Saturday, September 24, 2011

Upgrading a BlackBerry Curve 8330 to OS 5.0

This is how I upgraded my BlackBerry Curve 8330 to OS 5.0.

First, a warning: this is DEFINITELY not for the faint of heart. Do this at your own risk, as we're messing with the phone's OS here you may end up bricking your phone if you don't do it properly. I accept no responsibility if this doesn't work on your phone.

As of the writing of this post, the current RIM OS is version 7, however those of us who don't upgrade their phone hardware every couple of months may be stuck on an older OS, such as version 4.5 as I was on my Curve 8330.

Since OS 5.0 was released, RIM has supported it on the Curve 8330. However, at the time of the release of OS5 there were other devices on the market, and IMHO most carriers chose not to release an upgrade to OS5 on older devices in order to encourage the purchase of new devices.

The main reason for upgrading your Curve 8330 to OS5 is the plethora of new features: upgraded web browser, BBM-style chat for SMS texts, improved media player, support for the latest RIM apps, nicer alarm/clock application, nicer boot screen, built-in safe mode and other minor improvements. Your device will also run much faster after a wipe/reload of the OS software; the performance improvement is akin to having a fresh copy of Windows installed on your computer.


Getting OS5 for Curve 8330

Even though most carriers don't officially support OS 5.0 on the Curve 8330, thankfully one North American carrier -- Boost Mobile -- decided to officially release OS 5.0 for their customers. Start by going to the Device Software download page, and select Boost Mobile (near the bottom under North America):

Link: BlackBerry Desktop and Device Software Download Sites

Under Boost Mobile's page for the Curve 8330, you should see the following listed:

BlackBerry Handheld Software v5.0.0.724 (Multilanguage)

Package Version: 5.0.0.724
Consisting of:
  • Applications: 5.0.0.438
  • Software Platform: 3.5.0.44
  • File name: 8330AMEA_PBr5.0.0_rel724_PL3.5.0.44_A5.0.0.438_Boost_Mobile.exe
  • File size: 90.38MB
Go ahead and download that file. After the file is done downloading simply install it as you would any other program. For reference, the
OS files will be installed to the following folder: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files.


Backing up your Data & Apps

A crucial step of course is backing up all your current settings, data and messages using BlackBerry Desktop Software (BBDS for short). I did a full backup which includes everything except applications. A really great feature of BBDS is that the backups seem to be version agnostic; in other words a backup made while on OS 4.5 can be restored to OS 5.0 and nearly all settings will return to the same condition.

After using BBDS to backup your data, settings and messages, the next step is to backup your applications. The easiest way I've found to do this is a handy application called BlackBerry Swiss Army Knife (BBSAK for short). With BBDS closed, start BBSAK (password is blank) and let it connect to your device. Once it's connected, use the Backup Apps button in order to save your apps.

Finally, as an extra precaution, if you use BBM be sure to go into BBM's Options menu and choose Backup Contact List, and save a backup to the microSD card. BBDS's backup feature should save/restore all your contacts, but you can never have too many backups just in case.


Wiping your BlackBerry

This step is optional, however wiping your BlackBerry will ensure it runs at its full potential. Data and settings from the original OS during an upgrade will impede performance and reduce the amount of memory available. By wiping it, you stand to reclaim a significant amount of the 96mb flash memory that the Curve 8330 has. OS 5.0 is a bit larger than OS 4.5, and because of the wipe -- even with the larger OS -- my BlackBerry has more space than it has ever had before.

The only disadvantage I have seen so far is the AppWorld no longer recognizes my previous app purchases, and presumably won't offer me any upgrades for my purchased apps. I have PayPal receipts for the apps I bought, so it's likely that I could get the purchase history restored with a call to RIM, however since I was able to restore all my apps using BBSAK I won't worry about that for now.

To wipe your BlackBerry, start BBSAK and once your device is connected, click the Wipe Device button. If you're absolutely positive you've backed up everything (and double checked the backups just to be sure), click Yes to proceed and wipe your device. It should only take a few seconds and your phone will restart. Note: this will not affect the data on your microSD.

Instead of your phone starting up like normal, you should see an unsettling screen that implies "no programs installed" with an error code underneath: error 507. This is actually a good sign, it means that the OS on the BlackBerry has been erased and the device is ready to accept new software.


Loading OS 5.0 onto your Curve 8330

After you've backed up your device, and wiped it (if you chose to do so), you are ready to load OS 5.0 onto it. If you haven't already installed OS 5.0 using the installer mentioned above, do so now. After installing it, navigate to the following folder: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader\.

Next, delete the vendor.xml in the AppLoader folder. This will prevent AppLoader from blocking OS 5.0 from appearing based on the mismatch between your carrier and Boost Mobile. Note: No actual difference exists that I can find between my carrier's OS and the Boost Mobile OS.

After you've deleted vendor.xml, start the program using the Loader executable. Click Next, and Next again. At this point it may take about 30-60 seconds for the program to detect your device. After loading it should show you a list of options to select in OS 5.0 before loading to your device.

Note: Before going any further, click the Add button near the top of the window. Browse to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\8330AMEA_v5.0.0.438_P3.5.0.44\ and it should list all the application files contained within. Select 'BISThickClient' at the top, hold shift and select 'Tasks-Java' at the bottom in order to select and add all the application files. Failure to add all the application files as described herein will result in a crippled OS being loaded to your phone. It won't wreck anything, it simply won't work and you'll have to start over again.

After you've added all the application files, you can review the list and choose to add/remove features that you so desire on your device. Once you're satisfied, click Next to proceed.

At this point, if you didn't wipe your device the Loader may ask if you want to backup your settings and data before proceeding and automatically restore afterwards. I usually choose not to, since I prefer to back everything up manually. It's up to you whether you want to do the automatic option or not.

Finally, the Loader will begin to load OS 5.0 to your device. It may take a while at the 'Erasing applications' and 'Loading system software' stages, but be patient. Whatever you do, don't disconnect the cable at any point during this crucial operation.


First Boot into OS 5.0

After the Loader is finished, your device will restart automatically. The first thing you'll notice is a new boot screen: the BlackBerry logo in the center with a progress bar across the bottom. It will likely freeze around the 60% mark, and stay there for quite some time. Initially this really scared me; I thought my device was frozen entirely. Be patient; after about 10-15 minutes your Curve 8330 will be like a brand new phone.

After your phone has finished loading, feel free to connect it to BBDS and do a restore to bring back all your contacts and settings. Then, fire up BBSAK and choose Restore Apps to load all your apps back onto your device. After it restarts your phone should look and feel very familar, except now it will have upgraded software on it.

Note: Check to see if MemoPad is installed, as it wasn't installed when I loaded OS5 onto my device. To get it loaded I used BBSAK's Install COD(s) feature on the Modify COD(s) tab to install it manually. The application file for MemoPad is located at: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\Shared\Loader Files\8330AMEA_v5.0.0.438_P3.5.0.44\Java\net_rim_bb_memo_app.cod.

Congratulations, your Curve 8330 now has the latest available software for it. Enjoy the new features! :)


Troubleshooting

There are a few issues I ran into that you may run into as well:

- If your device won't connect to BBDS or BBSAK, start Task Manager (using Ctrl+Alt+Del) and end the following processes if they're running: BbDevMgr.exe, RIMDevMgr.exe, RIMBBLauncher.exe, or any other process starting with Bb or RIM that relates to BlackBerry. Then try again.

- If you can't find BBM anywhere and you're positive you've installed it see below about OS modifications and OS shrinking.

- If when OS 5.0 starts for the first time it simply shows "Platform 3.5.0.44" at the top of your screen and a notepad-style list of applications that don't even start properly (with module missing errors, etc), you need to reload your OS and this time make sure to add the rest of the applications in the OS folder as described above in the 4th paragraph after 'Loading OS 5.0 onto your Curve 8330'.


OS Shrinking and Modifications

Don't get too fancy like I tried and use Shrink-A-OS or another tool to try and shrink your OS down. It works great in every sense except one: BBM will not function at all on a device that has a modified OS. If you don't use BBM at all then feel free to try Shrink-A-OS or another tool to gain even more space on your device by removing built-in features that you don't normally use.

If you try to use BBM with a modified OS, the BBM icon will go missing and you won't be able to start BBM at all. You'll be able to install and uninstall BBM, and it will show up in your application list (under Options), however you won't see a BBM icon anywhere on your home screen and you will be forced to reload a stock OS if you want to use BBM.


Thanks

I want to thank the authors of BBSAK for their hard work on such a great program. If you found this blog post useful, please donate a few bucks to the BBSAK authors to keep the development alive. Feel free to post comments below as well if this blog post helped you in any way. :)