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notacomputergeek
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Cell phone asking for pin after upgrade to Exchange 2010, but never set one

An employee has a Verizon android Google phone that has been syncing with the Exchange 2003 server for the last year. She has never had to use a pin to use her phone.

Over the weekend, I migrated their SBS 2003 server to a SBS 2011 server and now it suddenly is asking for a pin. Having never set a pin, we don't know what to enter to unlock the phone and we're now at 9 failed attempts.

I have disabled the "Require password" in the Client Access policy and even rebooted the server, but the phone still asks for a pin to unlock.

The employee took the phone to Verizon and they immediately said that the pin is set by Exchange and to see the IT person. I can't see where there are any default pins assigned in Exchange and thought this was established on the phone.

Any thoughts before we clear the phone and start over.
ExchangeCell PhonesSBS

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notacomputergeek

8/22/2022 - Mon
jgerbasi

If the Client Access policy was originially set to Require pin when synced it will do so and will not resync until it has been entered. Clearing the phone is probably your best option, depending on the conditions of the 10th password attmept.
Jornak

On SBS 2011, this PIN feature can be disabled by opening the Exchange Management Console, going to Organization Configuration, Client Access and selecting the Exchange ActiveSync Mailbox Policies. Click Properties on the Default policy and select the Passwords tab to show the setting.

To completely disable the PIN requirement, uncheck Require password.
Brad Bouchard

Follow Jornak's instructions and you'll be fine.  I updated a client to SBS 2011 and they had the same exact issue.  When I followed the instructions above it took the PIN away.

@jgerbasi That is by far one of the worst recommendations I've heard regarding the user's problem.  Telling them to clear the phone simply because it all of sudden required a PIN is not an "expert" opinion in my book.  I'd highly advise putting some research and thought into your answers from now on as the fix that @Jornak suggested literally takes less than a minute to configure and is easily found on a Google search, whereas your advice would have left the user with a wiped device and having to reload everything.  Hardly a good solution.
Your help has saved me hundreds of hours of internet surfing.
fblack61
jgerbasi

Lets wait and see...In my experience with Android phones they will not resync their security settings until the password is entered. That is why I put in my comment that it "depends on the conditions of the the 10th entry" if the phone will wipe then it is the ONLY option.
notacomputergeek

ASKER
@Jornak and @xBouchardx, my original posting indicated that I have already changed this setting. It has been 1.5 days and the phone still asks for a PIN.
jgerbasi

Like I said before, Androids typically will not resync any security settings until you enter the correct PIN so wiping and restarting may be the only option.
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notacomputergeek

ASKER
On about the 9th failure, it gave an option to contact Google for "forgot password". The user hadn't used the Google account since the phone was set up so she has contacted them to see if they can help, but had to verify her account first. This seems odd to me unless they can somehow reset the PIN.
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notacomputergeek

ASKER
The user was able to get access to her Google account and reset the password, but it didn't work on the phone. She waited a day or so and finally was going to Verizon to wipe the phone and start over. As she sat in the parking lot, she tried it one last time - and it worked!

I don't know if the account took time to sync or if maybe she wasn't typing it in correctly, but she's back in business without wiping it.

@jgerbasi: I lowered the grade to a B, since I was already onto this solution, but you provided me with some helpful confirmation. Thanks!