Hey everyone, I'm in a tough spot here. My Samsung Galaxy A51 has developed a serious issue where the screen is completely black. However, the phone is still functioning—I can unlock it since the haptics work, and I can hear notifications coming through. I urgently need to recover some precious photos of my late mother that are stored on the device, but unfortunately, I hadn't backed them up because my Google storage was full.
Here's what I've tried so far:
- I downloaded scrcpy, but I can't enable USB Debugging because I can't see the screen.
- I attempted to connect the phone to my PC, but I can't see the access prompt that allows me to browse the files.
- I upgraded my Google One storage, hoping it might auto-sync my pictures.
I have a few questions for the community:
1. Does the Galaxy A51 actually support USB-C to HDMI for display output? I've seen mixed information about video output capabilities in the A-series.
2. If someone has an A51 and a USB keyboard, could you share the exact keystroke sequence to enable USB Debugging from the lock screen?
3. Is there a way to enable TalkBack using just the volume buttons on my model?
4. Are there any Samsung tools, like SmartThings Find, that can help back up data without needing to interact with the screen?
5. Have any of you asked a repair shop to temporarily hook up a spare screen just to perform a backup for a small fee instead of doing a full replacement?
I would really appreciate any out-of-the-box ideas since these photos mean the world to me.
5 Answers
Unfortunately, the A51 doesn’t support USB-C to HDMI, which complicates things. Your best option is really to look into a temporary screen replacement. You can usually find screens pretty cheap, around $25 if you want to DIY it!
You might want to try plugging your phone into a laptop to retrieve the files. I’ve heard that can work sometimes, but keep in mind it requires that access prompt you could be missing. Maybe someone else has more tips on bypassing that?
I related to your struggle. Connecting to a computer is a good way to pull files, but without that initial prompt, it’s tough. Best of luck with whatever you choose!
For display output, I use a $40 DisplayLink adapter, and it worked great with my model. If you can manage to get an adapter, it might be a good investment for situations like this!
Honestly, if you need to get those photos back, a temporary screen replacement is probably your best bet. I didn’t find any concrete keyboard shortcuts either, so you're not alone on that one. I’m really sorry for what you’re going through!
Yeah, I tried that too but I can't see the prompt to allow access. That's why I'm looking for ways to bypass it with scrcpy. Any other ideas?