Reports are showing that some DROID RAZR owners are experiencing SIM card issues that make the device unusable on Verizon's network. Apparently, if the RAZR is experiencing this problem an error message appears in the notification bar that reads, “SIM card authorization error” and “The SIM Card may not be authorized for LTE service. Please Power down the phone and contact Wireless Provider Customer Service.” As soon as these messages appear, the phone is tits up.
Verizon claims to be aware of the situation but no explanation has been given yet, hopefully just a SIM replacement will do the trick. I must say that of the two authors here at Talk Android who own a RAZR, neither are experiencing the problem. If you are one of the unfortunate ones, leave a message in the comments below.
[via Droid Life]
One of the unlucky ones! I hope they are able to find a solution soon. I have seen this same issue being talked about by many other RAZR MAXX owners in several different forums.
Had Razr Maxx a week, on my 2nd sim card (another issue). After some automatic updates, phone said sim card was removed (it wasn’t), wants me to log into my email accounts (I have 3). It tells me password is incorrect for all 3 (it is not). I got past the login page by using airplane mode, but cannot remove the offending email accounts (thought I could remove, then re add). I had a similar issue when I first got the phone. Added my google account ok but when I tried to add my 3 email accounts (2 gmail, 1 hotmail), it kept saying password was incorrect (it wasn’t). I tried again the next day and it worked, and added them. Very disappointed that this sim card bug seems to have been around so long and it’s still happening.
Had my phone for 24 ours and has happened twice. You’d think they would have fixed this bug by now. Very frustrating.
My card is doing the same thing. I can connect in my home fine, for the most part, but when I am out I get the network error and cannot even make a phone call. I have only had the phone 3 weeks….
Same problem here.. first 2 times I powered down and restarted which temporarily worked. Finally went to Verizon (yes the new sim card is free) & was fine for 4 days. Today I had to actually wipe the whole phone it would not let me sign back in or power down or anything. Factory reset worked for a few hours. Very irritated as I know we all are. Going to try not to lose it on someone at Verizon tomorrow. Oh… btw… the phone is now 3 weeks young. Way too soon for al these issues!
I didnt even have my razr for a week when mine hit the shitters, i would think after paying all this money for this phone it would atleast work… dissatisfying
2/22/12…I had razr for two days and these error msg justed popped up. called verizon and they asked to power the phone down. well a couple minutes after I got off phone with them the same thing happened again. So disappointed in this. Now they are telling me to go try a new sim card, but by reading everyone else posts, thats not the answer either.
Ive had the Razr since Nov, replaced the SIM card twice. What a PIA
Just happened to me!
I just got a new replacement because my first razr had an HDMI error issue. Now I’ve had this phone less than a week and at first it said no some card. Now about every 10 minutes it says no service.
1/19/2012 Same error started today. I’ve had my razr since November. They offered to replace my sim card after I called 2 times in 3 hours. It seems to be breaking ever 2 hours. I’ll write again if I have the issue with the new sim card. And yes I tried cycling the phone, temporary fix. I also tried turning off LTE, cycling, turning on LTE, cycling. Still same issue. They said the last update in the end of Nov was supposed to fix this, but obviously it didnt. We will see…
Same thing here. Just got it a month ago. Just woke up to a red x in the notification bar. Really annoying. Pay a ton of money for something and it messes up in no time..
been four days without service, called Verizon and they had me take my sim card out while they “rest” it… put it back in and nothing happened. supposed to get a new sim card on tuesday 1/10. hopefully it works… had this phone for over a month with no problems… no idea why this suddenly happened
Had to get a replacement for my razr because I broke the screen, didn’t have this problem with the original phone but all the time with the replacement, they replaced the sim card and now the phone won’t do anything! going to have to go back to verizon.
had my razr for 12 days this is the second time the messaged appeared the my phone froze then turned off and would not turn back on for about 10 minutes went to verizon store and they told me they were having 4g network problems for 2 weeks now. im taking it back tomorrow for the iphone
My razr is awesome but seems to have nothing but problems. Every day the network is down or i’m getting a new error message. Am I just being too picky? I spent a boatload on this phone and was expecting it to work better than my crappy Palm Pixie but so far, no luck.
had the razr for 3 days and it started yesterday….I have full use of phone but no 4g service
I received the error last night (12/21). After reading the comments on this board, I powercycled the razr and the msg has disappeared. I am now showing 4g LTE again. We’ll see how it goes.
I did the soft restart and it went away. Not sure how long, but it is working right now.
I got the error on my Razr today, 21 DEC. I guess I’ll have to call Verizon. Sigh.
Error showed up 15 min ago….had Razrs for 2 weeks….do I get a free similar card??
My error message showed up today. I live in Northern IL.
I’ve already had 2 cards replaced and got the error again today. I’m taking phone back tomorrow and Verizon better let me switch to another phone
I seem to get the message after the fact. I will be running around the house trying to get a signal any type 3G or 4G LTE, I show bars that I am getting signals, but just not registering. I get a screen notification “network error” on browser or “connected” app. I get frustrated put the phone down. When I come back to it the described SIM card notification has come through. After having this happen a few times yesterday, I am here trying to get more information. Glad to know that my home is not turning into a black hole; very disappointing that my phone may have serious flaw.
I am experiencing the same sim card issue and verizon switched sim card but a week later I am still having the authorization issue.
I just got the razr- 1 day later started receiving the sim card authorization error. Customer service had me remove the sim card and put it back in. Proved to be a very temporary fix- 5min later it happened again. I can still make calls and have 3G access. Just no 4G LTE.
Jusr CAme from the store. They knew nothing about it so I informed them. I asked when the motorola software update would be out and the guy made a sound like a horse. He then tried to explain how updates work. I spent the next several minutes explaing to them how updates actually work. They called me a gienus and offered me a job. I said I was over qualifed and walked out.
A soft reset got rid of the error for me. This can be done by doing a soft reset. A soft reset can be done by pressing and holding the power and volume DOWN button simultaneously for about 5-10 seconds
I just hit power off and turned it back on
LTE symbol back up no error sign
Just happened here in Des Moines, Iowa. Only had phone for 4 days too not off to a good start
Just Happened
WHAT DO I DO????
Same problem in MN. not a very good start for this phone, but i am patient……….. for now
Just happened to me. Wtf is going on?
Iowa also and same symptoms as Fourierxfrm this blows
Been getting the error on and off for about three weeks. No issues with texting, phone, or wifi and I’ve usually been able to clear the error by powering cycling the phone. Today, I think the SIM card finally gave up the ghost, so I’ll be going in to the store tonight for support.
Been getting the error on and off for about three weeks. No issues with texting, phone, or wifi and I’ve usually been able to clear the error by powering cycling the phone. Today, I think the SIM card finally gave up the ghost, so I’ll be going in to the store tonight for support.
Same here. But everything is working..calls, data. But every once in a while I will lose 3g for up to a few minutes (I don’t live in a 4g area and have it turned off)..so idk if its related but I had an issue with my last 3 bolts losing data for up to hours any tips?at a time, multiple times a day. I’ve gone thru 3 sim cards and always the same prob..
I’m in ia btw
Happened to me in NH. Live local verizon techs were useless. Changed the sim card, put the old one back in, and couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t connect. I put the new one in when I got home, up in 10 min instead of 90, witout head scratching. Still had the problem with te new card until yesterday. Now seems ok. Waiting for the other shoe,,.
happening to me here in southern indiana… verizon tech support was useless.
Happened to my girlfriend and I on both of our Razrs. Verizon said it was a 4G outage over the entire network. I powered the phone down and restarted it and the error message disappeared. Only 3G has been available since.
Yep, had the phone for a less than a week and got the message after lunch today
Had the problem since yesterday evening. I just did the hard restart, power and lower volume simultaneously, and it cleared.
Just got 4G back in Minneapolis, MN. Speed test are good again.
Happened to me, NC
On the phone with Verizon now…he is telling me their entire LTE network is down nationwide! That it is not the Razor.
Happening to me now. I was in grand rapids mi. when I first got the warning. Seven hours later and still have the red x.
I had a similar issue until 4:50 MST…now the phone has 3G connectivity again…
happened to me just now… trying to contact verizon but don’t know their number… help?
Just happened to me… Turning on and off didnt work the first time, well see if it does anything for the second
My wife and I are both experiencing the issue. Started today – St. Paul, Mn.
milwaukee, wi. no 3/4G…
Tuscaloosa, AL. Just got the error.
Central Wisconsin. The error message just came up today.
Just happened to me at 1:38PM 12/7/11
“sim error” on my razr, starting around 13:00 EST on 12/6. I’m in the Boston area. Reboot – no help. Re-seat the SIM – no help.
as of 15:00 EST 12/7/2011, still no LTE. :(
this started on Monday for me and they reset my phone and it worked. I thought it was because my new phone had shipped from Amazon, first one had a dead pixel, and that it was thinking it was supposed to be in the new phone. Well it was working fine until I put it in the new phone the next day and within a couple of minutes I get the error again. They reset it again and it worked for a bit, at least an hour, left it charging and when I picked it up again there was the sim card authorization error once more. I call and they decide to send me a new sim card, I chose to ship it instead of heading out to the store last night. It just came in and the dumb asses set me the normal sized sim instead of a micro. I call in again and they say it is a network problem when yesterday they said there was no outage and it was my phone. they said a new sim would not fix it. It does not make sense that this is a network issue if it is just the razr being affected. I got this phone for 1cent from amazon so can’t really replace it for a different phone unless i want to pay the current price. So if this is not fixed soon I am just canceling and going back to virgin mobile.
Just happened to me!
So what about the fact that we are paying for data usage that we can’t use? They told me it was a ‘nationwide’ issue. But I refuse to replace a SIM card every day to use a phone, it isn’t worth it. I will be heading back to my old phone.
It happened to me about half an hour ago. At first I had no 3 or 4g. After a reboot I still had nothing. After shutting off the phone again and unmounting and remounting the sim card, at least now I have 3g. Will definitely be going to the Verizon store soon as i can.
Just happened to me within the last hour.
haven’t had the problem until today, it happened to me three times today already. Turning the phone off and back on is the only solution right now for me. I may call Verizon, but past experiences say that they will say “we are not aware of this problem”
12-07-11 right now. This happened to me yesterday. I got the SIM replaced and the phone was fine. Today, it happened again! VZW employee told me they had a bulletin about this being a known issue. Not sure if I need to spend 45 minutes everyday at a Verizon store getting a new SIM?
I am not in a 4G LTE coverage area now (at work). Once home, I will restart the phone and see if the error clears. Also, it has been raining here the last two days and VZW service signal strength TANKS around here with it rains. Someone didn’t weather proff the connections at their cell site
This error just popped up within the last hour.
This is also happening on the 4G Xoom tablet to some users in the Northeast. Talked to VZW support and they are blaming a current LTE issue and they said it should go away soon or they would replace the SIM for free at any VZW store. We’ll see how it goes…
Started at 12:30pm EST
Edit* my razr started doing this at 12:30pm EST 12/7/2011
similar time and problem as me
I came to this site because I was looking up the error message that is now on my phone. This just started 10 minutes ago for me.
DO NOT replace your sim card, it will further disable your phone until the network is fixed! SIM error in Richmond, VA since 4:45 yesterday.