1. sandmunky's Avatar
    I am a network technician for a major computer company in Washington State. I work with mostly windows based software for the last 10+ years. I deal with technical software issues on a regular basis.

    My history with the storm os is as follows

    Got first phone with .65 on it and was having the multicolored snow screen lockups on a regular basis.
    Sent in for a brand new phone and recieved it with .75 on it. Noticed major slowness issues after 3+ days of using the phone.
    Looked to the forums for help. Found leaked OS .85 and loaded it. Was very happy with OS for about 3 days and then i started getting VZW Screen of death and the headset would stay enabled even after i unplugged it. I had to use the cue tip trick to fix it. One day i actually had to boot the phone 6 times to get the vzw screen of death to not show up.
    .86 Leaked so i tried loading that one. It worked great for about 2 days and then my phone started to randomly reboot whenever i brought it out of sleep mode.
    Last night downgraded to .75 because that is the only OS that doesnt have major bugs for my phone. It does slow to a creep after 3+ days but at least doesnt reboot randomly or have a VZW screen of deat during reboot.

    Every OS updgrade/downgrade i have done i have wiped the phone before hand.

    It seems kind of odd to me that the OS seems super fast for the first few days and then starts to slow down to a crawl. This has been my experience every time i have done any os change at all.

    Even after going from .86 to .75 i noticed it is now faster. One of my coworkers is having better luck with .86 so far but when i compared my newly loaded .75 to his .86 (two days old) my phone was faster in most departments (everything except landscape flipping so far).

    I believe that every version has leaks of some sort. no matter how many battery pulls you do to try to help and how many icons you have on the desktop. The phone OS gets worse over time is the only thing i have noticed with each OS that is the same. I have a BES with my work so doing this os change is a pain to have to connect it to BES every time i changed OS. One thing i would like someone out there to try is maybe a handheld wipe every 2-3 days. I am curious to see if whether to OS needs reloaded completely to restore speed or is it the handheld wipe that cleans it good enough to restore speed.

    Anyway this is not really possible for me because of the BES thing. It makes it so i have to reconnect and i cant be doing that every 3 days.

    Sorry for Writing a book but i have been watching this forum and just now decided to dill all you in on my experience. (just trying to give you my next idea in the troubleshooting war with this phone )

    Please post your thoughts
    01-13-09 12:44 PM
  2. Rooster's Avatar
    Interesting stuff... thanks for the post.

    Just wanted to drop my thoughts, particularly around the wipe before install stuff.

    For me, it's been hit or miss in terms for wiping. Some Oses have worked really well without a wipe (76 & 85) while the 86 seems to work great with one.

    Both 76 and 85 were horrible with a wipe but the stacking upgrade made them awesome.

    86 I stacked over 85 and it was way laggy and non responsive. After a wipe, its been flowing much like 85.
    01-13-09 12:51 PM
  3. Optimusv2's Avatar
    There is definitely some truth to what you say, but I'm very cautious of trying a wipe of any kind on the Storm. I've never done a wipe on my device.

    I've also noticed a very similar experience of .75 seeming just as fast if not faster in some cases from when I tried .83 and .85 whenever I returned back to .75.

    I also agree 100% that .75 was the only OS that I could stomach on my device because it never had any major bugs. It was stable, more than acceptable speed wise and there were never any unexpected surprises. The phone just worked as I expected it to.

    .75 was simply the best, until .86 of course. I really do believe that .86 is the new .75 for me unless there's some surprise that I don't know about. So far it's been flawless in every possible way that I can possibly define flawless.
    01-13-09 12:56 PM
  4. sandmunky's Avatar
    I am surprised that you would not suggest wiping of a blackberry. I had to connect multiple blackberry's to the BES server for our customers and sometimes if they wouldnt connect I would do a wipe handheld.
    From my experience it wipes the phone back to the same os that you have loaded except it should mirror the day you loaded it.
    I was just thinking instead of some people downgrading or upgrading due to slowness or buggy issue has anyone tried just wiping handheld and seeing if that resolves most problems.
    There is some kind of memory that is being loaded up after a few days that is only being wiped when i change OSes. (bugs seem to start to show themselves after a few days too)
    I am curious on whether the OS change is fixing it or maybe just a wipe will do the trick.
    I know the chagne of the OS in a way does a wipe of the handheld. That is a given that if you are loading a new OS that it is wiping everything off the device before loading the new OS.

    Anyway just a thought
    01-13-09 01:16 PM
  5. 1magine's Avatar
    Funny - mine has opposite effect. That is each OS seems to get better over a couple of days use. however I wipe logs and battery pull at least once a day for preventive lag (like taking a vitamin - lol) But thanks for the report, interesting stuff.

    [QUOTE=Rooster;1404263]Interesting stuff... thanks for the post.

    For me, it's been hit or miss in terms for wiping. Some Oses have worked really well without a wipe (76 & 85) while the 86 seems to work great with one.

    Both 76 and 85 were horrible with a wipe but the stacking upgrade made them awesome.

    Rooster -Quick questions - you like .86 with wipe better than .76 stack?

    Do you have the WAP site cutoff bug in .86?
    01-13-09 01:23 PM
  6. JRSCCivic98's Avatar
    I am surprised that you would not suggest wiping of a blackberry. I had to connect multiple blackberry's to the BES server for our customers and sometimes if they wouldnt connect I would do a wipe handheld.
    From my experience it wipes the phone back to the same os that you have loaded except it should mirror the day you loaded it.
    I was just thinking instead of some people downgrading or upgrading due to slowness or buggy issue has anyone tried just wiping handheld and seeing if that resolves most problems.
    There is some kind of memory that is being loaded up after a few days that is only being wiped when i change OSes. (bugs seem to start to show themselves after a few days too)
    I am curious on whether the OS change is fixing it or maybe just a wipe will do the trick.
    I know the chagne of the OS in a way does a wipe of the handheld. That is a given that if you are loading a new OS that it is wiping everything off the device before loading the new OS.

    Anyway just a thought
    I think you're mixing up the term wipe with the two possible wipes that you can do to a Blackberry. There is a security wipe which just wipes the user settings/data off the handheld, but leaves the OS intact (this is what you're running when you "wipe the handheld to fix your BES attachment issues"). Then there's a wipe that you do with other tools (javaloader) which can wipe both the OS and user data at the same time or individually. They are two different things.

    Also, slowdown the longer the handheld is up, is directly attributed to how much free app memory you have left. The lower it gets, the slower the handheld will be. If you're in the habit of not cleaning out your browser cache after each use and also leaving apps open in the background, expect the handheld to be slow. On the other hand, if you've trained yourself to be a dilligent robot of closing out apps you don't actively use, clearing your cache, and keeping your SMS/MMS and EMail box clear of junk you don't need to keep, then you'll have no issues. I speak from experience in this department. Be systematic and your BB will be systematic and predicatable as well.
    01-13-09 01:35 PM
  7. snork's Avatar
    In my opinion, the whole wiping makes your BB faster hype is all in your head.

    i've not once wiped my storm and i've done .65 > .75 > .83. > .85 > .86. havent had any problems, aside from known bugs/memory leaks, but really once i started closing programs after using and removing VZNav, those all went away.

    perhaps i'm lucky, but this whole wiping thing reminds me of the days when my old roommate used to re-zero is hard drive everytime he reloaded his OS. if you're paranoid about someone recovering your data, okay.. wipe. but if not, its just an extra unnecessary step.
    01-13-09 01:43 PM
  8. ouki's Avatar
    Every OS updgrade/downgrade i have done i have wiped the phone before hand.
    Make sure you 'deep' wipe using JL_cmder instead of the wipe feature comes with the BB. I had the random reboot issue before I realized I had to do the real wipe to upgrade OS.

    I have a BES with my work so doing this os change is a pain to have to connect it to BES every time i changed OS.
    Please post your thoughts
    It is not necessary if you do your upgrade on a PC on your corporate domain where the BES is also on. That case, the BB will start activation automatically without asking for password.
    01-13-09 01:52 PM
  9. sandmunky's Avatar
    I think you're mixing up the term wipe with the two possible wipes that you can do to a Blackberry. There is a security wipe which just wipes the user settings/data off the handheld, but leaves the OS intact (this is what you're running when you "wipe the handheld to fix your BES attachment issues"). Then there's a wipe that you do with other tools (javaloader) which can wipe both the OS and user data at the same time or individually. They are two different things.

    Also, slowdown the longer the handheld is up, is directly attributed to how much free app memory you have left. The lower it gets, the slower the handheld will be. If you're in the habit of not cleaning out your browser cache after each use and also leaving apps open in the background, expect the handheld to be slow. On the other hand, if you've trained yourself to be a dilligent robot of closing out apps you don't actively use, clearing your cache, and keeping your SMS/MMS and EMail box clear of junk you don't need to keep, then you'll have no issues. I speak from experience in this department. Be systematic and your BB will be systematic and predicatable as well.
    Maybe it is the Email box you are speaking of then. I do keep up with the application memory and clearing my browser. One thing i cant do and have never done with any blackberry was clear out my inbox all the time. My Inbox is on the server so if i delete something on my blackberry then it deletes on my corporate email. I have to keep that stuff for bussiness.
    Maybe someone else can chime in that leaves there email box full for BES reasons. Maybe they have the same experience as me.
    A power cycle seems to usually help a bit and seems to free my application memory up but overall the device will still be slow after a few days.

    I have 49MB free right now and here is the history below

    .75 i read to check the memory on the forums
    i checked and i was under 20MB
    I rebooted and 39 was the highest i saw ever.

    Upgraded to .85 and noticed i was able to hit 44MB at the most

    Upgraded to .86 and noticed i was able to hit 50MB

    Dowgraded to .75 and i am still able to get 50MB

    During all the time i have had my storm i have removed apps i dont need.
    I do not think different OS builds are freeing up memory like some people are claiming on here. More or less reloading the OS removes some extra stuff left behind from removed apps maybe.

    I am not mixing up terms at all when i say wipe handheld i mean wipe handheld. The menu that i choose is wipe handheld and then you have to type the word blackberry. I think some other people are misunderstanding maybe. I dont know any other way to explain it other than wipe handheld.

    Thanks for your thoughts everyone
    01-13-09 01:56 PM
  10. sandmunky's Avatar
    In my opinion, the whole wiping makes your BB faster hype is all in your head.

    i've not once wiped my storm and i've done .65 > .75 > .83. > .85 > .86. havent had any problems, aside from known bugs/memory leaks, but really once i started closing programs after using and removing VZNav, those all went away.

    perhaps i'm lucky, but this whole wiping thing reminds me of the days when my old roommate used to re-zero is hard drive everytime he reloaded his OS. if you're paranoid about someone recovering your data, okay.. wipe. but if not, its just an extra unnecessary step.
    You are not understanding
    I said reloading a new os is essentially wiping the handheld.
    I am just saying that instead of going the extra step to load a new os try first just wiping the handheld.
    I do not believe wiping the handheld before loading an OS does anything different i just like to do it cause i am a computer tech. I do it for the same reason that i reboot my computer as the first troubleshooting step any time i see a computer problem. No it might not help but it lets me believe i am starting fresh.
    Too many people are not reading the post all the way through
    Waisting my time having to re-explain things
    Last edited by SandMunky; 01-13-09 at 02:07 PM.
    01-13-09 02:01 PM
  11. sandmunky's Avatar
    Make sure you 'deep' wipe using JL_cmder instead of the wipe feature comes with the BB. I had the random reboot issue before I realized I had to do the real wipe to upgrade OS.



    It is not necessary if you do your upgrade on a PC on your corporate domain where the BES is also on. That case, the BB will start activation automatically without asking for password.

    No it wont.
    You are reffering to a comcast email address or a yahoo email address.
    Trust me the enterprise activation does not start automatically
    They have to set a password for you on the server every time you need to connect again. And a wipe does clear all that out.

    The JL_cmder wipe you are reffering to i have no knowledge of so i can not speak of that.

    Thanks for you post
    01-13-09 02:04 PM
  12. paulmike3's Avatar
    Wiping with jl_cmdr will remove everything on the handheld. When it boots, you get an error that there is no software. Is that the wipe you're doing? That is what JRSCCivic98 is referring to (vs. just data wiping).
    01-13-09 02:11 PM
  13. sandmunky's Avatar
    Nope i am just selecting wipe handheld from the security and general settings menu and then typing the word blackberry into the phone.
    01-13-09 02:14 PM
  14. ouki's Avatar
    No it wont.
    You are reffering to a comcast email address or a yahoo email address.
    Trust me the enterprise activation does not start automatically
    They have to set a password for you on the server every time you need to connect again. And a wipe does clear all that out.

    The JL_cmder wipe you are reffering to i have no knowledge of so i can not speak of that.

    Thanks for you post
    Hey man, if you want to fix your BB issue, then listen to me. I had the exactly same issue as you do before. Now I am happy.

    I am referring to corporate enterprise exchange email, not yahoo or hotmail. You only need your IT to set BES activation passcode first time to recognize your new BB's PIN. Once synched, the BES knows who you are and you don't need password for next time, as long as you do the upgrade on a PC which is part of the domain where BES is also on.

    If you don't know what JL_cmder is, i know why your BB is not working right. Do JL_cmder and reload your OS. Just follow me, you issue will be resolved.
    01-13-09 02:22 PM
  15. JRSCCivic98's Avatar
    I am referring to corporate enterprise exchange email, not yahoo or hotmail. You only need your IT to set BES activation passcode first time to recognize your new BB's PIN. Once synched, the BES knows who you are and you don't need password for next time, as long as you do the upgrade on a PC which is part of the domain where BES is also on.
    This is absolutely correct. This is what I've said in the past as well. This has puzzled people who did an upgrade at work one day and didn't need to reactivate BES and then did another update at home on the weekend and panicked all of a sudden when they realized their BES email no longer worked. They couldn't figure out why this was and some of them even had it up their behinds to think that it was some kind of OS version difference. Stupid... it's actually the reason above.
    01-13-09 02:41 PM
  16. BzB's Avatar
    You only need your IT to set BES activation passcode first time to recognize your new BB's PIN. Once synched, the BES knows who you are and you don't need password for next time, as long as you do the upgrade on a PC which is part of the domain where BES is also on.
    this is correct. and just to be thorough, the computer needs an active connection to said domain (which will ensure it's connected to your email system and BES) at the time the OS upgrade is done.

    and as far as wiping goes, i never do a wipe of any kind unless re-provisioning a device. just load the new os on top of the other and everything works fine, with the exception of known bugs with the OS in question. i think a complete wipe via jl might help out those who have a lot of third party apps. but as mentioned before, i don't wipe.
    01-13-09 02:49 PM
  17. asylvia's Avatar
    i've gone from .65 to .76 to .83, .85 and now .86. i wiped in between 65, 75, and 83, and then got sick of redownloading 3rd party apps, so just installed .85 and .86 over .83. i didn't notice any difference at all.
    01-13-09 02:53 PM
  18. sandmunky's Avatar
    Wow great info being posted here.

    sounds like someone is claiming .87 found
    I am staying away from that stuff.
    .75 for me

    Anyway i stand corrected. I have not done my phone upgrade while being connected to the enterprise network. Very good info to know.

    I always take my laptop home and do it.

    Hopefully we get an official release firmware soon
    01-13-09 04:18 PM
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