Troubleshooting Zimbra Connector for Blackberry Synchronization - "Device Stops Receiving Mail"

Common situations where after a successful activation the devices stop receiving new email, calendar events, and contacts include:

Some of the BES services are not running

For BES to function properly all the BlackBerry Enterprise Server services should be running properly. There are known timing issues with BlackBerry Enterprise Server where if the services are not started in a timely fashion or in a particular order the BES stops functioning properly. We may try to resolve this by stopping & staring all the BES services as mentioned below.

Stop BES Services

Stop BES Services in this order:

1. BlackBerry Controller Service
2. BlackBerry Alert Service
3. BlackBerry Synchronization Service
4. BlackBerry Attachment Service
5. BlackBerry Policy Service
6. BlackBerry MDS Connection Service
7. BlackBerry Dispatcher Service
8. BlackBerry Router

Start BES Services

Start BES Services in this order:

1. BlackBerry Router
2. BlackBerry Dispatcher Service
3. BlackBerry MDS Connection Service
4. BlackBerry Policy Service
5. BlackBerry Attachment Service
6. BlackBerry Synchronization Service
7. BlackBerry Alert Service
8. BlackBerry Controller Service

Important: Anytime the BlackBerry Controller Service is stopped:OUTLOOK.EXE and CALHELPER.EXE need to be terminated under Task Manager before starting BlackBerry Controller Service.

If the timing issue problem occurs consistently, then contact Research in Motion technical support for information about starting the BES services through a start-up script.

All BlackBerry Users are unable to send/receive emails (BlackBerry Agent is not responding)

Zimbra Mobile Connector for BES interacts with a major component of BES called the BlackBerry Agent. This component is a process that is responsible for retrieving data from the mail server. The BlackBerry Agent processes are controlled by a Windows Service called the BlackBerry Controller.

The BlackBerry Controller is not only responsible for launching the Agent processes but it is also responsible for making sure that this process and its multiple threads are functioning properly. Under normal conditions there is a single BlackBerry Controller and a single BlackBerry Agent running on BES. However at certain times the following situations may arise:

1. BlackBerry Agent is hanging

In order to find out if the BlackBerry Agent is hanging, check the BlackBerry Agent logs. The BlackBerry Agent logs can be found in the daily logs folder of BES. The Agent Logs file contains _MAGT_ in its filename.

Search for the string *** No Response*** in this log file and if you find such a string then it means that the BlackBerry Agent process is not responding.

2. BlackBerry Agent process has crashed

There are two ways to detect a BlackBerry Agent process crash:

• Look in the Windows %TEMP% directory to see if there is a subfolder called “zco-cores”. If this folder exists, there may be files with a .dmp extension. If the date that this file was created corresponds with when you believe devices stopped being able to send/receive data, then the BlackBerry Agent probably crashed.

• Alternatively, you could look in the BlackBerry Agent logs and search for the string ---Begin Stack Trace--- and if you find one then BlackBerry Agent has most likely crashed.

In either of the above cases, the BlackBerry Controller terminates the BlackBerry Agent process and tries to launch another Agent process; however most of the time, this process start-up fails too. You may try to get out of this situation by manually restarting the Agent process using the following steps:

1. Shutdown the BlackBerry Controller service
2. Wait for some time to see that the associated BlackBerryAgent.exe & Outlook.exe process shuts down.
3. Restart the BlackBerry Controller service.

Important: Anytime the BlackBerry Controller Service is stopped:OUTLOOK.EXE and CALHELPER.EXE need to be terminated under Task Manager before starting BlackBerry Controller Service.

Some BlackBerry Users are unable to send/receive data from their device (User not initialized properly)

If only a few provisioned users are unable to send/receive data from their device, a probable cause could be that they were not initialized properly by the BlackBerry Agent.

To verify this, open the Agent Logs & search for the particular user’s email address or the display name with the associated strings that looks something like this:

* “MAPIMailbox::MAPIMailbox(2)-ResolveName[3]failedforDisplayName=’TestUser’,givingup”
* “MAPIMailbox::MAPIMailbox(2)-OpenMsgStore(0x8004011d)failed, MailboxDN=testuser@domain.com, ServerDN=/o=domain.com/ou=First Administrative Group/cn=Configuration/cn=Servers/cn=domain.com/cn=Microsoft Private MDB”

Note: It may be possible that a user was not properly initialized but the log statements are not similar to those above.

You may try to get out of this situation by manually restarting the Agent process using the following steps:

1. Shutdown the BlackBerry Controller service
2. Wait for some time to see that the associated BlackBerryAgent.exe & Outlook.exe process shuts down.
3. Restart the BlackBerry Controller service.

Important: Anytime the BlackBerry Controller Service is stopped:OUTLOOK.EXE and CALHELPER.EXE need to be terminated under Task Manager before starting BlackBerry Controller Service.

Some BlackBerry Users are unable to send/receive data from their device (user/device specific issue)

If a provisioned user is unable to send/receive data from their device, a probable cause could be that although user’s mailbox has been successfully opened by the BlackBerry Agent but there could be some user-specific or a device-specific issue.

Soft Reset

A “soft reset” of the user’s BlackBerry device may resolve this situation. Use either of the following steps to do a soft reset:

• On the device press the ALT + RIGHT SHIFT(CAP) + DELETE keys. Hold them down until the screen goes blank (you may require to hold down the keys for approximately 10secs or more) and then release the keys. This will soft reset the device.
• Remove the battery from the device. Wait for a minute before replacing it back again.

Note: You may read in several websites/blogs/forums that removing the BlackBerry device’s battery is a “hard reset”, but in a true sense it is not. A hard reset typically wipes out all the data that is available on the device and restores it to the factory settings. So do not worry! Go ahead and do a soft reset to resolve the problem.

Hard Reset

At times the service book on the device could be corrupted and a “hard reset” is required to get you out of this problem. Use the below steps to do a hard reset:

Caution: Before you perform the “hard reset” steps mentioned below, please note that hard resetting your BlackBerry device will erase all data in your device and revert it to factory settings. You will be required to redo the enterprise activation of your device once again with a new enterprise activation password issued by your BlackBerry Enterprise Server Administrator. All your previously available data will be lost from the device (although it will still be available on the Zimbra Server)

1. Ask your BlackBerry Server Administrator to reset your account on the BES and issue you a new “Enterprise Activation Password”.
2. On your BlackBerry device, go to Options.
3. Select Security Options.
4. Select General Settings.
5. Press the BlackBerry button (located left of the trackball).
6. Select Wipe Handheld.
7. A small pop up will appear on the device warning you that “All application data will be lost! Message service and other service will be turned off.” Select Continue.
8. Another pop up will appear – “Enter blackberry to confirm handheld wipe”. Go ahead and punch in those words.
9. Click on the trackball once. Your device will now start wiping the data and reboot. Please be patient, it might take a while for the device too reboot.
10. Once your device has rebooted, run the “Setup Wizard” to configure your device until to reach the point where you would be asked for enterprise activation once again.
11. Complete the enterprise activation steps once again.