Dead Optimus?

[azphish]

I'm just a regular ol' phone user, not a fixer or technologically savvy in any way - so be gentle with me! LOL

Went to use the phone this morning, said I had no service/emergency calls only. It refused to pick up a signal, so I turned it off, removed the battery, etc. Still no signal and now it's showing the date as Saturday, January 5th at 6pm (it's 9am on 05/29 now).

Worked fine up until this morning - is there a way to reset it/get it working or is it dead? Thanks for any help or ideas.

 

[fratermus]

Both symptoms point to the SIM card, that little rectangular card under the battery that stores the TMO (or ATT, or whatever) account info.

Here's what I'd do:

1. ensure your phone is not in Airplane mode. I don't think this is it, but look first:
Menu | Settings | Wireless Networks | Airplane Mode. Should be unchecked.

2. power off the phone, remove the SIM (note the orientation as you take it out, or compare with the hint molded into the area). Wipe off any dust, if needed. Reseat the SIM and power the phone back on.

If you are lucky it's a fluke and it will work. If it doesn't work:


3. Menu | Settings | Wireless Networks | Mobile Networks | Network Operators and see if your carrier is listed. Most folks use the "select automatically" setting but if that doesn't help you can pick your carrier from the list.


If that doesn't work

4. call or (preferably) log in online your carrier to make sure nothing weird has happened to your account. Out of funds, on hold, computer glitch, who knows.

4a. borrow a SIM from a friend with the same service. Pop it in and see if it works. If it does, the SIM may have died. TMO will likely swap out SIMs for free or cheap if a newer one is needed.


As a "hail Mary" pass, TMO or whatever carrier may have you factory reset the phone. It will be worth a try at that point, but it will erase any configuration/modification you've done on the phone. It's a blunt instrument but sometimes helps.