Galaxy S4: Major problem - SIM card not detected

[DickieDooda]

Thanks, I'm guessing that seeing as you said...

also using sim lock no problems now.

...that you use the SIM PIN and used to have the SIM lock issue, until you did this,and now it's all OK

I have wiped the cache previously, but it did not seem to have any effect. I could try again.

I accept no responsibility if u brick your phone

LOL... cheers

 

[paulwn]

Yeah worked for me .still using sim lock. kept getting no sim after putting in sim unlock code. Moved from Orange to ee and got s4 upgrade. Phone been ok a month now no problem. Also installed app cache cleaner. Seemed to happen after I installed amazon app. I accept no responsibility if u brick your phone.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Elle13]

I have the same problem with my S4. After an update, it stopped detecting my sim. Went to a service center to get my phone fixed, after going back to get my phone, the girl just returned my phone and said that the motherboard was broken and that a replacement motherboard costs about $350. WTH! I should just buy another phone!! Do you guys think that the motherboard really is the problem? My phone works fine, it just won't read my sim.

 

[Devon Yoo]

I have the same problem.
In my case, I unlocked my phone to travel South Korea. South Korea uses USIM - I don't know what's the difference. I had no problem until I came back to Canada and put my Rogers sim card back to my phone. Like most of people here said, it sometimes got back to be fine after rebooting but stopped working after random hours. And now it's never working.

1. New sim card did not trick
2. Factory reset did not trick
3. Replacing sim card socket with my money did not trick!!
4. Clear cache partition in recovery mode does not complete because it makes an error and restart by itself

Did anyone find a solution?? I don't think every one of you here bought a new phone :S Please share!
I really need some advices to fix my phone urgently because the next step I will try is throwing it away and getting an iPhone

 

[xShadowBladex]

I got my galaxy s4 on verizon in febuary 2014 and I had not had a sim problem and I am on kitkat. That is really weird guess maybe the tray is faulty or could be the phone itself.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[MrLostdude]

So I believe Samsung should hire this guy, like seriously. After having this marvelous pain in my a** for a couple of weeks now and going through the whole hassle with T-Mobile, I did the following, I ruled out any damaged pin by shoving a cut business card along with my sim card into the sim slot. The phone was still booting saying that no sim was inserted. I then went ahead and cleared my cache, as instructed. Boom. No problems since. I'd suggest everyone try this before thinking of going through the whole process of getting a refurbished replacement.

 

[Newport Viper]

My wife got this error today. I opened the back and the SIM was only halfway seated.

 

[verngator]

This happened to my spouse's S4. To test the SIM card we swapped SIMs. The message didn't appear on my phone, but it did pop up on his again while using my card. So that ruled out the SIM. Then we did a full wipe of his phone - the message popped up again. Finally I pushed down on the metal tray holding the SIM...and the message hasn't returned in 2 days.

If that hadn't worked, I would have brought his phone to a local shop to replace the tray and cable. They are Hassle Free Cell Phone Repair, for those of you in the Tampa Bay area. You can walk in or mail in your phone. I heard about them first on an XDA forum.

 

[stewedprune]

Re: Major problem - Sim card not detected

I have the same problem, exactly as you described it:
It happened after the 4.4.2 update, and when I turn on (2 out of 3 or so times), phone PIN entry cannot be made after SIM PIN entry unless I turn off and on the display, and it shows "No Service", not "EE".

When it happens I cannot use mobile data and I cannot access SIM-related services, as it states that the SIM card is not installed. It is a real pain.

Does clearing the cache work in this case? I have the impression that might be a solution to a different problem.

I do use SIM PIN security (as should anyone!), and have a Samsung S4 on EE 4G in the UK.

Disabling the SIM card PIN works. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Ellie Bryant]

I've had my Galaxy S4 for a few months and suddenly yesterday the same SIM card issue appeared, just as I'm about to leave on a 4-day trip. I'm a Luddite when it comes to phones and so will take the darling to the AT&T store today and hope it's open on Sunday afternoon. I had no problem with the old Windows phone I had for several years. Is this Samsung's way of getting me to upgrade to S5?

 

[cyberprashant]

just had this happen on a AT&T refurb replacement from squaretrade. Tried another sim didn't fix it. Clearly a bad h/w issue.

Sent it back for a replacement. Google search seems to indicate this is a fairly common issue.

 

[KBV1]

I had this issue and it wound me up. I sent it to Samsung for repair, they sent it back as a factory reset. I restored all my data via Kies and low and behold I had the same issue. So I sent it back to Samsung, they carried out another repair on it and I received it back as Factory Reset. This time, I restored only my Personal Info, Photos/Videos/Music, Wifi Settings & Misc data. I've had the phone back now for 2 weeks and no other issue. Could of be a device H/W fix or something within my settings data.

Maybe worth a shot backing up your device via Kies, [For WhatsApp I copied the folder from phone to my desktop and then restored that separately] and restore you device with just the data listed above.

 

[Wilson1701D]

Re: Major problem - Sim card not detected

It just started happening to me. I'm not sure if it's a hredware or software problem.

 

[Wilson1701D]

Re: Major problem - Sim card not detected

another thing that came to mind, I was having to reboot my phone to get it to connect to mobile networks whenever I left a wifi area; so I went into my settings and set it to auto-switch between wifi and mobile. a few hours after that is when the sim card problem started. I just turned it off to see if it will help and it seems to be working but I will report the status in a day or two so I can be sure

 

[Nathaniel Ward]

Re: Major problem - Sim card not detected

did anyone get the phn replaced or the motherboard replaced wth in warnty.....coz thy r claiming as if it dsnt *** undr wanrnty....

I did. .. I live in Canada and I'm with Rogers and they just sent it in and replace it because of some Internet problem I was having.... And now when I turn of my phone and back on I have the Sim card problem

 

[urgiv]

I resolved this problem today I hope

 

[gsuaaron]

I resolved this problem today I hope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6owypvmcEfY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmCZDjc7mos

Where exactly you buy the copper? Everywhere I've looked you have to buy a whole roll.

For history sake:
I've replaced sim
Reflowed the sim card slot in a oven
Bought a new sim slot
And the error always happens when I put the phone in my pocket. Hence the heat issue I'm thinking.

Edit: found a sheet at etsy.com for like 10 bucks after shipping if anyone else wants to know. This prob is ridiculous!

Edit: put the copper on. Still got the error when I felt the sim card area get hot. .

 

[ghengiskhana]

I have the same problem and am looking to fix it, and if it is a hardware problem, the thing is that my phone screen is cracked, so I'm afraid At&T won't do anything because they can say that the problem is from cracked screen. Did replacing the phone itself solve the problem for anyone?

 

[gsuaaron]

Nothing has worked. I even got desperate and reflowed the whole motherboard. It actually worked better for about 2 days as I didn't get the error anymore and thought it was fixed. Then today...I got the error and it has remained ever since....(yeah it will not go away..sux so can't make phone calls or receive). So, now it is new phone time for me. :/

 

[vanngoh]

My note 3 sim 2 did not even show the mobile network options. Sim 1 can select network, sim 2 is greyed out. Does that mean sim 2 tray is faulty??