As stated above, I have a dead iPod Touch that I'm looking to recover the data from. Does anyone know anyone near Arlington WA that could help me recover the data?
I don't want to hear about iCloud backups as I never opted in or that I can't recover the data without an iCloud backup.
iPod Touch (3rd Gen)
DividedByZer0 wrote:
That's not remotely a technical answer, but it is an answer. Can you explain to me on technical level why someone couldn't read from the internal storage with other tools to get a copy of the drive contents? That would likely involve some desoldering and knowledge but I doubt its impossible.
The storage is NAND solid state (SSD). It is encrypted. The encryption key is saved in the secure enclave in the processor chip. Without the key, while in theory you could remove the SSD chip, all you could recover is gibberish without the encryption key. So it is impossible. As the FBI and CIA have discovered.
DividedByZer0 wrote:
Okay fair. I honestly forget if this touch is encrypted, but I'd assume it is. So if they repaired the phone to the point of booting and decrypting the contents, the data would be recoverable because it would no longer be encrypted. What's to prevent someone from doing that?
In theory if it can be repaired to the point of it booting up without having to restore iOS then you could recover the data on it to an iCloud or iTunes backup as long as the repair does not require replacing any of the components in the security chain. Apple will not repair individual devices; their only "repair" process is to replace the device, free if it is still in warranty, or for about half price if it is not. There are 3rd party technicians who claim to be able to repair iOS devices. I have no way of judging the validity their claims, their individual skill levels or their honesty. However, Apple's half price offer is off the table if anyone other than Apple opens the device.
I did notice this in your post:
I don't want to hear about iCloud backups as I never opted in or that I can't recover the data without an iCloud backup.
I have seen that same statement in another thread, which somehow makes me suspicious of your intent in posting. But I'll take you at your word for now that your post is legitimate, and see how it goes from here.
This is not Apple's support forum. It is a user-to-user support forum hosted (and governed) by Apple. Now consider that if an AASP doesn't have the knowledgeable staff how can you determine if anyone else has knowledgeable staff capable of performing what is a very delicate and complex task, when the slightest slip will ruin your device forever. There are no standards for independent technicians, no certifications or tests they must pass, and no state licensing processes, so it is truly caveat emptor. All you can go by is personal recommendations, and how do you know if those are legitimate, the moms of the technicians, friends, or paid shills? If Trip Advisor, Yelp and Amazon can't keep out paid shills how likely is it that anyone can?
If Apple allows discussion of 3rd party repairers that can create liability for Apple when someone gets burned by one. So Apple will not permit discussion of the subject or allow a specific recommendation of a technician. There are other places you can go for recommendations, but Apple Support Communities is not an appropriate place. But no matter where you go it is still caveat emptor.
DividedByZer0 wrote:
So back to my original question; does anyone know anyone near Arlington WA that can (repair the device to a bootable state and) help me recover the data?
Apple doesn't consider iOS devices to be user-repairable and does not support repairs other than by Apple themselves or Authorized Apple Service Providers. Neither Apple nor an AASP will do board level repairs. Discussions of such tend to be frowned upon here. Google is your friend.
And you were given the correct answer to recover your data. Icloud came out with ios 5 back in 2011.
No backups no recovery.
DividedByZer0 wrote:
Okay fair. I honestly forget if this touch is encrypted, but I'd assume it is.
The only way to unencrypt it is to be able to boot it and enter the passcode.
There's no magic to it. I'm sorry I bought an iPod Touch two years before iCloud even came out, and that my iTunes backups have since evaporated. I was under the impression this is the place to go to for support for data recovery, right?
DividedByZer0 wrote:
I was under the impression this is the place to go to for support for data recovery, right?
This is a place to come for technical support. And, the technical answer is, if you can't get the device to turn on and you have no back ups, the data is gone.
So there's no way for the phone to be repaired enough to get a copy of the drive off it? How does that even work? I'm aware of many devices which can have the data in just a recoverable enough state to make a copy of the contents, that sounds almost intentionally designed to not allow data recovery.
That's not remotely a technical answer, but it is an answer. Can you explain to me on technical level why someone couldn't read from the internal storage with other tools to get a copy of the drive contents? That would likely involve some desoldering and knowledge but I doubt its impossible.
Okay fair. I honestly forget if this touch is encrypted, but I'd assume it is. So if they repaired the phone to the point of booting and decrypting the contents, the data would be recoverable because it would no longer be encrypted. What's to prevent someone from doing that?
So we agree if it can be repaired to the point of booting, it can be logged into and then have the data recovered from it without the use of an iCloud or iTunes backup. So back to my original question; does anyone know anyone near Arlington WA that can (repair the device to a bootable state and) help me recover the data?
Is there something in that case preventing them from copying the files over direct connection? I did copying of files all the time before it gave up on me. As for that statement, I frequently saw these questions getting answered with 'backups or bust' kinda mentality and I knew I had no backups. Perhaps you get that kind of line a lot more often than I'd think, so I apologize.
Discussions of such tend to be frowned upon here? There's plenty of shops that repair plenty of other devices with no trouble, and the last two AASPs I took it to refused to do repairs on it because they didn't have the knowledgeable staff on hand to repair it. Either this isn't officially Apple's support forum and I've become confused, or this is very unsupportive to be shooting down discussions like this..
Are you expecting a magician to recover your data from a dead ipod, if you never backed it up to icloud or itunes?
Dead iPod Touch, need to recover data
