Database Develop

at&t tilt: stops detecting sim card when slide IN. works when slide out

i have had no problems before, i flashed a couple roms in it before, but in the end, i kept very lightly modded rom very close to OEM rom for the tilt that i got from here. all was well for months and months.. until now.
i noticed that the phone will lose signal. and not detect a sim card anymore. at first i thought it was sim. so i tried it on my other tilt (i have 2) and i determined that its the phone.
if i restart it, it works for about 1 min or less if im lucky.. then i have to to go comm. manager, turn off phone signal, and turn it back on, usually, that does the trick. but now, that wont even work anymore.
the only way to get the sim recognized again is if i slide the phone out, go to comm. manager, turn off phone and turn back on, and LEAVE the phone slided out. once i slide the phone back in, it will not detect the sim. ive tried diff. spl, different roms, and searched before i came back here.
ive had it for over a year, have broken the screen and messed up keyboard by closing hood of my car on it,
but ive fixed it. and that was long ago. maybe this new problem is because of this. if someone had similar problems, let me know what you did. or if anyone can point me into the next direction. i guess ill have to crack it open again.

I had a similiar issue where my phone would turn on ok, then lose signal and then get the no sim card error (dialer screen). What I ended up doing was taking a piece of tape and put it on the back of the sim card then slid it into the holder and locked it. (It was a thick metal tape, if you use scotch tape I recommend using a few pieces). Once I did that I havent had another problem with it. Its a pain to get the sim out of the phone because it ruins the tape but I would rather deal with that than not have my phone work correctly.
Let me know if that works for ya.
Jim

i see. so it seems that your problem was that the sim shifted out of place sometimes... i will try that. hope it works. its so odd that my sim card dissapears when i close my tilt

I just recently had a similar problem and I finally figured out it was a bad contact with the SIM card. you can either use the tape trick, or if you have a steady hand, take a thin object (such as a paper clip or glasses screwdriver) and very gently lift the contacts up underneath of where the sim card goes. they may have been pushed down due to abnormal pressure exerted on the back of your phone, I think that's what happened to mine.

thanks for your help. the sim contact issue was the first thing i suspected, AND tried. i used a needle. i raised the level of each of the 8 contacts making sure the sim will make contact with each pin. but the problem remains.
i will try this again. to double check. i will respond with the results

i tried pushing the pins up a little bit again, i still have the same problem
*but now i have an update, it seems that the sim card stops being detected right before i actually fully slide the phone back in. for examplle, before the slide-in tone is played, and before the screen tilts back.
i already took it apart for a look inside, everything seems fine. and i dnt really know wht to look for.

Hi,
was reading about ur issue, just tought on jumping into the wagon, I suspect it might be the flex cable that connects the sim to the motherboard, if there is such cable, i haven't opened my kaiser yet but my Pioneer car radio has this flex cable issue when the drive is closed the screen turns on and the whole radio but as soon as you press eject (the face will scroll and unveil the cd slot) the radio actually turns off and i have to move the face back to its original position in order to work. At the end I took the flex cable out and 1/4 of it was teared, in the end I had to order a new part

thanks so much for your help. i guess there is nothing left to do but to take it all apart. somewhat blindly. at least i know what to look for. bad cables, contacts... im clueless as to whether it can be a bad grounding issue? or a short. i dnt know. i guess i may be the first one to experience a problem like this on a tilt.
so i will do my best to get this problem resolved. and maybe include some pictures if it is intereting enough

my tilt totally stopped recognizing the sim.. it first happened when i dropped it and had to keep it open to keep contact.. then i was sitting with it open and tilted up, it fell and closed somehow and now the sim isnt there at all... i guess something is disconnected or whatever, im afraid to take it apart, but its either that or a paper weight.

New Sim
I had a similar problem. My sim card would disappear on occasion then one day I woke up and no phone. Just an annoying sim card not installed message. Checked the phone by putting in a known working sim card and it was fine. Called ATT for a new sim card and now my phone is working. Try a new SIM CARD.

For the original poster -- that fact that it works when the keyboard is in one position but not the other indicates that it is likely a bad flex cable.

Agreed
Its most likely the cable. I used a new SIM, the extra pressure trick, cleaned contact, etc on mine yesterday, but the problem remained.
I got a used Tilt from Craigsliist , reusing the SIM and case, and it works great.

i wonder if anyone has bought this item before and if it works? upon research, i think our problem comes from the sim card flex and ribbon:
http://cgi.ebay.com/HTC-TyTN-II-P45...AU_MobilePhoneAccessories?hash=item2a05bd88c4

It definitely comes form that ...but the repair cost is more than the replacement cost..so why bother with repairing it?

Hey, I'm having the same problem, my phone just out of the blue after a year of use says no sim card. My card is fine in other phones, and no cards work in my phone. I tried the pressure thing and cleaning the pins, but no good. My next option will be a hard reset/ wipe the phone and see if that clears the problem. I'm not optimistic after reading the thread. Did any one have luck with one of those Kaiser Flex Sim Card Slot Repair Parts that loller90278 mentioned? If so, I would rather spend $16 to fix a phone that has worked well up till now, rather than spend $100 on an unknown used phone. Still I don't want to bother if it's not going to work.
Thanks

well well...i'm going to have to join this "club" of affected kaiser users
my kaiser just started misbehaving last night. i bought it brand new exactly 1 year and 11 months ago
i took good care of it, barely ever tilted the screen during my almost 2 years of use. the current behavior is that when the keyboard is closed, the sim is hardly ever detected (1 out of 10 times perhaps). when the keyboard is opened, the sim is fairly regularly detected (9 out of 10 times perhaps).
i am not going to bother with investigating the possibility of a software problem because of my observations. given all the threads i've read about this issue, i am convinced my sim flex cable is either loose and/or broken.
anyway, it seems the kaiser's flex cable is just not built to last much longer than 2 years. if i can have it repaired for up to around $50, i'll go for it...if not, HD2 here i come!

ASCIIker said:
well well...i'm going to have to join this "club" of affected kaiser users
my kaiser just started misbehaving last night. i bought it brand new exactly 1 year and 11 months ago
i took good care of it, barely ever tilted the screen during my almost 2 years of use. the current behavior is that when the keyboard is closed, the sim is hardly ever detected (1 out of 10 times perhaps). when the keyboard is opened, the sim is fairly regularly detected (9 out of 10 times perhaps).
i am not going to bother with investigating the possibility of a software problem because of my observations. given all the threads i've read about this issue, i am convinced my sim flex cable is either loose and/or broken.
anyway, it seems the kaiser's flex cable is just not built to last much longer than 2 years. if i can have it repaired for up to around $50, i'll go for it...if not, HD2 here i come!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just wanted to follow up on my own post above.
i just got my kaiser back. its been repaired
the dude cannibalized the main flex cable and sim assembly from a tilt and transplanted it into my tytn2. BUT! there has been an interesting side effect...because the tilt does not have a front cam, my guess is that its flex cable is unable to carry the signal of the front cam in the tytn2. so now my front cam is no longer detected. the camera app shows no icon to switch to another camera. the icon is blank!
i figured i could either have a kaiser with sim problems or a working kaiser with no front cam. i chose to keep the flex cable from the tilt because there is no 3G in my region and i hardly ever used the front camera otherwise.
long story short, my kaiser is back in business!

Similar problem !!!
Hello mate, .,. the problem in you case is the connecting ribbon between the keyboard that holds the sim card beneath it and the screen. I recommend u to replace the ribbon that connects. Its around 40 USD and that should do the trick.
Cheers !!!!!

Screen Problems - Possible ribbon cable loose?

Ok guys, need some help here....
Got a HTC TyTN II.... Worked great for like 8-10 months, then started having issues with the screen.
Sometimes when brining it out of sleep, the colors are all jagged, and the screen is out of sync and staticky (kind of when you have a VGA monitor and you half pull the cable out of the connector)...
So I'm assuming its a problem with the ribbon cable coming loose (if thats how its connected).
Another thing too, the memory card slot doesn't work anymore. This just re-inserts the fact the ribbon cable or whatever for the front of the device is loose.
Does ANYONE know how to fix this? Unfortunately I tried to rip the phone appart myself and voided the warranty...
Anyone else have these problems?
Sometimes the screen works, sometimes I have to put it back to sleep, wait 5 minutes, and wiggle the front. hit the power button and it works. This has happened across 3 firmware updates so it's hardware for sure....

It does sound like a piece of hardware is loose. The fact that your mem card is not working further suggests this. I took apart my Tilt yesterday to replace the screen which no longer responded to touch, although it still worked with hardkeys. As part of the process I noticed the mem card slot was integral to the screen components. In other words, the screen and attached component, including the mem card slot is loose. For video as to how to pull apart your phone, go here. I have never done this before and this video worked beautifully. Also, search the forums for the HTC Service Manual and go through this page by page, step by step matching it against this video (if yo have dual screens even better) and you will come out fine. I did!
http://www.fonlogix.us/Video-Instructions_ep_34.html
You can buy replacement screens and the tools from the same website. Otherwise try eBay, which is what I did. Definitely get yourself a strong pry tool. The one I bought from eBay disintegrated in the first couple of minutes. Luckily there was just enough of tip of the pry tool for me to use brute force to pry open the case without damaging the phone.

thnx bud, ill be posting my results.

Kaiser not reading sim card?

It all started slowly... it would drop my phone signal (and say no sim card) when i would slide it out, and now it doesnt read sim card at all (regardless of if I reboot and its closed or slid out). Anyone know what part might have went bad specifically? (the sim reader or a cable?)

what have you done to fix the problem? This is a very old and covered topic.

it happened to me too, i resolved the situation by inserting a piece of paper on the top of simcard, to make pressure because with time kaiser loses pressure needed to read the card...

Exact same problem i got right now. Signal got weaker and weaker, then it use to just be the signal gets lost when i slid out keyboard, so i was stuck with onscreen keyboard for a while. And now, just yesterday, my tilt wont read the sim at all. I get the "Missing Sim" message. I rebooted, hard reset, tried the spacer of top of the sim card, lifted contacts in sim holder... no help.
I think ive only dropped the phone once semi-hard in the 1 and a half years ive owned it, and that was a while back.
Not sure if i should replace some parts (sim card holder, ribbon cables, etc. not sure what the problem is yet) or just use the money to get a tilt2. haha.
Good luck with yours. I suspect its the sim card holder on mine.
heres a disassemble guide if youd like to check out your phone yourself:
http://mikechannon.net/PDF Manuals/Replacing the LCD on a Kaiser.pdf

Memory and Sim Card undetected NEED HELP !!!

Hi I had 6 months ago a second hand HTC tytn 2, has been working very well till last week. I been watching the movie on my phone which was stored on memory card (4GB SanDisk Micro SDhc). Then I deciced to put some more tunes on my phone... so I went downstairs first to get drink after I pluged phone to PC and I found out that somehow my HTC can't detect the card... So after 2h of taking card out and in I decided to reset the phone to producent setings. However that didn't helped i tried to download some kinds of ''sdhc fix drivers'' but its also didnt work. Today I woke up in the morning and I recognised that on my phone that sim card is missing... but is in the phone so I tried to clean up the place where sim card is ... I took card out and in few time as well but still nothing .... I reseted device to originals setings again but its failed as well... I was operating WM 6 and today i changed to WM 6.1 and I upgraded the radio to new ones because I was thinking that it may be the case.
Any advice because im quite noob.
Thanks

there are a few threads about similar issues...you can search for these threads to learn more information about your issue.
i can guide you about the possible cause. if you notice, BOTH of the items that are failing (SIM and memory card) are located in the top half of your device...the half that carries the screen and slides over to uncover the bottom half that has the keyboard.
this leads to a design that involves mechanical moving parts...and so there are "ribbon cables" that connect the various parts in the top half (SIM cradle, memory card cradle, front buttons, screen, touch pad, ear piece, notification LEDs) to the motherboard in the bottom half.
...and mechanical and moving parts often cause wear and tear and, eventually, these delicate ribbon cables can come loose or even break. my bet is that the cables for the SIM cradle and memory card cradle have become faulty. try to see if your device has better luck in detecting the SIM and/or memory card with the keyboard slide out.
also remember to search for other threads about such similar issues.

ASCIIker said:
there are a few threads about similar issues...you can search for these threads to learn more information about your issue.
i can guide you about the possible cause. if you notice, BOTH of the items that are failing (SIM and memory card) are located in the top half of your device...the half that carries the screen and slides over to uncover the bottom half that has the keyboard.
this leads to a design that involves mechanical moving parts...and so there are "ribbon cables" that connect the various parts in the top half (SIM cradle, memory card cradle, front buttons, screen, touch pad, ear piece, notification LEDs) to the motherboard in the bottom half.
...and mechanical and moving parts often cause wear and tear and, eventually, these delicate ribbon cables can come loose or even break. my bet is that the cables for the SIM cradle and memory card cradle have become faulty. try to see if your device has better luck in detecting the SIM and/or memory card with the keyboard slide out.
also remember to search for other threads about such similar issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too have similar problem with my TyTN II. First it started with the SD card detection problem followed by intermittent SIM card detection and recently the failing of the touch screen. My unit is coming to 2 years this March. The hardware is still in a very good condition as it is always protected with the phone pouch supplied.
Can the "ribbon cables" be replaced? My HTC agent in Singapore quoted me S$700 to replaced the mother board. They are telling me indirectly to buy a new phone instead. Their advise is very sad.

You can buy a new main flex cable on ebay for about £25-£30 GBP, possibly cheaper, it's a full disassembly job to fit it, you will need to be confident in your ability to completely dismantle the device and put it back together again.

[Q] No Signal at all after replace the housing

After the replacing of my X1's housing with the new one in the SE Service center I went home gladly with my new X1 housing. I noticed there's an error in signal in my X1 when I was checking my phone at the SE center.. But I thought it was maybe due to poor reception thus I neglected it. (the officer in the SESC say so)
Now I know that there's some new problem arise.. Any idea what might cause this error? the phone can read the Sim card but there is no signal (no connection, no call or no data can be made). i try to check the antenna module, but it seem to be OK (i did not see any problem on it).
the next day i came to the SE center, they said it might be something wrong with the software (since i am used using cooked rom) how come it can make any different while i'm using it before i replace the housing. and they have to take it into the HQ. and guess what, it may take another 6-7 week... WTF
is there anyone having the same problem with me?

Well if you have the tools, you can try openingu p the bottom cover, that little rubber thing where it has the mini sony ericsson logo. Open that rubber up, and you should see a mini screw in the middle, open that up take it out, maybe just give it a quick clean, fit it back properly, and make sure everything is tight and see how that works out.
I've seen/heard a few people having such issue when taking the housing off, and not placing that radio/reception thingy back properly, therefore causing issues with reception.

briian_ said:
Well if you have the tools, you can try openingu p the bottom cover, that little rubber thing where it has the mini sony ericsson logo. Open that rubber up, and you should see a mini screw in the middle, open that up take it out, maybe just give it a quick clean, fit it back properly, and make sure everything is tight and see how that works out.
I've seen/heard a few people having such issue when taking the housing off, and not placing that radio/reception thingy back properly, therefore causing issues with reception.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did it twice, just to make it sure that everything was on their place, also try to flash the ROM, The Radio but still remain the same....
any other suggestion or idea what should I do?

Same problem!
I had disassembled my phone by myself twice; the first time it worked perfectly, the second, unfortunately, it didn't!
I bought a new antenna module for U.S. $10, installed it myself (warranty ended three months ago), walked out of the service centre and voila; I had reception and managed to make a few calls. However, on the way back home, all calls placed while driving dropped every 5km, which means the hand-over between cell towers was failing. The moment I walked home it was dead; no reception whatsoever indoors.
Now the way I see it, this could be due to one of the following two reasons: either the RF power amp failed, which means that most probably the phone needs a new main board (too expensive, not worth it) or something went wrong during the assembly, like the smearing of a sensitive part by skin oil (thus causing a short circuit) or failure to position a connector or multiple ones to connect properly to their respective terminals/connection points.
Upon further investigation, I noticed that my phone wasn't properly grounded; whenever I connected it to a computer to sync using ActivSync or in disk drive mode, I got a small electrical shock (painful though) whenever I touched the phone. This, however, doesn't occur at all when I connect the phone to the wall charger. I disabled USB charging since day 1 of owning my X1i
I believe that the battery cover acts as a ground for the phone electronics; it touches four golden connectors which in turn touch the mini USB port, the GPS/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth antenna, a point on the main board half an inch away from where the loudspeaker is, and the metallic cover placed over the phone RF chips. Failure to ground the phone properly can result in either damaging any of these chips, building up a static charge that affects the antenna performance, or an open-circuit condition for one of the many systems on board.
Since my phone is fully working as a PPC now (PPC functions, Panels, Keyboard, Camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc...) and since I get reception outdoors, and since I have a brand new antenna module, I am guessing that either the RF amplifier is dead, or the housing is ****ed up beyond repair (i.e. it can't be aligned perfectly to get perfect contact on all said points) that it's either shorting a connection, or opening one that is vital for the cellular radio to function properly.
So what to do? Well I forced my phone to do two things:
1. Settings > Phone > Band
- Network type: I chose GSM instead of Auto, as we don't have consumer CDMA in Egypt
- GSM/UMTS Band: I chose the correct band for my provider instead of Auto.
2. Settings > Connections > Advanced Network > Disabled HSDAP
What happened? It worked indoors for a minute, and then stopped working again! Frustrating! So what did I do? I ordered a completely new housing off CNN and will attempt to rebuild the damned thing.
I will update you if I find out anything or reach any results with this phone that I love so much and hate more than anything I have ever hated in my life...

More info!
- During the drive mentioned above, the phone was switching between H, E and G, which means that all three RF chips are, or all components of the whole RF chip if it's one responsible, are working. At one point I got 4 bars of H and call quality was perfect between hand-over failures.
- Before disassembling my phone for the second time, people were complaining about high-pitched static; it can blamed over the mic, the RF (antenna or chip) or humidity levels (which are currently as high as 85%) affecting cellular communication channels.
- Flashing the firmware (R3A Generic UK) and hard-reseting didn't solve the problem.

More Info!
- The battery cover isn't the phone's ground; it's grounded by being connected to four ground points: the mini USB port metallic frame, the GPS/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth antenna ground, a ground point on the main board and the metallic cover over the sensitive RF chips.
- This is definitely an assembly problem. The reception is great outdoors switching between all bands and speeds. On my drive to work today it worked getting G, E, 3G and H all in 4 bars. The signal, however, is completely unstable, jumping from one speed to another. I am more inclinded now to believe that a new housing will fix this problem. Your housing was probably handled poorly at the service centre, which in turn caused this problem.
My advice is to shake them a little bit and see what they will do.

A New Housing didn't fix it!
I purchased a new housing from CNN. It came in good condition. The phone looks brand new now but still no signal. I am sending it in for service. I guess I blew up my Power Amplifiers...
Good luck mate!

melaskalany said:
I purchased a new housing from CNN. It came in good condition. The phone looks brand new now but still no signal. I am sending it in for service. I guess I blew up my Power Amplifiers...
Good luck mate!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem haa...
I still waiting for a good news from the service center... I have been waiting for a month..
I wish You a good luck too...

I'm having the same problem. I opened up my phone a few days ago to clean the keyboard. The bottom row wasn't working correctly. Unfortunately after I closed it up again, it wouldn't get any reception (and the keyboard's bottom row was still not working correctly).
So I figured it was the antenna and tried to reposition it. I even removed the rubber layer as described here: http://blog.whitesites.com/How-to-Increase-Reception-on-Sony-Xperia-X1__633958291637656250_blog.htm
Outside I get ok reception, but it's far from stable, inside I get none. And even if I get reception inside, once I pick up the phone, signal drops. So I thought about grounding as well, problem is I even tried rubber gloves and that doesn't solve the problem. I'm afraid replacing the antenna's won't help here and my xperia is dead. Anyone has any other ideas?

Been there too!
I tried the same solution the blog explained. However, I ended up not getting any signal at all. It's only after I purchased a new cellular antenna+buzzer module that the phone started getting an unstable signal outdoors.
Did you notice any small pieces falling off the main board or the housing? It's either a hardware failure or a simple short/open circuit situation that can be fixed in a blink of an eye!

Question
Is there any possible way, hardware or software, to test whether all chips on the main board function properly? I tried the diagnosis tool available here but it doesn't check the chips one by one.

Service Centre
I took my phone to the service centre 6 hours ago. With the new housing on, and new screws that I scored from a secret source of mine, they deemed the phone untouched and serviceable; i.e. it passed for a phone that hasn't been tampered with!
They told me to call back in four days. I will keep you guys updated. Cheers!

I wonder if that'll fix it So to summarize you have:
- new housing
- new screws
- new vibramotor
- new antenna
And those things twice and that fixed it maybe?
I guess it's time for a new phone for me

Vibramotor?
Who said anything about changing the vibration motor? I installed a new antenna + buzzer module; i.e. a new cellular antenna and a new loud speaker (external speaker). The loud speaker is housed within the antenna module. My bad, maybe that part was vague because I never explained it enough.
And yes, it has a brand new housing too. I only installed the lower part though, as the upper part is just fine. Maybe they will fix it man; maybe they won’t I really don't know. I do hope they will fix it though.
I am currently using a backup cheap Nokia and ordered the Sony Ericsson Aspen. If they ever fix my X1 then I can change seamlessly between both phones. If not, then I will just use my X1 as a media/GPS device in my car and an Internet device over Wi-Fi.

Lucky you..... if they can fix yours in a few day... since mine has been in the service centre more than a month, without any news...
they said to me that it will take about 6 week...

What a joke!
The phone remained at the service centre for a week. They called me yesterday, and told me that the phone was fixed and that the total cost was EGP 100 (~U.S. $18). I went over and as soon as I held the phone in my hand to test it, it lost the cellular signal. When placed on the counter, the phone had a constant E signal.
I asked to speak to the manager, who told me that they just reflashed the phone with the latest firmware (Generic UK R3A, which I already had installed). Oh, and before that, he said he was sorry but the phone had a hardware problem and that they don't fix hardware; they only flash firmwares and if that doesn't fix the phone, then the user is pretty much on his own! I refused to receive the phone, so he gave me a refund for my money and promised to have its hardware checked and get back to me in 24 hours!
What a joke, what an f'ing joke! I already regret ordering the Aspen that is due to arrive next week with a friend of mine returning from Paris...

melaskalany said:
The phone remained at the service centre for a week. They called me yesterday, and told me that the phone was fixed and that the total cost was EGP 100 (~U.S. $18). I went over and as soon as I held the phone in my hand to test it, it lost the cellular signal. When placed on the counter, the phone had a constant E signal.
I asked to speak to the manager, who told me that they just reflashed the phone with the latest firmware (Generic UK R3A, which I already had installed). Oh, and before that, he said he was sorry but the phone had a hardware problem and that they don't fix hardware; they only flash firmwares and if that doesn't fix the phone, then the user is pretty much on his own! I refused to receive the phone, so he gave me a refund for my money and promised to have its hardware checked and get back to me in 24 hours!
What a joke, what an f'ing joke! I already regret ordering the Aspen that is due to arrive next week with a friend of mine returning from Paris...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG...
I do hope that you will get the good news next...

Bad News!
Deep breath... Ok!
Here is the deal: the service centre officially announced that the fault lies within the Mainboard; i.e. my guess that the Radio Frequency (RF) Power Amplifier Chip is toast was correct. They want to charge 90% of the phone's original retail price (which was EGP 4000 = U.S. $700) for a new Mainboard. I replied that that was impossible. They will contact SE's HQ and get back to me on Saturday to see if they can offer any other alternatives.
I guess that is the end of my ride with the X1. I will sorely miss it; it was a great phone while it lasted. Let's hope that the Aspen won't die on me in a year as well...