Z10 Thoughts
 

I picked up a Z10 on Saturday morning.

Granted I've only had the device a few days, but I have to say I'm pleased overall. Touch typing is still foreign to me, but it's coming. The flick typing really works well. I know a lot of people have complained about random reboots, but it's only happened to me once, when I connected to my wall charger on Saturday night.

Battery life is much more of an issue right now. It isn't bad, per se, but compared to my 9330, it runs through a battery pretty quickly. I keep it on a charger any time I'm near one. This is one area that could some improvement, and I'll probably buy an extra battery.

Starting yesterday, my device has been kicking out my gmail accounts, prompting to re-enter the passwords a few times a day. Very annoying.

Having used various 7290, 8700, 8330, 9330, and now a Z10 I would say that this is my second favorite device so far. My 7290 will always be my favorite, because for its time, it was the most advanced phone of any kind, and it was my first.


Not really a question or complaint in here. Just thought I'd share.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

Battery life can be extended by turning off WiFi, and making sure any Android apps (if you have any installed) are closed when you are done with them.

I would also upgrade your OS to 10.1.0.23xx (any of the versions) FYI - You have the STL100-4 aka R069 model.

Enabling two-step authentication on Gmail (via a PC browser) will stop the Z from asking for your password every 15-60 minutes (or whenever it feels like it)

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

Thanks for the information. I didn't know that gmail needed two-way authentication.

It's been a while since I upgraded an OS - how has the process changed? It used to be simple matter of deleting the vendor.xml file and installing.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

No more Vendor.xml.
No more Desktop Manager or loader.exe

Three ways:
- OTA; released by your carrier
- through BlackBerry Link, a very interesting piece of software
- Standalone executable - a leaked or hybrid OS - that wipes out the device (no backup/restore). Lots of leaks around

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

You would download the autoloader file https://mega.co.nz/#!Io9BQAJR!LIiqOk...KtlDk1AuLPvtsg for whatever version you wanted to install. Use desktop software to make a backup before upgrading.

Backup your Z10 with Link.
Download Autoloader File.
Turn off the Z10.
Run Autoloader.exe (May need to enable Admin priv)
When “connecting to Bootrom” appears on system connect Z10 to PC and turn on device.
Wait for process to finish and phone to reboot.
The update will wipe your device, so you can either restore all the info from your backup through BlackBerry Link or just start fresh if you want.

You also want to make sure that the OS version matches your handset model (STL100-4) and most have 2/3/4 in the same file, but not always.

It's a lot easier to upgrade with the Z and Q then with any of the older models.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

Appreciate the information.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

This might be turning into a little bit of a complaint.

I have three email accounts configured on my device - two gmail, one work account, which is connected through EAS. All three accounts have been disconnected this morning with an account invalid error, and a notification in my Hub saying "Your account is no longer synchronized with your device. Check that your account settings are correct. If they are correct, contact your email service provider."

Re-entering the correct password(s) works for a few minutes, but then the problem repeats.

Would love to hear any advice.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

Only thing I can think of is that you are trying to enter your credentials via the Hub when you should be going into settings and Account and entering your password from there.

Other than it affecting a whack of AT&T users, I haven't heard too much about this.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

I tried a couple of things, one of which seemed to work. First, I did a hard reset. After rebooting, I deleted all the accounts, waited 10 minutes, then added back each one. Then, another reboot. Finally, I registered the device under Settings | About | Category | Network | Register BlackBerry.

So far, so good. I'll update the post later in case anyone else comes looking for a solution.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

Interesting in the meaning of "interesting what you need it for"? I have not found anything this software does that could not be done without it (even more comfortable most of the times).

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

Interesting as in a terrible piece of code that wasn't properly thought out, coded or tested.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

My Gmail accounts were kicked off again this morning (well, only one - I decided not to add back the other one, since it's mostly a spam account). Work email is intact.

There was a very brief glitch yesterday where it disconnected when I walked outside and lost Wifi for a second, but it restored on its own. I have to wonder if the Wifi connection has anything to do with it.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

Only thing I noticed with my WiFi connection is that if I was connected to a network (Saved or not) as soon as the signal became too weak, or I moved away from the coverage area, the Z would disable that WiFi connection and it would not connect automatically. It would be unavailable until I went into my WiFi settings and enabled the connection.

Still can't figure out why it would do that.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

Can you downgrade using BB Link or would you need to use AutoLoader that Zombie mentioned or just a standalone executable?

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

Stand alone and autoloader are the same. They are leaked and hybrid versions.

I don't think you can downgrade with Link, as you don't really install the OS on your PC anymore, but you can restore to factory state with Link.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

Ok thanks. So is it safe to assume that there will be no official carrier released downloads available like with BB7? Only hybrids and leaked versions? Are the carrier's only offering OTA upgrades now?

Somehow I think the old days of controlling our devices the way we used to are dwindling away (like most things now).

Thanks again for the info.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

Oh no, carriers officially release new versions all the time, but since they are OTA, we don't really have a way of grabbing them except when someone leaks em a few days before (usually)

I am trying out new versions every 3-4 days. I stopped posting leaks, cause by the time I would download them and install, the official version would be out already.

NinjaEdit: It was actually really confusing for me, making sure the version and model matched the one I was looking for.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

Oh..OK. I was thinking more of this method (from Verizon) for BB7 OS releases:

BlackBerry® Software Updates

This link above would probably never post a BB10 update then. You would need loader or DM to install these so going forward we can only archive the leaked (or hybrid) versions I would think. I used to download the carrier releases from the link above in case I wanted to downgrade but being that they are OTA, the process has now changed.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

You could always download and install an earlier version and load it up as you would a leaked OS.

Re: Z10 Thoughts
 

Is that you, alicepattison?