8700 refuses to activate

[jgrant]

Hi,

I have BESX with Vodafone UK, originally I was using a 7290 with no problems at all - I have now been given an 8700v to try and it refuses to activate, I have tried the following:


Wireless Activation - Just Hangs on the Activating Screen...
Wired Activation - seems to half activate but can't send email (service blocked)
Deleting the user and readding - no joy
Registering on Host Routing Table before Activating
Performing a full device wipe
Removing any IT Policies previously on the device
BIS Activation through Vodafone UK - Works no problem


Anybody have any ideas how to solve this as I am at my wits end. I know the server works because I can go back to my 7290 no problem and it all works fine - it seems like the Server is not recognizing the PIN of the new device and refuses to talk to it - is this something that could happen ? I know the device is not registered anywhere else either.

[jax]

Vodfone has two BlackBerry plans - BIS and BES. The BIS plan won't work with BES - and I've found it very difficult to find out from Vodafone whether a particular handset is provisioned for BES. However given the problems you're having I think your 8700 is only provisioned for BIS and not BES. You need to talk with second level BlackBerry support to check whether the 8700 PIN is registered for BES - probably best to talk with the technical support group for BES (rather than handheld support who don't seem to know their arse from their elbow).

Good luck.

[jgrant]

Jax,

Thanks for the advice - however I am fairly convinced the phone is configured for BES as it was previously used by my wife within her company and that was using BES. I have also made sure the phone has been removed from my wifes company's BES server and removed the IT Policy they applied.

Any other ideas.

Thanks again
Jason

[jetspeedz]

Use DM 4.2 it has a Swap device Wizard that will take care of everything along with activation on your BES server, especially if its a BES 4.0 it should be very easy.. hook up the 7290 with the company SIM and run the wizard then put that sim in the 8700 after the wizard goes through a backup and wait,, the activation may look like its stuck at 70+% but its not, takes about 10-15 mins... the way i knew it wasnt stuck was b/c i opened up the BB Redirector and opened the 'Stats' tab and saw that the BB was sending and receiving Data...

good luck

[tsac]

They may be blocking the switch. It could be a way to prevent using someone else's device. Maybe a search of the forum will let you know if this is possible or if Vodfone does this to others. I have had older BB's and when i pulgged in a new one with DT manager working and connected to the email system or server, it did a swap but as stated above it takes a long time and sometimes looks like it is stalled.

Good luck

[jax]

Have you changed dataplan since it was used with your wife's BES server? For example, was the account originally with your wife's company and has it been moved to a personal account? The 25 GBP per month plan with Vodafone has BES, the 12.50 GBP per month plan is BIS only.

[jgrant]

Again - thanks everyone for your suggestions, however:


I used the Switch Device wizard and it left the 8700 half activated - still had the mobile email icon
I am using my own data plan which I am using successfully with my 7290 - just want to use the newer device with my existing BES plan


Just a thought - could it be down to the MAPI version on my BES Server ?

[bertiebassett]

Hi Jgrant

Couple of questions
1) Are you the IT guy there, if not have you got them involved. It's unlikely if you're running express that you'll be running IT policies that stop the swapping of devices.

2) What version BES are you running with I assume exchange?

As you correctly point out if your SIM card works correctly on 7290 on the BES and you're putting this SIM into the 8700 the the data plan moves correctly with the SIM, so that would rule out the BES/BIS provisioning isuse.

I'd wipe the device and then try to activate against ANOTHER user. It's possible that your old mailbox information is corrupted on the exchange server (bes version dependent)

[jgrant]

Hi Bertiebasset

Thanks for the response, to answer your questions,

1) I work for a small company and I am pretty much on my own here - we have an IT guy however his knowledge does not really exceed mine ;)

2) I am using BESX version 4.1 with Exchange 2003 (SP2 HF1 I think)

3) Good point I will try to activate against another user - however I have tried wiping my 7290 and I can reactivate my mailbox against that device no problem at all which confuses me

Thanks again
Jason

[jgrant]

Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions - however my problem has now been solved with a simple call to Vodafone.

It seems they had blocked the PIN or not enabled the PIN on my account which was preventing me from using the device.

Regards
Jason

[tsac]

Glad you up and running