patch request: make Verizon 1.4.1 OS mask as 1.4.5 so we can download new software!

[blueray]

Since Verizon just stuck it to their Pre Plus users:

Verizon – Palm Relations Hit New Low as webOS 1.4.5 in Doubt for Pre Plus | PhoneNews.com

Can someone come up with a patch that will "fake" the App Catalog application to thinking the running os is 1.4.5? This way we can download the new apps?

I'm tired of Verizon but I'm even more disgusted that I can't download new software or apps and because no update will be available, we can't download them anymore.

[bill.allrobots.org]

I've been thinking about this too...

[swieder]

I would like this for ATT Pre+ too. I am stuck on 1.4.2

[aa6vh]

Such a patch would not work. The new apps requires OS features that are implemented in 1.4.5, and do not exist in prior versions (i.e. 1.4.1 or 1.4.2).

[bill.allrobots.org]

Originally Posted by aa6vh

Such a patch would not work. The new apps requires OS features that are implemented in 1.4.5, and do not exist in prior versions (i.e. 1.4.1 or 1.4.2).

On the Pre? I know that the Pixi didn't have PDK apps before, but very little has changed with the Pre -- PDK apps worked before. I believe that Palm's enforcing 1.4.5 prereq is not actually necessary on the Pre. Am I wrong there? If so, what exactly has changed?

[Nightburn]

Originally Posted by bill.allrobots.org

On the Pre? I know that the Pixi didn't have PDK apps before, but very little has changed with the Pre -- PDK apps worked before. I believe that Palm's enforcing 1.4.5 prereq is not actually necessary on the Pre. Am I wrong there? If so, what exactly has changed?

Before 1.4.5, PDK apps were not sand-boxed. They literally had free reign throughout the entire file system. Only trusted developers were aloud to have PDK apps. 1.4.5 sand-boxes all PDK apps so now indie developers can submit them. These PDK apps *only* work on 1.4.5, a patch will not allow them to work on previous versions of WebOS, sorry.

[rmausser]

Yeah guys, if all it took was a simple patch to make the indie-PDK apps work on 1.4.1... why would Palm have bothered with an update?

...

[bill.allrobots.org]

Originally Posted by rmausser

Yeah guys, if all it took was a simple patch to make the indie-PDK apps work on 1.4.1... why would Palm have bothered with an update?

...

I can think of a dozen reasons for an OS update other than making new apps work, and there's no a priori reason to *know* these apps really require something about 1.4.5 rather than just refusing to install on 1.4.1/2 even though it could technically run.

I could even see a sandbox model where you could start sandboxing apps without requiring changes to the apps... So, just because 1.4.5 introduced sandboxing doesn't mean the apps can't technically run without it -- possibly just that Palm really really doesn't want you to do it that way for security reasons.

However, it seems the consensus is that it genuinely won't work. I'll have to trust that, unless I find the time to dig through things and try this myself.

[OrlandoAlex]

Is there some reason why one of the intrepid coders on this forum couldn't force a copy of 1.4.5 from the other carriers to work on a Verizon/AT&T Pre Plus? It's understood that there might be issues with the carriers seeing that the version wasn't valid and freaking out, technically or emotionally.

[rmausser]

Originally Posted by OrlandoAlex

Is there some reason why one of the intrepid coders on this forum couldn't force a copy of 1.4.5 from the other carriers to work on a Verizon/AT&T Pre Plus? It's understood that there might be issues with the carriers seeing that the version wasn't valid and freaking out, technically or emotionally.

I think they could force the 1.4.5 to work but the App Catalog I THINK still depends on your service provider.

[Moegumby]

Palm could still say screw Verizon and and take care of their Verizon Pre users by releasing a Verizon Compatible WebOsDoctor.

[toyotast165]

that would be awesome if palm took the apple approach and handled their own updates.

[MDsmartphone]

naive question, but can't the 1.4.5 update that is available for the vzw pixi plus be applied to the vzw pre plus?

[blueray]

AFAIK, the Pre was already running PDK apps, however 1.4.5 sandboxed them so they don't get full rein over the OS... I agree. I still think that although it may be buggy, I believe this can be done. It was the Pixi which was unable to run PDK apps. I'm fairly certain Pre can do it, if only it can download the apps.

[bill.allrobots.org]

Originally Posted by OrlandoAlex

Is there some reason why one of the intrepid coders on this forum couldn't force a copy of 1.4.5 from the other carriers to work on a Verizon/AT&T Pre Plus? It's understood that there might be issues with the carriers seeing that the version wasn't valid and freaking out, technically or emotionally.

Very unlikely. Ignoring the hardware (antenna) differences, these things have carrier-specific info inside... the reason they're independent. The only thing I could think of would be tracking down the differences between Verizon 1.4.1 and another CDMA 1.4.1 and transferring them into the other CDMA's 1.4.5... even then there's nowhere near a guarantee.

Originally Posted by Moegumby

Palm could still say screw Verizon and and take care of their Verizon Pre users by releasing a Verizon Compatible WebOsDoctor.

This is what I'd love to see.

Originally Posted by MDsmartphone

naive question, but can't the 1.4.5 update that is available for the vzw pixi plus be applied to the vzw pre plus?

This is even less likely to work. These phones are totally different architectures and the software reflects that all the way down at the kernel. Maybe at some higher level of abstraction the differences wane, but there's still some big differences here I think.

Originally Posted by blueray

AFAIK, the Pre was already running PDK apps, however 1.4.5 sandboxed them so they don't get full rein over the OS... I agree. I still think that although it may be buggy, I believe this can be done. It was the Pixi which was unable to run PDK apps. I'm fairly certain Pre can do it, if only it can download the apps.

I'm not sure about your level of "fairly certain". As I said above, it piques my curiosity and I'd love to find a quick way to lie to the Catalog and give it a shot, but I'm nowhere near "fairly certain" and I don't know how one could be without having specifically experimented with this type of thing.

Maybe I'll give it a shot and see what comes of it...

[Sanjay]

I could care less about v1.4.5 or for that matter even the PDK apps that are enabled by it, but what irks me is that I cannot use numerous patches because they are only compatible with v1.4.5

AT&T sucks big time. They obviously have the Palm customers on a very low priority for them to be taking this long to release 1.4.5 OS updates ought to be delinked from service providers. Whatever crap the service providers want to add on should be installed seperately form the OS.

[bill.allrobots.org]

Originally Posted by Sanjay

I could care less about v1.4.5 or for that matter even the PDK apps that are enabled by it, but what irks me is that I cannot use numerous patches because they are only compatible with v1.4.5

AT&T sucks big time. They obviously have the Palm customers on a very low priority for them to be taking this long to release 1.4.5 OS updates ought to be delinked from service providers. Whatever crap the service providers want to add on should be installed seperately form the OS.

Can you give me some examples of patches that are 1.4.5 only?

Most are probably not hard to retool into 1.4.1/2 patches.

[malpha]

Originally Posted by bill.allrobots.org

Can you give me some examples of patches that are 1.4.5 only?

Most are probably not hard to retool into 1.4.1/2 patches.

Advanced Configuration for App Launcher, and also various homebrew apps...Navit and the emulators.

[bill.allrobots.org]

Originally Posted by malpha

Advanced Configuration for App Launcher, and also various homebrew apps...Navit and the emulators.

Apps and patches are very different. Patches are probably easy to retool, apps may rely on something in 1.4.5 and be impossible to translate in any reasonable way to an earlier system. Emulators are probably stuck on 1.4.5 (most games are -- that's primarily why we're mad at our carriers ;-) )

As far as that patch, it's definitely showing up on my 1.4.1.1 system on Verizon... are you on 1.4.2? Maybe the retooling it needs is up (.1 -> .2), not down (.5 -> .2).

[Sanjay]

Originally Posted by bill.allrobots.org

Can you give me some examples of patches that are 1.4.5 only?

Most are probably not hard to retool into 1.4.1/2 patches.

'Advanced Configuration for App Launcher' and 'Top Bar System Menus (Status, Today and Device menus)' are the patches I want most. There are a couple of others, but those I don't care for as much.