Broken tablet screen & associated issues

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Slytod

PCHF Member
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Jan 21, 2017
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Hi.

I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 which over the years I've got to rely on. A few nights ago the corner of the screen got damaged and I can no longer see anything on it.

While taking it to a shop for repair may be an option (although past experience with a previous tablet suggest no one really likes jobs involving screen removal, still have that old one defunct in a box somewhere) it's not an option I'd like to take. My devices have personal info on them and it doesn't feel good to hand it over to a stranger.

I have tried to copy the tablet contents to a flash drive via cable & PC, but only a fraction of the Gigs on the tablet ended up on the flash drive, so I've no idea if I've taken off anything useful.

In addition I've tried to cable the device to an external TV and monitor but no signal could be passed as the screens alway remained black. I even bought a special adapter cable from a local shop, but had to return it for a refund as it fared no better than the cables I already had. It also needed software downloaded, which is a Catch 22 situation for the screen damaged tablet; and trying my mobile as a test, the instruction leaflet didn't match the reality of setting up, all screen capture stuff never appeared, so it seemed pretty useless anyway.

Really looking for advice on what options I have to get the device saved/running/viewable/whatever.

TIA.
 
BTW, the link in your "6 Antivirus Android Apps That Are a Total Ripoff" thread goes to "Page Not Found".

Also, I'm intending to purchase a reconditioned S4, if/when I do how easy is it to clone the broken screen one onto that such that I can just carry on where I left off ?
 
iFixit has fantastic documentation on procedures like this and the tools you need to do it, they're definitely worth taking a look if you're considering doing this yourself.

They also sell parts/tools, but these are not necessary if you have something comparable of course.

As far as pulling data from an unresponsive device, there are programs that claim they can do this but I am personally a bit skeptical of these claims, hopefully someone else can chime in with their thoughts.

@PeterOz @Bastet
 
Is the device backed up under your Samsung account? If yes then all your personal information should be there.

I know of no option to recover data on an unresponsive device.
 
Ah, I've been caught out. Apologies but it is the tablet rather than the mobile phone that I refer to. My error. The Galaxy Tab S4.

Thanks for the info. I may well try to repair it myself eventually, if the screens are available (at a reasonable cost) but looking to find a way to get back to where I was asap first.

I don't save things to any "cloud". Don't trust such things. It is not that it's unresponsive, it's that I can't do much when the screen is black (and seems not to detect touch as far as I can tell). It's fine playing alarms that I can't turn off; and the PC sees it, even copied a small percentage of what I'd asked it to.
 
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Thanks. No it wasn't disturbed, it merely finished having pasted far fewer Gb than had been copied. (I assumed the tablet refuses access to some bits.)

I have looked at the iFixit link. It seemed to be about the phone rather than a tablet. I'll look again tomorrow to check.

Difficult to find any replacement screens, and it looks too easy to get the wrong thing. I've seen glass which I assume somehow is missing the proper screen, and assemblies which seem more than just the screen (and I have no idea if the rest is necessary). As for just a screen, one can't find them referred to often, and when they are, they're sold out. Seems a nightmare.

Samsung themselves claim one can use external keyboards, mice, and tv/monitors via their expensive adapter, but the description seems to suggest one just cables to HDMI (no special software), which failed for me.

Shall be back tomorrow.
 
The useable screen is 10.5", however I've no idea what Txxx it is. I'm not home for a few days so can't directly check my e-mail clients, but on the e-mail service site I can't find a reference to it in my account there.

Does the Txxx number matter ?

Just been looking on the Net, difficult to see what is unique about the T837 although I did read domething anout a Windows OS so that doesn't seem to be it. Mine is Android with WiFi so I'm assuming T830.

Thanks for the video, I have seen that one, looks horrendous. I was rather hoping it was more of a total strip down, and that it'd be easier to go in via the front to replace a screen.
 
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In which case I'm unsure how I can find out. I can only wait until I'm back home and search the e-mail client for old e-mails. It was bad enough trying to spot any supplier of replacement screens who weren't out of stock; to find there are different screens for what is essentially the same S4 tablet is a bit of a blow. I suppose there is a small chance the box is somewhere holding bits & pieces and which may give information if I can find it.
 
Thanks for the link. (Apparently it can not be shipped to the selected country, even though I've yet to see where one selects a country.)

{Ah, have tried the link again having deleted after the first '?' and it no longer has an issue with sending to the UK.}

So, in your experience aliexpress has been a reliable seller ? (Any idea what the range of prices shown refers to, an item surely has one pricetag. Maybe it's about variable tax/duty ? I may need to look into it further.)
 
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I have found the original box. It is an SM-T830 according to the sticker on it.

I need to make a decision then. I'm less than enamoured at buying from China. Not always had good experiences doing that, plus, although postage claims to be free, it will apparently take a month to reach me. So I may try a few more searches trying to find a UK source first.

Meanwhile, anyone have any advice on getting the tablet to send the screen to a monitor, and connect to an external keyboard & mouse ? I tried the obvious as mentioned earlier, but got no joy.
 
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