No SIM card installed : iPhone
Two days ago my iPhone after recieving a message started showing a strange error ” NO SIM INSTALLED ” , initially i thought this is a minor trouble and would go away after a few switching off and on but it did not .This is the latest problem that has now creeped in my iPhone! I tried searching out for forums and locate what all options do I Have now.
This is what i have come up with:
1. Manual iPhone reset: Keep on holding the power button for few second till you get the switching off screen (Do not slide to switch off) then press the home button without releasing the power button and you’ll see that the screen turns black then the Apple symbol comes (You can remove your buttons now).
This has worked for many but not for Me.So I had to explore more.
2. This problem may occur because of HEAT : In many cases the iPhone was overheated and this led to damage in SIM card. Replacement of the SIM card by a new one has solved this problem for them.
Sadly this wasn’t the case for me, as my sim was relatively new and i would have tried about 5-10 odd sims in my iPhone without any success and moreover my sims works on these mobiles.
3. The problem of dust particles: In Few cases cleaning of the SIM card and using a ear cleaner for removing the dust inside the SIM socket of iphone has solved it for them. Once again I tried this without any success.
4. Using your SIM in a strange way: Yup, its strange but this is what people have posted on the blogs/forums. Take out your SIM and put it in some old Nokia or any other mobile phone till it catches the signal i.e the signal bars appear then remove the SIM and put it in your iPhone.
No success for me!!
5. Repetitive on off and setting reset: Another idea which has clicked for some is switching on and off your iPhone and checking if it has started detecting SIM. Or going to Settings->General->reset->Reset network and using network reset or reset all repetitively till your iphone finally detects sim.
I can image what would have led them to trying this sort of thing, but it has worked out for them not for ME.You can even try repetitive switching on and off the airplane mode though it wasn’t useful for me.
6. Restore and Unlock: I did this as my iPhone is an unlocked/jailbroken one so resotred and unlocked it again and trust me this is the worst idea of them all . I lost all my apps,games and other stuff despite taking a back only to understand that iTunes backup would not back up 3rd party installations!
I am still trying to figure out a way to get out of this No SIM Card installed, more suggetions are welcomed.
….Read the Solution here [Sequel EUREKA my iphone works!]
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Comments (8)

(5 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
Hey mate it sounds like u have the exact same problem as me ive tryed everything but still nothing did u get ur iphone from overseas at all?? cause i dont no how 2 fix it. If you find anyway 2 get it working i would love 2 no
I just had this happen on a first gen iPhone. Notice my date. I’m a late adopter to 3.0 and I actually just updated to 3.0.1.
It started immediately after I installed 3.0.1
I had never had the first problem with this phone since I purchased it in June of 07. It actually caused me to have to restore my iphone after the first install attempt.
Anyway, the first time it happened I freaked out. Tried most of the steps above; all rather intuitive I suppose. The only thing which worked for me was the cold boot scenario. Holding down both buttons until the Apple comes on and then goes away. Turning it back on, it originally came back immediately. But then went away again. It continues to go through this process, and erratically. It seems to happen every hour or so now.
I’m now looking for corollaries…
So I’m under the assumption that it’s something in 3.0 or 3.0.1, as that is precisely the moment it occurred.
As I mentioned, mine is a 1st Gen purchased in June of 07.
My wife always points out that I don’t have a cover on mine. She has a cover on her’s and swears it’s the reason hers is not having any issues. We bought ours together originally, and she has 3.0 but not 3.0.1
I’ve never had it jailbroke and I update it via an Original Aluminum Intel iMac from that same year, released in August I believe.
She updates hers on an windows system…
Any of you having similar conditions surrounding this issue? It’s just annoying now. I haven’t gone to check the sim card though yet. Perhaps it’s just old, and the update is a coincidence… Just not enough data yet to make a determination….
same problem… tried everything and just nothing!!
Hi Guys,
I had the same problem and I did everything suggested but no luck! I was about to give up (sadly) until I saw someones comment on Twitter that said “I dropped my iphone and it wouldnt work. So I dropped it again, and now it works!”. Being hopeless I thought I would give it a shot, and from about 3cm from the table i dropped it head first. You wont believe it but it started working again!! I coudlve almost cried! So I thought I would share this with u… I hope it works for you guys, I know how lost u feel when your phone isnt working
Anyone tried this yet?
Hi all,
My iphone has started working and would be writing a post on this very soon! Still searching&researching on how this miracle has happened !
[...] inserted my old SIM back into iPhone ! I tried searching the internet and guess what came back to my previous post and guess what the fourth [...]
Thanks! first suggestion worked for me.