[westcoastlove]

My BB Curve 8900 is now getting the white screen of death pretty much 1-2X/day. A battery pull does NOT fix this, no matter how long I take the battery out for. What happens is it will load all the way to the T-Mobile screen (sometimes it doesn't even show the T-Mobile screen) and then it will just go to the bright white screen.

THE ONLY WAY I'VE FOUND TO GET IT BACK TO WORKING IS TO CONNECT IT TO MY LAPTOP, THAT'S IT.

Anyways, from the event logger:

Name: NullPointerException
GUID: 9c3cd62e3320b498
Time: May 02, 2011 06:53:20
No detail message
net_rim_bb_sms_compose-3(4CAA6157)
SMSUtilities
formatDisplayDateString
0x5AB5
net_rim_bb_sms_compose-4(4CAA6157)
SMSUiTitleTimestampField
<private>
0x6F4
net_rim_bb_sms_compose-4(4CAA6157)
SMSUiTitleTimestampField
resetString
0x628
net_rim_bb_sms_compose-1(4CAA6157)
SMSConversationViewerScreen
eventOccurred
0x2BB0
net_rim_cldc-8(4CAA54FD)
Application
<private>
0x2989
net_rim_cldc-8(4CAA54FD)
Application
processNextMessage
0x1AEF
net_rim_cldc-8(4CAA54FD)
Application
enterEventDispatcher
0x1A2C
net_rim_bb_messaging_app(4CAA556B)
MessagingApp
main
0x2733

Name: VVM
GUID: 106a7bac08b0dc8e
Time: May 02, 2011 06:52:05
SMS activation failed with error field 0

Name: @APPNAME@
GUID: d182f5d3c24cb763
Time: May 02, 2011 06:51:45
BBRequest Error:
java.io.IOException: Could not find a service book entry for IPPP

Name: net.rim.tcp
GUID: 316c1626a9ddc375
Time: May 02, 2011 06:51:19
DNSx 2

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[pkcable]

Have you tried as OS reload? Could be your OS has become corrupted, also you definately have a service book issue. An OS reload seems the logical thing to try.

[Ibn la Ahad]

Weird strings, haven't seen this before.
Like Rich said in the comment above, reload your OS. You likely want to wipe it first using BBSAK first.

[diegonei]

I third that (sound weird...):

How to Upgrade Your BlackBerry's OS Using App Loader

[westcoastlove]

I wiped the phone completely using BBSAK then used Desktop Manager to install OS 5.0.0.900 (Bundle 126, Platform 5.2.0.96).

Afterward, I installed UberSocial, Opera Mini, Bloomberg Mobile, Facebook, Google Maps, Blackberry App World, and Gmail

It was fine for the 1st 2 days or so, but now it has started to go to the white screen again...

Could it be hardware?

[albee 1]

I'm thinking software. You could wipe and reinstall and add the apps 1 at a time giving enough time to see how each one effects it. Or do a clean install and don't add any until things settle down. You can also boot into safe mode using the.alt-right shift-delete method to reboot, then hold down the escape (back) key until it enters safe mode. Then remove apps 1 at a time till it stops. It's also good practice to batt pull after installing or uninstalling each app. Good luck

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[westcoastlove]

I wiped out the entire phone using JL CMDER then reinstalled the OS by downloading it from the Blackberry website and installing it.

Didn't install any 3rd party apps; only installed an additional language, memopad, docs to go, etc.

It gave me the white screen of death after 1 day, and the Event Logger only shows 2 bolded events - an SMS activation error and something else minor.

Seems like it is hardware?

[westcoastlove]

EDIT: there IS one difference tho: prior to the OS reinstall, every time I did a battery pull or restarted, it would still go to the white screen.

However, after the OS reinstall, when I do a restart, it actually goes to normal. I've only tried once tho.

Any help?

[Ibn la Ahad]

I wiped out the entire phone using JL CMDER then reinstalled the OS by downloading it from the Blackberry website and installing it.

Didn't install any 3rd party apps; only installed an additional language, memopad, docs to go, etc.

It gave me the white screen of death after 1 day, and the Event Logger only shows 2 bolded events - an SMS activation error and something else minor.

Seems like it is hardware?

The 2 bolded events are permanent items, so don't worry about them. I havent seen an even log with thaat much SMS strings. Bring it back to the store.

Perform a few more batterry pulls, they won't hurt the phone.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[albee 1]

Do a hardware diagnostic test. Menu/Options/Status. Type the word t e s t. followed by menu/start, this will self test all the hardware. Best of luck.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[pkcable]

Yea could be hardware, especially if it's STILL happening with no 3rd party apps. Might be time to upgrade? 9780? Or are you waiting on the 9860, or the 9900? You COULD go on ebay and find a device to tide you over till then IF that is the case. Getting the 8900 repaired is probably NOT cost effective at this point, as you could probably pick one up on ebay for less than the cost of a repair.

[paolochua]

You need a new battery! Happens to most BBs after a year or so...

[pkcable]

You need a new battery! Happens to most BBs after a year or so...

Really? I have never heard about that being a widespead problem with BBs. While batteries CAN fail, certainly, they are not known to regularly fail after 1 year. I doubt this is the issue. And a more typical sign of a battery failure would be that it would stop taking a charge, NOT cause a white screen.

[RoseBud68]

There have been a lot of post on this subject (white screen), I"m also having an issue with my old 9700. Have posted on several thread with no results. As for the battery, I doubt that very much.

[Devedander]

There have been a lot of post on this subject (white screen), I"m also having an issue with my old 9700. Have posted on several thread with no results. As for the battery, I doubt that very much.

I had a 9700 WSOD and shortly after mine my coworkers also did... I suspect there is a problem at least with 9700's. Got a warranty replacement and will be watching for it to happen again before warranty is up.

[IAmSixNine]

I see a lot of BB units come thru my office and i will agree that most of the time its a hardware failure.
Once i received a batch of about 25 BB 9700 units. Of those about 5 had the problem.
I took them apart and swapped LCD units. Back in the old days BB stuff were pretty much made the same. However i am seeing a lot more newer devices that have different hardware revisions. Or are being made at different locations across the world.
I found that simply swapping LCDs did not always fix the white screen problem. Some need 001/005 hardware LCDs and some needed 002/007. I dont know the difference but the gist of it is this.
When the white screen happens, its a 50/50 chance its either the LCD that has a problem or the main board of the BB.
I was able to swap some of the LCDs around and some of them stayed white screen no matter what unit i put it on. While some LCD units would work on other phones. Put the LCD back on the original BB and back to white screen.

This backs the theory that a software upgrade could fix it but it wont fix it all of the time.
I have also seen this happen on 8300, 8310, 8320 units.

[albee 1]

See what happens when you remove the media card and run it. Sometimes if it isn't seated properly the WSOD can result. It could also have a faulty card holder. So first try running it while removed.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[vaughn71]

Tried all of the suggestions with no luck. Called Rogers and now you have to either pay $35 to get a refurbished sent to you in a week or go to a Rogers Plus store and pay a $50 deposit to get a loaner and they ship out your phone and repair. Super.

[BuddyL]

i've had the same problem for a week. last week when it first happened i reloaded the os and it worked for a week. last night i got the white screen again and did the process over again. this morning i got the white scren again. i've called t-mo but they have no answer either.

[westcoastlove]

its really annoying now, and the only way I can fix it is by connecting it to my laptop via usb cable, which leads me to believe it is NOT hardware related.

anyways, I will take it to a shop this weekend to get it looked at.