I have two new Electrons that have been communicating with each other successfully for several days. I was playing around today in the Console and decided to create a Product. I added my two Electrons to the Product and then had second thoughts and removed them both from the Product but not from my account. Since then both Electrons fail one diagnostic test and checking SIM data usage results in the error message “COULD NOT FETCH INFORMATION ON THIS SIM”. Yet events are still being logged. I opened a support request about an hour ago but no response yet so I’m hoping someone here can advise me what is going on here.
Question. Did you have PRODUCT_ID and PRODUCT_VERSION lines in your firmware code when you added those electrons to the product? If so, did you remove them after removing the electrons from the product? I’ve noticed this can cause issues.
No, they were not referenced in the firmware
Gotcha. And you are using Particle SIMs, right? I get the same SIM usage error that you do because I’m using a 3rd party SIM.
I noticed I get diagnostic errors if I’m running anything under 0.8.0 device OS. Looks like you are running 0.5.4.
Yes, I am using Particle SIMs and yes, I am running 0.5.4, But everything was working fine for several days until this afternoon and the only thing I did was the Project thing.
Not to discount the fact that it was working previously but I would try updating them to 0.8.0 and force a new Handshake if you can. I’m just spit-balling, but sometimes this clears things up for me on the cloud side.
The device vitals are now part of the diagnostics and require 0.8.0. You will get an error if running anything less. This doesn’t address the SIM usage, but perhaps moving the device in and out of a product threw that off and a new Handshake might help reset things.
You can force a new connection remotely using the API.
curl -X PUT https://api.particle.io/v1/devices//disconnect?access_token=
Or from your firmware.
Particle.publish(“spark/device/session/end”, “”, PRIVATE);
Very good suggestion dcliff9! I’ll give that a try. I just went to the two sites involved and both Electrons appear normal in every respect, so I suspect that my application is working (can’t test it in the dark).
Isn’t 0.8.0 still pre-release? Any known issues that I might encounter?
Brian Shaw
To use the diagnostics tab, you must upgrade to 0.8.0. It’s not an option. It says so many places in your screenshots.
For vitals, agreed. But I’ve been running all offered diagnostic tests for two weeks and both devices passed all tests every time. If I recall, the one that is failing now has something to do with cellular. If I’m correct, then that would seem to align with the error I get when I check SIM DATA USAGE.
Yeah, I believe 0.8.0 is still in release candidate status. With any firmware change, there can be issues, but it really depends on a lot of factors.
But you should be getting SIM usage data, I believe. So maybe start with troubleshooting that and if you feel like you want the diagnostic data then update to 0.8.0.
I do want as much diagnostic data as I can get, but up until now I’ve been concentrating on getting the application working, which it has been. Once this SIM issue is resolved - if it can be done without upgrading the OS, then I will do that later.
I have to assume the SIM issue is because it thinks that SIM is still associated with the product you briefly had it in.
If you back out of the product to go to the main console page and select the SIMs there, it should show you all SIMs that aren’t associated with a product. Are the SIMs in question in there?
Ah HA! They are NOT. How do I get them back in there?
If you go into the product you created, are the SIMs listed there? If so, there might be an option to release them from the product. Since I use 3rd party SIMs, I don’t have any in a product to release so I’m not able to try. Wish I could be more help. Perhaps @rickkas7 has some insight? 
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Yes, Dave, they are there and there is an option to release them, but I’m scared that they may then disappear altogether. Better wait for an official Particle response. But the really cool thing is that my entire application is still working. I have a community well that is about 1000 feet from a 1700 gallon storage tank. When the float switch in the tank closes, an Electron there sends a message (a ‘1’) to an Electron at the well, signaling that the pump needs to be turned on. When the float switch re-opens, i.e. when the water in the tank is replenished, the Electron sends a ‘0’ and the pump shuts off. Overnight last night the pump was turned on at 4:43 AM and off at 6:15. This is the first real-life test since the Electrons started to fail the diagnostics, so whatever the problem is, there is no urgency in fixing it
Hey Dave, you hit the nail on the proverbial head. Just got a response from Particle and that’s exactly what they said to do, but after release, the SIMs must be re-added via the ‘Activate a Particle SIM’ feature. Case solved!
Many thanks for your help.
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