[hard_core]

I might have to remotely nuke a BB, when choosing the option: "kill handheld" on a BES 4.0.6.12 server, will that wipe the BB before rendering it inert?

If not, what's the best way to utterly clean and destroy this lost BB?

Also, I don't mind telling you that I've been looking forward to doing this for a long time, I'm feeling giddy like when I was a kid, right before lighting a big firecracker.

thanks for any help,

Joon

[dacracker]

hehe

[penguin3107]

Wirelessly posted (Breaking Ball)

Killing the handheld will will wipe the data and reset the device.

However, despite the name, it will not actually kill the device. The device will still be usable, however its connection to BES will be severed.

[dpeters11]

There are a few things to keep in mind. If the device is not in contact with the BES, the kill command will only last a few days at RIM. What I usually do is purge pending, then send the command. If you don't require passwords for some reason, set one, then issue the wipe command. But then you should also report the device to the carrier as lost/stolen, which will prevent it from talking to RIM. But that's why a password should be on the device in the first place.

It all works best if the device is still talking to the server. It gets wiped then blocked by the carrier.

[hdawg]

Originally Posted by dpeters11

There are a few things to keep in mind. If the device is not in contact with the BES, the kill command will only last a few days at RIM...

7 to be exact.

[Mogsy]

kill command DOES render the handset useless, i have used this 3 times, once we actually got the handset back from the resort our staff member lost it at - it removes everything, including the OS, so unless the person who has it knows how to re-install the right OS to the handset, it just sits there with a red circle & slash through it and a 507 error if i recall.

i normally give it a day or so for the command to process and then inform the carrier.

[penguin3107]

Originally Posted by Mogsy

kill command DOES render the handset useless

No, it doesn't.

Originally Posted by Mogsy

i have used this 3 times, once we actually got the handset back from the resort our staff member lost it at - it removes everything, including the OS, so unless the person who has it knows how to re-install the right OS to the handset, it just sits there with a red circle & slash through it and a 507 error if i recall.

Something else happened to the device. This wasn't the result of the Kill command alone.
The user probably attempted to halt the wipe by removing the battery in the middle of the process. This will likely corrupt the OS.

[hdawg]

Originally Posted by Mogsy

kill command DOES render the handset useless, i have used this 3 times, once we actually got the handset back from the resort our staff member lost it at - it removes everything, including the OS, so unless the person who has it knows how to re-install the right OS to the handset, it just sits there with a red circle & slash through it and a 507 error if i recall.

i normally give it a day or so for the command to process and then inform the carrier.

Just to reiterate what penguin said ... A KILL COMMAND DOES NOT RENDER THE HANDSET USELESS.

Thank you, please drive through.

[Mogsy]

i know what i saw, and i replicated it -- the kill handset command removed the OS, similar white screen of death you get with an error code and red circle with a slash through it. this was on 7130 handsets with v4.0 OS and on BES 4.0 about 4 years ago, i haven't tested it since.

it's possible that it's been changed over the many server & OS revisions to not do that now. When i contacted Vodafone (i wasn't expecting the OS to be gone), and i explained what we had done, they told me exactly how to restore it, and that this happened by design of the command.

[hdawg]

No wipe from a BES removes the OS of any BlackBerry handheld. Regardless of the BES version and platform and model / OS version of the handheld.

Something else is happening on your end. A wipe from a BES does NOT remove the OS.

This has never been in place and I highly doubt it ever will be; there is no logic to do so.

[penguin3107]

Originally Posted by Mogsy

i know what i saw

I know people who have seen images of the Virgin Mary in their pancakes.
Obviously, people's experiences are subject to question.

Originally Posted by Mogsy

it's possible that it's been changed over the many server & OS revisions to not do that now.

No, it's not. The kill handheld command was never designed to remove the handheld OS.

Originally Posted by Mogsy

When i contacted Vodafone (i wasn't expecting the OS to be gone), and i explained what we had done, they told me exactly how to restore it, and that this happened by design of the command.

Honestly... WTF does Vodafone know? They gave you a canned answer to get you off the phone and take the next caller. If you had called RIM, you would have gotten a different answer.