Restore iPhone with no SIM: lose cell service

hutchwilco · 01-25-2013, 05:16 PM

I recently bought an iPhone 4 from a pawn shop "frozen" on what I presume was a tethered jailbreak loading screen.(green poison I think)
I got home and reset the phone a few times and loaded iOS6 onto it.
Weird - the last owner left their SIM in. I got an SMS from someone called Alex asking if I knew where to get a tinny (joint). Obviously the previous owner had hookups. But more importantly the phone connected to the cell service.
I took out the SIM, thinking I don't want any more txt's like that, and restored the phone with 5.1.1 using redsnow.
When I finally got it restored with my info, and put in my SIM I got "No Service". Nothing I did helped - resetting, changing SIMs, resetting the network info, nothing.
I restored the phone AGAIN, with 5.1.1, this time with the SIM installed - and bingo, got service again.

Just wanted to put this out there, as I couldn't find anything mentioning restoring with no SIM had this consequence.
I was in despair at first, thinking the phone was stolen and had been blocked from service.

Janet · 02-17-2013, 02:56 PM

I am running into this same issue on a phone that was given to me by a friend. The phone did not come with a SIM card, and I am trying to set it up with my SIM card, but every time I restore the phone it says that I have no service. Is there something specific I need to do in order to get the phone to work? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

01-25-2013, 05:16 PM	#1
hutchwilco Prospect Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 22	Restore iPhone with no SIM: lose cell service I recently bought an iPhone 4 from a pawn shop "frozen" on what I presume was a tethered jailbreak loading screen.(green poison I think) I got home and reset the phone a few times and loaded iOS6 onto it. Weird - the last owner left their SIM in. I got an SMS from someone called Alex asking if I knew where to get a tinny (joint). Obviously the previous owner had hookups. But more importantly the phone connected to the cell service. I took out the SIM, thinking I don't want any more txt's like that, and restored the phone with 5.1.1 using redsnow. When I finally got it restored with my info, and put in my SIM I got "No Service". Nothing I did helped - resetting, changing SIMs, resetting the network info, nothing. I restored the phone AGAIN, with 5.1.1, this time with the SIM installed - and bingo, got service again. Just wanted to put this out there, as I couldn't find anything mentioning restoring with no SIM had this consequence. I was in despair at first, thinking the phone was stolen and had been blocked from service.

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02-17-2013, 02:56 PM	#2
Janet Prospect Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 1	I am running into this same issue on a phone that was given to me by a friend. The phone did not come with a SIM card, and I am trying to set it up with my SIM card, but every time I restore the phone it says that I have no service. Is there something specific I need to do in order to get the phone to work? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!