No, it shouldn't be a micro-sim.

The preponderance of people guessing who have no clue amazes me.

Hope people don't pay you for incorrect advice rbusch.

Only the iPhone 4 uses a micro sim. 3GS is a normal one.

Quite right, my mistake. Mingdao clearly said it was a 3GS. Thanks bucko.

@mingdao: You ought to scroll back to the begining of this, and read everything because for someone asking people to help you with your problem (not theirs) you should be grateful of the help of these people, instead of biting their heads off.

Feel free to bite me.

Tiger,

No one got their head bitten off.

Posting erroneous information should be confronted, and will be by me. You do what you want in your own threads.

You see that bucko has corrected his error.

And you also see that NO ONE has posted anything at all to do with what I asked: "Does anyone know where I can buy this card, or another one that will work to activate iPhone 4.0.1?" (Maybe I should have inserted the word "locally" after buy.) Though rbusch did post a taobao guess, as he said, he doesn't even know if it is the correct one, if it will work, or if the seller is reputable. Yes, of course the seller will say it is, or whatever you want to hear. However, many are the people who have been ripped off buying from taobao. ;)

The problem is that the iPhone needs to be activated. There is only ONE WAY to activate an iPhone, and that requires a SIM.

The title of the thread is "phonebook sim card for iPhone", and I wrote all that information in the first post in hopes of discouraging erroneous guesses. It rarely works, and didn't this time either.

I'm not some Bubba without a clue ... my background with technology goes back over a couple of decades, and I have daily (even right now) contact with the iPhone hackers such as semaphore (Firmware Umbrella thefirmwareumbrella.blogspot.com/ ), Sherif Hashim ( twitter.com/sherif_hashim ), BigBoss ( thebigboss.org/ ), and others. I'm also the HCL maintainer for the largest Linux help site on the internet, code, and work with software source daily.

If I needed help upgrading the firmware, that is what I would have asked. What laotou, bucko, and rbusch said does not work. In the words of the guys mentioned in the above paragraph, "these people are all guessing."

When you consult me about your issues, or bring your unusable computer to me for repair, I don't guess without any background or knowledge. Would you like to pay for that? You can get it for free on Yi Er Yi Da Jie every day. ;)

Tiger, it seems as if you need to read it again, as you've misunderstood. Don't let your emotions get in the way of technical discussions, eh?

To the site manager: can you add code tags to this interface?

MD et al
SHORT ANSWER
For the record - the software solution I proffered works - it just doesn't work for MD as his specs are rigorous - IOS 4.01 only. I thought the issue was to get the bricks working. My bad (worthless).

The iphone-dev.org group has not and will not release an IOS 4.01/4.02 Unlock solution - only jailbreakme.com based on redsn0w worked until apple closed that hole with IOS 4.02. jailbreakme.com is a jailbreak solution, NOT a SIM UNLOCK solution (see below for more info). There are un-sanctioned solutions - but USER BEWARE.

MD - I know you're fixated with a simbook solution - but you MIGHT want to investigate the redsn0w software solution to JB your iphones and then you can add ultrasn0w to UL the SIM lock - but there is no sanctioned SIM UNLOCk from the ultrasn0w group beyond IOS 4.0. They're focusing on IOS 4.1. I believe redsn0w is the core unlock engine inside jailbreakme.com.

This is why I "worthlessly" recommended a downgrade to IOS 4.0. If you're worried about the PDF exploitation - cydia has a solution for that already. I'm guessing you want to use the SIMBOOK solution so you won't have to help them if they inadvertently upgrade
the IOS and brick their phones again...

Simpler solution - just take it to any iphone dealer (NOT unicom or CM) and get them to hactivate it for you. If your friend(s) brick the phone again - they know where to go (not you).

LONG ANSWER
MD specified IOS 4.01 and only wants to use the Hardware solution (SIMBOOK). The problem with HW solutions is they're IOS or firmware dependent - if/when apple upgrades their IOS or firmware - the HW solution may not work. Software solutions (especially the free ones) are free and may be implemented via the internet - so are simply more convenient (and did I mention free?). The disadvantage is reliability - but the iphone-dev.org group is well recognized and their solutions used globally by probably millions of afficionados.

LONG ANSWER FOR NEWBIES
iPhones require two separate technologies as follows:

JAILBREAK (JB) - bypasses the SIM LOCK so you can use your iphone as an expensive iTouch. JB also installs CYDIA (make sure you install cydia if you JB your iphone). Cydia allows you to install ultrasn0w which will SIM UNLOCK your iphone. Other apps such as installous (on the iphone) and apptrackr.org (desktop web-based) allow you to install and backup apps using itunes - it's tricky - but that's another thread.

UNLOCK (UL) - allows you to use SIM cards from any carrier - aka allowing you to send/receive phone calls.

Also there is a lot of confusion regarding firmware and software on mobile phones. Apple's IOS is software - it is an operating system that sits on top of and communicates with the phones firmware which is basically a radio or wireless modem. Apple builds the smart portion of the phone - the apps and the user interface. The actual mobile phone or radio part of the phone is built and supported by a third party (who build and develop the radio chipsets in mobile phones for lots of people, such as Nokia, SonyE, etc). This is commonly known as baseband in iphone geek or modem firmware for somewhat normal technophiles (see General Settings->About on your iphone).

That said - my proposed solution works, is elegant, reliable, and I used it on my iphone 3G@IOS 4.0 - and did I mention it's FREE and you can download it from the internet?

MD critical spec is IOS 4.01. My mistake is I thought the matter was urgent and the critical spec was get the iphone's working now. So, yeah, technically - my solution to downgrade the IOS to IOS 4.0 and get the thing working now, was rejected as it did not satisfy the critical spec - IOS 4.01.

I'm cool with that...my bad.

DO YOU KNOW WHERE TO BUY A PHONEBOOK SIM CARD IN KUNMING CHINA?

Oh..and the first instruction for using jailbreakme.com:

Before beginning make sure your device is activated on iOS 4.0.0 or 4.0.1.

I'm not confused in the least bit. You come to Dali and activate this phone without a phonebook SIM and I'll give you $500 USD.

Put up or shut up!

Here's why your solution (the part that's correct) won't work ... it has the new bootrom. But then, you would know that since it was bought this summer. ;)

Assuming we can get past flaming each other, what was the baseband version? The sw solution works on the following basebands:

04.26.08, 05.11.07, 05.12.01 and 05.13.04

If you can't remember the basebands cuz the phone(s) are bricked - AND you don't mind downgrading to IOS 4.0 - at least try the pawnage 4.1 JB/UL. If it works - anonymously donate your USD 500 to the earthquake and flood victims relief charities - honor system.