Blckberry White Screen of Death - Blackberry Curve 8520

About a week ago, my Blackberry Curve 8520 suddenly died. My did not fall or something, it just died. I was checking Facebook feeds when for the first time, the white screen of death (WSOD) presented itself.

I have tried putting it on a safe mode and it was ok but only for a short while. Then I tried reinstalling the OS using the app loader and it did worked! But the white screen of death appeared again. I tried reloading the OS again but it failed after seveal cycles: WSOD- Reload OS - WSOD - Reload OS - WSOD.

So I gave up.

But there's another option that I haven't tried yet. That is to disassembe the device and fix the four solder points behind the mini usb port, which could somehow created a short behind the screen. I read this from one of the blackberry forums.

I will just try and try again to install the OS. :-)

So while waiting for my new phone from SMART this February 2012, I decided to buy a cheap smart phone for only P3,000. It's proudly Philippine made MY|Phone QW29 Duo!

I'm surprised that it is actually working - push mail, wifi, social media apps, etc. Transferring my blackberry phonebook to Myphone QW29 Duo is as easy as copy/paste procedure! I'll probably write a review of this phone later.

If you are looking for a fix to your blackberry white screen of death, check this blackberry support forum.

Network out of order | BlackBerry SMS Error

For the last couple of weeks, I've been experiencing this BlackBerry SMS Error - Network out of order. Sent message via twitter both to SMART and BlackBerryHelp and immediately got a reply. According to BlackberryHelp, issues related to SMS are best addressed by your wireless service provider.

On the part of SMART, they asked me what procedure I was doing when I encountered the error. What do you think I was doing when I said I encountered "SMS error"? Do you think I'm making a phone call or surfing the net? Geez. I never realized that it won't be clear, really.

But just the same, told them that I enountered SMS error (network out of order) while sending SMS.

Considering my experience with SMART Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) Activation Problem, I'm not really expecting much from SMARTCares. Thus I asked my friend, Google, for help and I found a solution for network out of order error message received when sending an SMS message from http://www.blackberry.com

Here's what you need to do according to the site:

1. On the Home screen of the BlackBerry smartphone, navigate to Options > SMS.
2. Scroll to the field Network To Send Over.
3. Open the menu and select Change Option. Change the value of the field to GPRS.
4. Open the menu and select Save.
5. Attempt to send another SMS message.

The problem, however, is that in Step no. 3, my device do not have that options. The selection for Network to Send Over are Circuit Switch, Circuit Switched Preferred, Packet Switch and Packet Switched Preferred. There's no GPRS or GSM Option.

Since this is not applicable in my case, I just increased SMS Retries from 3 to 5. I hope it will make a diffirence. I think it will. Because whenever I encounter such error, I simply resend repeatedly until it is sent. But that is really a hassle when I'm doing a campaign using SMS Blasting.

Will update this post once I receive a word from SMART.

A goodwill from SMART

Looks like I will never run out of problem with SMART.

After solving my SMART's Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) Activation Problem, I'm now faced with ridiculous data charges. From an average of P3,000 monthly bill, my last month's bill ballooned to P6,800!

I subscribed to SMART's unlimited BIS Service (P1200/month) on March 11, 2010 and received confirmation. Thought everything was ok, until I received the bill.

I was charge a regular rate (per kilobytes) and my data charges amounted to P3800! I immediately called *888 to dispute the bill and paid only P3000, pending the resolution.

Today, I received a call from SMART's Customer Representative (8568). I was told that since I wasn't billed P1200 for the unlimited package, those charges are correct and should be settled. If today is April 1, I would have thought that it's just an April fool's joke. But no.

'Just because I wasn't billed despite my confirmed subscription, I will be penalized by paying those charges?', I asked.

Then the customer representative told me that as a sign of good will, they will reverse the charges and will just charge me the P1200 and that it's just a one time deal. This made me really laugh.

They call that goodwill?

It's their mistake in the first place. It is expected that they should correct it.

I'm not asking for goodwill. Just give me the actual bill and I'll pay. Thank you!

SMART Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) Activation Problem

It has been a week now that I've been trying to activate my SMART Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) but without luck. Calling *888 is no use. I'm just being referred to their Mobile Help Desk only to find out that the said help desk is for device related problems, not activation problem. Then I tried to contact SMARTCares.

In fairness to SMARTCares, they reply quick unlike *888 who will promise to call you back but they won't. Unfortunately, the problem is still unresolved.

Do you have SMART BIS activation problem, too?

I got my Blackberry Curve 8520 from SMART when I renewed by SMART Gold subscription plan a week ago. Before I decided to get the Blackberry Curve 8520, I asked about the BB unlimited plan but was told that it's not available for SMART Gold Plans. I was offered the P.15/kb consumable plan. Thus, I did not avail of their BIS plan. I want to check my options first, as I have my Palm Treo 680 working anyway.

Realizing that I need to have a BIS to utilize the device fully, I then contacted *888 and asked for more information on how to activate the data plan. That is where I learned about the Blackberry unlimited plan which according to Customer Service Rep is now available for SMART Gold plan subscribers. I immediately subscribed to the monthly unlimited plan for P1,200 by sending BB MONTH to 2207. I received a confirmation about my subscription plan but I still have the same problem - can't set up email and apps won't work.

I went to SMART wireless center in MOA the following day. I was advised to register at www.smart.blackberry.com.ph. It's a blank page. Turned out that it should be smart.blackberry.com, without the .ph. I registered my device and set up an email account. Turned off my device, pull out the battery for a minute and then inserted the battery back to turn the device on. It did not solve my BIS activation problem.

I then looked for answers using Google. Apparently, it's a common problem based on the comments posted here. So far here's what I have done.

- Resend the service book.
- Tried to register Host Routing Table - no entries, I just received a message that registration was sent.
- Changed my APN settings to blackberry.net

I changed the APN settings to blackberry.net because according to SMART Customer Rep, this will allow me to surf the net without being charged P10/30 minutes.

Until now, I have these problems:

- No Email
- Facebook and OpenBleak and other apps won't work - no data service available
- I can browse some websites but receives a Bad Gateway error message when visiting certain sites - My P1200 unlimited has been running since March 3, 2010. Do I hear rebates?

SMART should make information about their Blackberry Internet Service available in their website. They should also train their staff at Wireless Centers well to handle queries about BIS. Don't let subscribers beg for information.

BlackBerry Curve 8520 | "I want to create or add an email address" option, missing

I have just renewed my subscription plan with SMART yesterday and as a result, I got a free phone - a BlackBerry Curve 8520! It's actually my third free phone from SMART. I'm such a loyal subscriber. hehe!

But I'm having problem setting up my email account. The "I want to create or add an email address" option in the email set up is missing. I need this to set up my gmail account, where I forward my work email account.

I googled for answers why and how to fix it. Apparently, Blackberry Curve 8520 (or is it all BlackBerry devices?) needs to have a data plan to add IMAP email accounts.

At first, I did not avail of the Blackberry Internet Service plan from SMART thinking that IMAP emails will work via wifi connections. I was wrong. I decided then to avail of SMART's Blackberry Unlimited Plan for one month. But that did not change anything at all. The "I want to create or add an email address" is still missing.

I'll be going to SMART Wireless Center tomorrow and have it fixed. Hopefully.

I actually prefer a Palm Pre or iPhone but I don't have the budget for that right now. I'm currently using a Palm Treo 680. Selling my two smart phones to buy a better one is an option I might consider a month from now.