BlackBerry® Pearl™

[jeegnesh]

I wanted to find out if OS upgrades had to be carrier specific?

I have a Pearl that was originally bought from Orange UK its running 4.2.xxxx

Can I upgrade to any 4.5? I found a Vodafone 4.5 (I am in fact on Vodafone) its on the german website but has all the lang options.

In general can you use any carrier OS upgrade or does it have to specific?

Is there any chance of bricking the phone?

Does anyone know whats new/fixed in 4.5?

[jmcluett · Accepted solution]

Device software upgrades ARE carrier specific... you can find out the latest by trying to download it...

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

Go down the page to pick your provider, and your devices model number.... should be good to go.

[jeegnesh]

Thanks thats just what I have been looking for.

If my phone has been unlocked to any network, after the firmware upgrade will that remain or will it be relocked?

[jeegnesh]

Also I have seen in other posts that people use different carrier upgrades, after they install the firmware on there PC, they delete:-

 
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader\VENDOR.XML

Then run desktop manager.

Is this safe? And is there any benefit, do carrier specfic just add carrier settings and apps or is it more? As I am not on Orange I would rather have the Vodafone branding stuff or none, which the above method seems to do.

[d_fisher]

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jeegnesh wrote:

If my phone has been unlocked to any network, after the firmware upgrade will that remain or will it be relocked?

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Once unlocked, always unlocked. Updating the OS has no effect.

[jeegnesh]

Thanks a bunch, have upgraded to the Voda 4.5 and everything working fine.

[racer25]

Hi,

I am curious how would you go about this if your provider is not listed ?

o2

Cheers,

Rob 

[jeegnesh]

To the best of my new knowledge, just download whichever OS you want from:-

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

Then launch the download on your PC (keeping BB disconnected from PC) and it installs the OS files onto your PC

Then delete C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader\VENDOR.XML

Now plug in your BB via cable, and it should kick off the upgrade, takes a while so be patient.

As I said this is with my new found knowledge, I used Voda OS on an Orange BB and its been working totally fine.