How do you erase contents of a phone that won't turn on?

[tomoki]

Hi,

 

I have a Nexus 5 that won't turn on anymore, possibly due to the power switch. I tried turning it on but it won't even last a second. The battery is fine and I also tried plugging in the phone to the wall and also tried plugging it into the computer to try turning it on. Same thing happens. How do I erase the contents of the phone so I can recycle it after? Thanks! 

[AresKrieger]

Well it's broken so you could just tear it apart pull out the ssd or flash memory it has then burn that that crude but effective.

[krowhill]

Easiest way, hammer or firearm if you have access to one!

[zMeul]

 

[porina]

Look up the keypresses for the special boot menu. I can't remember what it is called. If you can access that, there's various options in there to do data destructive stuff.

[tiberiusmoon5]

 

[vanished]

Everyone here has the right idea.  Best option is just physical destruction.

[paddy-stone]

Won't even boot into recovery?

 

You could send it to me and I could "tinker" with it

[tomoki]

Omg hahaha all these replies with some very....lethal methods! WILL IT BLEND LOL ~ 

Maybe I should just head to Free Geek for that hard drive ....smasher thingy. 

[tomoki]

7 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

Won't even boot into recovery?

 

You could send it to me and I could "tinker" with it

It boots the first few seconds... it shows the android sorta logo and black background behind it...then it turns off. 

[paddy-stone]

9 minutes ago, tomoki said:

It boots the first few seconds... it shows the android sorta logo and black background behind it...then it turns off. 

I'm not an expert, but that sounds to me like a boot problem rather than a battery etc problem... but hard to diagnose. Have you tried the recovery then? usually it's volume up+on button at the same time, press and hold until logo comes up.

[tomoki]

Just now, paddy-stone said:

I'm not an expert, but that sounds to me like a boot problem rather than a battery etc problem... but hard to diagnose. Have you tried the recovery then? usually it's volume up+on button at the same time, press and hold until logo comes up.

Oh no I haven't tried yet. Thanks for that! I'll probably try to .... do just that but I probably won't know what to do beyond that hahaha. I'm kinda a noob when it comes to fixing phones and all that. I don't even know how to root a phone tbh cause I am afraid I might screw it up... I'm much better with computers so... that's why I'm here asking about phones! Obviously there's guys like yourself who know much better

[paddy-stone]

1 minute ago, tomoki said:

Oh no I haven't tried yet. Thanks for that! I'll probably try to .... do just that but I probably won't know what to do beyond that hahaha. I'm kinda a noob when it comes to fixing phones and all that. I don't even know how to root a phone tbh cause I am afraid I might screw it up... I'm much better with computers so... that's why I'm here asking about phones! Obviously there's guys like yourself who know much better

Oh, just checked for you it's actually volume up+volume down + on button  - once it goes into recovery mode you will usually have to control the up menu/down menu with voulme up/volume down and on button to select option.

 

You should see in one of the menus an option for factory reset.

[tomoki]

Just now, paddy-stone said:

Oh, just checked for you it's actually volume up+volume down + on button  - once it goes into recovery mode you will usually have to control the up menu/down menu with voulme up/volume down and on button to select option.

 

You should see in one of the menus an option for factory reset.

Thank you very much

[paddy-stone]

Just now, tomoki said:

Thank you very much

No worries, I hope it works for you.. if you get stuck again, just reply here and put @paddy-stone and I will see it and get back to you as soon as I can

[tiberiusmoon5]

1 hour ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Everyone here has the right idea.  Best option is just physical destruction.

What about Chemical destruction?

Thermite is the shit

[Liminal Doughnut]

I recommend against just smashing it as is because there are chemicals in the battery and such that you don't want to be released. The best option is to disassemble it, find a safe place to recycle the battery and display, and then destroy the motherboard or flash chips. 

[paddy-stone]

@tomoki Any progress? interested to see what the problem is/was?