0

I have a broken phone which doesn't even switch on. I would like to get all the data from the phone, is there a way to remove flash memory from motherboard and read all the data?

My phone was an Asus ZenFone Max M1 Pro, no root privileges, Android 8.0 I think.

Robert
  • 20,025
  • 6
  • 47
  • 66
Mattia Monari
  • 9
  • 2
  • 2
    As alecxs already pointed out phones that are shipped with Android 5+ are by default encrypted. On modern devices the encryption key is in a special compartment of the CPU, hence desoldering the flash memory is useless as the contained user data is encrypted and can't be read without the original CPU chip it has been encrypted with. – Robert Nov 29 '20 at 11:06
  • in case you can get device back to life, find prog_ufs_firehose_sdm636_ddr file and test point location for your device, there is a small chance to inject (AVB signed) modified boot/recovery with adb enabled (expert only). in case it reaches at least a boot state where data is successfully decrypted you can adb pull your files – alecxs Nov 29 '20 at 11:14
  • @alecxs in case i can get my device back to life I should also get my data back, am I wrong? Don't need necessarily to flash modified recovery in order to acces the storage. I'm now gonna try to find out the problem in the hardware (if it is there). Trying to connect the phone to a computer, it doesn't give any signs of life – Mattia Monari Nov 29 '20 at 12:47
  • 1
    @IrfanLatif thanks, this looks interesting. I'm gonna give a look to this ad well – Mattia Monari Nov 29 '20 at 12:47
  • https://forum.gsmdevelopers.com/romdevelopers/87284-romdevelopers-com-08-feb-2020-updates.html – alecxs Dec 06 '20 at 22:42
  • @alecxs what's that? Tried to give a look but i only found some firmawares and libraries. – Mattia Monari Dec 07 '20 at 11:59
  • @alecxs I didn't know what EDL mode was until now, so i googled it and find some infos. As the acronym suggests EDL enable me to get to the Download Mode of my phone with some kind of privileges. And i also find out that i can enter in EDL mode shorting hardware test points on my phone's motherboard. But i was wondering: do i have more chanches to get my phone on trying to enter EDL since it is sort of a lower level "booting mode"? And in case i manage to switch it on in EDL mode, what could i do to get my data? Flashing new custom boot img (like TWRP)? – Mattia Monari Dec 07 '20 at 13:16
  • I've just disassembled my phone, i'm now gonna try to clean motherboard circuits and trying to replace the battery. I hope that will at least make my phone boot on and then i will try some software alternatives. Thanks @alecxs – Mattia Monari Dec 08 '20 at 11:22

0 Answers0