DR.FONE free alternatives?

[Vidar]

Hi guys,

So my trusty S4 mini has stopped recognising touch, I can turn it on and see the display fine but the touch screen is totally unresponsive. My phone is locked with a pass code and I can't get past it to recover my data.

Dr Fone android recovery can do the job but its ridiculously expensive considering I'm only going to be using it the once to get photo's and videos of the baby that I hadn't backed up yet. I'm looking for a free alternative that can bypass the lock screen somehow but my google fu is failing me. The closest I can get Minitool mobile which requires me to change settings on the phone which I can't do.

Can someone please help?

 

[Rroff]

Could try an OTG adaptor and a mouse and/or keyboard - on some of my phones you can then click like a touchscreen but on some it doesn't do that out the box and/or has to be configured or just isn't supported by the build of Android used.

 

[Confused Stu]

I was thinking the same as Rroff (USBOTG cable + mouse to unlock, then pair a Bluetooth keyboard to the phone so you can still control it while plugged into the PC instead of the USBOTG cable) but it looks like the S4 Mini doesn't support USBOTG.

Digital Forensic companies would be able to get the data from your phone (a tool called UFED Physical from Cellebrite supports it) but they will usually want a fair amount of money for doing this.

The cheapest option would be to repair the screen yourself, and it's surprisingly easy on phones such as the S4 Mini. On Ebay you can buy the screen and frame for about £40, and the guide here shows how to change it: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Samsung+Galaxy+S4+Mini+LCD+Screen+and+Digitizer+Replacement/88813 (if you buy the screen and frame you can stop at step 16, avoiding the slightly more difficult ones after that).

If you're not 100% sure about doing this, I'd be more than happy to help and do it for you, but as we're on the opposite sides of the country I know that would mean posting your phone to a stranger - so I certainly won't take offence if you'd rather take it into a phone repair shop instead!