SIM no longer recognized as being inserted; IMEI not visible in software

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dhmmjoph

New member
Jun 20, 2014
4
0
Firstly, my apologies if this issue has been solved before here, but neither a search of the forum nor the automatically found "similar threads" based on the title have revealed such a problem as this.

Last night, I attempted (and eventually succeeded) at reverting my SGH-I747 to the stock 4.1.1 ROM, with the intention of subsequently installing the 4.3 and 4.4 OTAs. However, I was unable to do this because the phone behaved as though no SIM had been inserted, despite the fact that one had. At various points throughout today, I've performed factory resets, re-flashed the 4.1.1 ROM, and gone back to CM11 (under which my cellular connection had been fully functional up until last night), all with no results. My next thought was that the SIM card itself had somehow broken*, so I looked through AT&T's process for ordering a new SIM. However, I am unable to view the phones IMEI (which is required for such ordering) through software. Obviously, I could just pull out the battery and look at the IMEI there, but I worry that the lack of ability to view it in software is indicitave of some sort of problem with the phone.

My main concern is, is this a problem that I can easily solve? Or have I irrevocably screwed up my phone's SIM slot (or some other piece of related hardware) which I need to replace in order to recieve mobile communication?

Any help much appreciated.


*Before anyone asks, I am unable to test the SIM in a different device, as neither I nor anyone I know has a device on AT&T with a micro-SIM slot whose phone I can borrow for that purpose.
 

BWolf56

Senior Member
Mar 25, 2011
4,111
1,769
Outaouais
Firstly, my apologies if this issue has been solved before here, but neither a search of the forum nor the automatically found "similar threads" based on the title have revealed such a problem as this.

Last night, I attempted (and eventually succeeded) at reverting my SGH-I747 to the stock 4.1.1 ROM, with the intention of subsequently installing the 4.3 and 4.4 OTAs. However, I was unable to do this because the phone behaved as though no SIM had been inserted, despite the fact that one had. At various points throughout today, I've performed factory resets, re-flashed the 4.1.1 ROM, and gone back to CM11 (under which my cellular connection had been fully functional up until last night), all with no results. My next thought was that the SIM card itself had somehow broken*, so I looked through AT&T's process for ordering a new SIM. However, I am unable to view the phones IMEI (which is required for such ordering) through software. Obviously, I could just pull out the battery and look at the IMEI there, but I worry that the lack of ability to view it in software is indicitave of some sort of problem with the phone.

My main concern is, is this a problem that I can easily solve? Or have I irrevocably screwed up my phone's SIM slot (or some other piece of related hardware) which I need to replace in order to recieve mobile communication?

Any help much appreciated.


*Before anyone asks, I am unable to test the SIM in a different device, as neither I nor anyone I know has a device on AT&T with a micro-SIM slot whose phone I can borrow for that purpose.

You're quite lucky you didn't brick your phone downgrading like that.

You're gonna need nv-reader/write to get your IMEI back.. Look here.
 

dhmmjoph

New member
Jun 20, 2014
4
0
You're quite lucky you didn't brick your phone downgrading like that.

You're gonna need nv-reader/write to get your IMEI back.. Look here.


Firstly, thanks for your reply.

Secondly, the procedure to which you linked requires an nv file from another identical phone, to which I don't have access. Do you know of anywhere online where I may be able to get such a file?
 

Larry2999

Senior Member
Feb 7, 2014
363
78
Atlanta, GA
Firstly, thanks for your reply.

Secondly, the procedure to which you linked requires an nv file from another identical phone, to which I don't have access. Do you know of anywhere online where I may be able to get such a file?

Before you try the NV re-write, I would suggest you first check to see your modem hasn't been corrupted. Go to settings and see what is showing under Baseband version. If it reads <Unknown>, then you may be able to fix it by flashing the 4.3 MJB modem. I don't know what procedure you used to downgrade from 4.3 to 4.1.1 without hard-bricking your phone. It is indeed possible to downgrade the ROM only without downgrading the bootloader. However, the 4.3 bootloader and modem are in a tight and unbreakable marriage so if you downgrade the ROM and modem, you would end up losing your modem and consequently all cellular functioning even if you didn't up in a hard brick.

If your baseband version is indeed showing as unknown, then you can go to the link below to download the modem and flash via custom recovery ....

http://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23212708291680823
 
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dhmmjoph

New member
Jun 20, 2014
4
0
Before you try the NV re-write, I would suggest you first check to see your modem hasn't been corrupted. Go to settings and see what is showing under Baseband version. If it reads <Unknown>, then you may be able to fix it by flashing the 4.3 MJB modem. I don't know what procedure you used to downgrade from 4.3 to 4.1.1 without hard-bricking your phone. It is indeed possible to downgrade the ROM only without downgrading the bootloader. However, the 4.3 bootloader and modem are in a tight and unbreakable marriage so if you downgrade the ROM and modem, you would end up losing your modem and consequently all cellular functioning even if you didn't up in a hard brick.

If your baseband version is indeed showing as unknown, then you can go to the link below to download the modem and flash via custom recovery ....

The baseband version is shown as "unknown"

I downloaded the file and moved it to the sd card in my phone, but the file doesn't appear in TWRP's "Select Zip to install" dialog. Does the file extension need to be changed? or do I need to flash some other recovery?

Thanks for your help!
 

BWolf56

Senior Member
Mar 25, 2011
4,111
1,769
Outaouais
The baseband version is shown as "unknown"

I downloaded the file and moved it to the sd card in my phone, but the file doesn't appear in TWRP's "Select Zip to install" dialog. Does the file extension need to be changed? or do I need to flash some other recovery?

Thanks for your help!

You said you moved it to your sd card? You might have to change TWRP's mounting to it.
 

dhmmjoph

New member
Jun 20, 2014
4
0
You said you moved it to your sd card? You might have to change TWRP's mounting to it.

I should clarify. I downloaded the file using my laptop, then connected the phone to the laptop, and moved the file to the root of the external SD. Using a file explorer app on the phone, I can see the file in that location, as well as several flashable ZIPs which I've put there in the past. However, when using TWRP to select a file to flash, I can navigate to the root of the external SD and see (and flash, if I wanted to) the other files, but not the .bin, presumably (though it's possible - or likely - that I'm wrong here) because TWRP expects all flashable files to be .ZIPs, and so doesn't display files that don't end in .zip. So, the question is, in order to flash this file, do I need to change the extension to .zip? or flash a different custom recovery? or use some other method for flashing altogether?
 

BWolf56

Senior Member
Mar 25, 2011
4,111
1,769
Outaouais
I should clarify. I downloaded the file using my laptop, then connected the phone to the laptop, and moved the file to the root of the external SD. Using a file explorer app on the phone, I can see the file in that location, as well as several flashable ZIPs which I've put there in the past. However, when using TWRP to select a file to flash, I can navigate to the root of the external SD and see (and flash, if I wanted to) the other files, but not the .bin, presumably (though it's possible - or likely - that I'm wrong here) because TWRP expects all flashable files to be .ZIPs, and so doesn't display files that don't end in .zip. So, the question is, in order to flash this file, do I need to change the extension to .zip? or flash a different custom recovery? or use some other method for flashing altogether?

I'm not so sure what file you downloaded but it should be a zip. In order to flash, you need a zip with META-INF folder in it (to put it simply).

Here's what you need: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1831898 (The MJB one).
 
Last edited:

Larry2999

Senior Member
Feb 7, 2014
363
78
Atlanta, GA
The baseband version is shown as "unknown"

I downloaded the file and moved it to the sd card in my phone, but the file doesn't appear in TWRP's "Select Zip to install" dialog. Does the file extension need to be changed? or do I need to flash some other recovery?

Thanks for your help!

The file should be a zip. Just checked the link I sent you and I'm just seeing it's a*.bin file. You could try the one from the link forwarded by BWolf although this appears to be for CWM.

After this, you may also want to see if you won't be better off going to full stock 4.3. I'm not sure the hybrid firmware (4.1.1 ROM with 4.3 Bootloader/Modem) offers any real benefits.
 
Last edited:

Larry2999

Senior Member
Feb 7, 2014
363
78
Atlanta, GA
The file should be a zip. Just checked the link I sent you and I'm just seeing it's a*.bin file. You could try the one from the link forwarded by BWolf although this appears to be for CWM.

After this, you may also want to see if you won't be better off going to full stock 4.3. I'm not sure the hybrid firmware (4.1.1 ROM with 4.3 Bootloader/Modem) offers any real benefits.


Here's a TWRP flashable zip for the modem if the CWM doesn't work.
 

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    Firstly, thanks for your reply.

    Secondly, the procedure to which you linked requires an nv file from another identical phone, to which I don't have access. Do you know of anywhere online where I may be able to get such a file?

    Before you try the NV re-write, I would suggest you first check to see your modem hasn't been corrupted. Go to settings and see what is showing under Baseband version. If it reads <Unknown>, then you may be able to fix it by flashing the 4.3 MJB modem. I don't know what procedure you used to downgrade from 4.3 to 4.1.1 without hard-bricking your phone. It is indeed possible to downgrade the ROM only without downgrading the bootloader. However, the 4.3 bootloader and modem are in a tight and unbreakable marriage so if you downgrade the ROM and modem, you would end up losing your modem and consequently all cellular functioning even if you didn't up in a hard brick.

    If your baseband version is indeed showing as unknown, then you can go to the link below to download the modem and flash via custom recovery ....

    http://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23212708291680823