Unlocked LG V20 LS997 (Sprint model): "Service Desactivated"/"No service" error

[Nazrinn]

Hi there Public Mobile community.

I have a phone I love a lot, but a few days ago, its network capabilities stopped working for an unknown reason and I've been since trying to find a fix with no avail. Here are some details about my phone:

Model: LG V20 LS997
Status: Unlocked/Used

For how long have you been using the phone: about a year. 

Other comments: I have been with Virgin Mobile and Public Mobile as carriers on this phone with no problem at all in the past.

What happened:

1. A few days ago, I wake up discovering some of my photos in my phone disappeared. I try to restore them.
2. One of the way to troubleshoot the problem was to enable airplane mode, which I did, then deactivated it.
3. Wifi and Bluetooth came back, but I now have the "serice disabled" error on my lockscreen, and a cross appear above my empty network bars in the notification bar at the top of my phone. My network options are greyed out in my settings and are unaccessible.
   
   

What fix I tried:

• Restarted my phone.
• Boot my phone in safe mode.
• Reinsert my SIM card into my phone (My phone seems to dected there is a SIM card present).
• Test Public Mobile SIM card in another phone (it worked great).
• Reset network settings
• Try to access network setting via the secret menu (the menu didn't open).
• Try to change the network type by bypassing my phone access to network options (even though I selected an option, my phone wouldn't apply the change).
• Try to manually set my network provider by bypassing my phone access to network options (When saving, the network provider didn't apply).
• Factory reset my phone.

So far, none of those fix worked, after days of research and googling.

I'm a bit perplexed, as my phone worked really well until now, and I don't know what could cause my problem, and how I could "reenable" my phone services. My phone just doesn't seem to want to even connect to radio towers at all.

Any help would be appreciated.

My last resort would be to just buy a new phone.

Thank you.

[computergeek541]

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@Nazrinn wrote:

@geopublic @popping 

Turns out you were both right. I went to the repair shop and turns out the repair guy found hardware damage under the hood. The motherboard is toasted (just enough so my phone can still work but have no network).

I have ordered a new phone since. Thank you for you help!

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That can be upsetting that you needed to buy a new phone, but at least you figured it out. For future reference, please only assign solutions to other people. I've changed the solution from your post and given it to the first person in this thread to suggest a problem with the device.

[AE_Collector]

@Nazrinn 

I just want to say what a pleasure it is to read a topic where you gave such complete detailed info in your first post and then without the need for endless questions trying to get simple answers, the experts here were able to go right to work with high quality recommendations for you. Only unfortunate part was that in the end your phone was toast! Oh well.....

AE_Collector

[Nazrinn]

@geopublic @popping 

Turns out you were both right. I went to the repair shop and turns out the repair guy found hardware damage under the hood. The motherboard is toasted (just enough so my phone can still work but have no network).

I have ordered a new phone since. Thank you for you help!

[geopublic]

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@Nazrinn wrote:

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@geopublic wrote:

@Nazrinn  If a factory reset did not fix your phone then it's more than likely a hardware issue. Check to see if that phone has a diagnostic mode menu that will perform hardware related checks.

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@geopublic 

I found a thread some time go saying the antenna in my phone might be corroded/disconnected. That would be a heck of a coincidence, but I should check that out before proceeding further just in case.

I'll update when I can.

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@Nazrinn  Did you try the following? You must enable developer mode on your phone first.

I was able to contact Em_Will_I_Am and they helped me out. I think an unlock code was sent again. I also did a couple of things that I think finally allowed the unlock code to come through. I went into developer mode and turned on Enable OEM unlock and then powered off. Then I powered back on while holding the power button and volume down. When the menu came up I chose Wipe Cache Partition. Then when I rebooted it came up and recognized the SIM again and so far all is good. Thanks again to Em_Will_I_Am on the Sprint community forums for all the help.

Edit: So it appears anytime that phone takes an update it gets locked to Spint and needs to be unlocked again for it to work!.What a pain!!

[popping]

@Nazrinn 

Is there any difference if you are outside near a Bell or Teus tower?

[Nazrinn]

Hi @GinYVR.

I tried to check in the US for my IMEI status, but https://imei24.com doesn't seem to have any result for it.

Thank you for your input though.

[GinYVR]

@NazrinnI would suggest you look into a US blacklist to check, as devicecheck.ca might have old data, since it just pull data from different tables. If your device has been black listed in the States, you won't be able to use it in North America.

I have a Sprint iPhone which I use when I am in the States, the SIM card slot is only supposed for when I am out of Sprint's coverage eg Europe and use the local SIM for that purpose. Your phone might have the a simliar constraint.

[Nazrinn]

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Edit: restart your phone using ##72786# to reset network settings.

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@geopublic 

No luck. =/

[Nazrinn]

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@geopublic wrote:

@Nazrinn  If a factory reset did not fix your phone then it's more than likely a hardware issue. Check to see if that phone has a diagnostic mode menu that will perform hardware related checks.

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@geopublic 

I found a thread some time go saying the antenna in my phone might be corroded/disconnected. That would be a heck of a coincidence, but I should check that out before proceeding further just in case.

I'll update when I can.

[Nazrinn]

 @Dunkman 

Unfortunately my system is up to date.
It would surprise me if my phone would be under guarantee, but I guess I could contact LG to know what's up. I haven't done that yet.

[Nazrinn]

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@GinYVR wrote:

@NazrinnHave you checked with Sprint that it has not been blacklisted?

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@GinYVR
Not with Sprint, I checked with the Canadian blacklist, however.

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Just checked on Sprint network. The "status" section is blank, so I don't know wether or not it is unlocked.
http://eimei24.com/report/5b91a9bc07c6d5ffe2bbb2062ce24cdf/

[geopublic]

@Nazrinn  Maybe this might help:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/v20/help/lg-v20-ls997-successfully-unlocked-oreo-t3835061

Edit: restart your phone using ##72786# to reset network settings.

[computergeek541]

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@GinYVR wrote:

@NazrinnHave you checked with Sprint that it has not been blacklisted?

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@Nazrinn 

Along these lines, I would also check the Canadian national black list. Sometimes, carriers block usage of a device within that carriern not univesially, so ir be blacklisted at Sprint wouldn't always mean that it's blacklisted everwhere.  Check at devicecheck.ca.

[geopublic]

@Nazrinn  If a factory reset did not fix your phone then it's more than likely a hardware issue. Check to see if that phone has a diagnostic mode menu that will perform hardware related checks.

Another possiblity might be that the phone somehow got locked but I doubt it.

Time for a new phone. ☹️

[Dunkman]

@Nazrinn 

Another idea to try:  if possible, update your android operating system.  

Is your phone still under waranty?  Maybe contact LG for advice also....

[popping · Accepted solution]

@Nazrinn 

Try a SIM card from another provider.

If it failed to communicate with a cell tower, it is time to look for anther phone.  You have done the factory reset which proved that the problem is not software and is hardware.

[GinYVR]

@NazrinnHave you checked with Sprint that it has not been blacklisted?