Details

Category: BlackBerry Tips

Created: 23 February 2011

Common BlackBerry Torch problems have been highlighted in this article along with the troubleshooting suggestions for each possibility.

Problem with Native Device Search

Many Blackberry Torch users complain that they are unable to search text from within a message body. Before we frantically look for a solution to this issue, you should know that the Torch 9800 is not optimized for native device search. It cannot locate text strings within memo-pad, emails, and contacts, unless it appears in the name field, subject field or company field. So, until someone comes up with a third party application, there is no way to locate and search a text string anywhere within a message. The Torch search tool is more optimized to search social media websites and the Internet.

Unable to Attach a File to a Text Message

To avoid this problem, verify whether the file you intent to attach is copyright protected or not, because you won’t be able to attach a copyright protected file to a text message in Torch 9800. Also, make sure that the file is either an .ics (iCalendar) file, a .vcf (vCard) file, or a media file like a .gif, .jpg or .midi file. And, before composing a text message, make sure you begin by using a blank template available for your BlackBerry device.

Issue with the Notification Bar

BlackBerry forum have been flooded with complaints regarding several issues related to the Torch 9800 notification bar. Some users complain that their notification bar has unexpectedly stopped updating, and others have noticed that the notification bar keeps on showing email and other notifications as unread, despite the user having gone through them. However, the most common BlackBerry Torch problem seems to be with the Facebook calendar event notification -- users complain of being inundated with calendar events notifications.

There seems to be a common bug that is responsible for all these petty problems. You can try solving this issue by turning off your calendar and Facebook notification feature. Once you have done that, switch off your Torch, take out the battery and hold it out for about a minute or so before putting it back again. Switching on the Blackberry Torch should solve these issues. However, if these suggestions don’t work, then the next OS upgrade should fix this minor bug.

Battery Drain

After using the BlackBerry Torch 9800, many users have realized that its battery performance is too low and it drains down within 6 hours or so.

You can go for a battery pull, if you are facing this problem. All you have to do is take out the phone’s battery, clean its base with a soft cotton cloth or a tissue paper, reinsert it and reboot the phone.

Many times your phone’s battery uses more power than usual because you are using the battery for no reason. And the following tips will help to you improve your battery’s performance.

• Set your Torch to turn off and on automatically, when you are not using it for extended periods. Home Screen > Device > Auto On/Off.
• Switch off the Bluetooth when it’s not in use.
• Close all the unwanted applications running in the background, or they will eat your phone’s battery.
• Low signal strength also consumes battery. If your signal strength is weak, the device will use a lot of battery in order to maintain the phone’s signal strength.
• Turn off network connections that you are not using.
• Switch your vibration notifications to sound notifications.

Conclusion

We have tried to address some of the most common BlackBerry Torch problems in this article, but if your issues have not been addressed here, look at the Torch User Guide or consult the BlackBerry Technical Support .

Details

Category: BlackBerry Tips

Created: 15 February 2011

The BlackBerry Bold is an exceptional model in the BlackBerry smartphone family, like other types of this device; one very critical task is achieving sustenance of the battery life.

Here are some simple tips to guide you in improving your BlackBerry Bold battery life.

Tips to Improve Battery Life

• Turn down backlight brightness to a minimum and set the backlight to timeout at the least amount of time. Also, enable backlight to dim automatically.
• Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi features when not in use.
• Keep ringtone volume and other sound alerts relatively low yet audible. Also, adjust the duration of the ringtone and vibration to a minimum.
• Disable the LED coverage indicator light if possible. This uses up the battery power and causes it to lose charge quickly.
• Do not overcharge - Allow battery to reduce to low signals of 25 - 30 % before charging if possible, this will minimize how many times you charge your phone per day/week and will improve the quality of the battery.
• Do not over-discharge – Over discharging is the process of repeatedly allowing the battery to completely run out of charge. Avoid this so you can get a much longer life out of the battery.
• Learn how to access and manipulate features, applications and functionality of your BlackBerry to reduce the time it takes to retrieve information on the phone. Short continuous usage will prolong battery life throughout the day.
• Set up applications to speed up certain processes such as voice dialing, web browsing, speed dialing etc. This reduces the usage time thus helping to preserve your battery life.
• Set the left and right convenience keys to access the most frequently used applications on the phone e.g. BlackBerry messenger, a main e-mail account, or voice dialing. This minimizes the time it takes to access and use these applications.
• Install active software such as voice to text apps, BB Smart app, Bolt Browser etc. to shortcut through routes in accessing data on your phone. Minimizing usage time increases battery life.
• Turn off the phone instead of putting it on silent when you do not want to be disturbed.
• Cut down using the speakerphone feature to carry out a phone conversation. This uses more energy from the battery.
• Keep your phone out of high (hot) temperatures especially for exceedingly long periods. Heat speeds up a chemical reaction in the battery and deteriorates the battery life.
• Check if certain applications are still running in the background of your BlackBerry. If these apps are not in use then turn them off, an example of this could be an active browser page.
• BlackBerry Bold batteries are sold separately to provide extra back up or an alternative. If your phone battery is completely discharged then there is the option of replacing it with a fully charged one.

Details

Category: BlackBerry Tips

Created: 02 February 2011

Quickly locate any contact within your BlackBerry Address Book by typing their initials separated by a space.

Details

Category: BlackBerry Tips

Created: 08 January 2011

The Service Routing Protocol (SRP) Identifier, that is seven characters long, uniquely identifies the BlackBerry Enterprise Server to connect to the wireless network.

The SRP Authentication Key, that is 49 characters long, authenticates the SRP Identifier when connecting to the wireless network.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server 2.0 to 2.2

The SRP Identifier and SRP Authentication Key are located in the notes.ini file. The location of the notes.ini file depends on the version of IBM Lotus Notes you are using.

• For Lotus Notes 4, the location is <drive letter>:\winnt\
• For Lotus Notes 5 and 6, the location is <drive letter>:\Lotus\Domino\

To determine the SRP Identifier, perform the following steps:

1. Open the BlackBerry Enterprise Server Manager.
2. On the Tools menu, click License Manager.
3. In the Server Information window, the SRP Identifier is displayed in the Server UID field.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4.0

The SRP Identifier and SRP Authentication Key are stored in the BlackBerry Configuration Database.

To determine the SRP Identifier, perform the following steps:

1. Open BlackBerry Manager.
2. Select the server name on the left side.
3. Click the Server Configuration tab.
4. Click Edit Properties.
5. The SRP Identifier and SRP Authentication Key appear on the General tab.
   

BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0

Log into the BlackBerry Administration Service (BAS) with sufficient administrative privileges.

1. View the Servers and components menu
2. Expand BlackBerry Solution topology
3. Expand BlackBerry Domain
4. Expand Component view
5. Expand BlackBerry Enterprise Server
6. Click on any of the server instance names
7. View the Instance information tab and the SRP information section
   

BlackBerry Smartphone

To determine the SRP Identifier on the BlackBerry device, perform the following steps:

1. On the BlackBerry device Home screen, click Options > Service Book.
2. Select a Desktop service book.
3. Click the trackwheel and click the View option.
4. The SRP Identifier is displayed in the UID field.

Details

Category: BlackBerry Tips

Created: 06 January 2011

1. Change the encryption method to both Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and Triple Data Encryption Standard (Triple DES). This will cause the BlackBerry Enterprise Server to regenerate encryption keys for all BlackBerry smartphone users.
   
   
2. Make sure to leave the encryption method set to both long enough for all BlackBerry smartphone users to contact the BlackBerry Enterprise Server and be able to send and receive email messages after the switch. This time will vary depending on the environment.
   
   
3. Change the encryption method to AES.
   

NOTE: A BlackBerry smartphone running an earlier version than BlackBerry Device Software 4.0 will not be able to communicate with a BlackBerry Enterprise Server set to use AES only.

NOTE: The encryption method used by the BlackBerry Enterprise Server cannot be directly changed from AES to Triple DES or vice versa. Doing so will cause the BlackBerry smartphones to become unable to communicate with the BlackBerry Enterprise Server until the users manually generate new encryption keys or cradle their smartphones. As soon as the encryption method is switched, the BlackBerry Enterprise Server is no longer able to send packets to, nor accept packets from, the smartphone using the previous encryption method. This behavior is by design.

Details

Category: BlackBerry Tips

Created: 02 January 2011

To quickly change your BlackBerry to vibrate only, hold the Q key.

Press the Q key to go back to the last active profile

Details

Category: BlackBerry Tips

Created: 23 December 2010

The following steps allow an administrator to force all traffic from a BlackBerry smartphone to go through the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service. This is useful in the case of third-party applications that will use BlackBerry Internet Service traffic over the BlackBerry Enterprise Server by default, such as the Twitter application.

Create a new IT policy or edit an existing one and make the following changes:

• Service Exclusivity > Allow Other Browser Services = False / No
  
  
• Security > Allow Internal Connections = True / Yes
  
  
• Security > Allow External Connections = False / No

This may be used on any version of BlackBerry Enterprise Server from v4.1 to v5.0 SP2

Details

Category: BlackBerry Tips

Created: 02 December 2010

Following issues with wireless synchronization, when contacts are created on the BlackBerry smartphone, a secondary Desktop contact list or Unknown contact list might appear within the contact list options. Some contacts may be associated with a Desktop or Unknown service that does not synchronize either wirelessly or through the BlackBerry Desktop Software.

Perform a full backup of data and applications on the BlackBerry smartphone before completing the steps below. A test smartphone is required to delete all data and applications from the original smartphone.

1. Restore the backup files to a cleared smartphone running BlackBerry Device Software 4.5.
   
2. Open the BlackBerry Desktop Software and configure the synchronization to complete a ONE WAY import of the contacts to a .pst or .nsf file.
   
3. Clear the Address Book database using Advanced in the Backup and Restore tool.
   
4. Back up only the Address Book - All contact list to a new backup .ipd file.
   
5. Delete all data and applications from the smartphone using the Wipe Handheld option.
   
6. Restore the Address Book – All contact list created in step 4 to the cleared smartphone.
   Note: The Address Book and the Address Book – All should now contain the same number of entries.
   
7. Complete a ONE WAY import of the contacts to the .pst or .nsf file created in step 2. If prompted, click the Resync button to make sure only additions are made to the data file created in step 2.
   
8. Repeat steps 2 through 6 only if there are more than two Desktop or Unknown contact lists in the contact list options.

If enterprise activation is required at the end of the process, do not use BlackBerry Desktop Software to restore the contacts prior to or after the activation process, as the duplicate or unknown address book database will be re-created.