[Billaboard]

I've just got a Playbook and may have been trying to be too clever too soon. I was trying to get Google maps installed, following what seem to be standard instructions. I connected via usb to get the desktop application installed and may have messed up, as there was an error message about a failed install on the PB.

Since then, the wifi has become totally unreliable, and I have to re-enter the WPA password to get connected. So,

1. Should the stars that represent the password be the same in number as the entered password? They always come back with 2 more than my password however many times I save it.

2. Should I try to blow away everything, refresh the OS and start again? I'm on the latest OS, and can see how to wipe all the data, but how can I reload the OS?

[kbz1960]

I don't think the stars equal the number of characters on all things that use them, I know they don't on some.

A wipe will put it back to factory or a debrick will reload the whole OS. To do a debrick with your PB off, make sure it is off, open DM and plug the PB in while it's off. Choose update and or repair and follow.

[Billaboard]

I have tried the wipe and the debrick. When the machine tried to install the update, the wifi was utterly erratic. It did eventually install fully, but now I can't select the router to re-enter the password, which still seems to be necessary. So the wifi is no longer working at all.

I may have some router problems, as a monitoring program running on this laptop sees quite frequent instantaneous dropouts, but the laptop works fine, maybe just ignoring the dropouts, as does an Android 4.1 cheapo Chinese tablet.

I'm now going to try changing to another router and re-debricking, but this doesn't seem very satisfactory.

[sad_old_man]

I have tried the wipe and the debrick. When the machine tried to install the update, the wifi was utterly erratic. It did eventually install fully, but now I can't select the router to re-enter the password, which still seems to be necessary. So the wifi is no longer working at all.

I may have some router problems, as a monitoring program running on this laptop sees quite frequent instantaneous dropouts, but the laptop works fine, maybe just ignoring the dropouts, as does an Android 4.1 cheapo Chinese tablet.

I'm now going to try changing to another router and re-debricking, but this doesn't seem very satisfactory.

Before doing anything further I would strongly recommend ensuring that your wifi connection is working correctly and stable. Until that happens you will just create more problems but will always be unsure as to the cause of them. One step at a time grasshopper.

[dongeel]

After wiping it to restart, all my back up data is gone forever as it seems.

[sad_old_man]

After wiping it to restart, all my back up data is gone forever as it seems.

How many people are we talking to here about the initial problem?

[SEAWARRIOR]

1 person w/ several personalities, it seems...

[Billaboard]

Well, I'm the original problem poster, and I'm still struggling. I have replaced my Netgear router with a Belkin one with 2 aerials, so that it can transmit with both horizontal and vertical polarisation. I am now monitoring it on both "InSSIDer" on a laptop and "wifi analytics" on the Android tablet. The laptop shows a more consistent signal, but with one or two very occasional drops, the tablet shows a lower, but solidly consistent signal (although I'm not sure that the graph is actually alive as it has no horizontal scale markings and no " this is where data is being received" marker. There is a lot of wifi in the area and we are just across the road from a mobile phone mast, which I think has recently sprouted an extra cabinet at its base (4G?).

My next move is to download the desktop software again onto the laptop from the Blackberry site and install it. Am I right to be downloading "710_b042_multilanguage.exe" for working with the PB?
Then I will try the debrick procedure again via the different router.

The change of router has improved the Playbook. It has dropped out once or twice, but it reconnects with the router without requiring a fresh password entry. It doesn't look right, though, as I still can't get the settings menu to pick up the router it has detected.

The laptop and the Android have worked fine via wifi while I have been doing this.

.

[FF22]

Billaboard:

What protocol or security are you using? Can you change the channel on your router and try a different one? 2.x or 5.x frequency?

[Billaboard]

Billaboard:

What protocol or security are you using? Can you change the channel on your router and try a different one? 2.x or 5.x frequency?

Both routers were n as opposed to b or g. They were set to different channels, the current Belkin one is set to 11 + 5 in the 2.4GHz band. The Netgear was, set to 9 + 5 in the same band. Both use WPA2 personal, and the other closest routers are on channels 1 and 6, respectively. There are some on channel 11, but they are down in the noise below -85dB compared with the -50 to 60 ish that I reach.

I have got older routers here that I could try, but I really think that what happened was that I somehow messed up the software in the PB trying to install Google maps. Before I tried that, it seemed to be fine on wifi. As I say, the laptop and other tablet seem OK.

[sad_old_man]

Both routers were n as opposed to b or g. They were set to different channels, the current Belkin one is set to 11 + 5 in the 2.4GHz band. The Netgear was, set to 9 + 5 in the same band. Both use WPA2 personal, and the other closest routers are on channels 1 and 6, respectively. There are some on channel 11, but they are down in the noise below -85dB compared with the -50 to 60 ish that I reach.

I have got older routers here that I could try, but I really think that what happened was that I somehow messed up the software in the PB trying to install Google maps. Before I tried that, it seemed to be fine on wifi. As I say, the laptop and other tablet seem OK.

To get to the root of the cause you need to get the basics right first. In that case I would,

1. Set the router to wep security, even better still open security. (you can change it later)
2. Get DTM up and running and check for software updates.
3. When your happy it is stable and can connect to the net, connect your pb and when it connects do a backup.
4. (your pb should show up on your pc/laptop as a network drive and I always copy the whole drive to a safe place, but that's just me).
5. Disconnect your pb and turn it off.
6. Connect your pb again to your pc/laptop and then turn the pb back on.
7. Wait until you receive the DTM error cannot connect to device and select repair.

Your pb will now completely reinstall its OS. When finished restore settings from your backup. Once your happy, play with your router security settings to your hearts content.

[Billaboard]

To get to the root of the cause you need to get the basics right first. In that case I would,

1. Set the router to wep security, even better still open security. (you can change it later)
2. Get DTM up and running and check for software updates.
3. When your happy it is stable and can connect to the net, connect your pb and when it connects do a backup.
4. (your pb should show up on your pc/laptop as a network drive and I always copy the whole drive to a safe place, but that's just me).
5. Disconnect your pb and turn it off.
6. Connect your pb again to your pc/laptop and then turn the pb back on.
7. Wait until you receive the DTM error cannot connect to device and select repair.

Your pb will now completely reinstall its OS. When finished restore settings from your backup. Once your happy, play with your router security settings to your hearts content.

Many thanks for putting that down so clearly, and thanks to others who have helped.

I didn't change the router security, as that would make it a major job changing the settings on the machines on the network here, many of which come and go with the family, and haven't bothered to re-install from the backup as it's simpler to just re-install from scratch until I trust the PB enough to let data onto it.

The PB now seems to be re-installed and working well and reliably in its basic installation.

After the full download of the system, the Win7 machine displayed a message that the system was installed correctly, but with warnings. In the absence of any info on where to look for the warnings, I went into the Windows Event logs, and there were 2 log entries that seemed to refer to Blackberry.

"Activation context generation failed for "C:\Program Files\Research In Motion\BlackBerry Desktop\MailServerMAPIProxy64.exe". Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC90.ATL,processorArchitecture="amd64",p ublicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",vers ion="9.0.21022.8" could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis."

This seems odd in that this machine is Intel based and running 32-bit Win 7. I know little about Winsxs beyond that it seems to choose the correct dll for the program being installed. My Winsxs directory is over 5gigs, but I understand that it just grows with the machine and never shrinks.

"The IP address lease 169.254.101.242 for the Network Card with network address 0x72D4F22F2B1F has been denied by the DHCP server 169.254.7.161 (The DHCP Server sent a DHCPNACK message)."

Not sure what this is about, as my network is all in the 10.0.x.x region.

But still, it all seems to be working, so thanks again.