Ask Slashdot: Preparing an Android Tablet For Resale?

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Ask Slashdot: Preparing an Android Tablet For Resale?

Posted by timothy on Monday July 28, 2014 @07:07AM from the link-free-cloth-and-a-.45 dept.

UrsaMajor987 (3604759) writes I have a Asus Transformer tablet that I dropped on the floor. There is no obvious sign of damage but It will no longer boot. Good excuse to get a newer model. I intend to sell it for parts (it comes with an undamaged keyboard) or maybe just toss it. I want to remove all my personal data. I removed the flash memory card but what about the other storage? I know how to wipe a hard drive, but how do you wipe a tablet? If you were feeling especially paranoid, but wanted to keep the hardware intact for the next user, what would you do?

22 of 113 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

It has 2GB internal memory. by Kenja · 2014-07-28 07:11 · Score: 5, Insightful

There is 2GB of memory for the OS, personal settings, apps, etc. If you can not boot the device, you can not access this memory to clear it. You may be SOL.

--

"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
1. Re:It has 2GB internal memory. by AmiMoJo · 2014-07-28 07:28 · Score: 3
  
  When you say "it doesn't boot", do you mean it does nothing when you try to turn it on? If you can get into the bootloader menu it is often possible to wipe the device from there, or at least do a factory reset and make it bootable again.
  It might also be worth trying a USB connection. Even if the screen doesn't work it might get you an ADB connection, which can be used for wiping.
  Otherwise the only option is a hammer. You could possibly remove the motherboard and sell the screen, battery and other bits. The memory chips have to die though.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
2. Re:It has 2GB internal memory. by hermitdev · 2014-07-28 08:08 · Score: 3
  
  Otherwise the only option is a hammer.
  Only option? I beg to differ. My preferred method is thermite.
3. Re:It has 2GB internal memory. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-28 10:01 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Nah. Nuke it from orbit; it's the only way to be sure.
Re:Two Steps by Sowelu · 2014-07-28 07:12 · Score: 4, Insightful

The poster said it won't boot, so they're selling it for parts. Some of those parts might still have data, and must be identified physically. Storage is awful tiny these days, so unless you know what you're looking for, you could miss a long term cache.
Does the PC connection work at all? by jeffmeden · 2014-07-28 07:19 · Score: 5, Informative

Do you get the ADB device to register if you plug it in to a PC via USB and turn it on? That would be your only hope to wiping it assuming the screen is damaged but the SoC/flash still works to some extent. Also, have you tried opening it up? A similar thing happened to my Nexus device, and after popping the back cover off it turns out that the drop caused the battery to slide to one side, and come unplugged. Relocating the battery, adding a little more double sided tape, and snapping it all back together had it good as new in under 5 minutes.
5 options by Andrew+Lindh · 2014-07-28 07:20 · Score: 3, Funny

If it won't boot and you can't erase the on-board flash then try:
1) Sell it for parts and hope someone does not fix it and access your data (use a sticky note to kindly ask them to erase it for you)
2) Dump it at your local E-waste center and hope some does not pick it up out of the pile (and see #1)
3) Microwave it to fry the chips and hope you don't burn down your house (please upload the video)
4) Use it for target practice (9mm or larger please, full auto would be best) and then crush it with a steam roller (once again, please upload the video)
5) To meet your non-destruct goal, if you have skills: unsolder the flash chips, erase them in a programmer, reinstall the blank chips.
Or as pointed out from before (but it's too late), encrypt your data from the start and reset the keys.
To answer the question directly by EmagGeek · 2014-07-28 07:27 · Score: 5, Informative

"If you were feeling especially paranoid, but wanted to keep the hardware intact for the next user, what would you do?"
To me these are mutually exclusive. If I was feeling especially paranoid, I would probably hurl the thing into a cauldron of molten lava, because, you know, the definition of being especially paranoid is an intense fear of others invading our privacy or being out to get you.
Disposing of my tablet by giving it to another person is wholly incompatible with your premise of me feeling especially paranoid.
1. Re:To answer the question directly by gman003 · 2014-07-28 07:53 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  If I was feeling especially paranoid, I would probably hurl the thing into a cauldron of molten lava
  The device cannot be truly destroyed by any means we currently possess. The flames of an ancient wyrm could perhaps unmake it, but such dragons are not to be found in these parts. I suggest gathering a fellowship to carry the tablet to the mountain Amon Amarth, in the dark pits of the land of Mordor, and cast it into the fires of Mt. Doom in which it was forged. Only then can we be sure that it is unmade, completely and utterly, and will trouble us no longer.
2. Re:To answer the question directly by elgatozorbas · 2014-07-28 11:59 · Score: 2
  
  With all due respect: why is this modded insightful instead of the funny it was probably aimed at? Especially because the device can be destroyed by means currently available, such as the volcalo mentioned above. And simpler means too.
3. Re:To answer the question directly by Dr_Barnowl · 2014-07-28 20:56 · Score: 2
  
  "Funny" doesn't count towards your karma score, so some people like to reward otherwise funny posts with ratings that do grant karma.
Advice: Android Device Manager by Anonymous Coward · 2014-07-28 07:27 · Score: 5, Informative

Try signing into https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager. If the only thing wrong is the screen you might be able to erase your data.
Hammer Time! by jtara · 2014-07-28 07:41 · Score: 2

The subject says it all.
Find the flash chip soldered to the board. Smash it. Smash it good!
1. Re:Hammer Time! by jtara · 2014-07-28 07:42 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Sometimes you can get the NSA to help you with this...
Re:Two Steps by ArcadeMan · 2014-07-28 07:42 · Score: 5, Insightful

Built-in storage is going to be an IC or two that are soldered to a PCB. If the device won't boot, the only really safe way to delete the data is to dismantle the unit and totally destroy the board and make sure all ICs are broken.

--
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Selling for parts by NitsujTPU · 2014-07-28 07:44 · Score: 2

Just a quick note. You probably won't make much on the proceeds for a sale for parts. Used tablet parts don't fetch very much on the open market. If the tablet is non-working, there is no guarantee which parts work and which don't. Taking tablets apart is difficult and time-consuming, so there is a lot of labor involved. Also, due to the ways that tablets tend to be assembled (lots of epoxies and thin plastics), it is very easy to damage the parts during disassembly.
Re:Advice by ArcadeMan · 2014-07-28 07:46 · Score: 3, Insightful

Parts could still be worth something if he can disassemble the unit without breaking it. If the LCD/touch screen is intact, someone could buy it on eBay/etc to fix his own broken unit.

--
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Just so you're clear on this.... by Primate+Pete · 2014-07-28 07:56 · Score: 4, Insightful

"Will no longer boot" does not go along with "no obvious sign of damage."
low end Android tablets now $59 by peter303 · 2014-07-28 08:27 · Score: 2

I was perusing the back-to-school sales in the Sunday papers and saw some new Android tablets listed for $59. I think they were the early 7" models 8GB and Android 4.2. I see such models even cheaper online.
Re:Two Steps by multimediavt · 2014-07-28 08:34 · Score: 4, Insightful

Built-in storage is going to be an IC or two that are soldered to a PCB. If the device won't boot, the only really safe way to delete the data is to dismantle the unit and totally destroy the board and make sure all ICs are broken.
Bingo, give this man a cigar. With modern NVRAM the only way to be sure it's safe is to destroy it. Yes, really! So my advice to anyone parting with a personal electronic device is, "Pulverise it with a hammer on a concrete slab." Becuase the money you get back from its sale will not offset identity theft or whatever other havoc can be delivered from data left on the device in NVRAM. I still have ALL my old phones and other devices from the last twelve years and will eventually destroy them. Don't get on the recycle kick either. I know, there are some things in there that would be better recycled but any possible data on the device trumps environmental concerns. I don't go through a phone every year so it's not a lot of devices for me.
Re:Two Steps by Em+Adespoton · 2014-07-28 09:27 · Score: 3, Interesting

Interestingly, a few years ago I had an iOS device that got dropped in water and no longer functioned. I took it apart and pulverized the electronics, as I figured there was no way I could guarantee the data on there was inaccessible.
I took the baggie of pulverized parts to the local cell phone drop for recycling; got a few odd looks as I dropped it in.
Then I took the case backing (the bit with the serial number engraved into it) to Apple for a $50 store credit. The same credit they would have given me had I given them the entire device. That's probably as good a deal as I would have got from anywhere, even if I had kept everything intact.
The best part? I kept the LCD screen, as it still worked just fine.
Will it blend? by toonces33 · 2014-07-28 10:03 · Score: 2

http://www.willitblend.com/vid...