Iphone 4S Question

JasonWatkins · 06-02-2013, 15:12

.. which i appreciate has probably been asked a million times, but I would appreciate the good people of DS's opinion.

Basically i'm a bit concerned that the 64gb iPhone 4s I bought today from CEX is actually locked when it was sold as unlocked.

The reason I ask is that when I tried inserting my Virgin Contract Sim (that, to be fair, i'd cut down to fit) into the phone, I got `Please insert valid SIM card with no PIN code` and it failed in activation.

Now googling around, it appears the reason for this error is, as i've suggested, that the phone is actually network locked.

Now i've ordered a proper micro SIM from Virgin which will arrive tomorrow, so once I get that activated, I'm hoping it will all be ok, but has anyone else had this error on trying to activate a 4s and did it turn out the phone was locked ?

Cheers

The Lord Lucan · 06-02-2013, 15:37

Try taking the pin code off the sim first..

The iPhone usually tells you when it is locked to a network ie like this.. http://i40.tinypic.com/55fcxy.jpg

As Virgin isn't a supported carrier by Apple I'm unsure wether they can activate a new iPhone, might be wrong though. The iPhone doesn't know it needs to be unlocked yet.. As it hasn't been activated.

Anyone clarify that?

JasonWatkins · 06-02-2013, 16:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan

Try taking the pin code off the sim first..

The iPhone usually tells you when it is locked to a network ie like this.. http://i40.tinypic.com/55fcxy.jpg

As Virgin isn't a supported carrier by Apple I'm unsure wether they can activate a new iPhone, might be wrong though. The iPhone doesn't know it needs to be unlocked yet.. As it hasn't been activated.

Anyone clarify that?

Thanks for that, I've never actually had a pin code set on this sim though, although with the crappy little handset i'm using as a spare, I might not actually be able to do anything about it.

I did look online beforehand and found a number of people who were happily using a 4s with a Virgin SIM without any issues, so that's part of the reason I went ahead and got one.

chenks · 06-02-2013, 17:00

are you sure you haven't damaged the sim when you cut it down to size?
if you had a pin active on the sim you would know about it as it would request it on any phone you used it on.

my thoughts are that you've cut the sim and it's now not working.

JasonWatkins · 06-02-2013, 17:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by chenks

are you sure you haven't damaged the sim when you cut it down to size?
if you had a pin active on the sim you would know about it as it would request it on any phone you used it on.

my thoughts are that you've cut the sim and it's now not working.

I suspect you might be right, although it does work on this LG GS101 i've been using as a spare

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-pho...view-50002501/

But I fully accept that the iPhone is a different animal in respect of sim quality, so it's certainly very possible i've cocked it up. I was just getting a bit paranoid when I read a few sites that suggested it might mean it's locked I suppose.

Lidtop2013 · 06-02-2013, 17:18

If the gold contact hasn't been cut then I don't see why it wouldn't work

JasonWatkins · 06-02-2013, 17:22

If it comes down to it, i'll just have to take it back I suppose, although it was the only 64gb B Grade one in the branch I went to which is a major pain in the arse.

The Lord Lucan · 06-02-2013, 17:32

Ahh I totally didn't know Cex was a second hand shop. If thry say the phone is previously unlocked then it should work fine with a Virgin sim. Hmm maybe just wait for that other sim to come, you could go back to the shop and ask they demonstrate it is actually unlocked.

Lidtop2013 · 06-02-2013, 17:41

Yeah that's probably the easiest and quickest option, take it back to the shop and explain, then if their SIM card works then you know that it will work when your new sim turns up. If however their sim doesn't work then they will have to refund you or get it unlocked for you

chenks · 06-02-2013, 17:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lidtop2013

Yeah that's probably the easiest and quickest option, take it back to the shop and explain, then if their SIM card works then you know that it will work when your new sim turns up. If however their sim doesn't work then they will have to refund you or get it unlocked for you

they could put a sim in that is on the correct network for the locked phone though (assuming they are clever or lucky enough to do that).

Lidtop2013 · 06-02-2013, 17:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by chenks

they could put a sim in that is on the correct network for the locked phone though (assuming they are clever or lucky enough to do that).

Why would they want to be "clever" though? It's a high street shop, if they blag it he can just go back. And also he could ask them to try two different networks, I'm sure that's the pretty obvious thing to do considering the phone won't have any branding written on it like phones used to

chenks · 06-02-2013, 18:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lidtop2013

Why would they want to be "clever" though? It's a high street shop, if they blag it he can just go back.

because it's a high street shop and they already have his money.

i merely replied to your post where you suggested they try a sim card (singular not plural), and i responded saying they could test it with a sim card that shows it working, but that doesn't prove it's unlocked.

they would need to test it with 2 different networks to prove that.

JasonWatkins · 06-02-2013, 19:03

It's just a pain to get back to the CEX in question as I live in Essex, and this one was in Dartford, Kent. It's do-able though, with 3 changes of bus ..

JasonWatkins · 07-02-2013, 15:37

Problem solved - Micro Sim was waiting for me when I got home. Popped it in, rang Virgin to activate and switched the phone on and job done - all working.

Now to spend the next 6 hours tinkering with my new toy

Thanks for all the replies.

chenks · 07-02-2013, 15:39

so the assumption is that you damaged the sim when cutting it then ?

JasonWatkins · 07-02-2013, 15:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by chenks

so the assumption is that you damaged the sim when cutting it then ?

That certainly does seem to be the most logical reason the other one didn't work. I did cut it fairly close to the 'bone', so to speak.

tellytart1 · 07-02-2013, 15:47

Or the SIM was an old one and not compatible with the iPhone.

JasonWatkins · 07-02-2013, 15:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by tellytart1

Or the SIM was an old one and not compatible with the iPhone.

Well I only got it in November last year, so it would seem unlikely. But then maybe Micro Sims are different in some way to regular sims ?

JasonWatkins · 07-02-2013, 16:39

So much to set up and tweak on this .. i'll be here a f'n week

Lidtop2013 · 07-02-2013, 17:14

When you've set it all up be sure to do a sync in iTunes then it will save all your settings,apps, contacts, texts, notes, pics,vids etc

chenks · 07-02-2013, 17:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lidtop2013

When you've set it all up be sure to do a sync in iTunes then it will save all your settings,apps, contacts, texts, notes, pics,vids etc

or just do an icloud backup

JasonWatkins · 07-02-2013, 17:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lidtop2013

When you've set it all up be sure to do a sync in iTunes then it will save all your settings,apps, contacts, texts, notes, pics,vids etc

Quote:

Originally Posted by chenks

or just do an icloud backup

Thankyou

I've enabled iCloud backups on it at the moment, but i haven't done the "big" sync yet - i've got about 48gb of Music to upload, so what i'm trying to do is make sure i've added everything to iTunes first before I press the button.

Just also remembered that I bought a load of apps when I had an iPhone 3g many years ago, so i've got a nice headstart app-wise

JasonWatkins · 07-02-2013, 18:58

This was weird. Tried to sync some more pictures to the phone and it sort of "forgot" that i'd authorised it and asked me to do it again, which i did for the 2nd of 5.

Can't remember exactly what I did though ..

Lidtop2013 · 07-02-2013, 20:04

itunes confuses the hell out of me, ive also used up my second authorisation attempt aswell, now idea why.

I have synced it on my pc at my parents and also on my laptop, maybe thats where it got abit confuzzled?

chenks · 07-02-2013, 20:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lidtop2013

I have synced it on my pc at my parents and also on my laptop, maybe thats where it got abit confuzzled?

definitely.
iphone (or ipod, ipad) can only be linked to 1 itunes library for syncing at any one time.

if you sync it with a different library then it wil remove the link to the previous library.

06-02-2013, 15:12	#1
JasonWatkins Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 53,670	Iphone 4S Question .. which i appreciate has probably been asked a million times, but I would appreciate the good people of DS's opinion. Basically i'm a bit concerned that the 64gb iPhone 4s I bought today from CEX is actually locked when it was sold as unlocked. The reason I ask is that when I tried inserting my Virgin Contract Sim (that, to be fair, i'd cut down to fit) into the phone, I got `Please insert valid SIM card with no PIN code` and it failed in activation. Now googling around, it appears the reason for this error is, as i've suggested, that the phone is actually network locked. Now i've ordered a proper micro SIM from Virgin which will arrive tomorrow, so once I get that activated, I'm hoping it will all be ok, but has anyone else had this error on trying to activate a 4s and did it turn out the phone was locked ? Cheers

06-02-2013, 15:37	#2
The Lord Lucan Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Scotland Posts: 4,966	Try taking the pin code off the sim first.. The iPhone usually tells you when it is locked to a network ie like this.. http://i40.tinypic.com/55fcxy.jpg As Virgin isn't a supported carrier by Apple I'm unsure wether they can activate a new iPhone, might be wrong though. The iPhone doesn't know it needs to be unlocked yet.. As it hasn't been activated. Anyone clarify that?

06-02-2013, 16:51	#3
JasonWatkins Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 53,670	Quote: Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan Try taking the pin code off the sim first.. The iPhone usually tells you when it is locked to a network ie like this.. http://i40.tinypic.com/55fcxy.jpg As Virgin isn't a supported carrier by Apple I'm unsure wether they can activate a new iPhone, might be wrong though. The iPhone doesn't know it needs to be unlocked yet.. As it hasn't been activated. Anyone clarify that? Thanks for that, I've never actually had a pin code set on this sim though, although with the crappy little handset i'm using as a spare, I might not actually be able to do anything about it. I did look online beforehand and found a number of people who were happily using a 4s with a Virgin SIM without any issues, so that's part of the reason I went ahead and got one.

06-02-2013, 17:00	#4
chenks Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: North Ayrshire Posts: 11,399	are you sure you haven't damaged the sim when you cut it down to size? if you had a pin active on the sim you would know about it as it would request it on any phone you used it on. my thoughts are that you've cut the sim and it's now not working.

06-02-2013, 17:11	#5
JasonWatkins Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 53,670	Quote: Originally Posted by chenks are you sure you haven't damaged the sim when you cut it down to size? if you had a pin active on the sim you would know about it as it would request it on any phone you used it on. my thoughts are that you've cut the sim and it's now not working. I suspect you might be right, although it does work on this LG GS101 i've been using as a spare http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-pho...view-50002501/ But I fully accept that the iPhone is a different animal in respect of sim quality, so it's certainly very possible i've cocked it up. I was just getting a bit paranoid when I read a few sites that suggested it might mean it's locked I suppose.

06-02-2013, 17:18	#6
Lidtop2013 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: West Midlands Posts: 2,450	If the gold contact hasn't been cut then I don't see why it wouldn't work

06-02-2013, 17:22	#7
JasonWatkins Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 53,670	If it comes down to it, i'll just have to take it back I suppose, although it was the only 64gb B Grade one in the branch I went to which is a major pain in the arse.

06-02-2013, 17:32	#8
The Lord Lucan Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Scotland Posts: 4,966	Ahh I totally didn't know Cex was a second hand shop. If thry say the phone is previously unlocked then it should work fine with a Virgin sim. Hmm maybe just wait for that other sim to come, you could go back to the shop and ask they demonstrate it is actually unlocked.

06-02-2013, 17:41	#9
Lidtop2013 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: West Midlands Posts: 2,450	Yeah that's probably the easiest and quickest option, take it back to the shop and explain, then if their SIM card works then you know that it will work when your new sim turns up. If however their sim doesn't work then they will have to refund you or get it unlocked for you

06-02-2013, 17:47	#10
chenks Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: North Ayrshire Posts: 11,399	Quote: Originally Posted by Lidtop2013 Yeah that's probably the easiest and quickest option, take it back to the shop and explain, then if their SIM card works then you know that it will work when your new sim turns up. If however their sim doesn't work then they will have to refund you or get it unlocked for you they could put a sim in that is on the correct network for the locked phone though (assuming they are clever or lucky enough to do that).

06-02-2013, 17:58	#11
Lidtop2013 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: West Midlands Posts: 2,450	Quote: Originally Posted by chenks they could put a sim in that is on the correct network for the locked phone though (assuming they are clever or lucky enough to do that). Why would they want to be "clever" though? It's a high street shop, if they blag it he can just go back. And also he could ask them to try two different networks, I'm sure that's the pretty obvious thing to do considering the phone won't have any branding written on it like phones used to

06-02-2013, 18:07	#12
chenks Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: North Ayrshire Posts: 11,399	Quote: Originally Posted by Lidtop2013 Why would they want to be "clever" though? It's a high street shop, if they blag it he can just go back. because it's a high street shop and they already have his money. i merely replied to your post where you suggested they try a sim card (singular not plural), and i responded saying they could test it with a sim card that shows it working, but that doesn't prove it's unlocked. they would need to test it with 2 different networks to prove that.

06-02-2013, 19:03	#13
JasonWatkins Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 53,670	It's just a pain to get back to the CEX in question as I live in Essex, and this one was in Dartford, Kent. It's do-able though, with 3 changes of bus ..

07-02-2013, 15:37	#14
JasonWatkins Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 53,670	Problem solved - Micro Sim was waiting for me when I got home. Popped it in, rang Virgin to activate and switched the phone on and job done - all working. Now to spend the next 6 hours tinkering with my new toy Thanks for all the replies.

07-02-2013, 15:39	#15
chenks Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: North Ayrshire Posts: 11,399	so the assumption is that you damaged the sim when cutting it then ?

07-02-2013, 15:43	#16
JasonWatkins Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 53,670	Quote: Originally Posted by chenks so the assumption is that you damaged the sim when cutting it then ? That certainly does seem to be the most logical reason the other one didn't work. I did cut it fairly close to the 'bone', so to speak.

07-02-2013, 15:47	#17
tellytart1 Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: London Posts: 3,638	Or the SIM was an old one and not compatible with the iPhone.

07-02-2013, 15:51	#18
JasonWatkins Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 53,670	Quote: Originally Posted by tellytart1 Or the SIM was an old one and not compatible with the iPhone. Well I only got it in November last year, so it would seem unlikely. But then maybe Micro Sims are different in some way to regular sims ?

07-02-2013, 16:39	#19
JasonWatkins Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 53,670	So much to set up and tweak on this .. i'll be here a f'n week

07-02-2013, 17:14	#20
Lidtop2013 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: West Midlands Posts: 2,450	When you've set it all up be sure to do a sync in iTunes then it will save all your settings,apps, contacts, texts, notes, pics,vids etc

07-02-2013, 17:28	#21
chenks Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: North Ayrshire Posts: 11,399	Quote: Originally Posted by Lidtop2013 When you've set it all up be sure to do a sync in iTunes then it will save all your settings,apps, contacts, texts, notes, pics,vids etc or just do an icloud backup

DS Forums

Iphone 4S Question

07-02-2013, 17:31	#22
JasonWatkins Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 53,670	Quote: Originally Posted by Lidtop2013 When you've set it all up be sure to do a sync in iTunes then it will save all your settings,apps, contacts, texts, notes, pics,vids etc Quote: Originally Posted by chenks or just do an icloud backup Thankyou I've enabled iCloud backups on it at the moment, but i haven't done the "big" sync yet - i've got about 48gb of Music to upload, so what i'm trying to do is make sure i've added everything to iTunes first before I press the button. Just also remembered that I bought a load of apps when I had an iPhone 3g many years ago, so i've got a nice headstart app-wise

07-02-2013, 18:58	#23
JasonWatkins Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 53,670	This was weird. Tried to sync some more pictures to the phone and it sort of "forgot" that i'd authorised it and asked me to do it again, which i did for the 2nd of 5. Can't remember exactly what I did though ..

07-02-2013, 20:04	#24
Lidtop2013 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: West Midlands Posts: 2,450	itunes confuses the hell out of me, ive also used up my second authorisation attempt aswell, now idea why. I have synced it on my pc at my parents and also on my laptop, maybe thats where it got abit confuzzled?

07-02-2013, 20:05	#25
chenks Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: North Ayrshire Posts: 11,399	Quote: Originally Posted by Lidtop2013 I have synced it on my pc at my parents and also on my laptop, maybe thats where it got abit confuzzled? definitely. iphone (or ipod, ipad) can only be linked to 1 itunes library for syncing at any one time. if you sync it with a different library then it wil remove the link to the previous library.