Blackberry sim card error, WTF?
Monday, August 27, 2007 at 03:34AM I have been the proud owner of a Blackberry Pearl for a few months now. I love the lustrous design, and my fingers have even become accustomed to the teeny tiny qwerty keyboard.
Despite it's user friendly interface and mad organization skills, the Blackberry folks really missed a beat with one minute detail. A singular piece of metal which has made this Pearl user want to chuck it out the window. It is nothing more than the flimsy sim card clip.
You would think a phone that cost a couple hundred dollars would be made with quality materials. So far, my buttons have not faded despite abundant texting, plus the color-vivid screen has minimal wear and tear. The battery life is commendable for a smart phone, and the edge feature is top notch. But why couldn't they invest some time and effort in something as simple as a sim card clip?
At least one to two times a day, I get an error message on my Pearl. In the corner, there is a red "SOS" and a message that I can only make emergency calls as I have a sim card error. Seeing as how my parents and friends are not local 911 dispatchers, this poses a problem. I then have to shut my phone off, or do a hard reset.
I've called Cingular [aka AT&T], searched the forums, and it seems to be that this is a manufacturing weakness of the Pearl. While researching, I discovered that I am not alone, confirming the suspicion that I don't own a lemon of a phone.
A couple of days ago, I put a piece of scotch tape on the sim card holder, securing the card in one place. It has worked so far, and I am hoping this oh-so-high-tech fix sticks--Literally! I'll keep you posted if I find anything else, but feel free to sound off what "fancy" ways you've found to repair your very own cellphone malfunctions. Ahh, "convenient" technology:)
Reader Comments (25)
I am working with a shitty Sprint phone right now that claims to be the first Nextel hybrid. It does well with the walky-talky feature, but it can't handle receiving two text messages at once. If you get to 500 text messages, it blanks out even worse. Just recently, the back cover broke off. Now I have to put my finger on the back when I make calls.
All I want is a simple phone that can handle a lot of text messages. I barely use voice, only to call a few friends, or my mom and dad really.
I play with so many handsets everyday. One thing I've realized is that there is nothing called as a perfect phone.
At times I prefer to use Nokia 6100.. it does all the basic things wonderfully.. good keypad for text messaging, small size, GOOD SIM CARD HOLDER :P
Difficult to find a phone that doesn't fail miserably. They all have their own quirks.
Sometimes we have to give in to technology... and rely on taditional methods like use unconventional methods like scotch tape!!
You better get an iPhone :)
You know, I've had the exact same issue the my Razor.
I've been having the exact same issue with my Razor
Hope your Little MacGyverism holds up. A few months back I got a Samsung BlackJack and so far I love it, hopefully I won't be in for any surprises down the road.
You are correct in this- the SIM card door is wack.
I had to tape mine too. I suggest you go into the store and have them close it properly. Thats what i did and the tape is off, and the phone is back to no errors. I hated it too- especially cause I have a really cool case on it to help keep it safe when dropping!
iPhone all the way!!
I would say upgrade to something like iphone but sometimes technology backfires in mysterious ways. I just want to make a quick suggestion that take out Zero Digg icon from your blog posts for a while untill you get real traffic here. You have a good blog though. ;)
I have had my Pearl for 7 months now and I have had that problem on more than one occasion. It is a big pain. But the biggest pain I have right now is that my back keeps coming off do to a malfunction with the small metal piece that is supposed to hold it in place. Its stuck down in there. I called customer service only to be told that it's not a "known error" and that I would have to pay for a new phone. Made me mad.
I have the exact same problem with my Pearl. I spoke to the AT&T warranty people who told me that it wasn't covered by the warranty because it sounded like hardware damage, but that it could be fixed for the price of a new phone ($300+ without the 2-year contract discount). I've never had a device before with a flaw like this. It's a design defect, spread the word, make Blackberry replace our phones!
I have had at least 3 other Blackberry models over the last five years, and have never had this problem before. However, I have had a Pearl for over one year, and at this point I get a SIM card error msg at least once a day, which is driving me nuts. Thanks for the tip on the tape - I will give it a try.
Seriously... this sim card error problem is bugging the bazookas out of me. Its happening like 5 times a day. I went into the store yesterday and the guy looked at me like I was crazy because my phone didn't do it while I was in there. He gave me a new sim card but I havn't put it in yet. I tried tape but to no success. It kept on having errors.
I have been having this same issue with my year old Blackberry pearl phone. I have gone three times to T-Mobile now to get it fixed. They tried putting tape on the sim card door, but it didn't work. She said it could be the battery. I bought a brand new battery for total of $65. The lady put tape on the sim card door .. it worked for a little while. And, of course, Murphy's Law, when I got back home, I started getting the sim card error message again. I am ready to give the phone to my dogs to play with .. that is how much good it is to me with not working 95% of the time now. I have to constantly take the battery out, push down on the sim card door, get the battery in as tightly as I can get it, and put the door of the phone back on. Then boot it again, which takes forever, it seems. Most of the time, it still has the error message, and when I try to call, it says "emergency calls only" .. I am requesting a new phone tomorrow, but doubt they will give me one .. there will be something else they need to try or just more excuses. For the amount of money we pay each month, to have a cellphone like a Blackberry Pearl that doesn't work, is ridiculous. I can't believe how many other users of the Blackberry Pearls are having the exact same problems!!!
What a massive pain, this happens to me every night. I miss a lot of important calls and texts from clients because of this!
Thanks a lot for this tip. It resolved this problem for me as well!
We have been experiencing this problem alot with the BlackBerry 8700c in our company. After involvement from many at&t support teams and blackberry they seem to think the problem is with certain model sim cards. If the 8th digit on your sim card is a 3 you most probably will be getting this error. This only applies to the newer at&t with new logo sim cards not the older cingular ones.
Same problem with my Pearl - SOS, Sim Card error - at least daily.
I work in the QA lab at at&t, and have had the same issue with my pearl. I went to one of the engineers after reading through the posts here, to find out why one would have to tape the metal bracket shut to keep the dreaded sos off our phones. He told me that the problem isn't because of the metal clip, it actually has to do with the sim card manufacturer. There are multiple companies that manufacture sim cards that are used in AT&T phones... some of these cards are thicker than others, the thin ones, are the ones that seem to be giving us this trouble. The engineer that I spoke with told me that what seems to work the majority of the time is placing two strips of scotch tape along teh top of the sim card then locking it down with the bracket, simulating a thicker sim card. I've done this, and hopefully it will solve the issue.
as for the other user with the cheap clip, I also have a complaint with that clip, as it seems to be of extremely poor quality, but alas, it broke on mine, after i dropped the phone 3 or 4 times... so it's definately due to user error on my part as to why mine is broken.
I too experience the SOS/Sim card error on my Blackberry pearl. I always thought it was something I did, since I can be pretty clumsy with my phone, and we all have to admit that the pearl is darn slippery.. haha. But it appears to only happen after I bump it/drop it.
Just so you all know you don't have to take out the battery and the sim card to make it go away though. Just simply turn the power off and then back on. Works every time for me. I am going to try the tape thing and see if that works.
Same problem with the Pearl - unreal how it just seems to go into SOS at the worst possible times. I have called ATT and they suggested using an eraser to clean my sim card. That didn't really do much. Instead I cut a sim card sized corner off of a thick business card and put that behind the sim card. That seemed to reduce the frequency of this problem but not eliminate it.
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