It is now possible to activate a new unlocked GSM Pre 2, Pre 3 or Veer device for global paid app catalog access.
This procedure is only for unlocked GSM Pre 2 devices, purchased directly from HP - these devices have model codes P102UNA or P102UEU. If you purchased a Verizon Pre 2 device, you should activate it on Verizon for paid app catalog access. This procedure also works for the Pre 3 and Veer. This procedure is not for any other device. This procedure will not work if the device has previously had a Palm Profile on it at any time since it was manufactured.
Note that the credit/debit cards you can use are severely limited by the activation country chosen, are determined by HP/Palm, and cannot be changed. In general, there are North American countries and European countries, and the credit/debit cards supported for each are different.
Here are the steps. You should not skip any of them - step 14 is especially important.
1) Take the device out of the box. Do not insert a SIM card.
2) Turn the device on. Wait for it to boot. It will show a graphical screen directing you to insert a SIM card. Do not insert a SIM card.
3) Type #* on the keyboard, the phone dial pad will appear.
4) Continue to type the rest of #*3386633# (the #* should already be showing) on the dial pad and hit the green phone key to dial the number. Note that you still should not have a SIM inserted.
5) The "Developer Mode" app will open. Turn on Developer Mode. Do NOT set a password. Your device will reboot.
6) Once the device has booted, you should connect to WiFi (you must have a stable WiFi connection available for the rest of this procedure), and install
Preware and Impostah.
7) Open Impostah, and access the "Activation" scene.
8) Select your desired activation country and language.
9) Enter your desired Palm Profile email address and password. You may use an existing Palm Profile or create a new one. If you are doing this for the first time, you may wish to create a new profile for testing before you commit to using your real Palm Profile.
10) Hit "Login To Profile" to log into your existing Palm Profile, or "Create New Profile" to create a new Palm Profile. Confirm your request.
11) Your device is now activated for paid app catalog access in your desired country and language. Go to
http://palm.com/palmprofile and confirm that your device has been correctly registered.
12) Open the App Catalog and confirm that you have paid app catalog access. You can test this by purchasing the Preware Homebrew Documentation app. A 5 star rating is a also a good way to show your thanks.
13) If you wish to insert a SIM card, now is the time to do it.
14)
Donate to WebOS Internals. Do this before you spend all your money on apps
15) To make sure everything has been initialised correctly, you must now turn off backups (to erase the backup on the server), do a full erase on your device, run the webOS Doctor, and go through the normal official sign-in process. Since your device has been pre-activated with Impostah, you will retain your app catalog country settings.
Note that this procedure is performed at your own risk. The worst that can happen is that you don't get paid app catalog access. If Palm changes anything on the app catalog servers, this procedure may be invalidated without warning. They have done so before, and could do so again.
Here are some screenshots of the results, which also show the credit card options:
For France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the credit card options are Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom. For Canada, the credit card options are Canada or United States. For United States, then credit card options are Canada, United States and Mexico.
-- Rod