Will getting a new SIM really restore my firmware?

[fullscore21]

I just got off of an hour long chat with a Tracfone customer service person. My phone is in an unusable state and the only way I can get it back in working order is to reinstall the firmware, which is not available for download online. I asked for the firmware but it was not available, so the Tracfone rep suggested I get a new SIM. She said that will re-install the firmware.

I'm kind of a noob, so I don't know how that works. Will simply getting a new SIM really restore the firmware?

Also, I don't want to be in this situation again, in case something like this reoccurs. If the SIM really installs the firmware, is there a way I could make a backup of the firmware so I could easily recover it in the future?

 

[hallux]

No, the SIM card and the firmware are independent of each other. All the SIM does is identify your device as being associated with your account, hence the name - Subscriber Identity Module. A SIM card hardly has space on-board for storing contacts, much less the entire firmware ROM for a device.

 

[B. Diddy]

Wow, if the rep told you that, it is wildly inaccurate. Getting a new SIM can help if the phone is having difficulty with the network, but not if the phone is grossly malfunctioning. Which phone do you have?

 

[AlphaTango414]

As said above, SIM card will only might help if your having network connection problems.

Depending on your device, you can flash the stock firmware from a PC. Have you tried booting into recovery to wipe system cache partition? Doing a factory data reset? Booting into safe mode?

 

[fullscore21]

Which phone do you have?

Alcatel One Touch A851L, android 4.1.2.

Depending on your device, you can flash the stock firmware from a PC. Have you tried booting into recovery to wipe system cache partition? Doing a factory data reset? Booting into safe mode?

Yep, all of that. But when my phone turns off or reboots, it gets stuck on a blue screen. The only way I can use the phone after that is by going into recovery mode, doing a factory reset from there, then rebooting, which turns the phone back on.

 

[B. Diddy]

Although it appears the phone can be rooted, I couldn't find a stock or custom ROM available on the web. I did find this, but I'm not sure if it works for the Sonic: How to install easily stock ROM on any Alcatel Pixi3, Pixi3.5, Pixi4, Pixi5, Idol, Idol2, Spop, Mpop, Xpop, Star, Pop - AlcatelROOT.com