Blackberry MDS simulator - Can't connect to the internet in the simulator

Question

I'm trying to do some testing of a website through the Blackberry simulator, while the simulator works fine, I can't get to any sites in the Blackberry Browser.

Here is the specific setup I'm using.

• I'm Windows 7 (64-bit) Home Edition
• I have the latest (at the time) MDS installation - BlackBerry Email and MDS Services Simulators 4.1.4
• Finally, I have the latest (at the time) Blackberry Simulator - BlackBerry Smartphone Simulators 5.0.0 (5.0.0.442) - 9700

I first start the MDS service, it briefly pops up the command-prompt and then closes it. I'm assuming that when it does that, it started the MDS service. Then I open the Blackberry simulator (9700), which opens up fine and loads the Blackberry OS. Then with the Blackberry OS all loaded up, I navigate to the browser and for example type www.google.com and then at the bottom it just says "sending request" and loads for about a minute. Then times out and says it can't find a connection.

Anyone have any thoughts on what I'm missing? Or, does anyone know of an online simulator for the Blackberry, because thus far this has been a huge pain for testing sites on a Blackberry.

Thank you! Ben

Mercorr

Answer 1

I started cmd.exe as "Run as Administrator" and then entered cd "C:\Program Files\Research In Motion\BlackBerry Email and MDS Services Simulators 4.1.4\MDS"

then

run.bat

and now i have the MDS Simlator 4.1.4 working.

It needs the administrator rights to run

Mines

Thank you ... have been banging my head against the wall for about an hour. – Swigart

Answer 2

The MDS needs to be open when you want to access internet through your Simulator.

In the run configuration setup activate Launch Mobile Data System Connection Service (MDS-CS) with simulator

If the MDS window closes ( the console app ) this is probably because you have a problem with your JDK installation.

Make sure the JDK is in your windows Path.

Here is a screenshot in eclipse.

alt text http://livinloud.ca/documents/MDS.jpg

Fold

Answer 3

This is what I did to solve the problem:

1. Install from BlackBerry Java Plugin (Eclipse IDE) in the directory other than C (Windows directory). This software package includes eclipse IDE for developing BB application, the BB simulator and MDS

2. You can run the MDS from this location D:\Eclipse_BB\plugins\net.rim.ejde.componentpack6.0.0_6.0.0.30\components\MDS

3. Just double click "run.bat" file. Wait until the process is finished. In the end you should get something like this

4. Now, you can run the simulator from this location D:\Eclipse_BB\plugins\net.rim.ejde.componentpack6.0.0_6.0.0.30\components\simulator

5. Just double click "9800.bat". the name of this bat file can vary depends on the simulator type.

If you still can't connect to the internet, the default port of MDS may have been used by another software.
You can test it from your browser by opening this address: http://127.0.0.1:8080/
The normal condition should result in something like this

If this isn't the case, you can try to change the port number by editing "rimpublic.property" file at this location:
D:\Eclipse_BB\plugins\net.rim.ejde.componentpack6.0.0_6.0.0.30\components\MDS\config

Replace "WebServer.listen.port=8080" with "WebServer.listen.port=8000" or other port number (e.g 8081, 8082, etc)

Wadewadell

Answer 4

(I'm using the BlackBerry Email and MDS Services Simulator Package version 4.1.4, downloaded from here: https://www.blackberry.com/Downloads/browseSoftware.do. I'm running Windows 7.)

When you click on MDS in your start menu, it's running a batch file: C:\Program Files\Research In Motion\BlackBerry Email and MDS Services Simulators 4.1.4\MDS\run.bat

Edit this file and replace !BMDS_CLASSPATH!;!BMDS_CLASSPATH2! with %BMDS_CLASSPATH%;%BMDS_CLASSPATH2%.

Also, you need to run that batch file as an administrator.

I tried changing the shortcut to run.bat to "Run as administrator", but for some reason that didn't work. I ended up making my own batch file that contains this:

C:
cd "C:\Program Files\Research In Motion\BlackBerry Email and MDS Services Simulators 4.1.4\MDS"
run.bat

I made a shortcut to my batch file and set that shortcut to "Run as administrator". I'm not quite sure why that works, but it does.

Phaedrus

Thanks for the response everyone. I still unfortunately have not been able to get the internet working in the browser on the Blackberry. I tried what you said "teedyay", while it didn't seem to break anything, it also didn't aid in the browser working. The MDS still opens the command prompt, initiates something and then closes. I still need to figure out if the MDS is in fact running or not. I know "Michael B, and Marc" suggested something could be wrong with my JDK, which specific JDK should I download, since I know there were quite a few options on the site? Thank you! Ben – Mercorr

If the MDS command prompt closes, then MDS isn't still running. I ended up slapping the "Print Screen" button like a maniac to try to get a screenshot of the error message it shows for a moment before it closes. (The error I saw was that it couldn't create a log folder, which was how I figured out I had to run it as administrator.) [Aside: I use ClipX (download.cnet.com/ClipX/3000-2384_4-10315451.html), which meant all the screenshots I took were in my clipboard buffer and could be examined easily.] Good luck! – Phaedrus

Answer 5

The batch file starting the MDS simulator requires the environment variable JAVA_HOME to be set. If this variable has not been set or does not point to a valid Java installation the MDS Simulator just quits.

It should point to the JDK or JRE installation path - e.g. C:\Program Files\Java\jre6

You can test this on command line by entering set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jre6 before executing the MDS run.bat

Rovelli

that fixed it for me (XP, no eclipse, mds, 8310 sim) – Glyptic

Answer 6

When you start up the MDS simulator it should open a command prompt window and stay open. If it's closing immediately then there is something wrong with your environment - perhaps the Java binaries aren't in your path?

Burgomaster

Answer 7

I was trying this on Windows 64-bit and had the same problem - the service would launch and then immediately exit. Turns out the error was caused by being unable to create a /logs directory under C:\Program Files (x86)\Research In Motion\BlackBerry Email and MDS Services Simulators 4.1.2.

My solution was to change the permission on that directory to be "Full Control", then the service can start. If you then restart the Device Simulator you can finally browse the web.

Gillead

Answer 8

Many hours of peoples life must be wasted trying to figure this one out. I just spent a few so I hope my solution works for you all.

I did the set Environmental Variable thing.

I use 4.1.4 and JDK 1.6 something

WIndows 64bit

Uninstall MDS program from C:\Program Files (86x)

Install elsewhere. I installed on my desktop as administrator.

I don't know if the Environmental Variable thing helped but MDS worked right after I installed administratively on the desktop.

Mcmillen

x86?you mentioned 64 bit but you guide them to uninstall from 32 bit? – Jonahjonas

Answer 9

If you started the simulator before starting MDS then it creates some .dmp files that appear to impede the connection between the device simulator and MDS. Try deleting the .dmp files from the simulator directory and see if that helps.

Mandarin

Answer 10

I just spent 2 days trying various of the tips online about MDS (and there are many) but none helped me.

For me, the solution was to turn off network registration upon simulator launch in eclipse.

(posted in case someone with my problem googles to this page)

Ephrem

Answer 11

For those of you who might still have issues, I found this to be the simplest, easiest solution:

1. Copy the installed MDS folder to somewhere outside of Program Files (e.g. c:\blackberry\mds")

2. Make sure you have a JAVA_HOME environment variable pointing to the root of the directory where your Java SDK is installed.

Snoopy

Answer 12

I have it working, what I did....
(Windows 7-64bit)

a) confirmed my Java environment vars:
JAVA_HOME=....\Java\jdk1.6.0_24
JDK_DIR=...same...
JDK_ROOT=...same...
JRE_HOME=...\Java\jre6
(different things need different vars...)

b) installed the "BlackBerry_JDE_6.0.0.0.exe" to non-magic location (E:\Emulators)

c) launched the start-menu item "MDS-CS"
The command window stays open, it is logging the comm events.

d) launched the start-menu item "Device Simulator"

The "BlackBerry 9800 Simulator" launched. I then started the browser and connected to "www.google.com"

Everything was launched as a regular user (no admin privs).

Heller

Answer 13

I followed all of the above advisals, but MDS didn't still start!

What was wrong? I had installed J2EE (java_ee_sdk-5_01-windows.exe) instead of J2SE (jdk-6u26-windows-i586.exe), with the latter MDS worked properly

This installation lost me one awful day and a terrible night.

Padilla

Answer 14

1. follow steps here first: http://supportforums.blackberry.com/t5/Testing-and-Deployment/BlackBerry-MDS-Simulator-does-not-launch/ta-p/446126

2. then run cmd.exe as Administrator and Go to MDS directory and run the "run.bat" file:

type at cmd prompt,

cd C:\Program Files\Research In Motion\BlackBerry Email and MDS Services Simulators 4.1.4\MDS

then type,

run.bat

and press enter The MDS simulator will start running. Then you can open the simulator for the phone and it should work automatically to connect to internet.

Pullen