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unlocked phone erased sim card?

I wanted to test the unlock i did on my phone yesterday, so i put my brothers tmobile sim card in my phone, but all it did was show a sim card icon at the top of the status bar, and i didn't have signal. so i just figured the unlock didn't work.
Then when my brother put his sim card back in his phone, his wasn't working. apparently the sim was reformatted or something, and now he has to get a new sim. anyone heard of this before? also should i try another sim card, or will it just destroy that one too?

drizzle67 said:
I wanted to test the unlock i did on my phone yesterday, so i put my brothers tmobile sim card in my phone, but all it did was show a sim card icon at the top of the status bar, and i didn't have signal. so i just figured the unlock didn't work.
Then when my brother put his sim card back in his phone, his wasn't working. apparently the sim was reformatted or something, and now he has to get a new sim. anyone heard of this before? also should i try another sim card, or will it just destroy that one too?
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you forgot to select network operators in the wireless settings. in the wireless and network setting select mobile network then select network operators your phone will then scan available network operators and show you at&t or t-mobile after the scan. since you want t-mobile simply select it.

gorgy76 said:
you forgot to select network operators in the wireless settings. in the wireless and network setting select mobile network then select network operators your phone will then scan available network operators and show you at&t or t-mobile after the scan. since you want t-mobile simply select it.
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would that have made his sim card work again if my phone recognized the network? or was that just something weird that happened. I am new to the whole unlocking deal.
Thanks for the help, I am a little nervous to try it now, as i dont want to mess up his card again! :/

you should be fine. is your contact actually stored on your sim? ,maybe your brother's sim is empty but his contacts are stored in his phone. contacts stored in sim card are not easily get deleted than contacts stored in phone simply import you phone contacts to your sim to be safe.

my contacts are fine, but his phone actually would not work when he put his sim card back in his phone. it's just a regular dumbphone, but he didn't have signal or anything. Do you know what would cause that?

there must be an option somewhere in his phone to select the wireless network he has. what phone he is using? maybe a simple reboot on his phone with his sim card already in place would do.

yea maybe, i think he was going to go to tmobile this morning.. i guess i can't really call him to have him try though!
anyway i'll see if he will be brave enough to let me try again! thanks for the help!

I may understand sim cards wrong but from what I understand the sim does not announce to the carrier hey this is eric shins phone. It instead just broad casts a number the carrier sees the number and associates it with eric shins number. That's why you can buy a prepaid att phone call the company up, give them the sim number and they can connect that with your phone.
More then likely the sim was physically damaged
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hmm.. that does make sense. I thought i had heard of other people just popping in other people's sim cards and it wasn't a problem, but i don't know.
Just kinda strange that it was working before , and after i tried it, his phone no longer worked. Maybe it was damaged when he took it out or put it in, but from my experience they are pretty sturdy pieces of plastic!
i'll have to see what he says when he gets it fixed.

crystalhand said:
I may understand sim cards wrong but from what I understand the sim does not announce to the carrier hey this is eric shins phone. It instead just broad casts a number the carrier sees the number and associates it with eric shins number. That's why you can buy a prepaid att phone call the company up, give them the sim number and they can connect that with your phone.
More then likely the sim was physically damaged
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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hmnn... thats what I thought because the op post that somewhere in the process when putting back in the sim he see's it was reformatted. just like putting an sd card with my other phone that is not samsung it can't read/open files unless you format it that would surely delete the data in it. in his instance without a warning it automatically formatted the sim and deleted all the data in it which would make it useless. in his case the sim card before is associated with the network but somehow reformatted and the data in it was lost.

so he went to tmobile today and got a new sim card, and everything works again.
maybe it did get damaged in the process.. who knows now!

[Q] swap sim card to stolen phone?

is the thunderbolt the same as older SIM card phones? where if a phone is stolen it cannot be deactivated? i understand that in order to activate a SIM card you have to also supply the esn number of the phone it will be paired with. but down the line when there are more LTE phones out, if someone had an activated SIM card, could they place it into a stolen phone to use it? or is there a way to blacklist a phone even if it uses a SIM card?

Are you saying that you have a stolen phone or is this just for knowing?

Take this with a grain of salt but the Verizon reps told me the SIM cards are not swappable with the LTE network. I've exchanged my phone 3 times now and they have to give a new SIM each time. They shred the old SIM.

They lied to you. I have exchanged phones never changing the sim.

Not for me 2 phones same sim, no issues here.
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Perhaps all of the LTE SIM cards are the same, and the only authorization is done through the ESN code like it always has been. That way, if someone loses their SIM card (how?) it wouldn't be a big deal, and if they lose their phone, it could still be given a bad ESN and not let anyone else register it.

edifus said:
Take this with a grain of salt but the Verizon reps told me the SIM cards are not swappable with the LTE network. I've exchanged my phone 3 times now and they have to give a new SIM each time. They shred the old SIM.
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I'm also on my 3rd Thunderbolt and still have the same SIM card I got on launch day.

pianoplayer said:
Are you saying that you have a stolen phone or is this just for knowing?
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i was just wondering how it worked in comparison to the SIM card on other networks i had used in the past. when i was with T-mo i know they couldnt lock down a phone like verizon can since they where on SIM cards. so was just wondering if that was the case for our phones now that we have SIM cards?

necosino said:
Perhaps all of the LTE SIM cards are the same, and the only authorization is done through the ESN code like it always has been. That way, if someone loses their SIM card (how?) it wouldn't be a big deal, and if they lose their phone, it could still be given a bad ESN and not let anyone else register it.
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yes, im wondering if this is the case? really im just curious if i lose my phone or it gets stolen. is it a paper weight once i report it? or is it up for sale to anyone with an activated SIM card?

3 phones same SIM for me...
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Just my two cents here. There is definitely an place in the Phone Identity portion of the settings menu that states the SIM Card ID, IMEI, and MEID. It seems to me that this would make it so you can still swap devices without extra hassle, but VZW should still be able to blacklist phones reported stolen via the MEID. I could be wrong, this just seems to be the case to me.

The sim card activates the phone, upon activating it communicates with verizon database. Pure and simple verizon can and will track the MEID and if the phone is stolen or in non pay table then it won't activate. Try it out, then your tbolt off and turn it back on. The first 10 seconds upon boot you won't have signal or data. Then it comes on. It's like the same as a prl update *228. Anyways I'm getting off track here's the deal. Your phone has a seperate entity from your sim card. Both need to be clear to activate.

Morkai Almandragon said:
They lied to you. I have exchanged phones never changing the sim.
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This is true. If you have the Thunderbolt and the Charge or any other VZW 4G LTE phone you are able to swap the sim back and forth.

you only have to replace the sim card if you cahnge your number or activate the device he sim can only be used with 1 phone number. The serial number of the sim card and the ESN of the phone both must match in the VZW system or it will not connect to the towers. I have to replace them all the time. So no you could not use a lost,stolen, or non payment phone on the network, phone still essentially a paper weight or spare parts.

I was under the impression that the sim was only applicable to LTE-level functions. The phone's main functionality is still mostly CDMA based and those functions can still be shut down if the phone is stolen. To my understanding, simply inserting the sim card into the tbolt does not just activate and associate the phone to your account. There's still an operator you have to call, right? With Tmo and att, inserting a sim card activated the phone without calling someone or going into a store.

The SIM is a RUIM which eliminates the need for an ESN swap the the best of my knowledge. I started with a LG VL600 air card and then got a thunderbolt. I was issued a new card at that time but I can swap between devices and it works without a problem. Once June 15th I fully expect this to stop working.

G2X won't recognize SIM card

Anyone else experience issues with swapping their SIM from their old phone into the G2X? I have reseated mine from my N1 into the phone 3 times, and each time I boot it says I have no SIM card. Pulling my hair out!

I went from an N1 to the g2x and i had the same problem so here is the deal...
the g2x is a 4g phone and it required a new sim card version so i had to trade in the sim card that i have had since my i got my razr in 2005...
so disclaimer to anyone who buys the phone outright, you have to have an updated sim card... just go into tmobile and they will give you one...

mines wont check for sim card at all it keep saying no service even without a sim card it usually say no sim but it just say no service can someone help plz plz plz

Fyi make sure it is a corporate store. Otherwise it could cost ya $20. Customer care might even be able to mail you one...not sure. If your near Chicago I would just give you one of my extras.
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I reused the sim from my N1 and have had no issues but it was probably a newer version sim since I just got it beginning of last year.

If you have an old T-Mobile phone lying around, try inserting your SIM into that, and using it, then re-insert it into your G2X.

Alright I opened it up and it looked like the antenna cable was a bit frayed near the tip, I attached a few pics. It was connected though so not sure :/
http://imgur.com/i2oH9,5LnGx,n97wZ ( three images)

I have the same issue.
Mint condition G2X does not detect my sim card reads "error while trying to connect to network"
I am running CM 7.2 I have wiped everything and reflashed still no luck.

Add one more to the pile...
I also recently began having this problem, but my device previously worked fine.
I have tried Restoring to Factory V21Y with Mar 11 Baseband
Flasing a GB Based ROM & Stock Kernel
Flashing CM9
Flashing CM10
Entering *#*#INFO#*#* Phone Info and modifying frequency band (No Go).
At one point I was able to read the Phone # from the SIM card, but couldn't get a lock on Netowkr. I can visually detect T-Mobile and ATT in Mobile Networks.
I have tried this with 4G Enabled SIM Cards and older T-Mobile SIM Cards.
I have tried Simple Mobile, Straight Talk, & ATT SIM Cards.
I have tried using None APN's, the TMo/Simple Default APN's, and Modified APN's for Straight Talk & Family Talk.
No avail.
Any ideas?

I had the same problem. A new SIM card fixed it.

RE:
Core Memory said:
I had the same problem. A new SIM card fixed it.
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I gave my friend my old G2x because she was switching from AT&T to TMobile. She went to the TMobile store and got a new SIM card and her old AT&T number transferred to it. It works on her old iPhone but when I insert the SIM card on the LG G2x , it keeps saying 'no SIM card inserted'....do i need to flash a certain baseband on it and/or setup a custom APN for it? I am on the stock ROM thats rooted...
Any help is much appreciateed

Sorry for not replying until now but I rarely visit here anymore. My G2X had a bad Sim card which a new Sim fixed. I just had to wait until the network could authorize with it.

4G sim card problem

I just wanted to put this information out for the masses. Today I switched phones on my account to a non 4G phone to do some work on it when switching back to my TB the system gave me an error saying my sim card could not activate and to call Verizon. Calling Verizon did not help I was told that the sim card number was placed in retirement and could not be reactivated. I was told when I purchased the phone that the sim card was attached to a phone number that you would keep the card with each 4G device you have. I now have to get a new card. So if you are thinking about making any changes on your line with your 4G phone you might not want to. I hope this is not going to be an ongoing problem with Verizon as I move phones around a lot on my line.
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4g sim card problem
I too had a similar issue. I had a number on a 3G phone that I wanted to move to a 4G phone. They had to do it in two steps as once they added a number to a sim card the only way to change it was to swap it to another sim card and retire the old one.
I was told it's a software bug in the Verizon system, and they are working on fixing it. Since Verizon doesn't charge for sim cards right now you should be able to transfer to a new sim card at no cost.

this is how all SIM cards are for all carriers. Once deactivated, they cannot be reactivated

Carl G35c said:
this is how all SIM cards are for all carriers. Once deactivated, they cannot be reactivated
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What he said.
Plus: its a new network tech. The only lte network in existence. I'm sure the process will become more streamlined.
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[Q] Foreign SIM card not being read by rooted phone

Hey all,
I'm trying to use a foreign SIM card (a prepaid card from Taiwan Mobile), but my phone says "No SIM card in phone" on the lock screen. I'm sure my phone is rooted and I flashed Android Revolution HD 5.2.6, but the lock screen is still giving me the same message. Is this a problem with the SIM card, or my phone? I also had the same problem when I got the phone, when I upgraded with a dumbphone from AT&T to the Inspire 4G, and AT&T had to give me a new SIM card. Also, the contact size for the SIM card is smaller on my AT&T 4G SIM, so I don't know if that might be of any help. Thanks!

My first assumption would be that whatever language the card is written in, the phone isn't able to translate. But I don't even know if that's a real thing or not either. So this post was pretty much pointless in helping you understand your problem.
I'm sure someone smarter will be by soon with some insight.
*insert sig here*

Not all GSM phone services are 100% intercompatible. I don't have any idea how you would find out, but a good start might be to call a rep at Taiwan Mobile.