SIM 1 not allowed

[aldente]

Hello everyone,

Nice to meet you. I recently came across an error on my Sony Xperia 5 II and would like help on this.

I read through another thread with the same title but it does not seem to be the case here,

https://community.three.ie/t5/Android-Devices/Sim-1-not-allowed/m-p/773042/highlight/true#M349

so I am opening a separate thread here.

Model: Sony Xperia 5 II (purchased brand-new, SIM unlocked) - Call it Phone A

SIM: Three Postpay 30-day SIM-only (SIM X)

Phone A had been perfectly working fine. Recently, I acquired another SIM unlocked Xperia (Call it Phone B) and copied everything to the brand-new Phone B and it had been perfectly working fine as well with SIM X.

When I recently lost Phone B, I had my mobile number transferred to a new SIM (SIM Y) and decided to use it in the old Phone A. It began to receive signals and internet connection started to work fine. However, calls and text did not. Call attempts failed with an error immediately, and SMS submission attempts failed indefinitely. Then, I came across this little notification icon "SIM 1 not allowed" at the top of the screen.

Failing with my Three SIM (SIM Y), I tried using a prepaid Tesco Mobile SIM but no joy either. I am wondering if Google did something to make the Phone A blocked (such as blacklisting its IMEIs) but I do not see any reason for that. Phone A had been switched off since the data was transferred to Phone B.

Fortunately, Phone B turned up and I was reunited. When Phone B got Three SIM (SIM Y), everything began to work fine.

Is there anything else to check in order to get Phone A back working?

Thank you for your help.

[Three_Stacey]

Hi @aldente welcome to 3Community.

Love how you broke down your query, the A,B,X & Y really helped me keep it all straight. I would have thought the issue was Sim Y, but your thorough testing shows it's not. The first thing I would recommend is that you ensure that phone A is working with the latest software. To do this go to Setting - Systems - Advanced - Software Update. If there is an update available run it.

Other than that as the phone was purchased from a third party I would suggest contacting the manufacturer, they'll run a search on the phone's IMEI they may suggest a reset so please make sure that everything important is backed up as this will wipe the phone.

[billbond4]

I have an Sony Xperia 5 II  so I could check,

Could you double check its unlocked
Go into the dialer menu and then type

*#*#7378423#*#*

Service info --> Sim Lock

Sim card 1 IMSO

[]   network 0
and rest should be  the same

Also if you put the sim into sim2, did you get the same error ?

[aldente]

Hi @Three_Stacey

Thank you for your reply. Yes, Phone A was updated with its latest Android software, and according to System >  Software update, it is still up-to-date.

[aldente]

Hi @billbond4 

Thank you for your reply.

According to its Service Info > SIM lock,

Sim Card 1 IMSI:

[] Network 0

[] Network subset 0

[] Service provider 0

[] Corporate 0

[] SIM 0

and the same output for Card 2.

I have been using Phone A abroad with local SIMs as well as other Irish operators' SIMs. So I can say that, by nature, Phone A is SIM-unlocked, although we are trying to find out the possibility that something did something to make Phone A locked.

Using SIM slot 2 is something I have not tried. I tested SIM slot 2 using SIM Y, and all of calls/texts/internet work!

The little icon for "SIM 1 not allowed" also disappeared. Then, back to SIM slot 1 using SIM Y, calls/texts do not work, only internet access is possible. There is no physical damage given to SIM slot 1 either.

[billbond4]

I think i know the problem, I would say its something to do with the software version running on the phone.

Let me check to see if there is a way to find it and possibly compare against mine 

[billbond4]

Sounds like their is a setting enabled for SIM that only occurs when the 3 sim card is in the phone.
A master reset probably would solve the problem, but using sim slot2 is an quicker an easier fix.

[aldente]

@billbond4 Thank you for your message.

I opted for a master reset since it is not good to have SIM slot 1 unable to be used with the main subscription SIM. Some years ago, I had a similar problem on another smartphone that stopped me from using internet data access on SIM1 slot, and in my vague recollection, a master reset or something like that got me out of the trouble. 

On Phone A, I tried factory reset from the Android settings menu, but it did not help for my Three SIM (SIM Y). 'SIM1 not allowed' is still present.

Now a bit better is that the SIM1 slot can take a Tesco Mobile SIM and it can get calls and texts fine. After topping it up, it can also make calls and send texts fine. Because of this, it appears to be related to something to do with SIM Y, as you suspect. One difference I can tell is whether the original (My data was ported in from Eir to a temp Three number, then on to a new SIM with my own number) or replacement (my own number transferred to a new replacement SIM).

Is there any other legitimate reset method?

Thank you.

[billbond4]

Ah sounds like a porting issue with the sim card then.

I would get a new sim card