SM-N986U1 5G turned into brick - Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Real Life Review

I put phone into overnight charge and had a black screen of death in the morning. Needless to say that I was taking better care of the phone than of myself Good news it was still under warranty, bad news motherboard has to be replaced so all of my info for the last few years is gone. Since I never backed it up, ALL except for pictures on flash card goes into garbage at Samsung repair place in Texas. During the past month phone acted strange 2 or 3 times started freezing for no reason I guess it was THE SIGN that it turns into typical Note 4 soon. Had faith in Samsung since Note 2, Note 20 blew it, oh well.

It should be rock solid stable. When you see behavior like that many times it's the only warning you get before a crash and burn.
You have a SD card slot, why weren't you using it as a data drive?
All critical data goes here. Only loaded apps and the download folder should be on the internal memory. The DCIM files should be transferred to the data drive regularly. After downloaded files are vetted they too are transferred to the data drive to be archived.
The data drive is then redundantly backed up to at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC on a regular basis. Never clone or compress backup files as it will damage some file types/data bases especially media ones. Never encrypt or password protect backup data as you are the one most likely to be locked out!!!
You need to implement a well thought out, comprehensive plan to prevent data lose in the future. There are only two kinds of PC users, those who have lost critical data and those that wiil... been there, done that... a whole data base spanning years
I have over a dozen backup hdds in various locations. I also use a .5tb OTG flashstick for "dirty backups" of my SD card. The PC I use to copy backups is always offline from the internet to help prevent malware breaches. Hdds should be stored in a cool, dry place preferably in earth grounded metal boxes ie a safe or ammo can preferable wrapped in antistatic bubble wrap or the hdd's original plastic shell if it had one.
Try asking, begging Samsung to do data recovery on the old mobo, you might get lucky.
They have the capability at some level to do so.
Going forward never put yourself is this position again as it is a painful reality. More lessons from the school of hard knocks... meh.

Yes 512Gb flash card almost empty. So what program for data drive/backup would you suggest?

toshik1 said:
Yes 512Gb flash card almost empty. So what program for data drive/backup would you suggest?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I manually cut/paste everything. I don't like surprises. My file organization has evolved as a direct result of this
Never have just one backup copy... you will get burned.
If you find a reliable incremental file backup app that can cross platform with PC let me know.
The holy grail...

Related

sdcard, encryption, backups?

I wonder if the encrypted sdcard access will be exactly like wp7.....
if the phone is damaged, and all my files/pictures have not been mirrored yet.....
can I still put the card into a reader and get them off?
I watched another thread and it wasn't clear if card access and encryption will be as restrictive as it currently is. a damaged touch screen alone could mean allllll my pictures would be gone, as there is no way to access them.
I know about syncing, but that doesn't always happen 5 minutes before someone drops their phone at a wedding
At least by what we heard it seems that the phones that do have a SDCard-Slot will use regular SD-Cards - that is to say: FAT formatted so you should be able to take it out and use on your PC. What we don't know yet is how data will end up on the card if you use it on the phone. I guess there will be a setting allowing you to store pictures/videos on the SD-card instead of in the phone's memory but you won't be storing App data there as at least in the Leaked SDK some time back Apps were only able to read from the SD-Card but not to write to it.
hmm, sounds like real phone backups still aren't going to be possible.
sigh
Given that Microsoft was specifically looking for people to improve the Backup experience and that there are at least some Cloud Backup capabilities that were leaked I actually believe that we will see much improved Backup possibilities - this has nothing to do with the SD-Card support. But as we don't know any details yet I did not mention that.
Given that Microsoft was specifically looking for people to improve the Backup experience and that there are at least some Cloud Backup capabilities that were leaked I actually believe that we will see much improved Backup possibilities - this has nothing to do with the SD-Card support. But as we don't know any details yet I did not mention that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cloud backup has very little appeal to me. an imaging of the phone to sdcard is simple, effective, and easy enough to encrypt if security is an issue.
why Microsoft is opposed (or hasn't thought of) simple sdcard backups is beyond me.
I can't imagine waiting an hour ( and the data used) for a cloud solution to mirror a persons phone from a damaged phone to a new, undamaged device.

Recover deleted photos from microsd card?

Good evening. I had some photos deleted from a microsd card. Does anyone have any experience as far as recovering? Thanks much.
Try Recuva
Try an app call diskdigger.
I've tried disk digger and I let it sit for several hours and it was only 10% done. Does this take a long time and is it pretty accurate? I haven't tried recuva before
It can take a very long time, as in overnight. Depends on the card size and speed and the way you are accessing it. Read Errors require multiple retries before giving up, stuff like that.
Or the data might just be completely gone due a card failure. Just deleting data, without overwriting the deleted area, is generally recoverable.
You might try recovering in a totally different system, in case the system you are using has a fault itself.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
trent999 said:
It can take a very long time, as in overnight. Depends on the card size and speed and the way you are accessing it. Read Errors require multiple retries before giving up, stuff like that.
Or the data might just be completely gone due a card failure. Just deleting data, without overwriting the deleted area, is generally recoverable.
You might try recovering in a totally different system, in case the system you are using has a fault itself.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. Outside of using the phone with disk digger app I have a micro SD card reader to just SD card reader which I can connect to the computer. Should I try a program via computer? Have you had luck with recuva or have you use something else?
I agree with jjones886 - plug the SD card into your laptop, install Recuva and see what it finds. It'll be a lot faster on a PC than on a phone, I'm sure.
https://www.piriform.com/recuva/download
Free.
Of course it will work only if you haven't added anything to the card since you deleted the photos - new stuff may have overwritten them.
dahawthorne said:
I agree with jjones886 - plug the SD card into your laptop, install Recuva and see what it finds. It'll be a lot faster on a PC than on a phone, I'm sure.
https://www.piriform.com/recuva/download
Free.
Of course it will work only if you haven't added anything to the card since you deleted the photos - new stuff may have overwritten them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK I have another question. Google photos is horrible a out backing up my photos and was part of the reason why I am in this situation. Also The Gmail app have emails stuck in outbox. Do you have a suggestion for a better and more reliable cloud? I don't want to use Google photos anymore. Ever since they split photos from Google+it has been a headache
As well as Google Photos I have an app called Drive Autosync Pro, which allows you to back up specific device folders to Google Drive (e.g. my DCIM\Camera to my Drive Nexus 6 Photos). The free version allows (I think) 2 folders to be synced, but I believe in supporting developers, especially as apps are so cheap compared with PC programs.
If you want to avoid Google, the same developer also does one for Outlook. Also Dropbox, though its very small free allowance in comparison with Google & Microsoft doesn't really make this a sensible choice.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ttxapps.drivesync&hl=en_GB
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ttxapps.dropsync&hl=en_GB
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ttxapps.onesyncv2&hl=en_GB

SD Card

NO S21's for me. They do Not have SD Card slot !!!!!!
I haven't seen it confirmed due the ultra. If it's the case, I will be skipping.
I keep seeing no SD card slot in none of the S21's. I can't believe it! We already RSVP'D for one cause of the extra $60 using the Samsung shop app. We're getting the Ultra and I read all will have 256 gigs standard instead of 128 but we'll see. I may have to do the 512 cause hubby says once we upgrade were keeping these for a while. I think now you get 4 years of updates instead of 3 I read.
tailgunner9 said:
NO S21's for me. They do Not have SD Card slot !!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No SD card slot, no sale.
I want my bloody data drive... no compromise on that.
I got the Pixel 4 XL a while back and loved the phone. I was concerned when I got it that I might really miss having an SD Card (Pixel phones don't offer SD Cards) but in truth, I really didn't miss it that much. Well, I did miss it some because the Pixel I had offered something like 128GB of storage - but you know, I never got close to running out of storage space.
While I do prefer having an SD Card in my phone, I will still get the S21 Ultra, but will be sure to get either the 256 or 512 GB varient. From everything I have heard about the new S21 Ultra, I believe it is going to be an awesome phone. While not having an SD card is not the perfect situation, I am pretty sure I won't really miss it that much.
Geekser said:
I got the Pixel 4 XL a while back and loved the phone. I was concerned when I got it that I might really miss having an SD Card (Pixel phones don't offer SD Cards) but in truth, I really didn't miss it that much. Well, I did miss it some because the Pixel I had offered something like 128GB of storage - but you know, I never got close to running out of storage space.
While I do prefer having an SD Card in my phone, I will still get the S21 Ultra, but will be sure to get either the 256 or 512 GB varient. From everything I have heard about the new S21 Ultra, I believe it is going to be an awesome phone. While not having an SD card is not the perfect situation, I am pretty sure I won't really miss it that much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SD card allows you to use it as a data drive. Unlike older technologies their data read/writes speeds are fast if you use a V30 rated card.
This allows you to do a full hard reset with no data loss. To completely restore the phone using the stored data including apps with no PC, no Playstore and little or no internet connection.
I can do a 99% complete full reload in about 2 hours.
My 10+ is fully self contained even if I have to reload a minute from now. A card backup to the PC and then a second hdd protects the data no matter what.
No way I'm regressing back to only one SSD.
Two back to back forced reloads caused me to rethink my methods
blackhawk said:
The SD card allows you to use it as a data drive. Unlike older technologies their data read/writes speeds are fast if you use a V30 rated card.
This allows you to do a full hard reset with no data loss. To completely restore the phone using the stored data including apps with no PC, no Playstore and little or no internet connection.
I can do a 99% complete full reload in about 2 hours.
My 10+ is fully self contained even if I have to reload a minute from now. A card backup to the PC and then a second hdd protects the data no matter what.
No way I'm regressing back to only one SSD.
Two back to back forced reloads caused me to rethink my methods
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand - I guess it all comes down to priorities and what is most important to us. I respect your choice but, I personally am looking forward to getting the new S21 ultra. Best of luck my friend.
Based on all the web info, the S21 Ultra is the only one worth buying this time around it seems out of the three. Looks like that's what Samsung wants consumers to do, too.
For what it's worth, Android Central is saying that the S21 Ultra will be the only S21 Device that will offer an SD Card (big relief if it turns out to be true) Android Central Link
Geekser said:
For what it's worth, Android Central is saying that the S21 Ultra will be the only S21 Device that will offer an SD Card (big relief if it turns out to be true) Android Central Link
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yay.
Samsung should know better by now though.
Samsung must think it's customers are inept.
Witnessing Samsung's customer service in action will cement that notion.
-&-
Still no bt AptX-HD support though and no 3.5 mm jack to offset this glaring bt deficiency.
I ordered my S21 Ultra - 512 GB today -unfortunately it turns out that early reports were incorrect - none of the S21 series has an SD card slot, including the Ultra. While unfortunate, it is not the end of the world in my opinion. Many phones don't have an SD card slot for a variety of reasons and having the additional storage options of 256 or 512 GB on the Ultra should help make up for it. Hoping they ship the S21's early - otherwise, 2 weeks is not that long of a wait. Looking forward to January 29th!
Geekser said:
I ordered my S21 Ultra - 512 GB today -unfortunately it turns out that early reports were incorrect - none of the S21 series has an SD card slot, including the Ultra. While unfortunate, it is not the end of the world in my opinion. Many phones don't have an SD card slot for a variety of reasons and having the additional storage options of 256 or 512 GB on the Ultra should help make up for it. Hoping they ship the S21's early - otherwise, 2 weeks is not that long of a wait. Looking forward to January 29th!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yay! Hope it works good for you.
The lack of a sd card slot is chintzy as hell.
I absolutely refuse not to have at least one separate data drive on all my PCs and phones.
My 10+ thanks to that is now completely self contained; I can do a complete reload with nothing external needed and little or no internet connection. Hell yeah!
Used right a seperate data is a powerful tool and second layer of data security.
I'm not spending big bucks to backstep.
Samsung, lead me or get the hell out of my way!
If you can't rock it, somebody will...
tailgunner9 said:
NO S21's for me. They do Not have SD Card slot !!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup same for me,stupid move Samsung.
Some people claim that SD card is safer/better and they do not trust cloud backups. If your phone was lost or stolen then wouldn't that result in losing all the data? You would you have to connect your phone to a desktop/laptop daily to back up the SD card which is an extra headache and what if you didn't have a chance for a few days you could lose some data. And is it more secure? With physical access to the device/card there is usually some way (bug/vulnerability) that allows it.
I use cloud for the simplicity if Google got hacked and someone could access peoples cloud data/photos then I'd be more worried about other data google have than the stuff I sync with my phone. I use a password manager for secure storage so I'm covered. Cloud works well, I recently reset my Pixel 4 XL, 15 minutes later it was restoring from the cloud and all apps and files downloaded shortly after that.
People want SD card slots, that is shown here. But I do not see them being around for much longer except in specialise phone makers trying to sell to a niche area. Are those who demand SD card slots going to end up with phones they don't want just have the slot?
I am in now saying you are right or wrong for wanting the slot I am merely putting on my views on it and would be interested to see what others have to say.
FYI I have ordered the S21 Ultra for the camera. Previously I've been happy with 128GB storage as I use Google Photos to backup and remove my photos to reduce storage. But looking at the capabilities of the new cameras I did opt for a 256GB as a "just in case". If I'm out and about and want to play with RAW/8K features then I'll be able to and then once edited I can clean up some space.
lywyn said:
Some people claim that SD card is safer/better and they do not trust cloud backups. If your phone was lost or stolen then wouldn't that result in losing all the data? You would you have to connect your phone to a desktop/laptop daily to back up the SD card which is an extra headache and what if you didn't have a chance for a few days you could lose some data. And is it more secure? With physical access to the device/card there is usually some way (bug/vulnerability) that allows it.
I use cloud for the simplicity if Google got hacked and someone could access peoples cloud data/photos then I'd be more worried about other data google have than the stuff I sync with my phone. I use a password manager for secure storage so I'm covered. Cloud works well, I recently reset my Pixel 4 XL, 15 minutes later it was restoring from the cloud and all apps and files downloaded shortly after that.
People want SD card slots, that is shown here. But I do not see them being around for much longer except in specialise phone makers trying to sell to a niche area. Are those who demand SD card slots going to end up with phones they don't want just have the slot?
I am in now saying you are right or wrong for wanting the slot I am merely putting on my views on it and would be interested to see what others have to say.
FYI I have ordered the S21 Ultra for the camera. Previously I've been happy with 128GB storage as I use Google Photos to backup and remove my photos to reduce storage. But looking at the capabilities of the new cameras I did opt for a 256GB as a "just in case". If I'm out and about and want to play with RAW/8K features then I'll be able to and then once edited I can clean up some space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My music data base is over 220 gb. Cloud is a poor option for large files. It's either not secure enough or... too secure.
Never "lost" a phone but passwords have failed more than once. Many times it's a hardware failure the causes it.
Double redundant unencrypted backups stored in separate locations not including the SD card are the fastest and safest way.
There's no reason not to want a SD card slot unless you're chintzy Samsung trying to sell bare bones phones for big bucks.
I'm getting tired of playing games with Samsung...
I would have preferred an SD card. I purchased a 512GB SD Card for the Note20 (128GB). However, when I look at usage, I am only using about 80GB of data. The built-in storage is good for 99.5% of people. For the .5% of people, who need more storage - this puts them in a tight situation, hopefully they knew this ahead of time and bought a version with more storage, because otherwise they'll need to get a new phone. I ended up getting the 256GB model. Unfortunately the storage upgrade is a money maker for Samsung (and Apple), which is why they made this decision.
bitpushr said:
I would have preferred an SD card. I purchased a 512GB SD Card for the Note20 (128GB). However, when I look at usage, I am only using about 80GB of data. The built-in storage is good for 99.5% of people. For the .5% of people, who need more storage - this puts them in a tight situation, hopefully they knew this ahead of time and bought a version with more storage, because otherwise they'll need to get a new phone. I ended up getting the 256GB model. Unfortunately the storage upgrade is a money maker for Samsung (and Apple), which is why they made this decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's up to >you< to fully utilize a data drive effective; otherwise it's just terabit bragging rights
It's not a question of overall storage space; I'm using 60 gb of my 500 gb internal storage, but deliberately have over 330 gb on the SD card.
To load that data alone takes hours. I keep everything I need for a complete restore on it too; no cloud anything not even Playstore apks.
It's relatively secure from a OS crash and allows for a fast easy complete reload, anytime, anywhere. 100% builtin redundancy.
It also saves needless wear and tear writes to the internal memory.
I use dedicated data drives on all my PCs; combined OS/data drives are a bad practice that lead to unnecessary complications and data loss.
Learn or get burned.
Samsung got chintzy and will pay the price; No Sale!
Note you can still use those tiny portable SD card readers via the USB-C port (and USB drives ect). Obviously doesn't satisfy all use cases but still a handy way to transfer and back-up files occasionally.
When I travelled for work I used to load up movies and TV shows on a USB flash drive and plug it into my phone to watch them in the motels.
Before smart TVs and Netflix ect was common in hotels.
Maddmatt said:
Note you can still use those tiny portable SD card readers via the USB-C port (and USB drives ect). Obviously doesn't satisfy all use cases but still a handy way to transfer and back-up files occasionally.
When I travelled for work I used to load up movies and TV shows on a USB flash drive and plug it into my phone to watch them in the motels.
Before smart TVs and Netflix ect was common in hotels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's as good as it gets if you have no SD card slot. At least it gives you redundancy if used right.
The SD card slot is an invaluable asset if used correctly, however most don't fully utilize it to it's full potential. I was one of those until about 8 months ago when it dawned on me I had a data drive sitting there begging to be used. I went straight to fully embracing its potential.
One reload since then and it was a snap; fast with almost zero data loss.
256 GB is plenty for me, most of my content is on the cloud. That said, an sd card slot would be nice, but I can live without it.

Greetings, is there a benefit for rooting your phone in order to recover pictures after factory reset?

My wife's phone accidently got wiped clean due to factory reset, she had lots of photos of her dying mother without proper backup.
Unfortunately she has US note 10+ and it is snapdragon and can't be rooted, I found a person in this forum who was able to enable the bootloader despite Samsung removing it.
Will rooting the phone give better chances for recovery software's recover images and videos before the factory reset?
Thank you for your time people.
Is it possible it was backed up by Google or Samsung cloud?
Otherwise I would say it's unlikely.
Loading anything onto the phone could overwrite any data left. Turn off the phone until you decide what, if anything can be done.
It may be possible to directly access the chipset's memory internally. You would need an expert for that if possible.
Run it by Samsung as you aren't the first with this issue. Getting upper tier tech support ie a real engineer will be tough, be persistent. A letter may work better. You may get lucky and they'll ask you to send it in.
In the future get and use a SD card as a data drive for the 10+. A V30 .5 tb Lexar card is only about $75. With data, backup is the only solution most times. Make sure to backup the SD card data as well to the PC and at least one other stand alone hdd.

Question Do I need root?

Hi All, long time user of XDA forums but havent had to root a phone in a while.
I deleted some pictures in error from my phone yesterday and am desperately trying to figure out a way to get them back. They dont appear in the recycle bin and they dont appear with a standard file search app, thousands of pictures do but not the ones I deleted.
Apparantly I need to root the phone to get better access rights to do this, but am I right in believing that rooting the phone will delete everything anyway?
Any way to do this please? I really need some help with these important images.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (UK) 5G SM-G998B/DS
Regards Tony
Don't try to use trashware like DrFone.
The internal memory is encrypted by default so if you lose that encryption key for any reason you are boned.
If you can use adb to access the unused portion of the drive, that may work.
Using ADB in recovery mode - recovering files from a locked phone
Hello, here's my problem: I accidentally put a schematic as a code on my phone that I immediately forgot. Now that I only have access to the lock screen, I can't put my phone in file transfer mode because I'd like to retrieve it before resetting...
forum.xda-developers.com
If you are successful know that the folder structure has been lost. The jpegs will be disassociated from their exif data, time stamps, image numbers, etc have been lost forever.
Using that phone at all may overwrite the data as it's now free space for the system to use; power down the device until ready to attempt recover.
Backup all data before you begin whatever you attempt!
Personally at this point I would have written them off. If you do recover data, you'll understand why. In the future use a gallery that has a trash bin if possible.
Redundantly backup critical data to at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other and the PC. A OTG flashstick can be used for quick "dirty" backups. Don't use as a primary backup.
If you can mount your phone on a PC using a USB cable, you could try a PC based file recovery program. (I honestly don't know if it would work over a USB cable, but no harm if it doesn't.)
Be careful where you get the recovery software. There are lots of people willing to promise the world, take your money, and blame the file recovery ghods when they can't recover squat.
The one I'd try first has the worst user interface, but it's free and has saved my butt more than once. It's called PhotoRec. (It's packaged in with a drive recovery program called TestDisk.) PhotoRec supports a bunch of Linux/Android disk formats (many only handle FAT and NTFS variants, which won't help you). Just be sure you read the instructions and be sure to direct the output to a dedicated folder on a drive different than your phone.
TestDisk Download
Download TestDisk & PhotoRec. TestDisk is a free and open source data recovery software tool designed to recover lost partition and unerase deleted files. PhotoRec is a file carver data recovery software tool.
www.cgsecurity.org
I just noticed that PhotoRec finally has a Windows based GUI implementation called QPhotoRec. Same download location as I mentioned in the previous message. But should be a fair bit easier to use.
Note: If QPhotoRec can't see your phone on the USB cable, you might still want to give PhotoRec a try.
One last note... As long as you continue to use your phone, it is still writing things to the drive that holds the pictures you want to recover. If the phone happens to overwrite the place the photos sat on, they're gone forever. So it's best if that you power off your phone until you can make an attempt to recover the photos and you move quickly to make the attempt... Good luck.
After the recent dumping of Samsung Cloud and the forced migration to a Microsoft cloud drive,I lost a bunch of photos from my alternative device (I had 2 phones and 2 Samsung Cloud accounts- but the changeover couldn't handle the 2 account bit, both phones ended up with the exact same data) and I tried several methods to recover the lost data and eventually had to give up. Good luck.
Relying on cloud to backup files is crazy. Keep a couple hard drives/usb drives for that.
rafaelinux said:
Relying on cloud to backup files is crazy. Keep a couple hard drives/usb drives for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cloud backup is safer than keeping a couple of hard drives and usb drives. By design cloud storage is replicated a minimum of 3 times across 3 regional data centres, each having multiple copies on distributed storage with multiple backup services and UPS.
Your data is not safer on two USB drives vs a Google data centre. Do you keep them in fireproof and electronic magnetic proof safe? If not then your backups are not protected at the first step, physical protection. Do you cycle the hard you use, change the drives regularly so that there is no chance of hardware failure, do you consider MTBF rates of the devices you use? USB drives have a limited number of writes so using them too much may risk the data on them. Do you use multiple off-site safes? If both are in one place and there is some disaster (building collapse, or fire for example) then you've lost your backups. Each site needs a fireproof/EM proof safe which adds a huge extra cost.
did you check the trash folders?? usually deleted files stay on for 30 days unless physical deleted from the trash like windows
ScalesOnline said:
Hi All, long time user of XDA forums but havent had to root a phone in a while.
I deleted some pictures in error from my phone yesterday and am desperately trying to figure out a way to get them back. They dont appear in the recycle bin and they dont appear with a standard file search app, thousands of pictures do but not the ones I deleted.
Apparantly I need to root the phone to get better access rights to do this, but am I right in believing that rooting the phone will delete everything anyway?
Any way to do this please? I really need some help with these important images.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (UK) 5G SM-G998B/DS
Regards Tony
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What app did you delete the photos in?
Each app will have its own "delete/recycle" solution. For example, if you delete photos in Google Photos they are kept in the "Bin" for 30 days. If you used a file manager it may have a recycle bin or may have permanently deleted using write over to provide a true delete function.
Rooting like years agao
I am cool with what i have now
Yes you do for acces to internal memory

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