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?

 

[Maztech]

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..

umm you're talking about 2 different things the "32gb" your referring to is an SD card NOT a sim card, you're error is referring to a SIM card sd card is storage memory a sim card is how you get your phone service, go to whoever your phone service provider is and try a different SIM.

 

[s4userr]

Thanks a lot! it actualy worked. I was trying to apply a pressure on simcard, but it didnt work. I was just about to get a soldering, but Your solution with applying pressure on ribbon worked.

You need to unscrew all the screws, locate the sim and SD card module, and find a connection ribbon (above the SD slot). Put a small foam (2mmx5mm) on the connector. screw everything and it is done.

EDIT: For all of You, who wonder what am I talking about: try to google "SIM SD module" or search YouTube for "Galaxy S4 SIM and micro SD card reader replacement"

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

 

[soccerc]

(((The Best solution )))

Just put & stretch out clear scotch tape on where the sim card goes. I noticed tape was on it before. That is all you need to do. & my cell accepted the sim right away. Please let me know if this works for you.

------this worked for me .... Thx
--

 

[knorrigbollen]

Hello GUYS! Got a lot of fixes on my hardware errors here thrue the years, but now times I really don't have any problems, but now my wife got this so.

Glad to see this site is still up! Keep it on guys!

Okey so here is how I did
I did start with rooting it, and flashing the unit. (only be corse I know how) then I read about ppl putting papers behind the simcard, with i don't think is a great idea, it's hot there and the paper will get to dry and fall apart.

So I took a toothpic and cut the tip of it and bent the holder like 0.2mm. It got like all the way in. But don't be in a hurry you will break it.

After I put some paper from a magazine who's in lamented and forced it in between the battery and the sim card.
Cut it pointy so I could secure it to the holder.

And to be sure not gonna have to do that again I put some electrical tape on the plastic backside and made sure my wife understands that a five year old in theory is able to fix it with this guide.

Here is some images.

 

[rowanlca]

I had an actual micro sim that worked in the Samsung S4, occasionally I would get the no sim problem but removing and putting it back in would fix it but most of the time it worked. When i switched to different provider, they sent me a nano sim with adapter.
This is when i started getting daily and very frequent no sim issues!!

I tried the ear plug foam placement, tried post its, tried foil, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, tried stuffing paper in there, tried many, many things. all of which only offered a temporary solution and false hope.

The one thing that HAS worked is figuring out what was wrong with the new sim card i received in comparison to the old one.
I got out the vernier calipers and measured the thickness of micro sim that worked, it was 0.85mm.
The new nano sim adapter was 0.80mm and the actual nano sim itself was 0.70mm thick.

So the 0.15mm difference in thickness is what was causing my contact issues with sim card.

SOLUTION: Buy a proper adapter for sim card such as this. https/www.ebay.com.au/itm/ORIGINAL-NOOSY-Sim-Card-Adapter-Set-4in1Sim-card-Micro-Nano-iPhone-Samsung-etc/332416387604?epid=11007469004&hash=item4d658f8a14:g:jz4AAOSw~l1Z5pfs

 

[matsallan]

Hi, I have struggled with this problem now for about a year. I have tried (i) all the various "quick-fixes" suggested, (ii) changed motherboard twice - used 2nd hand, (iii) new SIM-card reader, but nothing of this has worked. I have also tried loads of different ROMs and finally I have managed to find some working perfectly. Either the ROM must be built on an old Android version or optionally using a very slim ROM up to 6.0.1. Some claim it is a HW problem and some a SW, but from what I can see it is a combination of both. Here are three ROMs you can try out that has eliminated the No SIM Card rebooting problem for me
:
a) WizCyan 5.0 (JasonR.R) built on Lollipop with updated S8 interface. This is a fantastic ROM still regularly updated and my 1st choice. Could have some inferior connection with LTE so I changed it to GSM/WCDMA, stabilizing the mobile network connection massively.

b) SlimRom 6 based on Marshmelllow. As the name states a very slim ROM that works perfectly stable from a SIM perspective. But the last update is a year old now (v2.0) so security patches are not the latest ones.

c) JDCTeam Optimized 6.0.1. Latest update from Aug 2017, and with a lot of nice features added, but sometimes the connection with the SIM card is lost for 30 sec or so - but the "no SIM card" error message requesting a reboot has disappeared.

Would be interesting to hear any feed-back if this also works for some of you.....

//Mats

 

[lucswerner]

Hi, I have struggled with this problem now for about a year. I have tried (i) all the various "quick-fixes" suggested, (ii) changed motherboard twice - used 2nd hand, (iii) new SIM-card reader, but nothing of this has worked. I have also tried loads of different ROMs and finally I have managed to find some working perfectly. Either the ROM must be built on an old Android version or optionally using a very slim ROM up to 6.0.1. Some claim it is a HW problem and some a SW, but from what I can see it is a combination of both. Here are three ROMs you can try out that has eliminated the No SIM Card rebooting problem for me
:
a) WizCyan 5.0 (JasonR.R) built on Lollipop with updated S8 interface. This is a fantastic ROM still regularly updated and my 1st choice. Could have some inferior connection with LTE so I changed it to GSM/WCDMA, stabilizing the mobile network connection massively.

b) SlimRom 6 based on Marshmelllow. As the name states a very slim ROM that works perfectly stable from a SIM perspective. But the last update is a year old now (v2.0) so security patches are not the latest ones.

c) JDCTeam Optimized 6.0.1. Latest update from Aug 2017, and with a lot of nice features added, but sometimes the connection with the SIM card is lost for 30 sec or so - but the "no SIM card" error message requesting a reboot has disappeared.

Would be interesting to hear any feed-back if this also works for some of you.....

//Mats

I never had this problem before, but it's already more than a month that I get this about 5-10 times a day. I have been using JDC Rom's and the problem was never solved. So I think it's more a hardware problem that a software problem.

 

[normandgy]

I had the same issue. I removed the SIM card from the phone and looked t the back of it. It appeared dull (oxidizing). This will occur particularly if you are around any humid areas for an extended period of time.

Simply take an eraser to the back and make it shiny again. This will allow it better contact with the phone. Problem solved.