. I still hear text message tones, etc, and I can still call the phone, but obviously I can't navigate or do anything as there is no screen.
The problem is, I want to sell the back of the phone as used parts since it functions well, but the phone contains sensitive information (my contacts, SMS, etc) that can not be accessed via Windows Explorer.
I downloaded the SGS3 QCom Toolkit, but it will not recognize the phone, nor will Android Commander, because USB Debugging is disabled.
I'm not interested in retrieving anything in the phone, but I definitely want to delete the SMS, contacts, and Google login info from the phone. If this means restoring factory and loading stock rom that would be great, but I can't seem to do anything without USB debugging enabled, as no software seems to recognize the phone even with all the drivers installed.
Can anyone help? Thanks in advance!
Hi All,
My 10 y.o. son changed the lockscreen password on his Kindle Fire 2 HD 7" and is now unable to access. He has used all but 2 of the allowed unlock attempts, and is now 2 tries away from an automatic factory reset. The device has all stock settings, has not been rooted nor any other modifications. I'm trying to figure out if there is anything I can do to crack/read/reset the lockscreen PIN / password with the device in its current state, or if a factory reset is the only option? The big issue is he does not want to lose his game save data. I work in IT, and am very comfortable with both Linux & Windows command line tools. Is it possible for me to access the files on his Kindle, or to perform root modifications while unable to get past the lock screen password? I have read many posts on this forum, but cannot find one which speaks to my specific situation. Thanks in advance for any replies!
danimal71 said:
Hi All,
My 10 y.o. son changed the lockscreen password on his Kindle Fire 2 HD 7" and is now unable to access. He has used all but 2 of the allowed unlock attempts, and is now 2 tries away from an automatic factory reset. The device has all stock settings, has not been rooted nor any other modifications. I'm trying to figure out if there is anything I can do to crack/read/reset the lockscreen PIN / password with the device in its current state, or if a factory reset is the only option? The big issue is he does not want to lose his game save data. I work in IT, and am very comfortable with both Linux & Windows command line tools. Is it possible for me to access the files on his Kindle, or to perform root modifications while unable to get past the lock screen password? I have read many posts on this forum, but cannot find one which speaks to my specific situation. Thanks in advance for any replies!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.addictivetips.com/androi...e-pattern-unlock-on-android-via-adb-commands/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzdWc0ymtUU
Thanks for the link; I am not sure if USB Debugging / Enable ADB is enabled on this Kindle Fire HD device. If it is not, will this approach work? Since the lock screen password is unknown, I am not able to go into the device & check/modify this setting.
The YouTube video is not of practical use, since I am trying to avoid having to perform a factory reset.
danimal71 said:
Thanks for the link; I am not sure if USB Debugging / Enable ADB is enabled on this Kindle Fire HD device. If it is not, will this approach work? Since the lock screen password is unknown, I am not able to go into the device & check/modify this setting.
The YouTube video is not of practical use, since I am trying to avoid having to perform a factory reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the instructions there assume you have debugging enabled AND your computer is added to the list of authorized computers (on the device) to send adb commands. That's a nice little security feature Google added recently to prevent stolen devices from being hacked into
soupmagnet said:
No, the instructions there assume you have debugging enabled AND your computer is added to the list of authorized computers (on the device) to send adb commands. That's a nice little security feature Google added recently to prevent stolen devices from being hacked into
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, so if I'm reading this correctly - if I am unable to connect via ADB, I have no option except for the factory reset? Am I able to root the device while the lock screen password is unknown, or would that process also be blocked to me? The factory reset is easy enough, and I know we can reinstall his games, apps, and books - but the big problem (for my son at least!) is that he will lose all of his Dragonvale progress save data!
I have a different approach on it that may be more complicated and I don't know the full method of doing this, but if u can flash twrp onto the recovery and the custom bootloader for kf2 (is it fff?) Then in twrp u could mount the partition, plug it into your pc, and copy the data folder for that game. But I am unfamiliar with the process for modifying the boot loader on kf2's since I don't have one. I know u could probably flash twrp from fastboot, but idk if the kf2 has be booted up with adb and root to install fff. Probably could force it into recovery by softbricking it but I don't suggest doing that from fastboot because it might hard brick if u flash a bad image for all I know. Only way I can think of safely getting it to soft brick and go into twrp is to get someone else with a rooted kf2 to do something like use adb to move their framework-res.apk to sdcard and then backup the system partition while the kindle is in a broken state and pull the backup, then put their framework back, chmod it and reboot and hand u the system image that's broken so u could flash it from fastboot. Usually when you do something like this the ki dle will go into recovery. Told ya my method was really complicated and well slightly risky.
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HD running CM10.1 Tablet UI using xda-developers app
unlock lockscreen password
danimal71 said:
Hi All,
My 10 y.o. son changed the lockscreen password on his Kindle Fire 2 HD 7" and is now unable to access. He has used all but 2 of the allowed unlock attempts, and is now 2 tries away from an automatic factory reset. The device has all stock settings, has not been rooted nor any other modifications. I'm trying to figure out if there is anything I can do to crack/read/reset the lockscreen PIN / password with the device in its current state, or if a factory reset is the only option? The big issue is he does not want to lose his game save data. I work in IT, and am very comfortable with both Linux & Windows command line tools. Is it possible for me to access the files on his Kindle, or to perform root modifications while unable to get past the lock screen password? I have read many posts on this forum, but cannot find one which speaks to my specific situation. Thanks in advance for any replies!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you are an IT experts, you may try to unlock your lock screen password with some free tool, such as Ophcrack. Also you can try other Windows Password Recovery tools to keep all data safe. I got this Youtube video: youtu.be/QyGptsC3VLg
So, I have an issue with my backlight... I'm running Cyanogenmod 10 and just switched off my automatic backlight. However, for some reason, that resulted in the backlight being set so dark that I can't see anything on the screen... I managed to reboot the phone, but as I kinda expected, that didn't help anything. I can see the boot logo when rebooting, but at some point the screen just goes dark.
I don't want to have to factory reset. Is there some way of resetting the backlight settings? Some googling seems to indicate that I would need to edit settings.db, but which key needs to be changed? The phone is currently off, I have access to the recovery (TWRP), but that's about it. I don't have ADB enabled. And to make it even more fun, it seems I'm unable to mount /data to USB storage, sooo... i can't get to the settings.db file? Any other way?
EDIT: OK, fixed it myself. Apparently, the sun is bright enough to read the screen anyway.
So here is my situation:
The screen of my nexus 5 broke to the point it's basically unusable. You can sometimes see the lockscreen when you press it at a certain point but the touchscreen is unusable. When
the screen is turned on it also starts pressing on random places on the screen. I suspect this is because of a short circuit?
Anyway I really need my data back. Not just the pictures but also contact's (Google don't save all my contacts in the cloud)
I don't necessarily want to repair it because I have an other one one in mind but the data on it is really important to me.
I managed to get the screen unlocked once via a keyboard and then copying the pictures via windows but the phone
would lock really fast again disallowing me to copy my pictures.
side note: my phone is rooted.
Any advice? How do I recover my data?
Thanks in advance.
If you can just get it to the bootloader screen (press volume down button when powering on), you could use a tool like WUG's root toolkit to do a backup, or just get into recovery and back up files that way.
Also, if you can boot into your custom recovery, you can then attach to your computer and copy files from storage that way (pictures at least).
Not sure about your contacts... why doesn't google back them up, it's set up that way by default, unless you turned it off.
g01851 said:
If you can just get it to the bootloader screen (press volume down button when powering on), you could use a tool like WUG's root toolkit to do a backup, or just get into recovery and back up files that way.
Also, if you can boot into your custom recovery, you can then attach to your computer and copy files from storage that way (pictures at least).
Not sure about your contacts... why doesn't google back them up, it's set up that way by default, unless you turned it off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that is it basically impossible to see anything on the screen.
Alright, this is a weird one! Only of few instances of the mystical "pixel is starting..." screen show up online and I'm mostly out of ideas at this point.
First, some background:
I was still on the December 5th update (QQ1A.191205.008). Stock, unlocked, rooted with Magisk. I hadn't yet flashed the patched Magisk boot image, it was running only by fastboot boot pachted.img. The only root-related App I had installed was Battery Charge Limiter.
What happened:
I created a custom theme & changed my wallpaper. I then used Activity Launcher to launch the "hidden" System UI Tuner. While in there I disabled the clock in the system tray. I also went into the "Plugins" menu and toggled the "enable" toggle on, then off (I thought more plugin options, whatever they may be, were hidden since they were not enabled...). I fiddled with a few more settings hiding/showing icons and hit the home button.
When I returned back to the homescreen, my wallpaper had changed back to the default Pink/purple Pixel 3 wallpaper. "Huh? System UI Tuner must have reset this." I changed the wallpaper again but it didn't even change. After a few more attempts (tried changing just lockscreen wallpaper, just homescreen, both; nothing would actually change), I rebooted the phone.
Upon booting back up, I was greeted with a "Pixel is starting..." screen that won't go away. This occurs before the lock screen, prior to letting me enter my PIN.
Attempted recovery steps already taken
Rebooted many times. (Which which would have booted the factory boot.img; see above background)
Tried booting into "safe mode." (Same "Pixel is starting..." screen comes up with the words "Safe mode" in the bottom left)
sideloaded the most recent OTA for my device (QQ1A.200105.002)
Booted corresponding Magisk patched boot.img
Has this happened to anyone before? Can anyone think of a way recover anything at this point? Luckily I had adb enabled before this happened and it still functions; logcat doesn't show anything that seems helpful, though. Since I cannot unlock the device, I can't use adb to recover any data. I really wish adb had a means of unlocking via PIN!
My next step is likely going to be to flash a factory image (probably QQ1A.191205.008 as that was what I was using prior to this happening) with "-w" removed and praying I can at least unlock the phone.
Data recovered!
Edit: Wow! I wasn't able to fix the "Pixel is starting..." issue, but I was able to use adb to recovery all my data. I will follow up with what I did shortly! Dodged a bullet... unbelievable!
I couldn't fix the "Pixel is starting..." issue. Factory Flashing (after removing -w) QQ1A.191205.008 resulted resulted in being stuck at the "G" screen. I flashed the QQ1A.200105.002 factory image (again with -w removed) and was left in the same "Pixel is starting..." state.
Here is where things get interesting:
Over adb I launched the Settings app:
Code:
adb shell am start -a android.settings.SETTINGS
Next, I went into "Security," which prompted for my PIN, and then removed the screen lock. After doing this, I was able to get into /sdcard in the ADB shell, something that was not possible before.
Back in the settings app, I enabled USB File Transfer and copied all my files & photos off. I was also able to launch apps from within the apps list in Settings. This let me export settings/data from other apps that allowed it. :good:
So it seems that entering your PIN in the Settings app also unlocks the phone!
Thanks for describing this and how you ended up resolving it. I am seeing the same "Pixel is starting". Flashing the (March 2020) factory image didn't fix mine either.
I was able to get into Settings by pulling down the notification shade while the "Pixel is starting" message shows. I removed my fingerprints and PIN.
I don't seem to be able to launch apps from within the apps list in Settings. Can you describe how you did that?
I've tried this:
Settings-->Apps & notifications-->App info--> {select any app and tried clicking on icon at top of screen} Nothing. Poked around a bit and tried various things but couldn't figure out how to launch an app from here. Thanks in advance.
docdl said:
I don't seem to be able to launch apps from within the apps list in Settings. Can you describe how you did that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There should be a "Open" shortcut just below the app icon to the left of "Uninstall" (or "Disable" if it is a built-in app).
_Ra1n_ said:
Alright, this is a weird one! Only of few instances of the mystical "pixel is starting..." screen show up online and I'm mostly out of ideas at this point.
First, some background:
I was still on the December 5th update (QQ1A.191205.008). Stock, unlocked, rooted with Magisk. I hadn't yet flashed the patched Magisk boot image, it was running only by fastboot boot pachted.img. The only root-related App I had installed was Battery Charge Limiter.
What happened:
I created a custom theme & changed my wallpaper. I then used Activity Launcher to launch the "hidden" System UI Tuner. While in there I disabled the clock in the system tray. I also went into the "Plugins" menu and toggled the "enable" toggle on, then off (I thought more plugin options, whatever they may be, were hidden since they were not enabled...). I fiddled with a few more settings hiding/showing icons and hit the home button.
When I returned back to the homescreen, my wallpaper had changed back to the default Pink/purple Pixel 3 wallpaper. "Huh? System UI Tuner must have reset this." I changed the wallpaper again but it didn't even change. After a few more attempts (tried changing just lockscreen wallpaper, just homescreen, both; nothing would actually change), I rebooted the phone.
Upon booting back up, I was greeted with a "Pixel is starting..." screen that won't go away. This occurs before the lock screen, prior to letting me enter my PIN.
Attempted recovery steps already taken
Rebooted many times. (Which which would have booted the factory boot.img; see above background)
Tried booting into "safe mode." (Same "Pixel is starting..." screen comes up with the words "Safe mode" in the bottom left)
sideloaded the most recent OTA for my device (QQ1A.200105.002)
Booted corresponding Magisk patched boot.img
Has this happened to anyone before? Can anyone think of a way recover anything at this point? Luckily I had adb enabled before this happened and it still functions; logcat doesn't show anything that seems helpful, though. Since I cannot unlock the device, I can't use adb to recover any data. I really wish adb had a means of unlocking via PIN!
My next step is likely going to be to flash a factory image (probably QQ1A.191205.008 as that was what I was using prior to this happening) with "-w" removed and praying I can at least unlock the phone.
Data recovered!
Edit: Wow! I wasn't able to fix the "Pixel is starting..." issue, but I was able to use adb to recovery all my data. I will follow up with what I did shortly! Dodged a bullet... unbelievable!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey! I just ran into the same dilemma. I toggled the "plugins" setting in System UI tuner (by mistake), and my wallpaper went black. Then I decided to just reboot. I'm in the same "Pixel is starting" loop you described. I'm also stock, rooted with Magisk, on the January update. I just found that I can get into adb, but I'm a loss of what do to from here. I can't believe toggling a system UI tuner setting could cause a catastrophic crash. How did you end up solving this? Were you able to flash the full factory image while preserving your data? I honestly have no idea what do to at the moment. I'm gonna have to use an older device and research this more after work.
Edit: I was able to remove my security PIN via launching Settings through ADB, and therefore getting into some apps. I guess I'm more bothered by having to set up the device from scratch then I am losing any data. So time consuming. I'm assuming you ended up wiping the phone entirely and flashing a full factory image in the end? Geez. I miss my Moto devices and TWRP...
Ditamae said:
Hey! I just ran into the same dilemma. I toggled the "plugins" setting in System UI tuner (by mistake), and my wallpaper went black. Then I decided to just reboot. I'm in the same "Pixel is starting" loop you described.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting! Exact same order of events.
Ditamae said:
Edit: I was able to remove my security PIN via launching Settings through ADB, and therefore getting into some apps. I guess I'm more bothered by having to set up the device from scratch then I am losing any data. So time consuming. I'm assuming you ended up wiping the phone entirely and flashing a full factory image in the end? Geez. I miss my Moto devices and TWRP...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I wiped completely. Used it as an excuse to flash LineageOS, something I had been planing on doing for a while anyway. I load very little on my devices to begin with so really its just typing in a few passwords.
Since you have root, if you want to mess around with trying to fix it without resetting, does the following directory exist on your device: /data/data/com.android.systemui.tuner
If so, take a look at the files within; that should be where SystemUI Tuner saves the settings you have selected. Maybe rename the directory & reboot so the settings can't be loaded?
Edit: Don't try messing around with anything until you're sure you got all of the data off the device though!
_Ra1n_ said:
Interesting! Exact same order of events.
Yes, I wiped completely. Used it as an excuse to flash LineageOS, something I had been planing on doing for a while anyway. I load very little on my devices to begin with so really its just typing in a few passwords.
Since you have root, if you want to mess around with trying to fix it without resetting, does the following directory exist on your device: /data/data/com.android.systemui.tuner
If so, take a look at the files within; that should be where SystemUI Tuner saves the settings you have selected. Maybe rename the directory & reboot so the settings can't be loaded?
Edit: Don't try messing around with anything until you're sure you got all of the data off the device though!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a great idea about renaming the directory. When I'm home from work I will try to figure out how to copy internal user data to my PC and then I'll look into that directory. Do you know how to enable file transfer via adb or thru the Settings app (launched via adb)?
I did utilize the system UI tuner to disable my alarm icon from showing in the status bar, so I'm hoping I can perhaps find the file associated with the plugin specifically and rename that. Hmm. Only this is systemless... Might not be possible. This is my first rooted device without full read/write capabilities. Not sure how I feel about systemless.
Otherwise, other than time, the only bummer to all this is that I think I'm going to lose the Magisk module YouTube Vanced, as it's not longer supported.
Anyway, thanks very much for your help so far.
Ditamae said:
That's a great idea about renaming the directory. When I'm home from work I will try to figure out how to copy internal user data to my PC and then I'll look into that directory. Do you know how to enable file transfer via adb or thru the Settings app (launched via adb)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your luck is as good as mine, you should be able to just plug in the device and enable file transfer (Settings > Connected Devices > USB > "Use USB For ... File Transfer."
Note that, as explained above, I had to remove my security PIN in settings before that worked, though.
_Ra1n_ said:
Since you have root, if you want to mess around with trying to fix it without resetting, does the following directory exist on your device: /data/data/com.android.systemui.tuner
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to backup my data, and use Solid Explorer with root to search through system files. But, I don't see that directory. I see: data/data/com.android.systemui but no systemui.tuner. Any other idea where those systemui tuner files might be lurking? I'm an RN with a kindergartener home from school, and as much as I love tinkering with Android, now is not a good time.
_Ra1n_ said:
Interesting! Exact same order of events.
Since you have root, if you want to mess around with trying to fix it without resetting, does the following directory exist on your device: /data/data/com.android.systemui.tuner
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wondering if you have any other troubleshooting ideas before I install a full factory image...
My device boots now, partially. It seems that after I disabled lockscreen security, my phone boots, but without all gesture navigation, status bar, notification overlay. Essentially all SystemUI elements appear missing. The devices behaves as it did immediately after I accidentally toggled the UI tuner "plugins" setting, before I rebooted. It's unusable as a daily, but I did get my data. As I said previously, I could not find the directory: /data/data/com.android.systemui.tuner. Seems odd. I wonder where those setting preferences are hiding. Any help/ideas would be much appreciated.
Ditamae said:
Just wondering if you have any other troubleshooting ideas before I install a full factory image...
My device boots now, partially. It seems that after I disabled lockscreen security, my phone boots, but without all gesture navigation, status bar, notification overlay. Essentially all SystemUI elements appear missing. The devices behaves as it did immediately after I accidentally toggled the UI tuner "plugins" setting, before I rebooted. It's unusable as a daily, but I did get my data. As I said previously, I could not find the directory: /data/data/com.android.systemui.tuner. Seems odd. I wonder where those setting preferences are hiding. Any help/ideas would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the slow reply. Unfortunately I'm mostly out of ideas.
I'd ask in the general Android Help subforum: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help
You'll likely get more eyes on the question (where does SystemUI Tuner store it's settings & how to reset them) and hopefully someone with better knowledge on Android settings/preferences can provide some incite.
Homeboy76 said:
Guide
Do #4 'keep data', then #9 to root.
Make sure you have the latest SDK platform-tools, there is a link in the guide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flashing the factory image with -w removed to keep the data won't help. The issue is that SystemUI Tuner saved some setting (related to enabling the mysterious "Enable Plugins" option) that prevents the phone from completely booting up. A factory flash retaining data will retain the setting that SystemUI Tuner screwed up.
_Ra1n_ said:
Flashing the factory image with -w removed to keep the data won't help. The issue is that SystemUI Tuner saved some setting (related to enabling the mysterious "Enable Plugins" option) that prevents the phone from completely booting up. A factory flash retaining data will retain the setting that SystemUI Tuner screwed up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@Ditamae Rain is correct. I have edited my post.