PIXEL 6 keeps losing ability to detect SIM/SIM disconnection

PPpoo · 2 Feb

I don't know if you guys changed anything regarding sims in the recent updates, because since 1-2 weeks ago, my phone has been completely disconnecting from my PHYSICAL sim. This isnt an issue of being in the wrong location or having a damaged sim card or whatever– I could be literally where I've always been for years, and my phone will suddenly lose signal. Perhaps even saying it loses its signal is a wrong way to describe it, as the sim itself visibility from the phone. It literally disappears from the sim selection menu. Can the devs clarify if they changed any sim setting recently, and if there are any fixes?

I've tried basically everything. Clicking on the circular reset network button on the wifi page used to work immediately to resolve the issue. Now, it can go multiple resets without fixing anything. Turning airplane mode on/off does nothing. Resetting mobile/cellular settings under reset options does nothing either. Restarting the pixel used to fix it immediately, but now it also takes some time before the sim gets recognized. The sim isnt damaged, the carrier is fine– it works on my older phone. Its just mind boggling that this suddenly started happening. No, I have not downloaded any malware, all apps are safe.

Anyone faced this problem before? How did you fix it? What a shame that this is pushing me away from graphene os towards stock android; I NEED service at all times to remain contactable 24/7.

Thanks.

r134a · 2 Feb

If this issue was caused by GrapheneOS, i imagine there would be plenty reports of several users. What makes u certain the OS in this case is the issue?

Did u try to revert back to stock os and consequently rule out this issue occuring on stock aswell?

Did u try another sim, and observed that issue aswell? Did u try your current sim in another phone?

This could very well be a hardware issue either with your phone or, though unlikely, an issue with the physical simcard itself.

If u didn't test above scenario's, since u mentioned it will push u back towards stock android, can u please report back here then if the issue still occurs?

Dde0u · 2 Feb

Ppoo Gently polishing the contacts on the SIM card with a pencil eraser might help. Trying a different SIM card might be diagnostic, including trying an eSIM.

Something like this that gets gradually worse over time is consistent with a hardware failure. In this case it might be just the SIM contacts going bad.

PPpoo · 2 Feb

r134a Tried current sim in older phone, works no issue. Speaking of which, while typing out this reply my phone disconnected again

PPpoo · 2 Feb

r134a what in the hardware could be damaged though. I dont drop my phone much and it hasnt had water damage before

PPpoo · 2 Feb

r134a i havent reverted yet because thats the last resort as all my data is in this current os

PPpoo · 2 Feb

de0u What part of the hardware do you think is damaged?

PPpoo · 2 Feb

de0u oh and when this sim system failure happens, my esim wont work as well. Not that it stops being recognizable/discoverable, because it will still be under the list of sims for some reason, but it completely loses its ability to receive signal and connect to cellular data. Wifi still works through all this though.

PPpoo · 2 Feb

de0u ive tried researching the term "sim contact", but came up with no relevant results as they all refer to contact numbers saved under a sim card, which I assume is not what youre referring to. May I know what exactly it is and where you can find it/fix it?

r134a · 2 Feb

Ppoo if u tested this in another phone, i assume over an extended period of time without the issue occuring, the sim 'going bad' could probably be ruled out.

Hardware failure is not necessarily dependent on water- or falldamage, it is even possible that in this particular scenario there's a small ‘gap’ between the sim tray and the ‘reader’, resulting in the behavior u describe, just to give an example.

There are probably tons more possibilities from a hardware perspective on why this could be occuring though.

In your case, my next step would be trying another sim over an extended period of time.

r134a · 2 Feb

Ppoo i assume with contacts he means the gold-plated physical contacts on the back of the simcard.

PPpoo · 2 Feb

r134a How do "gaps" between the sim tray and sim reader happen?

Also I find it a bit hard to believe this is a hardwarw issue and not an os glitch/graphene issue. If it was just a hardware issue, my esim wouldnt be facing the same problem but alas. The esim also disconnects when the phtsical sim disconnects, just that it still remains visible in settings.

r134a · 2 Feb

Ppoo Also I find it a bit hard to believe this is a hardwarw issue and not an os glitch/graphene issue

I gave u my opinion on how to either confim that or rule that out, what we believe has little value. Not to be rude, but until then i don't have much to add to this discussion.

Dde0u · 2 Feb

Ppoo Tried current sim in older phone, works no issue.

That is useful information, but it does not rule out the same problems what would be ruled out by trying a different SIM card in your phone.

Dde0u · 2 Feb

Ppoo Also I find it a bit hard to believe this is a hardwarw issue and not an os glitch/graphene issue.

I believe the GrapheneOS project has estimated having more than 250,000 users. If some bad thing happens to 1% of hardware running GrapheneOS in a given year, that bad thing will happen to 2,500 users in the year, or 200 per month. So far the description sounds very much like a hardware problem.

The problem could be software! But if it were a software problem in GrapheneOS and it were due to a recent update and it were even vaguely common there would be at least 10 reports on this forum. Just take a look at how many people posted about the Revolut Finance issue, or the Bluetooth crashes from (I think?) last spring.

At present it's hard to tell whether what you're experiencing is a gradual hardware failure or a software problem. Unfortunately, the way to conclusively show it's a software problem would be to replace the software. Perhaps a factory reset might do it, or re-flashing GrapheneOS, or flashing the device back to Google's stock OS. If one of those steps permanently solves the problem (as opposed to solving it for a day or two) then it's plausible that the problem was due to a software issue.