[LissaSue76]

I'm looking for some help here. I purchased an unlocked 8830 WE off of eBay. I am traveling to the Philippines for several months for work and wanted a phone that I could pop a sim card in to use for local calls while I am there. I received the phone but did not have a BB charger, so I used a cord that I found that seemed to fit. (This could be mistake #1?)

The cord is a USB charging/data cord that came with another phone and it seemed to work. The phone charged for a few minutes then turned on. I downloaded the BB desktop software directly from the BB website. It recognized my phone and suggested that I upgrade the phone software to v. 4.2 (I'm not sure if this is correct since I can't power on my phone, but it did upgrade to a newer v. 4 something).

After the upgrade was complete I noticed an odd message on my phone. I can't recall exactly what it said and I probably should have stopped the update, but alas, I did not. After the update my phone shut down and will not power back on. I have removed the battery several times with no luck.

The phone is from Sprint apparently, as it says so on the front. I do not have phone service through Sprint; I have an Android through Verizon. I won't be purchasing a sim card till I arrive in Manila the end of April. Can anyone tell me what happened? Did I fry the phone? How can I fix it? I did purchase a BB charger so I'm hoping that will help. I'm convinced that the software update re-locked the phone, if that's even possible.

Thank you in advance for reading and sharing your thoughts.

[jeffh]

To answer the easy parts of your question first...
1) the software update did not re-lock your phone. That's not possible. You don't have to worry about unlocking it again.
2) if the power cord fit the miniUSB connector on the 8830, it didn't hurt your phone. An 8830 will charge perfectly well on 5VDC @ 500mA, which is the USB standard. Using a charger with more current capacity, 5VDC @ 750 mA, for example, won't hurt it.

Now for the more likely causes of your problem. You can't stop an update once it starts without bricking your phone. If you thought the phone was hung up and pulled the battery before it finished reloading, that's the explanation. It is also possible that the update simply failed, and there's nothing you did to cause it, or could have done to prevent it. Sometimes it just happens.

The good news is, you can most likely recover the full function of your phone by following this procedure: http://forums.crackberry.com/tips-ho...ckberry-32322/

[LissaSue76]

Thank you, Jeff!
I will follow your recommendations. I ordered a back up battery and BB charger just to be safe. I know sometimes the battery can cause issues and since I bought it used I figured it was a good idea. Wish me luck!

[jeffh]

A spare battery and a charger to charge it outside the BlackBerry are two of the most useful accessories you can buy.

OS development for the 8830 stopped at OS 4.5. The 8830 doesn't have sufficient memory to run larger OS versions. OS 4.5 offered several improvements over the OS 4.2 that the 8830 originally shipped with. It's worth upgrading to it.

[LissaSue76]

I checked my BB desktop last night and it appears that is what I upgraded to. I have read other posts that state that version may be the issue and I should downgrade back to 4.2. At this point, the BB desktop software doesn't even recognize my phone is plugged in, but then again, it won't turn on so I understand why.

[LissaSue76]

I've done a few different things. I tried to load an earlier version of the OS and I get this:


This can't be good?

[LissaSue76]

Here are some other errors I've received. I've followed a few suggestions based upon the threads you sent me too. Nothing is working or I've done something very wrong.

[jeffh]

Some of these help files and tutorials are pretty old, but so's your 8830, so they should still work for you. Take a look at this one: http://crackberry.com/blackberry-101...ked-blackberry

The last screen shot, about not having BB software installed on your PC, is right if you haven't installed the operating system as an app on your PC. The BB operating system software is independent of the BB Desktop Manager software and has to be loaded separately. I don't mean to insult your intelligence; I don't know how much experience you have.

[LissaSue76]

I am not insulted at all. I can find my way around most gadgets, plus your instructions are pretty clear. I uninstalled the desktop software just to be safe. I have installed the OS software, twice, but still no luck. I will review the suggested thread. Stay tuned...

(although it is almost my bedtime, so maybe tune in tomorrow)

[LissaSue76]

Oh, yes, that thread I have gone through several times now. That is when I received two of the errors I posted.

In fact, the file I currently have is: 8830mAMEA_PBr4.5.0_rel311_PL3.4.0.59_A4.5.0.186

The screenshot shows the confirmation I received after installing as well.

[jeffh]

Thanks for the clarification. You've got the right OS installed. I hope you have more success tomorrow.

[LissaSue76]

Not so good today either. I'm still getting the message that I have no software for my device, even though I've installed it. I tried on a different computer and got the same thing. At this point I'm hoping the person that sold it to me with help or exchange it!

When I look in my BB folder/Backup there is nothing there. Should there be?