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Repair information and guides for the fifth generation of iPhone. Model: A1387

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iPhone 4S keeps searching after screen replacement

I recently replaced my iPhone 4S front screen. Now it keeps saying "searching" when I start the phone up. Removing the sim card doesn't make any difference, but I noticed that the iPhone didn't ask for code when I replace sim card.

Please help me!

Janson

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4 Comments

Any ideas what will fix this? I have the same problem. Always 'Searching...' never shows NO SIM. The phoning did not work, nor did the WLAN input. Any advice will be appreciated.

by

did you try to reset by holding power and home?

by

Go to settings, tap cellular and on the cellular data, enable 3g and the data roaming after that remove the sim card and put it back.

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very thans indeed

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38 Answers

Chosen Solution

change the antenna, i had the same Problem... now its working again!

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5 Comments:

Did your phone also showed Searching without a simcard?

by

it work very good but i conect yo itunes so it understund the time

by

Mark, I tried both, Automatically and

manually followed by removing and

inserting sim card. Still nothing.. any

other suggestions? Isn't it weird that

even without a sim card inserted the

phone is still "searching" instead of

"no Sim"?

by

reset all setting problem will be solved

by

set time manually... on and off Airplane mode ... it will work..... if not update your phone using itunes

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Most Helpful Answer

Hi Jason,

this is a date/time error. Join your WLan with the iPhone or manually set the date/time. Remove the sim card and put it back into the phone. Now you can enter the sim-code.

Mark

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15 Comments:

Mark,

I tried both, Automatically and manually followed by removing and inserting sim card. Still nothing..

any other suggestions?

Isn't it weird that even without a sim card inserted the phone is still "searching" instead of "no Sim"?

Thnx for the reply!

by

Reset date and time, I have solved whit the suggestion of Mark ;)

by

reset time fix my problem : nice !!!!

by

My friend connect with wifi and let your iphone synch its time and date settings

then turn on flight mode and turn back off

then your iphone will ask for simlock...

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i went to settings, general, date and time and as mentioned and turned off set automatic. then i choose set date and time below. i thought the time was fine but actually it was about 50 years behind. i.e only the year had changed. set it correctly, did the airplane mode thing and it worked. couldn't believe it as i'd just taken the phone apart.

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Here are some troubleshooting tricks to try:

1.)Call the phone

2.) Make an outgoing call from the phone

3.) Set date/time

4.) Remove your sim card and try using the phone with a different sim card.

5.) Put your sim card in someone else's phone.

6.) Reset the phone, letting it "reboot" for 10 minutes.

Thankfully the IOS 6.0.1 that has just came out, hopfully that has fixed the bug

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Finally a thread about this problem. It really started with iOS 6.0 and 6.01 didn't fix it. I assume it happens as soon as you disconnect the battery from the logic board which is essential for every kind of repair ;)

thanks sarah for the different fixes. I found calling the phone works great in most cases iPhone 3gs-4 but it seems to be more severe on the iphone 4s. i will try out the rest of your suggestions now. will let you know what worked on this 4s I have here right now.

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Haha! Basically waiting 10 minutes did it. (the time it took me to search for a solution and post the previous post)

What I also found out to work sometimes is to just connect a power cable.

So the list of things we can do to fix it is quite long now. Going to print it out and stick it to my head eeermm.. wall ;)

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Hello Guy's

It is very simple issue.only two steps to solve this issue.

Step 1: After your repair works or battery replacement switch on your mobile with SIM,

then go to Settings -> General -> Date & Time ->Set Date & Time then set

your local date & time manually.

Step 2: Go to Settings -> Airplane Mode then on and off one time.

100% it will work Try it ;)

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Plug the device in without the sim card, and go to Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset All Network Settings.

Let the device reboot, and once complete and no sim is displayed, you can put your sim card back in and all should be fine.

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Do you have the new IOS6 update???

If so, just use another phone to call your mobile. Not sure why this works but i haved now repaired 6 4s with this new update and after i repaired them they all had the searching come up, now i just call the number and it kinda like resets the reception.

hope this helps

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Sarah,

Yes I have installed IOS6. tried to call myself with another phone but it says the number is not activated. It works fine in my old Nokia though.

any other suggestions?

Isn't it weird that even without a sim card inserted the phone is still "searching" instead of "no Sim"?

Thnx for the reply

by

Many thanks Sarah!

Date/Time were ok.

I had tried connecting with iTunes on my Mac, replacing with other sim, all without success.

Was getting nervous :(

Then I tried calling out as you suggested => SIM LOCKED => 0000/Unlock => Call out again => the network showed and the problem was fixed! :)

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I had to look this up for a friends phone 'searching' had suspected the antenna had ben unplugged but it was on OK. I noticed time was not changing.

phone had already been left alone for more than 10 mins

I tried Reinsert sim = nothing

I tried reset = nothing

I tried plug it in = nothing

I tried calling out = nothing

i tried calling the phone = nothing

I turned on Wi-Fi & connected = time change instantly, then the searching changed to the network & full signal.

:-) thanks to the others that help on here. you are legends

Aaron

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Chandu, try reset the network settings with sim ejected and wait till phone says no sim then insert again. Usually that should fix the issues if it has a sim pin also.

If stuck in iTunes, do you know if it is displaying the baseband information etc? Or is that blank? If it's blank, the only thing I could suggest is to restore the device once more, otherwise try a reflow of the chip itself if your comfortable with the idea, or get someone who you trust with electronics to do for you.

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i have an iPhone 5 that had the same problem after I changed the screen, it keeps searching even when I remove the simcard.. and wifi keep's telling me that the password is wrong even if it's not or open

so what I did : Settings > General > Reset > Reset all settings (The first one) !

The cellular network worked! but not the wifi!! so I tried restoring it with iTunes !! It worked!

Everything is fine!! Try this method before getting it to the Apple store

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It could be i0S6 but check to see if you have a blue coil (it is an inductor). Look into it, its commonly damaged during in iphone 4 gsm repairs (note that the location of the coil differs on the 4s). You can mail it in to this service for $60. (never used it)

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On my 4Gs after replacing the battery, was getting this searching error. Putting the date/time on manual, and then doing a full power off / power on and then turning the date/time back to automatic, fixed the problem.

Note: I was still able to get and make calls while the phone was saying searching.

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Had the same issue this week - put it into and out of airplane mode and it promptly hooked right up to the carrier.

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You guys making it so hard! Easiest way after replecement of screen you commect to wi-fi. Time and date will set. Put out and in sim-card. Done! Hope it helps!

Alex

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what i do is to connect to wifi before repair and then turn it of because then it will to it at the same time as you turn it on :)

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Just connect the antenna cable... Im pretty sure it is not well connected..

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I`ll tell you what, when you tried to get the battery out from the phone you probably break the little antenna which is next to battery cable, when u open the board you can see 2 of them next to each other, one of them probably broken, i am afraid you need to take it to apple store otherwise no point to waste your time here, thanks

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Time then airplane work straight away thanks a lot (y)

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if the antenna plug is in and all this has so far failed go into flight mode and out of it again.

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I've double checked the antenna and it's seems to be fine. Can't find any damage on it and also checked that it is connected. Tried several times to go into flight mode and out, but still it says searching.

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go to settings /general/reset/reset network settings : works 80% percent of the time

if not

connect it to the computer : and do a restore on it!!

20% of the times it fixes the problem just by connecting it to the computer///

good luck

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my 4s have simullar problem but non of this things works the motherboard is okey 100% my cousin see it because he works with phones but he never saw something like this even try with new antena .. have the same problem try to flash the software of the phone but also the same problem .. i have done almost everything reseting all settings and networks even on itunes but nothing helps .. if anyone know what could be the major problem please tell me :)

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but this problem happend when i update my iphone from ios 5.1.1 to ios 7.0.4 because now is neverlocked before i was using it with x-sim

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hey guys I changed the screen and got the exact same problem!! I put in the sim card turned on the phone then went into setting manually set back the date and time (and yes it was 1970's) then i turned on air plane mode and tuned it back off and BOOM!!!!! It started working!!! Thanks peeps.

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ho lo stesso problema,dopo aver sostituito il touch screen il telefono funziona in tutto tranne che non accetta la sim e da sempre in cerca,,proverò i vostri suggerimenti

grazie

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Hi all had same problem with iPhone 4S Vodafone

Which I previous jail broken if u have this problem remove sim card during it saying searching and wait go into your settings and change date time to manual and then automatic leave for few minutes turn phone off and back on once SIM card say not inserted then insert SIM card it will take around 30 seconds then will connect I had to delete Sam and ultra snow if jail broken as this bounces signal so easier if they are removed thank you all as this helped me

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thnks mark,i was having de same problem and ur tips solved my problem.

xiirey

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do not work mark

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connect to wifi and after connecting to wifi restart your iphone 3 times. YOU MUST BE CONNECTED TO WIFI. thank me later

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dumbest advise ever

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Hi there, need your help guys. After huge iPhone 4S crash I changed LCD, main frame and back cover. Problem is that while 3G and cellurar is on network seems ok, but then I turned off cellular and 3G iPhone just shows that searching at that is it. I try change GSM antena but still same. Any ideas how I can sold out this problem? Thx in advance.

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put on flight mode ..reset time and date put in sim and turned off flight mode and was grand !!

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have same problem iphone 4s got it unlocked no service have tried everything on every site with various sim cards restored several times network restore everything still no service any ideas

Update

have tried date time thing but my date and time never need changed so don't get it

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Hi,

I have the similar problem. I tried to replace the home button by following ifixit procedure and after replacing the home button and connecting things back in place and restarting i observed that its not detecting the SIM well :(. It took some 10days to figure it out.

So, for checking the sim issue, initially i didnt remove battery and had display power on.

Removed the back plate and I tried to press few things on back and see if there is a sim detection. I tried to see if i have any loose screws but all are fine.

I tried setting the date and time to latest and still saw the issue. The blue inductor near the battery connector is fine. So, i am looking what else can be done.

While trying this, I tried pressing the motherboard with little pressure and i see that sim doesnt get detected. When i release it tries to detect and fails showing NO SIM again. Then i tried to loose the screw at middle of mother board Step 16 and Step 8 i started seeing that sim got detected and phone is trying to acquire signal. So, it seems if we clamp the motherboard tightly the issue is occuring. I managed to fix the screw in such a position so that my sim gets detected and finally i closed the panel.

After few days, i was needed to change the sim and when i inserted another sim, i see that that sim is not geting detected. Same problem again!!. I tried with some other sim, again that too is not getting detected. But if i keep my old sim, its able to detect.

I tried to tight/loosen the screws again for the new sim. Now it works for new sim but not for old sim. I tried some 10-20 times loosing one screw, tightening other. But one is matching for one sim and not for other sims.

I got frustrated but one fine day again, i sat to try repairing again. But i already knew my problem is due to screws and pressure on mother board. So, i thought i will keep something below the mother board so that it wont get pressed. I removed almost al the screws, battery and speaker etc. I took small peices of papers, folded them so that they will have some width and inserted behind the sim tray, under mother board. Now mother board is little higher than base. I have reconnected all the screws, not too tight though and placed the back panel and after switching on the phone, i need to set date and time since its got lost whle removing battery, and then i see that the new sim got detected. Hurray!!.. I tried with one other sim, it got detected. I tried with old sim it got detected :) :).

I am not sure why on applying pressure on mother board or tightening the screws is causing the phone to not detect the sim. I am not sure if due to papers behind the sim tray helped me or due to screw loosing, but the reason for sure is some interference with inductor or what ever. May be you can try the same procedure and see if that can help.

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my iPhone doesn't even say no sim just searching ???

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I worked through every solution.

My fix was to make sure that the antenna cable is actually connected, it may appear to be slotted/clipped in. But it's probably not.

Check and double check your antenna is plugged in. This caused me a lot of trouble!

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my iphone is just saying searching ios 7 iphone 4s i tried all the the things shown in the above comments????

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1 Comment:

Did you try upgrading to IOS 8?

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Does upgrading the OS resolve this issue?

I am using iphone 4S with same problem... "Searching.." all the time and I read this page. and did that time and date setting thing. There is a betterment. I.E "No sim" is being displayed if there is no sim in sim tray.( Earlier it just showed "Searching.." ) but still it still it's displaying "Searching.." when sim is inserted back. so if I install IOS 8 does my mobile get back to working?

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date and time auto set w/ loc services turned on, after the process... restart phone :)

%#*@' I was shaking before i read all of this, now Im happy.. thanks guys! btw, I got IOS 8.2 (iphone 4s)

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Its a time date issue, I used the wifi to set the time and date and it worked fine for me .

But if you made errors when removing the phones motherboard, you might be having a hardware issue. Try first to check if the time and is set at 1970 if it is, then u get the constant searching problem.

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its my iphone 4s showing searching rarely it shows 1 or 2 points of signal and retains its normal position.

tried resoting , flightmode and many more but of no use...

please help me...!

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just replaced the screen on a verizon iphone 4s, now the phone is searching and then no service, dial out got dial fail. try setting correct time and date, no dice. blue coil looks ok, did reset network, reset all content, nothing worked.

any other ideas to help me?

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hey guys i just had this issue happen to me and was reading all of the comments. I have already fixed the problem. First like many are saying make sure antenna is connected correctly( use your thumb). Second Put an active sim card in the phone and let it sit. Wait for about 10-15mins. Then take the sim card out, and the phone should say NO SIM. After that insert the sim card wait a few seconds( might take minutes) then phone will start working. Again this method worked for me. Also the phone i was fixing had a code on it which I didn't know. So this method worked even without going into the phone. Thanks everyone. Hope this helps!!

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smr11 will be eternally grateful.
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