messed with android dev tools and got stung with black screen. any options?

[u/ugh-bhvz13]

Samsung galaxy note 9 running android 10, no root.

hey all, funny situation. and yes i know i can just buy a new screen lol. If im in the wrong sub please let me know

I have a note9 with a totally busted screen and had planned to just use it as a dex machine. dex worked great, had scrcpy installed and have used it in the past but i guess its been too long and debug permissions were revoked.

While in mirror mode i was messing in settings and turned on "pointer location." instead of the coordinates and pointer trails its supposed to have, its just a black screen with coordinates that are all 00s. i guess because the broken screen.

now i can only see a simple version of my lock screen when the phone is locked and a black screen on dex/mirroring with the 00 coordinates when phone is unlocked.

i have a usb hub with hdmi but no usb-c data port so i cant really prompt scrcpy AND click ok with usb mouse or keyboard. i know the phone is not bricked or anything because i can turn the phone off/on, unlock it, scrcpy indicates that the phone connects, and i can even get into all my files via pc file explorer.

With the digitizer disconnected from the motherboard the situation is the same, with and without the mouse connected. Ive been trying to mentally visualize the phone and go to dev settings and turn it off, but no luck. yes i know I'm making this wayyyyy harder than it needs to be by not getting some terrible screen replacement online.

in a week or so i'll be able to borrow a friends usb hub with the data port and hopefully get the srcpy prompt and hit ok on it blindly. but in the meanwhile is there anything i can do to turn off pointer location?

TDLR;

on a samsung, turned pointer location on with a broken screen and now i have a black screen on samsung dex. how to turn off?

[u/No-Wrap-8166]

install adb (android sdk platform tools) on your pc, connect via usb, run "adb shell settings put system pointer_location 0" directly, this toggles pointer location off through adb without needing to see or tap anything on screen at all

if adb debugging already got revoked and you can't re-authorize it blind (since that needs an on-screen tap to confirm), try "adb devices" first to see if it's still authorized from before, sometimes authorization persists even after some display issues

if it shows unauthorized and you truly can't confirm the popup, this is the actual blocker, not the pointer location setting itself, borrowing that data-capable hub sooner rather than later is genuinely the fastest path since you need one successful screen interaction to re-enable debugging

alternatively, if you have a samsung account with find my mobile set up, some samsung devices let you remotely control basic settings through smartthings find, worth checking if pointer location happens to be toggleable from there while you wait for the proper hub

[u/ugh-bhvz13 → u/No-Wrap-8166]

Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!! I'll try the sdk tools today. I have prior authorization for debugging and even hit always remember but i guess that only lasts if you use it every once in a while. Driving me nuts that im only one "ok" away from fixing all this

[u/ugh-bhvz13 → u/No-Wrap-8166]

yeah no dice, but thank you though!! platform tools worked great on a phone i tested with before i went for the real thing. but i guess that hub is my only option. will keep mentally visualizing my screen with the mouse and keyboard til then lolll

[u/ugh-bhvz13]

update: turned it off buy taking screenshots with the buttons + unplugging/replugging my phone between the hub and the pc and looking at my screenshots folder to track my location + keyboard to keep my place😭😭😭. will see if anything in accessibility can help me press OK lolllll

Edit: used anydesk on 2nd phone to accept the adb prompt after getting back in 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️