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ptnik Author

Level 1

1 points

Invalid SIM Card on iPhone 4S (5.0.1)

Seems to be a widespread problem, from what I'm seeing in the discussions:

I have an unlocked iPhone 4S (bought in France) and use it with Vodafone in Portugal. I was using the same SIM card that worked perfectly fine for over a year on my previous iPhone 4, and it also worked just fine in the 4S... until I updated to iOS 5.0.1.

The very next day I started having connections issues and invalid SIM card errors - requiring a reboot to temporarily fix it for a few minutes, until it lost connection again - the iPhone would still show it had a few bars strength, but was actually unable to make calls or use data. After a while it would go back to invalid sim message.

I replaced my old SIM card, and I though that was it... It was working fine.. until after 3 or 4 days, I find once again that I had a Invalid SIM message.

I've read reports suggesting that this might actually have to do with using other chargers than the official Apple 4S one - it sound kind of crazy, but just in case, I was also using a 3rd party charger when those issues arised for the first time. Anyway, I was now using my previous official iPhone 4 charger when I got the new error with the new SIM card.

Also, although the iPhone recommends using a non-locked SIM Card, mine has always had a PIN, and always worked through activations without a problem.

Other than being a real hardware problem with my new iPhone 4S (crossing my fingers it isn't!) my guess is that this is a software related incident - as this has just popped up after upgrading to iOS 5.0.1, and it would have been an amazing coincidence for SIM cards to go bust, or for the iPhone 4S to suddenly malfunction, afterwards.

Hope you guys can fix it soon, as well as the phone numbers not showing up the callers name in the contacts (that was a problem I was having from the very beginning, with iOS 5.0.0).

Posted on Nov 16, 2011 2:18 AM

366 replies

nockab

Level 1

0 points

Dec 10, 2011 11:49 AM in response to ptnik

IMPORTANT! WORKING SOLUTION!!!

This most likely will work for guys, who have Touch 4s, that means for those of you who make a call and lose signal after that. This is not solution for guys who can call,but sometimes get Invalid SIM error (I have not tested it for so long yet to be sure that I won’t get this error, then probably it may help you too).

I won't copy all solution in every topic so just check my message in this link:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3390945?answerId=16968088022#16968088022

ptnik Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 10, 2011 2:53 PM in response to nockab

My operator is also shipping me some SIMs to try out, but as for the old ones working ok, that's might not be the whole truth. My SIM card was one with several years, that I cut myself for when I got the iPhone 4, and had worked fine with both the older 3GS, and the iPhone 4 for over 2 years. In the 4S it worked fine for nearly a month before starting with issues. And the new microSIM they got me worked fine for 3 or 4 days before getting increasingly worse.

More so, a friend of mine that had no problem until a few days ago (in similar situation), had his 4S working perfectly fine... and is now also experiencing increasingly Invalid SIM errors. First one every couple of days, then every day, then more than once a day.

Although this seems to show there's indeed something fishy going on with the 4S's, some other suspicions arise that may explain why this doesn't happen more. My friend suspected the invalid SIM only popped up when he was in a low signal area (just one bar), so one night he left his phone in a better reception place of his home, and he didn't get the invalid SIM the morning after as usual.

Again, this doesn't explain while both our iPhone 4S worked just fine for weeks (in the exact same spots), and only after that kept getting worse... but, maybe someone else might want to try to figure out if there's any relation with that.

nockab

Level 1

0 points

Dec 10, 2011 3:09 PM in response to ptnik

Wow, lucky you than if you were able to make some calls before problem started. I had ipod 4s from the day I unboxed it and now it can call so right now I feel like its something like second time when I unbox 4s 😁. Well I will report if I will get Invalid SIM problem in future, maybe two anntennas makes SIM card to wear out extremely fast, maybe something else. I hope that this is fixable software problem. At least now I can work with my phone.

Dec 10, 2011 3:29 PM in response to ptnik

This is how it is/was for me. I had it for a good month, if not longer, before it started. Also, this is a new sim card. I upgraded from a 3gs to a 4s at Apple. When I went in for the issue the other day, I asked about the sim cards and they said that they put a new one in (I haven't verified).

It's just really weird. *knock on wood* I've been good since my full software restore done at Apple on Monday.

Dec 10, 2011 3:30 PM in response to ptnik

hello again got my new replacement 4s today at the apple genius bar the apple guy was good but had never heard of the error before?? and did a hardware check that showed nothing suspicious so far so good ive had no invalid sim sim failure errors and no signall drops so far i have the phone back in my iPhone how long for i am not sure time will tell i will keep you updated if i get any invalid errors??

ℹℹℹ

APPLE please read these threads and aknowledge us we need answers from you not a genius worker that hasnt heard of the problem before!!!!

😟😠😢😕😮

jannee

Level 1

0 points

Dec 12, 2011 6:11 AM in response to jhelliwell86

Fellow users after much investigating into this same issue I get. Here are my findings:

1. Sim Pin is a difinate battery kill & instigator of invalid sim fault.

2. It seems to be called up by phone lock after some elapsed time in lock mode when in airplane mode, charger or none.

3. A power off will always set it straight till next event occurs.

4. Here is the surprise which linked it all when I saw it. When it goes to invalid sim mode and you look at settings, phone, in sim pin menu... You will see sim pin is on!!! Even though you had it turned off... Sliding it to toggle it off has no effect, it stays on.... When you then just turn off, hold power until slider to switch off comes up then slide off; then upon power up go to same sim pin menu you will see it is now off just as you had set it... This was the aha moment!

SOLUTION IS....... TURN OFF PHONE LOCK....YES TURN IT OFF! ALSO MAKE SURE SIM PIN IS OFF!

To keep prying hands/eyes keep it in your pocket always... Hide it at night and use your old iPhone as the alarm clock(or just a good old alarm clock like grandmas) and backup mp3/video player. Personal hotspot helps get the Internet on your old sim card less iPhone, or itouch etc. mine is locked in my pinball and charges off the internal 240v plug into which the charger is plugged.

NOW APPLE FIX IT SO WE CAN LOCK OUR PHONES..... SO I DON'T NEED TO LOCK IT UP IN A VAULT! At night:-(

For now I guess leaving it unlocked is more palatable than having missed calls and multiple reboots... So there yo are..

Dec 13, 2011 8:15 AM in response to ptnik

I've had the iPhone 4S since October, and the "SIM FAILURE" problem started 2 weeks ago...

And it's increasing. It happened one day... then another.... then it happened twice in the same day...

and now it happens often, twice a day mainly, and also the iPhone says there's network, and the 3G icon and full bars are displayed, but i can't receive or make any calls, and there's no data also.

Airplane mode on and off... and it comes online... if i'm lucky....

When SIM FAILURE appears, i have to reboot the phone, everytime.

I hope this gets fixed real soon.

Dec 13, 2011 10:15 AM in response to naovouporai

I just got my 4S replaced because of it. So we'll see. I print screened the failure note to show them.

Dec 13, 2011 4:07 PM in response to momneedscoffee

Well. Here I am. 8 hours after getting a new 4S and now I've got SIM failure, invalid SIM AND a new one: no SIM installed.

I'm ready to cry. This is insane.

iShamim

Level 1

0 points

Dec 14, 2011 3:55 AM in response to momneedscoffee

Hello again...it looks like the new QC modem is not supporting certain kind of SIM cards or having "SIM bounce" issue with them. I used to get INVALID SIM 4-5 times a day. But since yesterday, my operator replaced my SIM with another one having a 4G network support and now I'm not facing any issue.

Earlier I'd posted that a Full Restore worked for me. It actually did for 3-4 days and the issue came back once I restarted the phone.

These are the few issues which got RESOLVED with my new SIM card :

- Multiple retry to enter for SIM PIN.

- No SIM PIN enable/disable operation

- No signal but I was able to browse.

- Invalid SIM 4-5 times a day.

Keeping my finger crossed........

ptnik Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 14, 2011 3:57 AM in response to momneedscoffee

Sorry to hear that, but in a way, it's good news - as it points to really being a software issue and not really a hardware problem.

As for all the methods presented by other answers here, I can attest that none work! I've tried it all, Pin, no pin, tape, no tape, etc. etc.

The other day I got suspicious, because in a time where I could guarantee I'd have a 3G indicator but no 3G data, signal dropped down to GPRS (the circle indicator), and I had data (albeit at its incredibly slow rate).

In the previous iOS we cold turn off 3G, and that could help narrow down the issue... but in iOS5 there's no way to try it out.

Anyway, I just got new SIMs that Vodafone is confident that will fix the issue.

Keeping my fingers crossed, will report back tomorrow.

myounes

Level 1

0 points

Dec 15, 2011 1:11 AM in response to ptnik

I had a similar issue, I tried 3 different SIM cards with no luck, but what was common between all 3 cards is they were converted to micro using a sim cutter.

I went to my carrier and got a new micro sim, and the phone is working perfectly.. No network drops, no call failed and no invalid sim any more.

ptnik Author

Level 1

1 points

Dec 15, 2011 1:50 AM in response to ptnik

Status update:

I got a new microSIM card from Vodafone, and it's going on for nearly a day without SIM Failure (including waking up and having a working iPhone, which is "a miracle", considering that for the past 30 days, I've been greeted by the Invalid SIM message every single day).

This doesn't mean much - yet - as my previous micro SIM also worked fine for 3 or 4 days - and the one before worked fine for nearly a month before developing the Invalid SIM issues, that then got worse every day. But, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

However, even without a Invalid SIM, me - and other friend in the same situation that also got a new MicroSIM - have already both experienced the "other" issue: of losing data connection even though the iPhone shows full 3G signal - which then prompts a "no bars->searching->back to normal" cycle.

I suspect this might be another issue - perhaps not even directly related to the invalid SIM problem. At least, there are reports that operators in Australia are working on fixing this issue, maybe via a carrier update... Which I hope will also be propagated to the rest of the world...

For the record:I still think these are inadmissible bugs, particularly considering that Apple has had iPhones on the market for years now, and users shouldn't be required to endure these kind of issues. Not only we're doing their "debug" work... but rather than being compensated for these annoyances, we've actually *paid* for it. At least in here, iPhones 4S are still quite expensive (bought in Europe, without contract)!

Dec 15, 2011 4:35 AM in response to ptnik

I've got an iPhone4S 64GB and I've trying everyng to make it works, from completely restore (3 times) to some miracle things in a hope that it get better.

There is something that I did that makes my iPhone works better. I can't say it's a solution, but have a positive impact so far:

Change the PIN (4 digits password)

To do thisgo to Settings, Phone, SIM PIN, Turn on SIM PIN, them enter your actual pin, than Change PIN and if you want turn SIM PIN of again.

Dec 15, 2011 8:17 AM in response to ptnik

hello again if you read the previous pages you will know i got my 4s replaced for a new one becouse of the invalid sim error i was getting i used to get this a few times a week then every day all the way to 9 times a day i have tried everything mention but nothing worked for long i upgraded to 5.0.1 wihich did nothing i had 3 new sims and still no good ive also had an orange technical support guy saying its either software or the sim and an apple tech support guy saying its possibly a hardware problem with the genius bar guy testing it for hardware prblems and came back clean.

Anyway nearly a week now (on my new replacement apple iphone4s ios 5.0.1) and not one invalid sim error at all and ive been in the exact same places that i used to call the invalled zone!! so i strongly recommend if you can get a genius bar appointment at closest apple store and get a new phone you have 1year warranty it costs nothing (maybe the journey to apple shop?).

if i do get an invalid error i will post back and let you all know as it could still happen???

good luck to you all

remember they work for you not you for the!

GET A NEW ONE

🙂

Invalid SIM Card on iPhone 4S (5.0.1)