Other BlackBerry® Smartphones

[webspert]

I have a Verizon BB 8830 that is 3 months old. Three days ago it started to restart itself. The screen goes black, the light goes solid red, and its out. Then it restarts itself, hour glass spins, verizon logo comes up, then the "home screen icons" come up, a software verification screen goes through a verification and passes, then either immediately or after a minute or so, it will go black and through the whole process again.

Troubleshooting steps i tried: (this is just to show you every possibility that was tried)
 
1. Pulled out the battery for 20 seconds, put it back in, no luck.

2. Went to Verizon store and they did a "hard reset" (which i think was taking the battery out and holding down the red end call button). This seemed to help it for about 20 minutes, so I left. Got home and then the issue started again.

3. Called Verizon support this time, they mailed out a new BB 8830 overnight. Got it the next morning (nice!) Followed the steps to activate the new phone which was:
a) turn off both devices
b) go to my Verizon online account and activate the new phone by clicking "activate" and enter ESN number
c) take SIM card from old and put in new
d) take battery from old and put in new
e) Call *228 on the new phone to activate and.... PHONE GOES BLACK!!!!!.

Now this is the NEW (or semi-new refurbished replacement or whatever they send you b/c of warranty) BB 8830 I just got in the mail. The new phone has NOTHING in common with my old phone right now other than
a) SIM card
b) battery

So I took out the SIM card. No luck. Black screen solid red light, hourglass, Verizon logo, icons, software verify, passes, a few seconds go by, black screen solid read light, hourglass.... you get the idea. Again, this new phone has nothing on it, I’ve not plugged it into the laptop, I’ve not done a restore, I’ve not done anything and its got the same issue as the old phone.
 
4. So now I’m thinking battery. It's the only commonality between the two phones. I don't have an extra battery hanging around to test this. I call Verizon again just to see what they recommend. She's stumped and doesn't think its a battery issue, she gets BB/RIM on the line. With his instruction, the SIM card out, and the old battery in the new phone, I downloaded new Desktop Manager software to my PC that was the same version I had (4.2.2.12) then plugged in the BB and ran Application Loader and reinstalled the software on the BB. Now i can't remember all the details about what we did in the over 1 hour phone conversation i had with him. At some point the battery was out of the phone while the phone was plugged into the computer, etc. But the gist was, new software for computer and phone.
 
This seemed to work. I kept him on the phone for about 15 more minutes just in case and it seemed fine. We hung up, and I go back to Step 4 of the "Activate your Replacement Device" from Verizon and.... PHONE GOES BLACK!!!!! (Again, new phone, old battery, no SIM card, no restored backup, i.e. non of my personal info is on the new phone, haven't even run the setup wizard, and SAME ISSUE).
 
And of course you call back Verizon and try and talk to the same people and you can't, so you have to go through the whole riggamarole with the person again, who then transferred me to someone else and he put me on hold, and i hung up. Couldn't handle it anymore.
 
5. Then, i called my local store again and got the same guy who did the hard reset yesterday. He said he didn't think it was the battery. Batteries are just powersupply, if the battery was bad, i'd get a "low battery" or some other battery error. Of which i have not. He advised to call Verizon back and get a second replacement phone. I did, gave a brief synopsis, she transferred me, he asked for the story again, this time i refused, i just couldn't explain it anymore, i told him to read the notes on the account and just send me another phone. He obliged, though for more details i won't go into, he wouldn't overnight it this time, he said 2 day.
 
So.... I’m now waiting for the 2nd replacement BB-8830.
 
A. Is it possible that I'd get a new phone with the EXACT SAME issue?

B. Is it possible it IS a battery problem though Verizon Store Support, Verizon Phone Support, and BB/RIM Support say no? I think I’m going to go to the VZ store and just get another battery to see...

Message Edited by webspert on 10-02-2008 07:12 PM

[stiffler85ro]

I have the same problem with my BB8830! I was using my smartphone with the internet package, browsing the net. Suddenly, my phone turns off, and from that time, it kept running on and off, and I couldn't do nothing about it. I tried to connect it to the computer to apply the back-up (thinking that it was a software problem) but no connection could be established. I tried to get some troubleshooting info, I called T-mobile, no help, because it was out of warranty. I have read your thread, and I think you might be right, and this problem to be caused by a battery problem. If you have finded the problem and maybe a sollution, please send a reply to this post.Thank You!

[webspert · Accepted solution]

I'm glad you responded to my post. And actually i'm disappointed that you are the only one! But you reminded me to post the ending to the story… I bought a new battery and problem solved. Note that the battery warranty is up in 3 months and of course I’m 3 months and two weeks old, so I had to buy a new battery.  But to everyone's amazement, it was the battery causing the issue.

I can only hope that others start have the same issue with the batteries and maybe one day we'll get all our money back. But again, they don't set a 91 day warranty for just for fun, they know what they are doing.

Here's the info off the back of my bad battery:
BAT-11005-001
Lot Code: G0815C

I'd love to send it in to someone to evaluate, but no one is interested.

Something else i think is interesting is that the more bars i have, the slower the restart process was. Like standing in Verizon i have 4 bars and the restart process was MUUUUCH slower, like the icon screen would stay up for 5 to 10 minutes then restart. And at home where i have 2 - 3 bars the restart process was pretty immediate, like the icon screen was up for about 2 seconds after the software scan then it would restart. So i think that a weaker signal pulls more on the battery?!?! 

Oh well, works now. Good luck to others with the issue. Hope this helps.

P.S. If you are in a store, they'll let you try a new battery just to see if it helps without having to buy it yet, or at least they did with me. And of course it helped, so I bought it. I am currently using my original phone and sent back the two replacements a) because my phone is all customized and b) Verizon doesn't necessarily send you a "new" phone when they warranty replace, it could be a refurbished model. And mine worked fine after the battery replacement so i kept it.

Message Edited by webspert on 10-15-2008 09:23 PM

[wapd215]

I was having the same problem with my phone, so I took it in to get a new battery. I tried the new battery and the same thing happened (the phone turned on, showed the hour glass and then turned right back off). The tech at the store looked at my phone and said that the problem with mine was that the was a short in the charging port. So whenever it would turn on, there would be a skip in the connection so it would keep restarting itself. They replaced the phone and everything is fine now.

[Bifocals]

Just FYI!

Read the below article. It is written by Mark Rejhon.

Max The Battery Life Of Your New BlackBerry

• Modern BlackBerrys come with Lithium-Ion batteries, or "Li-Ion' for short.
• Some older models used Nickel Metal Hydride batteries, or "NiMH" for short.

Li-Ion battery are best kept topped up regularly. A battery that has been left flat for a long time will benefit from being fully-charged and then fully discharged a couple of times, but there is no advantage to doing this to batteries in regular use.

If you are a new BlackBerry owner, or an old owner experiencing low battery issues, read through these tips:

1. You DO NOT need to break in the Li-Ion BlackBerry battery. On BB Models 71xx, 81xx, 83xx, 88xx you will be using a Lithium-Ion battery. These do not require "conditioning" as you might have experienced with other cell phones and batteries.
   Note: Don't get in the habit of fully discharging the battery every time -- to prevent wearing it out -- lithium batteries can be damaged with excessive deep discharges like a car battery can be.... When breaking in the battery, make sure you keep it plugged in long after the battery says it is fully charged (i.e. overnight), you really want to trickle-charge your BlackBerry to top-off your battery.
2. Lithium batteries LOVE to be topped-off. In regular use, plug it in whenever you have the opportunity. This will also help keep the battery life maxed out for those days you really need long battery life.
3. If you are constantly starved for battery power, avoid continuously realtime software such as BBToday software; it uses a lot of battery power.
4. Is your BB constantly searching for a signal, such as in an office building or other low-signal area? Searching for a signal will drain a battery quite quickly. If you must conserve the battery, turn the wireless or radio off.
5. What is running in the background of your BB? There are commonly 4-5 applications that will ALWAYS be running (Messages, Phone, BBMessenger, Homescreen, and the Browser; there are others such as BeamBerry and MyAlarm which will also run). Make certain that the browser is NOT on an active webpage (say with animated radar or another live webpage such as a news website constantly updating to the current news, but rather only to the bookmarks page). Close any other applications that do not need to be running (like the camera or a game).
   • Press Alt + Escape (the key to the right of the trackball on trackball models) to bring up the Application Switcher. Scroll through that list to see what is running in the background.
6. Keep your Bluetooth turned off when not in use.
7. If you use JiveTalk, Verichat or other instant messaging software, leave it running in the background or quit it when not in use. Also, stay logged off the networks you do not use much.
   <em>
   • In JiveTalk > Preferences, there is a setting "Battery Save Mode When Idle". Make certain that is checked.
     
   • Keep Verichat running in the background when it is not in use. This puts the software in a low-power state by reducing the frequency of contact-list refreshes (signoffs/signons/away mode/etc) Using fewer instant messaging networks also saves battery power. For example, if mainly use MSN and AIM, log off the ICQ and Yahoo networks.
8. When using your BlackBerry, make sure you keep the backlight turned low or off whenever possible (rather than bright mode). A backlight setting of 60%-80% is wise.
9. Many BlackBerrys have an extended battery available, such as at www.seidioonline.com. There may be an extended battery product for your specific BlackBerry product.
10. There's the novelty factor of using a BlackBerry for the first time; we tend to play with them much more heavily at first. So your usage may normallize after you get used to it. You might expect the first two to three days for the battery to discharge quicker.
11. If you haven't bought a BlackBerry yet, you should be aware that the GSM/GPRS BlackBerries have the longest battery life. Battery life is longer on GPRS BlackBerries than the CDMA and iDEN BlackBerries.
12. Phone calls made on your BlackBerry is the biggest consumer of battery life. If you make lots of phone calls for hours, then your battery life can be extremely short. Making phone calls in areas of weak reception will also use up more battery power.
13. Consider a car power kit, or an office charger/cable. That way, you have more opportunities to top-off your BlackBerry battery.
    As noted earlier, it's always a good idea to top-off the battery in a BlackBerry anyway, even if it's not almost dead. It is not necessary to follow the age-old advice of using up the battery before charging, and can wear out modern lithium-ion batteries if done on a constant basis.
14. Your battery may be defective or worn out. Compare your battery life to other people using the same model of BlackBerry.
    If you have been using your BlackBerry for a long time, it may be time to replace your battery. If you purchased your BlackBerry as used, you may want to replace the battery with a new one. For best battery life, it is generally best to use genuine brand-name batteries rather than inexpensive aftermarket batteries.
15. Occasionally, it may be a BlackBerryOS issue if you are having unusually short battery life all the time. Early versions of BlackBerryOS on the 7100 tended to use a lot more battery life than newer versions of BlackBerryOS. Upgrade to a newer version of BlackBerryOS.

Source: blackberryfaq

[webspert]

Thanks for posting about the charging port short. I think its good to have other problems posted here so people will have a number of things to troubleshoot when they have the phone restart issue. The Battery Life article, though off topic slightly, is great info to have anyway. Something else I found while researching batteries was about the availability of extended life batteries. seidioonline.com has a couple for the 8830. Had I known that was out there I probably would have ordered one once I found out it was a bad battery causing my issue instead of the standard BB battery I bought to replace it. Though i'm sure BB wouldn't suggest it.

And by the way, old phone/new battery still working beautifully.

Message Edited by webspert on 10-20-2008 12:13 PM

[glosol]

OK, before anyone wastes the time saying "geeez dont bump old posts" I just have to ask one thing. Webspert... this is a verizon phone and uses a sim too? Fully confused on this, I was not aware that verizon uses any sim cards at all, so is it for blackberry service or ?

[sdgardne]

---

glosol wrote:

OK, before anyone wastes the time saying "geeez dont bump old posts" I just have to ask one thing. Webspert... this is a verizon phone and uses a sim too? Fully confused on this, I was not aware that verizon uses any sim cards at all, so is it for blackberry service or ?

---

Hi and Welcome to the Forums!

VZW distributes SIMs with BBs. However, having the SIM inserted into the BB or not is irrelevant to it's function over the VZW network. Roaming, however, would be a different thing...

Cheers!

[pbspace]

This started happening to my 8830 seemingly out of the blue.    After way too many hours I found a solution on a different site.    

Apparently in doing an OS upgrade it effected the SD card and for some reason that recycles the power.   I have no idea still why.  However, here is the solution

Take the SD card out, transfer all the info on the card back to your computer,  reformat the SD card, put data back on SD card and VOILA - all is well.    At least it worked for me

pb

[charliepoles]

I need help.

I have a Blackberry Curve 8320 and this happened to me yesterday:

Suddenly the screen turned white and it said “Error, please restart” so i did that… But this is what happened: Since then the screen goes white with the little sand clock (the same image you get when you start the phone) and it goes off… then on again with the white screen and clock, and off again… all by itself… it hasnt stopped doing that since yesterday… HELP!

PD: It’s not the battery cuz i tried also with a new battery and it doesnt work.