Wednesday, July 28, 2010

MY PHONE IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can imagine my horror this afternoon as I was charging my phone, when it suddenly switched off. I pressed the power button, it vibrated but the screen wouldn't light up... crap... this happened to my P1i before, and the boot ROM needed to be reflashed... crap. Not a big deal but that would mean that I would still have to go to the SonyEricsson Service Center in Glorietta.

So I went to Glorietta and the guy checked my phone with my SIM, he confirmed that the phone needed to be reflashed, and this has happened to a few models before... not a big deal, I could've waited for it if it wasn't closing time.

He kept trying to restart the phone however, in the hope that maybe it was just a software bug or something. So I was ready to leave my phone with them, I got my SIM back and placed it in my old phone. He said he'd try to restart it one more time, but since I didn't want to take my SIM out again, he got out one of his dead SIMs... and oddly enough... my phone switched on. So I placed my SIM back... and my phone wouldn't turn on again. Take note, my SIM never stopped working on any other phone... just my new X10 Mini Pro. And my Mini Pro would work with EVERY other SIM except mine.

But since the X10 Mini Pro works without a SIM (just functions as a PDA) and it worked with all the other SIMs at the Sony Ericsson Service Center, I went over to Globe.

Turns out, there are cases where a defective SIM can render a phone dead... only with THAT particular SIM. This is very different from defective SIMs that don't log into the network. Globe Customer service was very efficient... got my replacement SIM in 5 min, activated in 1 hour. It really was the SIM... Globe said that some of the newer 128 SIMs are quite sensitive and can cause compatibility problems with some phones. New SIM worked right away. No problem with the phone... whew...

So, tip for the day... if your phone suddenly dies... and a hard reset, or battery swap doesn't work... try a SIM swap, with all providers.

...Battery review to follow...

**Follow up tip... problem happened again this morning when I tried to restart my phone... I think the SIM overheats... long story short, I found that if this happens again, I just press the back (non contact side) of the SIM against something cold... then it works again. This issue only comes out when restarting the phone**

7 comments:

  1. I had a similar problem with my X10mini - one day I took it out of my pocket and it was displaying a "No SIM" message in the status bar.

    The phone was fine, and worked with other SIMs but my original SIM was dead.

    On removal, there appears to be a small dent on one of the contacts, so it's possible that applying pressure in the right (or rather wrong!) place on the back causes the SIM contacts to damage the SIM.

    I've since got a replacement SIM (after a week's wait!) and all is good again (for now...)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks benjymous,

    I doubt the SIM got a dent from holding or pressing it the wrong way... might've been a defective SIM, where the contacts weren't pressed well, and a contact caught on the metal going into the phone.

    But either way... ya, check the phone with another SIM just to verify that it isn't a defective SIM.

    Thanks for reading my blog! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. My X10 Mini also died on me. With sim card removed, phone wouldn't power on still. It might be a defective battery because even when not powered on, my phone is warm. Did you have similar theory? How is your X10 Mini Pro now?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi! Sorry to hear about your phone. Can you try using another SIM all together? If that doesn't work, try bringing it to a service center, or the store you bought it from to try a different battery.

    My Mini Pro is fine, it never had a problem, it was really just the SIM.

    Does the phone vibrate when you press the power key? If it does and swapping SIMs doesn't work, it may need to be flashed. Service center can do this in about an hour or so depending on work load.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ok... this is getting ridiculous... my SIM is really giving me issues... it's a 128K SIM...

    I will be going back to Globe and requesting an older SIM (which never gave me problems)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi again, keep us posted on your problem. Mine was diagnosed with a defective board. Imagine?! Only 2 weeks after i bought it brandnew! and was never dropped! Im beginning to hate SE. I heard similar issues on the internet on the X10 series. You could try using the phone without a SIM and try if it replicates the problem.

    ReplyDelete
  7. hi anonymous, sorry to hear about your phone. Unfortunately these things really happen with electronics. But the defect rate of most major manufacturers is really low. I hope they replace your phone with a new one and not just repair it.

    Keep us all posted on your issue and how it was resolved.

    I still haven't had my SIM replaced... It's the dumbest problem, with an even weirder solution (I have to freeze my SIM for it to work again)

    Will probably request for a 64k or older SIM card.

    ReplyDelete

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