After reviewing the forums for the past few days, I noticed a lot of users were having issues with their BlackBerry Messenger which was also noticed by DangermouseUK. The issues seen in this case is that avatars and remote back up of BlackBerry Messenger contacts is not correctly working. This current situation appears to be affecting not only BIS users but BES users as well.
From the information gathered, it seems the issues started as of Friday and have not been corrected since then. Not only are BIS and BES users not able to sync avatars you can't register a new email, restore a backup remotely, and even restoring using a backup file from the PC using device switch or the feature built into messenger, will NOT initiate a PIN switch on RIM servers.
This is a confirmed issue and from the information, it does appear that the servers designed to support these features are not responding to the requests to perform the actions mentioned. So I ask you all, anyone having issues with remote back up of BBM contacts? Maybe you have some people on your list who once had avatars and now, do not? Let us know in the comments if you're affected by this.
Reader comments
Are You Having Problems With Your BlackBerry Messenger Remote Back Up And Avatars?!?
First Do a Restore from your desktop manager. then you will see the bbm backup files when you slect Restore from Device
I had the same problems when I switch device. BBM unalbe to restore remotely and no avatars on my contact list. I asked my service provider to do a reset on my BIS and did a hard reset.
BBM functioned normally after that, displaying all avatars
SORRY FOR ALL CAPS, BUT I HAVE FOUND THE SOLUTION!
HERE IS THE LINK FOR THE LATEST VERSION OF BBM 5.0.0.56!
http://mobileapps.blackberry.com/dev...ry.do?code=bbm
USE THAT LINK IN YOUR BROWSER ON YOUR BLACKBERRY AND IT SHOULD SOLVE ANY AND ALL PROBLEMS YOU WERE EXPERIENCING WITH THE OLDER VERSION OF BBM. HOWEVER, WHEN I DID IT, IT ERASED ALL MY BBM CONTACTS FROM MY BBM LIST (200 OR SO CONTACTS) BUT WHEN MY MOM DID THE UPGRADE TO 5.0.0.56 HER 5 CONTACTS EASILY, AUTOMATICALLY SWITCHED OVER. BE SURE TO BACK-UP YOUR INFORMATION BEFORE DOING THIS UPGRADE. OTHER THAN THAT, THANK GOD THAT STATUS UPDATES ARE BACK! ENJOY THE NEW BBM AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!
Still not working. Not updating my Contact Group. The contact list appears from my local backup but the group for whatever reason never come back and it's already over 24hours. Strange.
this sux, not able to recover my contacts. RIM whats up guy.
It works, seems that RIM has fixed the issue with their servers...
On my Blackberry Storm 9530 running Official 5.0, I woke up today, powered on my phone (not like a battery pull), suddenly all my firends avatars/status's appeared.
The avatars are showing now but I'm still having problems in group chat. The screen keeps freezing up and says uncaught reception. Did battery pool many times. Any one else have or had this issue?
The major issue that both my wife and I as well as several of our friends are having is with sending picture files and voice files through IM. The new 5.0 requires you to download and save prior viewing however, 90% of the time they always time out before the file is ever transfered. Anyone have any ideas or fixes for this?
Did a battery pull today and BAM..all my avatars are back!!
I just deleted BBM and reinstalled and I was able to recover my list from the server.
Upgraded from Storm 1 to Storm 2 on Sunday 11/01/09- Avatars never loaded on S2 but were visible on S1.
11/04/09 Avatars magically appeared on S2.
Not sure why, but my BBM is working just fine. Backed up my contacts restored them fine when I upgraded to 5.0 on my Storm 1.
I am having the same issues...also when i choose to set email as a remote back up it is forever pending in "checking email status"
lets just hope that my device back up to media card works fine....jeez
I don't get avatar updates from all my contacts, some do though. As for the Remote backup, it's not working for me...I registered my email address, but when I go in to attempt a back up, noting happens...
does anyone know if the problem is fixed?
I was able to restore my BBM Contacts with Avatars. Now doing a backup on the card.
I am having the same issue. Blackberry Bold 9000 using BBM 5.0.0.33
i had to replace my storm2 and tried to restore my bbm contacts via email. It would not register. I was on the phone with RIM for over an hour wiping the phone and re-installing the OS. Still no luck. I called back and spoke with a level two tech. He told me it was a problem on their end and would get back to me within 48 hours. This is unacceptable. Unfortunately i have no choice but to wait. I tried to restore from my media card backup but none of my BBMs would go through. I think it is because the restore file is from my old phone and my new pin will not register with the system. This is a pain.
i'm having the same problem since last weekend. I changed my avatar but nobody can see the avatar. I asked them to change theirs and i also can't see the new one. I just read that people are also having problems with the remotely backup option, i haven't tried that and i wont be either :) I hope RIM solves this problem a.s.a.p
I've been back and forth with Verizon on this issue. Not only can you not restore you contacts but you can't rejoin your groups. I though my pin was in limbo so they are sending me a new device. It should be here tomorrow. Wish I had known it was an outage earlier
Got the Storm2 and began having this problem right away. I thought it was the device, or that I was doing something wrong. Glad it's not just me, now FIX IT!!
I first noticed this past Thursday that BBM was not up to it's usual standards. At first I thought it was a glitch that went down after I reverted back to Lyricidal's 238/296 for the Storm. But after talking to a few people, it was soon discovered to be a RIM server issue.
Anyone know if there's a fix in the works?
cmorty
I changed my avatar an my contacts can't see the change
Bought a new 8520 this last weekend and were having the same problems, so i decided to use the old bbm for a while.. Kinda done with the new bbm 5!!
So I got my Storm 2, switched devices but no BBM contacts came through. Very frustrating because I first thought it was a bug on my device on the .320 OS, but after 2 days of not being able to restore or see avatars I did a google search and found I was not alone - thanks to crackberry users.
Still it is not reassuring when this happens especially close to a new device launch. RIM we know you can do better!
I have no contacts now too.. Thanks RIM
didnt start last week for me, started a month ago,
AAAHAHAHHAHA I spent hours messing with this earlier! I was uninstalling, changing things, sequences, wtf. I didn't think this was a larger problem. I thought something got screwed up !!! Why wasn't this a reported problem this morning so I didn't worry about it!
I remote backed up my contacts successfully last Friday evening. I came from from a 9530 (running .238) to a 9550. I have no clue why I never had an issue and everyone else is.
I remote backed up my contacts successfully last Friday evening. I came from from a 9530 (running .238) to a 9550. I have no clue why I never had an issue and everyone else is.
Yep, its the same for me too
RIM's answer when I called was just wait and see it should be fixed but we have no ETA
i'm having the same issue, its been 3 days and still nothing is updating for me or any of my other contacts
they are all complaining of the same issue. has rim posted anything about this issue??
Yes i'm also affected by the bbm 5.0 issue first it didnt want to restore my contacts which i had back up thru remotely only then the next day it show some of my contacts avatars and the rest of my contacts still doesnt show any of my avatars. Also it doesn'y show groups i created or goups i joined.
title says it all
same for me. i have installed .303 os n I have no avatars and can not restore. I have lost my groups I was in and hopefully it will be restored.
lost everything when i thought backing up my contacts wouldn't fail.... thanks BB just great....
Well im going to add one more to this list. My BBM is doing the same when I upgraded to 5.0 on my Storm1. Man I was just getting used to haveing a bar code as well. So avatar pics and bar codes gone just gone!!
This was so annoying, I couldn't restore contact via email and didn't have a backup on memory card. DM had the BMM greyed out on advanced restore window. Ended up deleting service books to get ability to restore BBM contact with DM. Then I had to call VZW to resend service books b/c that option is not available on bb with 5.0.0.328. UGH!
naturally, the weekend i need to wipe my phone is the weekend this happened. lost all my bbm contacts. awesome.
Avatar change didn't save (showed yesterday, but today the picture is blank...tried to change it, says it saved, but when change to the messenger screen, it's blank again). Friends see my last one prior to this issue, I guess (changed the avatar yesterday).
What's going on?
i had problems restoring contacts, all my avatars were gone, now only some of them are coming back
i had problems restoring contacts, all my avatars were gone, now only some of them are coming back
yes, i have same issue
after upgrade OS on sunday. avatars doesnt comeout after restored contact list
i have been going nutz with this issue since late sat 10/31. everything was running smoothly until sat afternoon. i scoured the forums but found only a few posts. i installed and reinstalled many times to no avail. i am running sprint and vzw berries and both are affected. any word on when the feature will be back?
This crap pisses me off. I am a person of, now, everything has to be now. Yes, impatient.
I installed .323 last night for my own reasons and tried to update messenger.. no contacts? 80% of my friends have BB's and now, gone.. have them back, but it is just a royal pain in my assssss!!!!!!!!!!!!! to add them back in.
There, I rant.
Good Night.
i recently installed a hybrid OS in my curve and upon reboot my bbm had no contacts and no groups i did back up to my sd card and was able to get my contacts back but no groups i then upgraded os again to a newer version of it and before i did i tried the remote back up filled in the request for my email but no confirmation was never sent so i can not tell if it is functioning am better off deleting the app aside from that, it is a tremendous memory leak Serious 11- 15Mb a day,
this app should be looked at by RIM and resolve these issues
Same problems here..... :(
as of a couple of days ago, i was able to see everyone's recent bbm pic update. now, i only see music and status update, if that. what the deal is?
I love this site so much. Every time something goes wonky with my Storm, I come here and inevitably, others have reported the same problem. Makes you feel less alone, knowing that your 'berry isn't the only seemingly psychotic, posessed piece of tech out there.
I did a security wipe yesterday because of a java.lang-error-thingy, so yeah, I had to redownload, and my BBM's doing the same thing. I even dug through my Gmail inbox and found the email that had been sent the last time I had to do the BBM e-mail remote backup. I forwarded it to myself, but it didn't work. It'd looked like it would--the status screen or whatever said something different, but it ended up also being stuck/unresponsive/posessed.
I've had issues with my Avatars for my contacts since last Friday (10/30). I tried uninstalling BBM and reinstalling but now I don't see any of my contacts avatars and they don't see mine. This BLOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi, I also agree that this sucks. I thought it was something with my phone earlier today and tried to reload Messenger. I have my contacts (thank God they loaded from my SD card backup) but I lost my groups. I hope they get it fixed soon. All I have is a screen full of blank avatars.
Doc
I've been going crazy trying to figure out how to fix it. I've been testing it every day with my bbm friends to see if it works. Tried battery pull, etc. Nothing.
Hasn't been working for me either..
yea its happening to me to and its really starting to get on my nerves. I hate not knowing people who try to add me.. Ughhh
Hasn't worked for me all weekend and still isnt working.
Sprint Curve 8330 OS4.5
I was having that issue, bricked my berry last night updating to 5.0 hybird v4 on my 8330. Luckly for the crackberry 101 guides i got that fixed using desktop manager 4.3
Getting back to it i couldnt restore it using my email. but i did make a file backup on my memory card and it restored contacts and avatars just fine.
I now don't have avatars and I lost all my contacts when i upgraded to 5.0. Frank
VZW, Storm 5.0.0.328. Didn't notice it until I reinstalled my OS and had to reinstall BBM yesterday.
Same here I did an OS reload and now BBM is not working.
Yes I am having the same issue I upgraded to the storm 2 and thought that was the problem till my friends said they were having the same problem
Yup, I did an OS reload this weekend and couldn't get BBM restoration to work at all...
My e-mail backup for my storm is not working at all. It gets stuck in the "Checking email status..." screen forever. Sucks because I lost all my BBM contacts.
Remote doesn't work - It use to just hang on verifying email, but now it just says "please try again later. You are currently being registered with the Blackberry Messenger service.This is an automatic process that will complete in a few minutes."
It's been HOURS!
Restoring from a backup I made today fails at every attempt - Just says 'Contact list recovery failed. Please try again later"
I've also noticed that the extention to the backup made today is .con now as oppose to .bak.
Sort it out RIM *sigh*
Mine is still not working. Also my friend updated her pic on Saturday and it still doesn't show up. I also changed mine and the same thing. I can see my pic in the corner but my friends still see my old pic.
i have people who have changed their avatars and they are not updating on my phone.....
I lost all my bbm contacts after I upgraded my storm to .328 even though I had done a backup before I upgraded, luckily I Had a backup on my DM.
location apps. Any one else?
Checked Blackberry Maps and other GPS apps, no problem on my VZW Tour. Still having problems with BB Messenger. I have no avatars and can not restore. I have lost my groups I was in and hopefully it will be restored. This is frustrating.
Doc
I realize this is a different issue but has anyone had an issue with the 'Send Location' feature not working on BBM 5.0? Specifically Verizon users.
I have a halloween picture as my avatar i would love to update it.
I upgraded my OS and tried to do a contact restore and tells me that I am currently being registerd with Blackberry Messenger Service....since yesterday!
me too
I was having issues restoring my remote backup this morning/afternoon, and haven't tried again... I thought it was just me, since I had a crash last night, and had to reload my OS/backup files.
I'm glad I had a backup on my Memory Card though, sans pictures, but no big deal...
Yes I backed up my contacts before i had to reload the OS on my 8330 and now bbm is useless. The one time my contacts did show up, from a file on my computer, i couldnt actually send or receive messages from any of my contacts or groups.. now it gets hung up for hours on "checking email status"
Right decided to try and change my pic so got hold of one of my contacts...changed my avatar and she said it worked...changed it back and it worked...she changed her pic and it worked and when she changed it back it worked.
Then i went to de-activate my email account for remote backup of contacts...i de activated it and then tried re-activating it but it seems like its stuck on the checking email status at the moment...once its finished ill report back and let you guys know if it works or not.
So seems like over here in the UK for me the issue has somewhat been fixed...just waiting on the verification email to be sent.
Since updating to 5.033 i have not been able to restore or even use BBM 5.0 Highly uspet.
yeah frustrating
switched to 9550 and upgraded to 5.0 and no avatars!
manually enter each one and still nothing then I find out there is a problem with BBm
fix it already
Got a 552 error this weekend, had to reinstall the OS and haven't been able to restore my contacts since then.
I've actually been having the avatar problem for quite a while now while the remote backup problems just started this past weekend.
Yup... Some are there...some are not... Grr! >:[
My daughter changed her avatar on her BB and it somehow remotely changed the photo I was using of her on my BB. I can change her photo in her profile but not in her BBM avatar.
Very strange.
Yep not working for me and a few of my BB contacts...they change their pics but i dont see the change and neither do they see my change of pic...cant say if my remote backup is working or not as i tend to back up my contacts on my media card.
Hopefully RIM will fix this soon:-)
x2
this isnt working for me either, oh how im glad i at least backed everything up (religously once a week) so i didnt loose any contacts, just had to re-add everyone again :(
avatars are showing in groups but once they become bbm contacts theres no avatars as well as new accepted contacts
I bet Kevin Michaluk broke it with his test a while back. :-) Clobbered the servers.
I reloaded my OS today and used a backup on my SDcard but the only avatars are those also in my contact list.
I'm having issues with my remote back up. Please fix this RIM
Yea me too. I re added somebody the other day and couldnt figure out why i couldnt see her pretty face.
I had several Avatars showing for my contacts and now none. A boring list of default avatars. I hope this is fixed soon!
the avatar issue and the remote backup is back to service as i write this comment
Back to sevice?
Avatars are showing as of 11/3/09 @ 20:50(GMT)So problem seems to be sorted.
pictures/avatars are gone
my contacts were deleted when i tried to back up my bold
finally got everything back....except for the pictures and now the statuses are gone
I recently had an issue upgrading to 5.0 (OS) on my Storm and ended up having to get a new Storm1. I had a backup file of my bbm contacts on my sd card but when i used it to restore them on my new Storm, all the avatars were gone. Even worse, half of them, i'll send a message and i'll get a message saying i have to re-pin them.