I had this iPhone 12 Pro Max come in for Data Recovery.
It had corrosion near the power button connector, but it actually wasn't that bad.
The device booted, but it was in recovery mode. I would exit recovery mode with 3u tools but would still go back to recovery mode.
This made no sense. Why would water damage do this?
So I flashed an update & it went through successfully, 100% with no errors, but once again, it booted back to recovery mode.
This led me to think...
There was water damage near power button connector
12PM will go into recovery mode if the power button connector is pressed down all the time while booting
Maybe it has to do with the power button connector.
So I booted up the phone & measured the power button pin's voltage. It was like 0.6V.
If you know how power button lines work, they actually have a HIGH signal (1.8V in this case), and when that signal goes LOW (0V), that's how the device is told electrically, to process the power button being pressed function.
Therefore, if the voltage at the connector is stuck at 0.6V (essentially NOT 1.8V as it should be), that means the phone thinks the power button connector is being pressed down.
But it's not pressed down by anyone. it's shorted or failed where it can't be in a state where it has a HIGH signal.
So now it all made sense. The power button line (IO_BUTTON_SIDE_L_1V8) was bad.
Checking the schematics & ZXW, you can see that line basically is generated by the PMIC.
At this point, I have 2 options:
1. I replace PMIC & hope that solves it - it probably would. But that required splitting the sandwich & doing PMIC, which is super risky
2. Or... I feed it 1.8V from somewhere else & hope the voltage from the other 1.8v power source doesn't get pulled down by the short in the PMIC.
The first thing I tried was, jumping PP1V8_ALWAYS to IO_BUTTON_SIDE_L_1V8
Buuuut, then the device wouldn't boot anymore. It would hang at 20mA after prompt to boot.
At this point, I asked some friends about this issue. Sure enough, Aaron Harrington said he had a video on this exact issue, which i'll link in the comments.
Basically, I needed to check the volume button lines as well, which sure enough, were also in a LOW state.
In his video, he jumped PP1V8_S2, which is in that same general area, to the Vol up, Vol down.
Then he jumped PP1v8_Always to power button line.
Not sure why it worked for him, but not me.
So I just decided to jump all 3 lines to PP1V8_S2
And BOOM, it booted! And I got the data! 🙌
So let me know.. what did you learn from this post? Let me know down below 🤔
If you have a Seek Thermal Cam, you're missing out if you don't have a VCC Seek Stand: https://www.vccboardrepairs.com/buy-seek-stand
Injured Gadgets just got these back in stock, so get them while you can!
It can take us a while to build these out sometimes, so they're sometimes out of stock for a while, but we're working towards always having inventory ready to build more as they sell out.
This stand makes using a thermal cam so easy. So much better than any other thermal solution on the market.
It allows you to get real close up (using my Macro Lens), and easily find where the short is coming from.
Plus it's hard free, so you can have your hands free to try to boot the device from DCPS, while having an image that is in focus & not moving around.
You can even record a video through the app, while you inject voltage into the short, so you can go back & see exactly which component was it that was heating up.
Save yourself lots of time by getting a Seek Cam, Stand & Macro Lens! ...
Anyone who is doing game console repairs, knows how many screws you need to remove to access the motherboard.
Especially the PS5, with the 5,000 screws or so.
If you don't already have an electric screwdriver, GET ONE ASAP.
🌟 Cordless Screwdriver with T9 Bit: https://amzn.to/3E5duCj
🌟Extended T9 Bit: https://amzn.to/3c4YJac
It's rechargeable through micro USB and allows you to easily swap the tips out. You can also fold it to be straight or L shape.
Let me know below if you are already using an electric screwdriver 👇👇
This one came in as a no power data recovery job. Customer said it died overnight, no prior damage, and Apple told them the board was done and data wasn’t recoverable.
Physically, the phone looks clean. No bends, no cracks, nothing obvious. I’m honestly not sure how the board ended up cracked, there’s no visible external damage that would typically cause this.
Here’s what I found 👇
Initial testing:
- Able to boot with minimal setup (board + screen + battery + charge port)
- Stuck at 5V, very low current draw (not charging)
- No touch response
- Boot current draw looked normal
Direction I took:
- Focused on the touch issue first (since no touch = no data access)
- Using an LCD aftermarket screen:
- Got image
- Still no touch
- OEM/OLED behavior pointed toward a board-level display/touch issue
What I found:
- While removing the shield over the display IC… found a board crack
- Several display connector pins reading OL (open line)
- Traces route from connector → PMIC / display IC ...
This is an iPad 10 that came in for No Image/No Backlight.
Within seconds of removing the shield, I saw the problem.
Can you? I'll post the close up shot later today in the comments 👀
I’m thinking about adding another perk for the paid members here in the community: private repair livestreams where we work through repairs and troubleshooting together.
The idea would be to do members-only livestreams where I could:
• Work on real board-level repairs live
• Walk through my troubleshooting process
• Interpret panic logs together
• Answer repair questions from members
• Talk through CPU swaps, tools, and techniques
• Explain why certain failures happen
It would basically be a more interactive way to learn, where you could ask questions while the repair is happening.
Before I start scheduling these, I want to gauge interest.
If you are a free follower:
👍 Please like this post if livestreams like this would interest you.
If you are a paid member:
💬 Please comment below if you'd like to see this and how often you'd want them (weekly, monthly, etc.).
If enough people are interested, I’ll start planning the first livestream. 🔧📱
