34 Comments to “RANT! My BlackBerry Has Lost Its Memory… Part III”

1. 

   Posted by: portorikan

   March 11, 2008 at 11:46 am EST

   Same issues here. I delete my web browser history periodically and that seems to help some.

   I do a battery pull periodically to keep this from happening.

   This is my first BB and this issue kinda sucks.
2. 

   Posted by: miblackberry.com

   March 11, 2008 at 11:57 am EST

   Did you try wipe you OS and reinstall?
3. 

   Posted by: Ronen Halevy

   March 11, 2008 at 12:15 pm EST

   Twice!
4. 

   Posted by: DavidB

   March 11, 2008 at 12:17 pm EST

   I too am running 4.2.2.176.
   I have same problems as Ronen. I don’t remember if this also happened with either 4.2.2.148 or 4.2.2.66 that I have also run since getting this 8830 from VZW. I will note that .66 and .148 were about 71MB, while .176 is almost 91MB, and I know not what 20MB addition there was.

   I suppose I could wipe and go back to .148 but that’s a real pain. There does not appear to be anything newer than .176 on VZW web site. I am leary of trying device software from another provider (replace vendor.xml) as was suggested in the other thread.

   I will note that my wife has an 8130 and has similar issues. On VZW site there is now a 4.3.0.170 (updated 2/26/2008) that is called “maintenance release 1″ but only says it improves volume control and optimizes media processing capabilities.
5. 

   Posted by: Matthew

   March 11, 2008 at 12:49 pm EST

   Am running a Curve 8310, v4.2.2.146
   Have no (memory)problem at all (knock on wood!)
   Lame suggestion : when you look at the STATUS-screen, choose options and look at the db-sizes. Over time do you see major increases in there? If yes, any particular app causing the increase? If not, I would say broken hardware. May sound silly, but there are just a few of you with this annoying problem, try to get to carrier for warranty…
   Goodluck, hope everything works out in the end!
6. 

   Posted by: Luciano ES

   March 11, 2008 at 12:52 pm EST

   For the record, nothing like that has ever happened to me and I have 4.2.2.114. Must be a version issue indeed. Maybe you should downgrade?
7. 

   Posted by: Ron

   March 11, 2008 at 1:16 pm EST

   I have a 8320 and was having constant memory loss problems until I made sure that I closed every program I ran after I used it. Originally I was using the red power button when I was finished using programs, but now I open the menu up and choose close or exit. Now my device memory is always between 10 and 12 MBs. It takes longer to start programs now (like Opera Mini), but I’ve never run out of device memery since I started doing this.
8. 

   Posted by: Jeremy Kitching

   March 11, 2008 at 1:18 pm EST

   Do you use the ALT + Escape key to switch between programs? I believe there is a RIM knowledge base article talking about this with the 4.2.2 OS. This can cause issues with memory if you do this a lot.
9. 

   Posted by: Baltee

   March 11, 2008 at 1:50 pm EST

   Wow, a friend of mine referred me to this thread with the hope that I may be of assistance. What a long run story, I am sorry to hear that you all have been having so many issues. I have worked with these devices for years and yes, there are known memory leak issues with some of the os’s and yes, some applications, depending on the version they were written for.

   Ronin, your diagnostics of this have been spot on so far. Now it is possible that a hardware issue is causing your problem, but with the number of users running the same version of handheld OS, with the same issue, my first suspicion would be the handheld os version. Have you tried the latest version yet? I ask because based on the screen shot above, you are running an old one. If you have not yet do so, the latest os for the 8830’s is available from the RIM site located at 4.2.2.183 (353)

   https://www.blackberry.com/Downloads/contactFormPreload.do?code=6C3CF77D52820CD0FE646D38BC2145CA&dl=D35DA149458A5F0B82311B13CFA321AA

   To use the file above, download the 8830 software, install, search for and delete a file called ‘vendor.xml’ and then update as normal.

   If you are on a BES, the ideal re-activation method would be to do a full backup of the device, before you start this process and during the software upgrade, select not to backup/restore the device. Once the new software load is complete, do an advanced restore of only the specific information stores you require, like messages, sms, etc. Once this is complete, have your BES admin, if not yourself, remove you and re-add you to the Blackberry server clearing your old information and setting you a new password. Re-activate and hopefully enjoy.

   8310’s with 4.2.2.163 have had the same issue (184 is presently the version we’re loading on devices to fix the 8310 issues).

   Hope this helps,
   Cheers

   PS. I use memoryup as well, but it is not a fix for this type of issue. I generally do a clean when I have an address book issue where it is no longer sorting correct as you are looking for someone’s contact information. Excellent piece of softwrae all the same.
10. 

    Posted by: Baltee

    March 11, 2008 at 2:19 pm EST

    btw, I realize, based on your vendor code, that you most likely arent running the CDMA 8830, but I felt I should mention that I placed the reference in there for the other user that mentioned his model number. The 83 series, the 88 series and the 81 series all have newer versions of software available than the version from the screen shot.

    Cheers
11. 

    Posted by: DavidB

    March 11, 2008 at 2:44 pm EST

    Baltee,
    There’s an 8830 that isn’t CDMA? How is that possible???

    Any ideas what VZW would think of me running an OS not from their dl site?
12. 

    Posted by: veks

    March 11, 2008 at 4:36 pm EST

    This is interesting because from rant number 2 I was down to 6-7mb of memory. I was losing everything. Some how this week my memory has been going up. I’m at 16 mb currently. All I been doing is clearing all the folders after I save what I need. Clear the cache on gmaps, bbmaps, clear the bb browser.
13. 

    Posted by: David B

    March 11, 2008 at 4:45 pm EST

    Followed Baltee’s link and the download was for Multilanguage 4.2.2.196 (353) for Bell Mobility Inc. Is that a proper version to try? It does say it is 8830.

    Jeremy: I rarely ever use Alt+ESC, it’s easier on my thumbs to just “red button” back to the apps screen and go from there.

    Ron: sorta defeats the purpose of BB ability to multitask if you close every app before going to another. Following that rationale, you have no better a device than a iPhone (Apple preventing 3rd party apps from background execution).

    Matthew: I looked at database sizes. Sitting right now at just under 3MB. I had close to 8MB free ram at last battery pull reset (about 72 hours ago) and it’s down to under 1.5MB free now. An hour ago (and only 2 emails received) I had close to 3MB with almost identical database sizes.

    I figure I’ll pull the battery now before it gets to zero. Whatever is happening is now consuming almost 1MB of free RAM per hour.
14. 

    Posted by: Baltee

    March 11, 2008 at 5:03 pm EST

    The 8830 will be the same no matter which provider you have, as long as you delete the vendor.xml after the file is installed.
15. 

    Posted by: DavidB

    March 11, 2008 at 5:44 pm EST

    Baltee:I’m going to try it, all I have to lose really is time.

    I wonder, if with this non-VZW device software the GPS that works for any app with a Sprint 8830 will begin working? Does anyone know if GPS works with BBMaps etc on Bell Mobility?
16. 

    Posted by: Wizard

    March 11, 2008 at 6:44 pm EST

    Well I have found that I have to save all photos to a memory card rather then the device. As little as 15 photos will cause you to lose phone logs which is the first sign of running out of memory. I suggest trying a SD card ….it solved all my issues with running out of memory.
17. 

    Posted by: joe

    March 11, 2008 at 8:29 pm EST

    I had the problem and it wound up being Viggo – I had too many channels and retained too many articles for each channel. Try ramping both the # of channels and # of articles down
18. 

    Posted by: Greg Myers

    March 11, 2008 at 10:42 pm EST

    I’m still having the same problems as well (comments on the other articles re: same issue)
    Deleting Viigo did not make any difference. Nor did down-sizing the amount of channells or blogs.
    I’ve read all the comments above with great interest (and will be trying some tips).
    One thing that has not been touched on is: Does anyone know of any viruses affecting BlackBerries ?
    (Just a question/theory but it might answer a few questions)
    KR,
    Greg Myers
19. 

    Posted by: DavidB

    March 12, 2008 at 6:41 am EST

    @joe:
    No amount of adjusting Viigo or removing Viigo has helped me. Though it WOULD be nice if I could force Viigo to cache on SD instead of main ram, I don’t think Viigo is causing my (or Ronen’s or Greg’s or ???) problems. >I< don’t think its any app, I think its OS flaw.
20. 

    Posted by: Ron

    March 12, 2008 at 8:53 am EST

    David B: Maybe so, but it’s easier than pulling the battery and deleting files and logs every other day. Actually, I do leave apps open to multi-task between them when needed. I just close them all before I power down, including programs like Viigo. I hope RIM addresses this problem in the upcoming OS update, but I’d be surprised if they did.
21. 

    Posted by: David

    March 12, 2008 at 10:05 am EST

    I know someone having their BB reset rather frequently. They tested by pulling media card. All went fine. They bought a new card and it worked fine. Have you tried leaving the media card out? Good luck.
22. 

    Posted by: Sean

    March 12, 2008 at 11:37 am EST

    One thing that can cause this is not closing applications. Applications like Viigo or especially the browser can eat up a lot of memory. While I understand that this should not be eating up the onboard memory, but rather the RAM, I’ve had a number of customers who’ve had similar problems and it comes down to closing applications the proper way (push the berry button and scroll down to close) rather than just tapping the end key. While I’m not having the same problem, many of my customers have and this has fixed it. The other thing I’ve noticed with regard to GoogleTalk is that if you’re signed on and you open the Viigo app, it generally kicks you off.
23. 

    Posted by: Sean

    March 12, 2008 at 11:43 am EST

    Oh I forgot, run the setup wizard and remove all unused languages. If that doesn’t work either, do a handheld wipe (in the security options menu). Make sure you backup your device first though.
24. 

    Posted by: Bla1ze

    March 12, 2008 at 8:35 pm EST

    Removing all “unused” aka preloaded ringtones and pictures will help as well to increase to overall memory, but it will not stop the memory leak it’s self…. from my crackberry post..

    download and install your BB OS from HERE move the following out of
    C:\program files\common files\research in motion\Shared\Loader Files\ (YOUR OS VERSION) \Java into some other folder elsewhere. make a unused folder and move that stuff in there in case you need to place it back in.

    net_rim_bb_media_8xxx_320×240_b.cod (These are the dumb pictures)
    net_rim_bb_media_tunebundles_sonicnetworks.cod or net_rim_bb_media_tunebundles_qualcomm.cod (these are BB ringtones)

    Once you’re done moving files around:
    1) Open the Desktop Manager
    2) Click on Application Loader , click Next
    3) Click Next again
    4) You’ll see some items its going to delete , Click Finish and let it do its thing
    5) The blackberry will reboot and just check your memory.

    PS: Don’t get all “delete happy” and start removing stuff you do not know about, back up your device before these changes..and one more thing…I’m not responsible if you brick your blackberry lol
25. 

    Posted by: Ronen Halevy

    March 12, 2008 at 10:43 pm EST

    I just stepped back and realized something. Google Talk. I completely forgot about Google Talk! I have been getting a ton of Java language out of bounds errors throughout this whole process. Maybe Google Talk is the culprit?
    Anybody can confirm or deny?
26. 

    Posted by: Robert Petry

    March 12, 2008 at 11:42 pm EST

    Guys,

    Memory management suggestions (shut down programs, delete unused programs, etc) might help postpone the problem, but they are not a solution. I have exactly the same issue along with many, many other BB owners. I have upgraded my OS and it has not improved nor worsened this issue.

    I switched to BB from a Treo looking for reliability. I haven’t found it. This is a memory leak of some kind that has been in the OS for a while and RIM has ignored it. It is very frustrating.
27. 

    Posted by: Greg Myers

    March 13, 2008 at 6:12 am EST

    Sorry Ronen, but I’ve never had Google Talk installed and still have the problem.
28. 

    Posted by: DavidB

    March 13, 2008 at 7:32 am EST

    No Google Talk ever here either.
    I removed Opera and a couple other little things and got to 10.5MB free. I have NO multimedia on device, it is all on my 4GB SD card. Then I launched Viigo, and amazingly there was now 11.4MB free. Weird.
    I’m at 78k seconds uptime this morning and the free RAM is down to 8.5MB.
29. 

    Posted by: Luciano ES

    March 13, 2008 at 1:45 pm EST

    Well, I rarely ever use Google Talk, but left it running all night long and most of today to see what happens. Nothing strange happens. I don’t think Google Talk has anything to do with it.
30. 

    Posted by: Thomas Einwaller

    March 20, 2008 at 1:43 am EST

    Seems like this version of Curve will help us http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/03/19/new-pics-of-blackberry-curve-8330-for-sprint-memory-upgrade/

    I think RIM should create a BB with more than 256MB internal memory!
31. 

    Posted by: DavidB

    March 20, 2008 at 6:42 am EST

    Well Thomas, more memory would be great (as would faster cpu) but from this thread and many others around the net it is clear that there is an OS flaw causing a memory leak. No amount of installed memory is gonna fix that, only delay the inevitable battery pull. *sigh*
32. 

    Posted by: WadeW

    June 20, 2008 at 7:09 pm EST

    I looked into my database sizes and “content store” is high man… nearly 8MB…how do I clear this?
    My BB os is v4.2.2.170 platform 2.5.0.30, BB8310 by the way. I did a battery removal and got ~7.6MB back from being completely out… I am a BB virgin so I do not know how to update my os, clear out memory, etc. Any assistance would be great. I am frustrated with e-mails disappearing, not being able to carry on messenger conversations, etc… help!!!
33. 

    Posted by: Ronen Halevy

    June 20, 2008 at 7:34 pm EST

    Wade check out the instructions at this link for clearing the content store
    http://www.blackberry.com/btsc/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=KB03783&sliceId=SAL_Public&dialogID=147968707&stateId=1%200%20147974507