Bricked nexus 5x
June 28, 2017 6:20 AM Subscribe
I got back from a big vacation (my first in over ten years), where I took hundreds of photos on my Nexus 5x phone. I had been waiting to install an android update so that I could back them all up, but then the update installed itself... and bricked my phone. Can I recover my photos? I now have none of the trip, and I had plans for those photographs.
The phone will not turn on. It hangs on the Google screen and then shuts off. I can sometimes get it to boot in the recovery mode, but I have no idea what to do there. I see lots of sketchy looking programs that can "help" me with this that I download to my computer, but none of them seem particularly reliable. Is there a good way to get my photographs?
The phone is a Nexus 5x and the android update it installed that I did not want was 7.1.2.
No, the files were not automatically backed up anywhere.
The phone will not turn on. It hangs on the Google screen and then shuts off. I can sometimes get it to boot in the recovery mode, but I have no idea what to do there. I see lots of sketchy looking programs that can "help" me with this that I download to my computer, but none of them seem particularly reliable. Is there a good way to get my photographs?
The phone is a Nexus 5x and the android update it installed that I did not want was 7.1.2.
No, the files were not automatically backed up anywhere.
My Nexus 5x did this to me six weeks ago, although I'd allowed the Goog to backup all my stuff. I wasn't able to discover any fixes for the problem short of getting a new phone from google or LG.
I hope you have better luck than I did.
(These phones brick often, way too often for a flagship phone from Google/Android, and they should be ashamed. Seems typical for an LG product, though, and I should have known better.)
posted by notyou at 6:41 AM on June 28, 2017
I hope you have better luck than I did.
(These phones brick often, way too often for a flagship phone from Google/Android, and they should be ashamed. Seems typical for an LG product, though, and I should have known better.)
posted by notyou at 6:41 AM on June 28, 2017
Response by poster: Plugging the phone in to the computer, even if it is in the Recovery mode screen, does nothing. I don't have a way of accessing files on the computer.
The reason I waited to install the update was because I know these phones brick often, and I do not know why it automatically installed itself. I am really bummed.
posted by sockermom at 6:56 AM on June 28, 2017
The reason I waited to install the update was because I know these phones brick often, and I do not know why it automatically installed itself. I am really bummed.
posted by sockermom at 6:56 AM on June 28, 2017
Best answer: If you can get it into recovery mode, then you can probably use adb to pull the user data off the internal sdcard partition.
Boot the phone into recovery, plug it into a computer & download the Android Platform Tools from Google. Then, if you’re lucky, a simple
posted by pharm at 7:02 AM on June 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
Boot the phone into recovery, plug it into a computer & download the Android Platform Tools from Google. Then, if you’re lucky, a simple
from the command prompt will copy everything off the sdcard partition onto your PC.adb pull /sdcard
posted by pharm at 7:02 AM on June 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
Sorry, but you are probably screwed.
Two options:
- are you absolutely sure the photos aren't backed up? If you have the standard 'Photos' app installed, a Google product, then your photos should be auto backed up. Go here and see: photos.google.com
- the only option is a reverse SSH job to copy the entire userdata section of your phone to your computer. I have no idea if this is possible but if it is then the WUGS Toolkit should be able to help you do it. Install the toolkit following all the instructions, plug in your phone, load it up and check out the various 'backup' options ('Create Android Backup File' and grab everything... or you might need to do this in the 'Advanced' tools section for finer detail). You only need the UserData section of your phone, if it isn't destroyed. Then you should be able to extract the photos from it somehow once it is on your computer.
Let us know how you get on.
The Nexus 5X is prone to motherboard failures, but apparently they extended the warranty because of this. Get it replaced and back up often :-)
posted by 0bvious at 7:05 AM on June 28, 2017
Two options:
- are you absolutely sure the photos aren't backed up? If you have the standard 'Photos' app installed, a Google product, then your photos should be auto backed up. Go here and see: photos.google.com
- the only option is a reverse SSH job to copy the entire userdata section of your phone to your computer. I have no idea if this is possible but if it is then the WUGS Toolkit should be able to help you do it. Install the toolkit following all the instructions, plug in your phone, load it up and check out the various 'backup' options ('Create Android Backup File' and grab everything... or you might need to do this in the 'Advanced' tools section for finer detail). You only need the UserData section of your phone, if it isn't destroyed. Then you should be able to extract the photos from it somehow once it is on your computer.
Let us know how you get on.
The Nexus 5X is prone to motherboard failures, but apparently they extended the warranty because of this. Get it replaced and back up often :-)
posted by 0bvious at 7:05 AM on June 28, 2017
Hmm. Some noodling online suggests that adb pull is only available from a custom recovery. So that route is probably closed to you.
posted by pharm at 7:07 AM on June 28, 2017
posted by pharm at 7:07 AM on June 28, 2017
As a last resort you could try is flashing an OTA image from Google. This is not supposed to wipe the user partition & might enable you to get your data back. OTA images + instructions here. Just flash the most recent one.
posted by pharm at 7:09 AM on June 28, 2017
posted by pharm at 7:09 AM on June 28, 2017
Best answer: This doesn't help now, however if you'd rooted your phone and had a custom recovery installed, you'd be able to access your files via usb in recovery.
Actually, it looks like possibly via stock recovery you might be able to do something. If there's an option like "apply update via adb." then I think you're in luck. Possible a minimal adb daemon will be running to only allow sideloading, but possibly file copying will still be available.
Install adb on your computer/laptop (sorry, I don't use windows/mac systems, either google "install google adb" (and include your OS), or possible look at the links from http://lifehacker.com/google-finally-lets-you-download-adb-and-fastboot-as-st-1790840830.
Once you have adb installed on your system and if your recovery is cooperating, then try running the following commands:
On preview, I would not recommend trying to install the OTA via google; you'll likely need to run "oem unlock" to be able to manually flash the OTA, and that *will* wipe your sdcard.
posted by nobeagle at 7:27 AM on June 28, 2017
Actually, it looks like possibly via stock recovery you might be able to do something. If there's an option like "apply update via adb." then I think you're in luck. Possible a minimal adb daemon will be running to only allow sideloading, but possibly file copying will still be available.
Install adb on your computer/laptop (sorry, I don't use windows/mac systems, either google "install google adb" (and include your OS), or possible look at the links from http://lifehacker.com/google-finally-lets-you-download-adb-and-fastboot-as-st-1790840830.
Once you have adb installed on your system and if your recovery is cooperating, then try running the following commands:
adb pull /DCIM/ . adb pull /sdcard/DCIM/ .And actually, instead of the 2nd command maybe to "adb pull /sdcard/ ." if there's any data files beyond camera that you might want to grab.
On preview, I would not recommend trying to install the OTA via google; you'll likely need to run "oem unlock" to be able to manually flash the OTA, and that *will* wipe your sdcard.
posted by nobeagle at 7:27 AM on June 28, 2017
Doesn't answer your question, but confirming I had this exact issue with my Nexus 5x after one of the last major updates. I contacted Google support (Project Fi); it's a known issue, and they issued me an Out of Warranty replacement at no cost. Now I'm scared to install 7.1.2 ....
posted by voiceofreason at 7:29 AM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by voiceofreason at 7:29 AM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Its a known hardware problem with the nexus 5X, it is unrelated to software updates, but has to do with the solder on the cpu. Unfortunately there is no way to fix it. While you can get warranty replacements they are doomed to fail eventually, mine replacement lasted less than 6 months. If financially feasible i would switch to a different phone instead of relying on a replacement for reliability reasons.
Some people have reported leaving it in a freezer for a while to let it boot briefly, but i don't know if you could get hundreds of photos off it.
Sorry for your loss :( I gave up on the 5x after having 2 fail at inopportune times. I still miss the great camera on it.
posted by TheAdamist at 8:34 AM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Some people have reported leaving it in a freezer for a while to let it boot briefly, but i don't know if you could get hundreds of photos off it.
Sorry for your loss :( I gave up on the 5x after having 2 fail at inopportune times. I still miss the great camera on it.
posted by TheAdamist at 8:34 AM on June 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
This happened to me a few months ago. I tried every trick I could find on the internet to recover my photos, and nothing worked. I took it to the local phone repair place and they tried everything they knew, and nothing worked. I sent it back to LG and they replaced the motherboard, which fixed the phone, but of course removed all my photos/data.
Wish I had better news - they should offer money back on these, imo.
posted by tryniti at 9:42 AM on June 28, 2017
Wish I had better news - they should offer money back on these, imo.
posted by tryniti at 9:42 AM on June 28, 2017
For the future, this is one reason I keep all my phone pix on an actual SD card. Any card reader can get at them.
posted by trinity8-director at 9:43 AM on June 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by trinity8-director at 9:43 AM on June 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
Oh, i forgot to add, the term for this hardware failure on the nexus 5X is "bootloop", in case you want to search further on the problem.
posted by TheAdamist at 10:12 AM on June 28, 2017
posted by TheAdamist at 10:12 AM on June 28, 2017
Best answer: Have you tried the freezer or hair dryer fix?
http://hackaday.com/2017/03/21/fix-a-brick-fighting-the-nexus-5x-bootloop/
posted by pdoege at 11:17 AM on June 28, 2017
http://hackaday.com/2017/03/21/fix-a-brick-fighting-the-nexus-5x-bootloop/
posted by pdoege at 11:17 AM on June 28, 2017
Response by poster: Oh, man! After a day of noodling, swearing, finger-crossing, and phone-freezing (in two senses: it kept freezing, and I kept sticking it in the freezer to cool it down), I was able to get the thing to turn on and stay on long enough to turn on airplane mode, switch on USB debugging, allow my computer access through the USB, and then use the pull command to grab my photos. All of them. New phone comes tomorrow, and I will be more vigilant about backing up in the future.
posted by sockermom at 11:41 AM on June 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by sockermom at 11:41 AM on June 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by k8t at 6:23 AM on June 28, 2017