Step 2: Wipe device firmware. The screen went blank. For three heart-stopping seconds, the phone showed nothing but a white screen with a tiny hourglass. Marcus held his breath.
Firmware Change Update on BLACKBERRY Bold 9700 It was a humid Tuesday evening in July 2012 when Marcus found himself staring at the dimly lit screen of his BLACKBERRY Bold 9700. The notification read:
Marcus sighed, plugged the Bold into his Windows Vista laptop, and launched BLACKBERRY Desktop Manager. The software recognized the device instantly: PIN: 24A5B1C3 . Firmware Change Update on BLACKBERRY Bold 9700
He had resisted for weeks. The Bold was his lifeline — the tactile keyboard, the blinking red LED, the satisfying click of the trackpad. But recently, the phone had started lagging. Apps took forever to load. Battery drained by 3 PM. Worst of all, BBM groups stuttered during peak hours.
Then, magic.
Step 3: Loading new firmware. The loader bar filled in tiny increments. The phone rebooted once, then twice — each time displaying the glowing BLACKBERRY logo against a deep gray background.
The setup wizard appeared. Fresh. Clean. The OS version read 6.0.0.600 . Step 2: Wipe device firmware
“A new system software update is available. Version 6.0.0.600.”