My Droid Turbo is Broken and I just want my Photos!

[belial]

I just bought a droid turbo for a trip to london, and I took all these absolutely amazing pictures, tons of pictures. I specifically threw down the money for this expensive phone for the nicer camera, had I not been just going to London I probably would've went with the Maxx or something instead.

When I got home, someone threw my turbo against the wall (don't worry, I'm safe and it's over). It doesn't appear damaged at first glance, but at certain angles you can see the screen is cracked 'inside', from the point of impact around the power button.

No display, not a big deal, I've replaced broken screens and digitizers a couple times before, but when I plug it into the PC, it doesn't come up. In fact, the phone just reboots constantly in a boot cycle when hooked up to power or USB/PC. For hourrssss. And every once in a while, it'll just let out an extremely obnoxious ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR until I hold the power/volume down or maybe just power key.

I try to grab the pictures when it's hooked up, but it never stays on long enough before rebooting that I can grab any of the pics (I might see a couple pics load up sometimes).

I tried to take it apart but I don't have the proper torx at the moment, not sure what I'd even have to replace if I did though or if I could possibly somehow access the memory.

Thanks. I just want my photos. Best case scenario I can replace or fix something and just sell this phone. I have a replacement on back order via insurance so that's cool.

 

[xeene]

Contact Motorola they might be able to recover the data, for a price.

 

[belial]

They said they would not be able to recover the data since they said it sounds like there's hardware damage. The motorola guy said try plugging it into the wall rather than PC, maybe the battery just isn't getting enough juice via USB and that's why it keeps turning itself off then on, but no, it still bootloops when plugged into the wall (I was plugging into usb 3.0 with increased amperage anyways so it should've been getting a good charge as it was).

I just want to know what hardware is broken. It bootloops nonstop if it's plugged into any power source, wall or the PC. I'll get a torx screw later today, hopefully maybe just the power button is crushed up and just manually turning the phone on and off or something easy like that.

They told me to call verizon to get a free 1 year warranty replacement (as in i don't even need insurance), but when i called verizon they said because the screen is cracked, it is physical damage and is not covered under warranty.

I'm so pissed. I took amazing pictures in london and I feel like those memories are forever gone because of this. I had a handstand in many major places in London, it would have been really cool as an album.

 

[94lt1]

DON'T OPEN IT UP!!!!!!!! you'll void the warranty

I believe that as far as the phone.. With the purchase of the turbo.. There's a way year period of "no questions asked" device replacement for a broken screen.. That's why so many people are going naked (without a case) so. You can get the device replaced for free as long as you got it through vzw...

Now as far as data recovery.. I have no way to help you there..

Stay on verizon.. If you take no for an answer.. That's the only answer you'll get.. The phone has a no questions asked replacement for a cracked screen.... Dropped.. Kicked.. Thrown.. Whatever.. It should be covered.. That's what I was told.. So.. Don't take no for an answer..

 

[94lt1]

The only other thing I can add is .. Perhaps in the future, you might consider uploading photos to a cloud as soon as they're taken? That's really the only "backup" we have with a device with no expandable storage.. Unfortunately..there are many free options available.

I'm very sorry about your pictures being lost...

 

[belial]

Hm okay I'll call again and ask fora replacement and just say it's boot cycling. How will they know I opened it? I mean I'm okay paying $100 for the photos on there basically by opening it and then going the insurance route for my phone. I just bought the right torx screwdrivers.

Should have had the photos on back-up, that was dumb. I got it the day before london so I was so busy in london i didn't even think about back-ups.

 

[94lt1]

I have to let you know if you opened it up.. And they send a replacement.. If they figure that out.. They will charge you full retail for the replacement.. Just putting that out there...

 

[belial]

How would they know I opened it? I don't see any sort of indicators. I haven't removed the screws yet but I don't see any indicators in tear-down videos.

 

[leeshor]

The problem is that the simple act of taking it apart won't get your photos back anyway. They are stored on a chip on the system board. There is no drive for you to take out. Once you've gone far enough to try to extract the motherboard it will be easy for them to tell, and you still don't have the photos.

 

[94lt1]

They can pretty much look at the screws and tell.. Because most people have a tendency of rounding out the screws...so I'd just not remove the screws...

 

[pc747]

Screen cracked need to recover very important data

 

[FoxKat]

The only other thing I can add is .. Perhaps in the future, you might consider uploading photos to a cloud as soon as they're taken? That's really the only "backup" we have with a device with no expandable storage.. Unfortunately..there are many free options available.

I'm very sorry about your pictures being lost...

I'll second the cloud backup but with the size of these pictures and videos with that 21.7mp imager, data plans get eaten up very quick. There is at least one other option that seems to be having a hard time catching on...USB OTG. I have it and it works...a plug in single that allows direct transfer to a removable or fixed SD card device.

There is yet another solution...portable wireless cloud backups. There are several out there.

As far as the problems with that phone, it could be a dislodged heat sink. A heat sink could become desoldered from the board and partially detached from the chip or chips heat sinks are designed to protect due to the shock of impact. The chips depend on full face contact to dissipate heat. This would make sense since it sometimes completes the boot but will only work for a short period of time before rebooting again.

The rebooting would be the standard safety measure incorporated in the phone that forces a reboot when the CPU or other key chips exceeds a certain temperature. The reasoning is that it may be an app gone rogue, and that by rebooting it protects the component from damage and upon reboot gives the user the chance to resolve the problem by reinstalling it or uninstalling it, or boring into safe mode.

Another possibility is a cracked board, or partially desoldered chip. Then when booting as it begins to heat up things expand and the intermittent connection ultimately breaks electrical connection triggering the reboot. In any event, it sounds heat-related.

You could try one of two things to see. One is to place the phone in the freezer for a few hours, in a closed zip lock bag. Then get you computer and USB cable ready to transfer data and act quick. You may get a few minutes before it starts bootlooping. The other method could work either by itself or in combination with the freezer. There is spray that is designed for just that purpose, freeze spray... Freeze Spray within Dusters Freeze Sprays - MCM Electronics Category

Either way, if it works at all its an indication that what I suspect is the problem is accurate.

Yet another problem could be a cracked or desoldered RAM chip. The rebooting would happen when the CPU and OS try to access the memory location that is inaccessible due to the damage. A similar symptom happens on desktop systems with bad RAM. Such a hard failure causes an instant BSOD or reboot.

Sent from my Droid Turbo on Tapatalk.

 

[1coopgt]

Hey Fox what is "Desilvered chip" ? I've been working in the electronics industry for 28 years (working with PCB) and this is the first time I've heard the term. When I google it nothing comes up . Did Tapatalk and your phone auto correct some word. Are you talking about solder fractures to the BGA's ?

 

[PereDroid]

Stay on verizon.. If you take no for an answer.. That's the only answer you'll get.. The phone has a no questions asked replacement for a cracked screen.... Dropped.. Kicked.. Thrown.. Whatever.. It should be covered.. That's what I was told.. So.. Don't take no for an answer..

The actual warranty is from Moto though, not VZW. VZW should, absolutely without question, replace it for you through Moto. But if they don't, I have no doubt Moto would replace it.

I learned the hard way about not using something to backup. Lost my kids first crawl. Now, Dropbox is usually the 2nd thing I install on a new phone.

 

[94lt1]

The actual warranty is from Moto though, not VZW. VZW should, absolutely without question, replace it for you through Moto. But if they don't, I have no doubt Moto would replace it.

I learned the hard way about not using something to backup. Lost my kids first crawl. Now, Dropbox is usually the 2nd thing I install on a new phone.

This is correct.. But it was vzw who made it a major selling point with their offer of a free replacement at anytime within 2 years... When you purchased the device.. For a screen issue..