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

[grndslm]

Here's the steps I used to use the Meta with a Sprint ROM.

The Meta-Doctor has added numerous features recently, which I will explain in a minute. I must make an important disclaimer first, however, which is that it is ILLEGAL to post (i.e. - distribute) a modified webOS Doctor. This is why this tool was created, so that you have the ability to modify the Doctor to your liking and not break any laws in the process.

Also... have no fear about bricking your Pre. It is virtually impossible to do such a thing, as you will always be able to force your phone into recovery mode by holding the Volume Up key at boot, until you see the large USB icon. From that point, you will always be able to install any other stock Doctor or Meta'd-Doctor of choice. If, for any reason, you believe that you have really bricked your phone... simply take out the battery, hold vol up, and plug the phone into the AC (wall) adapter, and THEN use the usb cable.

Intro:

The Meta-Doctor accomplishes several tasks:

(1) Bypasses carrier activation (Do NOT use if you ever intend to use the cellular radio).
(2) Bypasses the First Use app; allows wi-fi creation of Palm Profile to be completed whenever you'd like, instead of right away only over a 3G network.
(3) Removes the carrier check; allows a newer Doctor for another carrier to be run on your phone, and it also strips the carrier-specific apps (SprintTV, Sprint Navigation, etc.)
(4) Removes the model check; allows a p100eww Doctor to be run on a p100ueu device and vice-versa (From my understanding, all webOS devices will run a p100eww Doctor, but the p100ueu Doctor is specifically for European devices that run on different UMTS bands; a p100ueu Doctor is required only to make use of those European 3G bands).
(5) Disables the ForceModemUpdate command; sets the ForceModemUpdate setting to false, in order to save time during frequent Doctors on the same device, yet the modem firmware _will_ be updated if it is newer.
(6) Disables the upload daemon -- a background process that automatically uploads certain things, like GPS info and application usage, straight to Palm.
(7) Automatically enables Dev Mode; makes restoring a phone a little bit quicker and less frustrating... especially if you're a real tweaker.
(8) Automatically activates USB Networking functionality (usbnet drivers are required on host).
(9) Automatically installs SSH2 Authorized Keys of the *nix desktopOS you're currently using (i.e. - the one inside VirtualBox).
(10) Remaps QWERTZ phones to QWERTY layout for folks with German Pres that don't actually use Zs all that much.
(11) Re-partitions filesystem to increase /var limit -- This option is deprecated and may be removed in the future. Use the ext3fs partition size option instead for both Optware and Ubuntu/Debian Chroot usage. Note that emails and attachments are not stored in the /var partition in webOS 2.0+


Steps:

(**NOTE**: This example is for use with a 1.4.0 Doctor on a Sprint Pre. PAY ATTENTION and change procedure, accordingly, to your needs!! I have changed some commands so that you can no longer copy & paste them directly, but MUST use the Tab or Space keys when you see this notation: <TAB> or <SPACE>)

1. If you plan on using a CDMA phone and would like to use your carrier, it might be best if you call them in order to get your MSL. You can also get it thru the online activation page if need be.

2. If using Windows, Download and Install VirtualBox (ELSE skip to step 8; Mac users who don't know how to already use DarwinPorts can continue to step 3).

3. Download this 32-bit Ubuntu 11.04 .iso "cd image". If you choose to use a different version of Ubuntu, that's just tough luck.

4. Install the Ubuntu 11.04 .iso on a virtual disk inside VirtualBox.

• Click the big "New" button -> "Next". Type "Ubuntu 9.10" as the name, select "Linux" and then "Next", since regular "Ubuntu" should already be selected (NOT 64-bit).
• Select "Next" five more times, then "Finish".
• Double click your newly created Virtual Disk, "Ubuntu 11.04", and pay close attention to the HOST KEY that swaps you from your guestOS (11.04) to hostOS (presumably Windows) -- **Right CTRL**. "Next".
• Now the First Run Wizard pops up. Hit "Next" and select "Image File" at the bottom and then browse to find and select the ubuntu-11.04-desktop-i386.iso that you downloaded earlier. "Finish".
• Click the checkbox to ignore all color bit messages in the future and select "Continue".
• Pass thru the language prompt by hitting Enter for the default "English", then select the second menu option, "Install Ubuntu", and hit Enter again.
• Give it a few minutes and the Ubiquity graphical installer should pop right up (if not, just double-click the "Install" icon). As long as you speak English and use a USA keyboard layout, you can just hit "Forward" four times until you get to the last step. Fill this information out, then hit "Forward" and "Install".

5. While waiting... press the Right Ctrl key to get back to your hostOS. Create a new folder somewhere on your hostOS to use as a shared folder; let's call this folder "hostOS". Now, in the VirtualBox (VBox) window (the same one that Ubuntu is installing in)... go to "Devices" -> "Shared Folders..." -> click the tiny icon in the top-right corner with the '+' sign -> find and double-click the folder you just created -> "Choose" -> select "Auto-mount" && "Make Permanent" -> "OK" -> "OK".

• Continue waiting for the installation to complete, then click "Restart Now" when prompted.

6. Now boot your newly created virtual disk inside of VBox.

• Since your newly installed OS has finished, just hit "Enter" To restart the virtual machine. (or close the top VBox window and "Power off the machine").
• [Ignore, uness necessary: The main VBox window will have your new virtual disk "Ubuntu 11.04" right there for you to easily double-click to open, like you did earlier.]

7. Once you reach the login prompt, login! Open a Terminal (go to "Applications" -> "Accessories" -> "Terminal").

Don't ever close this terminal! It's good etiquette.

• NOTE: Simply close the "Update Manager" window when it pops up in a minute.

8. Now you need to prepare a few things for the Meta-Doctor. Open Firefox and find this post so that you can copy and paste each of these entire command lines (just Google "meta-doctor guide" and it should be the first result after the ads). Each command begins in bold and must be copied, in its entirety, to the terminal.

(HINT: To paste in Linux, just right-click inside the terminal and select paste.)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ferramroberto/java
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git git-core patch build-essential sun-java6-bin virtualbox-ose-guest-x11

• Insert password, hit Enter.
• Agree to Java terms; Use the Tab key to shift to the "OK" button and then Enter to select it, and then select the "Yes" button to finalize the agreement.

git clone https://github.com/webos-internals/meta-doctor.git

• For webOS 2 upgrades (esp. Franken Pres), see this webOS-Internals page about the scripts, close the Doctor whenever it opens (the Meta'd-Doctor cannot be run from within the guestOS and must be transferred to the hostOS), then skip to Step 10.

mkdir ~/meta-doctor/downloads/
cd ~/meta-doctor/downloads/

• Grab current WebOS Doctor version for your specific carrier ... WebOS Doctor Versions

wget -c palm.cdnetworks.net/rom/pre/p14r0d02252010/sr1ntp140rod/webosdoctorp100ewwsprint.jar

• Rename the file accordingly [with proper model (p100eww or p100ueu), carrier, dash, and then proper version number], as seen at step 10 on the Meta-Doc Wiki or like so, with the 1.4.0 example...

mv web<TAB> webosdoctorp100ewwsprint-1.4.0.jar
cd ~/meta-doctor/


9. Now it's time to actually learn how to use the Meta-Doctor!!

• This command will open up the nano editor so you can examine the actions of the Makefile.

nano Makefile

• Make sure to get the CARRIER string right, as can be seen in the Meta-Doc Wiki.
• By default, the Meta-Doctor does NOTHING. You must uncomment (OR remove the # from the beginning of these few lines) each specific feature of the Meta-Doctor that you may need from the Makefile.
• Here's what the beginning of my Makefile looks like ...
  

  Originally Posted by Makefile

  ##########################
  ## END OF DOCUMENTATION ##
  ##########################
  
  ########################################
  ## START OF AREA FOR END USER CHANGES ##
  ########################################
  
  # Uncomment the features that you wish to enable below:
  # BYPASS_ACTIVATION = 1
  BYPASS_FIRST_USE_APP = 1
  ENABLE_DEVELOPER_MODE = 1
  DISABLE_UPLOAD_DAEMON = 1
  # INCREASE_VAR_SPACE = 1
  # ENABLE_USB_NETWORKING = 1
  # INSTALL_SSH_AUTH_KEYS = 1
  # REMOVE_CARRIER_CHECK = 1
  # REMOVE_MODEL_CHECK = 1
  DISABLE_MODEM_UPDATE = 1
  # CHANGE_KEYBOARD_TYPE = z
  
  # Select "pre", or "pixi".
  DEVICE = pre
  
  # Select "sprint", "bellmo", "telcel", "verizonwireless" or "wr".
  CARRIER = sprint
  
  ######################################
  ## END OF AREA FOR END USER CHANGES ##
  ######################################

• When you're done, just hit Ctrl+X to exit and 'Y' when it asks to save your changes.

make unpack patch pack

• If this isn't working for you, you probly didn't put the file in the proper downloads/ directory, set the CARRIER variable in the Makefile... or it is searching for ssh keys that you don't have.

• SIDENOTE ABOUT FUTURE USAGE OF THE META-DOC...
  ... say, after the next version of webOS is released.
• NOTE: Each subsequent build will require you to start from scratch. To start fresh:

make clobber

• It would also be best to make sure you have the latest version of the Meta-Doctor. To grab the latest version:

git pull

• NOTE: I got an error about not being able to merge the developer's Makefile with my own, so I simply deleted my Makefile before running "git pull", since the dev's Makefile is all that matters:

rm Makefile

• You can run all of these at once, like so...

make clobber; rm Makefile; git pull

• And then simply restart from Step 9.

10. Once it's finished building, transfer the meta'd-doctor to your shared folder.

sudo modprobe vboxsf
mkdir ~/Desktop/guestOS/
sudo mount -t vboxsf hostOS ~/Desktop/guestOS/

• If you don't receive any errors, you should be able to copy the file to your guestOS/ shared folder and it will show up in your hostOS/ shared folder (If you DO see errors, then see Step 5 and return here)...

cp bu<TAB><TAB><TAB><Type out the version that you just created>webos<TAB><SPACE>~/Des<TAB>gue<TAB>

11. Go back to your hostOS' shared folder, then open your meta'd doctor and let it work its magic on your phone.

• Make sure you have backed up EVERYTHING, including the /media partition (mass storage with media, etc.). Everything will be gone in just a few seconds.
• Triple check that you have gotten your MSL from Sprint (or any other CDMA carrier).
• Make sure the phone is plugged into the USB cable.
• Restart your device (Opt + Sym + R) and hold the Volume Up button until you see a huge USB symbol on your screen.
• Now start the meta'd-doctor with a right-click ("Open With..." -> "Java") or just a double-click... whatever works for you. (java -jar webosdoctorp100ewwsprint-1.4.0.jar if necessary).
• Press "Continue", "Next", and all that junk. Give your meta'd-doctor all the time it needs to work its thing.
• If for some reason you hit a wall and the last button is not clickable, you more than likely need to [re]install the Novacom drivers on your desktopOS, which can be found here.

12. Upon restart, Sprint [and other CDMA] users will need to reset the modem's programming. Open the phone app, go to Preferences, select "Update Network Settings". And just in case... here are the instructions from the Meta-Doc Wiki...

Note: This has only been confirmed to resolve Sprint CDMA issues, YMMV.

Note 2: You should try to update your profile first. Open the phone app, open the App Menu and select Preferences then select Update Network Settings. If you get an error, then procede with these instructions.

* 1. Open the Phone App.
* 2. Enter ##MSL# (MSL= 6 digit lock code. Get this from Sprint.)
* 3. Verify your MDN and MSID are incorrect. If they are incorrect, continue. If they are correct, this is not your problem and you should not continue.
* 4. Select Edit.
* 5. Select the first box (MDN) and enter your 10-digit cellular number.
* 6. Select the second box (MSID) and enter your 10-digit MSID (Get this from Sprint).
* 7. Select Save.
* 8. Backswipe out of the the view.
* 9. You should now be able to open complete Note 2 above without any errors.

13. Donate to WebOS Internals at WebOS Internals:Site support - WebOS Internals and leave a nice review on http://bit.ly/phd-ac

14. Play with Ubuntu some more if you're not familiar with it already. Or practice around with ANY operating system that can be installed in VirtualBox. Enjoy!

[mbendik]

I had no issues with the upgrade to 1.3.5 but now I can't switch Dev mode on when I open up the DeveloperMode app. It's greyed out & unresponsive when I tap the On/Off switch. Would you know work around for me to get dev mode on? Thanks.

[grndslm]

mbendik:

You used the Meta-Doctor?? .. and it was grayed out afterward??

[grndslm]

Made quite a few changes.

EDIT - The Meta-Doctor now works with 1.3.5!

[TCCCCnME]

Any time frame of when this will work for 1.3.5?

[mbendik]

No I didn't use the Meta-Doctor but I was hoping you, with such extensive knowledge of WebOS, might know of a way for me to get Dev mode working again.

[grndslm]

Originally Posted by TCCCCnME

Any time frame of when this will work for 1.3.5?

It works now. I think Rod got it working right after I told him about, but I haven't checked any of this in a couple days.

Originally Posted by mbendik

No I didn't use the Meta-Doctor but I was hoping you, with such extensive knowledge of WebOS, might know of a way for me to get Dev mode working again.

Ahh... well, if you are trying to re-Doctor your phone... you can simply hold the Volume Up button at reboot. That is a surefire way to get the Doctor to recognize your phone, no matter how bad you might think it's bricked.

If you're just trying to get homebrew working & "Developer Mode" won't allow you to switch it to On... I'm not sure what there is to do about that besides Doctor it... so yea. I haven't seen any other similar report.

[grndslm]

Also... I would NOT update to a newer version of WebOS if you use a meta'd ROM. If you do, you will get a bug that causes the screen to turn on every 2 to 12 seconds after the screen is turned off. It is annoying as all heck.

Sooo... if you flash with a meta'd 1.3.5 rom, STAY THERE UNTIL YOU CAN CREATE A NEW META'D ROM!

- I have tried flashing with a meta'd 1.2.1 rom and doing the OTA update to 1.3.5; THAT got the annoying bug that turns the screen on every few seconds.
- I have tried flashing with a meta'd 1.3.1 rom and tried the OTA update to 1.3.5; THAT got the annoying bug also.
- And I have tried flashing with a meta'd 1.3.5 rom and did the OTA update to 1.3.5.1; And THAT TOO got the annoying bug.

Annoying. I know there's a "chmod -x" command to disable the checks for upgrades... but i'm not totally sure which script to disable just yet. -_-

[mbendik]

Originally Posted by grndslm

Ahh... well, if you are trying to re-Doctor your phone... you can simply hold the Volume Up button at reboot. That is a surefire way to get the Doctor to recognize your phone, no matter how bad you might think it's bricked.

If you're just trying to get homebrew working & "Developer Mode" won't allow you to switch it to On... I'm not sure what there is to do about that besides Doctor it... so yea. I haven't seen any other similar report.

I think I know what messed up my Pre. After reading How To: Get Homebrew Apps, Tweaks, & Patches Working In Less Than 5 Minutes, specifically where it says "... and you have to remove them in a certain order:
themes -> tweaks -> patches.", I now realize I didn't specifically uninstall tweaks before patches. I only used Emergency Patch Repair (EPR) thinking that EPR would uninstall both tweaks & patches. I guess I have to use WebOSDoctor since WebOS Repair Utility isn't available yet for 1.3.5. Is there specific instructions about holding the Volume Up button at reboot to get access to WebOSDoctor?

[grndslm]

Originally Posted by mbendik

I only used Emergency Patch Repair (EPR) thinking that EPR would uninstall both tweaks & patches. I guess I have to use WebOSDoctor since WebOS Repair Utility isn't available yet for 1.3.5. Is there specific instructions about holding the Volume Up button at reboot to get access to WebOSDoctor?

MM... just hold it 'til you see the huge USB icon. Can't miss it!

Or you could hit the restart buttons (Opt + Sym + R) and then wait about 15 seconds... and THEN hold up right before or as the screen flashes totally black. Basically, if you HOLD Volume Up for the first second or two of boot time... you'll see the USB icon.

[Darkmagister]

hi, i have a german version of the pre i have tried to update with a meta doc version of webosdoctor, to the 1.3.5 but i can't because the doc say, your device it's not support for this firmware

it's posibile to bypass this control ? i want the 1.3.5 for europe pre

[grndslm]

Originally Posted by Darkmagister

hi, i have a german version of the pre i have tried to update with a meta doc version of webosdoctor, to the 1.3.5 but i can't because the doc say, your device it's not support for this firmware

it's posibile to bypass this control ? i want the 1.3.5 for europe pre

Heya... from what I heard thru the grapevine... the 1.3.x versions of Sprint ROMs do this check.

So perhaps using the 1.2.1 will let you get past that ROM check. Only problem is that each webOS update from a Meta'd ROM to a new, Sprint OTA version leads to my screen turning on every 2-12 seconds after it goes off. So, it essentially never goes off and dies in several hours with a full battery and no activity.

So your options are to try 1.2.1 w/ full App Catalog (stopping updates altogether) -or- stock Europ ROM w/ limited App Catalog.

There was a bug that was found that allowed those in Europe to see the full App Catalog, but I can't remember what that was. If I do remember it, I'll post it here. Or if somebody else remembers it... hopefully they'd do the same.

[Darkmagister]

ok i think it's better if i wait for the official europe version of fw 1.3.5
maybe in march

for the catalog the hack is to install on the fw 1.3.1 the app catalog of the 1.1.3 fw in this case i can have all the free app ... but maybe now i wait for the new fw and for the catalog i also use preware

[Shrooster]

so here is my story, everything went fine with no problems i followed this guide and everything was piece of cacke, i patched this version 1.3.1 (Pre) which is UK o2 version, after WebOS Doctor, patched it, phone is bricked.

Any advice on this?

[grndslm]

Originally Posted by Shrooster

so here is my story, everything went fine with no problems i followed this guide and everything was piece of cacke, i patched this version 1.3.1 (Pre) which is UK o2 version, after WebOS Doctor, patched it, phone is bricked.

Any advice on this?

?? If all the variables in the Makefile were set properly, and you used the O2 ROM... I have no clue.

Talk to rwhitby at the #webos-internals IRC chatroom on the FreeNode servers... or tell him about it in the Meta-Doctor page.

You can put a stock ROM back up by simply rebooting and holding Vol Up if you didn't get that earlier.

[Shrooster]

i did set it up, as shown in this tutorial there we some more variables underneath, i left them as they are. the only things that i changed is two zeros instead of ones as shown, device to pre and carrier to wr. used this webos doctor webosdoctorp100ueu-wr.jar, i also tried holding volume and power button nothing happend, i have notice that it reacts sometimes when i plug it in in to usb, it starts searching for OMAP3430 drivers, but it did searched for them before webos doctor patch.

dont know what else i can do about this, you see i am new to this stuff, got the phone couple of days ago :] but i do have some expierience in doing this stuff.

ill try to chat with that guy, if you want to add anything please do so, and thanks

[grndslm]

All I know is that you should always be able to get it into recovery mode by HOLDING Volume Up while you restart (Opt+Sym+R). Don't let go up the Volume Up key until you see the huge USB icon up to 20 seconds later.

[Shrooster]

i thought you use (Opt+Sym+R) command when phone is on.. just tried it complete blackout as before...

[grndslm]

Opt+Sym+R should work so long as the ROM was built successfully without errors.

Worked for me when Meta-Doc was not yet compatible with 1.3.5... total blackness, even with reboot keys above... but when I held down Vol Up it did get into USB mode. If you really can't get there. I'd pull the battery, then HOLD Vol Up again... until you see the huge USB icon. And if it still doesn't work, you mighta bricked your phone. :x

[grndslm]

I did have a problem last night where it wouldn't go into recovery mode after several reboots... but i turned it off all night and it worked first time this morning. I think I heard somebody else had to try about 20+ times, but it eventually worked for him. So perhaps keep trying after a half hour or so??