When you got a new SIM-Card it maybe still needs to get activated

is it a RAZR² V8 or V9?

I've got my old SIM card in it...the numbers stored on it show up, but I can't call out. It's a Razr v3 GSM...if that means anything. :P

oh that's a old one...
Had the same problem with the V3 my brother gave me... but really can't tell you how I got it working... guess I just did it by removing the battery and putting it back together....

Hmm, but why a V3? I own a V3xx too and it's much better than the V3 as it has many more functions.

Oh great. :P

Hmm, maybe it was locked to a provider and someone removed the lock but it did fail...

My V3 is branded as a Vodafone cell phone, but I use it with a T-Mobile prepaid card... maybe that's why it first didn't want to work...
As I needed to recharge the battery too I just let it reload... it was switched on the whole time, maybe that did help...

First thing first, who is your service provider? If Sprint, you may need an additional activation step......

If you purchased this phone at Wal-Mart, that would be the first of your problems, speaking as someone who once sold phones there.

Worse...Bel got it off Ebay, I believe. She got one earlier for Edmund and it worked fine right off--put the SIM card in and it was good to go. This phone is SUPPOSED to be unlocked...now I wonder...

Okay, believe it or not, an eBay phone may simplify the problems you are having. The problem with Wal-Mart is that it is a third party contractor and \"the system\" (either software or personnel handling) often creates bad contracts, even assuming your salesperson is competent.

I strongly recommend finding a nearby store for your provider. That way you have a real life person to speak with who can pull up your contract (assuming you have one) and make sure that 1. your phone gets activated properly, and 2. your contract will not be revised, purged, duplicated or otherwise screwed up via phone. This also gives you a name and a face to refer to if something goes wrong!

Emphasis on finding a store if she is a Sprint customer, because they have a dreadful support system and special activation instructions that require you to speak to an agent.

This phone may have been programmed to make emergency outgoing calls only. You may have to take it in to your cell phone companies office for reprogramming, or perhaps they can do it remotely.

it isn't activated yet, all you can do is dial 911

Maybe this will help: http://cellphoneforums.net/motorola.....-use-only.html
http://www.fixya.com/support/t15811.....emergency_only

It means your phone is not activated, but since ALL cell phones can dial 911 even if they don't have service, it tells you that the phone is in "Emergency Only" mode.

Ok...this makes sense--but how the freakin' hell do I activate it? There's not one thing in this whole big-ass manual about "activating" the phone. The old phone I was using temporarily worked immediately when i put the SIM card in it. Why doesn't this one? (Also--I'll need your number again when I have this stupid thing working. I lost your old one with my other phone.)

Call your cell phone provider. They need to enter the phone into their systems. Just call customer service, tell them you bought a new phone and want to activate it on your account, and they'll walk you through it.

Oh, and DON'T call them from a cell phone. Call them from your home phone, or a friend's phone.

Thanks! I'll try that.

You can call from the same cell phone, it is harder you have to hang up and call back a lot but it can be done off the same cell phone. I bought a Verison Kyocera in Michigan and had the number changed to one for California i only used the cell phone i was changing because i don't have a land line!

Sounds like it's not activated properly yet. By law all cell phones, even when not activated or on a network, have to be able to make 911 calls. You should probably go back and talk to the people you got it from and tell them they mucked up the activation.

Uhm, I dunno about activation, but I do know that when I upgraded to the V3xx, I had to also get a new type of SIM card for it. It will not work with the regular SIM card out of an older phone, because the V3xx is programmed to work with the EDGE network, as well as another whose ident I can't come up with.

If you had a SIM card from an older phone, you will probably need to go get a new one. I know Wal-mart carries them for around $50, in their cell phone department.

It's definitely not the SIM card. Bel got me the same type of phone from the same source as the one she recently got for Edmund. He had the same phone as mine and we have the same SIM cards--but his worked immediately in the new phone. The phone was just fucked. We are sending for a replacement...I think that's all we can really do at this point.