What is A Nuked or Bricked BlackBerry?
A BlackBerry can be diagnosed nuked or bricked if it enters a continuous reboot cycle, where the device loads from the BlackBerry splash screen, and then stops and starts to reboot itself. If this continuous loop screen keeps occurring, the device is locked in the boot pattern, and the device is effectively nuked.
This cycle goes like this:
The smartphone is on, along with the red LED for a few seconds.
The screen turns white with a spinning black clock symbol or so-called hourglass of death.
The screen turns black, followed by the device shutting down on its own.
The smartphone starts up again after a few seconds.
Repeat from the beginning.
If the nuked BlackBerry is connected to the computer, the LED will flash upon connection, but USB connection would only be detected for a few seconds, and then unplugged again, along with the smartphone reboots itself on and off again and again, indicated by the continuous loop screen. If the LED doesn’t react when connected, then the BlackBerry might have a hardware problem.
On the other hand, if the BlackBerry returns to normal again just by pulling out the battery, then the device is not nuked.
What Causes A BlackBerry to Nuke or Brick?
There are many possibilities that can cause a nuked BlackBerry. Here are some of the most common cases, which can trigger this kind of problem:
– A screwed up OS installation or OS upgrade.
– A conflict with a third party app or theme, which is not suitable for the device or OS version.
The main cause of a nuked BlackBerry is still unknown. Some people think it has something to do with the battery; some other think it might be because of the memory doesn’t have enough space to run well. But in most cases, it’s a failed installation of an OS upgrade or a third party app.
What are the Effects and How Long Does It Take to Recover?
If a back up data has been saved before, then the data will be saved in a .ipd format. It will be stored in a different directory from where the OS is installed. If there’s no back up data available, this process will get the BlackBerry cleaned as a new one. The third party apps can be re-installed once again if wanted.
In general cases, a nuked BlackBerry can always be fixed and doesn’t need a long time to reload the operating system if it’s done properly. Just have approximately half an hour to work on it, and then the nuked BlackBerry will return as normal as a new one.
What is required to Recover A Nuked BlackBerry?
Reloading the Operating System (OS) on a nuked BlackBerry using Mac will only need the Mac BlackBerry Desktop Software installed. Download the Mac BlackBerry Desktop Software for free here.
After that, it will show a form like this below. Just answer the questions, then click download.
Find the downloaded file in the Download folder.
Double click the file and here are the step-by-step screenshots of the installation process:
Choose to install BlackBerry Desktop Software.
Click open.
Click continue.
Click continue again.
Read the important information and then click continue once again.
Choose region from the dropdown menu.
Click the “Agree” button.
Click install to start the installation process.
Insert password to allow the installation process.
Press continue installation.
The installation process should be running by now. See the quick progress like this screenshot below.
In a few minutes, the installation will finish with the report shown below. Click the restart button and let the computer to be restarted.
The Desktop Software is supposed to be in the application by now. Click to open it.
This is how it looks like once it’s started.
Remove the battery from the smartphone then connect your BlackBerry with its USB cable to your Mac. The BlackBerry won’t be able to be connected if it’s really nuked. So, there will be a pop-up appear like the screenshot below.
Click the “Repair” button and the software will repair that nuked BlackBerry automatically. Just wait for the process to finish and all is done. If the battery isn’t removed before the connection, this repair window won’t appear.
Also, check out How To Fix A Nuked or Bricked BlackBerry on PC and Reload the OS.
Any questions, head to our forums and discuss any of BlackBerry Empire’s How To Topics.
