Cross-Platform Meta-Doctor Guide (bypass carrier activation, etc.)

[Shrooster]

i think the problem with my pre is this case webos-internals.org/wiki/Last_Resort_Emergency_BootLoader_Recovery

what do you think? when i connect it to my usb with battery nothing happens, when i remove it and connect again i hear double bell (XP) when you connect something, and then it disconnects. now i have tried that recovery thing but im stuck with it...

[IPvFletch]

Got it working!!!



I followed this guide verbatim and got it activated (hacked).

the only thing which threw me was my USB port (stupid win XP) died in the middle of the firmware flash, so for a while I could not get webos doctor talking to the device anymore.

I installed the new palm SDK which updated my novacom drives but that didn't help.

I switched USB ports and got all the win XP popups saying new HW, then it found the phone in novacom (bootie) mode, and got the HW installed properly this time.

Next time I ran webos doctor .jar file it began communicating, flashed it, and in about 5 minutes, voila, activated Palm Pre!!

You should see the look on the Palm Product Manager's face when I told them I had to hack it to get it activated so we could continue on and actually use the phone to do testing that we agreed upon. And here they wanted to give me a loaner palm pre which I would have to give back in a few weeks time. Forget that, I wanted to use my own and NOW I CAN!!!

A very special thanks to grndslm for helping me along the way and also if I knew who Rod Whitby was or ever run into him, I suppose I owe him a "kiss on the cheek".

[grndslm]

Nice, I think that sometimes you just need to restart the Doctor for it to register the device in a new state. But sometimes there are other issues like usb ports failing. It does happen. :-/

[IPvFletch]

Yeah, my iPhone was also plugged into that same USB root hub and it had to be re-plugged in before it began charging again. Stupid Windows XP.

Can't wait until I get un-lazy enough to install Windows 7 on my main PC (got it everywhere else including tons of VMs with it like on my Macbook). New OS on main PC = lots of work though.

Anyways, kudos to you for the help and the detailed write-up. Great job to those involved in this hack, it works like a charm!

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by IPvFletch

A very special thanks to grndslm for helping me along the way and also if I knew who Rod Whitby was or ever run into him, I suppose I owe him a "kiss on the cheek".

You can buy me a beer instead, next time you're in Australia.

-- Rod

[andrey]

Hi Guys,

I've followed the instructions but when I try to launch the final jar file it says "Invalid or corrupt jarfile webosdoctorp100ewwsprint-1.3.1.jar". Can anyone advise what I could do wrong?

[Garrett92C]

I have a modified Sprint Doctor 1.3.5 that bypasses activation. See the link in my sig. It's been confirmed to work, also.

[rwhitby]

Distribution of modified webOS Doctor images is a serious Palm and Sprint copyright violation.

Please do not do that in this forum (or anywhere else for that matter). Anyone doing so will need to be reported to the forum admins and will likely face a ban from PreCentral.net as a result.

This is the reason why we go through all the effort of creating a tool so end-users can do this themselves, and not just distribute pre-built images.

Don't risk the whole homebrew community by distributing proprietary copyright materials. It's just not cool.

-- Rod

[Garrett92C]

Originally Posted by rwhitby

Distribution of modified webOS Doctor images is a serious Palm and Sprint copyright violation.

Please do not do that in this forum (or anywhere else for that matter). Anyone doing so will need to be reported to the forum admins and will likely face a ban from PreCentral.net as a result.

This is the reason why we go through all the effort of creating a tool so end-users can do this themselves, and not just distribute pre-built images.

Don't risk the whole homebrew community by distributing proprietary copyright materials. It's just not cool.

-- Rod

Oh, I had no idea about that I'll take it out of my sig. Thanks for the heads up

[grndslm]

Originally Posted by andrey

Hi Guys,

I've followed the instructions but when I try to launch the final jar file it says "Invalid or corrupt jarfile webosdoctorp100ewwsprint-1.3.1.jar". Can anyone advise what I could do wrong?

Hmm... well, it sounds to me like your Doctor is corrupt. Did you try again and get the same error??

Why are you downloading the 1.3.1 Doctor if 1.3.5.1 is out anyway??

[rwhitby]

Originally Posted by Garrett92C

Oh, I had no idea about that I'll take it out of my sig. Thanks for the heads up

Thanks.

-- Rod

[Garrett92C]

Originally Posted by rwhitby

Thanks.

-- Rod

You're welcome

[andrey]

Originally Posted by grndslm

Hmm... well, it sounds to me like your Doctor is corrupt. Did you try again and get the same error??

Why are you downloading the 1.3.1 Doctor if 1.3.5.1 is out anyway??

I've finally resolved the issue. I'm running on Mac OS X 10.5 and it appeared that "fixed" Doctor crashed on my system although the original version was working fine. I tried it on Windows XP and everything worked fine.

[grndslm]

I've made A TON of updates... mostly to explain new features and touch on a few other important areas.

ENJOY!

[xlogix]

any clue on editing the files before installation to get things like data or mms working on another network like cricket or metro?

[grndslm]

Not a clue... sorry.

I heard about somebody who was thinking about getting a Pre Plus from Verizon and using it on Page Plus.

What is it that Cricket and MetroPCS need in order to get phones from other networks working on theirs?? Just the MSL? Or is there more?

[xlogix]

For just talk and text yes just the MSL is needed, of course a cricket or metro PRL is needed also. Data is as simple as QPST editing and installing tinyproxy to make wap work but as you know tinyproxy and others such as it do not support secure connections so things on the phone like email, any app that needs SSL to connect, and even websites in the browser with SSL won't work....then MMS....thats another problem, i've been sifting through the files and editing databases replacing sprints info with crickets to try and get it to work to no avail....there is a guy who made a cricket rom for the pre with everything working...but it costs WAY too much....honestly not worth it especially when a pre can be had from ebay or craigslist for less than whats being asked. I have an idea on how to get it working but as far as webOS is concerned i don't have enough know-how

[grndslm]

Hey xlogix...

I really can't offer an incredible amount of help to you, but here's some things that you might or might not have run across...

- Treo Pro on Cricket flashing; pay attention to younggunna23's sig, tho... you might want to PM him a word or two.
- Lotsa Pre-specific on various network settings
- Palm Pre on Verizon

G'luck, whatever route you take... but post back details, as I'm extremely curious about this. Actually... PLEASE post these details at the MobiTweak Forums also. That is just the playground for such ventures.

They don't have a Cricket section, but if you PM one of the Admins... I'm SURE that they'll create a Cricket sub-forum just for you. Those geeks freak out about paying only $1 less per month, so you'll actually see A TON of ways to save money with various carriers... but the Cricket, MetroPCS, Page Plus stuff is lacking at the moment. I'm sure it won't be for much longer, tho. That site was just created last month!!

Heck, maybe you'll even find it easier to get a Pre on Sprint for $31/mo for the next two years like some of the guys at the MT Forums. $70 - 27% discount - $20 monthly recurring credit = $31/mo. I actually just disconnected my Pre-line and am paying even less than that for two palmOS phones (pretty lame, but the savings are killer) with texting & Internet... about $25 for both lines before taxes. Tons of deals to be had at Sprint... that much I know.

[rwhitby]

Whilst the Meta-Doctor is GPL, and can therefore be used by anyone for anything as long as they comply with the license, I want to make it clear in this thread (since it's about the meta-doctor) that the WebOS Internals Meta-Doctor is not intended by it's author for use for any activities that would violate the terms of service of your cellular carrier, or any activities the would violate the copyright of Palm proprietary webOS doctor files.

In particular, the meta-doctor was designed specifically so that webOS hardware could be used via wifi access in places where there is no cellular carrier available for the phone, and was specifically implemented in such a way that end-users can run the meta-doctor on files that they personally have legitimately downloaded from Palm, and therefore not have to buy illegal redistributions of Palm ROMs.

-- Rod

[grndslm]

True that.

But if the others instruct you how to get your own Pre working on another carrier, besides Sprint or Verizon, then that should be no problem.... at least from my understanding. If you pay $600 for a phone, you have a right to use it on whatever carrier you'd like, provided the phone is not stolen.

EDIT: Removed link to questionable material.