Database Info

Opening the back cover

Okay this may sound stupid but I'm really having issues with my Touch Pro's back cover. I just find it so darn hard to open it. I'm doing what the manual says (push the backward cover upward) but I just can't seem to get the hang of it or the back cover on my unit is particularly tight. When I first got my Touch Pro I had to have my office mate open it for me and believe me, it took him a loooonnggg time to successfully open it. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a trick to opening it that I don't know about?
This is important to me since I want to buy a spare battery to augment the short battery life. Also I'm expecting my 8gb micro SD card to arrive any day now and I honestly have no idea how I am going to be able to install it if I can't even open the back cover.
Help!

I basically hold the TP with hands crossed as if I was shaking my own hands. I then push the back cover up. It needs a reasonable amount of force, but nothing excessive.
I had the same issue when I got my old M700, so don't feel stupid about not being able to get it open at first.

or you just throw it on the ground and it not only it opens, but the battery comes out too ))

techieinpink said:
Okay this may sound stupid but I'm really having issues with my Touch Pro's back cover. I just find it so darn hard to open it. I'm doing what the manual says (push the backward cover upward) but I just can't seem to get the hang of it or the back cover on my unit is particularly tight. When I first got my Touch Pro I had to have my office mate open it for me and believe me, it took him a loooonnggg time to successfully open it. Am I doing something wrong? Is there a trick to opening it that I don't know about?
This is important to me since I want to buy a spare battery to augment the short battery life. Also I'm expecting my 8gb micro SD card to arrive any day now and I honestly have no idea how I am going to be able to install it if I can't even open the back cover.
Help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Hold the TP in your left hand, screen against your palm, bottom of the TP towards you.
2. Rest the bottom of the palm of your right hand on the back of the phone at the bottom.
3. Put your fingers of your right hand at the top of the phone on the metal rim (not on the back).
4. Push the back of the phone slowly upward with the base of your right hand.
Job done. Very little force (or movement) needed). Hope that helps.

your instructions are not politically correct...
...I am left handed

NLS said:
your instructions are not politically correct...
...I am left handed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ROFL!
I have sworn to myself not to open my PRO anymore until I really have to... I have the same issues and I had the feeling I will break it when I tried the last time... But I will bookmark this instruction - just in case

basically i think apd is a genious!
thank you! you just made it so easy...

thanks apd and slugsie. tried both your suggestions and i can open it now with no problems...well...sometimes i still find it hard but generally its easier now. extra batt here I come.

Any working microsim adapters?

Hoping one of you might be able to point me in the right direction.
I have a Nexus One that I would like to use a MicroSim on. I have tried two different brand of adapters, and found that both of them are too "think" to fit into the Nexus. What happens is, after getting about 1/4th of the way in, it gets really tight. At that point, it can be forced in, which I did up to about half way. When I tried to take it back out, I had to use pliers afterward.
So, obviously I am worried about breaking the Nexus is I try to go further with these ones I have bought. The Nexus still works, and is wonderful with a normal Sim. But I would really like to get this Micro working.
Also, just as it is important to note, I have made sure I am inserting it the first direction, the notch is in the right place, etc. It is really coming down to how think the adapter is.
What I think I need here is as thin an adapter as I can find. Anyone have any suggestions on one to try, and where I might be able to buy it? Also, if anyone has successfully used a microsim adapter I would love to hear it.
Thanks
Jim

Why dont you just cut up a plastic card? just print out a stencil and cut yourself an adapter

miketlo said:
Why dont you just cut up a plastic card? just print out a stencil and cut yourself an adapter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats not a bad idea, but frankly I suck so bad at making anything by hand it is normally easier, and higher success rate, to just buy something most of time.
On the other hand, based off of the amount of information I have been able to dig up on this (in other words, next to nothing), I might just have to give that a shot.
Thanks
Jim

Why do you want to use a micro sim card, can't you just ask your carrier to give you a fullsized sim card?

Well since there are only about 2 devices that are popular which use micro sims, hes probably sharing a plan between his nexus with an iphone/ipad.

Both of these are tested and working on my Nexus One. The Amazon one being a more secure fit for the card. The links are to the stores actually purchased from so should be exactly the same.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OG8G6W/ref=oss_product
http://negrielectronics.com/mini-uicc-microsim-adapter.html
I switch the SIM back and forth with my IP4 and Nexus One all the time and both are solid. No flames please. I'm still an Android guy. The IP4 was purchased cheap from someone who didn't like it.

If its too think maybe try some sandpaper on the adapter? It really shouldnt take much sanding to get it to fit

agriff said:
Both of these are tested and working on my Nexus One. The Amazon one being a more secure fit for the card. The links are to the stores actually purchased from so should be exactly the same.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OG8G6W/ref=oss_product
http://negrielectronics.com/mini-uicc-microsim-adapter.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wonderful. Thanks for the links, I will try this out and see how it works.
Thanks
Jim

ilikepie said:
If its too think maybe try some sandpaper on the adapter? It really shouldnt take much sanding to get it to fit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, thats not a bad idea at all. Putting that in my back pocket...

Elwood_nexus said:
Yeah, thats not a bad idea at all. Putting that in my back pocket...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That should be your first plan. Sand it a little then if that doesnt work spend the money to get the other adapter

+1 on the Amazon one.
I use it myself and it works perfectly. Much better than others I've used.

FYI - I bought a total of three of the adapters from Amazon. The one linked earlier in this thread is the only one that would fit.
So thanks for the link to it!
And yeah, I was lazy and never sanded anything down. Sorry, but my luck I would screw that up. I am not handy in anyway at all.
Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone.

Crisis....need help asap

So long story short. My girlfriend tried to be helpful and took the sd card out of my evo, shoved it far down in the xoom. How can I get it out? Now I'm with out a phone and I have a sd card jammed in the xoom.

Damn man.....well I know that happened to Kellex from Droid-Life and he said he'll have to get it back when he sends it back to Moto for the 4G upgrade......Or you can crack the bad boy open yourself and get it out.....ifixit is your friend

xhuck1 said:
So long story short. My girlfriend tried to be helpful and took the sd card out of my evo, shoved it far down in the xoom. How can I get it out? Now I'm with out a phone and I have a sd card jammed in the xoom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think your only option, especially if you CANT see the card anymore is to tear the device down, here is a how to:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Motorola-Xoom-Teardown/4989/1
If you can still see the card then try some tiny tweezers, with the device turned off.
Good luck
Terry

Legacy2385 said:
Or you can crack the bad boy open yourself and get it out.....ifixit is your friend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 on the iFixit teardown.
Legacy2385 said:
Damn man.....well I know that happened to Kellex from Droid-Life and he said he'll have to get it back when he sends it back to Moto for the 4G upgrade
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but in his update his managed to fish it out on his own. He did need to remove some screws though.

Update: I got it out. followed the fixit steps. Word to the wise though, Motorola has the inner screws extremely tight. I ended up stripping out one of the screws for the top portion of the back cover. I had to very carefully cut the tab so that the top portion could be removed. With the bottom portion re-installed and the gel case back in place it is not noticeable. Also after getting in there...where does the sd card go? I'm guessing that clear plastic thing has to be removed. Oh and I'll kill my girlfriend if she ever touches my xoom again.

xhuck1 said:
...... Oh and I'll kill my girlfriend if she ever touches my xoom again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL! I would feel the same way

[Q] No audio at all [SOLVED]

Hey all. I have no sound. Zero. I tried re-flashing zeus - no go. Tried clearing/resetting everything via cwm - nope. I tried GTG twice - nada. Even back at stock, I've got nothing. I can hear my voicemail, but no system tones, no ringtones, no audio on videos - both youtube and local to phone. Alarms won't work. Nothing!!
After pouring over these threads, I tried headphones, and they work - but no headphone icon at top of my screen. I'm at my wit's end and am pulling out my hair. Does anyone have any ideas? Please?

Start with the simplest solution first. Is the media volume turned up? btw I don't have a headphone icon either but I'm not sure it had one to start with.
Running Zeus 6 also.

~wolverine~ said:
Start with the simplest solution first. Is the media volume turned up? btw I don't have a headphone icon either but I'm not sure it had one to start with.
Running Zeus 6 also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uhhhh, yeah. I've checked all the sounds like 80 times - After each restore, reload, refresh, reboot, re-flash to stock, re-wipe, re-unameit. lol
I just hope it's not hardware related, although if it were, I'd think I'd have had to change something or move something that I hadn't. I just removed my ext sd card about 15 minutes ago, but nothing there either.

the best hope that you will have if it's not hardware related:
take out microsd card.
factory reset from /settings/privacy/reset
heimdall 1 click with repartition and bootloaders
do it twice for good measures
run the complete stock rom...
if that doesn't work, it may be hardware corrosion

I hav had this happen believe it or not i just gave the phone a slight twist holding it at the ends...sounds funky not a hard twist...but i got my sound back..i keep it in a ballastic case now...my infuse is a lil older and has seen to much desert heat...
True story...
Sent by Aeon (bigfau's) Awesomeness via me !

OK, y'all. I've got news and info on this issue. After trying everything possible short of throwing it into the river, I figured it was def hardware related. I, of course prayed & am convinced that is the real reason it started working, bit jic here is what I did. I checked online just to see (I'm not an idiot, I wasn't going to take it apart. Well, probably not). But I was still all for slapping and twisting and flicking the heck out of it. Then, I decided to look at the other side of it. So I removed the battery and there is a tiny little slit-like hole there. I got out a safety pin and just kinda wiggled of a bit mostly toward the inside of phone. Lo and behold sound was working when I turned it back on. I can't believe it! I'm so happy!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA
EDIT: It's easier to type on PC than on phone, so now I can make a short story even longer. haha. I should mention that this could be risky if done wrong, if that's not obvious for some people, and could screw your phone even more, so BE CAREFUL!!!
I'd consider using something flat enough to get in there, but not as sharp as a pin. I was just Macguyver-ing it. You do have to remove the batt cover, but don't need to take the batt out to get to the slit, but you may want to - in case of interference from metal pin and whatever. To be more specific to where this is: the external speaker is located on the backside of the phone - bottom, left. Duh, right?
Also, take this time to clean out any dust/crud that may have gathered in the tiny little cracks and corners, which accumulates more for those of us that remove the batt cover often, like putting phone in DL mode and such. Don't use alcohol or anything - this is a good place to use the pin or needle, and especially blow on it.
At one point, I had phone on and video going to gauge whether anything I was doing specifically was working or not. I never got sound to work that way, but it's still a plausible idea for someone else to try. Anyway, I hope this helps someone else out there. I like to include as many details as possible when I post stuff b/c it helps me when others are specific. So, let me know if this was helpful to you and good luck!

dde333 said:
OK, y'all. I've got news and info on this issue. After trying everything possible short of throwing it into the river, I figured it was def hardware related. I, of course prayed & am convinced that is the real reason it started working, bit jic here is what I did. I checked online just to see (I'm not an idiot, I wasn't going to take it apart. Well, probably not). But I was still all for slapping and twisting and flicking the heck out of it. Then, I decided to look at the other side of it. So I removed the battery and there is a tiny little slit-like hole there. I got out a safety pin and just kinda wiggled of a bit mostly toward the inside of phone. Lo and behold sound was working when I turned it back on. I can't believe it! I'm so happy!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good job.
to help other misfits, you can change the title of your op to [SOLVED] ..etc...

Some clarification on repairing speaker / restoring power
This is a great post and worked for me so I wanted to clarify some more detail.
Diagnosis: My external speaker would not work or work intermitently. I could hear on my handset and headphones but could not use speaker for conversations, media, etc.
I tried reseting with/without power on.
Tried factory resetting the phone.
Tried "headphone sex" (removing headphones in and out quickly as the software may have a glitch where it does not recognize the headphones were removed hence restoring external sound to the speaker) This is NOT a common problem with the Infuse but with other Samsung phones like the Captivate I believe.
After many people having similar symptoms I saw this post and figured it was a power issue/hardware not software problem.
Previous post....
1. I could not find a small hole to put a safety pin through (as previously posted). I used a paperclip as it is less pointy and less damaging and there wasn't a single hole to put it through.
MY RESOLUTION/REPAIR THAT SOLVED THE PROBLEM (same issue just different way to fix as I did not find any hole to put a pin through)
2. you will need to remove the back cover of the phone. Remove the battery cover, battey, sim card, and ext SD card. There are 6 small jewelry type screws. You should have an eyeglass kit screwdriver or jewelry kit with small screwdrivers. I did manage to use a small regular screwdriver but it really did not fit and could strip the heads of the screws.
3. Once the 6 screws are out, remove the back cover of the phone. Mine was a little hard to remove. The top is the earphone jack and the cover goes over the earphone jack, so great care should be made to try and take the top off last. For mine, the side was easiest to remove first( in the middle). Little by little you should be able to work your way around the edges until it is all separated from the screen/front.
*TIP Do not worry about parts coming out. The back cover is secured with the 6 screws. The rest of the phone and boards are screwed down to the front/screen so all you are doing is removing the back cover.
4. Once the back cover is separated from the front/screen, locate where the speaker lies in the back cover and where it comes to meet the front/screen. You will see two small gold square tabs on the back of the back cover next to the speaker. If you look where these connect to the front/screen you will see another two small gold tabs. These ones are NOT flat. They actually sit up and are hinge like. ***THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEM IS****.
5. As the phone ages and gets used aka banged dropped wet, etc, these tabs lose their "springyness" and pressure so they get flat and fail to contact the other tabs next to the speaker, resulting in no power getting to the speaker or intermitent power as they make contact. THIS IS WHY IF YOU READ OTHER POST ON OTHER FORUMS YOU WILL SEE PEOPLE SAYING THUMPING OR PRESSING ON THE SPEAKER MAKES IT WORK INTERMITENTLY!
6. Get a pair of tweezers and slide one side of the tweezers between one of the small gold tabs on the front/screen side of the phone. BE CAREFUL! The tabs are very small thin and fragile so go slow and make sure you are between where the tab mounts to the circuitboard and where it sticks up to contact the speaker tabs. SLOWLY work the tab up so that you restore the arch or springyness back to it. It should look like this <. Do the same for the other. Basically you are raising the tab so that when you put the back cover on it makes contact with the speaker tabs, hence providing the proper power to the speaker.
7. Put the cover back on, screws, ext SD card, sim card, battery, and batter cover back on. Power up and adjust your ringer volume. You should here the speaker working.

Awesome. I'm glad my post pushed you in the right direction and am certain your post, with more details, will be helpful to others in the future. Phones are so much better with sound, aren't they? :highfive: Have a wonderful weekend.

I also had the problem of no sound at all, but the head phones worked flawlessly. In my case this is what it was (don't laugh) I ordered a replacement body for my phone for like ten bucks on ebay, pulled the old one off...replaced the housing and everything SEEMED to work just fine. I really didn't notice that my phone was not making any sounds until about a week later and just figured that maybe I had installed something that was conflicting with the phone or simply needed to re-flash the ROM, so I went and did just that and nothing seemed to work. Back to stock....NOTHING...New kernel...NOTHING!! I was becoming hopeless at this point till I read this thread. I had to think back to when (I think) it stopped making any sound and could only come up with the day I replaced the housing, so I retraced my tracks. LOL and what I came up with made me chuckle a little, what had happened was when I took the old back off I did not notice that the speaker is highly camouflaged near the bottom of the housing and simply needed to be snapped out and snapped back into the new housing. After this.....VIOLA..SOUND! So, maybe this can help someone that may be having the same issue and just cannot get to the bottom of it..
Thanks XDA and its members:good::good::good::good::good:

No Sound On Infuse
bigjoe2675 said:
I hav had this happen believe it or not i just gave the phone a slight twist holding it at the ends...sounds funky not a hard twist...but i got my sound back..i keep it in a ballastic case now...my infuse is a lil older and has seen to much desert heat...
True story...
Sent by Aeon (bigfau's) Awesomeness via me !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to say that this method worked like a dream for me. I couldn't believe it when I tried it. I went to "settings" -> "sound" -> "volume" -> "Incoming call volume" and then adjusted it so it would make a sound. No sound was being made but I knew it should have been so I grabbed the top and bottom and slightly gave it a little twist, just barely and the ringtone came right on and has been working perfect since. The Infuse I have is 99.9% mint condition, never been dropped and has always been inside a leather case with a full fold over front. Not even a hair line scratch on the screen, back, sides or anywhere. This is why I couldn't understand why the sound just decided to go out for no reason but anyway, this fixed it and a big thanks to "bigjoe"! I thought I was about to have to buy a new phone because I can't hear (vibrate) more than a foot or so away.

Solution - Twist
Judge Joseph Dredd said:
I hav had this happen believe it or not i just gave the phone a slight twist holding it at the ends...sounds funky not a hard twist...but i got my sound back..i keep it in a ballastic case now...my infuse is a lil older and has seen to much desert heat...
True story...
Sent by Aeon (bigfau's) Awesomeness via me !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this info. I had lost a lot of volume. After reading your post, I tried the twist thing and bingo, it worked. Thanks very much.

Judge Joseph Dredd said:
I hav had this happen believe it or not i just gave the phone a slight twist holding it at the ends...sounds funky not a hard twist...but i got my sound back..i keep it in a ballastic case now...my infuse is a lil older and has seen to much desert heat...
True story...
Sent by Aeon (bigfau's) Awesomeness via me !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.... - just twisted my cell and BAM....sound I LOVE YOU!!!!! XOXOXOXO awesomeness indeed

Wow!
parkerhawn said:
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.... - just twisted my cell and BAM....sound I LOVE YOU!!!!! XOXOXOXO awesomeness indeed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just gave my infuse the twist and the sound is back!! Insane! PS. I could always hear my sound but it was so faint I had to put my ear up to the speaker before I could actually hear the sound!

This actually works!
thomasmaio said:
This is a great post and worked for me so I wanted to clarify some more detail.
Diagnosis: My external speaker would not work or work intermitently. I could hear on my handset and headphones but could not use speaker for conversations, media, etc.
I tried reseting with/without power on.
Tried factory resetting the phone.
Tried "headphone sex" (removing headphones in and out quickly as the software may have a glitch where it does not recognize the headphones were removed hence restoring external sound to the speaker) This is NOT a common problem with the Infuse but with other Samsung phones like the Captivate I believe.
After many people having similar symptoms I saw this post and figured it was a power issue/hardware not software problem.
Previous post....
1. I could not find a small hole to put a safety pin through (as previously posted). I used a paperclip as it is less pointy and less damaging and there wasn't a single hole to put it through.
MY RESOLUTION/REPAIR THAT SOLVED THE PROBLEM (same issue just different way to fix as I did not find any hole to put a pin through)
2. you will need to remove the back cover of the phone. Remove the battery cover, battey, sim card, and ext SD card. There are 6 small jewelry type screws. You should have an eyeglass kit screwdriver or jewelry kit with small screwdrivers. I did manage to use a small regular screwdriver but it really did not fit and could strip the heads of the screws.
3. Once the 6 screws are out, remove the back cover of the phone. Mine was a little hard to remove. The top is the earphone jack and the cover goes over the earphone jack, so great care should be made to try and take the top off last. For mine, the side was easiest to remove first( in the middle). Little by little you should be able to work your way around the edges until it is all separated from the screen/front.
*TIP Do not worry about parts coming out. The back cover is secured with the 6 screws. The rest of the phone and boards are screwed down to the front/screen so all you are doing is removing the back cover.
4. Once the back cover is separated from the front/screen, locate where the speaker lies in the back cover and where it comes to meet the front/screen. You will see two small gold square tabs on the back of the back cover next to the speaker. If you look where these connect to the front/screen you will see another two small gold tabs. These ones are NOT flat. They actually sit up and are hinge like. ***THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEM IS****.
5. As the phone ages and gets used aka banged dropped wet, etc, these tabs lose their "springyness" and pressure so they get flat and fail to contact the other tabs next to the speaker, resulting in no power getting to the speaker or intermitent power as they make contact. THIS IS WHY IF YOU READ OTHER POST ON OTHER FORUMS YOU WILL SEE PEOPLE SAYING THUMPING OR PRESSING ON THE SPEAKER MAKES IT WORK INTERMITENTLY!
6. Get a pair of tweezers and slide one side of the tweezers between one of the small gold tabs on the front/screen side of the phone. BE CAREFUL! The tabs are very small thin and fragile so go slow and make sure you are between where the tab mounts to the circuitboard and where it sticks up to contact the speaker tabs. SLOWLY work the tab up so that you restore the arch or springyness back to it. It should look like this <. Do the same for the other. Basically you are raising the tab so that when you put the back cover on it makes contact with the speaker tabs, hence providing the proper power to the speaker.
7. Put the cover back on, screws, ext SD card, sim card, battery, and batter cover back on. Power up and adjust your ringer volume. You should here the speaker working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-----------------------------------------
Thank you so very much, it helped a lot to follow your directions. I realized how hard it is to remove the entire cover so I used a very small flat screw driver (eye-glasses kit) and popped open only the bottom corner where the speakers were. I could then see the hinged-like tabs and used one hand to keep the cover from snapping back shut and the other hand to "raise" the hinged side of the tabs using the same tiny flat screw driver. I raised them high enough (gently) and put the cover back in place. I then put the battery back, turned on the phone and Voila! Sound is crisp and clear once again.

How to fix Galaxy S4 "Sim card removed" error

I'm sure plenty of you have had the dreaded "Sim card removed" error (as shown in the attached image) on your S4. I started getting this message mere months after purchasing my secondhand AT&T S4 (no warranty). But fear not, with about 20 minutes of your time and less than a dollar worth of parts, you can fix it!
(1st attached pic)
Why Does This Happen?
This error is usually due to a faulty connection between the motherboard and the SIM / MicroSD card tray. Likely it is due to a bad solder job on that connector.
Does a new SIM Tray fix it?
Extremely unlikely. Purchasing a new SIM tray will likely be wasted money. (EDIT: A new motherboard may fix the issue, and several people have had success with a new SIM tray)
How do I fix it already??
This is what you'll need:
Your S4
A micro Philips-head screwdriver
Scissors
A foam earplug (or something of similar texture)
Step 1: Disassemble your phone. Pull off the back cover, remove the battery and cards, then unscrew all 9 of the micro Philips screws. Then, take your fingernail and pry off the bezel from the rest of the phone, and slowly work your nail around the bezel until it pops off. (Don't force it!)
(Attached images 2, 3, and 4)
Step 2: Use your scissors or a razor blade to cut a section off of the foam earplug which is about the width of two dimes. I also cut a 1/4 segment out of mine so you don't see it sticking out when you put the bezel back together, but you don't absolutely need to do that.
(Attached images 5 & 6)
Step 3: Press down on the connector for the SIM / SD Card Tray until it "clicks" into place. (It may not click if it is still somewhat in place) This is the connector which has a bad connection.
(Attached image 7)
Step 4: Place your piece of foam on top of the connector in a way that it is right beside but not overlapping the camera (as pictured)
(Attached image 8)
Step 5: Replace your back cover, making sure not to move the foam you just installed, press down on it in multiple locations until it pops back together all around, and screw it back down. Note: if the bezel appears to be bulging out, your foam is too thick! This won't cause any problems, but it will be a noticeable bulge on your phone.
(Attached images 9 & 10)
Step 6: Replace your back cover and enjoy! Note that if you continue to receive the error, you may need either a thicker piece of foam, or you may need to reposition the foam, or even just press down on the connector a bit more before installing the foam.
Thanks to the folks over at Android Central in the thread entitled: Galaxy S4: Major problem - SIM card not detected for info on how to fix!
After applying this fix (took me three times to get it right) I have not seen the SIM card removed error in almost two months!
Post your success stories!
EDIT: A year after I posted this, and people are still using this thread to iron out their issues. I'm glad I could start up a conversation about this problem, with many good suggestions as to possible fixes. I don't use my S4 anymore, but it makes for a great backup phone!
Anyway, I just wanted to let anybody who is looking for the answer to this problem know that my fix may or may not work for you. It worked in my case, but several commenters have noted that the problem has remained in their situation. I would like to point out a few helpful comments and possible fixes right here so you guys don't have to go searching through pages of comments to find different solutions.
Best solution by far is by @Gonemad to re-flow the solder to that connector and to the NFC chip using a heat gun. See post #98 on page 10 and Post 114 on page 12, with a guide on post 122, page 13.
A replacement motherboard may fix the issue as well, but that's assuming you're getting a new one and not a used one. With used, the replacement board may do the same thing!

many of us have shimmed the connector 1000 different ways and still get the error. oddly enough, for me the only thing that has reduced errors was removing my sd card.

iateshaggy said:
many of us have shimmed the connector 1000 different ways and still get the error. oddly enough, for me the only thing that has reduced errors was removing my sd card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's interesting, and a shame. There's not enough room on my phone for all my stuff, I need that extra 32gb!

"Does a new SIM Tray fix it?
Extremely unlikely. Purchasing a new SIM tray or even a new motherboard will be wasted money."
It did in my case. I got a sim/sd card tray from a Verizon S4, put it in my AT&T S4 and it worked great!

This problem is extremely annoying. Purchased a new tray too, and for a couple of days thought the problem is fixed. Nope. 5 days later same stupid message. I had already tried putting more support on the connector which did not fix the problem. They could at least make a cancel button on it instead of just "reboot". Will try without sd card. Apparently this happens on ALL high-end samsung phones. I am adding crapsung to the "never again" list (in addition to LG now).
If removing sd card doesn't fix it then it will either be new mainboard (they go for around $100 CAD shipped) or a new phone if I have the money. Nexus 6 looks good now. Don't buy crappy Korean brands. Even Chinese brands seem more reliable.

Question: Since you say that you've already replaced the sd/sim tray and the problem returned, did you try putting another sim card in there to make sure that it's not the sim card that's the issue?

Yes, new sim did not solve it. Now i am actually trying earplug thing. So far so good (2 days), but as with any other method the message is expected to pop up again. I am thinking i did try to add support before, but only for the connector part. Earplug will press on all the components around the connector and the connector itself. Will see. I did cut out a thicker piece than in the OP, and made a cut on the camera side instead of oppoate (like in OP).
Buyimg new mainboard seems like a waste of money now too. Since so many devices have this problem chances are another mainboard will be the same.
Edit: with or without sd card - same thing.

It's known that the IMEI numbers with the last 6 digits in this range: 000000 - 560000 have been known to have this issue. Mine was in that range and had the issue. I think the mainboards outside this range are fine.

Mine is not in that range.

Thanks a lot

It took me quite a few tries with the earplug foam to get it right. Finding the correct thickness and shape was the biggest thing. Eventually I got it right and I haven't had the issue return even once since. I'm glad some of you were able to get your phones to work by just swapping the SIM tray, that's pretty easy to do. I don't think I would even consider swapping the motherboard on a 2 year old phone, might as well just get a new phone at that point.

Sean89us said:
It took me quite a few tries with the earplug foam to get it right. Finding the correct thickness and shape was the biggest thing. Eventually I got it right and I haven't had the issue return even once since. I'm glad some of you were able to get your phones to work by just swapping the SIM tray, that's pretty easy to do. I don't think I would even consider swapping the motherboard on a 2 year old phone, might as well just get a new phone at that point.
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Good to hear that this is working for some users. I just went with the M9 about a week ago and am going to give my mother my S4. She wouldn't have any idea how to handle any sim errors so when I get some time, I'll be buying an earplug or two.

It has been 9 days and the error hasn't returned. Today i put in a thiner peice to get rid of the bulge on the back. Will see how that holds up, but so far so good. Thanks to the O.P.
As for the mainboard - I never loxk myself into a contract with a discounted phone, not that Wind Mobile Canada has an option for it. So i paid almost 600 CAD for this puppy and expected it to last. For me $100 is not bad for a fix compared to at least $600 for a new phone. Only if it was for sure, but is seems like a gamble to buy a new board. BTW my phone was locked to rogers so I had to unlock it and enable AWS band.

I would get(have tried other phones) but for all its bad the S4 is hands down the most durable and usable phone I have ever owned. I like my nexus 5, but it is a very fragile unit, and on its second screen replacement due to minor drops that the S4 takes with aplomb. I like the phone so much I have bought a used one off ebay just in case this one ever fails. MHO

fargonaz said:
I would get(have tried other phones) but for all its bad the S4 is hands down the most durable and usable phone I have ever owned. I like my nexus 5, but it is a very fragile unit, and on its second screen replacement due to minor drops that the S4 takes with aplomb. I like the phone so much I have bought a used one off ebay just in case this one ever fails. MHO
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I'm right there with you. I still love my S4, despite the SIM error and somewhat slow updates from Samsung / ATT. It's getting older but my phone is still very fast, has a beautiful 1080P AMOLED screen, takes awesome pictures, and now it's even running Lollipop! The only thing that might convince me to switch phones anytime soon is if the 2015 Nexus 5 refresh has a 5" - 5.2" screen (5.5"+ is just too big!), USB Type-C and the specs blow me away. Since that probably won't happen, it looks like I'll be using my S4 for a few more years.

I don't have these earplugs foams at home.. Which other material can I use for that?

I can't say anything else will be the same material. Just buy earplugs at a dollar store or something. They are cheap.

Mine had gotten really bad, to where it was giving the "sim error" message a good six or eight times a day. Did the earplug thing...didn`t fix squat. I took a narrow strip of a business card and "shimmed" the sim card in it`s slot (like many others have), but I made my shim extra long and folded it over a few times on top of the sim card receptacle as well. Been two days and so far so good. We`ll see how it holds up.
I had actually contacted Samsung about the problem and they claimed they had no knowledge of it`s occurrence. I emailed back and they said "we really have no idea what`s causing it. Sorry." I would call it a design flaw as every single person I know personally with an S4 has the problem, and there are hundreds upon hundreds of tales on the ol` internet about it, and even Samsung can`t fix it.

I've used this solution after my s4 gave the "sim card removed" error 5 times this morning. I used a piece of power sponge i.s.o. an earplug. Since then no error. If error occurs i'll respond again.
Thanx Sean.

I was having this problem. I did this fix but just used some folded up plastic wrap. Hasn't happened again yet.
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