[Sprint Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshoot] collinhead:
NO SIM CARD fix

I have seen the NO SIM CARD thing on my phone as well, and additionally another message that said "Roaming indicator off". I was able to get both to go away. The Roaming indicator error went away for good, but the SIM error comes back after a reboot. Thankfully it's easy to fix again after a reboot, 10 seconds tops. It's at worst a display issue, so I'm personally not too concerned. I know lots of people have offered answers to this question already, but here it is in a little more detail for anyone who wants it. These are for Sprint specifically, probably would break stuff for other carriers.

Make a backup before you change anything.. I don't want to be held responsible for messing up your phone or something. These steps worked great for me, but I can't say whether or not they'll work for you. Good luck!

1. Make some changes to the build.prop file.

I used an app called "BuildProp Editor" instead of editing the file directly. Makes it pretty easy. After each change it'll ask if you want to reboot, but you might as well hold off on rebooting until after step 2. Here are the changes I made.

Change these existing values to the following:

ro.build.product = jfltespr

ro.carrier = Sprint

ro.product.device = jfltespr

ro.product.model = SPH-L720

ro.product.name = jfltespr

Add the following values:

ro.cdma.home.operator.alpha = Sprint

ro.cdma.home.operator.numeric = 310120

2. Add a file called eri.xml to the /data folder using ES File Explorer.

(You can use whatever file explorer you want, but I like ES File Explorer)

Make a file called eri.xml, and put the following in it:

<EriFile VersionNumber="1357" NumberOfEriEntries="3" EriFileType="1">

<CallPromptId Id="0" CallPromptText="CallPromptId0"/>

<CallPromptId Id="1" CallPromptText="CallPromptId1"/>

<CallPromptId Id="2" CallPromptText="CallPromptId2"/>

<EriInfo RoamingIndicator="1" IconIndex="1" IconMode="0" EriText="Sprint" CallPromptId="0" AlertId="0" /><EriInfo RoamingIndicator="99" IconIndex="1" IconMode="0" EriText="Sprint" CallPromptId="0" AlertId="0" /><EriInfo RoamingIndicator="123" IconIndex="1" IconMode="0" EriText="Sprint" CallPromptId="0" AlertId="0" />

</EriFile>

Copy this to your SD card or internal storage however you normally copy files. (USB, Dropbox, FTP, put SD card in your computer, whatever)

Open up ES File Explorer. Since /data requires root, you'll have to enable Root Explorer. Hit the menu button (either the touch button on the bottom left or the software button at top left), expand Tools, and click On for Root Explorer.

Once you've enabled Root Explorer and you have the eri.xml file on your phone, copy it to the /data folder. Navigate to the folder where you put the eri.xml file, and long press it. Then click Copy at the bottom of the screen. At the top of the screen you'll see the folder you're currently in (something like Storage > extSdCard). Tap that and tap / Device. That'll take you to the root folder. Tap the Data folder. Then, click Paste to put the eri.xml file in there.

3. Reboot phone, change some data settings

Here's the part you'll have to do each time you reboot your phone.

- Open the settings, (pull down menu and click the settings gear at top right) click More under Wireless and Networks.

- Click Cellular Networks. Click System Select, change roaming setting to automatic. (You only have to do that one once)

- Click CDMA Subscription, click RUIM/SIM.

- Click Preferred Network Type, select LTE/GSM/WCDMA. Your network may disconnect at this point.

- Change CDMA Subscription back to NV, change Network Type back to LTE/CDMA/EvDo.

Hit the power button on your phone to make it sleep and hit it again to turn it back on. Yay, your phone should now say SPRINT instead of NO SIM CARD.

:)