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Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-18 09:19pm
by Batman
New (as in I didn't have it before, Nokia 6600 folding) cellphone and the damned thing won't recognize my SIM card. The card is unlikely to be the problem because both my prior phones recognize it just fine, repeatedly. Cleaned the contacts on the card, cleaned the contacts on the phone, I'm out of ideas

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-18 09:27pm
by Tribble
Edit:

Does the phone support the same type of network standard that your carrier uses?

How old is your SIM card? How old is the phone? They might not be compatible depending on the difference in age between the two, that’s happened to me before.

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-18 09:41pm
by Batman
The phone is explicitly telling me 'NO SIM CARD DETECTED'. It's not that the card's not 'working', the phone doesn't even notice it's 'there'. And the phones the card works perfectly fine in are likely even older than this one.

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-18 10:03pm
by Jub
Is the phone being locked to a carrier a possible issue in this case?

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-19 08:03pm
by Batman
How can the phone be locked to a carrier when it won't even detect the damn card? The carrier is connected to the SIM card, not the phone

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-19 08:06pm
by Jub
Batman wrote: 2019-07-19 08:03pm How can the phone be locked to a carrier when it won't even detect the damn card? The carrier is connected to the SIM card, not the phone
I figured it might not be detecting the SIM card because it wasn't finding carrier-specific data. I'd expect it to show a SIM error instead but I don't know much about this specific issue.

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-19 08:24pm
by Batman
In that case I'd expect it to detect the card but but yammer 'CAN'T FIND SIGNAL' or some such. The error message is rather explicit about the problem being the phone can't find a SIM card period

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-20 09:12am
by Iroscato
Just get hold of your supplier and ask for a replacement SIM (no, the number won't change long as you specify it's for your number). I work in a phone shop and you'd be surprised by the amount of issues that fixes. Once you've cleaned the SIM and put it back in and it still doesn't work, that's the literal next step.
Unless they charge an exorbitant amount in whatever country you live to replace cards, in which case, I got nothing.

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-20 06:08pm
by Batman
Replacement card costs nothing. Hell a completely new one would be a murderous 10€. What irritates me is the card works perfectly fine in the other two phones

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-20 10:13pm
by Napoleon the Clown
Do you know someone who has a SIM card you could borrow to test the phone with? A different one from what you're already using. If the one it isn't seeing works fine for other phones, it suggests the issue may be the "new" phone. If a completely different SIM card isn't recognized, it might be the phone itself. A little bit of Google searching shows that the driver for the SIM card can be damaged. If that's the case, you might need to either replace parts on the phone or do a bit of surgery yourself. Linky

If the phone recognizes SIM cards other than yours, and other phones can currently recognize your SIM card... I'm stumped. Speaking from experience, phones should at least recognize that there's a SIM card even if it's from another network. I put my mother-in-law's SIM card from her broken phone (smashed in a door on accident) into one of my old phones. Different carrier, but it still saw the SIM card and allowed me to pull her contacts list off to back up and get on her new phone.

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-22 07:45pm
by Batman
Turns out both the phone and the card are fine, just took me a while to figure out the phone's lockdown mechanism for the SIM card (or the fact that there was one).
Now to find the memory card lockdown mechanism I accidentally ejected in the process...
So, new problem-since access to the memory card is for now not possible, hoe do I upload pictures from the phone's internal memory to my PC?

I case you haven't guessed yet, I'm really not good with mobile phones.

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-23 07:22am
by Lord Revan
Batman wrote: 2019-07-22 07:45pm Turns out both the phone and the card are fine, just took me a while to figure out the phone's lockdown mechanism for the SIM card (or the fact that there was one).
Now to find the memory card lockdown mechanism I accidentally ejected in the process...
So, new problem-since access to the memory card is for now not possible, hoe do I upload pictures from the phone's internal memory to my PC?

I case you haven't guessed yet, I'm really not good with mobile phones.
Depending on the model there might be cable for that purpose, I'm not familiar with this particular phone so I can't say for sure. As it's 2019 I assume it's still a smart phone so you should also be able to e-mail them to yourself, if you can access the e-mail from your PC.

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-23 07:43am
by Jub
Batman wrote: 2019-07-22 07:45pm Turns out both the phone and the card are fine, just took me a while to figure out the phone's lockdown mechanism for the SIM card (or the fact that there was one).
Now to find the memory card lockdown mechanism I accidentally ejected in the process...
So, new problem-since access to the memory card is for now not possible, hoe do I upload pictures from the phone's internal memory to my PC?

I case you haven't guessed yet, I'm really not good with mobile phones.
Some phones also require software to transfer data, you should be able to find out by going to Nokia's website and looking at the support section for your phone. Though with such an old phone that software might not play well with modern PCs so you may have to stick to the email yourself method. You could also try to install dropbox on the phone as well if it's supported.

Might I ask why not just get a modern smartphone? They usually come nearly free with a new plan so long as you have any credit rating to speak of, worst case you pay a deposit and after some period of time, it is applied as a credit on your next few bills.

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-23 02:14pm
by Elheru Aran
Many PCs come with slots that fit SD cards. Try seeing if you can put one in your phone, transfer the files to it, and then from there to the computer.

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-23 05:36pm
by Batman
I hate smartphones with a passion. It's a phone. It's for making phone calls. I don't need internet access, I don't need a miniature movie theatre, I don't need it to be a flashlight (I have a flashlight for that) or movie camera, I just need a phone. And smartphones are only nearly free if you buy a contract. I am not buying a contract for a phone I expect to use about 8 times a year.
I hate touchscreens even more. Those that like them are welcome to them, I want mechanical buttons. That way I know I pressed the key, even if the phone doesn't do what that key should make it do.
@Elheru-as mentioned, I broke the lockdown mechanism for the SD card, so even if my PC has an SD slot (haven't checked yet) that wouldn't help me much. And I would expect the data transfer/recharging USB cable to facilitate data transfer (PC recognized the phone and installed the appropriate drivers, or so Windows claims at any rate)

Re: Cellphone problem

Posted: 2019-07-23 06:32pm
by Batman
Also you can't flip open a smartphone Star Trek style