Auto-Update Patch Technology

Introduction

Auto-Update Patch Technology (AUPT) is the existing patching technology found in all homebrew patches in the webos-patches feed. AUPT is built into the installation and removal scripts of patches and allows patches to be installed/removed even after faulty installs, partial or full erases, webos doctors and even OTA updates to new WebOS versions!

There is also a concept of placeholder patches in the webos-patches feeds. All patches will at least build a dummy package with version ending in -0. These dummy packages may be installed to serve as a placeholder so that when they are ported to the new WebOS version you will see the Update available in Preware. This will be useful to know when a patch has been ported to the new WebOS version after an OTA update without having to check the forums every so often.

All patch installations and removals will now log to /media/internal/webos-patches.log and should be examined for detailed information with regards to any patch installation or removal failures.

Installation

Always install patches with Preware or WebOS Quick Install v3.01 or later.

Verification

You may wish to verify that all of your installed patches were indeed installed with AUPT built in and that there are no left-over older or incompatible patches installed. In order to do this, you can open the text file .webosinternals.patches.packages found in USB mode from your PC. Each package should contain "aupt-N" indicating the version of aupt built into that patch. Currently aupt-1 is the only version of aupt. If there are ANY lines in that file that contain nothing after the package name that indicates an old incompatible technology was built into that patch. Remove these packages immediately and re-install (see: Installation section)

Re-installation and Upgrades

There are various scenarios you may find yourself in where a patch may be installed or uninstalled. We will discuss what to do after each of these situations.

WebOS Doctor

The WebOS Doctor is a great way to ensure you are running completely stock Palm WebOS files in the root filesystem. There are 3 situations you can be in with patches installed after WebOS Doctor.

1) If you used a doctor version that is a PRIOR WebOS version than the one that was running when you installed the Patches, install "Emergency Patch Recovery" (EPR) to wipe the device of the patch package information. There are no supported downgrade automatic patch installations.

2) If you used a doctor version that is the SAME WebOS version as the one that was used to install the Patches, simply install "Emergency Service Enabler" (ESE) to re-apply all of your installed patches.

3) If you used a doctor version that is a LATER WebOS version than the one that was running when you installed the Patches, use Preware's Update All feature. Launch Preware, Update Feeds, tap Package updates and tap update all.

Partial/Full Erase

All of your homebrew and App Catalog packages as well as all media data including pictures survive a WebOS Doctor and sometimes it is desired to wipe clean the media partition or remove all packages. The situation may arise where you needed to do a partial or full erase without doctoring the device. If you perform a partial or full erase while patches are installed, this will only remove the package data that lists these patches as installed in Preware and WebOS Quick Install. The patches will still be applied to Palm's WebOS files. There is not yet a supported method to recover the patch package data. For now it is recommended to clean up all the patches via one of the following methods. These methods are listed in order of robustness. The only -guaranteed- way to ensure stock Palm WebOS files is by using the WebOS doctor: Webos Doctor Versions

1) Install "Emergency Patch Recovery" (EPR) 2) WebOS Repair Utility 3) WebOS Doctor

OTA Update

During previous Use Preware's Update All feature. Launch Preware, Update Feeds, tap Package updates and tap update all.

Known Issues

There are some known bumps in Preware's update-all with regards to patches, but no major roadblocks. The known issues and workarounds for them are:

1) It will stop when trying to update a dependent package. The workaround here is to remove patches that depend on another patch or package that has an update. For instance the uscl memos patch depends on universal command line patch. The update all will fail when it gets to these patches, and you can workaround that by removing the uscl memos patch and then re-running update all.

2.) When the "install" part of the remove/install update process for a patch fails, Preware's installed list doesn't refresh automatically so the failed patch still lists on the update screen as installed. You can workaround this by updating feeds or tapping "remove" on the left-over package in Preware.

Known Conflicts

• Greg's great Messaging Plugins solution contains a patch to the messaging application that has yet to be incorporated with AUPT. This may cause conflicts with some messaging patches causing installation to fail and should -always- be removed prior to a WebOS OTA update.
• Themes have yet to be incorporated into AUPT and may cause conflicts with patches. Themes should also -always- be removed prior to a WebOS OTA update.

Troubleshooting

Patching is by nature a very ugly beast. There are bound to be unforeseen issues and difficult to debug situations. In the end you can always get back to a completely stock WebOS by performing a full erase followed by a WebOS doctor. Here we will list some known problems and workarounds.

Emergency

In the event that you find yourself in an unsupported situation with regards to patching or simply want to ensure a clean slate of stock Palm WebOS files without any patches, the following is the only guaranteed method:

1) Backup / take not of any homebrew packages installed as well as any App Catalog applications that are not backed up via your Palm Profile 2) Go into device info -> reset -> Partial Erase to erase all applications. 3) Perform WebOS Doctor to ensure all Palm WebOS files are stock.

You may also try the quick solution of installing "Emergency Patch Recovery" (EPR). Please note that this relies on information that patches saved/stored and is not a robust or guaranteed way to ensure patches are completely removed. It is very safe and works a vast majority of the time as intended, it simply is not guaranteed to clean up everything.