I am pretty sure, I spent about 16 hours combined working on this Samsung S21 Plus.
It came to me for Data Recovery.
It started bootlooping out of nowhere & customer needed all their pics & vids.
I went through my normal BDS workflow to solve the common bootlooping problem, but this one was different. Nothing I did changed the behavior.
UFS reballed, no change
UFS health was checked and was good, so we proceed to work on it
Then did RAM reball, but no change.
Then CPU & RAM Reball (they're stacked on top of each other) and same results.
At this point, customer approved a CPU Swap and oh boy, was that fun.
First step was to do the full CPU/RAM/UFS swap onto my working donor to see if it boots and it was no power. After some troubleshooting & replacing RAM, it finally booted...
Turns out, this phone had no pin code, but because Samsung started pairing a small IC to the phone (staring on S21 series), so it needed the "pin code IC" to be swapped as well.
The problem is that the pin code IC is inside the sandwich, so I figured i'd to the swap to see if i can get it boot first, then deal with the sandwich issues/pin code IC.
So even though this phone has no pin code, it will still not let me access the user data. It was forever in the "The phone is starting...." screen & nothing would load.
I can browse the settings, but couldn't really do much. None of the menu options were opening.
So this tells me, the pin code IC is needed, even if the phone has no pin code.
That's when I proceeded to split the sandwich on both boards, so I could transplant the small pin code IC
But that's when I ran into a problem...
After much troubleshooting, I got it booting and user data finally loaded! But it was restarting & overheating. I tried different methods to cool it but it would not change anything.
I reballed the sandwich again & it stopped over heating, but still restarting.
Tried reballing CPU, RAM, UFS, pin code IC and sandwich, but same results.
Finally, I decided to try another donor board..
And that did it! It finally booted up and stayed on fine. It didn't overheat either.
Looking back to all the steps I took, I definitely learned a lot. I also feel that maybe i could have resolved this in the beginning with just a new RAM chip.
I recently had another S21 that was no power & detected in "QDLoader mode" that ended up just being a bad RAM chip.
So although I spent a ton of time on this one, I have learned from this whole experience & I'm confident I'll be able to quickly solve future Android data jobs, thanks to the time I invested in this one.
So if you need your data recovered, send me a PM for a quote. B2B discounted pricing is available 🔥
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. 🔧📱
