Z10 can't open or install any android apps after restoring from a backup - please help! What should I do?

Hello,

I'm new and I just signed up to ask this question. I have been scouring these forums for two days and have tried many procedures described in these forum threads with no success. I installed a new SD media card in my phone recently and I backed up my phone (Z10 running BlackBerry OS 10.2.1.2228 (SW Release 10.2.1.2156) on T-Mobile (united states)) before installing the new media card, and restored my phone after installing the media card (yeah, I found out that the contents of the media card isn't backed up anyway, so this was completely unnecessary).

The problem is that I cannot re-install any of my android apps or open any of the existing android apps since I restored the phone from the backup file!!! APK installations hangs forever at the "initializing" stage and installed android apps from BB World (i.e. Skype) stall when opening (blue progress bar stops halfway through loading). I have tried the following:

1. reinstall OS using "Reload Device Software" in Link, and then restore the phone from my backup file (no success)

2. Sideload other android runtime files using Chrome BB10/Playbook App Manager (tried 10.2.1.108 and 10.2.1.144 versions) (no success)

3. Sideload old android runtime files (version 10.2.0.123) and then use "Software Updates" from the phone's settings menu to update android runtime OTA (version 10.2.1.141 was installed OTA) (no success).

I saw a post in another thread that said something about reinstalling the OS and then restoring from the backup using a selective restore and omitting the "BlackBerry runtime" from the restoration. I don't understand how this could be done or why it might help, but I am willing to give it a shot if someone can provide instruction and it won't hurt my phone or it's contents.

Please, can someone help me restore my android app functionality? Step by step instructions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!!

~Jon

Honestly, I think you have a bit of a dog's breakfast now.

It would be best to back up your messages, contacts, and media (assuming you don't use the cloud for these) with a 3rd party app like Ultimate Backup.

Reload your OS (or better yet use the newest autoloader) and then restore those selected items with Ultimate Backup.

Avoid Link for backups and restores.

Reinstall your accounts and download your apps again.

Originally Posted by conite

Honestly, I think you have a bit of a dog's breakfast now.

It would be best to back up your messages, contacts, and media (assuming you don't use the cloud for these) with a 3rd party app like Ultimate Backup.

Reload your OS (or better yet use the newest autoloader) and then restore those selected items with Ultimate Backup.

Avoid Link for backups and restores.

Reinstall your accounts and download your apps again.

:( Well, that is certainly not what I wanted to hear, but thank you.

What is an autoloader, and how is it used? Is it official BlackBerry thing or, like, a leaked OS. I prefer to stay within my carrier ecosystem to keep WiFi calling on T-Mobile

You can do a security wipe, and selectively reinstall your apps, etc. Do NOT reinstall the android portion of the backup. That file is corrupt in your current backup.

Originally Posted by j_cali

:( Well, that is certainly not what I wanted to hear, but thank you.

What is an autoloader, and how is it used? Is it official BlackBerry thing or, like, a leaked OS. I prefer to stay within my carrier ecosystem to keep WiFi calling on T-Mobile

You're running a year old OS. You should be on 10.3.2 for a number of reasons.

There are official OSes that your carrier has neglected to give you.

You download an autoloader to your PC. Unzip it, plug in your phone, and run it. Done.

Here is the link to Thurask's archive :

https://drive.bitcasa.com/send/Qf2R4...5nyziAuKM76a-v

Originally Posted by conite

It would be best to back up your messages, contacts, and media (assuming you don't use the cloud for these) with a 3rd party app like Ultimate Backup.

Reload your OS (or better yet use the newest autoloader) and then restore those selected items with Ultimate Backup.

What will I be able to keep, or maybe it would be better to ask: what will I definately lose after resorting my data from Ultimate Backup? Contact book links? Auto-complete suggestions? App settings like saved map locations?

Also, would it be advisable to do this by unlocking my phone and doing an OTA OS update, or should I do this exactly the way you describe with the autoloader? I have the unlock code, but I have not unlocked my phone.

Thanks,

Jon

Originally Posted by j_cali

What will I be able to keep, or maybe it would be better to ask: what will I definately lose after resorting my data from Ultimate Backup? Contact book links? Auto-complete suggestions? App settings like saved map locations?

Also, would it be advisable to do this by unlocking my phone and doing an OTA OS update, or should I do this exactly the way you describe with the autoloader? I have the unlock code, but I have not unlocked my phone.

Thanks,

Jon

Unlocking your phone won't help, unless you put in a SIM card from another carrier that has the same device variant as you, and is offering a newer version of the OS. Only devices unlocked and sold right from the factory get updates directly from BlackBerry.

You will lose all browser info, and app&device settings. Look at the list of things backed up by Ultimate Backup on BBW. It has a complete list there.

Originally Posted by conite

Unlocking your phone won't help, unless you put in a SIM card from another carrier that has the same device variant as you, and is offering a newer version of the OS. Only devices unlocked and sold right from the factory get updates directly from BlackBerry.

You will lose all browser info, and app&device settings. Look at the list of things backed up by Ultimate Backup on BBW. It has a complete list there.

Thanks for the quick reply and all the helpful info! It looks like, from the link that you provided, I need the file "Z10_10.3.02.2813_STL100-2-3.7z" for my Z10 STL100-3. It looks like it's the same OS for STL100-2 and STL100-3. Is this correct?

Originally Posted by j_cali

Thanks for the quick reply and all the helpful info! It looks like, from the link that you provided, I need the file "Z10_10.3.02.2813_STL100-2-3.7z" for my Z10 STL100-3. It looks like it's the same OS for STL100-2 and STL100-3. Is this correct?

That is correct. Although 10.3.2.2876 just came out today. The difference is minimal, so if you're all set up and ready to go, I wouldn't worry about it. But Thurask's archive should have the new one up already.

Originally Posted by conite

That is correct. Although 10.3.2.2876 just came out today. The difference is minimal, so if you're all set up and ready to go, I wouldn't worry about it. But Thurask's archive should have the new one up already.

Thanks!!!