Dual-SIM woes.

[stromulous]

Hello forums! I'm an American based in Taipei, and I just got a shiny-new F8132 (Dual-SIM) a couple weeks ago... but I'm having some problems with the dual-SIM feature.

Sony devices seem to have this odd habbit of forcing a restart whenvever the SIM is swapped... which is sort of OK for single-SIM phones - but for a Dual-SIM phone, that's nuts. Whenever I want to change SIMs, or change from SIM 1 to SIM 2 for mobile data, I'm forced to reboot. This completely defeats the point of dual-sim.

This isn't a requirement of Android, or of Qualcom's modems. Asus Dual-SIM devices with Qualcom modems switch just fine - without a reboot. Is there some way to disable the auto rebooting during a SIM switch? Otherwise, there is no point in supporting Dual-SIM in the first place.

If there isn't a way to disable this currently, could you guys fix this in an update?

[Jake-SonyXperia]

Hi stromulous,

Welcome to the community,

Switching from one SIM to the other should not restart the device. Can you please boot to safemode and test if the same occurs.

Safemode instructions

[stromulous]

I'm sorry for the slow reply - I don't have access to a second SIM card full time, and it took me this long to borrow one.

Whenever I switch over the data connection (Settings -> Dual SIM -> Mobile Data [phone in Chinese, translation approximate]), I get a message in Chinese that says "Now going to restart you device, in order to optimize for your carrier" “現在將重新啟動您的裝置，以針對您的電信業者最佳化。”

Sorry I don't have the phone in English - but I didn't have time to change it. I've tested these two SIM cards on other dual-SIM android phones, and don't have this problem. It happens each time I change the data connection between either card. It doesn't matter whether it's LTE, 3G, or even 2G. It always prompts a reboot without any option to cancel.

Running 35.0.A.1.238 on my Taiwanese F8132. I purchased the device factory unlocked under warranty through FarEasTone telecom. Primary SIM is Chunghwa Telecom 4G, secondary SIM is Taiwan Mobile 4G. These exact cards do not do this on other android phones. Completely stock rom, no root, no unlocked boot loader.

Screen shot attached.

[stromulous]

I can now confirm that the problem occurs in Safe Mode as well. I have also tested with a FarEasTone 3G SIM now. I had thought it might be a problem with my Chunghwa SIM having a PIN lock - so I disabled it, but no effect. Whenever the data connection is changed from SIM to SIM it immediately forces a reboot. Additionally, it often reboots twice in a row. This makes me so sad...

[stromulous]

I have confirmed the problem also exists when the phone is english. However, this seems to be some kind of outside (Sony) software. Right after I boot into Android - but before all apps are finished loading - I can change data connections back and forth. Once all background processes are loaded, it forces the restart again.

I'm only guessing about the external software because there is the "switching app" animation, and the error message doesn't return any google results. Same error in Safe Mode.

Thoughts?

[stromulous]

Hey there. This is still a problem in 35.0.A.1.275. Safemode has the same result. No response in 4 weeks. Is this thing on?

[Christofer]

Hi @stromulous,

Would it be possible for you to take a bug report and send it to me? I can then forward this internally for further examination.

To do this:

1. Go to Settings > About phone > Build number, tap 7 times on the build number.
2. Go back and select Developer options then turn on "USB debugging".
3. Select Logger buffer size and change it to "4 M"
4. Turn on "Bug report shortcut" as well.
5. Restart your phone, then replicate this.
6. When the pop up appears, press and hold the power key, then tap "Take bug report" and wait for the bug report to complete.

When the report is ready you will receive a notification. Tap the notification to share it. I suggest you upload it to Google Drive and then choose to share a public link to the upload and include the link in the PM.

[stromulous]

Great. Does the phone need to be in English when I generate the report? Or can I leave it in Chinese? (Changing languages screws up app localization settings, takes about 10 minutes to fix and I'd like to avoid it if possible)

[Christofer]

You don't need to change the language when do this.

[stromulous]

Where do I find the report, since the notifications menu is disabled? Since I can't see notifications of any kind, or access or do anything at all - I just waited a few minutes and then allowed it to reboot. How long is it supposed to take to make?

BTW: I do have a work around. If you check "Don't keep activities" in the developer tools, then switch sims, you can use the hardware camera button to force the return of the back, home, and app switch buttons. Those buttons won't normally appear - I think whatever this thing is uses some kind of process to disable the buttons. You can trigger the camera without the setting, but the escape buttons are supressed. I didn't do this to make the bug report, since I was concerned it would affect the results.