[smane30]

My 9900 is bricked with the same symptons...I was on OS .353. I just hooked it up to charge one night and woke up to a bricked phone. I've tried every blackberry process to unbrick a phone to no avail. I had to buy a 9810 as I purchased the 9900 on ebay toi use on AT&T. Hopefully someone finds a remedy as that was a waste of $600.

[stevew]

Has anyone tried booting the 9900 in Safe mode to try to connect and upgrade through the DM?

[asteele]

It sounds like there could be a common trait here - upgrades and then 9900's dying during the night... could it be releated with when they are fully charged?

Crazy suggestion, but could the underlying OS fail due to it thinking that the battery is over charged somehow? I am not suggesting that the battery really is overcharged, just that the new OS thinks this is the case?

Whilst it may or may not be the crazy battery suggestion - there seems to be a common complaint of the 9900's failing overnight - when all of them would surely be on a charger.


How do you boot a 9900 into safe mode?

[stevew]

After the red light goes out on a battery pull/reinsertion, hold the escape key for about 10 seconds. You can also do the same thing after the red light extinguishes after a Alt+RShft+backspace. You'll see the BB come up in Safe mode.

[asteele]

Hi Steve, the test of starting into "safe mode" does not do anything different - thanks for the suggesting though, I am happy to try anything of course!

I am just letting the device continually cycle, with the hope that this will drain the battery a little - I'd like to see if this unit comes to life with a partially charged battery - as I have a hunch that this is somehow power level related... but if that was truly the case then the unit should support the loader update without a battery and just connected on the USB, but since this does not work either - then my battery thoughts are aleady fairly hopeless :( ...

[stevew]

So it wouldn't boot into safe mode and stay alive long enough to start the loader process I'm guessing? I don't believe it has to do with battery levels being too high, which is highly unlikely in any case...

USB only with no battery won't work as it will not boot. The device require a battery to boot/function.

[asteele]

I am now reading about quite a few 9900 users who waking to find their phone mysteriously bricked overnight - what a nightmare! I do hope that news spreads about what causes this comes out soon, so we know what to avoid!

[stevew]

I don't know what causes it, but I have heard a several users who have experienced this on their 99xx's, but some have reported that they can unbrick the phone by booting into safe mode and reloading the OS. That's why I asked if you were able to boot in to safe mode. Have you loaded any other software besides what came with the device? Do you have a spare battery? I'm wondering if it could be a bad battery telling the unit it's OK when it's not...just a thought?

If you have other software packages loaded, can you tell us what they are?

[asteele]

Hi, thanks for your continued help and advise.

I am reading at least 8 different threads across multiple forums that have the same issue - and no answer.

I can not start the phone into safe mode, it seems to get approx 10 seconds into the start-up process and dies, and then loops.

For instance, if the phone is connected to my Win7 PC by USB cable, then I get to hear the Win7 "ding dong" sound each time the phone "wakes" and then "dies" approx 10 seconds later...

There is no software loaded other than the install of:

9900jAllLang_PBr7.0.0_rel1948_PL5.0.0.610_A7.0.0.4 39_WIND_Canada

...which actually failed in the first run, so I used bbask to totally wipe the OS and I ran the install again, which meant that I only had the standard apps installed. I then added gmail, and that was it.

The phone then worked perfectly for a full day, and died during the night whilst on the mains charger.

Other users have reported the same issue, but they did not run a software update.

I do not have a spare battery to try, but doubt this is the issue.

What is appearing to happen is that there are more and more users that are having this issue with their 9900's every day, which is worrying - knowing that other users could have a time-bomb in their hands! I have had to buy a 2nd unit, but until this problem is understood I am going to be worried expecting the replacement to suffer the same fate at some point!

[stevew]

I don't blame you for your concerns. Sounds like you've tried everything you could to resolve the issue, but unsuccessfully. Hope you manage to get it fixed somehow. I see from most that this almost always seems to happen while the phone is on the charger...and that's why I have to wonder if it's not something battery related.

[asteele]

My replacement BB9900 arrives in the next couple of days, so I will have a second battery to test then...

Yes, funny that its seems to happen "overnight" - but since BB9900's spend 50% of their time on a charger overnight each day, it could just be a coincedence

I was wondering if the new OS thought that the battery was somehow "overcharged" - so I let the battery trickle down, but that didn't seem to help.

Surely any moment now RIM will agree there is an issue, so hopefully soon we can have some news!

[stevew]

RIM will NEVER agree that there is an issue - LOL.

What they will do, is release an update that addresses the issue so it mitigates the impact - period. They will NEVER admit they made a device that bricks just by charging. This will get fixed and I believe it IS a software issue.

I have a 9800 here that does exactly the same thing - only it's not mine and I can't bother to dig deeper to see if I can fix it. It's a 9800 and deserves to die anyway - ROTFLMFAO

[asteele]

My "new" 2nd 9900 has arrived, and I have been able to try the new phones battery in the older 9900... and it does not make any difference.

The bricked phone still does not start-up, so we can rule out the battery being the issue.

The new phone is working fine, data being restored now... but how long until it bricks itself and which software should I load?!

[stevew]

I'm running .440 since it leaked - with no issues, but I'm not sure if it has to do with any specific release.

I also have a spare 9900 in case this one goes down, so it's less of an issue for me should that happen.

Still, I'd love to know if they ever resolve the issue - I mean how to unbrick the phone when this happens. I've gotta believe there's a way with a certain software.

EDIT: just noticed your same post as the one above this on the other boards - you go under a different carrier there. LOL Hope it all works out for you!

[asteele]

I have now upgraded to 9900jAllLang_PBr7.0.0_rel1948_PL5.0.0.610_A7.0.0.4 39_WIND_Canada

... and I have updated/corrected my carrier details on the other profile!

I shall wait a few days or so to see if a magic fix arrives, and if not - then I shall send my bricked unit back to the UK for some TLC.

[OVERKILL]

Subscribing...... Interesting thread.

[asteele]

I am running with a 2nd bought unit - no news yet on the unit that I sent off for repair...

Every morning I am very pleased when I can see that my 2nd 9900 is working!

[stevew]

Shitty way to live - LOL

[rombout]

I have this phone as well (9930) same problem tried every trick there is in the book. Went to my (bad) fake dealer and he sent me to two of his technicians. One said the battery was dead. The other one thinks it's the powersupply circuit and he could possible fix it by lossen it and than reattach it. He saw this same problem with bolds 9000 and 9700. Bad thing is he never got the chance yet to test this with this new bold, so im not gonna be a guinea pig here.

I've also found a post RIM finally admits there is possible a hardware issue with these 2 types and that their working on a solution, possible an update. ehhhh how!!!! if the phone will not connect due to the ever keeping restarting issue?!?!?!

[stevew]

Cooooooo-rrect! That is the problem they admitted to. One of these days, I guess we'll be seeing a fix of sorts. Hopefully that will fix bricked phones, not just prevent phones from bricking!