PocketMac for Blackberry - Fix for inability to connect to Bold

I have a Blackberry Bold I formerly used for my work e-mail.  I've been consolidating some of my discretionary expenses, and this was a luxury that I could live without, so I re-purposed the Bold for my personal mail.  Whether I'll sell the device is another decision I'll address later, as I am fond of my Nokia n95 mobile.

Research in Motion distributes the PocketMac for Blackberry product for free, so I snapped it up to synchronize my Mac address book with the Bold.  My previous experiences with the PocketMac product line for Windows Mobile were poor, and the PocketMac for Blackberry product continues to disappoint me.

If you are experiencing an "error 1" where PocketMac cannot connect to the Blackberry, try the following:

1. Ensure that you have completely removed any other Blackberry-related software from your Mac.  This is most likely the Blackberry Media Sync software that Research in Motion provides to synchronize music to your device from iTunes.  Follow the uninstall instructions provided on the Blackberry website at this link.  Rebooting is a good idea, since the Sync software uses kernel extensions and may not know how to unload them.

2. Ensure that you have the Driver Update installed, available at this link.  The Blackberry device should not be connected to the Mac during this installation.  This will bump up the device driver kernel extensions.  The device driver update must obviously follow the installation of PocketMac itself.

3. Ensure that Mass Storage Mode is enabled on the Blackberry device.  This seems to be a key factor for success.  You will find it under Settings > Memory.  There is apparently another setting "Media Transfer Protocol" that must be disabled on the Blackberry Storm - but I do not have a Storm and the Bold lacks this setting.

4. If you see an "Error 4" while synchronizing, you may have forgotten to set the Blackberry's password in the PocketMac software.  Click on the device name in the PocketMac window, click on the Connection tab, and set the password at the bottom of the pane.  Restart the PocketMac software.

More Abstract Tips:

• My Bold shows up in the Apple System Profiler > USB panel as "RIM Composite Device," although many websites refer to "Blackberry Device." This is likely model-dependent, so don't use the device string in Profiler to gauge whether the device driver loaded correctly.
• The updated Device Drivers are really for post-Bold models, like the Storm, apparently - but it probably doesn't hurt to load them anyway.
• There is apparently a bug in the memory card handling of the Bold by PocketMac.  I haven't investigated this yet, but it may impair your ability to use PocketMac to manage music on the Bold.
• There are a plethora of forums covering this problem, but the most informative source is Research in Motion's own technical support website at this link.  Search on the term "pocketmac" for a long list of articles.  I spent a lot more time repairing this than I would have if I had simply focused on the company's tech support site.

Gripes:

• PocketMac's error reporting is awful.  Error dialogs should be clear and obvious without accessing a log window.  If the sync software cannot communicate with the Blackberry device, it should not use an error code, but a string that clearly states that the software could not communicate, and suggest that the end-user check to ensure the device is connected, that the drivers are up to date, and the check for conflicts with other sync software.
• The software should not require a restart when installing.  Is there a reason a device driver extension cannot be dynamically loaded or unloaded?

Comparison with my Nokia n95:

• Nokia n95 has an iSync plugin for the native Apple sync software.  Why not write one for the Blackberry, RIM?
• I can synchronize via Bluetooth with the Nokia and iSync, so I may leave my phone in my briefcase and keep it up to date..

Hopefully this article will shorten the time you need to repair your own PocketMac for Blackberry issue.  Time will tell whether I keep the Bold, as there are some compelling features (style, keyboard, low-maintenance connectivity, fast e-mail client,) but there are several drawbacks as well - such as the limited Bluetooth implementation and less refined desktop software that make the Nokia more attractive.

Comments

[kevin cohen]

Thanks for the help - inputting password on the Communication tab was what helped the device and pocketmac communicate

[William Ward]

Definitely fails the "just works" test. They have a media synchronization widget out for the Mac, perhaps they're working on an internal edition of the desktop software.

[Michael]

I went through hell with constant "error 4"-messages.
Complete de- and reinstalling of pocketmac for several times didn't help at all. More or less by accident I removed and reinserted the BB-battery and instantly sync ran through without a problem. What a surprise!