[Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Guides, News, & Discussion] khat17:
Hi there XDA. Been a while and hope everyone's been fine. Need some expert help and hopefully some resolution can be found.

I have a Note 8 that was dropped. Belongs to a family member and was taken to me as the resident tech to get things off. I managed to get all FILES copied off the device, and they no longer need it however...being how I am, I'd like to try and recover EVERYTHING from the device. All notes and such - especially as some of these things were used for classes. However I'm stuck,

Screen is totally black and was responding to finger touches before - not doing so now. Unlocking the device isn't an issue as I can do that using the stylus or a USB keyboard through OTG. I'm able to navigate using the USB keyboard and get into certain settings, but without actually seeing what's going on I don't know what is stopping certain actions or why they don't work.

The current goal is to get talkback working so that it can read to me the various options. If I can get it on then I assume there will be smoother navigation - however....

I got my hands on a Note 9 and used two USB keyboards with OTG simultaneously to try and mirror the actions. Attempts to enable talkback failed. On the Note 9 the option comes up and you hear when it asks to be enabled, but on the damaged phone you never hear it. This is a tedious process which involves:

Attaching USB keyboard.

Using shortcut keys to get into the apps menu (ALT+A).

Navigating to SETTINGS.

Typing in the name of the area I need to get to.

Pressing the arrow keys the appropriate number of times.

etc. etc. etc.

Finally when it SHOULD be at the talkback option, nothing is read back to suggest it's enabled. Holding the VOL+/- keys for 3 seconds don't work. Inserting a SIM with data then using voice to "turn on talkback" results in a response: "I can't change talkback yet."

So now - I'm at a loss. Once I'm able to turn on USB debugging I should be able to connect to my PC/laptop and mirror the screen. From there all navigation should be easy - but following what is seen on the Note 9, it doesn't work. So I can't enable talkback and I can't enable USB debugging. I'm also not 100% sure where on the screen the prompt would appear - so unplugging and replugging then guestimate tapping have not been successful.

So far I can use it like an expensive USB drive, but I'd like to get all things off, test the functionality otherwise, and then factory reset before giving it away or selling it. Not ready to buy a screen as the cost is the same as buying a used device.

Well - that's everything. Hopefully someone can assist. I can post the exact steps after someone replies, but let me give a quick rundown below. If you have one you can try with a USB keyboard and see where it gets you.

Unlock device with PIN.

ALT+A

UP x2

Type SETTING

ENTER x3

UP x2

ENTER

Type TALKBACK

Enter x3

Down......can't recall. Think it was x2. To the voice option.

ENTER

DOWN

ENTER

DOWN

RIGHT

ENTER

The last bit should select the ALLOW option and ultimately enable talkback. But for some reason it doesn't. Nothing is heard. For the USB debugging it's the same thing except at step 8 it's "USB debugging" then down like 9 or 10 times to get to the option - then enter - then right and enter.

Nothing has worked so far to blindly enable either talkback or USB debugging. So any help is appreciated.

I'm hoping there's some file I can copy directly to the file system, or something I can manipulate on the file system to enable either of these features, but I won't hold my breath. No idea whether or not this will work, but hopeful all the same. Looking forward to replies and thanks in advance.