FX30S SIM card not found

IoT Gateways FX30
1

Hi

We have several FX30s modems installed on sensors. To save battery, the software disconnects the mobile broadband connection in case there’s no more data to send. The problem we have is, that on several sensors, the FX30s cannot find the SIM Card anymore (LE_SIM_ABSENT) as soon as a reconnect is required. Sometimes the SIM is found again after a reboot. The issue does not appear on all sensors and we were not able to reproduce the issue inside our office. Therefore it might be a mechanical problem because of the outdoor temperatures or humidity.

Did anybody have similar issues and knows how to solve them?

Some googleing brought me to this thread: SIM card can not be detected - #2 by rudolfl.
Does the FX30s also have such a SIM holder? Unfortunately the AT+WSHS command is not available on the FX30s.

FX30 Version: R13.1.3.001

Thanks in advance

Michael

2

Hi Michael,

The FX30 has been tested for the following temperature and humidity ranges as per the datasheet:

OPERATIONAL TEMPERATURE (CLASS B) -30°C to +75°C
HUMIDITY 95% relative humidity over a temperature range of +20°C to +60°C

Do you know if the conditions were outside of these parameters?

Could you also provide more information on how the software disconnects the data session? Are you running a custom Legato applicaton? Do you have any other custom modifications?

How did you detect LE_SIM_ABSENT, via “cm sim” or by calling an API via your app?

When the LE_SIM_ABSENT is detected, could you please try the AT command: AT+CCID

BR,
Chris

3

Hi Chris

Thanks for your reply.

The sensors are installed all around Switzerland. The temperature currently is between -3°C up to 20°C. The humidity in the morning can be quite high (up to 92%) but decreases fast to about 40-60% during the day. But I do not think this is an issue in our case, because we have two sensors installed at the same location (both equipped with an FX30s) and one is working like a charm and the other has the mentioned issue every other day.

We run a custom legato application and get LE_SIM_ABSENT by code as well as by executing “cm sim status”.

int checkSim (void) {
    le_sim_Id_t sim;
    le_sim_States_t simstate;

    sim = le_sim_GetSelectedCard();
    simstate=le_sim_GetState(sim);

    // ...

    if (simstate == LE_SIM_ABSENT || simstate == LE_SIM_STATE_UNKNOWN) {
            LE_ERROR("NO SIM FOUND %d, now %d, last %d",sim_error_count,glob_due_count,glob_last_due_count);
            // ...
    }
}

The Error Log “NO SIM FOUND” appears in our logs.

This is the code snipped we use to connect and disconnect:

static void goOnline()
{
   if(RequestRef)
   {
        LE_ERROR("A connection request already exist.");
         return;
   }

   RequestRef = le_data_Request();
   LE_INFO("Requesting the default data connection: %p.", RequestRef);
}

static void goOffline(char* buffer)
{
    if(!RequestRef)
    {
       LE_ERROR("Not existing connection reference.");
        le_mrc_SetRadioPower(LE_OFF);
        return;
    }

    le_data_Release(RequestRef);
    LE_INFO("Releasing the default data connection.");

    le_mrc_SetRadioPower(LE_OFF);

    RequestRef = NULL;
}

As mentioned in the initial post, we were not able to reproduce the error in our office. I’ll post you the response of the AT command as soon as I’m visiting a sensor which has this issue.

4

Hi Michael,

Could you please try updating to the latest version, R14.0.4.002 located here:
https://source.sierrawireless.com/~/media/support_downloads/airlink/software/fx30/r14.0.4.002/mcu-rmfw-boot-yocto-legato_wp85.ashx?la=en

Some updates were made to the QMI messaging regarding the SIM in this release, so I’m hoping it resolves your issue.

BR,
Chris

5

Hi chris

Sorry, it took a while until I had everything up and running and had time to get to a modem which has the given issue. I could visit two modems today. Here are the results:

First of all, I tried to run AT+CCID on both devices. Both returned an ERROR.
Running cm sim status on both the devices returned LE_SIM_ABSENT. After updating to R14.0.4.002 cm sim status still returned LE_SIM_ABSENT. After removing and inserting the sim card, the card was detected correctly (no restart of the device was done).

In my opinion, this doesn’t look like the issue is solved.
What about some hardware detection switches of the sim card? Are there such mechanisms available? Is it possible to deactivate them?

Thanks again for your support

Michael

6

Hi everyone

The new firmware did not solve our issue. There are still modems which can’t find the SIM card after a certain time.

Any other ideas?

7

Hi Michael,
Could you please provide a debug log? You can enable debug by typing:
log level debug

Then capture all the output from the command: logread

BR,
Chris

8

Hi Chris
When I got to a sensor to get the debug log, I could solve the issue. All sensors are now up and running for a month.

Our provider issued 3-in-1-SIM-cards for the modems, which seemed to be the root of the issue.
Due to time and other environmental influences, the plastic holders of the SIM card became somewhat brittle and yielded slightly. This led to a small gap between the cards and the contacts, resulting in a SIM_NOT_FOUND error.

The solution was rather simple: We replaced all 3-in-1-SIM-cards with standard SIM-Cards and now everything works.

Thanks for your support

Michael

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