WebOS 2 Upgrade

Overview

With the release of the webOS 2.1.0 doctor by HP for O2 and Vodafone Pre+ devices, there is now a legal way to get webOS 2.1 onto the legacy devices of carriers that are not onboard with the 2.x upgrade. Compatible devices include all Pre and Pre Plus devices. This is not compatible with Pixi devices.

Disclaimer

This is a process that uses official HP software in unofficial ways. You should always be prepared for the unlikely possibility that your device may be completely wiped and your palm profile may be permanently destroyed. Do not proceed unless you have made appropriate backups and are OK with that. Working knowledge of MetaDoctor and Linux systems in general is needed.

Video Overview

Pre|Central forum user @malpha recorded a two-part video overview of the process as she followed this step-by-step. The videos can be found here.

Using MetaDoctor Scripts

Note: Scripts currently exist for the following devices:

• Sprint Pre
• Verizon Pre+
• AT&T Pre+
• "WR" devices
• Telcel Pre
• Bell Mobility Pre

Step 0: Backup your device

Make sure you have copies of all the data that you want to preserve from your palm profile. There is a possibility that you will need to clear your palm profile to be successful in this upgrade, so you should act as if that is going to happen from the start.

Also, make sure you run the Save/Restore application from Preware to back up your application data - you don't want to lose your Angry Birds progress, do you?

Then copy all the files from the USB drive onto your PC to keep them safe. The webOS Doctor has been known to wipe your USB drive without warning, so you should act as if that is going to happen from the start.

A guide for backing up using Save/Restore can be found here.

Step 1: Install Prerequisites

• MetaDoctor - see Application:MetaDoctor for information on how to install MetaDoctor
• Palm SDK - see Palm Developer Website

Step 2: Prepare your Palm Profile

With unsupported carrier/device/OS combinations, it may be necessary to clear some Palm Profile data to allow you to sign in on webOS 2.x devices. The process is as follows: Warning: this will delete data from your Palm Profile, including but not limited to: calendars, contacts, account information, bookmarks, memos, tasks, SSM/MMS messages, and icon/launcher arrangement.

1. Open the Backup app.
2. Turn off backups, confirming that you wish to erase your palm profile information.

Step 3: Run device-specific MetaDoctor script

The MetaDoctor scripts will automatically download the latest necessary webOS doctors, will extract and replace radio firmwares as necessary (for CDMA phones), and will build and launch the modified doctor. Run the script in the meta-doctor/scripts folder that corresponds to your device. Example:

./scripts/meta-sprint-pre-2.1.0

Step 4: Run the modified webOS Doctor

The meta-script will automatically launch the modified webOS Doctor for you. However, if you need to move it to a different location and run it manually, the modified doctor will be located in the build output directory (e.g. meta-doctor/build/preplus-p101ueude-wr-2.1.0/webosdoctorp101ueude-wr-2.1.0.jar for the meta-sprint-pre-2.1.0 script - look for a similar directory which matches the script you ran). Run this like you would a normal webOS doctor.

Step 5: Restore /etc/palm-build-info

If the meta-script left a palm-build-info-unmasqed file in your working directory, then after you log into your profile you need to copy this file back onto your device:

novacom run file://usr/sbin/rootfs_open -t
novacom put file://etc/palm-build-info < palm-build-info-unmasqed 
novacom run file://sbin/reboot

Step 6: Donate to WebOS Internals and purchase the Preware Homebrew Documentation app

If this worked for you, we would appreciate a donation at http://donate.webos-internals.org - and if you want to thank Rod Whitby personally for the many hours that he put into creating the Meta-Doctor and this upgrade procedure, you should purchase the Preware Homebrew Documentation app from the official app catalog, and leave a nice 5 star review containing your message of thanks.

Caveats

App Catalog

• Apps that are marked as only compatible with webOS versions 2.x and above do not currently work with some of these doctored installations of webOS 2.1.0. On some of the devices/carriers, masquerading is used which leads to the Palm profile still reporting version 1.40.50.

Masquerading

• Palm's servers only accept certain device/OS combinations as valid. While ROW Pre and Pre Plus devices running 2.1 are accepted, Pre and Pre Plus devices running on Sprint, Verizon and AT&T have to masquerade as still running webOS 1.4.5. To achieve this, /etc/palm-build-info is replaced with the version from the 1.4.5 doctor to trick Palm's servers into believing it is a valid device/OS combination and allowing app catalog access. Once app catalog access is achieved, /etc/palm-build-info can be replaced with the 2.1 version which is found in meta-doctor/palm-build-info-unmasqed on the computer you built the doctor with.

Carrier-Specific Applications

• Carrier specific apps such as Sprint Navigation and the Verizon hotspot app are not included.

Palm Profile

• Some people have had problems signing in to existing Palm Profiles on 2.1 due to backup data. To make sure that you can sign in to your profile on 2.1, you should disable backups before doctoring to 2.1 and delete server side backups. Of course, this deletes most of the data in your Palm Profile (memos, tasks, calender entries, accounts, ...). Your apps will be restored on 2.1, but that is about it. Note that not all people have issues with backups. If you would rather not delete your Palm Profile data, you can try doctoring to 2.1 without turning backups off and see if restoring everything works. If it doesn't, you'll have to doctor back to 1.4.5 to turn off backups or use a new Palm Profile, though.

GPS

• To enable GPS functionality it may be necessary to go to the "Location Services" application, make sure that "GPS", and "GPS Location Services" are enabled. Test the GPS using ##477# (##GPS#) from the phone application, and press the "Get Fix" button.
• If neither ##477# utility nor Google Maps is able to successfully fix your position, return to the "Location Services" application, open the Preferences menu, expand Locate Me Using... and ensure that both GPS and Google Services are selected. After selecting Google Services, you will be prompted to accept the Terms of Service. Once both options are selected, test GPS functionality again. The ##477# utility may still fail the first several times, but should complete successfully after repeated attempts, and should continue to function normally thereafter.

Flash

• Adobe Flash is not included in this webOS 2.1 doctor, but can be added with files from a VZW Pre2 2.01 doctor.

Adding Flash Support (Easy Method)

The easiest way to get flash on your webOS 2.1.0 legacy device is via creating a modular package and installing tat, along with a patch to make the Adobe Flash preferences visible in the browser.

It sounds complex, but it much easier overall and a How-To has been detailed here

Adding Flash Support Manually

1. Extract WebOS.tar from the Resources folder in the VZW doctor to a location on your hard drive
2. Copy the following files from the extracted WebOS.tar to their equivalent locations in your MetaDoctor (alternatively, you can copy them manually to a live device using Novaterm)

/etc/adobe/mms.cfg

/etc/adobe/oem.cfg
/usr/lib/BrowserServerPlugins/libflashplayer.so
/usr/lib/BrowserServerPlugins/resource/plugin-icon-noplay.png
/usr/lib/BrowserServerPlugins/resource/plugin-icon-play-down.png
/usr/lib/BrowserServerPlugins/resource/plugin-icon-play.png
/usr/lib/BrowserServerPlugins/resource/plugin-icon-unknown.png
/usr/lib/BrowserServerPlugins/resource/plugin-scrim.png
/usr/lib/libFlashGraphics.so
/usr/lib/BrowserServerPlugins/FlashMiniAdapterData/plugin-icon-noplay.png
/usr/lib/BrowserServerPlugins/FlashMiniAdapterData/plugin-icon-play.png
/usr/lib/BrowserServerPlugins/FlashMiniAdapterData/plugin-icon-unknown.png
/usr/lib/BrowserServerPlugins/FlashMiniAdapterData/plugin-scrim.png

/usr/lib/BrowserServerPlugins/FlashMiniPlugin.so

3. Open /usr/palm/applications/com.palm.app.browser/app/controllers/preferences-assistant.js (either in your MetaDoctor or on your live device -if on a live device, remember to make a backup!)
Find the following two lines (should be lines 46 & 47) and comment them out by adding // to the beginning of each line:

this.controller.get("flashPref").hide();
this.controller.get("autoLoadPref").hide();

4. Reboot your Pre if the editing was done on a live device

Flash preferences should now be visible under browser preferences.