WebOS Survival Kit
This page is available in three lanuages:
The year is 2013. It's a post-webOS world.
HP has sold off the webOS group, and the buyer has stripped it for the patents, and shut down all the infrastructure needed to support webOS devices.
The HP App Catalog and the Palm Profile servers can no longer be reached.
The @palm and @webOSdev twitter accounts no longer respond. The developer forums are a barren wasteland.
Some people take the easy way out, and simply move to another platform.
Others learn how to survive, using ... The webOS Survival Kit
Follow @webosinternals
Get a Twitter account and follow @webosinternals. Think of it as your Early Warning System and Short-Wave Radio. When the disaster arrives, watch for further instructions.
Other key homebrew developers to follow include: @JayCanuck @TheRealSconix
Install Preware Homebrew Documentation
In a post-webOS world, you will need to have Preware installed on your device. The HP App Catalog will no longer be available to you, so you need to get the documentation you need to install Preware now.
The Preware Homebrew Documentation app will guide you through the details of many of the following steps already with step-by-step installation instructions.
Install Preware
Use the instructions in the Preware Homebrew Documentation app to do this. Do not delay, you need to have Preware installed now, not after HP and webOS are gone.
If you have any problems running WebOS Quick Install (especially if you are on a Windows computer), install the WOSQI Homebrew Guide app and follow the troubleshooting guide in there.
Do not rest until you have Preware installed and working. It is your key to app distribution and installation in a post-webOS world.
By following these instructions, you will also end up with WebOS Quick Install available on your host computer. Multiple redundant ways to install things is key in a post-webOS world.
Empty Your Profile
The data in your HP webOS Account (formerly Palm Profile) will not be available to you in a post-webOS world.
Move it all to somewhere else now. Your webOS device supports a number of Synergy providers - choose one with which you are comfortable and move all your data there.
Backup your contacts to Gmail
To create a .vcf (VCard or "Virtual Business Card") file of all your contacts that can then be imported into an Address Books/Contact Lists across a wide range of applications and devices (including any webOS device) just follow the following steps:
-Open the Phone App: For CDMA phones, dial ##66623#. For GSM phones, dial #*66623# and press Call Button
-Tap the green "CelleBrite Export" button
-After "Step 1: Export File..." is complete, follow directions for "Step 2: Connect USB cable" and connect your phone to a computer via a USB cable
-Access the USB drive by tapping on USB drive notification
-Make sure that you set the option on the computer's File Manager to "Show hidden files and folders" and then open up the ".temp" folder on your phone
-A file called "PmMigration.vcf" will be inside the ".temp" folder. Just copy this file off your phone and on to your computer.
-Properly eject your phone from USB Mode
-You can either just backup this file for later, or use it to import your contact list into a program or site that accepts .vcf files (e.g. Gmail).
Note that this will save ALL your contacts, not just those in your Palm Profile (to Merge Duplicate contacts in Gmail, go to Contacts > More, Find & Merge Duplicate Contacts).
Install Save/Restore
Go into Preware. Search for "Save/Restore" and install the app. Save your application settings.
If you depend on an application which is not supported by Save/Restore, then visit the Save/Restore thread on PreCentral and put up a bounty for developers to add support for that app.
Make sure you copy the saverestore directory contents from your webOS device to your host computer (or online storage account) regularly.
Save Your Tokens
Install the "Show Properties" app from Preware, and email yourself a Full token list (use the Full menu option, not the Comms Board Swap menu option).
Don't worry about what it all means right now, just do it. With the token list and the webOS Doctor you can resurrect your device from just about any calamity.
Download the webOS Doctor
Make sure you have the correct webOS Doctor for your device downloaded from the HP servers and available locally on your host computer.
Visit our webOS Doctor Versions page and download the correct webOS Doctor version now.
In a post-webOS world, the doctors will not be available from HP servers, so make sure you have your own copy archived now.
Get Command-Line Ready
To perform some key survival measures, you will need to have a way to access the Linux command line on your device.
The latest Novacom drivers can be found on http://opensource.palm.com/packages.html at the bottom of the page. In a post-webOS world, that page will no longer be accessible. Download the drivers for your current and future host computer platforms before they disappear.
Install the drivers and test that your host computer recognises your webOS device when you plug it in.
Work out how to use novaterm or the WOSQI command line interface (which is a GUI wrapper around a novacom connection) to access the Linux command line on your device.
The WOSQI Homebrew Guide contains a visual how-to on how to get access to the command line on your device from a host computer.
Install Xecutah to access the command line from on your device itself.
Many post-webOS survival techniques may require command line interactions. Get ready for this now. Learn some Basic Linux Use techniques before it is too late.
What About Activation?
There are techniques available for all webOS devices to bypass both carrier and HP/Palm activation requirements. We can take a brand-new never-used webOS device and make it fully functional with access to any HP/Palm servers.
What About My Apps?
When the HP App Catalog is shut down, we will need to be able to reinstall paid apps that we have purchased on the devices for which they have been purchased.
The webOS Survival Kit includes everything you need to be in a position ready for further instructions to be able do that when the eventuality arises.
The tools required to re-package apps for re-installation via Preware have already been written and tested.
Obviously, whilst the app catalog is still functioning it is not appropriate to give those instructions.
Cover All Devices
Perform all the above steps for every webOS device which you own.
Buy Some Batteries
Batteries dont last forever and in a post-webOS world they will stop being made. Make sure you grab a couple to keep you going.
On all webOS devices other than the TouchPad it's straight-forward to replace batteries (your warranty will be well and truly expired by that time).
For the TouchPad, it's not easy at all. So this tip really only applies to the webOS phones.
Contribute Your Tips
Subscribe to the corresponding forum thread in the WebOS Internals forum and post any other tips for inclusion in The webOS Survival Kit there or edit this wiki page directly.
Spread The Word
Make sure every webOS users has http://bit.ly/webos-survival-kit (the official URL for this page) imprinted in their brain. Write it on a piece of paper, and stick it to your monitor. Never forget it, you will eventually need it.
Subscribe To Forums
There are a number of webOS forums with lots of other users who can help you in this time of need.
PreCentral and webOSRoundup are two of the leading information sources.
Donate
The homebrew developers who bring you these tools rely on donations to be able to continue to do so.
WebOS Internals: http://donate.webos-internals.org/
Jason Robitaille: http://donate.canuckcoding.ca/
Don't Panic
WebOS Internals and other homebrew developers have your back. Don't Panic.
You will be able to use your webOS device for as long as you please, even if all support and infrastructure from HP disappears overnight.
