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Top 10 BlackBerry Troubleshooting Tips

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Top 10 BlackBerry Troubleshooting Tips
Last Updated: May 2005
Introduction
The most commonly encountered problems can be resolved with one of the technique
s described, below. Try one or more of these before calling BlackBerry technical
support. As of 1 February 2003, customers who purchased a BlackBerry Wireless Ha
ndheld from Research In Motion will be charged a fee to receive technical support.
To avoid unnecessary support charges, try these troubleshooting steps before yo
u contact BlackBerry technical support.
Troubleshooting Tips
1. Check the signal strength Checking the signal strength of your handheld will
verify whether or not your handheld has a strong enough signal to send and recei
ve wireless information. 1. 2. 3. 4. Turn on your handheld. Click the Options ic
on. The Options screen appears. Click Status. The Status screen appears. In the
Signal field, verify the value is less than 100dBm. A weak signal shows a number
higher than 100dBm, such as 111dBm.
Note: For BlackBerry handhelds based on Java, verify GPRS, 1X or NXTL network sta
tus indicators appear in the status section of the screen. 2. Reset your handhel
d Reset your handheld by completing one of the following steps:

Press the Alt key + the Shift key + the Backspace key simultaneously Insert a pa
per clip into the reset hole, located beneath the battery cover, to perform a ha
rd reset. On some handhelds the reset hole is located the back of the handheld.
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Top 10 BlackBerry Troubleshooting Tips 3. Check Network Settings


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Checking the network settings on your handheld will verify that your handheld is
properly configured to send and receive information on the wireless network. Fo
r handhelds based on Java: 1. 2. 3. On your handheld, click the Options icon. Th
e Options screen appears. Click Network. The Network screen appears. Click Scan
for Networks and verify the handheld is running on the correct network.
For handhelds based on C++: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. On your handheld, click the Opt
ions icon. The Options screen appears. Click Network Settings. The Network Setti
ngs screen appears. In the Radio field, verify the value is set to On. Verify th
e correct country is displayed for Roaming. Verify the Status is active. Click t
he track wheel. A menu appears. Click Register Now and verify the handheld regis
tration request has been sent.
Contact your service provider if you are unable to register the handheld, unable
to connect to the correct network, or do not have the correct options displayed
in Roaming or Status fields. 4. Confirm the handheld-to-computer connection Con
firm that the handheld connects properly to the desktop computer. 1. 2. 3. 5. Co
nfirm the handheld is properly connected to the computer. Close and re-open the
BlackBerry Desktop Manager software on your computer. Verify the handheld is det
ected.
Synchronize your handheld and desktop applications Synchronizing your handheld w
ith your desktop applications will verify that the information is up to date in
each location. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Connect the handheld to the desktop. Open De
sktop Manager and double-click the Intellisync icon. The Intellisync window appe
ars. Click Configure PIM. The Handheld Configuration window appears. Select the
application check boxes you want to synchronize. Click OK. The Intellisync windo
w appears. Verify the Synchronize PIM option is selected. Click Synchronize Now.
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Top 10 BlackBerry Troubleshooting Tips 6. Send a test email message to your hand
held
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Send a test email message from your desktop email account (on your personal comp
uter) to your handheld. If you receive the message in your handheld Inbox, this
verifies your mail server is able to process internal messaging. 7. Send an emai
l message and peer-to-peer message from your handheld Confirm that you can send
messages from your handheld to your desktop email account, or to other handheld
users: 1. 2. 3. Send a test email message from your handheld to your desktop ema
il account. Verify the email arrives in your Inbox and on your handheld. Send a
peer-to-peer message to another handheld or to your handheld to verify it is sen
t and received successfully.
8.
Verify messages are being redirected to your handheld Verify that messages are b
eing redirected to your handheld, based on your email redirection method:

BlackBerry Enterprise Server: Check with your BlackBerry Server administrator to
verify the server is online and operating as expected. BlackBerry Desktop Redir
ector: Confirm the BlackBerry Desktop Redirector software is running on the comp
uter and it displays a status of Running. BlackBerry Internet Service: Contact y
our service provider to verify the account is provisioned correctly.
9.
Run the Application Loader Running the application loader will help you verify t
hat your applications are loaded correctly. Warning: Back up your handheld data
with the Backup and Restore utility before you complete the following steps. 1.
2. 3. 4. Connect the handheld to the desktop. Open Desktop Manager and double-cl
ick the Application Loader icon. Click Next. Follow the on-screen instructions.
10. Search the Technical Knowledge Center To search the Technical Knowledge Cent
er for specific issues and troubleshooting tips, refer to http://www.blackberry.
com/knowledgecenter
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Top 10 BlackBerry Troubleshooting Tips


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Conclusion
If you are still experiencing issues after troubleshooting, view the available o
ptions for BlackBerry technical support at http://www.blackberry.com/support/opt
ions/getting.shtml. If you are a TSupport subscriber, visit http://www.blackberr
y.com/support/tsupport/ index.shtml. If you know that you require Incident-Based
Support, visit http://www.blackberry.com/support/options/index.shtml - ibs.
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Top 10 BlackBerry Troubleshooting Tips Part number: TAE-00081-003


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