Blackberry Desktop Manager will no longer enter a “connected” state after installing Comodo Firewall version 3.
Blackberry Desktop Manager is a software application that synchronizes blackberry data with outlook or Exchange server. It also notifies the Blackberry Enterprise Server (over the LAN) that the handheld is plugged in, or “in cradle”, which will halt the redirect of email to the device while the user is at their desk. It runs in the system tray and communicates with the phone via a USB cable, and connects to the Exchange server using an Outlook profile.
Blackberry Desktop Manager appears to connect to my mail system just fine but will not connect to my phone. Normally the phone will flash a screen saying that it is connecting when I first plug it in, and Blackberry Desktop Manager will also flash to indicate it is connecting or sync’ing with the phone. However it has not done this since installing the firewall software. When I plug the phone into the USB cable the phone starts to charge but there is absolutely no indication that the phone nor the Desktop Manager software is connecting or attempting to connect. It simply does not acknowledge that the phone is plugged in at all.
I have configured the Blackberry Desktop Manager as a trusted application and created a global rule that allows all outbound traffic. I have also tested USB flash drives on the same USB cable and they do initialize and connect correctly.
Does anyone know what else I can try or what I might be missing?
If this is anything like the ActiveSync connection between Windows and a Windows Mobile device, you’ll need to make a zone that encompasses the IP addresses used by the Blackberry and the USB port used for the connection.
To discover if this is the case, try the following;
Temporarily disconnect from the internet (you’ll see why in step 2)
Temporarily set the firewall to DISABLED
Make sure the Blackberry is not connected via the USB port.
Click START - RUN and type CMD and press ENTER.
This will produce a DOS-style window.
In this DOS window, type IPCONFIG /ALL and press ENTER
This will show the IP configuration for all network adaptors present
Write down the names and current IP addresses of all network adaptors shown
Type EXIT (This will close the DOS window)
Connect the Blackberry and wait until it is acknowledged by the system
Click START - RUN and type CMD and press ENTER.
This will produce a DOS-style window.
In this DOS window, type IPCONFIG /ALL and press ENTER
This will show the IP configuration for all network adaptors present
Write down the names and current IP addresses of all network adaptors shown
Type EXIT (This will close the DOS window)
Compare the two sets of IP details recorded in steps 8 and 15. If there is a new adaptor in the step 15 listing, it’s the Blackberry. The address allocated to this will probably be 169.254.2.X. This IP will need to be the basis of a zone and you’ll need to create two global policies using the new created zone (one IN and one OUT) to allow traffic across the IPs in that zone.
This method is only applicable IF the Blackberry-USB connection is an IP based netwrok connection that can be monitored (and therefore controlled) by CFP.
If the firewall is disabled, does the Desktop Manager software connect correctly?
