Playbook PC connection issues - SOLVED

mods if you want to make this a sticky great, if not then just let it fade away...

there have been some issues with a few users concerning getting your playbook to connect to your PC (sorry mac users...)

I'm gonna write up whatever info I can to help others that are going through some of these issues.

From the beginning:

Wired Connection

before beginning, ensure your playbook and PC are both connected to the same wireless signal, and that "file sharing" is on in the storage & security tab of the settings menu

-when you first connect your playbook to your computer a window should pop up after a few moments that allows you to run setup.exe, if this doesnt show up go to my computer and click setup.exe
-once setup is done, unplug your playbook and plug it back in. let the drivers install and go to your network (should be in the file tree on the right side of a windows explorer window such as my computer)
-if the playbook isnt there, right click on a blank space and click refresh

this is where the wired connection of your playbook will be found

WiFi Fileshare

once you have the wired connection set up go back to my computer and do the following (this is for windows 7, other versions should be similar)

before beginning, ensure your playbook and PC are both connected to the same wireless signal, and that "file sharing" and "wifi sharing" are both on in the storage & security tab of the settings menu

-just above the file explorer in the header or the my computer window there will be an option called "map a network drive"
-click on it and in the new window that pops up select the drive letter you would like to correspond with your playbook's wireless connection (i used Z)
-in the folder section you will type the ip address of your playbook followed by specifically locating the media folder. it should look as follows:
\\111.111.1.11\media
-replace the 1's above with the actual ip address of your playbook. This can be found in your settings menu, in the about section. there will be a dropdown menu in this section that has an option for Network.
-once in the network section of the about tab you will find your ip address. it is the one referred to as IPv4. you can ignore the grayed out / and 2 numbers at the end. All you need it the number corresponding with the 1's showed above.
-enter your ip address that you have now found into the map a network drive window and click ok. This drive will now be available in the my computer window.

your wireless file transfer is now setup

Password Protecting your Playbook-PC connection

in order to set up password protection follow these steps

-first go to settings, and then to the storage & security tab.
-click properties, here you will find information such as the playbook's network name, workgroup and username. this will be the username for the password protection and you can change it to whatever you want
-click "back" and go to the bottom of the storage & security tab
-turn password protect on
-once you turn it on you will be prompted to enter a password to use.

now when you try to connect to your playbook from your computer you will be asked for the username from the properties section and the password you created

If you are still having issues such as your computer not recognizing that your playbook is connected, follow these steps.
I DID NOT PROVIDE THIS SOLUTION. IT WAS PROVIDED BY ANOTHER USER (ZEBEK) AND I AM NOT TAKING CREDIT, ONLY CONSOLIDATING INFO FOR OTHERS TO FIND AND USE.

Originally Posted by zebek

So my Playbook will not show up as either a Network drive, or in Desktop manager. I have 6.0.2.42 of Desktop manager and have reinstalled many times...if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.....tried multiple USB cables......it makes the USB noise when plugged in, but doesn't seem to show up.....


So here is the fix.....................apparantly some computers have issues with network adapters.....


If you are receiving the Unknown Device in Blackberry Desktop Software, and are unable to get your Blackberry Playbook to show up, here are some troubleshooting steps to fix the issue.
Step 1 � Ensure that your system is running the most current Blackberry Desktop Software. To ensure that you have the most current version, download and install it from this address.
BlackBerry - Desktop Software - Canada
By downloading and installing the most current Desktop Software you are ensuring that the correct drivers are actually already installed on your system.
Step 2 � Reboot your computer. (This step may not be required, but just to be safe)
Step 3 � Launch the Blackberry Desktop Software. Plug the USB cable that came with your Playbook into a USB port on your PC. Ensure that the volume is turned on. Ensure that your Blackberry Playbook is charged and powered on. Connect your Playbook to the computer using the micro USB end of the cable you connected to your computer earlier. Listen to hear the USB connected sound on your computer, and ensure that your playbook shows �Connected to Computer� on its display.
Step 4 � Right-click on My Computer, and click on Properties. Click on the Hardware tab. Then click on Device Manager. Expand the Network Adapters list by clicking on the +. Ensure that you have a Network adapter called Research In Motion Network Device in the list. You can now close Device Manager.
Step 5 � Click on the Start menu and open the Control Panel. Double Click on Network Connections. Under the LAN or High-Speed Internet section, you should see a Local Area Connection beside the Research In Motion Network Device, right-click on this Local Area Connection and click on Properties. Click on the General Tab and put check marks beside Client for Microsoft Networks, File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). Click on OK and close Network Connections. Blackberry Desktop Software should now recognize the Blackberry Playbook and you should receive a pop up showing that Blackberry Device Manager is initializing storage volume access. You can now use Desktop Software to synchronize your Playbook and media, and open the Playbook as a Mass Storage device under a Mapped Network Drive.

i love you finally transfering to my playbook

I can get my Playbook to show up but when I try to drag and drop, I get a message that says I need permission to do that.

Anyone know what that means?

are you the administrator on you computer?

no sure why you would need permission to transfer media files....

Originally Posted by jfiore838

are you the administrator on you computer?

no sure why you would need permission to transfer media files....

Yes, I am. I have no idea why it says I need permission. Except it's Vista...LOL

im assuming its on of those "you'll need to give permission for the program to continue" or something like that and it gives you the yes/no choice

if you hit yes does it transfer the files?

edit: double post

jfiore:

I can't find the setup.exe file on my pc...where did you find it?

thanks

Originally Posted by jfiore838

im assuming its on of those "you'll need to give permission for the program to continue" or something like that and it gives you the yes/no choice

if you hit yes does it transfer the files?

No, it's not that request at all. It just says I need permission. No choices or anything to click except Try again or Cancel.

Originally Posted by leo1055

jfiore:

I can't find the setup.exe file on my pc...where did you find it?

thanks

i had a hard time finding it at first as nothing was happening when i would connect it to my pc.

try uninstalling desktop manager, and device manager (it may or may not show up in add/remove programs). while uninstalling desktop man. make sure you ceck the option to remove all user settings one one of the windows.

once yiu have these things completely uninstalled connect your playbook and it should install it as a rim cd disk drive (something like that) and then either a dialog will pop up that has setup.exe as an option, or you can also find it in my computer

Originally Posted by jfiore838

i had a hard time finding it at first as nothing was happening when i would connect it to my pc.

try uninstalling desktop manager, and device manager (it may or may not show up in add/remove programs). while uninstalling desktop man. make sure you ceck the option to remove all user settings one one of the windows.

once yiu have these things completely uninstalled connect your playbook and it should install it as a rim cd disk drive (something like that) and then either a dialog will pop up that has setup.exe as an option, or you can also find it in my computer

right on...thanks

Originally Posted by Mama2Many

No, it's not that request at all. It just says I need permission. No choices or anything to click except Try again or Cancel.

weird..... im not entirely sure here, but MAYBE it has something to do with your network file sharing options on your pc.

go to control panel and then click on network and sharing centre. you can also access this window from the network window.

in the network and sharing centre there should be options for allowing file sharing over a network

its worth a shot. im sorry if these instructions dont make sense, im on windows 7 and i cant remember if its the same for vista...

I'll definitely give it a try:) I didn't spend a ton of time on it last night. I just transferred the file over via Desktop Manager. I'll play around with it more today.

Cheers.

Have bookmarked this post for when my PB comes ;)

None of this is working for me.

JFiore, that's an impressive process you described and hopefully folks having difficulties setting up the network share can use those steps to solve their issues.

For me, the process went a lot more easily. I have a windows 7 laptop and I opened the BB desktop software and used the usb cord to connect the PB so I could setup the initial backup settings. Immediately, windows detected the PB and installed the drivers for it. As soon as the backup was done (a few seconds cuz there's not too much on it yet), I closed the desktop software, disconnected the PB, went to the network sharing center in W7 and there was the PB, just another device on my home network. For me it was a shock that it just worked, but it did!!!

It works,

but the IP changes from a Wi-Fi network to another. so every time we have to update the networked drive IP?

Originally Posted by PatrickMJS

JFiore, that's an impressive process you described and hopefully folks having difficulties setting up the network share can use those steps to solve their issues.

For me, the process went a lot more easily. I have a windows 7 laptop and I opened the BB desktop software and used the usb cord to connect the PB so I could setup the initial backup settings. Immediately, windows detected the PB and installed the drivers for it. As soon as the backup was done (a few seconds cuz there's not too much on it yet), I closed the desktop software, disconnected the PB, went to the network sharing center in W7 and there was the PB, just another device on my home network. For me it was a shock that it just worked, but it did!!!

Um, yeah, that's what it's SUPPOSED to do.

Originally Posted by HiSoC8Y

It works,

but the IP changes from a Wi-Fi network to another. so every time we have to update the networked drive IP?

That is why you normally define such things on hostname and let a DNS figure out what the IP address is.

In a home network situation most of the time your devices get an preferred IP address after the first time they connect, so next time (unless is was a long time ago you connected the device) the device will get the same IP.

Hey, this worked for me. Thanks for the instructions.

Hi All,

Just received my Playbook today and was very frustrated because it could at all not connect to my pc. Got few error messages, looked all over the internet and finally found something that worked for me. After more then 7 hours and after a re-install of windows 7, here is what worked for me.

Apparently there seems to be some problems with some applications that you download before even connecting to the pc ( I had facebook and 2 updates of games). So I had to erase everything from the playbook (using the feature on the playbook) and re-install bbdm , ... . ANd Now it works!

I am at all not an expert, but still hope this can help someone!

I need your help. I have my playbook with the latest os developer update. And I have problems conecting to my computer. In the playbook screen it shows like for 5 seconds its conected and disconects automatically and tells me is secure to disconect the playbook. I dont khow what to do I allready tried to turn it off and update with the factory software but it ends up telling me that the concection with the playbook couldnt be done.
Please help me I dont khow what else to do :confused:

i cannot find research in motion in network adapters though it says that u have connected what should i do .?