[sesp9]

There's always the possibility that the batteries are old -- there's a manufacturing date printed on JM1s -- and were not stored properly, which can result in deterioration even when they have not been used.

Keeping batteries partially charged (~60%) in cool, dry place is key.

Now that I think about it, Ralph's glovebox is probably not the best location

Good tip on the batteries. I looked to see if there was a printed date on the battery and I am not seeing it. Unless you mean what is printed in the white section part of the battery wrap?

Sent From My Legacy Model  9900

[sesp9]

Can using a third party theme from blackberry world cause fast battery drainage? I sometimes like to not use the stock theme.

Sent From My Legacy Model  9900

[idssteve]

I seem to recall hearing some suspicions about some themes impacting battery life but never heard anything resembling confirmation of that??

Signal strength & quality are the biggest batt killers in my electrically noisy, steel & concrete, industrial environment. OS versions are a BIG variable on that. I've always ran "official" OS's but some of my "smart guys" reported spectacular signal, battery and memory improvements thru "Hibrid OS" experiments. See link in my older post above. AYOR, lol. Two of those "smart guys" sitting here in the breakroom agree that service books might possibly impact that on their own??? Idk.

I do know that there are capabilities still locked away in these things. Just looking at Hibrids, anworm, Shuswap, etc along with BBOS's now withering app ecosystem, lends slight optimism that the public just MIGHT have started accumulating almost enough "open source" knowledge to someday "open up" this OS?? ???? With enough collaboration, at least. ??? The greatest trick to that might be avoiding litigation... Lol.

[anon(8063781)]

Good tip on the batteries. I looked to see if there was a printed date on the battery and I am not seeing it. Unless you mean what is printed in the white section part of the battery wrap?

Sent From My Legacy Model  9900

Yes. The date is coded in the white section of the battery wrap. In the first line mine says "DC120429". It's year/month/day format, so mine was manufactured on 12-04-29, or April 29, 2012.

[anon(8063781)]

I do know that there are capabilities still locked away in these things. Just looking at Hibrids, anworm, Shuswap, etc along with BBOS's now withering app ecosystem, lends slight optimism that the public just MIGHT have started accumulating almost enough "open source" knowledge to someday "open up" this OS?? ???? With enough collaboration, at least. ??? The greatest trick to that might be avoiding litigation... Lol.

If we could figure things out, I think our scale -- or lack thereof -- is our best legal protection. When the time comes, I'm sure my threads on service books here and at the BlackBerry Support Forums will be popular for at least five minutes.

There are limits to what can be accomplished after BlackBerry ends all support, because there's only so much you can enable through service books after the NOC servers are shut down. You can, however, set up your own SyncML server to sync contacts, calendar, tasks and notes.

I guess if someone was really capable and interested, LogicMail is open source and could be updated, but I don't know how much could be done to update the SSL/TLS capabilities. There was an email client (mujMail) that used it's own SSL, so I guess that's possible. It might be a ton of work though.

Since most other apps are Java and not open source, there are all the legal issues, plus the fact that they'd have to be decompiled, which does not produce an exact (or even a workable) copy of the original source code. This was the area in which webOS was so much more accessible. So many open source apps, and HTML/CSS/Javascript based apps that you could just open, read, and patch, regardless of whether they were open source or not. I can hack around in HTML and Javascript, but I know nothing about Java. It would take some talented people with free time and an interest in the OS to keep this ball rolling. It would help if they lived somewhere with lax copyright laws too.

[anon(9721108)]

it is $0.99 and well worth it. Here is a link to blackberry world: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webst...ntent/59957022

Sent From My Legacy Model  9900

And it was updated in 2015, so not bad. I will see if I can't get mine to work again and exhaust all possibilities, and then this is an option for me if my attempts fail, thanks.

"The 99's charms will tug at your heart. Nothing else ever approached such exquisite perfection"-idssteve

[anon(9721108)]

Good tip on the batteries. I looked to see if there was a printed date on the battery and I am not seeing it. Unless you mean what is printed in the white section part of the battery wrap?

Sent From My Legacy Model  9900

Like Steve, I also heard there can be bad themes that might drain battery, probably like anything if there is a glitch or error in the code, etc.

Whoa, well if you got 10 new batteries there will likely be a few that are ok. If you ever get one that shows a red "X" on the screen, I learned how to restore them (in my situation) and I can find the link for that thread I made if you run across this....

"The 99's charms will tug at your heart. Nothing else ever approached such exquisite perfection"-idssteve

[idssteve]

If we could figure things out, I think our scale -- or lack thereof -- is our best legal protection. When the time comes, I'm sure my threads on service books here and at the BlackBerry Support Forums will be popular for at least five minutes.

There are limits to what can be accomplished after BlackBerry ends all support, because there's only so much you can enable through service books after the NOC servers are shut down. You can, however, set up your own SyncML server to sync contacts, calendar, tasks and notes.

I guess if someone was really capable and interested, LogicMail is open source and could be updated, but I don't know how much could be done to update the SSL/TLS capabilities. There was an email client (mujMail) that used it's own SSL, so I guess that's possible. It might be a ton of work though.

Since most other apps are Java and not open source, there are all the legal issues, plus the fact that they'd have to be decompiled, which does not produce an exact (or even a workable) copy of the original source code. This was the area in which webOS was so much more accessible. So many open source apps, and HTML/CSS/Javascript based apps that you could just open, read, and patch, regardless of whether they were open source or not. I can hack around in HTML and Javascript, but I know nothing about Java. It would take some talented people with free time and an interest in the OS to keep this ball rolling. It would help if they lived somewhere with lax copyright laws too.

Haha... Or do it the way Google did it... Rotfl...

[idssteve]

Didn't realize things had progressed so far or I would have told you guys this story earlier. A local cafe my crew frequents is owned and operated by a former partner of mine and they always treat us great & visversa... Some time back, they started using some form of droid for order taking. Waitresses were spending too much time swiping, etc and were generally displeased with the oversized things. Naturally my guys recognized "data entry" similarities we are very well practiced with for one of our niche services. A couple of my guys threw together a spreadsheet for the cafe's menu, including prices, etc and loaded into two surplus, wifi only, 9900s. By all reports, waitresses and kitchen staff have fallen in love with the single handed data entry terminals. It's still an evolving concept but management is already inquiring about a new niche potential... For surplus 9900s!!! Figured you guys would grasp the single handed application potential...

[paul Davies6]

Do they still make the 9900?

Posted via CB10

[idssteve]

Not since 2014, afaik.

[sesp9]

Like Steve, I also heard there can be bad themes that might drain battery, probably like anything if there is a glitch or error in the code, etc.

Whoa, well if you got 10 new batteries there will likely be a few that are ok. If you ever get one that shows a red "X" on the screen, I learned how to restore them (in my situation) and I can find the link for that thread I made if you run across this....

"The 99's charms will tug at your heart. Nothing else ever approached such exquisite perfection"-idssteve

That is much appreciated. Are you using the stock theme?

Sent From My Legacy Model  9900

[anon(8063781)]

Didn't realize things had progressed so far or I would have told you guys this story earlier. A local cafe my crew frequents is owned and operated by a former partner of mine and they always treat us great & visversa... Some time back, they started using some form of droid for order taking. Waitresses were spending too much time swiping, etc and were generally displeased with the oversized things. Naturally my guys recognized "data entry" similarities we are very well practiced with for one of our niche services. A couple of my guys threw together a spreadsheet for the cafe's menu, including prices, etc and loaded into two surplus, wifi only, 9900s. By all reports, waitresses and kitchen staff have fallen in love with the single handed data entry terminals. It's still an evolving concept but management is already inquiring about a new niche potential... For surplus 9900s!!! Figured you guys would grasp the single handed application potential...

This brought to mind those windows ce-based qwerty data entry terminals that used to be so common in warehousing. I think there's still a market for that kind of thing, and the 99xx provides a similar functionality.

I wonder, if BlackBerry's transportation logistics software takes off, if we'll one day see rubberized barcode-scanning portable data-entry devices with qwerty keyboards and BB10?

Edit: design ideas for the new BlackBerry https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/han...logistics.html

Edit 2: I hope everyone's got a sense of humour today!

[idssteve]

This brought to mind those windows ce-based qwerty data entry terminals that used to be so common in warehousing. I think there's still a market for that kind of thing, and the 99xx provides a similar functionality.

I wonder, if BlackBerry's transportation logistics software takes off, if we'll one day see rubberized barcode-scanning portable data-entry devices with qwerty keyboards and BB10?

Edit: design ideas for the new BlackBerry https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/han...logistics.html

Edit 2: I hope everyone's got a sense of humour today!

Yep, the same single handed competency that makes our 9900s such communications beasts, also makes them unbeatable for single handed data entry. My crew edits thousands of spreadsheet cells each year with our 99s. In fact, we have about 30 wifi only 99s dedicated as data entry handsets for our control panel terminal QC niche service. We once dedicated two techs and a Panasonic Toughbook for this function before some of us started experimenting with cell phones. Now days, a single 9900 equipped tech achieves multiple times that old productivity. Any one of us prefers to work spreadsheets on our 99s over ANYthing else. Including desktops. Our 99s are THAT proficient with single handed text cell data entry! I think MS is missing a market opportunity by not marketing 9900 styled handsets as dedicated single handed data entry terminal accessories for Excel!!

[idssteve]

That is much appreciated. Are you using the stock theme?

Sent From My Legacy Model  9900

Curious about Ralph's theme also but I use standard Verizon theme set for two rows and no side panels. That leaves room for BeWeather info, etc. See photo. (Background art is daughter's ) Good batt life with this theme & latest OS but the beauty of our 99s is that anyone who needs a bigger battery simply needs to get a bigger battery! Lol. Easily traded back to smaller, lighter, battery for less demanding days. See photo.


[ATTACH=CONFIG]410909[/ATTACH]

[sesp9]

Curious about Ralph's theme also but I use standard Verizon theme set for two rows and no side panels. That leaves room for BeWeather info, etc. See photo. (Background art is daughter's ) Good batt life with this theme & latest OS but the beauty of our 99s is that anyone who needs a bigger battery simply needs to get a bigger battery! Lol. Easily traded back to smaller, lighter, battery for less demanding days. See photo.
Nice setup How did you get BeWeather to work on your device? I had purchased it a few weeks back but could not activate it. I could only use a trial run. I contacted the developer and I did not get a response. I need a good weather app.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]410909[/ATTACH]

Sent From My Legacy Model  9900

[idssteve]

Hmm... BeWeather's been running flawlessly for years but I haven't had to re-install lately... might be a problem there? I'll check versions, etc. Others have reported problems too.

Here's a photo intended for previous post (phreaking Classic is MISERABLE for CB posting thru browser!!! Ugg!!!) showing oem vs a really extended battery... That 5000mAh monster powers my 99 for 3-5 days! Unfortunately, I haven't found these for sale lately. We use quite a few Seidio 3000s that have been pretty good 2 day propositions for us, also.

[anon(9721108)]

Didn't realize things had progressed so far or I would have told you guys this story earlier. A local cafe my crew frequents is owned and operated by a former partner of mine and they always treat us great & visversa... Some time back, they started using some form of droid for order taking. Waitresses were spending too much time swiping, etc and were generally displeased with the oversized things. Naturally my guys recognized "data entry" similarities we are very well practiced with for one of our niche services. A couple of my guys threw together a spreadsheet for the cafe's menu, including prices, etc and loaded into two surplus, wifi only, 9900s. By all reports, waitresses and kitchen staff have fallen in love with the single handed data entry terminals. It's still an evolving concept but management is already inquiring about a new niche potential... For surplus 9900s!!! Figured you guys would grasp the single handed application potential...

oh sure and they blame ME for Kim Khardashian not being able to get a 9900 anymore because of this thread

This is funny you mentioning this because my buddy and I were talking to the guy at the Rogers Kiosk (sp?) at the mall and I explained about how for the first time I had to get the Service Books re-sent to my Blackberry and he wanted to see what I use. Out comes the 9900 and I joked "no laughing now" and he said it was pretty "NICE" haha then a few other people standing there wanted to see it also. I was expecting to be laughed at or something.....seriously!

Also checked out the dummy non-functional version of the DTek50 and man what a thin device that is, pretty nice.

My buddy said he heard that some branch of the US military just got Blackberry a contract for their devices????

"The 99's charms will tug at your heart. Nothing else ever approached such exquisite perfection"-idssteve

[anon(9721108)]

Do they still make the 9900?

Posted via CB10

A few months ago on Amazon or ebay I saw a seller that had access to a warehouse full of white unlocked 9900's for $75 Cdn, so there is probably still a decent chance there are new ones still around.....somewhere.

"The 99's charms will tug at your heart. Nothing else ever approached such exquisite perfection"-idssteve

[anon(9721108)]

That is much appreciated. Are you using the stock theme?

Sent From My Legacy Model  9900

Yup Stock red Rogers theme, I will post it below.

As for your batteries, if they were mine I would start to rotate a few of them and get them "conditioned" as much as possible. I would use one for a couple days, fully charge it and take it down until it flashes RED and then fully charge it again, I would do that to as many as possible because sometimes they are sitting in a warehouse so long they can be impossible to fully recover.....

"The 99's charms will tug at your heart. Nothing else ever approached such exquisite perfection"-idssteve

[anon(9721108)]

Geez Steve!!!!! Can't you find a BIGGER battery to put into that thing!!!!!

I just use the regular Rogers default theme.



"The 99's charms will tug at your heart. Nothing else ever approached such exquisite perfection"-idssteve

[anon(9721108)]

here

"The 99's charms will tug at your heart. Nothing else ever approached such exquisite perfection"-idssteve

[anon(9721108)]

Can someone ID this Blackberry model for me?

[idssteve]

Geez Steve!!!!! Can't you find a BIGGER battery to put into that thing!!!!!

I just use the regular Rogers default theme.



"The 99's charms will tug at your heart. Nothing else ever approached such exquisite perfection"-idssteve

Haha... Would if I could... Lol.
Some electrically noisy, low signal, industrial environmnts I frequent can put a hurt on THAT monster. Lol. Nice to head home or away for a weekend without power worries, also. .

My "smart guys" have even concocted a few 6 cell monsters by spotwelding 6 disassembled JM1 cells in parallel & shrink tube. About 7500mAh! Lol. Pretty crude looking. No one has tried carrying one of those cobbled things thru TSA, thankfully. Haha.

Amazingly, I actually prefer single handed typing with the added grip that shelf on back provides. It fits the desk cradle fine and even helps the device sit more solidly in the desk cradle. Not so much luck to fit our SmoothTalker car cradles, tho. Also takes a thicker holster for a 9650 so I avail myself of the nicely compact OEM option whenever possible. Options are good!! Something our fully featured 99s provide plenty of!!

[goodayeh]

Can someone ID this Blackberry model for me?

I believe it may be the Torch 9850 / 9860 .