[Windows Central Question]

Hello!

I am trying to recover the data on the mass internal storage of a Nokia N8 that has been water-damaged. The data is of sentimental value to my partner's family member, so I am trying my best before contacting a data recovery company as we cannot currently afford the probably very expensive service.

The phone does not power on, nor does it show the regular charging indicator, however when the battery is what I've began calling critically-low condition (where the phone would not start without charging for a few minutes first), the charging light does flash near the micro-USB port. After this it stops charging and the process can be repeated if the battery is left to achieve the critically low point. I believe it does not charge once the critical threshold has been passed. This is only when charging via the USB, if the adapter is used it doesn't charge at all. I have uploaded a video of this here: https://www [dot] youtube [dot] com/watch?v=TQTIRcaoQu4. When charging via the computer, the light goes on for about 6 minutes. If charging via wall socket USB adapter, it takes about a minute. If charging via computer and regular adapter together, it takes about a minute as well, so at least both charging ports are somewhat working. I think it is possible that the power button still does something as it seemed to reset the critically-low charging process or it may have been coincidental. The computer does not recognise the phone in any way and it does not start, vibrate, or show any other signs of life even with a charged battery. This is a similar symptome as one guy had with his N9 here: https://talk [dot] maemo [dot] org/showthread.php?t=87709, but I don't think WinFlasher works for N8, or I haven't done the steps properly (get an error about invalid header of the flashing file).

The phone has been opened, cleaned, and left to dry for several weeks. I have bought a used N8 as I had misplaced the charging plate and thought it might be useful for diagnostics as well. The screen of the water-damaged phone seems to be in working order, so the motherboard is the only one that seems to be affected severely. I've also bought a Nokia CA-101 data cable as the ones I had did not seem to connect the working phone to the computer via USB -- now the working phone gives an error when connecting the cable and says to remove the cable (at least it's being recognised this time!). It is unclear to me whether the phone, cable, or software is at fault (seems older Nokias are finicky with drivers and Nokia Suite), but the same cable charges the phone when the battery is critically low.

So, there is still some power going through the mainboard, even though it's not fully operational. Phones are odd (I removed a chip from a Samsung to make it start again), so if anybody can think of a solution short of transplating the internal memory chip, I would greatly appreciate it. Bar that, I am even open to doing that myself if somebody would guide me through it! Here: http://imgur [dot] com/a/Brlm4 are some pictures of the mainboard and here: https://www [dot] telepolis [dot] pl/grafika/newsy/2010-07/noka-n8-dissasembly-1.pdf is the service manual for the N8, for people who have a better understanding of the internals. Is there anything I can do to recover the data? Thank you.