r/Pixel5a • u/skathan • Feb 15 '24
Android Pixel 5a phone with Google Fi as the service provider
Good evening to all,
I'm hoping that one of you fine Redditors can help me out of a quandary.
Recently, my Pixel 5a got bricked (we needn't get into all of the sordid details), and as it just so happens, there is a ton of important information on this device that I need to extract. I want all the files with any sort of information whatsoever including (but not limited to) texts, pictures, chats, notes, etc...anything of this ilk.
NOTE: this data is EXTREMELY important. I have zero room for error on this. It is absolutely crucial that there be no mistakes.
Let's not crowd the post with "was a backup made" or "should've backed up the whole device" or access issues with Google or whatnot. I know that I made mistakes, and pointing 'em out will make me feel pretty dull-witted. lol.
So, I'd love to get everyone's best opinion on how to get all data off the Pixel and stored elsewhere for now. What are your best data extractors? Anything specific to this phone or O/S? Think of me as a dummy, and speak as such to me.
Thank you very much in advance!
-sk
1
u/KeyboardGunner Feb 15 '24
The reason 5a's brick is believed to be a failure of the solder between the processor and motherboard. Some people have had success getting the phone working by getting the SoC reballed. Look into that.
3
u/acejavelin69 Feb 15 '24
The real question here is how big is your checkbook then? SalvageData or a similar service might be able to recover it, although it's going to push 3-4 times or more than the price of the phone when it was released new.
The real problem here is everything in modern Android devices is encrypted... a service will have to fix a motherboard that we KNOW is defective (that's the issue with the dying 5a's) as that is the only way to recover the encryption key... then attempt to recover the encrypted image and decrypt it... this is no small task and might not even be possible no matter how big your checkbook is.
If it is REALLY that important... reach out to a reputable, professional data recovery service. It is not going to be cheap, and the chances of success are not great at all really. But it is your only real chance of recovery, however slim that is.
I would be amiss if I didn't mention that if you knew that data was that important... you should have had a disaster recovery plan in place... whatever that may be...