Trying to fix a dead BB

[polyonymy]

I recently bought a Pearl8100 from ebay. The seller stated that the problem was "the red LED flashes, but the phone doesn't turn on." I figured it was no problem, since I'd seen a dozen threads around the net about this same problem, all ending happily after a wipe from JL_Cmder and subsequent re-installing of the OS.

However, fixing the problem turned out to not be so easy once I got the phone.
First of all, JL_Cmder failed to ever tell me what was going on. I'd follow the instructions, select wipe, confirm it by typing "blackberry" and then hit enter while the LED was on. But the program would never actually wipe the phone... instead, the screen flashed back over faster than I could read back to the main menu. After trying anything and everything in JL_Cmder for about an hour, I took a different approach, and tried using the Loader.exe file.
This is where the problems really started.

Everything seemed to be working fine... I got the USB: UNKNOWN to appear, clicked "next" at the right time, and then let the software begin to install. It runs through "Load JVM and System Software" perfectly every time, but then it always fails on "Waiting for device initialization."

No matter how many times I try, it always fails here, and tells me that it can't connect to the device.

Ask me anything else you need to know to help.
Has anyone else had this problem?
I'm kind of desperate at this point: I've put about 4 hours into this with jack to show for it.

[markaveli420]

I have had this problem when I got my 8700g off ebay. I try to turn it on and it just flashed red, so to fix it I switched its battery with my pearls (which was charged) then charged the dead battery on pearl. I think its a battery issue like really dead battery. As for wiping the OS I have no idea I'm not to savvy bout that OS stuff lol

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Cyber Warrior]

BlackBerry 101: How to Reload the Operating System on a Nuked BlackBerry | CrackBerry.com

[1darrick]

Uninstall the OS and Desktop Manager from your PC. Reboot your PC. Reinstall DM (latest version) and then the OS you're trying to install on your device. Afterwards, fire up JL-Commander or BBSAK 1.7 and select RESET device. It may or may not work. If it does, fine, if it does not, select WIPE. After your device reboots with the 507 error, select LOAD OS or fire up the apploader.exe file and proceed with the installation.

[polyonymy]

@markaveli: I'm trying that tomorrow with a friend's pearl to see if I can get any charge into the battery.

@1darrick & Cyberwarrior: I've followed those instructions a couple dozen times, and two things always happen: The device never reboots to a 507 Error, only keeps a black screen with the little red led blinking. And whenever I try to load the OS from the DM or from Apploader.exe, the process always freezes on "Wait for device initialization."

Any Idea what could cause that complete failure? Do you suppose there's a hardware issue in the USB area (hence ultimately causing the super dead battery) or do you think that the internal battery AND the other are just completely drained?


EDIT: Tried using BBSAK1.7, and it simply will not connect to the device. Always tells me "No device detected" Does this shed any further light on what the problem may be?