Developers: Still No Mango Invite? Try These Steps.

Did you vote in our poll that your still haven't gotten an invite for the Mango developer beta? Well we haven't received one yet either and it was ticking us off. So we've been doing research for hours and we've come up with a few tips that may be blocking you from that precious invite. These mostly involve making sure your developer account has actually been approved by GeoTrust, Microsoft's partner in identity verification. If you're not 100% about that or if you'd just like to give the steps a try for the heck of it, follow us past the break.

Note: We are based in the United States, so the process may differ depending on what region you're located in.

• Check if your account is verified. 
1. The easiest way to do this is to go to App Hub and sign in to your developer account. 
2. From there, place your mouse over the 'My Dashboard' tab near the top of the site and click on the 'Windows Phone' link that appears in the hover list. 
3. You will now be brought to a page called 'Windows Phone: My Apps'. On this page, look for a dark blue banner that says "Identity Verification Pending" similar to the one I've included above.
• If you do not see the banner, that means your account should be verified by GeoTrust.
• If you do see the banner, go on to 4.
4. If you see this banner, click on the orange link next to the message. This will show a pop-up that will tell you exactly what steps you need to do in order to verify your identity. This may include adding financial information so be ready with your documents.
5. After you do whatever steps you can from App Hub in order to help the registration process, you should now see the same exact banner above. 
6. If you wait, GeoTrust will eventually send you an email asking you to verify your identity. You'll find a link to a form with personal questions. Again, this requires personal information because they are trying to identify exactly who you are.
• If you pass, you're set to go.
• If you do not pass, continue to 7.
7. Once again you get to wait for an email from GeoTrust. Eventually they will send more steps for you to complete. Things get more personal if they request a copy of a government issue ID, so you'll have to play it by the year from here.

• Register your device.
1. It might be a good idea to register your device to your account -- you'll need to eventually if you plan to publish any apps. First of all download the Windows Phone development tools, preferably the Mango Beta 2 because you'll need it anyway.
2. After installing the tools go to your Start Menu ==> All Programs ==> Windows Phone Developer Tools (this is a folder) ==> Windows Phone Developer Registration (this is an application). Click on that and you'll see a screenshot like the one above.
3. Read the description at the top, then look at the 'Status' area at the bottom. Your status will likely be the same as ours, which means you should connect your phone to your PC. After that let the Zune client sync completely if you have it set to auto. Then make sure your phone's screen is on and not locked.
4. After all of that, the status should read 'Phone ready' and the program should allow you to enter your Windows Live ID and password associated with your developer account. From there click on the 'Register' button (where Retry used to be).
• If it works, you will see a message that says your device has been registered. You can confirm it by going to your App Hub account.
• If it doesn't work, continue to Step 4.
5. If the error reads something like 'Unable to connect to device' then make sure your phone's screen has stayed on the entire time. If it locks while the program is working it will result in this error. 
6. If the error says to set the correct date/time or to check the internet connection, this could be on of two things. The first is exactly what the error says to check, the second is the result of a phone that previously used the ChevronWP7 unlock method. In the case of the latter, your only concrete option is to hard reset the device. As annoying as it is, it should work.
7. If the error says something like 'Developer registration has not been completed', then go back to the guide above on how to get your account fully verified.

• Be patient.
• In case none of these have helped, the only real option is to be patient while you wait for your invite.
• Also, make sure the country your developer account is associated with is eligible for the beta update. Not all countries are, so check for yours in this list:
• Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States
• If you're really concerned and truly believe there is no reason for you to not have your invite yet, we recommend making contact with someone at Microsoft.