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?

 

[Angela_17]

My Samsung s4 had the same problem. It kept saying Sim card not detected and it would restart. I tried everything that everyone here posted. I searched YouTube and tried the foam ear plug solution and it works great I don't have that problem anymore.
Instructions: remove the back cover from your s4 ,cut a piece of the bottom end of a foam ear plug, tape it on the two holes near the top of the SD piece add the back cover make sure it bulges out a little as you put the back cover back on. It works like a charm. Hope this helps.

 

[4PrincessLexi]

It is called planned / designed obsolescence.

 

[khawley]

I had problem daily. Now been a week since I tried fix from someone had identified and have had no issues. Note my phone was in list of bad phones. The fix was...

Put paper at spot just to the left and below the camara flash.

 

[B-____]

I tried all the above.
putting some foam over the top of the sd card slot worked the best. fixed it from not being able to get the sim recognised to small amount of dropouts/day.
it was getting worse and worse again i tried hard plastic ontop of the connector more foam etc and still got worse.
pulled it apart again and noticed if i pulled the ribbon slightly once disconnected that the whole sim card slot moved and that the locking tab holding it wasn't pressed down properly at the very top left of the metal sd card slot next to the ribbon.
it looks like it pushes down onto the solder of the sd card slot so unsure if it earths it or what?.
have put it back together and working fine for the moment but who knows.
stuffs up 10 times at once then lasts half a day by just rebooting.

sort of makes sense to me as the phone gets hot a lot of the time when i get the error (poor earthing leads to resistance causing heat)
pushing it with foam or the sorts pushes it back into the earth.
99% of the time mine happens when in pocket jiggling about ( loose and loses connection)

hope it does cause it

EDIT:

didnt fix it

 

[Hp6735b]

Replace your sd /simcard reader....Look on YouTube how to replace it. Parts are $6 on amazon or ebay. Anything else you will be waisting your time.

 

[B-____]

hasnt fixed it for multiple people. so wasting time more.

ok so since nothing else was working i went ahead and removed the hard plastic. i then cut 2 pieces of double sided foam tape just the size of the connector and stuck it onto the connector itself then put phone back together again and have not had 1 error in 2 days

try double taping it.
my foam tape was 3mm thick so there's 6mm thick foam there that's then squashed down and working a treat. gone from 2-8 times a day to none

day 3 multiple errors again

 

[Rob_26]

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?

I have researched this issue for days. I have tried the following fixes:

-clear cache from recovery
-tried 3 different Sims
-factory reset

None of the above worked.

What did WORK was the following:

-I folded a small piece of paper multiple times And placed it to the left of the flash on the back of the phone then put the cover on. This creates pressure on that spot.

I have not had the issue for 2 days now, compared to 5 times daily.

This is definitely a hardware issue

Adding pressure is the fix. Just did it on mine that's been causing me grief for days. Works like a charm. I suggest a foam earplug, a piece of rubber, or anything that will compress. Just enough so that you can get your back cover on.

 

[Noriel_1]

Mine too. And i found out new sim card that already have a cut for nano and micro wont read by galaxy s4. So i tried my old sim card and i cut to micro sim and perfectly working. Hope it helps. I

 

[malojie]

hi my phone was doing the same I changed the sim holder with few versions 0.5 1.2 and 1.5 and none made any difference I did one more change with a different version and my phone has been running now for a week with NO errors and my job involves climbing and jumping about with phone in my trouser pocked with no issues now

 

[napple]

hi my phone was doing the same I changed the sim holder with few versions 0.5 1.2 and 1.5 and none made any difference I did one more change with a different version and my phone has been running now for a week with NO errors and my job involves climbing and jumping about with phone in my trouser pocked with no issues now

Can you give me a clue which you used?
My sons S4 has been out of action now for months we tried everything eg factory reset, changing the sim card tray, altering settings, putting pressure on the area, folded up peices of paper. Hell my husband even took it apart to check the connections!
Nothing has worked and its out of warranty, I have a matching S4 bought at the same time and mines fine ive even put my battery and sim in his but no joy.
It does not have the reboot error it simply says "EMERGENCY CALLS ONLY - NO SIMM FOUND"

 

[Fixer bot]

I have the same issue.

I noticed that it was happening often when going to and from places (friend, office, grocery...).
I first thought it was hardware related, and movement was making a little piece moves.
But, while I was waiting in line outside for a show, it kept happening every 5 minutes and I was not moving.

So, what does going out and waiting outside have in common?
Changes in available WiFi network. (leaving my place=leaving my wifi, waiting in line=finding and losing just out-of-reach wifi access)

I DISABLE WIFI AND LOCATION (which use Wifi network for position) and didn't get any error message since.

It doesn't rule out a hardware problem, but it seems linked to using Wifi. This is not a fix, but a workaround.

What do you think?

This was the answer for me it got my phone working again...I just turned off the wifi...thanks!!!!!!!!!

 

[qzaitz]

Iv tried everything that has been mentioned. Even had Samsung, and service providers tell me that it was a motherboard issue.

I troubleshooted for a while but found a solution that WORKS!

Clean your sim card with a pencils eraser. Do a good job, and wipe off debris.

 

[Cho___]

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..

Talking about the Sim card....not the SD card....
BUT, we tried new Sim cards and it doesn't fix it.

 

[Brian_113]

I've tried every suggestion and nothing works. The phone is a piece of junk.

 

[mcpepper111]

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.

Hi,

I installed the bluetooth connect and play and it worked! Then for some reason I decided to turn off the app and see what happens. Just my OCD I guess, after about 3 hours I got the dreaded sim card error again. Yep, that bluetooth idea does work! Thank you!!

 

[Adam_118]

Hi! I've been having the exact same problems with my LG G3 for about 3 weeks; overheating and restarting with SIM card error, it got worse and worse till it was almost in a loop. tried all kinds of things, factory reset, upgrade, downgrade, tape, cardboard behind sim, ne SIM...
After all of that I uninstalled updates for "Android System Webview", I had one restart so I went to setting/apps/ Android system webview and disabled it totally and restarted phone. Have been using phone heavily for past 3 days and not a single reboot.
Hope it helps someone

 

[adobih]

I had and still have the same problem. I bought on eBay a new OEM SIM/SD part that is usually sold as "Samsung Galaxy S4 i9500 i9505 Sim Card Micro SD Memory Reader Tray Slot Flex". I changed it properly and it worked for a couple of days without any problems. And I thought that's it since the error prior the fix occurred multiple times every day, but than it happened once and then again after two days, and now I'm where I was before the fix, it happens multiple times every day. it doesn't just happen when the phone is moving, sometimes the phone lies the whole day on the table and it still happens.
I just wanted to say that buying and changing the part in question won't solve the problem, at least not in my case. I didn't try to put foam or paper but I'll do it now. I don't have any warranty, and my phone has the problematic IMEI listed before so this is my last chance before I'm gonna go and by a new phone.

 

[tekewena]

Re bluetooth I've just gone into settings and turned bluetooth off (didnt realize it was on). I had the 'no sim detected, restart' message first time last week then again this week. I was doing a finger swipe of the screen when the message appeared (though whether related or not). Will wait couple weeks see if it is bluetooth related before try new sim.

 

[expaladin]

This issue started for me a few days ago. It was odd, because while I was receiving the error message, my phone continued to function -- could send and receive calls and SMS messages.

I tried uninstalling some app updates -- in particular, discussion forums make multiple references to updates to Google Play Store causing this type of error -- so I reset that to factory settings, and the error went away...for awhile, but then returned.

I used to find it interesting to learn how to troubleshoot and fix these types of tech issues on phones, pcs, laptops, etc -- but I've been using them for long enough that I've settled on one overriding mantra -- "Technology's great when it works." So, today I called my carriers tech support line, and this is what they had me do:

1. Go to "Settings -> More -> System Update
2. Update Profile. Let it run and click OK when asked.
3. Update Firmware. Let it run and click OK when asked.
4. Update Software. Let it run and click OK when asked.
5. Reboot phone. (I did a hard reboot -- shut it all the way off, and then turned it back on.)

Phone restarted, and no more error message. That was about 45 mins ago, so we'll see -- but so far, so good. Tech said that sometimes those system updates just don't happen on their own. Yay technology.

Anyway, before you go crazy with all of these other suggestions, try that -- because it's quick, free and easy. Good luck.

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?

 

[onejude]

I have been having this problem for months. I put a sliver of paper in the SIM holder and that seemed to work for a while, then the problem started again. Finally, after months of annoyance, I booted into Safe Mode for several days and had no problem. I went back and forth from regular to Safe Mode, and it does not happen in Safe Mode.

My question is, how do I diagnose what app or piece of the system is causing the problem (assuming it is an app)? It's random enough that uninstalling apps will not be definitive. Are there diagnostic tools that are relevant? It seems there must be - developers must debug their apps, after all, if they cause a problem.

My phone was purchased used; it's not under warranty. Thanks for any help.