How do I downgrade my BB 8530?

[JB Designs]

A couple days ago I upgraded my OS from 5.0.0.886 to 5.0.0.973 and I absolutely hate it. My speaker makes a loud popping noise seconds before any ringtone or alert goes off, which is completely annoying. I lost the option to delete email in my gmail mailbox and now have to delete it from my device, then go online to delete it from my mailbox which defeats the purpose of my getting the phone to begin with. My Turn Power Off app also no longer works leaving me with no way to fully power off my device.

I tried to use a backup I made from last week, prior to the OS update, but that didn't work. I tried to go to the Verizon website but I could only get the most recent OS which is what I have and desperately want rid of.

Could someone please tell me step-by-step how to get OS v5.0.0.886 back on my Verizon BB Curve 8530? Also, is there a way to downgrade back to 5.0.0.886 without losing my ringtones, music, etc?

Please help! I'm frustrated beyond belief and don't know what to do. I've been dealing with this since Sunday and every time I manage to get one thing fixed, something else screws up

Thanks in advance to those who reply!

[californiablackberry]

How To Downgrade Your BlackBerry's Operating System

The link above should help you.

[JB Designs]

Originally Posted by californiablackberry

How To Downgrade Your BlackBerry's Operating System

The link above should help you.

Thanks for the quick reply, but I'm already stuck and only on step one

It says to "go to your start menu and then go to your control panel. Then find "Uninstall Program" (I'm using Vista, for XP it is "Add or Remove Programs"). Here, you will highlight the OS and then click uninstall.".

I went to where it directed me to and there's nothing listed that has to do with the device itself. How do I get it to show this information?

Also, I have Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OS if that makes any difference.

Thanks!

[dgordo]

You should see something in the list of programs that is named BlackBerry Device Software. Uninstall that.

[JB Designs]

Originally Posted by dgordo

You should see something in the list of programs that is named BlackBerry Device Software. Uninstall that.

Ok, I'm still confused because the only thing I see that has anything to do with my device are the following programs...
Blackberry App World Browser Plugin (2.0.0)
Blackberry Device Software Updater (5.0.1.69)
Blackberry Desktop Software 6.0 (6.0.0.43)

At the risk of sounding even more stupid, is the Blackberry Device Software Updater the same thing? Also, what does removing something from my PC have to do with downgrading my device?

Thanks!

[dgordo]

So before I answer that question, how did you do the upgrade from 5.0.0.886 to 5.0.0.973? Because it doesn't appear that the 5.0.0.973 software is on your computer. I'm guessing you did an OTA update from your blackberry?

The point of removing blackberry software from your pc is because when you update the device software desktop manager or apploader is supposed to load the highest number version it has access to. SO if you are downgrading to you need remove an version higher than the one you wish to load.

[JB Designs]

Originally Posted by dgordo

So before I answer that question, how did you do the upgrade from 5.0.0.886 to 5.0.0.973? Because it doesn't appear that the 5.0.0.973 software is on your computer. I'm guessing you did an OTA update from your blackberry?

The point of removing blackberry software from your pc is because when you update the device software desktop manager or apploader is supposed to load the highest number version it has access to. SO if you are downgrading to you need remove an version higher than the one you wish to load.

Yes, you are correct. I have a limited monthly amount of internet usage at home therefore everything I do concerning my Blackberry updates and whatnot is OTA.

Anyway, my initial issues and request to downgrade can be ignored at this point as I was able to do it myself without going through any of the hassle involved in the Blackberry 101, which I will come back shortly and explain so anyone else having the same problems can resolve them without having to wipe their device.

Thanks a million to those who tried to help, I do appreciate it!

[JB Designs]

OK, here is everything I went through today before I finally managed to get my OS to downgrade back to 5.0.0.886 from .973. Please note that what is quoted has been cut & pasted from my email correspondence from Verizon concerning the matter.

With regards to downgrading the OS as well as my previously mentioned issues, Verizon stated...

The only way to "rollback" your device software is if you used your desktop software to perform the upgrade. The original OS may be on your computer and accessible via the desktop application via the application loader. As for the changes in software, such as: (continued below)

So this method will not work as all my updates were done OTA. I'll address the rest of the issues I experienced real quick and I will come back to the downgrading (rollback) of the OS afterward.

Power off icon - That only has the option of powering off the device. No other functionality is available or can be changed.

Which frankly didn't address my question at all as I wanted to know why with OS 5.0.0.886 I could click the Power Off icon and be presented with the following choices; Power Off or Full Power Off. The first option functioned exactly as if I was to hold down the end call button, which merely puts the device into standby, however, the second option would fully power off the device so that when powered back on it had to reload the device. Something which the first option, like the end call button method, does not do. When I went to OS 5.0.0.973 the Power Off icon offered no options and only put the device into standby just like holding down the end call button. When powered back on the device simply turned on without loading anything. I am now back to OS 5.0.0.886, however, the Power Off icon is still not presenting me with any options. So honestly, I have no clue as to what made it stop functioning as it was originally.

Deleting email from handheld and mailbox - Is still an option you can choose. Go to your mailbox, open it up and select the menu button. Scroll to options then message options then email reconciliation. Delete on handheld, handheld and mailbox, or prompt are the options available.

This was 100% on the mark as to what was causing the issue with my having to delete my email from google (gmail) on my device and mailbox separately as the install of OS 5.0.0.973 changed the setting from "Prompt" to "Delete on Device". A simple change in the setting could have resolved that issue as it had nothing to do really with the OS itself.

As for the speaker issue and random powering on/off I would suggest resetting the device first and see if that resolves the issue. To perform a master reset,

Hard Reset - Process may take up to 5 minutes or more to complete depending on amount of data on device.
From the main screen, press Blackberry button.
Scroll to Options, press Trackpad.
Scroll to Security Options, press Trackpad.
Scroll to Security Wipe, press Trackpad.
Select options to be include in wipe:

Emails, Contacts, etc.
User Installed Applications
Media Card

Type the word blackberry to continue where prompted, scroll to wipe, press Trackpad to select.

By the time I got this far I had already restored OS 5.0.0.886, however, the random resetting had already quit prior to my restoring it. The restore did fix the speaker popping noise although I have no idea as to how or why.

OK, now back to the downgrading of the OS from 5.0.0.973 to 5.0.0.886. As I mentioned above, all my updates were performed OTA so as not to use my home internet which is limited. Therefore according to what Verizon was claiming, I could not "rollback" my OS. I found that to be completely untrue as I managed to successfully do it and without having to wipe my device.

First thing I tried was via BB Desktop Software. I attempted to check for updates (knowing there were none) and got the dialog box saying it checked and there were none. In the bottom left corner of that box was a button that said "View Other Versions". Clicked that and all the previous versions of the OS showed up with 5.0.0.973 having a check mark in the box next to it. I unchecked it, checked the box below it for 5.0.0.886 and clicked update. It then opened the dialog box showing the progress which was quickly replaced with another dialog box saying "An updated Blackberry Desktop Software component must be installed before you can continue". I then clicked install, the progress bar appeared, quickly filled as if it were complete, but it kept saying "Please wait...". I went through this multiple times and each time it would get to that point and quit responding. Finally I deleted the Desktop Software altogether thinking I would install it over and try again. I put my Blackberry User Tools CD in, went through everything to install the Blackberry Desktop Software etc. When it was done I was shocked as it didn't download the same software as I had before, this wasn't called Desktop Software (even though thats what it said it was installing) it was called Blackberry Desktop Manager which looked completely different although it seems to serve the same purpose.

I then opened my new BB Desktop Manager, immediately created a backup of my device, clicked on Application Loader and then Update Software. A list of OS updates was listed. I removed the check from OS 5.0.0.973 and placed a check next to 5.0.0.886 and clicked next. From there it was a matter of selecting what other apps I wanted, clicking next and the 12 step process began. After approximately 30-45 minutes OS 5.0.0.886 was completely restored and I didn't lose any settings in the process. All I had to do was change the setting to be prompted when deleting my email (as mentioned above) and I was good to go. I then backed up my device again, just in case, and my phone has been fine every since

So I don't know what the difference is between how I was told to do this and how I actually did this, but this method to me had no confusion whatsoever and seemed so easy a caveman could do it LOL!

Hope this helps someone else!

[Jude526]

a device cannot be downgraded OTA can only done on the PC I am glad you were able to get it done. I had issues with the new OS when it was released for the Tour, hated it. Not every OS works flawlessly.

[JB Designs]

Originally Posted by Jude526

a device cannot be downgraded OTA can only done on the PC I am glad you were able to get it done. I had issues with the new OS when it was released for the Tour, hated it. Not every OS works flawlessly.

I didn't say I downgraded OTA, all my upgrades were OTA. I downgraded using Blackberry Desktop Manager.

[bunnieluvr]

Java Brat!

Thank you so much! I just downloaded the newest update for my 8530 which totally wiped my address book! If I tried to make a call it couldn't find my contacts, but if I went into my call list, the incoming calls were labeled. When I tried to add them to my contacts, they were already there, but my address book was empty. Just as I was ready to throw the d*mn thing against the wall, I found your post. I am currently rolling back to my "old" version as I type. Thank you for taking the time to post details about your fix!

[JB Designs]

Originally Posted by bunnieluvr

Java Brat!

Thank you so much! I just downloaded the newest update for my 8530 which totally wiped my address book! If I tried to make a call it couldn't find my contacts, but if I went into my call list, the incoming calls were labeled. When I tried to add them to my contacts, they were already there, but my address book was empty. Just as I was ready to throw the d*mn thing against the wall, I found your post. I am currently rolling back to my "old" version as I type. Thank you for taking the time to post details about your fix!

You're more than welcome, I'm just happy that everything I've gone through can help someone else LOL!

I know you said you're rolling back your device now so I'm probably too late, but did you think to check and make sure your contacts weren't being filtered? I had it happen to me once and sheer panic set in because I thought I had lost all my contacts. It turned out that in your contacts you can press the BB menu button, select filter and show only a specific category. My luck it just so happened to be the one category that didn't have in contacts in it. But thankfully I realized this before I went through the hassle of entering them all back in. Either way, I hope you get it straightened out.

I have further updates with my issues which I will also post momentarily.

[JB Designs]

OK, after having taken some of Verizon's advice heres what has happened.

I updated back to .973 and they were correct, my email deleting issue previously mention was due to a setting getting changed somehow during the update.

As for the Power Off app, Verizon acts is if it never gave any power off or full power off options, but I know it did. Regardless even rolling back to .886 didn't get it working like it once did. It still will only put the phone into standby, exactly like holding down the end call button. What irritates me is the fact that they claim it didn't give options for powering off and the fact that I can't remove the useless thing to free up memory. So this apparently had nothing to do with the update, but who knows.

As for the speaker popping and the device rebooting at random, its still doing both. I did not take their advice on this as they advised me to "hard reset" my device and then proceeded to walk me through the process of "wiping it". IMHO they didn't know what they were talking about as I'm pretty sure there's a difference between a hard reset and a wipe.

My device is also refusing to go into Bedside Mode when charging again and those settings are still in tact. Actually, it will go into Bedside Mode when charging but ONLY if I use my USB now as it doesn't work with the wall charger. This is odd to me as both went into Bedside Mode when I previously had .973 as well as .866. As of yesterday I was back on .973 and this feature still worked. Today it rebooted itself and this feature now only works on the USB. Performed a battery pull anyway, but it didn't change anything.

Lastly, I just discovered this about thirty minutes ago and don't know whats causing it. But while on the phone with my grandmother I received a call on call waiting. The volume in the ear piece dropped so low I couldn't hear what she was saying. During this time it wouldn't allow me to turn the volume up, however, after waiting and wondering what she was saying, after about five minutes I could finally adjust the volume back to where it was. By that time of course we were getting off the phone.

So whether or not these issues are caused by the update, Verizon or my device itself I don't know. What I do know is I am quickly losing my faith in Blackberry's and dread dealing with this device for the next year and a half