webOS 2.2.4 update available for Pre2

[grankin]

Originally Posted by grankin

So I called HP in Florida (where the new phone came from) and gave 'em the news. Not long after they called me back, spent 103 minutes on the phone with me. They think an app may be the problem, an app that has been on the phone's profile since before the update. So my profile's been killed and a new one created, supposedly clean.

[snip]
I call that Impressive Customer Service.

But, as before ... watch this space.

We created a new profile, then HP sent me a list of every app I had on the old one, plus a list of all apps that had been deleted. I then added the apps slowly (well, the ones I wanted) and saw what happened. So far, so good; phone not dead.

Then I added Save/Restore through WebOSQuickInstall and let it percolate over night. Backed it up, then moved the data in via USB for one app and fired it up. Worked. Waited overnight, did the next, waited, did the next &etc. It worked. Have had a functioning phone for four days now, with all the apps I wanted to retain (they say they'll reimburse me for all that I had to re-purchase).

We do not know what the 'poison pill' in the profile was ... and we may never know, but thanks to Shane @ HP, this thing works (and I can stop looking for similarly-sized Android-powered devices).

High-quality customer service from HP!

[grankin]

Originally Posted by grankin

We created a new profile, then HP sent me a list of every app I had on the old one, plus a list of all apps that had been deleted. I then added the apps slowly (well, the ones I wanted) and saw what happened. So far, so good; phone not dead.

Then I added Save/Restore through WebOSQuickInstall and let it percolate over night. Backed it up, then moved the data in via USB for one app and fired it up. Worked. Waited overnight, did the next, waited, did the next &etc. It worked. Have had a functioning phone for four days now, with all the apps I wanted to retain (they say they'll reimburse me for all that I had to re-purchase).

We do not know what the 'poison pill' in the profile was ... and we may never know, but thanks to Shane @ HP, this thing works (and I can stop looking for similarly-sized Android-powered devices).

High-quality customer service from HP!

Well, it ain't over yet. It ceased - again - to function as a phone. After lengthy consultation, I dug out a more extensive set of logs. On February 8 I sent the phone's logs off to HP and went off on vacation with the Pre+. 2 weeks later, I got a bunch of bounce messages; it seems that HP's own weblogs mail client fell over. So they said they'd call me when it was functioning again. They have not.

Out of sheer curiosity (after I got home, 15 days after it ceased to work as a phone), I fired the phone up again. It worked! Would actually dial & make calls! But then I discovered a few more odd quirks: when adding a contact, I could only assign a phone number as a mobile. No options. There was no apparent default contacts, nor could one be assigned.

Back on the web to the 'chat' tech. Told him I'd re-started more than once with no change in behavior. Backed it up, then wiped all apps and data (had to rebuild a bunch of data by hand afterward). No change. Then they helped me copy all the contacts from the phone to Google, so at least there's now a solid backup out there. Now they want me to return it to them, whereupon they'll wipe it clean and see if they can figure out what the problem is. It'll come back with me having to rebuild data again, which is a PITA.

So now I'm getting pretty tired of WebOS, but I like the device's size and speed. I've looked at the two extant Android devices (Wildfire S and Xperia Mini), and I still like the Pre's shape & size better. Hence a question:

Is it totally out of the question to treat this this device as a computer with a duff OS, wipe it clean and load the best Android OS into it? Or is that dumber than a dumb thing?

[grankin]

Posted elsewhere, but saying it here in case someone comes across this while searching.

Turns out the fault was not with the device, but with AT&T's SIM card. I took the Pre+ with me to Panama, bought a local SIM, used it. Then managed to lose the AT&T SIM. Got back to the US, called AT&T who sent a replacement. Inserted it. Voila! Phone now works. Older SIM cards not forward compatible (or new phones not backward compatible).