Blackberry Review, Problems

1. Uncaught Exception (closed)

First hour, was trying to follow Quick Start Guide, step 3, Register With Network.  Had already Turned Wireless On.   In Options, clicked on Network.  Got

"Uncaught exception: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException".

Repeat, same result.  Tried turning Wireless off first; no help.

Look up Network Status icon; I have an X.  Looks like no signal here at home.

Later, with signal, still get error.  Month or so later, no more "Uncaught exception."

2. Reconcile EMail (closed)

3/19 Seems not to work any more, or did it ever?  Thought it did, but nothing about messages in log; just the contacts.  Tried different reconcile settings.  Can't pick a personal folder, none in list.  Log seems not to be updating.  Terminate and restart Desktop Manager; no help.

Look online to see how feature should work.  At http://www.blackberry.net/support/index.shtml, looks like they are depending on the cell providers to do support.   Look all around for support pages.

Note I have Desktop Manager version 3.5.0.79.  Re-read help, and try "Import moves and deletes to handheld only" again, and with only a few messages left on the bb, delete one from Outlook; now it seems to work; same message deleted from bb.

Test again; works ok.  Delete another; ok again.  Wonder what was wrong before.

3. Filing Email Messages (closed)

Unable to file email messages as described in the hhguide_bb6700_gprs.pdf, p. 90; no File menu item shown.  Oh, message wasn't to my Exchange account; later, try with another message . . . folder list is on bb.  File message, and cradle for automatic sync . . . didn't get moved.  Change Intellisync option to moves and deletes.  Ahh, now it works. 

4. Redirector Help Settings file

Topic not found for "Frequently Asked Questions".

5. Redirector Second Instance

Launched Desktop Redirector while it was already running; couldn't get rid of blank window; could find no process to kill.

6. Crash

4/11.  Not cradled.  Picked File for a particular message, then select ".cjs" to open subfolders.  The screen went blank for a few seconds, then an animated hourglass icon was displayed for a couple minutes as system restarted.  Repeated for same message; folder list expanded ok this time.

7. Hang

4/11.  Browser; go to http://mobile.aset.psu.edu/portal/ and try to save as bookmark.  Get "Loading ..." then nothing for many minutes; escape; retry; ok second try.

8. No GPRS, or SOS, weak signal

4/14.  Have not had "GPRS", just "gprs", since 4/11.  Got SMS messages but no mail.   In office -- still just "gprs"; 3-4 bars.  Follow problem determination for this here.  Last step says to remove SIM and reinsert.  Now works.

4-6.  Often have to power off/on at home to get GPRS connection.

6/11.  Have only "SOS" in office, where I usually have GPRS.  Go outside; still no signal.  Power off/on, get GPRS; back in office, still ok.

9. Crash

4/14.  Attempt to call AML's cell phone number; device reboots.   Do again; same result.  Try on 4/16; not a problem.  Happens again, twice in a row, when trying to call home, on 7/8/03; next day, works ok.  Again on 7/31, twice in a row, from office.

10. Mail Reconciliation Errors

4/16.  Sync mail; one message that had been deleted from Exchange Inbox folder was not "filed" on the handheld (numerous others were).  Same on 4/21.   Delete all messages manually.  4/22 sync; all but one message that was moved from the InBox via Outlook was filed on the BB (the one skipped: an MSDN Flash). 4/23: sync worked ok; only SMS messages left visible.

8/8.  Sync mail not working.  Redirector says "mail system unavailable".   Have to close/terminate both desktop manager and redirector; restart; re-cradle; sync done correctly.

8/19: All email messages gone after sync, although 3 are in by InBox from today, a couple from yesterday.  Turn off "hide filed messages"; they all show up along with other old messages.  Why were they "filed" when they are still in my Inbox?  I'm still confused between the two folder content synchronization options.

11. Desktop Software Crash

6/26.  Installed on new machine, both Desktop Manager and Blackberry Redirector crash after launch; ModName mailserver.dll, ModVer: 3.5.0.79  Offset 003b2a3 from app error reporter;, then App error from DesktopMgr.exe, "The instruction at '0x30c4bdf9 referenced memory at 0x00000000 . . . ".   Tried 3.6 version with same result.  Tried to patch with 3.5 hot fix 1, but says the 3.5.0 version can't be patched.   Uninstalled and reinstalled different versions several times.

Might be Office 2003 beta.

12. Folders Under Outlook Contacts Not Supported

7/9.  Created several folders under Contacts and moved many contact entries to them; on next sync, Intellisync wanted to delete them from the bb.  Hmm, what do do?  Set categories for contacts and remove all sub folders.

13. Redirector Not Working

8/7.  Many messages pending to go to bb; redirector says 15 hours since last contact (yet bb has GPRS connection).   Terminate and restart redirector; all messages go.

14. Could Not Turn Wireless On

Battery low; plugged in charger; tried to turn wireless on, but get "Wireless turning off . . . please wait".   Same some time later; same next morning.   Turn device off/on.  No help.   Later, still no network on and can't turn it on.   Remove SIM and reinstall . . . all ok.

15. SIM Card Rejected

8/30.  No mail or messages thereafter.   Turn off, remove SIM, replace SIM, turn on, all ok.

11/3. Same; power off/on; ok now; did not have to remove SIM card.

11/13.  Same; power off/on; ok now; did not have to remove SIM card.

16. Could not start the Redirector

9/5.  After installing Roxio Easy CD Creator and rebooting, the Desktop Redirector no longer starts.  Event log has "MAPI MailboxManager: SubsystemInitialize - MAPIInitialize (0x80004005).  Oh, I removed Office & Outlook.  Duh.  Reinstall Outlook from Office XP.

17. Mail not Redirected

8/6/04. Messages stopped being forwarded at 4am, but have GPRS connection.   Many pending in redirector.  Reboot phone; no help.  No error messages.  Doc it, and get "mail synchronization error" message flashing briefly before the Desktop Manager closes.  Restart both; no help.   Installed SP2 for desktop software; still no messages sent (the redirector has them "Pending to the handheld").  Guess something is wrong with there service.  Try sending email; that doesn't work either.  No change on the 7th.  On 8/8, remove and replace SIM; soon get all queued email messages.

18. Notes Not Copied

8/17/04.  Two of my 8 notes from Outlook are not being copied to the Blackberry; one of them I've had for a long time, and it used to be on the BB. 

19. Desktop Manager/Redirector Broken (closed)

11/5/04.  These hang on startup now.   We moved our Exchange sever to Exchange 2003; maybe that did it.  Reboot; no help.  The Manager does become responsive after 5 minutes or so, but it won't let me change settings or create a new profile; it says to open the Mail control panel applet.  I do that, and change the server name.  Ok now. 

20. Lots of Messages Forwarded

11/8/04.  Took the thing home for the weekend; didn't get a connection at any time.  Battery low today, docked.   When it started to sync, the desktop redirector was disabled, as expected, got about 20 message transfer messages.  Soon they all went away, then two more showed up.  Wonder why.

21. Conflict Resolution

11/8/04.  Get a "Conflict Resolution (MemoPad)" notice for a memo, but it shows the same data on both devices.