Samsung Galaxy S4 - " Sim card not detected - reboot "

[Justin5609]

Has anyone else had an issue with their Galaxy S4 constantly coming up as the sim card not being detected and having to reboot?

My phone started doing it on the very odd occasion, but now it seems to do it 12+ times a day, sometimes 4 or 5 times in a row on a bad day. Sim card isn't loose. Works fine after a reboot (most of the time, sometimes keeps having to reboot).

Seems to happen more often since I upgraded to KitKat, but might be irrelevant. Google doesn't seem to help besides sending it off for repair which I'm pretty close to doing. Has anyone found any solutions besides?

 

[SillyGirl]

I had the issue, as well, and it was getting worse and worse. After almost resigning myself to the fact that I'd have to get a new phone, I remembered one of my apps (transparent clock and weather) had been having intermittent problems for months & I'd upgraded, uninstalled & re-installed on several occasions. I uninstalled this app, and left it uninstalled, and I haven't had the problem since (several days).

 

[SirBawls]

Ugh. I received a replacement S4 from Squaretrade because of this issue. After having the new phone for 2 days I am now getting the same freakin error:
"Unable to detect your SIM card. Your device will restart to check for your SIM card."

Can't help but think this is software related. I have uninstalled all apps that I most recently installed. I'll post again later with my findings.

3 hours later-
so far so good.

Actions I've taken:
uninstalled SUPERSU;
uninstalled "Wi-Fi tethering widget" by Soboku Apps.
installed "Bluetooth connect & Play" by Carl Parziale (as recommended above)

Will continue to update this post.

 

[kasertia]

The problem is that a connector on the board has come almost unplugged. Squeeze the screen and the back of the phone with your finger and thumb, right below the camera at about the 7 O'clock position.

 

[Zackattack629]

This method works the best!!

Found the solution to this issue as I was having it also and it worked like a charm.

I take no credit for it and am only passing it along.

"applying pressure where the SIM/SD Card reader RIBBON is what makes the fix work, not the SIM card tray itself...

It doesn't really matter what you use, however I used a cut up piece of foam (earplug) to apply pressure to the area with the ribbon. My foam was about 0.4cm thick. See the below photo and please note that it was taken with a webcam so the orientation is reversed to what it really looks like."

http/forums.androidcentral.com/attachments/samsung-galaxy-s4/160714d1422254921-galaxy-s4-major-problem-sim-card-not-detected-1-25-2015-1-09-38-pm.png

The cheap soft foam earplugs work great because they apply even pressure to the right spot. Also it can be cut over thick and it still compresses perfectly to just the right size.

http/www.cvs.com/shop/personal-care/ear-care/ear-plugs/cvs-soft-foam-earplugs-skuid-694929

 

[supercalifragilistic]

I've had this same issue for months now. I was upgraded to Lollipop a few weeks ago and was hoping it would have stopped it. Sadly, it didn't. It's gotten to the point I want to toss my phone in the garbage and deal without having a phone any longer. Highly frustrating and of course, my phone is out of the 1 year warranty and Samsung won't touch it...

Happens anywhere from once to 6 times a day. Sometimes when I restart, I don't get the error but there is a "No Sim Card" icon in the notification bar. I have tried the foam piece, only for the error to continue. I am going to give the Bluetooth app a try and see if that helps.

 

[BellGuy]

hey, I've run into similar problems many times, I work at a Cell phone shop. this is something i've found that helps most of the time

Go to settings>More>Applications Manager

Find Google Play Store

Tap, and Uninstall Updates.

That seems to fix a ton of random issues,

Including this one

 

[Anssec]

Had the same issue on my Galaxy S4 (can not connect to SIM card). Took it to Geek Squad and they found that in my Setting>More Setting>Developer option was "on". They turned the Developer option to "off" and so far, 24 hours have gone by and no message about SIM card. Before I was getting it about every 4-6 hours and had to restate.

Well, I was wrong, it just popped up again. Headed back to the Geek Squad to get a new phone. Glad I got the insurance on my phone. Always had it, but never got to use it.
Samsung rep at the store said they just had someone come in with a Galaxy S4 note that had the same thing. Strange part was we both have AT&T.

 

[hogan773]

I really think it is hardware-based

Mine has only happened 2 or 3 times in the past 3 weeks, and each time while in my tighter jeans pocket if I am bending hard to pick up something etc. This is with the foam piece UNDER the screwed-down plastic back. Before, it would happen about 75% of the time that I had the phone in my jeans pocket, many times per day.

 

[DonnyC]

@ DonnyC is your solution basically some form of applying more pressure to the area where the sim card CABLE attaches to the motherboard? Just curious

So I added a small square of mounting tape directly above that attachment point. It is just below and to the left of the camera flash. When the back is closed, it pushes down on that area more. This seemed to lower the frequency of incidences.

Over the weekend I was getting a lot of the errors again as my phone gets put in my jeans pocket on top of my wallet (yes I am a front pocket wallet guy with a skinny wallet). My theory is that this physically flexes the phone and may jostle whatever inside the phone enough to momentarily disrupt the SIM contact either at the SIM itself or at the connector of the cable to the mobo.

I would often pull the phone out of my pocket and it would be waiting for me to reboot. Every time I rebooted it found the SIM and was normal again.

SO I tried adding some paper to the back of the SIM card to add more pressure in there. That seemed to be a bad idea, as the errors didn't stop. Actually THEN I was getting errors even on Sunday night just picking up the phone from my nightstand. Lots of them. Ugh.

Took the paper out Monday morning and did a WIPE CACHE from the recovery menu. Haven't had a problem since then. I'm sure typing this will jinx me into having one again!

My last try would be to open the plastic shell to expose the guts of the phone and then put my mounting tape directly on top of that connector. I'm holding off doing that because I'd prefer not to open up the phone and I'm not sure whether jamming down that connector into the socket is really a good idea for the long term.

The random errors that were coming while the phone was just sitting on the nightstand with the paper inside the SIM holder really had me confused. And the fact that thing seem better after doing a cache wipe also have me confused.

It's aggravating but I like the S4. The other thing is if you google you can see the S5 also has this error so I don't know that paying more to Ebay an S5 will fix anything.

Help?

Anyway let us know your fix if possible. I don't think most people can fly to Toronto to meet you in person.

Thanks

Sorry I got back so late. I don't get updates when people reply back to me on here. first off, If the phone is new and you are not getting this option, DO NOT have the phone in your pocket unless you have a hard case that prevents the phone from bending. I fixed a few lately. If I get another phone, I will try and get a video up on how to fix it. It seems to be case by case.

 

[valentinasomo]

Folding a small piece of paper and placing it to the left of the flash worked for me but its starting to happen again. It's a hardware issue. Get a new phone

 

[Valentino Grubelic]

Hi guys ...had my S4 for two years and no problem until i recently installed a bunch of games on my SD card..now i went through all the solutions people have posted no success. .so i got to thinking cabout what i have read ..some people say its hardware and some say its software. .well im here to say that both are right...how i fixed mine was to remove the latest install from my SD card to the device drive and bingo no more sim card errors. .conclusion is because sim card reader and SD card reader are combined and in a state of decline wether its a voltage issue or a deteriorating cable issue the draw of the SD card reade under certain applications is making the sim card reader fail.. So just remove currently installed Apps that you have put on your SD card and see if that works or remove SD card altogether. This is not saying that at some point you will not have to get the whole component changed.

 

[nzsatish]

Hi AlainLetzebuerg,

I agree with you. It seems to be Bluetooth issue. I bought Samsung watch recently after i connected that with my phone it started having this reboot issue. Once i have disabled bluetooth i don't seen that issue. More over i observed this issue after updated my phone to lolipop OS.

I hope this will help others. Try disable bluetooth and see if that issue still occurs.

Thanks
Satish

Hi,

I had the same problem and tried everything (inserted a new sim, cleaned the partition cache, read endless posts, etc...)
Now I have installed this free App called "Bluetooth connect & Play"

(I'm not related to this App in any way) and since then, I don't get any reboots

My guess is that there is something wrong with the Bluetooth software in the S4.

Please let me know if that helped you out.

 

[zmozony]

Hello guys,

The NFC (Near Field Communication) chip is right underneath the SIM and its supposed to power it. If it stops powering the SIM at some point its going to give you the insert SIM card message with the option to press to reboot. If you expierence this problem you should send your phone to a licensed BY-SAMSUNG repairment center, so they can change out the NFC chip for a new one. Do note that you should only send your phone in for repair if its still in warranty(if you have this problem).

If your phone has liquid damage it cannot be fixed unless you have insurance on the phone, so they wont make a quotation for it either. Make sure to always read the term of service before sending in your phone for repair on the repairment centers website.

Also I wouldnt recommend buying your phones from far away countries, because they are often not supported for repair due to minor model differences. 9505, 9506, 9515 are ok.

 

[sifodyas]

I have my s4 about 2 years and i've just started getting this "no sim" error. I'm out of warranty so tried a factory reset and the error was still there so hardware issue.

So i tore a corner off and a4 page, folded it once and placed it on top of the sim card and placed both back into the sim slot (the untorn part of the a4 corner first as it makes it easier to insert "giggedy").
I do still get the message every now and again but just adjust the piece of paper or replace.

hope it works for someone else...

Good luck

 

[Ira0000]

I tried everything mentioned here, some things appeared at first to work but didn’t, much the same as the experience of others. That includes the hardware fix of replacing the sim card tray, which I did twice just to be sure the first replacement part wasn’t itself defective.

But now it is fixed. Truly. The solution was to replace the motherboard. Which was surprisingly easy and cheap, Samsung did it for me for $70, total cost, even though my phone was almost two years old and out of warranty and I had no other kind of protection plan.

Here’s their policy. You call them, tell your story. They email you a second day air UPS label, no charge, to use to send your phone to their repair place near Dallas. If they can fix your phone by software revisions, they do so and send it back, no charge. If they conclude they need to change a part (my case), they call you for a credit card number, charge you $70 no matter what the part is, fix it and send it back. In my case they called two days after they got it, fixed it and sent it back to me (again, by second day air) the next day. Only exceptions: if they have to replace the display (not relevant in my case), it’s $100, not $70. And if they discover it’s corroded when they open it because you got the phone wet, they don’t fix it. Not my case.

One warning: I carefully explained that I had already tried replacing the sim card tray twice and it was clearly something else, and also that the problem was intermittent so that tray replacements seemed at first to work, but the problem soon came back. Despite that, they initially replaced the tray and sent it back. And of course, after a few days the problem reappeared. But when I called them, they were quite pleasant, connected me to a second level help person, who wrote up a “special order” directing they the repair people to replace the motherboard, and directing that the phone be handled on an expedited basis. Sent me new label, and it all worked as he said. Of course, no further charge.

Anyway, I’ve been using the phone now about ten days, it works better than ever. Oddly, the battery life (with the original, old battery) even seems to have gotten better. But the main thing, the sim card tray problem is fixed.

 

[ballernut]

My S4 began with occasional SIM card error messages and eventually progressing to a state where this error message never went away. The most obvious symptom (I assume it was related) was that I could not send or receive text messages.

I cut out a small square (about 1 cm x 1 cm) of cardboard beer coaster with a little double back tape to adhere it to the area just over where the SIM ribbon cable ran. The piece of cardboard is probably about as thick as I could use and still get the cover back on the phone.

I turned on the phone, SIM error was gone and I've not seen the error since.

 

[G-2]

I was having the same issue, and I had been looking for a solution to it for a couple of weeks. I tried several solutions posted on some of the forums such as clearing the system cache memory or creating a revised Access Point Name. None of those really worked for me. What it did worked was to perform a Master Reset. Just be advised that you should do a back up of your info to your computer using the Samsung app Kies3. Once you have done that follow the instructions on the following link:
http/www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB419410
I hope this can be helpful to you as well it was for me. Good Luck!

 

[wildayv]

There is confusion here between SD card and the SIM card. The SD card is for storage and the SIM card identifies you on the carrier's network as a valid customer.
I have this same issue with the SIM card. I had TMobile replace the SIM card and the new one has the same problem. A week later and it reboots 6 or 8 times a day. I believe replacing the phone is the only solution. I did not try installing the bluetooth application recommended by another poster, but I really find it hard to believe that would work.

You can try to use another SIM card.

Another sim card wont work. I just put a new 32 gb in and it still does it. Im gonna send it to samsung and let them deal w/it..

I have had this issue, my phone has been replaced and the new one now does it.

 

[Iulia91]

I have the same problem since the update. The problem is not gaming or sim card or whatever, the problem is the update! Someone pls help with fixing this or restoring to the older android version

 

[Willie0]

try using another sim card. it might be the fault of the sim and not the phone