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Installing OS 4.1

Originally published by Matthew on February 7, 2006
Last updated on December 7, 2006

NOTE: OS 4.1 IS NOW OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE FROM ALL CARRIERS. YOU SHOULD NO LONGER NEED THE METHOD BELOW. JUST DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL OS 4.1 THE OFFICIAL WAY. IF YOU NEED MORE HELP, VISIT BLACKBERRYFORUMS.COM.

Since Blackberry OS 4.1 isn’t officially out yet for all models from all carriers, there’s a couple tricks required to get OS 4.1 on your Berry. Why would you want OS 4.1? So you can use custom themes!

Prerequisites

  • Windows (I’m doing this on XP)
  • Blackberry Desktop Software 4.1 installed
  • Blackberry mini-USB cable
  • The ability to go 1 hour or more without your device (if you choose to back up your data)
  • The OS 4.1 software appropriate for your device; select the appropriate download link from this thread on BlackBerryForums.com

Installation instructions

  1. Extract the OS software you downloaded by double-clicking on the file. Make sure Blackberry Desktop Manager is closed at this point.
  2. **NOTE** This step is no longer required now that official 4.1 software is available from all carriers. If you were to download software for a carrier OTHER than the one you use, you would have to follow this step. ** Click on Start -> Search and search your main drive (usually C:) for “vendor.xml” (without the quotes). When it is found, click on it and press delete.
  3. Start up Blackberry Desktop Manager and connect your Blackberry via the USB cable. It should detect that software updates are available; go ahead and continue. At this point it’s pretty self-explanatory. The only thing you’ll have to consider is whether or not to have it back up and then restore your data. If you choose to do this, the whole process can take a very long time, depending on how much is on your device. If you do not, your Blackberry will not have any data such as emails, notes, contacts, etc on it when the process is finished.
  4. When the upgrade is complete, the Blackberry will reboot and the Desktop Manager will indicate it is finished. At this point you can install the Plazmic Theme Reader and go on to using customized themes!
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24 comments

1
Posted by Sina, February 9, 2006 at 12:03 am

I have installed the OS 4.1 its the greates thing ever happend to my 7290 however i have problem with desktop manager which doesn’t let me to synchronize my contacts for some reason

2
Posted by Sina, February 16, 2006 at 4:34 am

well if anybody is interested, i fixed the problem by editing the register key in my computer

3
Posted by george, February 17, 2006 at 7:07 am

I followed your directions but am still not able to load 4.1 it is on my desktop software but that doesnt detect updates being available, am i doing something wrong?

4
Posted by sharmon, March 10, 2006 at 2:48 pm

If I install this OS to my blackberry will it delete my applications?

5
Posted by John, March 15, 2006 at 8:24 am

Does anyone have the OS 4.1 upgrade for the 7290? I downloaded Desktop Manager v4.1 however when I follow the above link that says “OS 4.1 software appropriate for your device: 7290/7100″ and choose 7290, I only see Chinese upgrades. There is no Multilanguage or English.

If I choose 7100, it has Multilanguage. Will this work for the 7290?

Thanks in advance.

6
Posted by Matthew, March 15, 2006 at 2:34 pm

@george: You might have to manually add it like you would other applications…otherwise, you might have downloded the wrong version.

@sharmon: No, the installer attempts to backup your applications and restore them after the upgrade is complete. Sometimes this doesn’t work though, so you should be prepared for the possibility of reinstalling your apps. I had to.

@John: That’s OK that it says Chinese, that’s the one I used. It doesn’t affect your BB in any way, there’s no Chinese characters or anything! It knows to install in English. I’m going to update this guide soon, though, because I think there’s other distributions of 4.1 for the 7290 now. No, the 7100 version will not work for you.

7
Posted by James, March 21, 2006 at 11:22 am

I have a 7250 Telus BB (Canada) If I upgrade to the 4.1 OS will if affect anything with the telus network?

8
Posted by Hashim, April 1, 2006 at 9:14 pm

Hey.

Great website first of all. I updated my OS so that under Device Software in About, Desktop Manager, it says an installed device is OS 4.1.0.256 for the Blackberry 7100 series wireless devices.

however on my 7100t under settings, about, it says that my wireless handheld is v3.8.0.128.

How can i tell if i have installed the OS correctly? I followed the steps to install and know i dled the correct version. however, i still cannot get to see my installed themes which require plazmic reader. (i can see the themes and reader under Settings, Applications) but am unable to access them under Settings, Theme.

THanks for all your help!

9
Posted by Matthew, April 1, 2006 at 9:38 pm

Hashim–

It would appear that your device was not actually upgraded to OS 4.1. It is difficult to say what might have gone wrong without seeing your setup. I would suggest running the OS 4.1 executable file you downloaded for your device again. Also, see if you can set the OS 4.1 entry that appears in your application loader to uninstall, and then reinstall it. You might want to ask around on BlackBerryForums.com about this issue, the good folks there would likely have more suggestions.

10
Posted by Dave, April 7, 2006 at 2:09 pm

Hi, I have a 7290 I installed the desktop 4.1 with no issues. I than tried to install the handheld 4.1 both version 4.1.200 and 4.1.300 and it still showed up as 4.0 for some reason. I than used a software program to completley wipe out the handheld and started fresh with the 4.1 install on the handheld…when completed it AGAIN showed up as 4.0. I downloaded it from where you directed us to go. It gives me no errors and appears to install but when its done it says 4.0…..HELP any ideas?

11
Posted by Snark, April 7, 2006 at 3:43 pm

What happens if im on an enterprise server??

Will backup/restore remember that or will i have to re-register with the enterprise server?

12
Posted by Andy, April 19, 2006 at 9:40 am

4.1 was downloaded on a 7250 and it removed the ability to view attachments. I have been informed that Verizon has not released 4.1 and does not expect to for another 30 days. Just an FYI to fellow Verizon users. Does anyone know how to remove it from the device?

13
Posted by Brian, April 20, 2006 at 6:00 pm

Will the 7100g 4.1 OS download work for my 4100t phone? If not, is there a 4.1 release for the 7100t?

14
Posted by brian, April 20, 2006 at 11:36 pm

when i installed it, i didn’t have my browser icons anymore and couldn’t find a way to restore them.

15
Posted by Matt, April 24, 2006 at 1:41 pm

This is a reply to James (March 21st) asking about the upgrade for TELUS users (7520 model).
I just completed the upgrade to OS4.1 and the blackberry seems to be working even better than before.
Just make sure to follow the instructions listed above and you are golden!
The themes and rings are amazing, I am now a re-addicted crack berry user!

16
Posted by Matthew, May 5, 2006 at 12:30 am

Brian: I am not familiar enough with the 7100 series, but I’m pretty sure the guts are the same. If you’re missing browser icons, try resending your service books from the BWC.

17
Posted by Earlene, June 2, 2006 at 1:34 am

I installed the OS 4.1 and my handheld still says OS 4.0. I still cannot use my themes. I’ve re-installed 3 times to no avail. The device manager is null and void. By the way, this is on the 7100g. Can someone help?

18
Posted by Damien, June 3, 2006 at 5:30 am

I have a 7230 I can only get OS 4.0.x
I can not seem to get the theme to appear anywhere?
It loads the app to the device and shows up in “About” but not in themes.
Any help would be GREATLY appeciated

19
Posted by Matthew, June 3, 2006 at 8:39 am

Earlene: I would recommend checking out BlackBerryforums.com for help getting 4.1 installed. The people there are very helpful.

Damien: I’m pretty sure the 7230 can’t have OS 4.1 installed because 4.1 can only run on devices with 32+ MB of RAM, and the 7230 only has 16 MB (I think). So if you can’t get 4.1 installed, you can’t use custom themes.

20
Posted by Damien, June 3, 2006 at 10:39 am

Thanks Matthew. Will wait till work gets me a 7100 then.
Thanks for the info.

Good work with the theme though

21
Posted by Markus, July 1, 2007 at 3:15 am

I’m completely new at this and i have a BB 7250 and it’s boring the crap out of me because I cant do much with it. I want to install OS 4.1 and I currently have 4.0.2.29. I Really want a theme installed. The BLISS looks great but i don’t know exactly what file is the OS 4.1. I have desktop software 4.1 for the app loader. Uh! sorry, I’m Completely lost. Help Please

22
Posted by fly, October 18, 2007 at 2:41 am

Hey guys, I downloaded this BlackBerry Desktop Software v4.2 SP2 (Multilanguage) is OS included Japanese version?

thanx…

23
Posted by Cory, January 28, 2008 at 7:35 am

This theme is awesome! Keep up the BRILLIANT work!!! And Designs!

24
Posted by Amed, March 14, 2008 at 2:47 pm

hello!
please someone show me the link to download the OS 4.1 for may blackberry pearl 8100?
thanks for the help!



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