BlackBerry Desktop Keeps Asking for the Password

Question

Alright, well here is the problem. I've connected my father's Bold 9790 device to my laptop with BlackBerry Descktop Installe. However, it will not allow me to proceed with any actions such as the much needed backup feature without entering the password.
Here is the catch, my father kept entering the wrong password on his phone for some reason. I'm not sure why, but he isn't one of the most tech savvy guys out there. He gave it to my little brother since he is (a dumb tryhard, well tech wise lol) and tries to always be the tech hero even when he lacks sufficient knowledge on the situation. I myself don't even own a blackberry, have never used one, but i was aware of the whole 10 attempt thing until the wipe. While he was making the attempts, i was thinking two things at the time. One was that there weren't two many attempts made yet. Two, that maybe after all these years since me learning about it, RIM may have came up with a better and less devastating security feature. Man was I wrong on both of these things. When my little brother gives up and my dad finally decides to give me the phone to figure out the issue. It asks for me to enter blackberry, then after that tells me it was the final attempt before a complete wipe. Had I had just one or two extra chances, i'm pretty positive i could have gotten it unlocked, but it's too late for that.
I have a single shot, and not much else sadly. My first instinct was to obviously back it up. But as you can see, the worst of my fears have been realised seeing as Blackberry Desktop is also asking for the pass stating that it is also the final attempt. Backing up is often a recommended solution i find on these forums, but is Blackberry Desktop usually suppposed to always ask you for the pass before you can even connect to it fully?
So now I'm at a point where i don't know what to do. Are there really no other options? I've heard that there are a few people who have claimed to bypass the security feature, but they've never shared how, and if true, it is also quite complex to figure out.
One further complication is that by default, the keypad for the password enters numbers, but right now it is entering letters by default. His password contains 4 numbers. I've read on forums that if you type in the corresponding letters in place of the numbers, it is actually the correct way to enter it, instead of pressing alt and the corresponding character for the password. Can anyone else confirm this? So if the pass was "2113" would i put in the default "ewwr" instead of pressing alt to type in "2113?
Any replies would most greatly be appreciated. I'm not a blackberry user, so issues such as these are not too fresh in my mind atm lol.

Answer 1

Hi and Welcome to the Community!
feloow72 wrote:
Two, that maybe after all these years since me learning about it, RIM may have came up with a better and less devastating security feature.
As you discovered, no. BB's remain the recognized leader in security, and lessening this function would lessen that rating.
feloow72 wrote:
but is Blackberry Desktop usually suppposed to always ask you for the pass before you can even connect to it fully?
Yes...consider...if the Desktop Software could bypass the device lock security, then someone would have access to all of the data on the BB. The device lock security is intended to keep anyone but the actual user from accessing the information, regardless of method of attempted access. Again...part of that high security thing.
feloow72 wrote:
Are there really no other options? I've heard that there are a few people who have claimed to bypass the security feature, but they've never shared how, and if true, it is also quite complex to figure out.
There is no "master", "override", or "bypass" mechanism to get past the user-created device lock password...again, if there were, then the security level of the device would not be as strong as it is. I've no idea what anyone may have claimed elsewhere...but I highly doubt that they are actually successful.
Do note that, if you truly know the password, and can successfully enter it on either interface (the device keyboard or the PC keyboard when prompted), that will reset the counter...the same counter of attempts is used for both. So if you do succeed on one, you will have more chances again on the other.
feloow72 wrote:
One further complication is that by default, the keypad for the password enters numbers, but right now it is entering letters by default. His password contains 4 numbers. I've read on forums that if you type in the corresponding letters in place of the numbers, it is actually the correct way to enter it, instead of pressing alt and the corresponding character for the password. Can anyone else confirm this? So if the pass was "2113" would i put in the default "ewwr" instead of pressing alt to type in "2113?
Maybe...it all depends on what the password actually is. If, when it was created, the proper sequence of using the alt key was not done, then the password may truly not be what it is thought to be.
For instance, if your password is
ab123
and you enter
a > b > ALT > 1 > 2 > 3
the actual result will be
ab1er
You must enter
a > b > ALT > 1 > ALT > 2 > ALT > 3
in order to wind up with ab123. So, in this example, while on the BB keyboard you think you are typing ab123, you are actually typing ab1er.
But no one can tell you what it is...only correctly entering it can reveal what is correct. And, with just the one chance left, the likelihood of success is low.
Good luck!
Occam's Razor nearly always applies when troubleshooting technology issues!
If anyone has been helpful to you, please show your appreciation by clicking the button inside of their post. Please click here and read, along with the threads to which it links, for helpful information to guide you as you proceed. I always recommend that you treat your BlackBerry like any other computing device, including using a regular backup schedule...click here for an article with instructions.
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