No mobile data in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

I recently ran out of credit on my prepaid SIM and it took me a few days to get around topping up. Meanwhile, I lost the mobile data connection. When out of a known WiFi area, the network icon was grey with a star.

So far so good.

But when I topped up, I did not get my data back, only voice and text. For three days. Switching to offline mode and back did not help, nor did restarting network in Utilities or even a reboot. The only thing that helped was a power cycle. Only then did I get a SIM card PIN prompt again and, presumably, a new registration with my provider.

Is this a known issue? To be honest, the lack of the SIM PIN prompt after going offline and on again is unsettling enough (although observed on the N900 too, perhaps another Nokia leftover), no network recovery for days after the condition that caused losing it had disappeared is downright criminal.

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

I got this a while ago on EE (UK too). After running out of data, everything stopped working. Didn't realise data was out, assumed some network stack catastrophe so power cycled. Then after reboot all web traffic was being redirected to my account management page; I started a new weekly pack via text (more difficult/impossible via web), but then even after a wait and confirmation texts web traffic was still being redirected. Something somewhere was caching something or not re-registering. Ended up power cycling again too. Frustrating.

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

To be clear, I do not blame the provider (Three in my case), although I agree they could have handled it better. Your case was much worse.

I blame Sailfish for not providing any way of re-registering the SIM other than through a power cycle. My previous phone (running Palm OS) always asked for the SIM PIN every time I went offline and on again. It gave me the warm fuzzy feeling (maybe wrong, who knows) that offline really meant offline, with the GSM modem switched off.

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

I would expect that it depends on the quality of SFOS port and/or Android layer under it. For example, if you would be using OnePlus X with SFOS on it, it will ask you for PIN every time you get back from offline. /* you use the "official" device, right ? */ :)

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

JP-1. As official as it gets.

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

It indeed sounds like there is missing use case scenario in the simcard handling.
Did you try killing ofono before powercycling?

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

I guess a reboot is at least as good as a kill (only power cycle helped) :rolleyes:

killall ofono
How easy things may get (killall csd was not the way to restart phone/data functionality on N900). But I liked (and do like) the hard way...

And regarding PIN request on Jolla (C): neither offline mode nor ofono restart require you to enter it.
On N900 with the same SIM it was also not required. But with a dual SIM adapter (and switching) a PIN was required.

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

No, sorry, it did not occur to me. But, as Peter says, I would not expect a result much different from restarting network services in Utilities or rebooting.

I tried it now just for fun and, as expected, did not get a SIM PIN prompt.

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

Stupid question - I’m unaware of the processes surrounding prepaid SIM’s

Does the carrier have the ability to update or reset your balance, device and access at the SIM level? Do they even have to? Seems like running out of credit basically unregistered your device or something.

Keep us posted and forgive my dumb question. This is definitely a corner case that I wonder if Jolla ever had encountered before now.

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

At least when everything works well.
On all JP-01s in my household, when mobile data "went bad" (which is why I wrote the "nofono" restarter) ofono restart required re-entering the PIN. But a reboot will always restart ofono. Well, it's a reboot.

So my guess (as someone without a clue how this stuff actually works) is that at least part of this problem could be somewhere deep in the closed modem firmware which does not necessarily reboot with the "visible" OS.

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

Yes :)
10chars

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

Not a stupid question at all. No one has fallen from the sky knowing everything.

As nieldk said, the direct answer to your question is yes. But I believe the real answer is it does not have to. "This service is/is not available" is a network internal state. Voice and SMS worked immediately after topping up. All the phone needed to do was try. I am happy to wager that as far as the provider is concerned, data was available immediately too. It was the phone's fault for not even trying. Once data was disabled, the phone got itself into a "this network has no data" state and the only way to get it out of that state was a power cycle.

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

The same happens on my XPeriaX when I was in an underground car park. It loses cellular connection until I enter and leave flight mode manually afterwards.

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

If I may ask, any connection or just data? How long did you wait before you gave up and forced it manually? Seconds, minutes, days? Did it ask for the SIM PIN?

The way I see it, there are at least three separate issues in my use case:

1. Once the mobile data is lost for whatever reason, the phone makes no attempt to recover it and needs a manual intervention.
2. Querying the mobile network for the data connection appears to be done only at the SIM card registration.
3. SIM card registration (including the PIN prompt) is done only on powering up.

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

Ahh, so it was only the data connection that did NOT work, your voice&SMS were resatored when you updated credit to the account? I missed that bit of information in the original question!

Now this leads to some interesting questions since basically all of the traffic both uplink and downlink are "data", just handled a bit differently...

Did you check what the established connection was, 2G, 3G, 4G?
Could it have been possible for example that your device was expecting to get 3G/4G data connection but network forced it to drop to 2G; that would have made CS calls and SMS available but prevented data calls?

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

Sorry, I did not make it explicit and I realize it may not be obvious to those not familiar with how prepaid cards work.

Voice must be available all the time. One reason is so that you can always call emergency services, even without credit. Another one is so that you can call the credit top-up number and type in your voucher details. You can also call any other free number. And lastly, you can still receive calls and texts even without credit, although I know of providers who cut you off completely when you do not top up for a certain time (3 months, a year, or more, depending on the provider).

That's the funny thing. It showed 4G in the status bar, right next to the network icon with the star in it. Pity I did not take a screenshot :(

My provider does not even support 2G. It is a relatively new one who never bothered with 2G to start with.

Re: No network in Sailfish after running out of credit
 

I don't have a PIN on my SIM, do I cannot answer that question.
But it remains in that status until I force it manually. Sometimes I only noticed the next day.
I don't know if I can receive phone calls in that state but I cannot make calls and cannot send SMS text messages. However, I receive SMS messages in this state sometimes.

Only the XPeriaX shows this behavior. The same garage was OK with the Jolla 1 and the Jolla C. I haven't tried with recent updates on these devices, though. Maybe a Sailfish update broke it altogether and it's not just a XPeriaX issue...