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Thursday

New RIM device diagnostic for self-testing hardware

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Testing your own device hardware issues just got EASY!

RIM released a new Knowledge Base article today detailing an device-included self-diagnostic tool on BlackBerry devices. More info, instructions, more screen shots–and a video that will shake your screen! Get ready…

From what we’ve learned this will work on all devices 4.2 and higher (yes, that includes 4.3, 4.5 and 4.6). Aside from a couple of odd misspellings (”rigt” and “finisehd”), you’ll find bluetooth, audio, GPS, keyboard and trackballs tests as well LED and screen color tests.

From the KB16037:

Procedure

To perform a test using the hardware diagnostic tool on the BlackBerry smartphone, complete the following steps:

1. On the Home screen on the BlackBerry smartphone, click Options.
2. Select Status.
3. On the Status screen, type test.

   Note: On BlackBerry smartphones that support SureType® technology, use the multi-tap input method.

4. From the menu on the Device Self Test Application screen, select Start.

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1. On the Test Configuration screen, select the features that you want to test.

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1. Click Run.

   Note: To display the menu from the Test Configuration screen, click the trackball.

To view a test report, complete the following steps:

1. On the Device Self Test Application screen, select a report.
2. Display the menu, and select View.

Some additional screens I captured during the various tests, such as the keyboard test (notice it reports the name of the pressed):

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The trackball test was especially invigorating. Oh, and one of my favorites, the screen colors test (love that red, I wonder if they have that in eggshell also?):

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But the video–we tested (thanks Juwaack68!) the diagnostic on the simulator, and wondered what it would do during the vibrate test (just how would you simulate a vibrate?)! Watch and see–its looks more like a “wiggle” test.