[UPEngineer]

Hello all,

I have a US Cellular 8330 running 4.5.0.131.

My wife just got a US Cellular 8330m today.

The "m" version is one that uses a new larger ESN called the MEID instead of the ESN #. There were a lot of threads about this because US Cellular ran out of the EID numbers.

Now my question is this. US Cellular released a version for the 8330m which is 4.5.0.138 but the website says the versions of software are not interchangeable.

Could this be true or is it for a normal user and not us "power" users. I mean could we delete the vendor.xml file and then install it or are we SOL? I was going to try it but I didn't want to brick my phone beyond fixin

Reason I ask is that if an when say a new version comes out like the Sprint 131 version, are the 8330m devices left out in the cold and at the mercy of the official US Cellular version or are they really interchangeable after deleting the vendor file.

I actually thought all the 83xx 4.5 versions were all the same really.

Hope this is not too confusing but I can't see RIM creating 2 software versions for the same hardware/software platform.

[filipinoy973]

For the 83xx series I know it is model dependant. 8320 OS on 8320 only, etc. As for 8330 and 8300m, my best guess is that it can work, being solely based on the model number and not the "m." I could be wrong though because an ESN is important and I think it'd be incorporated largely into an OS. But double check first because of what I said before. The side effects could be catastrophic. I over-exaggerated. It'll just stink if something goes wrong.

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[BergerKing]

The 8330m is the multilanguage version of that OS. If you don't need it, no reason to get it, really.

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[highline]

The 8330m is the multilanguage version of that OS. If you don't need it, no reason to get it, really.

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But will the updates work with new features for a Verizon 8330?

[orangeagent]

How can 8330m just mean that it's multilanguage? Every BlackBerry has multilanguage support. I work with Carolina West and our entire inventory of 8330's had to be shipped back and are being replaced with 8330m...it can't be that minor, but the only thing i notice different is that the trackball is no longer lit from the side, but actually under like all the other berries and the decimal esn has been replaced with the MEID. I heard that it had something to do with Qualcomm and one of the chips in the hardware, anybody heard anything like that?

[eMpTy43]

The 8330m 4.5.0.138 from U.S. Cellular will not install on my Verizon 8330. I've deleted the vendor.xml file and all that, I'm very familiar with OS upgrades...

I'm going to attempt to move the .138 java files into the .131 java folder and build a hybrid OS like I've done with my Storm

[eMpTy43]

The 8330m 4.5.0.138 from U.S. Cellular will not install on my Verizon 8330. I've deleted the vendor.xml file and all that, I'm very familiar with OS upgrades...

I'm going to attempt to move the .138 java files into the .131 java folder and build a hybrid OS like I've done with my Storm

So far the .131/.138 Hybrid is working well

The only difference I've noticed so far is there is less lag time from a button press until the screen lights up.

[snoppyman]

Here is your answer anything else you hear about the M in your device product ID is wrong.

Electronic Serial Numbers (ESNs) were created by the FCC to uniquely identify mobile devices from the days of AMPS in the United States from the early 1980s. The administrative role was taken over by the Telecommunications Industry Association in 1997. ESNs are mainly used with AMPS, TDMA and CDMA phones in the United States, compared to IMEI numbers used by all GSM phones.[1]

An ESN is 32 bits long. It consists of three fields, including an 8-bit manufacturer code, an 18-bit unique serial number, and 6 bits that were reserved for later use, although in practice these 6 bits have long been combined into a 24-bit serial number field. This format only allowed 256 different manufacturers to be distinguished. Therefore, when it became clear that this would not suffice, a new format was created, with a 14 bit manufacturer code and 18 bit serial number. All recently assigned ESN codes (and all UIMID codes) use this format.

Manufacturer code 0x80 was reserved and now is used to represent pseudo ESNs (pESN) which are calculated from an MEID or EUIMID. Pseudo-ESNs are not guaranteed to be unique.

ESNs are often represented as 11 digit decimal numbers or 8 digit hex numbers. The first three digits are the decimal representation of the first 8 bits (between 000 and 255 inclusive) and the next 8 are derived from the remaining 24 bits and will be between 00000000 and 16777215 inclusive. The decimal format of pseudo ESN's will therefore begin with 128. The decimal format separately displays 8 bit manufacturer codes, but not 14 bit codes.

As ESNs are running out, a new serial number format named Mobile Equipment ID (MEID) has been created. MEIDs are 56 bits long, which is the same length as IMEI and, in fact, MEID was created to be compatible with IMEI. The main difference between MEID and IMEI is that the MEID allows hexadecimal digits while IMEI allows only decimal digits.

[snoppyman]

8330m is a MEID device not ESN device. The new SW/OS is to accommodate the MEID change. Your wifes phone has an 18 digit serial number starting with 268435457---------. Look under the battery at the label. The SW/OS for BB's with only 11 digits are NOT compatible.

[yanxizao]

The 8330m is the multilanguage version of that OS. If you don't need it, no reason to get it, really.

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Will 8330m support Asian language display and input?

[plunkingtom]

I know on sprint the 8330m os seems to take less space than the 8330. The 8330 for MMS would provide a link, the M model has the pic embedded in the mms.

[rrjohnson]

My BB 8330 which was ESN broke and was replaced with an 8330m which is the MEID phone. The GPS no longer works, have tried 3 phones, all MEID type and GPS does not work. Have spent over 20 hours searching for solutions, spent over 8 hours with US Cellular support and find out that the chip for the MEID devices are a cheaper chip. No GPS software works, BB Maps, Google Mobile, Garmin Mobile, also probably E911 wont work either.

[Deathcommand]

My BB 8330 which was ESN broke and was replaced with an 8330m which is the MEID phone. The GPS no longer works, have tried 3 phones, all MEID type and GPS does not work. Have spent over 20 hours searching for solutions, spent over 8 hours with US Cellular support and find out that the chip for the MEID devices are a cheaper chip. No GPS software works, BB Maps, Google Mobile, Garmin Mobile, also probably E911 wont work either.

Woah!
I hope you are wrong!
Because my phone may have randomly guessed my location and direction while I was trying to go to my friends on Blackberry maps!

Fail.

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[Deathcommand]

My BB 8330 which was ESN broke and was replaced with an 8330m which is the MEID phone. The GPS no longer works, have tried 3 phones, all MEID type and GPS does not work. Have spent over 20 hours searching for solutions, spent over 8 hours with US Cellular support and find out that the chip for the MEID devices are a cheaper chip. No GPS software works, BB Maps, Google Mobile, Garmin Mobile, also probably E911 wont work either.

Woah!
I hope you are wrong!
Because my phone may have randomly guessed my location and direction while I was trying to go to my friends on Blackberry maps!

Yes. 8330m.

I did this running a Hybrid and 175
Fail.

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[shi69]

hey everyone..im a longtime lurker but always here reading, I have a question. i read what snoopy said about the esn and meid. but im still confused lol..ok here it is. right in front of me on my computer desk.

First of all, I have 2 silver Verizon Wireless Blackberry's, when you click on status they say 8330 with the MEID DEC: AND MEID HEX , and behind the battery both have 18 MEID DEC: 26835457 then 9 different #'s after and both have pESN HEX: 8 digits. also turn the phone horizontal and u see the MEID HEX: A000000 with 7 digits after that and a big space with 3 digits after that. ex: (im sure you know what i mean but just in case im explaining it wrong) MEID HEX: A000000DBF995D 569

Second, I have in front of me a Sprint Blackberry as i Jumped on to their Bandwagon, verizon has better phones, sprint cheaper lol. anyways when i click on status it says 8330m with the MEID DEC: AND MEID HEX, BUT, behind the battery, everything is the same as the verizon wireless digits, and all say blackberry 8330, so im confused as to, is my (new) sprint one, exactly the same as verizon but to tell the verizon and sprint apart they threw a m in it? or is there really a different chipset. ok thank you in advance

[Deathcommand]

hey everyone..im a longtime lurker but always here reading, I have a question. i read what snoopy said about the esn and meid. but im still confused lol..ok here it is. right in front of me on my computer desk.

First of all, I have 2 silver Verizon Wireless Blackberry's, when you click on status they say 8330 with the MEID DEC: AND MEID HEX , and behind the battery both have 18 MEID DEC: 26835457 then 9 different #'s after and both have pESN HEX: 8 digits. also turn the phone horizontal and u see the MEID HEX: A000000 with 7 digits after that and a big space with 3 digits after that. ex: (im sure you know what i mean but just in case im explaining it wrong) MEID HEX: A000000DBF995D 569

Second, I have in front of me a Sprint Blackberry as i Jumped on to their Bandwagon, verizon has better phones, sprint cheaper lol. anyways when i click on status it says 8330m with the MEID DEC: AND MEID HEX, BUT, behind the battery, everything is the same as the verizon wireless digits, and all say blackberry 8330, so im confused as to, is my (new) sprint one, exactly the same as verizon but to tell the verizon and sprint apart they threw a m in it? or is there really a different chipset. ok thank you in advance

Different hardware.
The operating systems are not compatible with each other.
Sorry. :P

Also for some reason picture mail in the 8330 is different that the 8330m as the 8330 gives you a link to a picture while the 8330m is directly in the MMS.

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[plunkingtom]

DC ir right different systems on the M model than the 8330. I have had both with Sprint and they work fine GPS included with the M model. (sprint Nav...) The M model gives you the pic the 8330 gives you the link unless you have upgraded to 5.0. The M os takes up less space than the 8330 software. The 8330 software does not work will the 833m..

[xliderider]

Verizon doesn't use the m designation on any of their 8330 models whether they have an ESN or MEID. So it is very simple for Verizon customers, you have an 8330.

I have a feeling that there is absolutely no difference in hardware between the ESN and MEID models for Sprint and other carriers that use the m designated phones. The only difference is the model designation in the firmware, which determines what software you can load on it. As mentioned, you can't load 8330 software on an 8330m and vice versa.