Top 10 BlackBerry smartphone and BlackBerry Desktop Manager troubleshooting tips

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Doc ID : KB15486
Last Modified : 2008-05-15
Document Type : What Is

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Environment

• BlackBerry® Desktop Manager
• BlackBerry smartphones

Details

Use this article to try to resolve a problem involving or relating to the BlackBerry smartphone, before engaging the help of your wireless service provider's technical support services.

Troubleshooting tips

Tip 1

Check the signal strength. A sufficient signal strength is required to send and receive wireless information.

1. Turn on the BlackBerry smartphone.
2. On the BlackBerry smartphone Home screen, go to Options and Status.
3. In the Signal field, verify that the value is between -40 and -100 dBm. For instructions on changing the signal strength indicator, see KB02142.

Tip 2

Perform a hard reset. For instructions, see KB02141.

Tip 3

Check the network settings. Appropriate network settings are required to use the BlackBerry smartphone to send and receive information on the wireless network.

If the Network Selection Mode field (from the Home screen, go to Manage Connections and Mobile Network Options) is set to Manual, perform a manual scan for available networks. For instructions, see KB02516.

Tip 4

Register the BlackBerry smartphone on the wireless network. For instructions, see KB00510.

Once a registration message is sent, if successful, you will receive a message in your BlackBerry smartphone message list stating that your BlackBerry smartphone has been registered with the wireless network.

Tip 5

Check the BlackBerry smartphone's connection to the computer to confirm that the BlackBerry smartphone is detected by BlackBerry Desktop Manager.

1. Connect the BlackBerry smartphone to the computer. If possible, connect it directly using a USB port.
2. If the BlackBerry smartphone is not detected, close and then re-open BlackBerry Desktop Manager.
3. In BlackBerry Desktop Manager, go to Options and Connection Settings. The personal identification number (PIN) for your BlackBerry smartphone should appear in the connection field.
4. Click Detect. If the BlackBerry smartphone is connected properly, you will receive a message indicating that a USB device was found.

   If the BlackBerry smartphone is not detected, see KB11439.

Tip 6

Confirm that the BlackBerry smartphone can receive email messages by using an external email client or web interface, such as Microsoft® Outlook®, IBM® Lotus Notes®, or Windows Live™ Hotmail®.

Send a test email message to the email address for the account that is associated with the BlackBerry smartphone. If the email message is successfully received by the BlackBerry smartphone, you will be see a new email message in the BlackBerry smartphone message list. This indicates the the messaging and collaboration server is able to process incoming email messages and forward them to your BlackBerry smartphone.

The messaging and collaboration servers are different depending on the environment and BlackBerry services you are using on your BlackBerry smartphone. For example

• Work environment: Your BlackBerry smartphone might be integrated with Microsoft® Exchange (messaging server) and a BlackBerry® Enterprise Server (collaboration server).
• Prosumer environment: Your BlackBerry smartphone might be integrated with Windows Live Hotmail (messaging server) and a BlackBerry® Internet Service account (collaboration server).

Tip 7

Confirm the BlackBerry smartphone can send email messages and PIN messages by sending an email message and a PIN message from the BlackBerry smartphone back to the BlackBerry smartphone. For instructions, see KB02913.

A PIN message that is sent successfully is indicated by a check mark beside the sent PIN message. A D indicates that the PIN message has been delivered to the specified PIN number. Sending the PIN message from the BlackBerry smartphone to the BlackBerry smartphone should show the sent PIN message and received PIN message in the BlackBerry smartphone Inbox.

An email message that is successfully sent to your email address, should be received in your email application such as Microsoft Outlook, IBM Lotus Notes, or Windows Live Hotmail. The collaboration server will then attempt to send the new email message to your Blackberry smartphone. The received email message should appear in the BlackBerry smartphone message list.

Tip 8

A service book contains information that configures how your BlackBerry smartphone interacts with the BlackBerry® Infrastructure. Service books turn on specific services for your BlackBerry smartphone. The selection of service books on your BlackBerry smartphone depends on the features provided by your wireless service provider along with the email accounts integrated with your BlackBerry smartphone. When sending email messages from the BlackBerry smartphone, you must have a service book responsible for the integration you are using to attempt to send with.

To see what service books are present on the smartphone go to Options, Advanced Options, and then Service Book. For more information about service books, see KB03151

For instructions on sending service books, see KB02830. 

Tip 9

To access general information about using your BlackBerry smartphone and troubleshooting certain events, use the BlackBerry smartphone Help application.

The BlackBerry smartphone Help application can be accessed in the following ways:

• From the BlackBerry smartphone Home screen
  1. On the BlackBerry smartphone Home screen, click the Help icon (?). The main Help window opens.
  2. Click Troubleshooting. The Troubleshooting window opens.
  3. Click the topic you want more information on.
• From the menu list
• 1. Within an application, display the menu and click Help. The Help window specific to the application opens. 
  2. Click the Help topic you want more information on.

Tip 10

For specific issues and troubleshooting tips, search the BlackBerry Technical Solution Center.

Additional Information

If you are still experiencing issues after attempting these troubleshooting tips, contact your wireless service provider.