Posted: 11/23/2016 7:25:02 PM EDT
|
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, and have never had any issues with the phone...until today. For some reason, I cannot get a cell signal or make phone calls. I can connect to the internet, but no luck on the cell connection. I've tried turning it off/on, removed the battery a couple times, and started it in safe mode....but nothing seems to work.
Any suggestions? |
|
Quoted:
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, and have never had any issues with the phone...until today. For some reason, I cannot get a cell signal or make phone calls. I can connect to the internet, but no luck on the cell connection. I've tried turning it off/on, removed the battery a couple times, and started it in safe mode....but nothing seems to work. Any suggestions? pay your bill ... j/k have you tried taking it in/out of airplane mode? |
|
Quoted:
do you have access to the sim card? remove the card reboot phone.. turn phone off pull battery reinsert the sim card and reboot phone. use to work on my S3 when I had the same problem. I'll give this a try. It was an odd thing, phone worked fine this morning, and I plugged it up to charge....I heard it vibrate and maybe reboot while I was brushing my teeth, and then noticed it had no signal. The "no signal" isn't that uncommon, as I don't have the best cell reception in my house, but it didn't get any better once I went outside. Hopefully the SIM card removal will do the trick... |
|
Quoted:
do you have access to the sim card? remove the card reboot phone.. turn phone off pull battery reinsert the sim card and reboot phone. use to work on my S3 when I had the same problem. This, Mrs.Kubota's phone did the same and this was a temporary fix, the phone was fucked up in the long run we now have the S7. |
|
Quoted:
I'll give this a try. It was an odd thing, phone worked fine this morning, and I plugged it up to charge....I heard it vibrate and maybe reboot while I was brushing my teeth, and then noticed it had no signal. The "no signal" isn't that uncommon, as I don't have the best cell reception in my house, but it didn't get any better once I went outside. Hopefully the SIM card removal will do the trick... Quoted:
Quoted:
do you have access to the sim card? remove the card reboot phone.. turn phone off pull battery reinsert the sim card and reboot phone. use to work on my S3 when I had the same problem. I'll give this a try. It was an odd thing, phone worked fine this morning, and I plugged it up to charge....I heard it vibrate and maybe reboot while I was brushing my teeth, and then noticed it had no signal. The "no signal" isn't that uncommon, as I don't have the best cell reception in my house, but it didn't get any better once I went outside. Hopefully the SIM card removal will do the trick... I wonder if your provider pushed an update. which caused the issue. Have you tried calling them? |
|
Quoted:
Phone is definitely acting weird, it's has restarted itself twice now in the last hour.... When that started happening to my son's S3, we took it in to get looked at. Dont remember exactly what was wrong with it, but it wasnt fixable. Ended up having to get a new phone |
|
Performing a Hard Reset
Warning : it is impossible to recover your data after doing a hard reset, so online backup is always important. For all of your data, a backup should be done on an external device, hard drive, system or media. Force Reset the device (press and hold POWER button for 8-10 seconds) Unlock Galaxy S3 T999 i747 i535 using hard reset sgs3 hard reset or reset Galaxy S3: PRESS AND HOLD VOLUME UP + Home Button + Power Turn the phone off Press and hold Volume UP and Home (center) button Press Power until the phone vibrates Wait until you see the Android logo then release all the buttons Select Wipe data/Factory reset with VOLUME DOWN, press Power (right hand-side) Select YES...delete all user data with VOLUME DOWN and then Press Power After format, press Power again to reboot the phone (select reboot system now) or Use this method to reset your Samsung Galaxy S3: Enter *2767*3855# WARNING: All fo your data (contacts, messages....) will be lost! Make sure you complete a backup before starting ( Carbon Backup is a good one). Take out SIM card before full reset too! As a rule, this shouldn't delete the data on your external SD card. Attention: if you reset your device to the factory default with SD card encryption setting enabled, the device will not be able to read your encrypted files. Disable this setting before resettling the device. SGS3 Firmeware Flash downlaod mode: PRESS AND HOLD VOLUME down + Home Button + Power On CAUTION: Perform this reset AT YOUR OWN risk! |
|
I would try the factory reset first, but it sure sounds like either a bad SIM (easy fix) or a bad SIM reader (not such an easy fix). The S4 was a pretty good phone, three years ago, you have gotten your money's worth out of it, probably time to start considering what you want next. The S6 was a great phone, and can be found pretty cheap. If you want big look at the LG V10 and V20. If you want to save a few bucks the LG G4 is still a great phone. |
|
Well, I know it isn't a problem with the SIM, as I have gotten it to work in a newer S5 and older S3. I'm going to talk with Verizon tomorrow, and see if they have any other suggestions...otherwise, I will simply do a factory reset. At this point, I have nothing to lose. I've moved all my pics and videos to my laptop, and have backed up my phone list to the SD card. Maybe that will fix it, otherwise I'll just order a replacement S4 or S5.
I may look at other phones, but I am not spending over $200. I like the layout of the S4 and S5, and the features I want are a micro USB charger (i have an assload of these), must accept an external SD card, and must have removable battery. I've been very happy with my S4, but how much of an improvement is the S5? Worth an extra $100? |
|
The more I troubleshoot the phone, the more I *think* the problem is the SD/SIM card reader itself. I've tried doing a backup to make sure all my contacts are saved through the Verizon cloud, and it keeps telling me it can't identify the phone (and that I need to check the SIM card). Its telling me to make sure its properly installed, which it is, so it may simply be the reader. I've also tried doing a system update, but keep getting "software update is temporarily unavailable" (its been giving me this since last night).
Replacing the SIM reader looks to be pretty cheap and easy, but is there any other way to verify this is the problem? |
|
Verizon was absolutely worthless, I would have been netter off asking the homeless guy digging through the trash outside. Looks like I will need to either fix the SIM reader, or get another phone.
What's the general consensus on the Note 4? How does it compare with an S4/S5 Galaxy? |
|
Quoted:
Complete wipe of phone and return to factory settings- like you got it out of the bix Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Hard reset What all does this entail? Complete wipe of phone and return to factory settings- like you got it out of the bix This is what came to mind. I do them periodically to clean them up. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Wipe+Samsung+Galaxy+S4+Data+-+Factory+Reset/23217 |
|
Quoted:
This is what came to mind. I do them periodically to clean them up. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Wipe+Samsung+Galaxy+S4+Data+-+Factory+Reset/23217 Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Hard reset What all does this entail? Complete wipe of phone and return to factory settings- like you got it out of the bix This is what came to mind. I do them periodically to clean them up. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Wipe+Samsung+Galaxy+S4+Data+-+Factory+Reset/23217 Thanks for the link. I'm all set to wipe the phone, but still concerned about losing my contacts. I've saved them (twice) to the SD card, but haven't been able to actually open the file on my laptop. I can't back them up to the Cloud, as it won't recognize the SIM card....I guess I can cross my fingers and hope they import correctly from the SD card, but that is a little nerve wracking. |
|
Quoted:
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4, and have never had any issues with the phone...until today. For some reason, I cannot get a cell signal or make phone calls. I can connect to the internet, but no luck on the cell connection. I've tried turning it off/on, removed the battery a couple times, and started it in safe mode....but nothing seems to work. Any suggestions? My first S4 had SIM problems. The SIM would come lose. There would be a notification to insert a SIM. It was an intermittent problem and common with the S4. |
|
My first S4 had SIM problems. The SIM would come lose. There would be a notification to insert a SIM. It was an intermittent problem and common with the S4. Oddly enough, this one has never prompted me to insert the SIM... I found a local Note 4, may offer $175 and see what happens. |
|
Quoted:
Thanks for the link. I'm all set to wipe the phone, but still concerned about losing my contacts. I've saved them (twice) to the SD card, but haven't been able to actually open the file on my laptop. I can't back them up to the Cloud, as it won't recognize the SIM card....I guess I can cross my fingers and hope they import correctly from the SD card, but that is a little nerve wracking. Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Hard reset What all does this entail? Complete wipe of phone and return to factory settings- like you got it out of the bix This is what came to mind. I do them periodically to clean them up. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Wipe+Samsung+Galaxy+S4+Data+-+Factory+Reset/23217 Thanks for the link. I'm all set to wipe the phone, but still concerned about losing my contacts. I've saved them (twice) to the SD card, but haven't been able to actually open the file on my laptop. I can't back them up to the Cloud, as it won't recognize the SIM card....I guess I can cross my fingers and hope they import correctly from the SD card, but that is a little nerve wracking. Link to program and it's very easy to backup and reinstall Kies 3 |
|
Quoted:
Verizon was absolutely worthless, I would have been netter off asking the homeless guy digging through the trash outside. Looks like I will need to either fix the SIM reader, or get another phone. What's the general consensus on the Note 4? How does it compare with an S4/S5 Galaxy? I carry two phones: one personal and one for work. Both are Note 4s. The personal one I bought new 1.5 years ago. The work phone I bought used a couple months ago. Both have been flawless. I don't think there is much difference with the Note5, they skipped the "6" number to catch up the the Galaxy and we all know what happened with the Note7. If you can get a Note4 for $175-$200 with the correct "high speed" charger, you'll be happy with it four a couple years. |
|
Quoted:
You can back up everything on your phone using Samsung backup program to your computer using your charge cord. Link to program and it's very easy to backup and reinstall Kies 3 I backed up to my computer using the samsung app. Worked great |
|
Quoted:
I have been having this same problem. Weird thing is that my carrier says I'm connected to the network. If you're getting the sim card error I read someplace the a small shim wedged under the sim card is a fix. Not sure if true, my phone was totally FUBAR so I got another |
|
Verizon Wireless Software Utility Application for Android – Samsung https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-80201/ Never needed it. Don't know if it will help.
|
|
Quoted:
Tried a "soft" factory reset, no luck...trying a hard reset now. Still no luck. I don't know if it is the SIM/SD card reader or not, but it is not giving me the "Insert" SIM card either way. Regardless, its reached the point that it doesn't look like I can fix it. I may try swapping out the SIM reader, but will have to get a phone either way to tide me over for the next week. |