IPhone 3GS no service problem

Hi there I've been given a iPhone 3GS it's the 2009 model and it has the no service problem I've managed to activate it with one of them activation sim cards but when I put my orange sim into it it comes up no service and I'm baffled buy this the phone is sim locked to orange as well
Any ideas
Many thanks

"top scores to any one that gives me an answer please! "
This is the MacBook Pro forums. So why not post in the iPhone forums if you want to give top scores?

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Iphone 3gs no service problem top scores for best answer

i bought a referbished iphone 3gs last week and when i started it came to the activate screen so i was doing my language laction stuff like that then it said ready to activate then came up with invalid sim or unsuported sim, i rang apple up and they said we sorry for the problem but the iphone is locked to o2 and told me to ring them so i rang them and they said its not there problem and that theres nothing they can do and that apple shouldnt be selling locked iphone
so i sat there stuck on this screen not being able to use my iphone and thought i no! ill put a o2 sim can inside it actiavat it and then put my vodaphone sim back inside it so i did this and it worked fine for a week then last night it came up with no service i reset my phone air plane mode on and off i even put the 02 sim card back in side it and it still came up with no signal?!?!
so i though il restore it and just do what i did the first time but only this time when i actiavated it with th o2 sim it still says no service with both sims
has this phone been blocked cause i was using an vodophone sim or is they a fault in the signal part of the phone
top scores to any one that gives me an answer please!
ps not a great speller

come on need help!

Mi iphone 3GS tiene el problema 1015, como puedo solucionarlo. en internet me dicen que con un programa blackra1n, este programa es confiable???

mi iphone 3GS tiene el problema 1015, como puedo solucionarlo. en internet me dicen que con un programa blackra1n, este programa es confiable???

mi iphone 3GS tiene el problema 1015, como puedo solucionarlo. en internet me dicen que con un programa blackra1n, este programa es confiable???

How much will it cost to get my iphone 3gs express serviced?, How much will it cost to get my iphone 3gs express serviced?

How much will it cost to get my iphone 3gs express serviced?

Take a look at this link, http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=servicefaq&geo=United_States&product=ipho ne

IPhone 3GS - "LOCATION PINNING" PROBLEM ON THE MAP

Hi everyone. I'm currently using an iPhone 3GS running on IOS4 and unfortunately facing "location pinning problem" on the map. Even though, "location services" feature is on and also "active" for photos, I quite often need to reboot my device right after I took a picture(s) in order to see the "location pin(s)" on the map.
But sometimes I don't need to do so, because it somehow captures the place the picture's taken and puts a pin on the map right away.
Do you have any ideas about where that problem might be stemming from? Appreciate your help on this issue. Thx a lot in advance...

so did you happen to resolve that "pinpointing" issue?

HT201413 My iphone 3GS has a problem of reactivation after updates. Here is Itune error message,```There is no sim in the iphone you are trying to activate. I am using Orange Sim card. Please help.

My Iphone 3GS has a reactivation problem after the updates. The Itune continues to read an error message like this,``There is no sim card in the Iphone you are trying to reactivate```The phone read no service. I am using Orange Sim card which has a subscribtion with Apples in my area. Please help

Hey ugwujos,
Thanks for the question. I understand that you are experiencing activation issues with your iPhone. When troubleshooting activation issues, the following article provides some great steps:
iPhone: Troubleshooting activation issues
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3424
Thanks,
Matt M.

Please help! iphone 3gs speaker "hardware problem!!"

Hi, I have used the iphone 1st generation for a long time and I have nearly been using an iphone 3Gs for a year now. The bottom line, I LOVE IT.
Only one problem I have came across 2 months ago.
I have aux support built-in in my car so I plug in the male-male cable to my iphone to listen to my albums. I have no problem with that even now. But 2 months ago, after I unplugged the aux cable and then straight after that when I tried to continue listening to the music(through the speaker) the speaker was "CRACKLING". It lasted like that for about 5 mins, and then it stopped working at all. I tried the plug and unplug method but had no luck.
Although my iphone is still under warranty, I can't send this device to vodafone as I am currently in Korea ( for business for a year ). I would send them to them but I have to pay my own courier. I know I can fix it as long as I know which part to replace.
If anybody has an idea which part is faulty (no guesses please) please advise.
Thank you for reading my messy post.

Was the person who fixed it an authorized Apple service center? No? Seems to me he didn't know what he was doing from what you have told us here. That pretty much explanis it

Iphone 3GS, no service on 3G

If I enable 3G I get "No Service" but when turned to off I get a full EDGE signal, my father has the same phone as me and doesn't the the same problem, what is it likely to be?
Also to note I have just installed the very lastest update (4.3.3) however the problem started when I was on the old firmware (4.3.2)
My contract has ended and thought abotu just replacing it with something else, however I don't want an iPhone 4 as they will soon become obsilete, and I'm not paying £140 for an old phone when I can get a Samsung Galaxy S2 for free on the same contract. So I want to keep my 3GS untill the new iPhone comes out.
thanks for your time
Brett

Hi all,
I also encountering the same problem. The last thing i did to my iphone 3gs was to remove the SIM card to another phone for testing. After placing it back to my iphone, my 3G shows "no service" while my 2G is still getting full bar signal. I tried replacing my SIM first, which didnt work well. I then tried with another SIM which also turned out to have this problem. I tried mounting my SIM on another phone andwas able to get full 3G Signal.
Since this is a hardware issue (antenna issue), I searched on ways to boost the antenna signal and found that the SIM card holder also play a part in affecting the signal!! (never knew that is possible).
I tried shim my SIM card from the back with a post it pad, didnt work. I tried inserting a piece of plastic (cut out from my new SIMs plastic card) on the end of the SIM to secure it. It gave me no service.
Beware not to get the plastic jamed in your SIM card reader.
I remove the plastic and place my SIM back and my 3G signal is back to full bar!!!
Conclusion, the SIM card placement can play a part in causing this intermittent 3G no signal. Iphone 3GS's SIM card try has quite a bit of clearance and that may allow the SIM card to be out of position. the SIM card reader's contact may have dirt particles on it. If your iphone is working fine, try not to remove the sim card.

IPhone 3GS "no service" after flying cross country

Showing up first while I on a recent trip from Dallas to Cleveland, my iPhone 3GS has since often had a "no service" message in the upper left corner of the screen so that I can't receive or make phone calls. It's also sometimes having trouble getting a connection for Words With Friends, and Messages and Voice Mail often have a big red dot on one corner instead of a red dot with a number inside, along with the message that I don't have a connection.
A Genius told me it's not uncommon for iPhones to get confused after travelling across time zones, and he recommended that I Reset Network Settings. That didn't work, so I Reset All Settings, then, because I'd already tried restoring from a back-up, I did an Erase All Content and Settings and synced again to get all my media and such back on the phone. Nothing seems to be fixing all the problems at the same time.

i do not really know if it was jailbroken in the past i brought this iphone from a friend and it work perfectly on ios 5.1.1 and it was not jailbroken when i first used it. the problem i do not understand is that the no service problem never occured before the update to ios 6.1.3 . is there any way to fix this problem? because i would like to continue using my iphone 3gs
I have tried to downgrade to an older version of ios using an ipsw but still the same problem

IPhone 3GS Charging/Battery Problem: Hardware, Software, or Both?

Hello everyone,
I'm a long time Apple user, but this is the first time I've ever posted on the Apple Support forums. I hope you will please excuse the length of my post, as I believe that relaying the approximate sequence of events here is important in determining the cause (or causes) of the problem I am currently facing.
I've trawled the entire internet and I cannot find any reports of a problem that is actually identical to my own. There are many, many similar problems, but none of the exact nature or complexity that I am experiencing. I sincerely hope that someone who really knows their stuff will take the time to read through my story and offer some guidance, as this is my first iPhone and I want to be able to keep it!
I purchased the iPhone 3GS second-hand on eBay approx 3 weeks ago, to replace my old Nokia (which had finally given up the ghost), and although I initially got the 'charging is not supported with this accessory' error - I remedied this problem by using a whole range of different chargers and USB cables which I had accumulated over the years, and so initially, I always managed to get the battery charged one way or the other.
For the record - the iPhone was in very good condition, but had been factory-reset by the seller, and so I upgraded to the latest compatible software (IOS 6.1.3) when I received it.
Anyhow, these charging methods included three different USB cables (OEM Apple ones), two different 3rd party (non-OEM) wall-chargers of differring design, and three different OEM Apple USB Power adaptors. You know - the Wall Socket with the USB slot in it.
There seeemed to be no discernibe pattern as to which charging device or combination of cables and sockets was the 'correct' or 'best' one to use, as the results were random. One charger would work one day, whilst another would work the next, and vice versa. I continued to swap chargers, plugs, and cables in order to get the thing charging. Despite any errors or problems, I would always manage to get it charged somehow, at least for the first week or two.
The only pattern I did discern was that the oldest of my USB cables, from a 2005 iPod Mini, did appear to be somewhat more reliable than the other, more modern cables - though at the same time, the newer cables did work (and charge the phone) on various occasions.
As things progressed though; the 'charging is not supported with this accessory' error appeared on a more regular basis, though I was often able to get around it by changing plugs and/or leaving the device overnight. As many of you will undoubtedly know; this error message was said to be a 'software bug' - one which would typically appear once the battery's charge level was under 20%, and not before. Common advice on Mac forums was to never allow your battery level to drop below 20%, which would prevent the problem from occuring.
However in my case, this error message was now showing up more regularly, often when the phone had more than 20% charge left, leaving me unable to charge the phone quickly and successfully when needed.
And as many of you will also know, the 'official word' across all the different Mac forums is that even when this charging error message is showing, and the phone's battery indicator appears empty or declining, the battery will continue to charge, albeit at a much, much slower rate. This appeared to be true, as I was able to leave it overnight, with the error message displaying, and return to find that the battery had charged - though only to a marginal degree and never to full capacity. At this point, I was still able to use the phone, although on a somewhat limited basis, as the battery was always running out of juice too quickly.
However the situation worsened, whereby the phone started to reject all of the chargers and cables; either failing to recognize them at all, or giving me the aforementioned error message. Its battery would die, and I would have to leave it plugged in overnight (approx 8-10 hours) to get any response out of it at all. If I left it long enough, it seemed that I would at least get some charge out of it, though the maximum charge level was rapidly decreasing despite the amount of time it had been charging for, making the phone become less and less usable by the day.
Still, things continued to worsen - the 'charging is not supported with this accessory' error now appeared regardless of how much charge the battery had left in it, or what type of cables or plugs I was using - leaving me with no choice but to let the battery run down, and watch as the phone switched itself off..
Things have now reached the point where the phone is essentially unusable.
Strangely enough though; when completely dead or switched off, it will recognize the Apple USB to Wall Socket Charger, and will indicate that it IS charging - with the thin red line representing low battery levels, and a 'lightning bolt' logo underneath to signify the transfer of electrcity to the battery. Suffice to say, under these circumstances, the phone will charge, albeit very, very slowly, and only to a certain level (5-10%)
However - as soon as the phone is switched on again (either manually, or automatically - once it has reached a certain charge level) - the 'charging is not supported with this accessory' error appears immediately, and the phone immediately starts to lose power again, switching itself off again within a matter of minutes.
And so the cycle starts again - the phone is dead, it will accept the charger and indicate that it is charging (very slowly) until it comes back on again, at which point it rejects the charger (via the error message), runs out of power, and dies again. For every 4-5 minutes of use I get out of this phone before it dies again - I am having to charge it for hours and hours at a time; during which time the battery indicator never increases or gets beyond the red and into the green.
To confirm: when switched off - it appears to recognise the charger and will charge very, very slowly, but once switched on again - it rejects the charger and dies almost immediately due to lack of accumulated charge, regardless of charging time. The reason I explained the entire sequence of events here is that this did not just happen overnight, but rather progressively, with lots of random occurances and apparent technical contradictions along the way.
Another factor to consider is that I recently tried to charge it using the Apple USB Power Adaptors of two friends (both whilst the device was completely dead), to test whether my chargers and cables were somehow all at fault. The charger/adaptor for a new iPhone 4S did not work - but the charger for an older iPod Touch worked flawlessly, and gave me an immediate and efficient charge which lasted longer than any other, despite the limited amount of time I was able to leave it charging.
Having said that, due to the random behavior of this phone, I am uncertain whether this was simply a random occurance, or something technical relating to the charging equipment I was testing at the time.
It should also be noted that throughout this entire process - the phone will always register with iTunes when plugged into my laptop and switched on. I have had absolutely no trouble with the transferring or music or apps, or the updating of software since I got the device. Even today, where I managed to get a few minutes of 'on-time' out of the phone - it immediately registered with iTunes, despite simultaneously giving me the charging is not supported with this accessory' error, before promptly running out of power and dying again.
It will occasionally charge when connected to iTunes, but only at random and for extremely short periods of time.
If it's of any consequence, I am using a 2nd/3rd generation Macbook Pro from 2007, with a 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of RAM, running OS X 10.5.8 (Snow Leopard). Snow Leopard has only recently been installed, and when installing it - I did opt for a partial 'Time Machine' restore from a backup drive, which included key files and applications - but which did not restore my complete profile from the previous 'Leopard' OS.
Suffice to say - I am pulling my hair out here. You simply can't get by in today's world without a mobile phone, and I had only just bought this phone as a replacement for my old one. I had really come to depend on it, and would hate to think that I'd have to say goodbye to it because it required some kind of replacement part or repair that cost more than the phone itself (£65)
The only real, discernible pattern with these problems is that they continue to get worse. I've tried booking an appointment at my local 'Genius Bar' but their booking system has been down for a while, presumably due to high demand, and I also know that their policy is to try and sell you a replacement product or accessory before recommending or exploring any alternative solutions. Their policy is that they will not see you without an appointment anyway.
I have a feeling that although this may be hardware related on some level, with a potentially delicate or damaged charging port on the device itself - I've also read in many places that this is a software bug - which some of my experiences and observations would appear to confirm - especially as the phone can withstand lengthy and intensive procedures like the iTunes restore process (both in and out of recovery mode) without running out of power and dying. It seems to be getting fed enough power during these procedures, but not in any other situation - and will randomly charge in some circumstances, while not in others.
Thus far, I have tried:
- The 'Battery Doctor' App - which recognizes when the phone is charging, but doesn't alter the fact that it never seems to charge beyond about 5-10%, and has done nothing to change the fact that whilst apparently 'charging', the phone is still losing power and proceeds to die.
- A
- Cleaning the cables, adaptors and charging port with a toothbrush and some compressed air.
And still - the phone will appear to be charging when switched off (though it never seems to get beyond about 10%) and will stop charging as soon as it's switched on, leaving me with about 5 minutes of usage before I have to go through the whole process again.
Any advice whatsoever would be greatly appreciated - and again, my apologies for such a lengthy post!!
Thanking you in advance,
Adam

I have had your exact problem with my old 3GS, now I cannot even get it to turn on, I still see that it is supposed to be charging though, but it never charges any so it seems.
I replaced the Lower Dock Connector Assembly back when it still charged while hooked to my PC, and it found it made no real difference.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Y5YXLK/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&p sc=1
At this point I am not sure if I should replace the battery and hope for the best, or just junk the phone, I cannot really sell it if I cannot reset it...

IPhone 3GS "NO SERVICE" but finds carrier in network selection

I'll try and keep it brief. So my iPhone 3GS constantly says "No Service" and I don't know why. I boot it up, and it says "Searching..." for about 2 minutes, then "No Service"
For almost a month now, it would randomly go out for an hour or so. The morning of October 8th it went out for two days straight. When I woke up in the morning (Oct 10) it was connected to Bell with full bars + 3G. It was only on for about 5 hours or so, then back to no service. It's now the 13th and I'm still left with no service. I've done a full restore, I got a new SIM, I've tried putting it on airplane mode for 2 minutes and going outside, I've shut it off and turned it on somewhere else, I updated to iOS 5. I've done everything I can find online. No luck. It finds Bell, both "Bell 3G" and "Bell" Settings>General>Carrier but when I try to connect to it, it tells me "Network Lost, your selected cellular network is no longer available. You can choose a different network in Settings" for both Bell 3G and just Bell.
Apple wants me to pay 229 to send me a new one, but I can't afford it, and Bell won't give me a loaner, so I'm left without a phone. Help, please!

honestly i don't think its a apple iphone direct issue. here's what i know...i have had a no service on my 3gs randomly coming up on my phone for nearly a year now. i have done everything you've stated and still the same. i recently just went to australia and used a telstra sim card and it worked flawlessly for 2 months. i believe that bell and telus have changed their signal or something that is causing this but they will deny it to the bitter end. so...why not just buy another iphone? Exactly! thats what they want you to do! It's just a ploy to get you to buy another phone. if you can get another carrier besides these 2 crooks i think you will find it works. try buying a cheap prepaid sim card to see which carrier works best in your area before selecting a plan.

Iphone 3gs no service.

Hi everyone, I have a iPhone 3GS and I turned it off earlier and when I turned it back on it said searching then it would find service and say no service then again.. how can i fix this without restoring it? it is updated to the 5.0.1 and i have at&t.. please help! thanks!

Remove your SIM card and clean it with isopropyll alcohol, especially the metal contacts on the card. If this does not help, get a new SIM card from your Telephone Carrier.

My iphone 3gs no service, my iphone 3gs no service

Hi I have iphone 3gs ios 6.1.3 but many times it shows no service,I tried restore many time but didnt work
Can you help me?

Try taking the SIM out of the phone and putting it back in. If that does not work, try getting a new SIM from your carrier.

IPhone 3GS No Service E?

Last weekend I was left without phone use out of town because the iPhone showed No Service E. When I returned home I went to the AT&T store about this problem. I was told that the phone needs to be turned off for awhile everyday. I thought that this phone could stay on all the time. I was thinking about using this phone as my only phone, but now I don't know. Has anyone had this problem?

diesel vdub wrote:
ambarsaria wrote:
'No Service' E
That is not entirely correct.
You can determine which network you are connected to by the icons displayed on the iPhone:
If you see , you are on a 3G network.
If you see , you are on a 3G network.
If you see , you are on a GPRS network.
EDGE is not GPRS, they are both variations of GSM, but GPRS is older and slower than EDGE.
thanks for valuable information, these services are for data communication only not voice
if you dont have data enabled by your carrier you dont see "3g" "E" "G" but you still can
make voice calls with full service and signal of a GSM carrier.
Data communication services have different signal transmissions from voice transmission networks, some places you are not able to access data but voice works fine and vice versa.
'No Service' is the issue here.
"E" also refered as 'EGPRS' stands for [Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution] not needed for voice communication.
"G" stands for [General packet radio service ] not needed for voice communication
both E and G have limitations that data and voice on handset cannot be used together at same time.
"3g" stands for 'third generation' technology used for voice and data communication and can handle both voice and data at same time
so when u see 'no service' on handset that mean your phone is unable to login into
cellular network due to some reason and that network is operating on 'E' 'G' or '3G' network.
since all these service are operated by cellular network so 'turning on airplane mode' disconnects you with your gsm carrier so that during flight their networks are not distrupted and frequencies generated by phone don't distrupt Airplane communication.
turning of cellular data and 3g in phone disables searching of data communications
but voice is available and carrier is available for voice communication if their
is service logo and sufficient signal bars are avaiable and phone has successfully logged into
the carriers networks.

IPhone 3gs No Service with 3G - works ok on 2G??

Hello,
My iPhone 3GS displays the 'No Service' symbol when on 3G, but works fine with 2G.
I have swapped the sim, same thing. My sim works fine in another phone.
I have restarted, restored, reset network, everything. It all points down to a fault with the handset but the Apple store want £119 to exchange it!
Has anyone got any ideas what the fault could be and how to rectify it?
It has not been unlocked or jailbraked.
Thanks

I'm assuming that you were patient when you turned on 3G. I have a 3GS and when I first turned on 3G (Setting/General/Network Enable 3G) the display read no service for about 2 minutes before showing a signal.
Also, and I'm not sure about this, it might be necessary to have a Wi-Fi link when you 1st enable 3G as it might be the case that the phone needs to update the carrier settings.
Also, in Settings/Carrier, I think that Automatic should be ON.

IPhone 3GS no service problem

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