header image
 

Missing the AT&T Blackberry Browser after 5.0 Upgrade?

 November 23, 2009 • 1 Comment

Using the instructions from this website, http://www.blackberryos.com/forums/blackberry-how-guides/6313-how-browser-fix-t-5-0-os-using-bbsak.html, here are pictures for the graphically stimulated (like myself). I did use the Blackberry Bold simulator as I had already followed these steps on my actual Blackberry Bold and I wasn’t going to mess up my phone just to get pictures of the steps. I deviated from the steps slightly in which I noted towards the end of the instructions.

Step 1: Download Blackberry Swiss Army Knife from http://rimgeeks.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=56

Step 2: Backup your entire device using Blackberry Desktop Manager (if you don’t know how to backup your device using BDM you don’t need to be doing this browser fix)

Step 3: Connect the USB cable and launch the Blackberry Swiss Army Knife

Step 4: Click “read system” on the BBSAK and sort by name

Step 5: Select (now highlighted) net_rim_bb_browser_daemon and click “Save COD”. This will save the .cod file into the default BBSAK directory which is usually C:\Program files\BBSAK\CODs\net_rim_bb_browser_daemon

Step 6: Select “Remove COD” and allow the device to reboot

Step 7: Download the AT&T Service Books and open the BDM

From the original instructions: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2LPGJW24
Alternate link to the service books via web search.
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=652217d0a1ad632e6b21be4093fab7ac13691ffdf1927bb9e04f31aacf568dab

Step 8: Select the advanced tab in the BDM under the Backup/Restore main menu

Allow the device to update:

Step 9: Choose File –> Open and select the service book .ipd file that you downloaded

Step 10: Highlight the service book .ipd file that you opened and select the >>> arrows to add them to the phone

Allow the service books to load and phone to refresh

Step 11: Once completed, close the BDM (just click the X) and open BBSAK. Click “Install COD” and navigate to the .cod file that you saved earlier.

Step 12: Close BBSAK, disconnect the USB cable, and allow the phone to reboot. Once the phone reboots, pull the battery and allow the phone to power back up.

Step 13: This is where I deviated from the original instructions. Once my Bold powered back up the browser was already on the home screen without needing to resend service books from AT&T’s website (na. blackberry.com/mycingular or something like that).  I simply changed the options on the “Browser” menu of the “Options” page to “Browser” from “Media Net”.

After all was said in done everything worked properly. I did however have to re-setup my e-mail for my work and Gmail accounts. All of my e-mail was on the phone, I just had to reconfigure the accounts (took all of 3 minutes).

Dell Poweredge 4600 SATA via Hot-Swap Bay

 November 15, 2009 • 14 Comments

I purchased a Dell Poweredge 4600 server about two weeks ago for an extremely great price. The one thing about the 4600 series that I didn’t have a use for was the SCSI hot swappable drives. I’m a big fan of SATA (price, availability, etc) and have four brand new 750GB enterprise class Western Digital SATA drives sitting in the electro-static bags just waiting to be used.

I began tinkering with the PE4600 internal configuration and made some important observations.

  1. The SCSI Backplane used in the PE4600 is a mandatory part. Integrated into the backplane is a connector for fans 5 and 6 which must be enabled and controlled in the BIOS, otherwise the PE4600 sounds like a jet on take off
  2. With most Dell parts the backplane is designed to easily install/remove using guide rails and thumb screws

Even better was the fact that the SCSI backplane fit PERFECTLY between the hot-swap hard drive bays and the PSU bays. I simply added a thick piece of cardboard on the backside of the backplane, to prevent meta-on-metal contact (thus shorting out the electronics), secured the cardboard onto the SCSI backplane, and slid it into to place.

After reconfiguring the backplane in the case, I reconnected the cables and powered up into the BIOS. I disabled all SCSI devices and then restarted. The PE4600 recognized my SATA PCI add-on card and all of the drives. It also recognized the fans (6 of 6) and configured them as such.

A very easy mod to solve a complicated problem.

Blackberry Bold OS 5.0.0.238

 October 26, 2009 • 3 Comments

I’ve given the Blackberry Bold OS 5.0.0.238 a test drive and have really liked what I’ve seen. Instead of rehashing what has already been written about (the Bold OS 5.0.0.90 review: http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/04/10/hands-on-os-50-on-the-blackberry-bold/) I thought I’d comment on a few of the comments on that thread.

It’s important to point out that Viigo and Facebook don’t work on it… or maybe it’s just me…

Facebook 1.7 works on OS 5 .238.

I hope you can still tether via bluetooth on a Mac

I was able to tether on both a Windows based OS and MAC based OS with 5 .238

Some other observations: The browser sucks. If you are really happy with the browser in 4.6 I’d steer clear of 5.0. The new browser gives me only two options: Hotspot Browser and Media Browser, both of which I never used in 4.6 and am now forced to use Media Browser in 5.0.

This should be obvious but I’ll state it anyway, if you’ve successfully debranded your Blackberry an upgrade to 5.0 will not kill it (at least it didn’t mess anything up on my Bold).

All of my applications that I used in 4.6 work in 5.0: Mobiola XPlayer, Facebook, SignalLoc, Berryannoying, and BBFileScout, with the addition of Google Gears (but like I said, the browser sucks so don’t expect anything fancy with Gears).

I’m not super happy with the customization of vibrations and ringtones. My phone seems to have some type neurological disorder. Sometimes my phone will vibrate, sometimes it will ring, sometimes it will vibrate AND ring, and sometimes it does nothing.

In case you are thinking about upgrading, make sure you backup ALL of your phone using the built in backup feature in BDM and copy that backup somewhere safe. You probably should upgrade to the newest version of BDM, https://www.blackberry.com/Downloads/entry.do?code=A8BAA56554F96369AB93E4F3BB068C22 and use Blackberry Swiss Army Knife http://rimgeeks.com/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=18
 to backup your applications and erase the entire device before upgrading from 4.x to 5.x

I’m in the process of upgrading to 5.0.0.314 to see if this fixes any of the problems.

As always, a quick search will turn up download results for the OS.

Upgrading Blackberry Bold to OS 5.0

 October 20, 2009 • No Comments

Since my Facebook v1.7 took a dump, and I’m a little pissed, I figured I might as well upgrade to OS 5.0. The only application that I use, Facebook, isn’t working after the v1.7 upgrade so, as far as my phone goes, I have nothing to lose.

See ya on the other side! I’ll post back my 5.0 findings.

Update: OS 5.0 runs GREAT! It is SO much faster than its predecessors. I hope to get some screen shots up this week. So far it is compatible with all of my applications, including the once buggy Facebook v 1.7 (which is not buggy, so far, with OS 5).

Oh, and the boot times seem to have been cut in half even with content protection enabled.

« Previous Entries