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> Lost network connection - please help
GRNDSM
post Aug 25 2005, 07:34 PM
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Phone: MPx200
Carrier: AT&T Wireless/Cingular



I am one of those “dumb users” of this “smart phone”… For one reason or another, I never used any of the smart features of my MPX200. So it served as a mediocre regular phone for ~16 months now. Everything was fine until two days ago when all of the sudden the phone started acting as if it lost communication with the network.

It appears to be 100% functional, I get the usual 1-3 bar signal indicator, I can select a number from the address book (or dial it manually), but I get the same message:

“Unable to complete the call as dialed. Verify the number and try again”

Cingular customer service, who acts as a buffer between the customer and tech support, gave up, saying that “it must be a software problem and we can’t help you with it”.

Does anyone have any idea as to what might have gone wrong with the phone? I haven't tried Motorolla's tech support yet. Are they of any use?

Since this problem, I have done a decent amount of reading about this phone. And if I do get it back on line, I just might look into upgrading its firmware and use it the way that it was meant to be used. But until then, I just need it to make call again biggrin.gif .

Thanks!
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smeg36
post Aug 25 2005, 07:45 PM
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Phone: HTC Touch
Carrier: Sprint/Nextel



That is odd. There are a few basic things that could be causing the problem, and some solutions to them.

1. Cingular changed your area to the 850Mhz band. This one isn't likely, or they would have told you about it when you called. If they did, you would just have to get a new phone. Nothing on the MPx200 could be fixed to allow you to use the 850Mhz band.

2. Some odd software interferance. Try a power cycle (I'm sure you already did, but try anyway). Turn the phone off, then back on. If that doesn't help, you may need to hard reset. Hard resetting will erase all data on the phone, so I recommend getting Sprite Backup to make a backup of everything on it that you can restore from. With the phone powered off and unplugged, hold down the blue action key and the power key for a couple seconds. When the message asks if you want to Master Reset, choose yes.

3. If that doesn't work, it could be a hardware problem. If this is the case, the solution is the same as number 1. You would have to get a new phone.

Anyway, try the power cycle and hard reset. If neither of those work, we can go from there.


--------------------
Phone: Sprint Touch Pro
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elviaitalia
post Aug 25 2005, 07:46 PM
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QUOTE (GRNDSM @ Aug 25 2005, 08:34 PM)
Everything was fine until two days ago when all of the sudden the phone started acting as if it lost communication with the network.

It appears to be 100% functional, I get the usual 1-3 bar signal indicator, I can select a number from the address book (or dial it manually), but I get the same message:

“Unable to complete the call as dialed. Verify the number and try again”

*


I do not live in the US so I do not know anything about how the local carriers work, this post may consequently be totally useless but, the message you get when trying to place a call sounds like the one I got when:

- I had no more credit left on my prepaid Sim
- The Sim itself had gone haywire and would no longer allow me to make/receive calls.

Other than that I do not see any software/hardware-related reason that could lead your phone to such peculiar behavior...

The only thing I can suggest right away is to try and check the two above options (have you got credit? Is your Sim working?) and, if the answers should be yes in both cases, then just perform a hard reset (press blue action button and power button simultaneously and press "yes" when the phone asks you if you wish to erase all data on the phone).

Once you're done see how it goes and eventually post back with results.

HTH

Lorenzo
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smeg36
post Aug 25 2005, 07:50 PM
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That reminds me of one other problem that could be causing this. The SIM tabs that hold the card down could be broken. This was a common problem with the MPx200. Look under you battery, and see if the two black tabs across from the silver slider that hold your SIM down are there. If there aren't two little black tabs holding down the SIM, they probably broke off. You can fix this by putting a small piece of paper between the SIM and battery to hold it down, keeping contact with the phone.


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gsmnutt
post Aug 25 2005, 08:03 PM
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Smeg36 has a good point. I had the same problem... Phone would keep doing stupid things like stop recieving callls and stop making calls. In my case, it was the tabs. The paper didn't work for me (still had wierd problems) so I kinda monkied up a new way to secure the SIM in the phone and I haven't had a single problem like that since. The MPX200 seems to be VERY picky about good SIM contact so this could very well be your problem. If the tabs are OK, then I would take the SIM card out and clean both the phone's SIM contacts and the SIM card iteself and then reboot the phone. Hope this fixes!
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GRNDSM
post Aug 25 2005, 08:37 PM
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QUOTE (smeg36 @ Aug 25 2005, 03:50 PM)
That reminds me of one other problem that could be causing this.  The SIM tabs that hold the card down could be broken. 
*


Well, for a second, I thought that we had a winner… The black tabs holding in the SIM in place were, in fact, broken. But no amount of paper spacers would rectify the problem. I still get the same message when I try dialing.

Other things to point out:

Status indicator on the home screen is showing: “Searching…”

Telephony>Networks>Current Network: “No Service”
Telephony>Networks>Network Selection: “Automatic”

I have two choices for networks: AT&T and T-Mobile, neither works

Another oddity: I am getting 4 bars signal indicator on the Home Screen and no bars on the outer LCD screen. That has not happened before, they were always in sink with each other.

Lorenzo,

This is a monthly payment account (~16 month of 24 months contract), which is in good standings with the carrier (everything is current). Besides, I am sure that their customer service would have promptly pointed out if I failed to pay them smile.gif.
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elviaitalia
post Aug 25 2005, 08:46 PM
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Phone: MPx200
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QUOTE (GRNDSM @ Aug 25 2005, 09:37 PM)
Well, for a second, I thought that we had a winner… The black tabs holding in the SIM in place were, in fact, broken.  But no amount of paper spacers would rectify the problem.  I still get the same message when I try dialing.

Other things to point out:

Status indicator on the home screen is showing: “Searching…”

Telephony>Networks>Current Network: “No Service”
Telephony>Networks>Network Selection: “Automatic”

I have two choices for networks: AT&T and T-Mobile, neither works

Another oddity: I am getting 4 bars signal indicator on the Home Screen and no bars on the outer LCD screen.  That has not happened before, they were always in sink with each other.

Lorenzo,

This is a monthly payment account (~16 month of 24 months contract), which is in good standings with the carrier (everything is current).  Besides, I am sure that their customer service would have promptly pointed out if I failed to pay them smile.gif.
*


This and the fact that you get two contradictory messages from the internal and external indicators prove - according to me - that what I wrote in my previous post is wrong: There effectively is something weird with your phone as such behavior indicates a problem that is directly tied to your software/hardware and not to a carrier-related problem.

That said I am clueless blink.gif All I can do is repeat the usual advice: Try a hard reset and if that doesn't change things then apply for Motorola's customer care. They perhaps will be able to sort things out.

HTH

Lorenzo

This post has been edited by elviaitalia: Aug 25 2005, 08:47 PM
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gsmnutt
post Aug 25 2005, 08:55 PM
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QUOTE (GRNDSM @ Aug 25 2005, 03:37 PM)
Well, for a second, I thought that we had a winner… The black tabs holding in the SIM in place were, in fact, broken.  But no amount of paper spacers would rectify the problem.  I still get the same message when I try dialing.

Other things to point out:

Status indicator on the home screen is showing: “Searching…”

Telephony>Networks>Current Network: “No Service”
Telephony>Networks>Network Selection: “Automatic”

I have two choices for networks: AT&T and T-Mobile, neither works

Another oddity: I am getting 4 bars signal indicator on the Home Screen and no bars on the outer LCD screen.  That has not happened before, they were always in sink with each other.

Lorenzo,

This is a monthly payment account (~16 month of 24 months contract), which is in good standings with the carrier (everything is current).  Besides, I am sure that their customer service would have promptly pointed out if I failed to pay them smile.gif.
*


Sounds like you are going through EXACTLY what I was. I thought my radio firmware was messed up or that my carrier was blocking my phone. It took me literally months before I figured out that paper spacers don't always hold the SIM down best. If I were you, I would try alternatives to the paper. If you still can't get it to work, I will post some pictures of how I fixed mine. The reason I'm not posting it now is because it involves me disassembling the phone and writing a detailed description and uploading pictures. The method I used requires opening the phone (needs tiny torx screwdriver), a tiny piece of CAT5 networking wire, a spare SIM card (recommended as the first try could damage it if you're not careful), a wad of paper, and some pliers (preferably needle nose). If you have no luck on your own, I will disassemble my phone again and take step-by-step photos and post them here. Good luck!

This post has been edited by gsmnutt: Aug 25 2005, 08:58 PM
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GRNDSM
post Aug 25 2005, 09:13 PM
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Joined: 25-August 05
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Phone: MPx200
Carrier: AT&T Wireless/Cingular



gsmnutt,

Thanks a lot for your advise, no need for you to disassemble your phone, I will try again to do a more solid repair.

I will say that this gives credit to the idea that the guy at the store proposed, he thought that my SIM card might have gone bad (he said that he sees it, but very rarely).
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