BlackBerry® Curve™

[Shibzii]

so my fella has a bb curve 8520 and it still has the oldest of old settings on there.

I have attempted to update it on the actual software but it keeps telling me no updates are available, i tried updating on the mobile internet site but i'm getting nowhere.

i'd connect it to the computer but i can't find the lead to do so.

is there any other way to update this phone before i take it to the shop??

[John_Clark]

Does the device have an active BB data plan on it? Without that it won't allow you to update the OS without wiping the OS entirely and reinstalling the new OS.

[Shibzii]

yes it has an active data plan. would it be affected if i'm on a sim only contract?

[John_Clark]

It just needs to have an active BlackBerry data plan. A standard data plan isn't enough. I don't know what the data plan is on your "sim only" contract.

[Shibzii]

what data plan would i need?

[John_Clark]

Any data plan that includes BlackBerry services.

[Shibzii]

oh right. yeah i have that.
what are my options?

[John_Clark]

You can try these steps:

1. First locate your carrier and the OS file you wish to use.

http://na.blackberry.com/eng/support/downloads/download_sites.jsp

2. It doesn't hurt to do a manual backup of your device first, using Desktop Manager > Backup. Close Desktop Manager upon completion and unplug BlackBerry. You can get BlackBerry Desktop Software here http://us.blackberry.com/apps-software/desktop/

3. Download the OS file from step 1 to the PC then install it to the PC by running (double clicking) the file you downloaded.

4. Go to c:\program files\common files\research in motion\apploader and delete the file named "vendor.xml." Also check the following locations for vendor.xml files and delete any instances of the file:

On Windows Vista/7 navigate to C:\Users\YOUR_USER\AppData\Roaming\Research In Motion\BlackBerry\Loader XML (Where "YOUR_USER" is your username)

On Windows XP navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR_USER\Application Data\Research In Motion\BlackBerry\Loader XML (Where "YOUR_USER" is your username)

5. If you' simply want to update the OS to a newer version skip this step. If doing a clean OS reload, or if the OS won't update, use BBSAK from BBSAK.org and wipe the device (after doing a complete backup) then after you get the error 507 (507 error just means no OS installed) then proceed to next step. Caution: If you use BBSAK to wipe the device to a 507 error there always exists the problem that the OS still won't load and then you're stuck with a device that doesn't work at all. 

6. Plug in BlackBerry and double click on "Loader.exe." It's located in c:\program files\common files\research in motion\apploader

[Shibzii]

thanks. i'll try that now and will let you know if it works