BlackBerry Storm 9530 Keypad Problem: What to Do When Your Dial Pad Won't Work

When the phone arrived, I was blown away by its gorgeous look. This darling is smooth, impressive. I couldn't stop admiring it, learning the basics of its many functions. I couldn't believe I paid just $259.95 for this refurbished unlocked BlackBerry Storm 9530 GSM smartphone.

Then in late December the numbers on the BlackBerry's virtual key/dial pad stopped working, except for the zero. How I wished for an old-fashioned hardware keyboard on that phone! Online searches took me to supportforums.blackberry.com, blackberryforums.com, crackberry.com, among others. I spent hours searching, reading through posts and comments, but none yielded the solution I needed.

I could still call numbers from the stored contacts, but could not dial new phone numbers. To enter a new number, I had to use the SMS (text messaging) feature, type in the number via the Qwerty keyboard, exit SMS, then add the number to my contacts before I could call the person.

But I still wanted to be able to use the keypad. As a last resort I reinstalled the software, following instructions from crackberry.com, hoping that would correct a fault or corruption in the phone's operating system. To no avail.

Then, days after I began entertaining the notion of reselling the phone at a discount, or recycling it online, to get one with a hard dial pad, I stumbled onto a simple solution...perhaps a temporary band aid, but the best thing that had happened to my phone experience in days.

To access a functioning dial pad, I follow these simple steps:

1. Press the Green (phone) button on the bottom left of your BlackBerry Storm.
    
2. Press Menu button (with the BlackBerry logo... the button with the white dots).
    
3. From the menu that pops up on the left, select/press Switch Application .
    
4. On the Options box that comes up on the main screen, press the phone symbol to the left extreme.
    
5. Your virtual key pad should be functional now. Start dialing numbers...
    

I'm pretty sure there must be a permanent solution to this annoyance, but until I find that out, I'll be playing this BlackBerry game that I never knew existed until now. And if a reader of this article knows the real solution, share it in the comment box below, or shoot me a private message.

PS (Problem Solved): Thanks to the anonymous reader who posted the permanent solution in this article's comment box on January 13, 2010. Here are the simple steps in my own words:

1. Press Options on the home screen.
2. From the list select Language and Text Input.
3. Select English, NOT English (United States).
4. Press the menu button and press Save. Now, press the phone button on your phone; you should be able to dial normally.

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» left by brandon irvin from suriname 149 days 13 hours ago.

My blackberry keyboard storm 9530

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» left by Flaykay

from Lagos, Nigeria 133 days 20 hours ago.

Thank you more than a million times..,...even the blackberry website could not help out...I am extremely grateful for this...May u find help when and where you need it. Thanks once again.

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» left by Mogama 133 days 19 hours ago.
118 fans. Follow Mogama on twitter!

You make me feel kind of smart, Flaykay, when you say not even the Blackberry website could help you with the keypad problem. Anyway, I'm glad your phone is working again.

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» left by mohammad bilal

from mumbai 116 days ago.

i tried all above but still my 0 button not working recently like 2 months back i changed my screen and pad and problem started again please help me out

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» left by Mogama 115 days 13 hours ago.
118 fans. Follow Mogama on twitter!

Sorry, Mohammad, I am not aware of a different fix other than what's mentioned here, assuming you have followed the steps EXACTLY as stated above.

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» left by mubarik hussain bukhari

from pakistan......punjab... 87 days 11 hours ago.

hey....mogama.......thankyou so much dear... i had a problem with my blackberry storm 9530 while dialing any number from the pad......no button worked except the 0 button....but by following the instructions given by you it really worked and now m very happy and thank you so much again......

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» left by Bbek

from Asia 85 days 8 hours ago.

I neeed some softwares for my baby!!!

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» left by Angela from Zambia 85 days 6 hours ago.

Am impressed that you where able to attend to the problem but mine a bit left out, My own problem is that on my key board Zero froze so am unable to enter new numbers. please help.

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» left by rajdeep from india 66 days ago.

thank you so much.....

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» left by emmanuel sagoe

from Accra,Ghana 64 days 1 hour ago.

please can u show me where the blackberry phone symbol is

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» left by emmanuel sagoe

from Accra,Ghana 64 days ago.

when i take my battery off and put it back to my storm 9530 something come on the screen.Uncaught exception:java.lang.NullpointException please can you help me solve problem it make some of my touch don't work

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» left by kirk

from Caribbean 34 days 15 hours ago.

your comment was indeed very helpful and still works for today!!

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