So after 2 years of problem free usage, my S4 all of a sudden told me that there is no sim card. Reboot fixed it for a bit, but the message returned later. Now I can't get rid of it.
Bit of a back story:
-I bought this phone (I9505) in EU (Germany). I live in Canada now.
-Was running Slimkat ROM for a really long time, starting with 4.4.2, and upgrading it to 4.4.4.
-When this issue came up, I tried:
Wiping cache
Flashing a lollipop rom
Flashing another baseband
Flashing stock samsung rom
Other sim cards
New sim tray
RegionLockAway
At this point, the device is on stock 4.4.2 from Samsung. It recognizes my EU sim cards, but not the Canadian one (Rogers).
Is the device region locked? I'm just about ready to smash it with a baseball bat, in all honesty. Would any of the unlocks from fastgsm.com work for me? Anyone got any ideas?
Custom ROMs such as SlimKat don't have the region lock included in them, so RegionLock Away is useless on them. Your initial comment of the reboot fixing the problem led me to think the motherboard was the problem. However, your comment about the S4 recognizing your European SIM cards disproves that line of thought.
Going through the list of things you tried, the first four wouldn't correct the issue, and in fact could reintroduce the region lock if it's a stock ROM. Option 6 worked, again based on your comment about the SIM cards, but it didn't fix the problem. RegionLock Away would remove any region locks present in the S4 firmware, as that is what it is supposed to do. However, this did not resolve your problem, which leads us to number 5.
When you mention trying other SIM cards, did you try only the SIM cards you had available? When your Rogers SIM is inserted, do you get an icon like in the attached image? The objective here is to eliminate your Rogers SIM as the source of the problem. Based upon what you've provided in your post however, the SIM card itself is the likely culprit here. If the SIM card tray had gone bad, NONE of your SIM cards would have worked. If you had a region lock active you would have received a notification that the SIM was invalid, and not the circle with slash in the image. To test, you need to do either of the following.
1. Try your Rogers SIM in another device.
2. Head to the nearest Bell or Telus store and use one of their SIMs to test.
If the Bell or Telus SIM works in your S4, then you don't have an active region lock and the Rogers SIM is bad. If the Rogers SIM doesn't work when inserted in a different phone, then the Rogers SIM is bad.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Custom ROMs such as SlimKat don't have the region lock included in them, so RegionLock Away is useless on them. Your initial comment of the reboot fixing the problem led me to think the motherboard was the problem. However, your comment about the S4 recognizing your European SIM cards disproves that line of thought.
Going through the list of things you tried, the first four wouldn't correct the issue, and in fact could reintroduce the region lock if it's a stock ROM. Option 6 worked, again based on your comment about the SIM cards, but it didn't fix the problem. RegionLock Away would remove any region locks present in the S4 firmware, as that is what it is supposed to do. However, this did not resolve your problem, which leads us to number 5.
When you mention trying other SIM cards, did you try only the SIM cards you had available? When your Rogers SIM is inserted, do you get an icon like in the attached image? The objective here is to eliminate your Rogers SIM as the source of the problem. Based upon what you've provided in your post however, the SIM card itself is the likely culprit here. If the SIM card tray had gone bad, NONE of your SIM cards would have worked. If you had a region lock active you would have received a notification that the SIM was invalid, and not the circle with slash in the image. To test, you need to do either of the following.
1. Try your Rogers SIM in another device.
2. Head to the nearest Bell or Telus store and use one of their SIMs to test.
If the Bell or Telus SIM works in your S4, then you don't have an active region lock and the Rogers SIM is bad. If the Rogers SIM doesn't work when inserted in a different phone, then the Rogers SIM is bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I restored my backup of the Lollipop ROM, which doesn't detect any sim card. The backup has a different baseband that I had flashed before.
To answer your question, I don't see that icon. I've been to the Rogers store and my sim worked in their device, but their working sim did not get recognized in mine. That's when I tried replacing the sim tray (to no avail).
So this is what I'm thinking:
Flash the open european 4.4.2 rom from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2265477
Figure out what baseband it's running and get the latest one
Flash lollipop and flash updated baseband (would be nice to be on 5.0.1, but I guess I can skip this step if it doesn't fix my issue)
Root, unlock
BTW Is RegionLockAway actually compatible with 4.4.2 and i9505?
Thanks for your feedback so far!
RegionLock Away should work on Android 4.4.2. It requires root, as I'm sure you know, because it rewrites a system file. In simple language, it wipes out the region lock table in one of the files. When I used it on my I9505 however, I had downgraded to 4.2.2 to take advantage of RegionLock Away's unintended side effect of fully unlocking the S4. So I personally would downgrade the modem to a 4.2.2 version, run RegionLock Away and take advantage of that unintended side effect, then upgrade the modem to 4.4.2 at least.
There is a possibility that your SIM lock is back on the phone, thus why I recommend the downgrade. Without going into details, I was getting that circle with slash icon, downgraded, and found out that not only was my SIM tray toast, but the SIM lock had returned. I replaced the tray. RegionLock Away got rid of the SIM lock and region lock.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
RegionLock Away should work on Android 4.4.2. It requires root, as I'm sure you know, because it rewrites a system file. In simple language, it wipes out the region lock table in one of the files. When I used it on my I9505 however, I had downgraded to 4.2.2 to take advantage of RegionLock Away's unintended side effect of fully unlocking the S4. So I personally would downgrade the modem to a 4.2.2 version, run RegionLock Away and take advantage of that unintended side effect, then upgrade the modem to 4.4.2 at least.
There is a possibility that your SIM lock is back on the phone, thus why I recommend the downgrade. Without going into details, I was getting that circle with slash icon, downgraded, and found out that not only was my SIM tray toast, but the SIM lock had returned. I replaced the tray. RegionLock Away got rid of the SIM lock and region lock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried what you suggested. When I run RegionLockAway I get this message: http://dl-1.va.us.xda-developers.co....jpg?key=-d8VgjHV1_MaPeiioYPGfA&ts=1427415458
Side note:
After wiping everything and flashing stock, my sim card was recognized for a few seconds. I received some messages and got some coverage. Then I got the sim card undetected error again.
Your attachment didn't work so I don't know what it said.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Your attachment didn't work so I don't know what it said.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I reattached it.
I also can't seem to downgrade anymore. Download mode gives me an error something fuse 2 : binary 1, whenever I try to flash a lower version ROM
Any idea if I can sim unlock with an unlock code? I'd rather pay than waste any more time on this :\
That's a new one. Perhaps you should bring that up in the RegionLock Away thread and see if Chainfire knows what's going on. That could very easily be some added security that was added by Samsung in Android 5.0.1. Or it could simply be Knox objecting, in which case you have to disable Knox.
While I've recommended RegionLock Away to unlock phones, it doesn't have a 100% success rate, and it's not guaranteed the unlock will stick after an upgrade. Purchasing an unlock code is usually a better choice, even though you're paying for it.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
That's a new one. Perhaps you should bring that up in the RegionLock Away thread and see if Chainfire knows what's going on. That could very easily be some added security that was added by Samsung in Android 5.0.1. Or it could simply be Knox objecting, in which case you have to disable Knox.
While I've recommended RegionLock Away to unlock phones, it doesn't have a 100% success rate, and it's not guaranteed the unlock will stick after an upgrade. Purchasing an unlock code is usually a better choice, even though you're paying for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SuperSU tries to disable Knox though, and it says it accomplishes it. So just to get this straight, Knox is introduced in one of the newer stock Samsung roms. Once it makes it on the device, it's not going away no matter what rom I flash or which backup I restore, right? And if I do try to fiddle around, it will go 0x1 on me and void the warranty (not that I have one at this point). Is it supposed to prevent me from downgrading as well? Or is that a side effect of something else?
BTW, every time I boot up now I get a message in the top left corner saying something like "Kernel is not seandroid enforcing" in red, followed by "set warranty bit: kernel" in yellow.
I ordered an unlock code from fastgsm yesterday. Let's hope that works. Though I gotta admit, after owning an S3 and the 2 years that I got out of this S4 I think I'm officially done with Samsung. I paid $600 bucks for this phone, I should be able to mod it however I want. Especially if they push their stupid bloat and TouchWiz on me.
Knox is part of the bootloader, so it's not going away. You can however remove the Knox apps from the ROM. The Knox flag will trip if you attempt to install a custom recovery, but whether you lose any remaining warranty or not is subject to debate. It's not supposed to prevent you from downgrading, because the stock ROM my S4 came with had a Knox-enabled bootloader, and the Knox flag was already tripped, yet I was still able to downgrade long enough to solve my issues.
"Kernel is not SEAndroid enforcing" on the splash screen is harmless. The bootloader detects the old ROM's kernel and notices that it doesn't have secure Android coding, so it warns you of this when you boot. If you can get the phone back to Android 4.4.2 or Android 5.0.1 the warning will go away.
Thanks for the clarification.
So I got the unlock code. However, I am not sure how to properly enter it. I'm following these instructions (Invalid SIM card screen, as nothing else seems to apply). Nothing happens when I enter the instructed codes. It's a manufacturer unlock code... surely it's not useless, is it?
Shouldn't be useless. Watch this YouTube video.
EDIT: If you repeatedly get a message that the unlock is unsuccessful, check out this YouTube video.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Shouldn't be useless. Watch this YouTube video.
EDIT: If you repeatedly get a message that the unlock is unsuccessful, check out this YouTube video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never got a prompt like the one in the video.
I tried the procedure from the second video before, but I can't get into the UMTS main menu.
Then you have a different problem. The moment you put in the Bell or Telus SIM cards you should have gotten that prompt. Hate to say this, but I would have the phone serviced. Keep the unlock code however. You may as well use it when you get the S4 back.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Then you have a different problem. The moment you put in the Bell or Telus SIM cards you should have gotten that prompt. Hate to say this, but I would have the phone serviced. Keep the unlock code however. You may as well use it when you get the S4 back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK thanks for all your help, man.
Hi Guys,
I will try and keep this as short as possible. I am on contract and have had my numbers for years.
Anyone who can help me will be rewarded.
I had my S6 Edge stolen. Within 30 mins I went to Vodafone (UK) and got a new sim card - cancelling the one in the S6.
The next day I phoned Vodafone to get the IMEI blocked.
I have an S4 I9505 from before my upgrade (Stock 5.0.1, stock Kernel, UK) Now it gets weird...
My sim card will not work in the phone.
My sim card works in any other phone.
Any sim card works in my phone.
MY SIM WILL NOT WORK IN MY PHONE!
I am no tech newbie, I changed the sim tray a couple of times first thinking it was that. Vodafone gave me 3 different sim cards - nothing.
I was in the Vodafone store for 2 hours last night trying to fix it, there are no bars on my account and the phone isn't blocked or barred. The phone is in good condition.
Tried factory reset and format.
If anyone can help me resolve this issue I will be sincerely grateful. If I cannot fix this great phone - I will be forced to buy a new 4G handset.
I currently have my sim in an old iPhone and am using the S4 for everything else, so I am ready to try anything.
Thanks guys in advance.
JB
I prefer you to flash aosp rom like cynogenmod or note 5 port ^_^ . It might help your sim card to get work again. Remember to do backup first and install custom recovery . Warning : Your phone need to be root first . If your phone already rooted then you just do a backup and flash aosp rom
Did you try a factory reset from recovery mode? Reflash a stock ROM? IMEI is properly displayed from the dialler menu (*#06#)?
Let me preface this with some quick info about the phone. I bought it two years ago and it was SIM locked to Vodafone, Vodafone basically told the guy selling it to me it'd take 6 weeks to unlock so to get around this I went to a third party phone shop who told me they unlocked it but it wasn't until later I realised they had actually changed the IMEI of the device to get it to work. This was okay though, the phone worked fine and didn't give any real issues until two weeks ago.
Two weeks ago my N910F on Kyubi Note 5 Port ROM began telling me "not registered on network" (couldn't make calls, texts or use 3G), I went through standard troubleshooting with my carrier and it didn't appear to be on their end (the SIM worked in a Galaxy S 3 I have spare). I decided to update to 6.0.1 stock from Sammobile using Odin to see if it solved the issue, unfortunately it didn't. I was advised by something I found online to check if the IMEI was blacklisted on Swappa- turned out it was. I brought it back to the shop who had originally changed the IMEI. The guy in the shop told me it wasn't blacklisted but the reason for no service was because the device had a sum of "none" where the serial number should be when you dial *#06#.
He "fixed" the devices by changing the IMEI again and reverting to 4.4.4. He told me not to update it and everything would be fine. Obviously I wasn't too happy with being stuck on KitKat so he told me if I need to come back within 2 weeks after breaking it again that he'll fix it for free. Now the phone on 4.4.4 was giving a serial number and everything appeared fine.
I flashed 6.0.1 onto it and again the S/N became "none", but everything still more or less worked despite this. Since then I have Rooted it, flashed TWRP and installed Xposed. Once I installed Xposed problems began to arise again, the phone is reporting the SD card as corrupted repeatedly, everytime the phone turns on, once finished booting I will get a black screen with just a navigation bar and an empty battery icon (then after 2-3 mins it's fine), 3G wouldn't work at all, wifi passwords aren't being remembered, following boot I get the error message "process system is not responding would you like to close it".
Thankfully I made a backup in TWRP before putting Xposed on the device and restored the system to that this morning, which fixed the 3G issue but all of the other problems are still there (despite not having been there before Xposed was installed).
What should I try now? Should I go back to the guy again? Should I try revert to stock 4.4.4 or 5.1.1 through Odin? I'm really tempted to just cut my losses and sell it, but I love the phone so much. Any help is massively appreciated.
piratezilla said:
Let me preface this with some quick info about the phone. I bought it two years ago and it was SIM locked to Vodafone, Vodafone basically told the guy selling it to me it'd take 6 weeks to unlock so to get around this I went to a third party phone shop who told me they unlocked it but it wasn't until later I realised they had actually changed the IMEI of the device to get it to work. This was okay though, the phone worked fine and didn't give any real issues until two weeks ago.
Two weeks ago my N910F on Kyubi Note 5 Port ROM began telling me "not registered on network" (couldn't make calls, texts or use 3G), I went through standard troubleshooting with my carrier and it didn't appear to be on their end (the SIM worked in a Galaxy S 3 I have spare). I decided to update to 6.0.1 stock from Sammobile using Odin to see if it solved the issue, unfortunately it didn't. I was advised by something I found online to check if the IMEI was blacklisted on Swappa- turned out it was. I brought it back to the shop who had originally changed the IMEI. The guy in the shop told me it wasn't blacklisted but the reason for no service was because the device had a sum of "none" where the serial number should be when you dial *#06#.
He "fixed" the devices by changing the IMEI again and reverting to 4.4.4. He told me not to update it and everything would be fine. Obviously I wasn't too happy with being stuck on KitKat so he told me if I need to come back within 2 weeks after breaking it again that he'll fix it for free. Now the phone on 4.4.4 was giving a serial number and everything appeared fine.
I flashed 6.0.1 onto it and again the S/N became "none", but everything still more or less worked despite this. Since then I have Rooted it, flashed TWRP and installed Xposed. Once I installed Xposed problems began to arise again, the phone is reporting the SD card as corrupted repeatedly, everytime the phone turns on, once finished booting I will get a black screen with just a navigation bar and an empty battery icon (then after 2-3 mins it's fine), 3G wouldn't work at all, wifi passwords aren't being remembered, following boot I get the error message "process system is not responding would you like to close it".
Thankfully I made a backup in TWRP before putting Xposed on the device and restored the system to that this morning, which fixed the 3G issue but all of the other problems are still there (despite not having been there before Xposed was installed).
What should I try now? Should I go back to the guy again? Should I try revert to stock 4.4.4 or 5.1.1 through Odin? I'm really tempted to just cut my losses and sell it, but I love the phone so much. Any help is massively appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Changing the IMEI is illegal in most countries and therefore the discussion thereof is prohibited on XDA.
Thread closed.
Galaxy s7 Edge (snapdragon) from sprint.
I SIM card locked randomly while i was recording a video. I tried to flash stock it and did factory resets and nothing worked. I went to sammobile an did the latest rom atm. I have a history of rooting my phone and got bricked a couple of times but nothing I never heard of a brick that blocks your SIM card. Is this a brick problem or is something wrong with my phone? I went to the sprint shop and they said its not the SIM card.
is the phone working normal with exception of not being able to make calls ?
if yes, then it is a software problem in either the modem or csc.
if no, then your phone is bricked and you may need to take to a shop that has a box to fix it.
The phone is working fine. When I first restart my phone, it has service for a minute or two. After that it gives the warning that my SIM card is locked. So I'm not sure if it's a brick or not.
Hello, friendly internet ghosts!
Yesterday I've bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 (in the system it says GT-i9515)
The seller said he bricked the device at a shop to lineage 15.1 and after that, he had a no sim card error and that is the reason why he sold it.
I bought the phone thinking that if I would unbrick it back to original stock ROM (Netherlands PHN) it would work again, but NO! damn phone! Tried all different version (AP only) and .pit, ap, csc, etc. type of files with no luck.
It has been 10 hours non stop troubleshooting any way I could find, also hardware wise in order to make the sim card work but just no luck.
Any help is welcome, I've read some things about loading files in it, or rooting it or whatever but that know-how is just above my lollipop :silly:
At the moment i was able to put the phone back in an original state thanks to Samsung Smart Switch, but still the SIM card ain't working :crying: