Hello, I dropped my fairphone 4 from a 60 meters high tower. It broke literally in two. Stupid, I know.
The problem is that I have an encrypted text file with all my passwords on it and I discovered it’s not backup-ed!
I want to buy a new fairphone 4 and try to switch the internal memory module into the new phone so I can retrieve this text file. But which module is has the internal memory inside? Is it the on the motherboard?
If yes, can I switch the motherboard onto the new phone?
Hope to hear a good answer. Thanks in advance.
Best regards, Marc
Welcome to the Community Forum.
Sorry to hear about the mishap. Indeed, the internal memory is certainly soldered to the motherboard. Unfortunately, iFixit only provides a video of the complete FP4 disassembly, but you can see the guy removing and holding the whole motherboard (in a vague C shape, you can already spot it here in the preview photo’s upper right quarter) in his hand after the 3:45 mark here:
So you will only be able to switch the motherboard to another FP4 if that whole unit is still intact and usable. Note that these kinds of repairs/transplants are – mildly speaking – not strictly compliant with the warranty.
For instructions on how to properly disassemble the other parts of the FP4, see Fairphone 4 Repair - iFixit.
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I might be wrong here, but the internal storage is encrypted and I’m not sure if the new device would know the decryption key after the memory gets inserted.
to Ingo:…I don’t think this a problem because the memory is ON the motherboard… this will be kept the same if I can transfer the motherboard (with the internal memory) to the new phone… only the hardware parts around it would be new/different
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To Urs Lesse:…Thank you for the reply. To bad you don’t see the actual extraction of the motherboard. But apparently it is possible. About warranty: it’s already expired.
Hello, I’m interested in that procedure, as my Fairphone 4 have battery issues. Does someone tried to swap it’s old phone core parts into a new one bought ? Does the data is kept ? Having some clues about it, would avoid to make mistakes. Maybe some videos/tutorials, would be necessary.
Read above for answers?