680 not allowing ANY sim card

[bluenadas]

I have a 680 that's maybe a little over a year old. Just yesterday my SIM would not read in the phone (Says SIM not allowed). So I switched back to my Cingular SIM to see what the deal was and it too says SIM not allowed.

I have the unlock code from Cingular to use other SIMs and putting it in says that it's unlocked but no SIM I've tried seems to work.

I've tried soft resets, hard resets both with and without the SIM inserted.

The issue began without warning (no new software installed, etc)

Typical of the lovely relationship Palm creates with the phone companies, Cingular says call Palm and Palm says call Cingular. And when the question goes unanswered I eventually get "buy a new phone" or "send us $200 and we'll fix it for you."

Anyone have this issue or know of a fix?

[forgot]

Wow, thats a new one on me.....

Are you using the newest ROM? If a hard reset won't allow it to work with either SIM, I'd try installing (or reinstalling) the newest ROM. This is a big step, and not to be taken lightly. Remember, since your phone was originaly Cingular branded, thats the ROM you need to use. If that doesn't work then...well..I have no idea. The only other thing I could think of is the SIM connection is screwed.

Anyone else?

[skoenig]

Hmm, couple of things you can try...

- Try your SIMS in another phone.
- I don't have a Centro but check the SIM contacts for anything suspicious

Failing that and the hard resets you've already done... I'd say your phone needs some technical help at a service center.

Sorry, I've nothing magical to add.

I assume they're all modern 3V sims and since you haven't flashed a new firmware or installed new software to bring this on as you've stated it's probably buggered.

As forgot says, you can always try reapplying the latest firmware, what have you got to loose?

~ Steph

[bluenadas]

I've checked the SIM contacts and they are good to the circuit board and seem to be in good shape.

I've also checked the SIMs in different phones and they all work flawlessly.

I tried to force the latest firmware to the phone again but it faults out and says the firware on the phone is the same and it will not continue......any ideas on how to back-door the firware install?

[skoenig]

I assume you're out of warranty?

Did you buy the phone with a credit card? Check the terms and conditions... you might find a warranty doubling clause. If so call them about it.

~Steph

[bluenadas]

I am out of warranty, and no luck on the CC warranty clause...

I think this might be the perfect time to defect from Palm.

Considering I have one more year on a phone contract and a 680 that is no more useful than a Zire, I think it's time to look beyond Palm. Each new device they have seems to have nothing more than issues (See 680 gibberish, 680 camera/battery issue, 600/650 audio issues)

I understand the complexity of the devices leads to such problems but everyone here knows that the phone companies and Palm cast blame in a relentless circle. Eventually an update is released, or a third-party devises a work around. But I'm just turned off to their aged platform and quite frankly, crappy quality/QA.

Maybe in future models they'll turn things around? But my guess is, we'll continue to see these issues (I don't own a Centro, nor have I browsed for info on them, but I bet if I did, I'll find something on it as well).

With the loss they posted this last quarter and the smartphone market the way it is, my guess is Palm won't even be an option in a year or so. It's sad considering they pioneered this whole idea. But they dropped the ball after the 650 and just kept recycling the same phone with a different case and a bit more memory....

[skoenig]

I hear you bluenadas and feel for the enormous time you've put into trying to get your 680 sorted out and lack of support you've received from official sources.

I bet this is something one of those little phone hack stores can sort out.

Regardless, let us know what phone you do choose or if indeed somehow the 680 magically works again.

This is the sort of straw I can see breaking the camel's back.

Regards,

~ Steph

[LotusLord]

Originally Posted by skoenig

I hear you bluenadas and feel for the enormous time you've put into trying to get your 680 sorted out and lack of support you've received from official sources.

I bet this is something one of those little phone hack stores can sort out.

Regardless, let us know what phone you do choose or if indeed somehow the 680 magically works again.

This is the sort of straw I can see breaking the camel's back.

Regards,

~ Steph

Agreed on all accounts here Steph.

[bluenadas]

Suprisingly after a few weeks of tinkering I appear to have fixed the issue. Back around christmas I was dumping my SD card for one reason or another and happened to offload the NVBackup files to the PC. I'd run a restore with more recent backup files without any change but decided to go ahead and give it a shot.

For some reason the the restore from such an old backup seems to have fixed the issue. I'm not sure what the deal might have been but it's accepted every single SIM I've thrown at it since.

I'm a little perplexed considering the timing of the issue. I run just a few 3rd party apps (Slashdata/money, Zlauncher, MyBills) and I installed nothing new any where close to the time it failed. It appears to have been some sort of corruption of a database or file but I can't relate anything to when this occured.

Considering it's working, my defection from Palm has been postponed for a little while now....hopefully they can get their act together long before I need to replace the thing?

[forgot]

Wow, glad to hear it worked out. Good thing you thought to dump some of those old backups off onto your PC.