[jshuford]

There are only three solutions that I know of for connecting/backing-up a BlackBerry device with Linux;

1. "barrybackup" or

2. Opensync

3. Create a Windoze VM

There have been many attempts by users to get Desktop Manager to work with WINE, PlayOnLinux and Crossover...Until RIM releases their API no progress will be made!

Any questions please PM me!

[jshuford]

There are only three solutions that I know of for connecting/backing-up a BlackBerry device with Linux;

1. "barrybackup" or

2. Opensync

3. Create a Windoze VM

There have been many attempts by users to get Desktop Manager to work with WINE, PlayOnLinux and Crossover...Until RIM releases their API no progress will be made!

Any questions please PM me!

Whatever man...

[melder215]

ive been busting my brain working on DM and wine. you CAN ge tpacst several of the errors. but i havent got it WORKING yet..
all we really need is to be able to rewrite the os in barry
via the command line
does anyone know more about this than me?
i know i can upload system cod files of a higher version into my BB to bypass app errors.. can we upload system cods to fix bricked phones,,
can we update os using cod files and command line in barry?
i appreciate you mentioning barrybackup. somehow i couldnt find the gui..
101
110
000

[cbvinh]

@melder215

I had a different situation where I tried to use Wine on GNU/Linux to update a camera's firmware. After a bit of research, I discovered that Wine didn't fully support USB. I ended up making a Windows 7 VM with Virtual Box since USB support is in it and free, unlike VMWare.

[cbvinh]

Here's what has worked for me:

GNU/Linux (I'm using openSUSE 11.4)
Virtual Box with Windows 7
Blackberry Desktop Manager

Some things to keep in mind:

1. Plugging in a device into the USB port doesn't automatically make it accessible to Windows 7 running on Virtual Box. In order to have Windows 7 recognize the device, you will need to go into the Virtual Box menu and select the device you have plugged in... Devices->USB Devices->[your Blackberry device].

2. Virtual Box will sometimes lose connection to your device. It's as if you unplugged the device from the computer. While the message on the screen is quite ominous about bricking your BB device, DM is quite robust and will wait for a reconnect and continue where it left off. You CAN screw up your device if you don't fully complete a step! If you find Virtual Box got disconnected, reconnect and continue!

Using DM to Backup your Blackberry device

This works as you would expect. Plug in your Blackberry device. Select your device in Virtual Box's menu. Start the DM. DM will automatically connect. Watch the USB icon at the bottom of Virtual Box's window. If there's solid activity, it's busy connecting, which may take a few minutes. If the activity pulses infrequently, then it's not connecting and you will need to try again, just by deselecting your device from the Virtual Box menu and selecting it again.

Installing an OS

I did an OTA update on Sprint and it hosed my phone. After doing some very non-intuitive things, I got my phone back using DM to reinstall the previous version of the OS.

1. Plug in the device.
2. Wait til it connects.
3. Do a Backup of whatever you feel is important to you, like Contacts, SMS, Email, etc.
4. Device->Update my device...
5. Select a version of the device OS. If it's not already on your computer, it will tell you it needs to do a download. (I would recommend quitting and restarting DM after it finishes downloading.)
6. Follow the prompts and commit to installing. (You will be asked about making a backup, which you already did, and warned that this will wipe your device.)
7. A bunch of files will be downloaded to prepare for the install.
8. You will eventually see the USB activity on the Virtual Box window be very busy as data is written to your device.
9. At some point, you will see Connecting to bootROM, at which time your device will reboot and Virtual Box will lose the connection to your device! Every time you select the device with Virtual Box, the device will reboot again and again. The first non-intuitive step: After the device is up and running again, shut it down and REMOVE the battery. Now select your device in the Virtual Box menu. (Even without the battery, you device is getting power from the USB port.)
10. You will see progress being made again, as DM continues where it left off, something like writing to RAM...
11. At some point, you will see Reconnecting to JVM, at which time your device will lose contact with Virtual Box again! The second non-intuitive step: PUT the battery back in and select your device in Virtual Box.
12. You will see progress being made again, as DM continues where it left off.
13. Eventually, the OS install will complete and DM will Reboot your device. Virtual Box will lose the connection once again, but it's not important that it reconnects. The message will say that it will take upwards of 30 minutes to Reconnect, but just wait til your device finishes rebooting. Your device is good to go. Third non-intuitive step: You can disconnect it and ignore the rest of the progress bar.

For me, the whole install process took about an hour+ due to the slowness of the Virtual Machine running on a 1.2 Ghz Celeron netbook.

I wish RIM would make a Desktop Manager for GNU/Linux. OSX is built on top of BSD so a port can't be that difficult(?). Meanwhile, I'm glad there's a way for those of us with GNU/Linux desktops, even with a cheat of running a VM.

[vivian90]

If there’s one complaint I’ve heard about the BlackBerry, and really about smartphones in general, it’s that the battery life leaves much to be desired. When I picked up my 8830 back in January, I wondered what these people meant. My battery would last into Day 3 after a charge. Yet, a few months later, I’m cursing the lithium-ion, as I have to charge the thing basically every day.

[jamesace]

i know i can upload system cod files of a higher version into my BB to bypass app errors.. can we upload system cods to fix bricked phones,,
can we update os using cod files and command line in barry?


HTC Explorer Cases