[andrew_g_palmer]

SHORT VERSION:

Received a "BLOCK ERASE 6 - RESET" on my BB 8703e, yesterday. Attempted to reset the device with the AppLoader, as suggested on post 342879, though then caused a hardware malfunction that left my BB 8703e useless, and with a double blinking red light regularly flashing from the LED indicator, on the top right. My carrier, Verizon, will only replace the faulty 8703e with a 8703e "FRU" phone -- not a new one.


PART 1, "BLOCK ERASE 6 - RESET":

The "BLOCK ERASE 6 - RESET" error occurred as it sat on my desk, without me even touching it. Suddenly, the message just popped up. This marked the first time I had received and seen this message on my BB.

None of the key nor controls seemed to respond, save the pressing of the click-wheel, which, as far as I could tell, seemed to reset the device, meaning the screen went blank, then the hourglass screen appeared, the hourglass rotated about a quarter of a full turn, stopped as though frozen for a moment, then once again the screen changed to the "BLOCK ERASE 6 - RESET" error screen.

I pressed the wheel a dozen times, but the same behavior continued. All other attempts to fix this had no effect. Removed the battery a couple times. Attempted ALT-CAP-DEL reboot (which did not occur).

I read the BlackBerryForums post mentioned above, and attempted to reset the BB 8703e by wiping it and reinstalling the software. During the installation, via USB cable, the "BLOCK ERASE 6 - RESET" error message screen turned white, almost as though it brightened, or burned, to complete white as the error screen faded, replaced by white.


PART 2, PHONE MELTDOWN:

Then nothing worked, including the click-wheel, and the screen only displayed bright white. If I recall correctly, after attempting again to remove and replace the battery, the screen no longer showed anything, not even white. Just black. And I believe at this point I noticed the double blinking red light regularly flashing on the LED indicator. This indicated that the phone has a malfunction in its hardware, according to the Verizon Technical Support Representative. i.e., the phone had a meltdown.


PART 3, VERIZON REPLACES WITH A BRAND "FRU" PHONE:

I purchased this BB 8703e from Verizon Wireless on October 8, 2006. So it's only 2 months old. My receipt for it, which acts as my "contract" with Verizon, says I have a "1 year Manufacture Warrantee" on it. Does that mean Verizon will replace the faulty, near-new BB 8703e it sold me with another non-faulty new BB 8703e? No. It means they will replace it with a "FRU" BB 8703e.

"FRU", the Verizon Tech. Support Rep. explained, stands for, "Field Replacement Unit". It arrives out of Texas in a package that contains nothing but the main BB 8703e device. No accessories, Documentation, CD-ROMs -- not even a battery. The battery from my melted BB 8703e gets put into the new one.

None of the FRU phones is new. Each is second-hand. Someone previously owned it. And that owner returned it to Verizon for one reason or another. Why? Hard to say. Maybe the previous owner did not like it. Maybe the previous owner took a bowel movement on top of it. Or, maybe the previous owner got a "BLOCK ERASE 6 - RESET" error message screen, and meltdown. I have no way of knowing.

Each will operate fine, the Verizon Tech. Support Rep. informed me, because each has been "reworked". With what does it get "reworked"? With new parts, or cannibalized ones? With equal if not better parts, or do they sneak older, leftover electronics in there?


END?:

The FRU phone arrives tomorrow. Hopefully, I will not find a "PART 4" to write about this. Wish my first post here had seemed like a better one.

-Andrew