Broken screen. Any way to wipe memory?

[Turbojoe]

As I posted in another thread I dropped my N7 and broke the screen. It still has a beautiful display (through the cracks) but is unresponsive to touch so I can't log on. I just plugged in to my desktop and it shows up in the drive tree as Nexus 7 but no file tree. Most likely because I can't log on. I don't have any financial info on the unit but because I'm likely going to list it on ebay for parts and I'd like to remove any personal info that I can before I do that. Any ideas on how I can force the file tree to show up on my desktop using the USB cable?

Joe

 

[Deleted User]

Can you get it into fastboot mode?

Power the N7 off, then power it on while holding both volume buttons down.

If you can get it into fastboot mode, you can either boot into recovery to wipe it (again, using the volume buttons/power button), or install ADB and wipe it that way.

 

[Turbojoe]

I finally got it to do a face recognition and it logged on. I now have it connected to the desktop with the USB cable and I have access to the file tree. I've already deleted a lot of things I immediately recognize like pictures and music etc. Any specific files to look for? I'm afraid to try a re-boot now and risk losing all access. Next on my list to delete is Android/Data folder. Any others critical to delete?

Joe

 

[Deleted User]

Unfortunately, you can't get at your program data from the file tree. You are literally only looking at the "sdcard" (it's not an SD card, but it's only your external data, not anything internal to applications).

You can delete everything in that entire directory. None of it is critical to the OS.

You'll still have to figure out a way to wipe the device if you truly want everything gone.

Once you've wiped everything in the directory, I'd see if you can boot it either into recovery where you can do a factory reset, or into fastboot where you can use ADB to wipe things out.

 

[Turbojoe]

OK. I got it to fast boot. Entered recovery mode. The little dead Android guy is laying there with the red triangle in his open chest for a few minutes. Then it goes dark and just reboots. I'll do a search on "ADB". Not sure what it is.

Joe

 

[Turbojoe]

My N7 isn't rooted and from what I can gather so far ADB requires a rooted device. Bummer.

Joe

 

[Deleted User]

ADB doesn't require a rooted device.

If you can install ADB and the drivers, you can boot into fastboot mode. The nexus root kit can help you with this process - even if you don't root the device, the toolkit has the necessary drivers and ADB files.

Then, you can open a command prompt, navigate to the directory where ADB is installed (it'll be something like c:\wugsnexustoolkit\data\), and type:

fastboot devices

If your device shows up in the list, then you can type:

fastboot oem unlock

That will unlock your bootloader, and in the process, wipe your entire devices. Since you're selling for parts, you can just leave it at that.

 

[Turbojoe]

Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I'm not having any success. It keeps saying that I need to enable USB debugging. Can't do it because the touch screen doesn't work. Argh......

Joe

 

[Deleted User]

USB debugging isn't used in Fastboot mode.... if you're booted to the fastboot screen (power up while holding both volume buttons), it shouldn't need USB debugging.