Transfer files between a Blackberry Curve 8310 and an Acer Aspire One

It is easy to transfer files (e.g. photos) between a Blackberry Curve 8310 and an Acer Aspire One (AA1).

First a few background details: The AA1 comes with 5 usb ports (according to the dmesg output).



$ dmesg | grep 'new USB'
ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.7: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.1: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 3
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.2: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 4
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.3: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 5



When plugging the Blackberry into one of those USB ports, two events happen; one on the AA1 and the other on the Blackberry.



$ dmesg
...
scsi 4:0:0:0: Direct-Access RIM BlackBerry SD 0001 PQ: 0 ANSI: 4 CCS
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
sd 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 0
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] 3994624 512-byte hardware sectors (2045 MB)
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 43 00 00 53
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] 3994624 512-byte hardware sectors (2045 MB)
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 43 00 00 53
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through



The Blackberry warns:

USB charging current is not sufficient. Verify that your handheld is connecting to a powered USB charging source and that the proper USB driver is installed.


acknowledging that message, one is presented with:


Do you want to turn on Mass Storage Mode? You might not be able to access some media files in this mode.


Then one is presented with the option:


Mass Storage Mode is being activated. Enter your device password to grant access:

Finally after acknowledging the warnings and supplying the Blackberry password access to the USB storage on the Blackberry is available. It then can be treated like all other storage devices.

BlackBerry Shortcuts (for the true geek)

Like most business professionals I'm addicted to my BlackBerry 8310 Curve. However, I'm also a geek so to enhance the geek experience I list some keyboard shortcuts...

• Alt+Escape to switch from one application to another (like the Alt-Tab in Win32 or Unix)
• View Event Log (didn't even know there was one!)
• From the Home Screen - hold down the Alt key and type (with your free hand) LGLG.
• Each item in the log is selectable by clicking to display the details.
• You can change the default logging level from warning->info->debug by pressing the 'menu' key and select 'options'
• Reboot blackberry w/o removing battery: Alt-RightShift-Delete.
• NOTE: The Right Shift key is in the bottom right (key: aA^). This is a quick reboot.
• Change signal strength display from bars to numeric in units of dBm (decibels per milliwatt).
• Hold the Alt key and type 'NMLL'. To revert hold down Alt and type "NMLL" again. readings from -45 to -85 are very strong signals. The lower (more negative the number) the weaker the signal.
• Help Me Screen - navigate to home screen then press and hold Alt-Shift-H. This is hard to execute as all three keys have to be pressed; easier if you press and hold the Alt and Shift with your left thumb. Hit the escape key to exit. Below is a list of items viewable in the Help Me screen
  
• Vendor ID
• App Version
• PIN
• IMEI - Internet Mobile Equipment Identifier
  
• Uptime - in seconds (does not automagically convert to hours/days/weeks, etc)
  
• Signal Strength - in dBm
  
• Battery Level - percent capacity
  
• File Free - in bytes
  
• File Total - in bytes