This guide works on OS from 4.7.0.xx to Current 5.0.0.4xx
Preface: It's not as if this hasn't been done before... But I wanted to put this out there in my perspective. Since i've been providing remote desktop support to users having .151-.419/436 loading issues, I thought i'd issue this document. It's the exact steps I take on every OS load. By all means, it is not a pretty document. It wasn't intended to be. It is, however as clear and concise as I can put it.
Read the whole document through before starting. It's good to know what to expect rather than get to step 5 or 6 and wonder WTF? With that- Good Luck and Happy Loading!
12 step program: Installing or upgrading to a custom BB OS. Instructions from Top to Bottom, all in one place!
There are several steps, all very important. Skipping steps or cutting corners is a recipe for disaster.
Take your time, loading your OS is not a race. Dedicate 30 to 60 minutes of undivided attention to this process. 1) On your BlackBerry Storm, Click Options, Theme, and Select Precision Zen. Many times, the OS being loaded is not compatible with third party themes. It's best to just go stock and after the os is loaded, then try to customize.
2) With your phone connected to the computer, Start up the BlackBerry Desktop manager.
Click Backup and Restore, then click Backup. Note where it's being saved! In vista, it's usually in your Documents Folder. It should automatically be named Backup-(2010-01-06) or similar. Click Save. Click YES, to switch to Mass Storage Mode. You'll see the backup happening. and a Successful completion. If your backup should fail, start up your phone browser, click BB button, Options, Cache Operations. Clear history, clear content cache, clear published content, clear cookies. Retry your backup as described here in step 2. Exit back to Main Menu.
Once that has been accomplished. Move on to step 3. Backing up your 3rd party applications.
3) while still having your phone plugged into your computer, click Switch Device Wizard. Click Start under the Switch BlackBerry Devices. You'll notice your Pin in the left column denoted Current Device. and None, in the middle column, denoted New Device. On the right column, uncheck EVERYTHING except Third Party Applications. Click Next. You'll see activity. Next a window pops up asking PIN. Do not click this or anything. In Vista, click the start (windows Icon) Bottom Left Corner. Type in %temp% and hit enter. look for the folder that is named the same as your PIN.
Right click and drag the pin named folder out to your desktop, picking the option, Copy Here. Now on your desktop, right click your folder named your pin number, and click rename. Rename it Backup.yourpin-number. You've just extracted all your 3rd party applications and put them in a safe place in case you need them if and when your phone does not accept the restore during load. Click CANCEL, and exit the BlackBerry Desktop Manager.
Unplug the BlackBerry Storm
PRIOR to an OS exe uninstall or reinstall. During the install/uninstall process of OS exe, the drivers for the BB get refreshed. When this happens, in some cases, if the phone is still plugged in, sometimes the drivers don't load correctly.
Moving on to the next step of removing old phone os from your computer, as well as downloading and installing the new OS.
4) Click the Start Button (Windows Logo), Control Panel, Programs and Features. Scroll down the list. Uninstall any and all installations of "BlackBerry Device Software v4.x.x (or v5.x.x) for the BlackBerry 95xx smartphone". (
DO NOT DELETE BLACKBERRY DESKTOP SOFTWARE) You'd highlight it, click uninstall, and Yes. I have seen one to several instances. Remove them all, and then fully reboot your PC.
5) After your computer has rebooted. navigate your windows explorer over to :
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files or
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files for those of you with a 64 bit windows OS. DELETE any folders named similarly to 95xx-4.7.x.xxx_P4.x.x.xxx... Delete them all.
6) Visit the thread on CrackBerry.com entitled: ** ALL Storm Software Links- Official & Betas**
** ALL Storm Software Links- Official & Betas** and then make your choice of OS, keeping in mind you want one specifically for your phone. The MegaUpluad Download links are perfectly acceptable to get your leaked downloads. For illustration, I've downloaded and installed the latest leak 9530-5.0.419.
*Please Note: simply downloading the phone os to your computer does not mean it is installed to your computer. Navigate to the file you downloaded, and double click it to install phone OS to your computer.
Note once again, there is now a folder named:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\95xx-5.0.x.xxx_P5.x.x.xxx or
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\95xx-5.0.x.xxx_P5.x.x.xxx (64 bit folks)
6A) - OPTIONAL So you want to load a hybrid OS, Ehhh? If you have done the steps above so far, you have an OS loaded onto your PC. The next step would be to choose an OS Hybrid to use. My favorite hybrid maker is Lyricidal from
BBHybrids Forums - Home. You can download them from there, or find them here on Crackberry.com... I like Lyricidal's hybrids particularly because of his attention to detail. He tests rigorusly, and constantly puts out a great hybrid. He also has an awesome install utility that pretty much holds your hands through the rest of the install process. Basically you're picking your device, the directory of the OS you want to overlay, clicking next to install, then choosing optional components like BBSAK (utility) or BBMCP (Util). after clicking exit, it jumps to the next step (7) automatically.
7) do yourself and your phone the favor of freeing up valuable app memory. Click over to: theiexplorers.com website by Lyricidal- link here:
BlackBerry Apps/Hybrids by lyricidal and download Shrink-A-OS to your computer. A lot of people cannot open this file as it is in RAR format (a variety of zip file, seemingly less used than zip). Then click over to
7-Zip and download and install the latest version of 7-zip. A Windows Based archive program that supports extracting RAR files. It integrates into your right click menu. (a reboot of your pc may be required). Right Click the Shrink-A-OS.RAR file you downloaded and click 7-zip, Extract Files. It will create another folder called Shrink-A-OS. Click INTO this folder, and select All. (Control-A), then Copy (Control-C). Navigate to your Phone OS Folder:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\95xx-5.0.x.xxx_P5.x.x.xxx or
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\95xx-5.0.x.xxx_P5.x.x.xxx (64 bit folks)
Right Click, and Select Paste (or hit Control-V).
** Please Note. I have seen shrink-a-os not actually shrink your OS if it is not in your Phone OS Directory. Hence the steps to extract it and get it there!
You should now Plug In your Blackberry Storm to your USB port on your Computer.
OK, everything is now all ready for you to start selecting phone options, then loading an OS.
8) Every Instructional Guide I've read says to delete or rename the VENDOR.XML file that resides in the C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader directory. It is OK if you manually want to do this, however Shrink-A-OS does this for you as well.
In your C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\95xx-5.0.x.xxx_P5.x.x.xxx or
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\95xx-5.0.x.xxx_P5.x.x.xxx (64 bit folks)
In Vista, Right Click, Run as Administrator the Shrink-A-OS.EXE program. Click link for a graphic of what I shrink out when I do a OS Load:
What to Erase on Shrink-OS
First and foremost. Click the "Browse" button and select the Phone OS Directory. In our illustration it's C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\9530-v5.0.0.419 ( Obviously it may be different for you.) Then click OK.
Next, Checkmark the option "Shrink-A-OS is in my current OS Folder".
Remove all Languages, IM/Social Apps, and Other Apps that you are SURE you will never use. DO NOT CHECK MARK "Default Font, Default Ringtone, or Default Theme" unless you know exactly what you are doing.
I can't tell you how many times someone has shrunk out their default ringtones and wondered where their default ringtones are. Please choose with caution. You phone will run extremely successfully well if you checkmarked ALL to be removed EXCEPT, Attachment Service, BB Maps, Default Font, Default Ringtones, Default Theme, Event Log Viewer. This is the setup that I use. Once again, Obviously, if you have questions about whether to remove or not, either ASK in CrackBerry Forums, or simply leave the item.
When you are secure in your choices, Click the Shrink My OS! button. Wait for it. It will tell you how many Megabytes the folder started out as, and then after shrinking, it will tell you how many megabytes your OS is after shrunken. Click OK.
You are now officially ready to run the loader, to start loading your phone OS.
**DO NOT EVER USE BLACKBERRY DESKTOP MANAGER TO LOAD YOUR OS. IT WILL RESULT IN A FAILURE **
Clicking the "Launch Loader.exe" is perfectly fine, then jump to the next step. OR, you may opt to simply close Shrink-A-OS and then Navigate to: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader or
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader (for the 64 bit folks) and then:
Right Click and run as administrator the Loader.exe file. (*** some users are experiencing NO PIN showing up with Right Click Run-As) If So, Simply just double click Loader.exe)
Click Next, It should detect your pin. (If not. Unplug your phone, and Battery Pull your phone, Reboot your PC. Once pc and phone are completely rebooted, re-run Loader.exe). After clicking Next, you should choose to "
Replace the device's applications with the older version" (2nd option). Then click next, it will then display a list of applications.
You'll see Core Phone applications, as well as your 3rd party applications. You should NOT have to click or unclick anything here. (If all you see is your 3rd party apps and no core phone OS options, it is my suggestion that you uninstall from the pc the phone OS you are trying to load, and re-install it. then jump back to step 4.)
To verify you are going from whatever version you are on, and what version you are going to click the "Details" button... Then click the Tab that says "Modules".
If for example you were going from .328 to .436 you'll see a ton of .328's in the left Column, and a ton of .436's in the right column. This is what you want to see.
When you click next, it is prompting you for a backup. 99.99% of the time you are going to leave this alone.
Before clicking NEXT, this is the most major item that you need to heed. If nothing else sinks in, at least this better.
** DISCONNECT YOUR COMPUTER FROM THE INTERNET**, and LEAVE IT DISCONNECTED UNTIL YOUR PHONE IS COMPLETELY BACK UP AND RUNNING, AND AFTER THE LOADER SAYS PHONE OS HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY INSTALLED.
IF ALL has gone well, you are almost home.
If you find that you cannot complete the os loading operation, because it stops responding (hangs) while reloading your apps (the last waiting to initialize bar, try this:
a) do not close the Loader, or cancel it.
b) unplug your phone...
c) do a battery pull and install battery again.
re-plug phone and let it continue to boot. ... It *SHOULD* see the USB port again and the OS installation should complete.
9) If you get the message that "Loading your OS has been Successful", Disconnect your phone from the computer.
10) Do a battery Pull, and let your phone reboot and settle in.
11) I'm not sure about other carriers, but on Verizon, you must then to a *22899 (and click send). You'll receive a "Your phone has been successfully programmed" when it is complete. The last step is to get your Host Routing Tables and Services books Re-set up. In the forums, it tells of seperate steps for both. I've found one step that does both. it's :
options>mobile network>BB Button>Diagnostics Test>BB Button>Run... (this registers your Host Routing Tables, and redownloads service books). Once that has been completed, I always do a battery pull, and let your phone reboot and settle in, and.....
12) Enjoy your new Phone!
IF you have completed all 12 steps and are enjoying your new phone thanks to this guide, please hit REPLY and sign the thread saying so... THANKS! *The steps and procedures above are the opinion of me, results may vary. Your inability to follow the instructions does not constitute any fault of mine. I, nor CrackBerry.com accept absolutely any responsibility whatsoever in your inability to follow the instructions. I also cannot accept any responsibility if this document has any errors or faulty information. It is solely your decision and ultimate responsibility if you choose to proceed in loading either a supported os, leaked os, or hybrid os. That being said, if you are having difficulties, please visit the crackberry.com forums, particularly the Storm-OS Discussion forum and SEARCH. Once your answer is not found, then ASK. There's always someone willing to help, especially once you've exhausted your options.
Restoring a backup (in full)
Purpose, to restore your BlackBerry fully to a previous state, say, if your restore does
not work during an OS load.
1) Fire up the BlackBerry Desktop Manager, and click Backup and Restore.
2) Click Restore. You'll be presented with a dialog box to select a previous backup.
Hopefully you backed up your system to the default place which is usually the Documents
Folder. The backups are labeled Backup-(20xx-mm-dd).ipd for Backup Files, and LoaderBackup
-(20xx-mm-dd).ipd for the loader backup.
3) Select the backup file you are interested in restoring.
4) Click "Yes" to restore all data ( leave a check mark in the "Erase Current on-
board memory). After clicking YES, you'll see the transfer in progress. Do not unplug your
BlackBerry until the backup is completely finished.. When it is finished, it will jump back
to the Backup and Restore screen. Congrats. your device has been restored.
Restoring a partial backup (ie, only address book, or call logs, SMS, etc
Purpose, to restore only certain items to your BlackBerry, say, if your restore does not
work during an OS load.
1) Fire up the BlackBerry Desktop Manager, and click Backup and Restore.
2) Click Advanced. In the left pane, it will be blank, Click File, Open. You'll be
presented with a dialog box to select a previous backup. Hopefully you backed up your
system to the default place which is usually the Documents Folder. The backups are labeled
Backup-(20xx-mm-dd).ipd for Backup Files, and LoaderBackup-(20xx-mm-dd).ipd for the loader
backup.
3) Select the backup file you are interested in restoring a part of. It will prompt
you whether you have an on-board memory backup file within the backup. Click OK.
4) There are 2 ways to restore databases to your BlackBerry. One is by selecting one
Database type and clicking the double arrow (that points to the right >> ) in the middle.
you can click "Yes" and it will restore that database only.
OR...
you may select many different databases, the same way you select multiple files within
windows explorer, ie. click one file, then hold down control, and click the next file, then
keep holding down control, and click the next file, etc etc. and clicking the double arrow
(that points to the right >> ) in the middle. you can click "Yes" and it will restore those
selected databases only.
OR...
You may select ALL of the databases by clicking the top database, then scroll all the way
to the bottom database, press and hold SHIFT, and then Click the bottom database and
clicking the double arrow (that points to the right >> ) in the middle. you can click "Yes"
and it will restore all those databases.
Restoring 3rd Party Applications. 1) Fire up the BlackBerry Desktop Manager, and click Application Loader.
If you did your 3rd party application backup earlier in this thread (step 3 of the 12 step program of loading your OS), you'll see the folder with your PIN that you safely tucked away in a safe place (your desktop, perhaps?) or it still resides in your TEMP area if you didn't follow the instructions.
Assuming you followed the guide and safely stored the PIN named folder on your desktop...
1) In the Add/Remove Applications (left column) click the START button. Click BROWSE button, Click over to your desktop, click into the PIN Named folder. Then click the file named "(your pin number).alx". and click the OPEN button.
2) If you want to restore ALL of your 3rd party applications, they should all be checkmarked, click Next. Move to step 3.
3) You'll be presented with a summary screen saying your BlackBerry device will be updated with the following software: (and it will show you the software you chose to load). If you are satisfoed with that list, move to step 4, otherwise hit the Back button and re-select.
4) Click Finish. Do not unplug your BlackBerry until all tasks are complete. You will eventually see "Update Complete".
Congrats, you've successfully re-loaded your third party applications to your BlackBerry.
Visit the Storm OS forum at CrackBerry.com at:
http://forums.crackberry.com/f132/
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Parts of the original document that has been discontinued due to finding an easier, better way:
3) while still having your phone plugged into your computer, click Switch Device Wizard. Click Start under the Switch BlackBerry Devices. You'll notice your Pin in the left column denoted Current Device. and None, in the middle column, denoted New Device. On the right column, uncheck EVERYTHING except Third Party Applications. Click Next. You'll see activity. Next a window pops up asking PIN. Do not click this or anything. In Vista, click the start (windows Icon) Bottom Left Corner. Type in your 8 digit Pin as denoted in the left hand column. and hit Enter. Click Advanced Search (top right of window). Pick local hard drives from the dropdown box denoted Location. Also checkmark "Include Non-Indexed, Hidden and System Files). When you see a folder named the same as your Pin, and it is in "TEMP" right click and drag it out to your desktop. picking the option, Copy Here. Now on your desktop, right click your folder named your pin number, and click rename. Rename it Backup.yourpin-number. You've just extracted all your 3rd party applications and put them in a safe place in case you need them if and when your phone does not accept the restore during load. Click CANCEL, and exit the BlackBerry Desktop Manager.
has been replaced with: STEP 3) ABOVE in the OS LOAD SECTION
CrackBurglar's Exhaustive Storm OS Load Instructions 
Linear Mode
