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charliegooddog · ‎08-04-2021

I have an ASUS zenphone 3 max (ZC520TL) that I recently upgraded to Android 8.1 from Android 7. Before the upgrade, everything worked fine for the last 2 years. After upgrade, everything works except the sim, it cycles from available to unavailable, and back and forth.

I tried my sim in my wife's phone and it works. I tried her sim in my phone and it cycles also.

I tried a sim from my old carrier and it is recognized as available. I purchased the phone from Staples with no service provider attachment, so it should not be locked.

I have tried hard reboot multiple time to no avail. I tried to revert to Android 7 but can not get it to change back.

Any suggestions on how to get the sim to stay available would be appreciated.

softech · ‎08-07-2021

... or give it one more chance with LineageOS? But with this phone, it's not on the official support list.. only custom roms are available..

Korth · ‎08-07-2021

@darlicious wrote:
I think the best bet for the OP is the XDA developers forum.

I agree.

I really think the best bet is to purchase a different phone.

This device is discontinued. The OEM has already "upgraded" it from Android 6.0.1 (in mid-2016) to Android 7.0 (in late-2016) to Android 8.1 (in early-2018) - but this model (along with the Asus ZenUI 3.0 software suite) is basically EOL and support was effectively abandoned by Asus once they launched their newer ZenFones.

It's also not fully radio-compatible with Public Mobile (Telus, and Bell/etc). Somewhat of a concern now, more of a concern in future years. If the phone is meant for performance then it's better to upgrade to a newer (and cheap) phone which can easily outperform it. If the phone is meant for basic use (talk, text, etc) then it's better to upgrade to a newer (and cheap) phone which won't have compatibility and reliability issues. It's already wasting time and not working, there's little sense in wasting more time while it stays not working.

https://www.gsmarena.com/asus_zenfone_3_max_zc520tl-8207.php

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-Zenfone-3-Max-ZC520TL-Smartphone-Review.189804.0.html

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/new-apps-asus-zenui-3-0-marshmallow-apps-no-root-required.3408037...

darlicious · ‎08-07-2021

@softech

I think the best bet for the OP is the XDA developers forum.

softech · ‎08-06-2021

@charliegooddog did you try to raise the question here:

English Community — ZenTalk (asus.com)

not sure how helpful are the people over there.. but try everywhere..

Also, since it has problem with Telus before.. did you try to put in non-Telus SIM and see how it goes?

softech · ‎08-06-2021

@Korth wrote:
I'll reword what I said above: Asus makes awesome hardware, Asus makes garbage firmware and software.

i do agree.. i like their routers.. but even routers.. only the high ends model have better software support. even that.. merlin still better than Asus' own firmware.

darlicious · ‎08-06-2021

@Korth

Agreed. If you want to learn something new, maybe fix your phone, maybe not, sure why not?

Or for others it's not worth the time, effort, frustration, bottle of scotch to fix a phone worth $75?

Korth · ‎08-06-2021

@darlicious wrote:
@charliegooddog
Unless you are good at this kind of thing and you are resigned to getting a new phone so you've got nothing to lose you can do all that technobabble flash driving bootloader developer guy stuff its kind of hopeless to save your phone vs it's $75 value.....maybe I can find you a deal on a new phone? Budget? Dual SIM a must have?

You don't have to be a technobabble flash driving bootloader developer guy anymore. Plenty of avid nerds have already figured everything out and done all this codemunching work for you.

You just have to be adventurous and trusting. Hope that there's no unwanted payloads in these modded packages. Hope that enough documentation and/or support are available to fix any problems you might encounter during the installation or during the lifetime of the product. You might have enough nerd savvy to check and compile the source yourself, but it's not strictly necessary unless you're a tinfoil hat. On the upside, your mileage may vary but my experience has taught that opensource devs/hackers tend to be much more responsible, responsive, intelligent, and actually helpful than the Big Branded Corporations when it comes to things like feature requests and troubleshooting and support.

https://www.cahkimia.com/2019/09/down-grade-asus-zenfone-3-max-zc520tl.html

I'll reword what I said above: Asus makes awesome hardware, Asus makes garbage firmware and software. And they never document anything with more than vague and meaningless (unsupported) promises about "increased stability, improved performance". There's no reason to trust underpaid Asus codemonkeys more than passionate opensource codemonkeys.

darlicious · ‎08-06-2021

@charliegooddog

Unless you are good at this kind of thing and you are resigned to getting a new phone so you've got nothing to lose you can do all that technobabble flash driving bootloader developer guy stuff its kind of hopeless to save your phone vs it's $75 value.....maybe I can find you a deal on a new phone? Budget? Dual SIM a must have?

charliegooddog · ‎08-06-2021

Thanks for all your suggestions, however none helped.

I am now in touch with ASUS support. If I get a helpful reply I will post it here.

charliegooddog · ‎08-06-2021

Tried that, was not recognized.

darlicious · ‎08-05-2021

@charliegooddog

Apparently the Asus zenphone released a problematic Oreo 8.1 upgrade. If your unable to currently revert back to Android 7 then give this whirl and see if it will work for your phone.(from the XDA developers forum)

I have a Motorola (Moto G5 Plus) and also had this problem. For me it occurred after 1st power down/up after update to Oreo 8.1 (from 8.0). Note that my phone has a dual sim (which I guess might be important here).

This is what worked for me

Settings → system → reset options → reset wifi, mobile, bluetooth.
Turn off the phone
remove sim
Start the phone.
Settings → network → SIM cards → enable Slot 1.
Then the screen with PIN-unlock was finally shown. I just needed to enter the PIN and it now works.

So thankfully didn't need to reset the system or even application settings. Just needed to enter my WiFi password again after all that.

softech · ‎08-04-2021

@charliegooddog how you upgraded the OS? was it push down properly when you click System update? or did your download it from somewhere and flash the update manually?? If so, I wonder if you flashed one from different region or from an incompatible carrier...

Korth · ‎08-04-2021

You might be able to get the SIM working by putting it into another SIM slot, if there is one.

You might be able to get it working by changing your network settings, select "Auto" or "Search for operator/carrier/network" and see what happens.

https://www.fonepaw.com/tips/fix-no-sim-card-inserted.html

The other usual cures are rollback to earlier (working) software version, restart about ten times, toggle airplane mode, or factory reset. The rollback ain't so big a deal, Android 7 vs Android 8.x ain't such a big difference, unless it affects compatibility with other software(s) you want to run.

You've already determined that other SIMs from other carriers work in your phone, so it's not carrier-locked.

You've already determined that your PM SIM works in other devices, so it's not an issue with your PM network, service, or account.

Your best bet is to contact Asus support - or Asus customer forums. Although of course the first thing they'll (wrongly) suggest is that you try getting support from your carrier. Since network, service, and account all appear to be working fine (in another device) there's obviously nothing the carrier can fix and nothing more the carrier can do.

You can try enabling the "hidden" dev options, booting to safe mode, clearing eMMC cache, etc. But they're all beyond the scope of this thread, you will have to google and do a fair amount of reading.

Asus has always had top tier hardware and garbage software/firmware, every device and every appliance they've ever made. You may have to resort to flashing the firmware with a factory image of the old operating system from an OEM ROM or from a generic Android7 ROM.

softech · ‎08-04-2021

is yours a dual SIM phone? If so, did you try another sim slot?

computergeek541 · ‎08-04-2021

@charliegooddog wrote:
I have an ASUS zenphone 3 max (ZC520TL) that I recently upgraded to Android 8.1 from Android 7. Before the upgrade, everything worked fine for the last 2 years. After upgrade, everything works except the sim, it cycles from available to unavailable, and back and forth.
I tried my sim in my wife's phone and it works. I tried her sim in my phone and it cycles also.
I tried a sim from my old carrier and it is recognized as available. I purchased the phone from Staples with no service provider attachment, so it should not be locked.
I have tried hard reboot multiple time to no avail. I tried to revert to Android 7 but can not get it to change back.
Any suggestions on how to get the sim to stay available would be appreciated.

This phone isn't locked. As you have already determined, the issue appears to be with your phone and/or phone's software. II would suggest contacting Asus support for advice. Official Support | ASUS Canada

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sim not recognised aftr Android upgrade to 8.1