Hi everyone, I've just been given an iPhone 4 to replace my iPhone 3 (I know, I'm very behind the times). The iPhone 4 came from my mother, i.e. a trustworthy source, so there's nothing dodgy about the handset.
Of course I needed a new SIM, as the iPhone 4 takes the micro SIM. I received this from O2 and instigated the SIM swap, which went through several hours later. Once my old SIM went dead, the message at the top left of the screen on the iPhone 4 changed from 'No Service' to 'Invalid SIM'. However, putting the new SIM into my iPhone 3 (with the help of the larger SIM frame supplied with the new SIM - thank goodness for that) allows me to use the iPhone 3 with the new SIM. So the SIM itself appears not to be faulty and to be properly activated.
My first thought was that the phone was locked by my mother's network, but she assures me that she paid to get the phone unlocked some time ago when she moved from one supplier (Carphone Warehouse) to another (Utilities Warehouse). Now these don't look like networks/carriers to me, but she tells me it's unlocked. I've just tried another full software/firmware restore through iTunes, this time with the SIM installed, in case the problem was that I set up the phone without it. Halfway through the process, iTunes gave me this message:
The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported.
The SIM card that you currently have installed in this iPhone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. This is not a hardware issue with the iPhone. Please insert another SIM card from a supported carrier or request that this iPhone be unlocked by your carrier. Please contact Apple for more information.
Can anyone tell me definitively what this means? It says to request that my carrier unlock the phone, but does that mean the new carrier (i.e. O2) or the old - i.e. does it mean the phone has been locked by the previous carrier, or that the new carrier needs to authorise/activate it in some way. As I say, the new SIM is working in my old phone (and thank goodness for that), so it doesn't seem to be the SIM itself that is the problem.
Ideally I'd have spoken to O2 customer services, but they are impossible to get through to at the moment, and the 'live chat' help isn't available, so I've come here to ask you good folks for help. Hope you can help me!
otter
