My T-Mobile Blackberry Curve 8900 gave up the ghost tonight.
For the last day or so, the OS on the phone was acting sluggish, so I did a standard battery pull. This usually “reboots” the phone and clears up any issues the OS may be having. Well, when it came up, I got the dreaded Reload Software 552 error. Translation: Reload your OS.
Well, I tried many ways to restore the OS:
1. I tried removing some of my installed apps. There were a few I had added a day or two ago that may have caused the problem. No dice.
2. I tried an OS reload complements of the folks at Crackberry.com– unexpected error at 0×0000002 message. It wont reload the RAM image of the OS.
3. I tried using the Blackberry Desktop Manager on my Macbook. Nope.
4. I tried using the Windows XP virtual machine image I have with Blackberry Desktop Manager. Nada.
5. I tried on my roommate’s Windows XP laptop. Still nothing
I continued to research to see if there was ANY other solution to fix this. I need my Blackberry. Its my auxiliary brain. But alas, its dead.
A moment of silence please…
Luckily, I had a backup phone so at least I could make phone calls. I have been in the IT industry too long not to recognize the importance of backups. I am not sure how much I lost. I had a recent backup of contacts, email, application data, etc., so I am not too bad. All hail Google Sync for calendars and contracts.
This is all just a real life reminder to BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP!
I wound up giving the dead phone to my roommate for spare parts– he has a Blackberry Curve 8900 too.
Now, it’s time to shop for a new smartphone. I am with T-Mobile. Anyone have any suggestions?
Motorola G1 or Cliq. MyTouch 3G should also be considered. I’d stay away from Blackberry since the browser does suck.
Sorry for your loss …
What about the HTC Tilt / Touch Pro 2?
I agree with Joel, go android, go big!
Chevy Chase and Dana Carvey want you to buy a myTouch3G, give in to the comedian peer pressure!
NO question. BlackBerry 9700. It’s freaking amazing. You’ll love the trackpad instead of trackball. Ask Dan, he’ll tell you.
since you’re already using a BB, you can restore all of your files via BB Desktop Manager and you’re off and running.
Alternatively, Android is a great OS. Hardware-wise, the myTouch is “okay”. Don’t go with the CLIQ – too slow. There are supposed to be a lot of new Android handsets out next year, so this is very unfortunate timing.
There is also the rumor of T-Mobile getting the iPhone. Maybe hold out to see if it comes true and limp along with something else?
Sorry to hear about your loss!