Sparkfun board auto-selecting external sim / not connecting to network?

Troubleshooting
1

hi guys, I’m trying to use the sparkfun notecarrier (in Australia).

When I power on and go to do a hub.sync, it seems to be using the (non-existent) external sim

Searching through the docs it seems that it isn’t possible to change this to use the external sim - is this correct ?

| * Q: Is it possible to programmatically switch between an internal and external SIM card?
| * A: The Notecard does automatically recognize and use an external SIM card when present, but programmatic switching between SIMs is not currently supported.

I’ve also tried setting the apn to blank too, to see if this helps, as this is referenced in some threads about the external sim

{ “req”: “card.wireless”, “apn”: “-” }

A few minutes after this I requeried the device and received this

> {"req":"hub.sync.status"}

{
 "status": "network: can't connect (1 min remaining) {registration-failure}{network}{extended-network-failure}",
 "sync": true
}

Thanks in advance

{“req”:“card.version”}
{“body”:{“org”:“Blues Wireless”,“product”:“Notecard”,“version”:“notecard-1.5.5”,“ver_major”:1,“ver_minor”:5,“ver_patch”:5,“ver_build”:13080,“built”:“May 28 2021 17:11:58”},“version”:“notecard-1.5.5.13080”,“device”:“dev:XXXXXXXXXXXXXX”,“name”:“Blues Wireless Notecard”,“sku”:“NOTE-NBGL-500”,“board”:“1.11”,“api”:1}
{“req”:“hub.set”, “product”:“”}
{}
{“req”:“hub.sync”}
{}
{“req”:“hub.sync.status”}
{“status”:“modem now ON using external SIM {modem-on}”,“sync”:true}

2

Hey @sponsoredlinks thanks for the question, and welcome to the community! I’m glad you’re here.

For the SparkFun Qwiic Notecarrier, we’ve just this week discovered a small issue on the boards that makes them unable to use the internal SIM on the Notecard and instead looks for an external SIM via the unpopulated SIM slot on the back. SparkFun has been notified of the issue, is reworking the boards and will be reaching out to all customers to send new, functional boards soon.

In the meantime, there is a fix you can preform yourself if you are comfortable with a soldering iron. If you remove the resistor on the right side of the SparkFun Qwiic Cellular board just under the LTE u.fl connector, that will allow the Notecard to use its internal SIM and will get your device on the network. I’ve included an image below, for reference.

Thanks again for reaching out, and we apologize for the inconvenience.

IMG_5300.png
IMG_5300.png591×800 763 KB

1 Like
4

Let us know if you have any issues!

5

Hi Brandon, sorry, slow reply. Yes that worked well - thanks. The board appeared to go into a bit of an interesting state after a card.restore, but powering on and off has now fixed it and it seems to be working well. Logs below if you are interested - otherwise thanks for you help with this

{“req”:“hub.set”, “product”:“”}

{“req”:“hub.sync.status”}
{
“alert”: true,
“status”: “network: can’t connect (3 min remaining) {registration-failure}{network}{extended-network-failure}”,
“sync”: true
}
{
“req”: “card.restore”,
“delete”: true
}
Note: newlines are removed from requests before they are sent to the Notecard.
{}
{“req”:“hub.set”, “product”:“”}
{}
{“req”:“hub.sync”}
{}
{“req”:“hub.sync.status”}

{“req”:“hub.sync.status”}
{“req”:“hub.sync”}

{“req”:“hub.sync.status”}
{“req”:“hub.sync.status”}

{“req”:“hub.sync.status”}
{“status”:“time is behind local time by -1 seconds”}

6

One last thing too that doesn’t appear to be in the sparkfun / quickstart docs yet, and may save others some time wondering why they aren’t getting a fix… When using an active antenna make sure to bridge the jumper on the rear of the board VGPS_ACT… Your GPS will (magically!) start to work then…

2 Likes
7

Thanks Roger, good note, we will get that added to the docs!