Thread: Trouble With All 5.0 OS's and Activating on BES *Experienced BES Admins Apply Within*

So I'm no stranger to leaked OS's on blackberries and have done many successful installs over the years, but I've run into a problem I cannot solve and need the assistance of a few more brains to help me figure it out.

I am running on a BES v4.1.6.23 (ugh I know) and am able to use both the 4.7.1.40 and .53 OS's without any problems. Whenever I install any of the 5.0 OS's and begin the BES activation, my device starts to randomly reboot every 5 or 10 minutes. This only starts to occur after I begin the activation process as I have left the install alone for over an hour with no problems before attempting to activate. When I check my device logs on the BES, it seems like whenever the IT policy starts to apply is when the reboots are occurring. My first thought was obviously that the older versions of BES are not compatible with 5.0 handheld software however, I cannot find this information anywhere. Then I figured they are using different types of encryption but that does not seem to be the case as both use AES.

This is really frustrating me as I hate being behind the times when a new OS is out there and everybody raves about how good it is. Below is some additional information that will answer the obvious questions.

Yes, I deleted the vendor file.
Yes, I uninstalled Internal Tools.
Yes, I wiped with JL_Cmdr and loaded the OS fresh.
No, I am not installing any third party software.
The only features I'm loading are BBM, DocsToGo, Memopad and Taskpad. My BES does not require S/MIME.
We run 2 BES' with a total of about 900 users and, to the best of my knowledge, I am the only one trying to activate with a 5.0 OS.

Any help or information on why this is not working and what I would need to do with the BES to correct it (other than upgrade to 5.0) would be much appreciated.

I would also recommend doing a security handheld wipe. Make sure you back up first (phone and apps), then go to options> security options> handheld wipe/security wipe.

As far as BES specific issue, I will let others answer this for you since I am not familiar with it.

Yeah I did a wipe via the security options but that does not clear the IT policy set by my BES. JL_Cmdr performs a lower level wipe of the device and clears some of the IT Policies but not all of them. Regardless, the problem does not seem to be with the IT policy in place on my handheld, only when it is pushed during activation.

I had a similiar issue a while back on BES 4.1 using OS 5 on my 9530. I ended up clearing the PIM data for myself off the BES and that solved the issue. The BES pretty much backs up all of the security settings and application settings along with the contacts and calendar. For some reason, the restore of the backed up data from a 4.7.x OS does not mesh well when restored on a device running a 5.0.x OS on BES. I have probably 15-20 users that I have installed the 5.0 OS and haven't had any issues. I have done this with 9530's, 9630's and even the 8330 since the latest leak. I have not had any issues or have any of the end users. We are running the same version of BES as you with Exchange 2003 with about 100+ users.

Originally Posted by Klypr

So I'm no stranger to leaked OS's on blackberries and have done many successful installs over the years, but I've run into a problem I cannot solve and need the assistance of a few more brains to help me figure it out.

I am running on a BES v4.1.6.23 (ugh I know) and am able to use both the 4.7.1.40 and .53 OS's without any problems. Whenever I install any of the 5.0 OS's and begin the BES activation, my device starts to randomly reboot every 5 or 10 minutes. This only starts to occur after I begin the activation process as I have left the install alone for over an hour with no problems before attempting to activate. When I check my device logs on the BES, it seems like whenever the IT policy starts to apply is when the reboots are occurring. My first thought was obviously that the older versions of BES are not compatible with 5.0 handheld software however, I cannot find this information anywhere. Then I figured they are using different types of encryption but that does not seem to be the case as both use AES.

This is really frustrating me as I hate being behind the times when a new OS is out there and everybody raves about how good it is. Below is some additional information that will answer the obvious questions.

Yes, I deleted the vendor file.
Yes, I uninstalled Internal Tools.
Yes, I wiped with JL_Cmdr and loaded the OS fresh.
No, I am not installing any third party software.
The only features I'm loading are BBM, DocsToGo, Memopad and Taskpad. My BES does not require S/MIME.
We run 2 BES' with a total of about 900 users and, to the best of my knowledge, I am the only one trying to activate with a 5.0 OS.

Any help or information on why this is not working and what I would need to do with the BES to correct it (other than upgrade to 5.0) would be much appreciated.

Do you IT's have a password on the BES? If so the passwords have not been playing well with the newer 5.0 builds.. It seems almost every user with reboots has a password.

Whenever I run into activation problems clearing the PIM Sync on the user usually fixes the problem.

I haven't had any issues activating any 5.0 devices (8330, 9630, a couple of both, 5.0.0.230) on my BES, however I didn't do any until I was at 5.0 MR1, either.

I would start there, with even goin as far as deleting the user and re-creating them on the BES to see what happens.

Originally Posted by miiike

Whenever I run into activation problems clearing the PIM Sync on the user usually fixes the problem.

I haven't had any issues activating any 5.0 devices (8330, 9630, a couple of both, 5.0.0.230) on my BES, however I didn't do any until I was at 5.0 MR1, either.

I would start there, with even goin as far as deleting the user and re-creating them on the BES to see what happens.

Yeah, I was hoping I could find a fix without deleting my profile. I'll try clearing out the PIM sync first and come back to let you know if it works. Thanks.
Posted via BlackBerry device

I'm not trying to jump on anyone's toes, but have you tried:

launcher /resettofactory

from the command line?

That removes all IT policies set in place by the BES server. Your profile will have to be re-initiated (with a new password) unless the current password is less than 48 hours old.

Originally Posted by TemperamentalMan

I'm not trying to jump on anyone's toes, but have you tried:

launcher /resettofactory

from the command line?

That removes all IT policies set in place by the BES server. Your profile will have to be re-initiated (with a new password) unless the current password is less than 48 hours old.

No toes to be stepped on. We're all here to learn/help. I'll definitely be remembering that command line for the future.

I'd also suggest creating a new user and trying to activate that if you don't want to delete yourself right away.

Originally Posted by TemperamentalMan

I'm not trying to jump on anyone's toes, but have you tried:

launcher /resettofactory

from the command line?

That removes all IT policies set in place by the BES server. Your profile will have to be re-initiated (with a new password) unless the current password is less than 48 hours old.

To the best of my knowledge, the only way to completely remove an IT policy from a device is to copy a blank policy.bin file to the C:\program files\blackberry folder and add a string into the PolicyManager Key of the registry to point to that file. Although if you are right, I wiped the IT policy the hard way for every blackberry i've sold on ebay :laugh2:

Originally Posted by Klypr

To the best of my knowledge, the only way to completely remove an IT policy from a device is to copy a blank policy.bin file to the C:\program files\blackberry folder and add a string into the PolicyManager Key of the registry to point to that file. Although if you are right, I wiped the IT policy the hard way for every blackberry i've sold on ebay :laugh2:

At least you were thorough!

The command line entry waxes those pesky policies.

Create a new IT policy with nothing set and assign that to yourself then try and activate the BB. I am running multiple handhelds with 5.0 OS on a BES 4.1.6.14 with no issues.

Originally Posted by Klypr

So I'm no stranger to leaked OS's on blackberries and have done many successful installs over the years, but I've run into a problem I cannot solve and need the assistance of a few more brains to help me figure it out.

I am running on a BES v4.1.6.23 (ugh I know) and am able to use both the 4.7.1.40 and .53 OS's without any problems. Whenever I install any of the 5.0 OS's and begin the BES activation, my device starts to randomly reboot every 5 or 10 minutes. This only starts to occur after I begin the activation process as I have left the install alone for over an hour with no problems before attempting to activate. When I check my device logs on the BES, it seems like whenever the IT policy starts to apply is when the reboots are occurring. My first thought was obviously that the older versions of BES are not compatible with 5.0 handheld software however, I cannot find this information anywhere. Then I figured they are using different types of encryption but that does not seem to be the case as both use AES.

This is really frustrating me as I hate being behind the times when a new OS is out there and everybody raves about how good it is. Below is some additional information that will answer the obvious questions.

Yes, I deleted the vendor file.
Yes, I uninstalled Internal Tools.
Yes, I wiped with JL_Cmdr and loaded the OS fresh.
No, I am not installing any third party software.
The only features I'm loading are BBM, DocsToGo, Memopad and Taskpad. My BES does not require S/MIME.
We run 2 BES' with a total of about 900 users and, to the best of my knowledge, I am the only one trying to activate with a 5.0 OS.

Any help or information on why this is not working and what I would need to do with the BES to correct it (other than upgrade to 5.0) would be much appreciated.

Hey Klypr,

Just because you can't find the information anywhere that your 5.0 handheld software is not compatible with your older 4.1.6.23 BES doesn't mean that it is compatible. I'm sure its giving you a headache :headache: .....but if you really think about it you would in fact be hard pressed to find this information anywhere at this time being that BES 5.0 hasn't been out long at all and no OFFICIAL 5.0.0.xxx handheld OS has been released. If I had to guess just logically I would say that any BES version under 4.5 may or may not have issues with your BETA OS (leaked 5.0 OS). I don't think the 5.0 leaks that we have seen thus far are quite there all around for backward compatibility BES usage, I would guess they are only working well for BES 4.5-5.0 at this time with the builds we have available to use via leaks....give it a few weeks-month and you might just have a 5.0 build to throw on your storm that works with your older 4.1 BES version- but If I had to guess I would say RIM wants you to upgraddeeeeee :crazy: (at least to BES 4.5) to get the majority of the benefits of the 5.0 device software (BES 5.0 needed for ALL of the benefits). A good portion of this is me speculating but I believe it makes a lot of sense logically if you really think about it.

Originally Posted by BBphreak

Hey Klypr,

Just because you can't find the information anywhere that your 5.0 handheld software is not compatible with your older 4.1.6.23 BES doesn't mean that it is compatible. I'm sure its giving you a headache :headache: .....but if you really think about it you would in fact be hard pressed to find this information anywhere at this time being that BES 5.0 hasn't been out long at all and no OFFICIAL 5.0.0.xxx handheld OS has been released. If I had to guess just logically I would say that any BES version under 4.5 may or may not have issues with your BETA OS (leaked 5.0 OS). I don't think the 5.0 leaks that we have seen thus far are quite there all around for backward compatibility BES usage, I would guess they are only working well for BES 4.5-5.0 at this time with the builds we have available to use via leaks....give it a few weeks-month and you might just have a 5.0 build to throw on your storm that works with your older 4.1 BES version- but If I had to guess I would say RIM wants you to upgraddeeeeee :crazy: (at least to BES 4.5) to get the majority of the benefits of the 5.0 device software (BES 5.0 need for ALL of the benefits). A good portion of this is me speculating but I believe it makes a lot of sense logically if you really think about it.

Unfortunately, I'm not the one who makes the call on upgrading. We do have a 5.0 test server up and it's being tested but the senior BES admin wants to be 100% sure he has everything working correctly before we migrate.


Update on the issue:

I received a new 9630 since they corrected the trackball issue. I installed 5.0 on it and deleted my profile on the BES. After activation, everything was working great until about an hour or two later. When I checked the server logs, the BES was continuously sending my services books and IT policy over and over again. Each completed successfully but once they were done, they were resent.

So I guess I just have to chalk this one up to the older BES not playing nice with the new software

Originally Posted by Klypr

Unfortunately, I'm not the one who makes the call on upgrading. We do have a 5.0 test server up and it's being tested but the senior BES admin wants to be 100% sure he has everything working correctly before we migrate.


Update on the issue:

I received a new 9630 since they corrected the trackball issue. I installed 5.0 on it and deleted my profile on the BES. After activation, everything was working great until about an hour or two later. When I checked the server logs, the BES was continuously sending my services books and IT policy over and over again. Each completed successfully but once they were done, they were resent.

So I guess I just have to chalk this one up to the older BES not playing nice with the new software

Strangely enough, I have a 9630 running 5.0.230. It was originally activated on OS 4.7.1.40 and when I updated to that 5.0 build, it automatically reactivated my phone with BES. I didn't even have to contact my admin to have him set an activation password or anything. I've had zero issues with it and from what we can tell, the server hasn't been resending the service books or IT policy constantly. We're also not running BES 5.0 (and probably won't be for the foreseeable future). Strange that you're having such issues and we've had no such issues with our configuration. We're on BES 4.1 SP6, I do believe and we're just using the default stock IT policy with only one change in that we had to "backport" the "allow social networking integration" policy from BES 5.0.

Well, I've decided to give up until Verizon releases an official 5.0 OS.

I can't figure out what the problem is. We have a few 9530 owners who have upgraded to the official 5.0 release and it works without any issues.

I really hate it when I can't figure this kind of stuff out

I'd be curious if it's just your device.

There are some serious differences between each BB it seems. This seems more apparent to me the more and more I work with them.

Not sure if you have a spare/another Tour to work with, but i'd be willing to help you out if you don't. PM me.

Originally Posted by miiike

I'd be curious if it's just your device.

There are some serious differences between each BB it seems. This seems more apparent to me the more and more I work with them.

Not sure if you have a spare/another Tour to work with, but i'd be willing to help you out if you don't. PM me.

The same thing occurred on both my original device and the replacement I got to fix the trackball issue.

Well, nevermind then. Haha. Sorry man. I feel your pain, i've been there.

Before giving up try this. My problem wasn't with BES, but with reboots on .230 every 5 minutes or so. Stable until I did a restore from DM.
So I selected individual DB's to restore, .230 working great, then one night I going through the options, and since I didn't retore the options DB the encryption for contacts, media files, & memory was disabled. I re-enabled it, bam right back to 5 minute reboots. went back in and disabled encryption for everything, and .230 has been stable for over 3 weeks now.
Do you have encryption enabled in options/security/encryption?
If you do, try disabling it, see if that fixes your problem.