1. shawtysqrpants's Avatar
    Ok I believe I have tried everything...I have unlocked my phone with the little code thingy, and when I put a sim card in my phone it still won't work. I switch it to GSM and when I try to change it to Manual it tells me "the radio is turned off and there is a call in progress"...so it remains in automatic. The top right corner where my service bars just says SOS. I'm getting pissed off, please tell me I'm doing something wrong....

    Halle

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    07-11-08 08:51 AM
  2. kazmi's Avatar
    wait..let me get this straight..you are trying to run the 8830 with a SIM card here in the US? If so, I think you will need to change the title of this thread....the 8830 has dual CDMA/GSM radios BUT the GSM frequencies are only for OUTSIDE the US. It will NOT work on GSM here.
    07-11-08 08:59 AM
  3. hammer166's Avatar
    Halle, you don't want GSM with Verizon, you want CDMA. Not familiar with that unit and how to control which protocol it uses, but good luck!

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    07-11-08 12:34 PM
  4. bmcclure937's Avatar
    It is impossible to unlock the 8830 World Edition and use the GSM radio in the US!! Sorry not possible...
    07-11-08 12:46 PM
  5. shawtysqrpants's Avatar
    Not in the US... In China

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    07-11-08 08:12 PM
  6. tyroni's Avatar
    Yeah, it helps to disclose all of the pertinent information.

    Are you in China now with the 8830? Do you have the international data plan?
    07-11-08 10:38 PM
  7. shawtysqrpants's Avatar
    Yes I'm in china now...with the data plan. But I want to be able to switch back and forth with a domestic sim card so I can call people here...

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    07-12-08 12:10 AM
  8. JRSCCivic98's Avatar
    You won't get data with the local card. If the SIM slot is unlocked (which VZW Global support can do for you) then you should have no issues getting the local GSM card to work. Make sure you are on the newest OS, previous OSs had some issues. However, don't expect RIM data with the local GSM card.

    Oh yeah, some prepaid GSM cards are funky. They won't work for this phone. There was one user once that had some kind of local prepaid card that required some kind of callback code or some funky sh*t like that, which didn't work.

    One last thing. SIM slot and card initialization happens on startup so make sure you're battery pulling between card swaps, which shouldn't be hard since you really can't pull the SIM out anyway without pulling the battery.
    Last edited by JRSCCivic98; 07-12-08 at 12:18 AM.
    07-12-08 12:13 AM
  9. kazmi's Avatar
    definitely call the Global Support people up. Best to call from a different phone - they will ask and call you right back or even reimburse you for the call.

    One other thing - if you have international data provisioned and a vodafone SIM card and yet it is not working, pull the battery and keep it out for a full minute (60 seconds). Then pop it back in and see if it connects. That's what they had me do when I was travelling and the data would not work.

    For unlocking, you can request the Global support but then like House stated, you won't get data.
    07-12-08 01:02 AM
  10. shawtysqrpants's Avatar
    Thanks for all the help.

    I know the data won't work with the gsm sim...I was just gonna put it in when I needed to make a call...I am running 4.2.2.176...is that the latest version?

    What do you mean by callback code? Can anybody suggest a good sim card to buy? I'm getting it from a stand at Beijing University, but I have limited chinese skills so I don't really know what to tell them lol.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    07-12-08 02:56 AM
  11. kazmi's Avatar
    ^ the latest is .196, available here:

    BlackBerry® Software Updates

    Try a prepaid SIM from China Unicom - seems they have both GSM and CDMA in china.

    the SIM House is referring to is usually a global SIM. I bought one from United Mobile and you dial the number, it hangs up and then calls you back; uses VOIP. But prepaid local GSM SIMs shouldn't use that, so you should be all good.
    07-12-08 10:16 AM
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