[cy]

Hi all,

After 2 days of trying to get the bridge working, I've finally got it! I have a 9780, now running on 6.0.448.

Problem I was having:
- Bridge complains cannot connect to phone, the phone will stuck at "Looking for Blackberry Bridge"
- Would not work with scanning and manual bonding
- Tried setup bridge fresh from the Bridge, or establish the bluetooth bonding first - neither worked
- Tethering works perfect

Here are the things that I've tried:
- Wiping phone with BBSAK, loading original/shrinked offical/leaked OS, SIM in, install just bridge
- Wiping phone with BBSAK, loading original/shrinked offical/leaked OS, SIM in, restore all data, install bridge
- Cleaning all IT policy (Only one was "Secure GC Enabled")
- Bonding the bluetooth different ways, with or without other BT profiles
- Updating PB to .1705
- Cleaned all service books
- Generic service books

Solution that worked for me:
- Erasing all email accounts on BIS, in my case, delete all from rogers.com/bis
- Wiped device, loaded in stock firmware
- added my rogers.blackberry.net account
- loaded bridge, worked!
- Re-added account one by one

I am suspecting that there were corrupted service books running on the phone. Every time I reload the firmware, the service books get pushed to the phone as soon as it boots up.

With that said, it should also work with the SIM removed and wiping the device.

Hopefully this can help someone out there. I can't guarantee that this is the fix, but it certainly fixed MY issue!

Update
I think I've found the key to this after some testing - Google/Gmail account is the culprit! If you have any Gmail account on, and doing sync with contacts/calendar, it won't work. If that's the case, try this:
- Log onto BIS (or email setup from BB), disable contacts/calendar sync
- Delete the email account
- Reboot
- Bridge should work

Now testing if the re-adding of GMail account without sync would work.

Firmware is also updated to .534, so the version is definitely not the issue here.

Update 2
Re-added GMail account without sync, bridge failed right away.

GMail is the problem.

Cheers,
Chris

[mcgoo25]

cy, after you reset your phone a few times, does it still connect? i got it working for a little after i downgraded my OS, but after a few restarts, it was back to not connecting again.

let me know, and thanks for the write-up!

[deltadiva2]

Great post! i had to reinstall the VZW official OS twice before i could get it to work.

[saudi_king]

Can you please confirm/deny if PB Internet Tethering works on AT&T. I got Bridge to work using the crackberry fix....

Thanks. If AT&T doesn't fix this, I'm switching to Sprint.

[cy]

cy, after you reset your phone a few times, does it still connect? i got it working for a little after i downgraded my OS, but after a few restarts, it was back to not connecting again.

let me know, and thanks for the write-up!

Yup, did a battery pull a few times it still worked, then it stopped working.

I think I've found the key to this after some testing - Google/Gmail account is the culprit! If you have any Gmail account on, and doing sync with contacts/calendar, it won't work. If that's the case, try this:
- Log onto BIS (or email setup from BB), disable contacts/calendar sync
- Delete the email account
- Reboot
- Bridge should work

Now, I am trying to figure out whether re-adding Gmail account without sync would work...keep you posted.

[cy]

Can you please confirm/deny if PB Internet Tethering works on AT&T. I got Bridge to work using the crackberry fix....

Thanks. If AT&T doesn't fix this, I'm switching to Sprint.

Unfortunately I am on Rogers, can't test this for you.

Tether might not work if you don't have a tethering plan added to your AT&T account. This is independent of what RIM can do.

[cy]

Re-added GMail account without sync, bridge failed right away.

GMail is the problem.

[sabesh]

Thx for posting your findings, CY! No doubt this will be helpful info for many frustrated Playbook owners.

[concepts99]

This did not work for me.

I did not have any contacts synced with my gmail account.

I deleted the gmail accounts from my torch, rebooted

tried to sync and it still does not connect.

[cy]

How did you delete it?

Did you make sure the service books are gone?

[concepts99]

I deleted it from the BIS log in email management page at AT&T

It then instantly removed the email accounts from my torch, so yes, the service books is probably gone.

I just did it again, remove the Gmail accounts, WHILE VIEWING active service books in Options and the gmail service books disappeared immediately.

[tadevinney]

I deleted it from the BIS log in email management page at AT&T

It then instantly removed the email accounts from my torch, so yes, the service books is probably gone.

I just did it again, remove the Gmail accounts, WHILE VIEWING active service books in Options and the gmail service books disappeared immediately.

In my case it wasnt the Gmail acct but ANY account that I had EVER tried using the sync contacts or Calendar function.. I deleted the email accounts that had ever at any time had this enabled even to test with . I did the WIPE function on the Torch. I re-installed BB Bridge and all of my other apps and no problem since. Gmail was never deleted and Bridge is still working. Key is to make sure you get rid of any security tokens by doing the wipe After you delete the email account.. hope this works for the rest of you .

[E92Vancouver]

I am running 3 gmail accounts and deleted items and calendar sync on my Torch. Bridge is now working for me I did not have to delete any gmail accounts but had a heck of a time to get this to work. Took 2 days of my life and I am scared to reboot.

Is this industrial sabotage? Blackberry runs software (gmail, google calendar, etc) that is made by their major competitor. If Google put bugs in their software that ran on Blackberries, it would create such a bad blackberry experience, it could drive customers to Android.

My phone would freeze all the time and after I got rid of Google Maps and Latitude, it has been rock solid. May be 1 reboot a week instead of 4 a day.

[sandmanfvr]

My gmail works fine in the bridge weird.

[cy]

My gmail works fine in the bridge weird.

You are on your 8530 with OS5 right?

My friend has 9700, OS5, BIS, GMail sync'd - No Problem.

My other friend has 9780, OS6, BES, Gmail syn'd - No problem.

I don't even know what to do now! I need my Gmail accounts!

[E92Vancouver]

You are on your 8530 with OS5 right?

My friend has 9700, OS5, BIS, GMail sync'd - No Problem.

My other friend has 9780, OS6, BES, Gmail syn'd - No problem.

I don't even know what to do now! I need my Gmail accounts!

I run 3 gmail accounts and bridge is working.

[cy]

I run 3 gmail accounts and bridge is working.

It's obvious that it doesn't work for me, unfortunately. How many accounts in total do you have?

If I add the GMail account it while bridged, it'll work. Once I reboot the phone, it'll stop working.

If I remove the GMail account, reboot the phone, bridge will work again.

[E92Vancouver]

It's obvious that it doesn't work for me, unfortunately. How many accounts in total do you have?

If I add the GMail account it while bridged, it'll work. Once I reboot the phone, it'll stop working.

If I remove the GMail account, reboot the phone, bridge will work again.

Very interesting. When I reboot, I lose my Bridge too. I kept trying and trying to pair and it came back. I deselected all MAP options and paired BT first before Bridge.

I have not re-booted yet, but when I do, will let you know.

[cy]

Very interesting. When I reboot, I lose my Bridge too. I kept trying and trying tp pair and it came back. I deselected all MAP options and paired BT first before Bridge.

I have not re-booted yet, but when I do, will let you know.

Interesting.....when I try to unselect any of the MAP option in BT, it doesn't allow me to save.

[E92Vancouver]

Very interesting. When I reboot, I lose my Bridge too. I kept trying and trying tp pair and it came back. I deselected all MAP options and paired BT first before Bridge.

I have not re-booted yet, but when I do, will let you know.

Just rebooted. Still have bridge. I did delete Google Maps and Latitude. I use Poynt now. I don't want to cross contaminate my Berry with any more Google products than I have to.

[E92Vancouver]

Interesting.....when I try to unselect any of the MAP option in BT, it doesn't allow me to save.

You used the options key to save?

[cy]

Option key, or Return.

Would not let me save (and exit) without all options SELECTED.

[E92Vancouver]

Option key, or Return.

Would not let me save (and exit) without all options SELECTED.

Weird. Sounds like you have a corrupted BT file in your OS.

I would wipe your phone and then reinstall the OS.

[kameleon]

I too have the problem of it not letting me save without all options selected. Will try a wipe and fresh install tomorrow.

[phillechill]

First off: HUGE THANKS to cy for finding that gmail was the culprit.

Here is my tip: after I removed gmail, it was gone from the setup menu. However, I still found two service books @gmail service books on my device. I had to manually delete them. I then did the bridge connection without a problem, added the gmail account without calendar/contacts sync, rebooted and everything still works!

Again, HUGE thanks to cy!!!