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Help I found a missing phone (no SIM card). How can I break through the 3x3 pattern lock?

C

cutedroid

Well-Known Member
UPDATE: I just realized the title sounds malicious. Please read of my post.


I was seated in a cafeteria when I found a smart phone on the ground. There was someone who got his jacket from the seat next to mine and the Android must have slipped out the pocket and fell to the ground.

It is an HTC One M8.

The lock screen says "No SIM card in phone", so we can't expect a call from the owner.

How can I break through the 3x3 pattern lock? I'd like to look through the contact list to phone the owner's contacts and notify them of the missing phone.

I have a USB cable that works with this phone. Would USB be a way to get this important info? UPDATE: I've just connected it to my linux laptop and the file manager doesn't display anything. Presumably because of the lock on the Android.
 
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It might be worth ejecting the SIM tray to check that there really is no SIM in there, just in case it's got unseated slightly. Otherwise I agree with Mike, going back to somewhere where the owner might look for it is most likely to get it back to him (going to police is the correct thing to do if not).

Unless he's exported a copy of the phonebook you wouldn't see it over USB even if the screen were unlocked (it's in /data/data, which isn't visible that way).
 
Hadron said:
It might be worth ejecting the SIM tray to check that there really is no SIM in there, just in case it's got unseated slightly. Otherwise I agree with Mike, going back to somewhere where the owner might look for it is most likely to get it back to him (going to police is the correct thing to do if not).

Unless he's exported a copy of the phonebook you wouldn't see it over USB even if the screen were unlocked (it's in /data/data, which isn't visible that way).
Click to expand...

Yes, when I return to the house (where I've left the phone), I'll open the SIM tray and the SD tray to see if there is anything in those slots. I've already contacted the people who run the place.
 
sdowney717 said:
http://trendblog.net/how-to-bypass-android-phone-lock-screen-pattern-pin-password/

Here are various methods also says factory reset will work.
This topic is of interest. Wife is using daughter's old phone was patterned lock and I did finally remember the pattern, but at the time Verizon store said was impossible to break. But it seems it is not?

And cant you report a stolen - lost phone and the carrier will lock it so it will not work?
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Nothing on that link will work for this phone. I know I can factory-reset and that would unlock the phone, but that would wipe away all the info, which is what I'm trying to get at.
 
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cutedroid said:
Nothing on that link will work for this phone. I know I can factory-reset and that would unlock the phone, but that would away all the info, which is what I'm trying to get at.
Click to expand...

Phone have the meid or some such unique number. Cant you contact the wireless carrier and they will know whose phone this is?

Or is this number no longer printed on paper under a cover. I know my S4 is under the battery under the back cover.
 
yeah, a teardown shows no label anywhere

could factory reset it, that way you could theoretically boot it and get the number, but, really, you should have given this to the cafe mgr 2 days ago when the person was still thinking it might be found.

3 yr old phone.
not good karma to hold on to it...
 
if you factory reset it, there's a chance you'll find the real owner. But there's a bigger chance of the owner coming back to the place where he lost it. Pls dont screw him over at do a factory reset, just hand it in
 
ROOT it. but u'd better give it to the lost and found or police around there. u'd know the one who loses it will be sad and anxious.
 
sdowney717 said:
Will it be printed on the inside, somehow the cover can still come off.
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Have you ever seen an M8? It's a sealed unit, well beyond most people's capabilities to open it without damaging it, so even if the information were printed inside that would not help here.

(Though the image of returning the phone that way is kinda funny: "Well sir, we have some good news and some bad news...")
 
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I have to go with everyone else here and say just take it back to the cafe. Police is not only a pain, but when people lose something the first thing they usually do is "back track" so they are much more likely to go there first than to the Police Station anyways. It's just one of those "put yourself in the other person's shoes" kind of deals and if it were me I'd certainly appreciate someone turning it in!!!!
 
cutedroid said:
UPDATE: I just realized the title sounds malicious. Please read of my post.


I was seated in a cafeteria when I found a smart phone on the ground. There was someone who got his jacket from the seat next to mine and the Android must have slipped out the pocket and fell to the ground.

It is an HTC One M8.

The lock screen says "No SIM card in phone", so we can't expect a call from the owner.

How can I break through the 3x3 pattern lock? I'd like to look through the contact list to phone the owner's contacts and notify them of the missing phone.

I have a USB cable that works with this phone. Would USB be a way to get this important info? UPDATE: I've just connected it to my linux laptop and the file manager doesn't display anything. Presumably because of the lock on the Android.
Click to expand...
I think if you hand the phone to a cafe staff member, and you give them the right info (Like this, "I found a missing phone and I don't know who's it is."), they can probably watch the security tape (if any) to see who the device belongs to, then track said person down and hand them their phone back.
 
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