BlackBerry® PlayBook™

[Angela2BPecked]

This morning I posted about my browser randomly crashing now ALL my apps (including app world) on my BlackBerry PlayBook are randomly crashing! 

[knottyrope]

have you restarted your playbook?

how much free memory is left?

[Angela2BPecked]

I have 28.4g left, I have the 32g PlayBook. 

I have restarted it and the browser still randomly crashed.

I have also repeatedly cleared my cache.

[MrAureliusR]

I'm having the same problem. I'm starting to get really frustrated with this PlayBook. I promised myself I would give it a fair chance -- I really don't like apple products. I love my HTC Android phone, and I always loved RIM products.

The screen is beautiful, the apps are great, I'm an (amateur) developer and sideload of Android apps is AMAZING.

However, apps randomly crash. Especially after it's been on for a while. I've tried resetting, hard reset, everything I can think of short of a factory wipe (and the reason I haven't done this is because of all I've read with trying to get paid apps back).

Now I understand that there's not as much dev for this device because it's not as huge as the iPad. As soon as I get more comfortable with Eclipse and I can start developing stuff for the PB, maybe I can start to get to the bottom of things.

In the meantime, this is a PLEA for help. I really am at my wits end. I LOVE this tablet but I'm almost in tears sometimes trying to get basic things like e-mail to work without it crashing. It's a 16gb model, I've got 4gb free space and the memory has on average at least 400mb free, so I can't imagine that's the problem. Even with a couple apps running I still have over 200mb of RAM.

What exactly does the desktop manager back up? I want to try a factory wipe and re-install of the OS but as I said I don't want to lose more than I have to.

Now, when things are working fine -- I am so happy! The interface is amazing, 1000 times better than the iPad in that respect. It just seems like the dev and update are really dragging their heels... makes me a little discouraged to even start coding. I don't want to invest tons of time developing stuff for this tablet if it's going to lose official support someday.

Anyway -- any and all help is greatly appreciated.

[cas118]

Desktop Manager will backup installed apps (from App World) and settings. All I can suggest is to try the backup and then restore it as a test.

A full debrick as opposed to a wipe clears EVERYTHING and is perfect.

As long as you use the same BlackBerryID, you should be able to reinstall your paid apps.

As a case in point, I purchased an app on my BlackBerry Dev Alpha and could then install it on the PlayBook without paying again. No problems.

The only issue comes when you have downloaded a free app and then the Dev starts to charge for it. It's unfortunate, but App World doesn't let you download it anymore.

A wipe is always the best way to resolve issues like you are having.

[MrAureliusR]

Okay -- but I can't restore a backup if I do a full wipe?

And should I do the wipe from within the PB or from Desktop?

[cas118]

You can restore a backup after a full wipe. But like I said, check it works first *just in case*.

Do the wipe from the desktop using the Debrick method. Turn off your PlayBook and start Desktop Manager.
Next, plug in your PlayBook and DM will tell you that it cannot communicate with the BlackBerry device, and offer to update it it - this will completely restore the OS to factory defaults so that you can start again.

I'd suggest just restoring apps and settings here, as if there is a settings issue - you might re-introduce it so save yourself some time and restore the media later just in case you need to re-wipe.

Good luck!

[MrAureliusR]

Awesome I'll do that and let you know how it goes.

Also do you have a BB PB PIN I can try video chatting with?

Also, are there any apps that are available for iOS and also BB PB that can video chat? I've tried a few options but none I can find that are free. I can purchase app world apps with paypal but not Apple App store ones.

[cas118]

No prob. I'll drop you my PIN in a private message.

As for video chat - if you're looking for cross-platform I'd keep your eyes peeled on FaceFlow (http://crackberry.com/confirmed-faceflow-coming-blackberry-10-q1) which is a web-based video chat app. Apparently they will be bringing out a BlackBerry 10 app as well which is great news for us PlayBook users!

[AureliusR]

Is it just me or is the USB interface like EXTREMELY slow? Connecting through DM software takes (and I'm not exaggerating) about 10 minutes. 3 mins before it asks for my password and another 6-7 before my options to sync/backup become available.

I used a packet sniffer on the connection... and there's pretty much nothing happening. Only what seem to be keep-alive packets. Once it finally DOES connect, and I start a backup, it just takes flipping forever!

I know it's not my PC because I tried it on both PCs with the same results. Once it backs up I'm going to do the wipe as suggested and I'll see what happens from there...

EDIT: Yeah, can't wait the 10 hours its going to take to backup. There's got to be some answer here. Last time I did it it was slow but not THIS slow. Any other reports of problems with the new DM update? I mean I start the backup and there is NO activity and the progress bar just stays empty.