So while I was in Hong Kong, my blackberry got dunked and completely died. I bought a new one from some half-way reputable looking phone store while I was there that was brand new in box, and carrier unlocked. I switched my SIMM card and popped it on, and sure enough it was working.

When I got home I tried to activate it on the BES, and it was unable to register my phone. After several calls to technical support, and spending $50 on a support ticket with Blackberry, I discovered my phone's PIN was already registered on another BES server by my carrier in Ireland. I called Ireland technical support, and tried to see what I could do about getting it unregistered from their server but no luck. Unless I was the account holder that registered the phone there was nothing I could do.

Before I had blackberry, I was using a Motorola phone, and I discovered I could flash every inch of the phone to unlock features, remove carrier restrictions, etc. I still have my OLD PIN number from my other phone (though not the same model, an 8300 vs 8830) and I know everyone and their mother will want to reply that you cannot change your pin number. Well, unless it is hard-coded into a chip (which it may well possibly be..) and not written into the flash, then it is entirely possible that backing up my flash, hex editing the file to write-over my pin, then re-flashing my phone may very well allow me to do just that. I'm very tempted at this point to do exactly that, because I cannot get the phone to configure to allow the browser to work, despite being able to use Opera, google maps, etc. Also, I obviously can't use the email features. So if I totally break the phone, well.. I was going to replace it anyways because I got ripped off on a "new" phone while I was in Hong Kong.

Anyone that can provide some useful insight to my situation would be greatly appreciated.

The PIN is hard coded into each device. Even flashing the phone will not change this. The device you bought was clearly used and you should send it back. Dispute the charge with your credit card company if they give you any trouble returning it.

So yes, the phone is obviously used, no I'm not mailing it back to Hong Kong, and it's too late to dispute the charges. So thank you for the reply but it was completely unhelpful. I thought I prefixed my question well enough that I wouldn't have such a useless contribution but such is life.

I'm assuming that I'm treading in grey water legally, because I'm fairly certain that it is physically possible to change the pin as it cannot present a greater technical hurdle than changing the IMEI number. However, there may be laws and limitations that tell me I shouldn't do these things, as it creates a simple way to intercept communications from the BES. I'll check patent fillings and service manuals to see what I can uncover, as my answer obviously won't be on this forum.

Fortunately, I've just noticed the upcoming Nokia N900 and I think I'll shortly be leaving the world of Blackberry behind. It was annoying while it lasted.

Yes, you should definitely leave the world of BlackBerry AND THIS FORUM very quickly.

And congratulations.

And so were you!

Wow.....just wow. Don't let the door hit you.....