HTC Dream G1 won't recognize sim card

[X-roads]

This seems to be a common problem with the G1. I've done my due diligence in searching the forum and reading threads but so far no joy. There are lots of similar posts, but I haven't seen a real solution.

HISTORY: I purchased this as a "brand new phone". I later got the following details. The original owner filed a claim for his old phone (a G1) under an insurance claim, then decided to sell the replacement and re-contracted to get a newer phone. The phone arrived, did seem to be brand new, and I successfully unlocked it.

He had made a few calls and left all his contacts on the phone so I did a hard reset. No problems yet. I updated the APN settings for AT&T and successfully accessed the internet. Still no problem.

The phone was a gift for my daughter. I had used my 64k SIM to unlock and make the changes. I put in her SIM and she used the phone for about 4 hours. All good so far. Then she turned the phone off. When the phone was turned back on, it would no longer read the SIM. In fact it won't read any SIM, including a T-Mobile (original carrier). This appears not to be a SIM issue, nor is it does it anything to do with the network. I'm in a EDGE only coverage area, so that rules out anything to do with the frequency limitations of the G1. And like I said, it WAS working.

THINGS I'VE TRIED: I've read all the proposed solutions and tried them all. "Shimming" the SIM to insure contact didn't help. Nor did the "freezer trick". Hard reset changes nothing. And yes, the SIM is inserted correctly. The contacts are clean and the springs are working.

The seller is being uncooperative. He says his insurance won't honor a replacement claim again since the phone is no longer insured. Since there doesn't seem to be any way to make a warranty claim I've considered flashing the phone, but don't see that this will help anything. It doesn't seem to be software related unless someone can tell me specifically about how something was corrupted and has a real example of correcting the problem. I'm stumped though...

The typical easy answers don't apply here. I'm looking for a real solution. Has anyone found one? Please help.