I've been acquiring a number of used 9900s for a project, and picked one up yesterday that is giving me some trouble

the seller said it is unlocked, and I believe I've verified that by going into options -> sim card and typing MEPD, all items show DISABLED.

when I power it up it does the usual searching for signal, then flashes to full bars, then goes to SOS. Under "mobile network" the network selection mode is automatic, and it has my carrier listed as mobile network.
The sim card is known good and the account is in good standing (tried it in another one of my acquired phones no problem)
it displays the proper phone number for the sim card I've inserted

This phone is unbranded, nothing on the case, no splash screen. The vendor ID is listed as "301"

I have also been unable to upgrade to the most recent software through either DM or loader.exe

I've done a security wipe.

Are there any other things that could potentially lock up a blackberry like this?

Any other ideas?

I wonder if there are international versions (UK) of this phone that can only operated on different frequencies than we use here in Canada. Maybe that's what I've got here...

Support for your BlackBerry Bold 9900 - Carphone Warehouse Help and Support

"Connectivity
Frequency band The radio frequencies that your phone uses for communication, determining whether it will work in different countries.GSM: 1900/1800/900/850 MHz HSPA: 2100/1700/900 MHz (works in USA)"
Posted via BlackBerryForums.com Mobile

A HA!

I checked under the "version" screen which is showing

"3G Bands 1,4,8"

and my known good phones are showing
"3G/H+ Bands 1,2,5,6"


so I'm guessing what I've got is the AWS version of the 9900, usable only on specific carriers/frequencies.

I suppose I'll ebay it and get a proper one.