I unpacked my new Blackberry Pearl a few hours ago and after running all over the web trying to solve basic problems, I figured I should do a roundup of the basics here for other mac users, since I couldn’t find all this info in one place.
- Charge it up the first time by plugging it into a wall. It seems buggy at first with USB charging, giving errors that you are not using a powered USB port and you are missing drivers, both which are untrue. My iMac worked fine after the first charge.
- You can’t pair the device to your mac via OS X’s bluetooth utilities just yet. That means no iSync over bluetooth right now either. I suspect this is coming someday soon and someone can correct me on all the backstory (leave a comment).
- update: at this point I would suggest using Missing Sync for the Blackberry Pearl. It’s much more stable and reliable than PocketMac.
You can use PocketMac along with the included USB cable for syncing, but don’t look for it on PocketMac’s product page, you can only get it from Blackberry directly following a link halfway down this page.PocketMac 4.0 will resemble iSync and let you sync your address book, calendar, etc. Be sure to launch the app, then connect via USB, then sync everything. PocketMac refused to launch until I did it in this exact order.- Even though you can’t do much via bluetooth, apparently using the blackberry as a modem with bluetooth is possible and works using this modem script and set of instructions. I also hear it is free under T Mobile’s regular blackberry plans (I used to pay $20/month for the luxury on my old phone).
- You can apparently transfer files over bluetooth but it sounds buggy.
Hopefully iSync/OSX starts fully supporting the device soon, but until then, this was all the info I needed to get started. Gmail works great on the device as does MetaFilter, so I’ll be set whenever I’m on the road and away from the keyboard.
A Whole Lotta Nothing 
Just bought a Pearl and love it. However, it does not recognize the 1GB card I bought with it. Message under Adv OPt. Media Card says No card present. The funny thing is that both my PC and Mac recognize it. I even tried FAT 16 and 32 formats with no results. Any help?
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Solved the problem. It was hardware related (one of the contacts in the memory socket), so they replaced the unit.
Thanks
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I have a Curve, and a G4 mac ibook. How do i get songs onto my blackberry from my itunes? I have Pocket mac, and I have a 1GB media card.
Now what???? Help! ive downloaded lots of ringtones- is there a website to purchase music to download directly to my Curve?
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HELP! I just unpacked my macbook just the other day and spent about 2 hours connecting it to my Pearl via Bluetooth so I could use my Pearl as a Modem. I finally connected it and it works great, right up until the point where it disconnects. After about 30 seconds of idle it just disconnects from the internet. Bluetooth is working fine just the internet on my macbook disconnects. PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME OUT! I have no idea what to do at this point. send me an email if you’ve seen this happen before and let me know what I could do. galaso86@yahoo.com
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Hi, question i know have you have answered it for Angharad, so i was hoping you can help me as well. I my BB pearl is saying “Data Connection Refused” so if could help me with that, i would greatly appreciate your help. I would like get into my email box and use the internet and using the maps would help alot as i just moved into a different country and finding places here is a challenge of its own. thanks for the help. Please email soon as i will looking forward to you response
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Sohail! That worked great for my “unable to connect to BlackBerry (error 1); skipping.” error! thanks!
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Regarding getting the contacts off the BB pearl so you can sync with thte iPhone;
I would just create a new user on your mac. install the pocketmac sync app FREE or the missing link mentioned at the top of this page $40. then sync the contacts with the new empty address book on you mac. After that you will have just those contacts so you can sync or send them to your iphone. i don’t own and iPhone so I’m not sure what options it gives you when you sync information. Good luck
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I current own a MacBook and was hoping to get the new Blackberry Pearl, I am on Verizon Wireless, and noticed that they are now selling it online. Any suggestions/warnings about it’s newer compatability with Verizon?
Also, does anyone know exactly what the calendar option is like? I’m primarily going to be using the Pearl for work e-mails and the calendar. Any issues with those applications?
Thanks so much.
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Claire,
YOu will just need to pay $40 more/month for the unlimited data plan. I just got the BB 8830 with the family plan, and if you want email and internet, you’ll have to pay for the data plan…
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hey guys,
great site. im having a problem with my pearl and the missing sync program. I can sync everything once and then can’t sync again until I do a soft reboot to the pearl. Has anyone come across this? i would like to be able to sync in a less time-consuming fashion.
Thanks
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I am exploring whether or not the new Pearl would be a good purchase. I am new to Macs (May 07) and I have never had a smartphone. I’ve been searching topics online and this forum seems to be the most helpful. Here are my questions:
— Now that the new Pearl has been out for a little while what the best procedure/software for setting it up to sync with my 13″ MacBook. I mainly need it to sync with Entourage (calendar, email and contacts) and iTunes. I will also set up several imap and pop accounts.
–I’m with Verizon, what are the minimum subscriptions/services that I would need in order to use it as a phone, check email and use the web?
Thanks in advance for your help.
~KAB — a Mac and BB newbie
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i recently went from years of Treo’s to the BB Pearl this week. It’s different to be sure. I find the BB platform to be a bit of a mystery from an ergonomic perspective. It’s definitely designed from an Email centric perspective. One thing that bugs me is the lack of support for Mac’s. Pocketmac is crap. Missing Sync works ok but there is a bug when using the media card. You can’t sync Itunes/Iphoto cause the card won’t mount on the Mac. Further investigation shows that one needs to format it for Fat32 using the disk utility on the Mac. Then it sort of works. Missing sync is working on it and I think Rim is aware of it also.
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so i have a blackberry pearl on T-Mobile thru work. It synchs my calender, e:mail and contacts with my work pc almost instantly and continuously over the cellular system. I would love to be able to synch it with my Macbook Pro at home (either hardwire, bluetooth or whatever will work) w/o sacrificing the synchronization at work and the calendar entries my secretary makes at work. Any suggestions on how to do this additional synchronization w/o screwing everything else up???
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For all of the people having problems getting music and video, etc:
To my knowledge there is no way to do it with PocketMac so what I did was download the free trial of Missing Sync and synced it once so it created paths for the media folders, etc. my BB 1 gig memory stick. From there its as simple as dragging and dropping into the related folder.
However, I’m having problems transferring more than a few megs at a time. I can usually get about 3 or 4 songs transferred before I have to eject my BB and remount it on the desktop. If I try to move a video file (I got a couple episodes of TV shows down to a good compression) I can only transfer around 55 megs of it before it crashes and burns. Any ideas? Is it because the folders on the disk are unstable or perhaps I need a memory stick reader? Anyone else have this problem?
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How can I upload pictures from my BlackBerry Pearl to my computer? I want them for Myspace, lols, but I dont know how to get them because I dont have a email address to send them to yet!!!
?
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I have been able to get my pearl to work with my mac great however can anyone shed light on the issue of skipping when you sync? It does not happen all the time but once in a while.
Also has anyone figured out a way to get your .mac email folders to be able to transfer over to the blackberry?
Mac and Blackberry and missing sync people have not been able to help me.
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Dag, man, thank you for this! My new Pearl wouldn’t sync, and all I could find were knowledgebase articles about how the latest firmware just plain doesn’t work with pocketmac and no updates had ever been produced. Then I read this article and decided to try the dirt-simple advice to only plug in the device after you’ve launched the sync program (which is the opposite of what the docs say to do), and it worked!
I was *this* close to going out the door and returning the thing. You saved the day!
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Hey Stephanie…. with my .mac mail it seems to put them all in the inbox just not into the folders I want them in… total bummer. I found that its just easier to send some things there, some to my gmail account and some to my work account to sort them out. Also sometimes Ill just mark them as saved and look in there. Basically it really doesn’t seem to work, this is however my first BB although I’ve happily lived in the Mac world my entire life. I had a Q before this and I knew within 2 hours of getting my BB that this was a million times better then any windows mobile stuff… so until the iPhone is on Verizon or I feel like switching… this seems to still be the best bet
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I have the same question that BeautifulllBri has. By now I have accumulated a ton of pictures (using DeviceMemory) on my BB pearl. And want to transfer to my mac (or PC) ASAP as my pearl is about to die.
One way to do it would be to put an SD card in it, and transfer the pictures one by one from device memory to the SD card, but wondering if there is a faster way. I have over 100 pictures.
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Trying to download a ringtone from Itunes to my BB Pearl. In dire need for step by step instructions for dummies. I’ve been told that it can be done, but no one can give me instructions. I’m stressing “INSTRUCTIONS FOR DUMMIES” A MUST!! Anyone who can help moves to the top of my Christmas list for 2008. Thank’s
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Thank You!!! This method of opening the sync program and THEN plugging in the Pearl with the USB port is working GREAT!!! And, with PocketMac I might add!
Now, if I could only figure out how to get some damn music on here so my ring tones don’t suck…. Anyone with a good suggestion?
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Laura, thanks for the tip. I just got a shiny new Mac and signed up for 3 guppies, but the site says it doesn’t support MP3’s for my Motorola phone on Verizon. After a bit of googling, I came across Mobicious: http://www.mobicious.com/ringtones/new
I didn’t have to sign up (which was nice) and made a few ringtones, which worked for my phone. Just a tip for others!
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Hey all, found an awesome site that makes creating ringtones from your MP3’s really easy – even for us mac users!
http://www.3guppies.com
1. Sign up for their free membership.
2. Upload your mp3’s and choose “send to phone.” This takes a minute or two, don’t worry, it isn’t frozen.
3. Choose up to 30 sec cuts for your ringtone.
4. Finish
5. Log in to 3guppies via your BlackBerry browser.
6. Click on “My Locker”
7. Select each ringtone – your BlackBerry will ask you if you want to open it or save it. Choose “Save”
Voila! Ringtones on your BlackBerry Pearl that are your very own MP3s!
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Did anyone have a problem installing the software included with the Pearl for the Mac? The BlackBerry User Tools is a PPC Application, without the option to run with Rosetta. My Intel MacBook Pro can’t run it, so I’m S.O.L. Anyone have suggestions?
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Are you having trouble syncing your Blackberry Pearl to your Mac? I use Entourage with my Mac (10.3.9), and I found that the only way that I could sync the phone and my Mac was to follow these steps exactly:
1. Open PocketMac SyncManager
2. Attach the USB cord to the computer or hub
3. Attach the cord to the phone
4. Click “Sync”
It doesn’t sync the notes or tasks, but at least it syncs the calendar and contacts.
Cheers!
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I got my Blackberry pearl in Feb.08 and I am having serious issues with receiving texts and also with my call log staying intact. I have called the help line and they say that it is a memory problem– I literally have 5 pictures saved and no extra installations. So they tell me to take out my battery every couple of days. Does this seem wrong to anyone else? It really should work properly without having to pop out the battery or turn it off daily– right?
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Wait, Kim….I’m having that same problem as well. My call log will show me as having called people I haven’t called in several years. And when I hit the green “dial” button, the number it actually dials is my home number or something like that. So, in other words, the BlackBerry is incorrectly linking phone numbers and names.
It ain’t you….and it ain’t me
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The memory problem is a real thing-the device just needs a software upgrade which you can download. Also recommend using a memory card-it will support up to 8 gb. Verizon’s EVDO network is superfast and they also have VZ navigator which is a sweet application-turn by turn voice driving and pedestrian directions and local search…..and you can take it from car to car….and to Laura’s comment about buying things through telesales is the worst idea I’ve ever heard….not only do they not give a crap what they tell you because they know you can never find them again but they CANNOT give you the best prices….a rep in a store can potentially give you stuff for free or discount it way way down….plus-telesales are not in direct contact with customers except for the point of sale so they never see the people come back with problems and concerns so they don’t know the latest buzz nor how to better make recommendations….and think about it-cost is another thing-a little more expensive means they spend more money training people and developing customer service as well as putting $$$ back into the network-duh. Think of these tidbits as coming from someone who would know from first-hand experience with all of the bull!@#* that people come up with-you wouldn’t believe it if I told you……
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I’m hoping someone can help me. I bought a Blackberry 8700c on EBay and it works great. Looks MINT too! I have NO complaints on the appearance or how it was taken care of. MY PROBLEM ~ & its a BIG one!…..If I make or receive a phone call, I hear NOTHING. The Mute button is off, volume is up. Then I discovered that if I put it to speakerphone, I can HEAR the other party calling, but they can’t hear ME. Soooooo, I got to thinking it may be a setting of some sort, so I plugged in my earphone/MIC and there you go! I can hear AND talk to others. PROBLEM: STILLLLLLL can’t make or receive a regular phone call without the earphones. ANYONE?????? PLEASE HELP! Thanks so much!
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Hiya
please explain exactly in detail how one can get pictures off the blackberry pearl using pocketmac. I dont see anything for accessing files like pics for getting off the phone or even putting stuff like video or music on the phone?
Do u need a memory card?
If u dont have one, can u not just somehow get the picks off the phone?
I have also tried the bluetooth option and my bb sees my mac but the mac doesnt see it, any ideas there?
Much appreciate a solutions
Thanks!
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Hi, I am just wondering how I can get my music from my mac onto my phone? I have no idea so if someone could please hook me up with some instructions for dummies, that would be awesome
I have a macbook, 13.3, one of the small ones, and I have installed pocketmac, just need instructions from there.
would be appreciated, thanks
connor
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JULIE et al:
I too can only hear phone calls through the speakerphone function or the earpiece. I cannot hear a phone call through the handset. I have as yet seen no solution to this on any of the forums. It seems that the only solution is to bite the bullet and call Support, and they will have you send it in for a replacement. I just decided to bite the bullet and use the earpiece/speaker only. Bummer!
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To all who are trying to get music on their BB. This is what I do and it seems to work just fine. I have a 1GB Mini SD memory card. I also bought a USB memory card reader from verizon wireless(I think that it was 15 buck or something like that if not buy on from wal-mart but make sure that it can read mini SD cards or get the adapters as well) then you plug in the reader to the USB and open. (on mac it should show up on your desktop) once open it already shows you the folders that are on your BB as well. it should have different folders for music, ringtones and videos and a couple other sub folders. if you want to add music to your BB drag all the songs that you want into the music folder. Safely remove device an put the memory card back in your BB and look under media and music. your music should be there, just play and enjoy
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my computer (i-mac g4) won’t even acknowledge the device on the desktop, what’s wrong?
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I have a Blackberry Pearl and a MacBook however, I have no idea how to download the Blackberry software on it. Can anyone tell me how to make this work? Is there a specific Mac software I need to download to make the two compatible?
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Why worry about sync’ing your BB to your mac. I can only say for sure this is true for Pearl but I reckon it may be true for any BB which has optional mas storage and a usb connection. The BB can get your mail via POP3 from your mail provider – leaving mail on the server when collecting means your mac can download it too. The BB doesn’t have enough memory to hold all your iTunes music, so manage the files manually. I have a relatively ancient G4 running 10.3.9 and with only usb1.1 on board and an add-on usb2 card. When I plug my BB into usb it bleats about there not being enough charging current (which does NOT stop it from working) – put in the device key for mass storage mode and it mounts on the desktop after several minutes (seems like a long time but it DOES mount eventually). You can then drag and drop files onto or off the memory card. So long as you put the files in the pre-existing folders and don’t invent any yourself, they work. MP3 into ringtone folder allow the BB to treat the mp3 as a ringtone with no furthr action. MP3 into music folder and the BB will play it as music. There was absolutely no software to install on the mac . . .
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thank you! I just got my blackberry pearl, i appreciate the help.
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So in order to get any music/pics/media from my Mac to my BB I have to get a mini USB card? There is no way around that? I heard about a program that you can download to flip between a mac and pc to be able to bluetooth sync music as a pc file, etc. but couldn’t find it. Any idea what the program is called?
Some helpful info for sure. Just still a little confused. thanks.
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I have tried syncing my Blackberry curve with my Mac using Pocket mac and Missing Sync. Any hints as I can not get the calendar and contacts working with Entourage.
Thanks
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I have been using my Blackberry Pearl as a modem for a few days now and I have not been able to check my yahoo email on the computer, except for the one time at about 1 o’clock this morning. Is this a problem with yahoo or is there something on my phone that I need to change in order to do that. Checking it on my phone is fine when I’m out of the house, but I would rather be able to check it on my computer when I’m at home.
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Had the same problem, just got a BB-Pearl which I wanted to snyc with my Intel-Macbook G5 running OSX 10.4….it refused to find my BB as well as my wife’s and Missing Snyc worked, so it had to be the program rather than the hardware. I updated the software to Pocetmac for BB 4.1 (had to uninstall the Missing Sync trial first) and (as stated above) unchecked ALL Sync-options for the first synchronization….and…..IT WORKED! š I haven’t figured out if there’s any other problems with the synchronized data, but at least I got a connection between BB and Mac and the iCal seems work just fine (that’s as far as I got). Hope that helps!
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Help. I’ve read everything, and tried the little dance with the steps.
I have Daylite for my contacts and calendar. I was able to sync to the Pearl from the Mac–contacts only–successfully–once. Then not again. I have just moved to Daylite, and also to Missing Sync after wasting countless days on Pocketmac.
Anyway, I did a lot of cleaning of data on the mac and went to sync, no go. I’ve now accidentally erased everything from the BB. AND, calender, which wasn’t syncing, now is–although I have much clean up to do there as well. The error I get from the sync is that there is a problem getting data from Sync Services.
Thoughts? I’ve followed everything in the Missing Sync user guides. Losing my mind…
Thanks,
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IS ANYONE ABLE SUMMARISE ALL THIS INFORMATION INTO SIMPLE STEPS.
HOW TO GET BLACKBERRY 8110 PEARL WORKING?
So far…I have gathered:
1. Use Missing Sync (it’s better than Pocket Mac) – I’ve downloaded Missing Sync.
2. Close all applications before doing anything with your Blackberry and syncing.
3. Address book – synching – any tips? (I’ve had to go SIM to Handheld + Handheld to Mac + Mac to Handheld. All v.confusing and has ended up a mess!)
4. iCal and synching – I want to sync my iCal from two computers (work and home) -any tips?
5. Searching for contacts – is there any easy way?
6. Is there a useful website for Blackberry users that’s simple and easy to understand (not waffly).
THANKS FOR ANY RESPONSES! (PLEASE ADD AS BULLET POINTS SO EASY TO FIND ON THIS PAGE)
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OK . . . how the hell do I delete all the addresses on my Pearl that I unfortunately sync’d to my address book in Outlook? I’m a concert producer and have about 7000 people on several mailing lists that I didn’t want on my Pearl.
Maybe I can pay some kid to delete them all as this is ridiculous.
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