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SIM Card Missing (Locked?)

Ok - tearing my hair out here...
I have an AT&T Fuze I was given and am trying to get it going on Telstra NextG here in Australia.
I was fully expecting the device to be SIM locked, and am ok paying to get an unlock code, however I'm not sure exactly how to tell. When I boot the device up, it gives a missing SIM card message:
The SIM card is missing.
You can still make emergency calls if your service provider supports it.
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...not a "Your device is locked" message. Can someone tell me what the device should look like? I'm assuming that I should get something other than a missing SIM message?
I'm starting to think that there is a physical problem with the device I have tried two Telstra SIMs, an old Prepaid Vodafone, and four Optus ones...just for good measure. (Except for the Telstra ones they aren't in service, but I assume they should still be recognise)
I've also put HardSPL and TAELROM v4.23544, and the device functions beautifully, except for no network access :-/
I've also tried putting some sticky tape on the top of one of the SIMs to try and give it a better contact, as mentioned in one of the other threads.
Yes, I'm sure I'm putting it in the right way up (SIM works fine in my Touch Pro), and all the contacts appear clean etc.
If someone else has had such an error repaired, can they tell me if it's a major task? Or fairly cheap?
Weird and the previous owner took the AT&T SIM out in front of me, and apparently it has never given any issues before.

Looks like it is sim locked to me.
at&t have an unlock.exe included in their ROM which is used for unlocking via code, you could see if your friend can get unlock code from at&t (can get free code in most circumstances! ) If he can you could flash back to a at&t ROM & unlock.
Other option would be using IMEI unlock service or olipro unlock service.

Thanks for the reply!
Ok, so this is normal? The unlock.exe doesn't fire automatically and you get a SIM missing message until you run it manually? That would be awesome if it is the case.
I could probably get a free unlock, but for the effort of calling the US I'm happy to make a donation to Olipro if that's likely to work. (And he can fix his website - opened a ticket for that)
I'm assuming the IMEI unlock service option wouldn't work unless I flash back to an AT&T ROM to get unlock.exe back, as that will just give me an unlock code which I will have nowhere to type, yeah?
Thanks again.

So, you got an AT&T Fuze (US) and you're trying to get it working on your network Telstra? Now your SIM Card, its not working on the Fuze, but it does work on your old phone? Or on any phones on your network? Any of your family/buddies SIM card work on the Fuze? Im just trying to figure out if its the SIM card or the Card reader on the device that's not working. As far as why you are getting the "SIM card missing screen" I'm not too sure about. I've searched all over the net trying to find out what kind of screen is displayed when the phone is SIM Locked, but no luck!!! Anyhow, many times these devices are locked to their specific carriers for security purposes. I did come across a few threads where people from foreign countries that bought (US) spec phones needed to SIM unlock. So i would say if money is not an issue, try SIM unlocking for a fee. Narrow down the problem. You can try this link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=556059&highlight=SIM or http://raphael.sim-unlocker.com/
Two other notes:
I have an AT&T Fuze and in the (US) we have 3g networks. Before I upgraded to the Fuze my old SIM Card was not 3g compatible. It was a 2g SIM, therefore it did not work on the Fuze. (this may not be applicable to you) But note your SIM might not be 3g or the device needs to be unlocked for access to other GSM networks.
Last, my girlfriend is from Hungary and she brought a GSM cell phone, i think it was Tmobile. Anyhow I tried my AT&T Sim Card on it and the phone did recognize it...hahaha I just concluded...If the SIM Card is not recognized, then it must be missing....wow!!!
SIM Unlock, give it a shot....

Yep - AT&T (US) on Telstra (Australia).
Mister B above has given me some hope that the HW is ok, and I just need to get it unlocked... but I was hoping someone could confirm that this is normal before I spend AU$25.
All the threads I read seemed to imply that it would just pop up and ask you for a code when it detects a SIM card from a different network, but that didn't happen to me.
Also, I think I have to wait for Olipro's site to come back on the air (http://raphael.htc-unlocks.com is down for me at the moment). I'm hoping his SW doesn't required me to type an unlock code on the device itself.
Otherwise I will need to reflash the AT&T ROM back to get the unlocker.exe app (unless someone can send it to me? Not even sure where that is stored on the standard ROM to be honest.
Yeah - been through the whole 2G vs 3G SIM card before. Pretty sure my current one is good, as it's not that old and I get 3G on my Touch Pro with it.

As far as i'm aware the at&t devices do not show the unlock code window, you have to run the unlock.exe.
If you are sure the device & your network have compatable radio bands I would put it down to sim lock.
As far as i'm aware IMEI check doesn't need code input, they have support line & when I used them they were cheaper than Olipro.
http://www.imei-check.co.uk/raphael_unlock.php

Thanks (didn't realise IMEI Check was a website!)
Umm...back to nasty AT&T ROM now. Any hints where I might find unlock.exe (or a shortcut to it?)

Meh - IMEI Check website might be cheap, but they tell you AFTER you have generated the source file etc, that all first time users must validate their PayPal sale by...get this...taking photo with their camera phone of some documentation proving their identity, and email it to them...which they will process in 8 hours or so. No thanks...
Hmmm... http://www.unlocking.com/HTC-Fuze-Unlocking.html says:
"How To Enter Your HTC Fuze Unlock Code
Once you have received your HTC Fuze unlocking code, it is very simple to enter it:
- Insert any Sim card into the handset
- Turn the phone on
- You will be prompted to enter and Unlock Code
- Enter the code we provided
- Your phone is unlocked"
Double Meh. That's the bit I'm having issues with...

Ok. Used sim-unlocker.com, and once the software had finished doing it's thing, it popped up a box on the phone asking me to input the code.
Trouble is, SIM still not recognised Guess I'm looking at a fraked phone... (What a waste of time and money that was)

That is a bummer, you saw it working with the at&t sim, yes !
The fuze supports the 850MHz UTMS band so it should work fine on next G.
You could try flashing a generic HTC ROM complete with radio & seeing if you get any luck with that.
Also try some more packing on the sim card just in case it is simply a contact issue.
Total bummer if the fuze has developed a fault.

Thanks for everyone's help. It's in getting a quote for repair. Looks like I stuffed one of the pins when I put the SIM card in for the very first time :/

you gotta go to comm manager and start gsm or phone service then it'll say your phone is locked and ask for an code

Zilch said:
Thanks for everyone's help. It's in getting a quote for repair. Looks like I stuffed one of the pins when I put the SIM card in for the very first time :/
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What are the odds on doing that, total bad luck.

HTC Fuze is lock to AT&T
djteotancolis said:
you gotta go to comm manager and start gsm or phone service then it'll say your phone is locked and ask for an code
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The only way is use the simunlocker software ore buy it for $2.70 US dollar on ebay to get the unlock code from the guy name blowfish06 or get the code from AT&T. I unlock over some of them. It will automatic trigger the promt for unlock code if you put any sim that is not from AT&T in the phone.

Just as an update...
SIM slot contacts were stuffed. $150 to fix at the local repair shop in the mall. All working and unlocked now.
A SIM from a different network should pop up a message, but wasn't due to the HW fault. The unlocker software popped up this message when it was run however, so I was able to unlock it while the SIM slot was stuffed.
Thanks for everyones help.

Zilch said:
Just as an update...
SIM slot contacts were stuffed. $150 to fix at the local repair shop in the mall. All working and unlocked now.
A SIM from a different network should pop up a message, but wasn't due to the HW fault. The unlocker software popped up this message when it was run however, so I was able to unlock it while the SIM slot was stuffed.
Thanks for everyones help.
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Click to collapse
You could have just replace the hold sim stray just for $17 on ebay.

Yeah most likely. But I was a) lazy, b) in a hurry and c) it was a work phone so I claimed it

[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.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App

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...
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App

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.

Is it possible on Verizon to own 2 phones on one line?

With AT&T you can simply throw a sim card in and away you go with any phone you want. What do you do on AT&T namely if you have an iPhone and TBolt?

You wont be able to do it without going through Verizon to have your TB Sim card reset everytime you want to use your TB after using your iPhone.

Normally you just have to do a simple ESN swap (can do online). Unfortunately with the Thunderbolt and it's LTE SIM, things might be more complicated. I'd check with a Verizon rep to see what would be involved.

Sadly its a complete pain in the butt. One of the guys I work with had to deactivate it and reactivate it a couple of days later. The guy in the store couldn't figure out how to do it, and it took him about 3 hours on the phone with various techs to finally get it working. They ended up having to swap out the SIM card in the store.
Not sure if its the process that is tough, or if they just don't know what they are doing. Either way, I wouldn't recommend it if you can avoid it. If you really need to do it, it is possible, but its not as simple as just swapping out a SIM card like on AT&T.

Once there are more phones utilizing LTE wouldn't you just be able to swap out your sim card and put it in any LTE phone?

dirtyfingers said:
Once there are more phones utilizing LTE wouldn't you just be able to swap out your sim card and put it in any LTE phone?
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Yes, this is correct. I can go buy the Droid Charge, and put in the SIM from my Thunderbolt, and I'll be good to go.

Thats pretty sweet, I wish I had the cash to drop on some more LTE phones when they come out.

WilliamStern said:
Yes, this is correct. I can go buy the Droid Charge, and put in the SIM from my Thunderbolt, and I'll be good to go.
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Are you sure about that? I thought we were still using CDMA for calls and there is no voice over 4G/LTE on VZW just yet.

WilliamStern said:
Yes, this is correct. I can go buy the Droid Charge, and put in the SIM from my Thunderbolt, and I'll be good to go.
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Pretty sure this is wrong.
When setting up my phone the rep had to set up the sim card and phone separately.
Razorz is right, we still utilize cdma for voice, so it may be possible to get data on a new phone but no voice?

A rep told me you could, never tried I don't have another Verizon phone to swap it out with. Also ATT charges activation when you swap sims "if the sim is in a different phone for a lengthy time". Also ATT will add a data plan to your account if the phone you put it in requires one.

the id number for the sim card and the ESN for the phone both must be in the verizon system associated with your phone number or the device will not work.

stuckhere4ever said:
Sadly its a complete pain in the butt. One of the guys I work with had to deactivate it and reactivate it a couple of days later. The guy in the store couldn't figure out how to do it, and it took him about 3 hours on the phone with various techs to finally get it working. They ended up having to swap out the SIM card in the store.
Not sure if its the process that is tough, or if they just don't know what they are doing. Either way, I wouldn't recommend it if you can avoid it. If you really need to do it, it is possible, but its not as simple as just swapping out a SIM card like on AT&T.
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they didn't know what they were doing.
When I had data problems with my TB, I switched to my INC via the activate phone link on the "my account" web page. An hour later when I tried to return to the TB, I got a prompt for the phone's IMEI, then prompted for the SIM card's number.. It error-ed. After calling CS, the rep couldn't help, got TS on the line, they manually entered the SIM number to make it work...
So it appears switching away from the TB deactivated the SIM, to switch back, VZW's TS had to re-add or re-activate the SIM.
And as thetwiztidfreak said, they did need BOTH the IMEI and SIM numbers to re-activate the TB.

thetwiztidfreak said:
the id number for the sim card and the ESN for the phone both must be in the verizon system associated with your phone number or the device will not work.
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Correct but when you put the registered SIM in another LTE device it registers that handsets IMEI with your account. You can infact do a SIM swap with LTE, since your phone number is tied to the SIM putting the sim in another device effectively activates the phone on your account.
I should know, it's my job ;-)
It works the same way as GSM, but going from an LTE phone to a CDMA phone is a bit different, the SIM gets decactivated and becomes useless and if you want to switch back you need to go the a Verizon store for them to sell you out a new SIM for $0(some times old SIMs can be reactivated however there may b e issues with this). It's a PITA so I don't reccomend switching back and forth between CDMA and LTE devices unless you absolutely HAVE to.

chaoscentral said:
Correct but when you put the registered SIM in another LTE device it registers that handsets IMEI with your account. You can infact do a SIM swap with LTE, since your phone number is tied to the SIM putting the sim in another device effectively activates the phone on your account.
I should know, it's my job ;-)
It works the same way as GSM, but going from an LTE phone to a CDMA phone is a bit different, the SIM gets decactivated and becomes useless and if you want to switch back you need to go the a Verizon store for them to sell you out a new SIM for $0(some times old SIMs can be reactivated however there may b e issues with this). It's a PITA so I don't reccomend switching back and forth between CDMA and LTE devices unless you absolutely HAVE to.
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I can confirm that it is a royal pain in the ass to go to the vzw store to get a new sim...

I just got a replacement for my tbolt. I had 5 days to return the "defective" one. I bounced the SIM card back and forth between the two phones a dozen times trying to see which one got better 3G/4G reception. The rep told me to decide which one works better and send the other phone back. It didn't matter.

[Q] Skyrockt on Straigh Talk sim issue

New guy here.
I recently purchased an AT&T i727 with the plan to use the bring your own phone program with straight talk. Even with the sim card activated, the phone reads "No Sim Card. Emergency Calls Only". I've used the sim card in other phones, so I know it's functional. I've rooted the phone and installed different roms, but I still get the same error. I can't edit any of the APN or network settings because it tells me I need to have a sim card inserted to do so.
I feel like I'm not super clueless at things like this, but I've done everything I know how to do. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Take it easy on me guys.
Thanks in advance

Sound like the phone isn't unlocked. There is a thread here on how to unlock it for free. Look in the general section.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

Assuming the ST SIM is at&t SIM card , and it was working before , the problem might be somewhere around your phone , either SIM card slot , bad radio or blocked-from-network Skyrocket ... is it a craigslist phone ?

It is an AT&T compatible ST sim. I've already entered codes to unlock it and they all said the unlock was successful.
I actually purchased the phone on eBay. (I'm sure everyone will laugh upon reading that)

If the sim card works in other phones and doesn't work in your skyrocket but you have it in the correct way in the sim slot then it's gonna be your sim card slot. With ST your phone doesn't have to be unlocked for the sim card to work in it. Trust me on that I'm using my skyrocket on ST and have used about 10 different AT&T phones on ST and none of them were unlocked until I sold them. You'll need to get ahold of eBay and paypal (who you hopefully used) and try and get your money back. Otherwise you have a really expensive mp3 player.
Sorry for the bad luck but that's what it looks most like to me. I used to work for AT&T and that's the logical problem. I would say try and get a warranty for it but I doubt it still has a warranty and even if it did AT&T and Samsung wouldn't do anything about it because a problem with the sim card slot is considered physical damage. You'll just have to try and get your money back for the phone.
Just my advice and $.02

Can I unlock a phone without a sim card?

I requested a unlock code from ATT for my Lumia 640, surprisingly it was approved in less than an hour, I have the code but I don't have any kind of sim card that fits the phone is there anyway to enter the unlock code without a sim-card, I read any sim card should work. anyone know?

Unlocking can only be done in the AT&T network coverage region. Without a SIM card in the phone, it is not possible to connect the phone to the mast.

ze7zez said:
Unlocking can only be done in the AT&T network coverage region. Without a SIM card in the phone, it is not possible to connect the phone to the mast.
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Ok but what I read is not to use the AT&T sim card only a non network sim card would trigger the entry for unlock code, but that doesn't add up if the phone needs to be connected to a ATT&T tower, which I assume there is one where I am. Actually a non network sim card is showing as valid but I get because the phone isn't unlocked yet it won't work. So it looks like I need a ATT&T sim card than, does that mean I would have to sign up for service with them? Or do I just buy a ATT&T sim card on ebay and unlock it to use on the network of my choice? Thanks

For specific questions, it is better to contact the mobile phone operator directly. Especially since you have an easy contact.