[yorkie]

Hi,

I have a bunch of users all with 7230's running OS 4.0. I have an exchange 2003 site with one bes running BES 4.0 (no service packs or hotfixes). The desktop PC's were running 3.6 software but I've mostly uninstalled that now, meaning all reconciliation is done wirelessly.

I've been distibuting the handhelds with the following settings found in MESSAGES | OPTIONS | EMAIL RECONCILIATION:

Delete On: Mailbox & Handheld
Wireless Reconcile: ON
On Conflicts: Mailbox wins

However, every now and again I get a call from a user saying their messages aren't syncing. when I look at their handheld, the following options are set:

Delete on: handheld
!!no other settings are shown!!

Typically they are also getting an "encyption failure" message popping up every two seconds. This is easily rectified by clicking OPTIONS > SECURITY > REGENERATE ENCRYPTION KEY but the only way I have found to get the wireless reconcile options back is by re-installing the device - a pain in the a$$!

I've tried resending the service books from the BES, which didn't help. choosing to wipe the handheld and activate it again via Enterprise Activation seems hit and miss.

By the way, all the users are set to generate and encyption key automatically - if this is the cause of the problem should I set this to manual?

Will a service pack/hotfix solve this? I ask because this problem has been happening for a while, and even after I totally rebuilt our BES server (due to the hardware going pop!) - although obviously it's using the same SQL database.

Mike.

[camerch]

I'm pretty sure that RIM should have a fix for that, haven't verified that yet though!
You definately should'nt be generating encryption keys that often or even having to wipe the users handheld...

I would try manually generating the encryption keys through DM at least 3 times, delete the Desktop[CMIME] Service Book and then perform a Hard Reset, I have had that work for customers...

[kdgaughan]

Mike,

Did you resolve this issue? I'm seeing the same -- it's really bad on the 7510, as if the service book is corrupt each time I configure the handheld. I have the options for wireless reconcile a few days... then it disappears. Tried several remove/reinstall of the hh software -- removed/readded to the server, no luck.

Thanks for your feedback.

[camerch]

Not sure if you have access to RIM Technical Knowledge Base or not but if you do here is a great PDF file that helps determine the possible causes of your issue.

This link does require Username and Password to view this file!

http://www.blackberry.com/knowledgec...4%2E0&vernum=6

[yorkie]

ok. here is a little update on this issue

For starters I have applied SP1 and Hotfix 2, but it's too early to tell if this will stop the problem. Anyway, luckily for me one of my users came to see me this morning with this exact problem so I was able to try a few of the suggestions.

I want to be able to fix this problem remotely without the user requiring to be at their desk and using the Desktop Manager so I tried camerch's suggestion of deleting the Desktop [CMIME] service book. I waited for about 10 minutes, expecting the service book to reappear maybe but nothing happened. So I went to BES and choose to Resend Service Book for that user, almost immediately got a message on the handheld saying something along the lines of "encryption key error, please contact your administrator". So I tried what I thought was a hard reset (sticking a pin in the back?). The handheld now reboots and asks for a PIN number (for the sim card), after that it just hangs. Looks like I'll have to re-install this one

A couple of questions then:

1. what is "Resend Service Book" actually supposed to do?
2. I'm guessing the encryption key and the Desktop [CMIME] service book are closely related - anyone know how this works?
3. If I set the encryption keys to 'Manual' will the handheld and server just use the current one they have and never change it? or will a new manual key need to be generated which they will use from that point on.

kdgaughan,

What does a corrupt service book look like? How can I spot one?

camerch,

err, a bit cheeky but any chance of posting that .pdf document - I don't have a RIM login. Or at least giving us the basics of what it says.

Thanks

Mike.

[yorkie]

Another update...

ok, so I thought I'd try a few things. One being resending the service book, to see what it does and whether it works. The other thing is changing the encryption key creation from automatic to manual.

The test handheld was my own. It's a UK 7230 on BES 4.0 SP1 HF2. It's been working fine for ages now. I'm running Desktop Manager 4.0 on Windows XPSP2 with Outlook 2003. I've set wireless sync & reconcile for everything; messages, calendar, tasks, contracts etc.

*** Resend service book ***

firstly I went into OPTIONS | SERVICE BOOK and deleted DESKTOP [CMIME]. Nothing much happened, the service book didn't reappear, messages weren't being delivered to the handheld, I couldn't send messages and the Enterprise Activation icon appeared on the handheld home screen.

After about 10-15 minutes I went to the BES and chose to RESEND SERVICE BOOK for my handheld. Within a few minutes my DESKTOP [CMIME] service book was back, all functionality restored and the Enterprise Activation icon had disappeared. Excellent result. So this works fine then.

*** Change encryption key from Automatic to Manual ***

After a while I tried this second test. I went to the BES and changed the encryption key to manual. Nothing spectacular happened, messages were still coming in.

Conclusion:

it's nice to know I can change the encryption key on the BES without the need to redock the handheld to get it understand the new setup.

I'm glad I was able to resend the service book too but this doesn't help with my problem described earlier in this post. when I deleted my service book and looked at the settings within MESSAGES | OPTIONS | I didn't see EMAIL RECONCILIATION as an option. My users who experienced this did see the option listed but there wasn't much in there (see first post in this thread) and resending the service book had no affect.

I still don't know how to restore a blackberry to full working order once the encryption keys are out of sync. And get it restored wirelessly without needing to reinstall the handheld when the user gets back in the office.

Any further suggestions/observations/comments very welcome...

Mike.

[BBgod]

If you are running 4.0 on the server and device. Remove the user from the BES wait until they have been removed (confirmation on the server console) then readd them. This recreates there service KEY and Wireless Rec will always show. It is a bug in server 4.0. I have see this if the user was on a version prior to 4.0 and there state database was updated to 4.0. Works for me every time. Them you just send the user the password you set for Wireless Activation.

[udontknowjack]

I was just going to mention that BBgod. I have had the problem as well. If you have two bes sharing one database, like I do, simply moving them from one bes to the other fixes it as well and it is seemless to the user.

camerch, your article you posted is useless. It just states the Reconcile now is always available in 4.0. Which is not true witht this problem.

[yorkie]

Thanks guys, that sounds logical. I'll give it a go next time I come across that problem.

[yorkie]

...ah, just thought of something. When I remove/add the user from BES, it will ask me if I want to wipe/keep existing data if it exists. Ideally I'd like all their settings restored when they do the Enterprise Activation but I don't want it to restore the old encryption key too!

What should I do when I remove/add a user and it asks me about this?

Yorkie.

[BBgod]

Well you can select to keep the data but you may have the same issue later. This happend to me. I just wipe and start them fresh. If you the IT admin think of something creative to tell them, there messages will still be on the mail server and they can move them to there inbox and they will show on the BB again. (Only works with BES4.0)

I usually tell the user. Look it was broken and now it is fixed..... LOL

Try to keep the info and reactivate them See if that works. Use the wipe as a last resort....

[yorkie]

So,

another one came in with the syptoms described above. I removed the user from BES, when prompted I chose to KEEP the user info in the mailbox. I waited about 10 minutes, then readded the user and chose to clear stats. Nothing much happened on the handheld so after about 10 minutes I went to TOOLS | ENTERPRISE ACTIVATION and reactivated.

It's working fine now. The Reconcile Now option reappeared, and all is working well.

Thanks for the help and advice with this problem

Yorkie