BlackBerry

[mcdaddydan]

Hi guys

Apologies if this issue has already been raised before but as of yesterday afternoon, my 6 month old BlackBerry 9900 keeps rebooting by itself. Once it reboots, it stays on for about 2-3 seconds, only to immediately reboot by itself.

I have tried resetting the phone with (and without) the battery, memory card and the sim card and none of this has fixed the problem. I attempted to take the phone down to my local Vodaphone store but Murphy's Law, the store was closed for refurbishment. I then rang Vodaphone customer service who said they will repair the phone but it would take a few weeks. When I told them that this was unacceptable, they offered to provide me with a replacement handset (but not a new one) which should arrive tomorrow.

Apart from the above issues, my concern now is that all my contacts, photos, data, etc. will be lost. The customer service officer said I could bring the phone into any Vodaphone store for them to back up onto a USB stick, but my question is, how will they be able to back up the data if the phone won't stay on long enough for the data to be copied over to the USB stick?

Also, I have heard friends being provided with brand new handsets from Vodaphone after experiencing similar issues. Should I also be insisting on this? I have to swap my handset over tomorrow morning so grateful if someone could please respond on the question re backing up the data in the next few hours.

Many thanks in advance,

Dan

[pau1j]

Hi Dan.

Will the phone start in Safe Mode (http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/KB17877)?

If the rebooting is caused by an errant third-party (i.e. non-core) application this should allow the phone to launch. You can then back up to the microSD card (Settings>Device Switch) or delete/reinstall any suspect app.

Even if the phone cannot boot completely, you should still be able to back up to a PC using Desktop Manager.

Hope this helps.

[mcdaddydan]

Hi Paul

Many thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately, tried this a few times but the same problem kept occurring (i.e. once the phone starts up, a few seconds later, it will automatically reboot).

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

Dan

P.S. The link to starting the phone in Safe Mode which you sent me didn't work but I managed to find something else on the BlackBerry website (i.e. essentially, press and hold the Escape whilst the phone is rebooting)... http://btsc.webapps.blackberry.com/btsc/viewdocument.do?externalId=KB17877&sliceId=2&cmd=displayKC&d...

[pau1j]

That's the one ... KB17877 (somehow the link I posted included the closing bracket & question mark in the url).

Have you been able to connect the phone to a PC with Desktop Manager?

(Try connecting via USB before inserting the battery.  It may be possible to back up before the phone reboots.)

Which OS are you running?

If you download & install a new OS, Destop Manager will back-up as part of the update process.  This should also fix whatever is causing the reboot problem (since it seems to be a core app problem).

(Another poster recently had a similar problem after updating BBM via App World.  Since BBM is a core app, the only option for roll-back is to re-install the OS which has an older version of BBM bundled.)

[mcdaddydan]

Hi Paul

Thanks for your reply again.

I took the device into the Vodaphone shop yesterday afternoon and they tried to connect the phone to a PC with Desktop Manager but they phone doesn't stay on long enough for it to connect. As mentioned, the device reboots itself within a few seconds of starting up.

Annoyingly, when I subsequently rang Vodaphone regarding today's exchange for a new device, the guy said it's Vodaphone's policy that the driver take my old device. This was despite being told earlier on in the afternoon by a girl that Vodaphone could make a note on the system so I wouldn't need to provide the old handset. When I explained this to the guy, he was extremely unhelpful and asked me for a reason. I told him the reason was common sense - I just needed to hang onto my old phone long enough to back up the data. But he couldn't seem to comprehend this or be empathetic enough to help. I then rang the Retentions team who again were very unhelpful. The only thing Retentions could suggest was when the driver comes, to tell him that I still have data on the old phone and that I can't give it back yet.

So wish me luck in persuading the driver this but looks like months of photos, contacts, etc are now down the drain because Customer Services at Vodaphone weren't able to give me enough time to resolve this issue.

Thanks for trying to help.

Dan

[Lee]

Hey mcdaddydan,

Thanks for updating the thread, and to paul1j for the fantastic help so far

It seems you're stuck between a rock and a hard place here. The company policy is for the driver to take away your old device in return for the replacement. The courier isn't likely to be able to wait while you try and back up the data from your old device, especially since this is what you've been trying for a couple of days now.

Have you ever used BlackBerry Protect to back up your data? I know this is of ill consequence now but it's definitely something I'd recommend in future.

Cheers,

Lee

[mcdaddydan]

Hi Lee

Thanks for your reply.

Will BlackBerry Protect be able to salvage my data in this particular instance (where the device keeps rebooting by itself and doesn't stay on long enough to sync)?

Regards

Dan

[pau1j]

Blackberry Protect is an application on the BB which should be there out-of-the-box & just requires activating.  Once set-up, it sends all the basic data on your phone (contacts, calendars, tasks, memos, text messages, etc.) to RIM servers for back-up.  You can choose for back-up every day, week or month.

Unless you had it working before the phone went tits-up, it's just something to make sure you have activated on the new phone.

Things like photo's & other media are better stored on the microSD card (depending on your phone's settings, they might be on there anyway).

If the phone can't stay on long enough for DM to recognise it, it might still be possible to grab a back up using App Loader.  If you download & install the latest OS for the 9900 then follow the instructions from Crackberry 101 you will notice that part way through the process there is an option to back-up data ... since most of the update process is done with the phone in a part-booted state, it might work.

If you have Desktop Manager installed, I think you will have to uncheck the setting to run when it detects a BB.

Alternatively, I have read that BBSAK (BlackBerry Swiss Army Knife) can do things that are beyond the reach of DM - because it doesn't necessarily require the phone to be fully booted to read its data.

Best of luck.

[mcdaddydan]

Paul - many thanks for all this advice, however, it sounds like these solutions may require someone with some IT literacy to execute... is there anyone in Vodaphone or at BlackBerry who can walk me through how to do all this over the phone?

[pau1j]

Hi Dan.
Yes - I did mean to add the caveat that it's not for the faint-hearted.

Unfortunately, it's one of those situations where there are so many ifs, buts & maybes that I, for one, wouldn't like to try to do it over the phone. The information above is just a possibility with, if I were a betting man, about an evens chance of success.

It might be something they can attempt at the Vodafone shop - although it probably goes above-and-beyond.

Without being flippant ... do you know any teenagers with their head screwed-on? I would say it's IT confidence that is required more than IT literacy.

[mcdaddydan]

Thanks Paul, understood.

Is there someone I can take my phone and just pay someone to attempt to salvage my data?

I note that it's easy to walk into an Apple store but what about BlackBerry?

[James]

Hi mcdaddydan,

Unfortunately unlike Apple, BlackBerry doesn’t have a genius bar for you to pop into.

The only thing that you can do is try one of the apps above however; even our Vodafone store probably won’t feel comfortable doing this as they are not trained in this type of data back up.

However, do you have a spare phone lying around?

If yes then by taking them both into the store they may be able to salvage some of the content by transferring it onto an old phone using the new Vodafone Red Box.

James

[mcdaddydan]

Hi James

Thanks for this recommendation.

Does the new BlackBerry (the one I want to salvage data from) have to be (and stay) on for this to work???

As mentioned in my previous messages, the problem is my defective BlackBerry doesn't stay on long enough to sync it to BlackBerry Desktop Manager...

...although some interesting developments over the weekened - I left the phone sitting on my desk for a few hours on Saturday and came home to find it was suddenly on - long enough to connect it to my PC and back up my photos - but BlackBerry Desktop Manager couldn't detect it and so I was unable to back up the contacts/calendar/notes.

Then on Sunday, same thing happened, it suddenly came and stayed on... this time, I was able to sync to BlackBerry Desktop Manager... long enough to back up my notes... but before I had a chance to also sync my Contacts, the phone rebooted again and went back to the constant, frustrating reboot loop pattern and hasn't come stayed on since.

Hoping tonight I'll come home to find the loop stops and the phone is stable enough to stay on long enough to back up my contacts!!!!

Kind regards

Dan

[Wayne]

Hi mcdaddydan

Thanks for your post here. Yeah the phone will need to be on. It probably won’t need to be on for as long as what your BlackBerry desktop software needs it to be though.

The only problem you have with this is, knowing when it will be on long enough for you to do it.

Let me know how you get on though and if you need anything else and we’ll be happy to help you further.

Thanks

Wayne

[pau1j]

Dan.
The 9900 can back itself up - and it's pretty quick. If the phone stays on for a minute or so, that will be enough.

Setup > Device Switch gives an option to store all data & settings to the microSD card.

Once you get your new BB, swap the microSD card and transfer everything to the new phone.

Best of luck.

[mcdaddydan]

Thanks Paul. I will try that, but it will depend on whether I can get the phone to stay on again. It probably booted and re-booted over 200 times over the weekend, and it only managed to stay on twice. Hoping it will happen again over the next few days. Fingers crossed.

Also, I had a quick look at my old BlackBerry 9700 but it doesn't seem to have the self-back up function in the menu you described. I assume the BlackBerry 9900 definitely will have it?

Will let you know how I go.

Thanks

Dan

[pau1j]

Definitely on the 9900.

The Device Switch via microSD only came on OS7 - so the 9700 won't have it.