[PromoKing]

I have put the following how-to guide together to let anyone who wishes to enjoy some of the fine homebrewed applications that are being produced by the members at Precentral. This guide should not be viewed as a way of derailing the efforts of other members to develop a packaged means of delivering applications to stock Pres. I certainly wish to encourage that development. This guide is instead meant to act as stop-gap measure for those who want the great apps being produced, but do not have the desire to root their Pres, and no longer have the option of exploiting the e-mail hole after the 1.0.4 WebOS update. The how-to guide is in plain English, and is extremely simple. You need not be a techie or hacker to get homebrewed applications onto your Pre. If you are able to download a program from the internet and drag and drop a file, you have what it takes to get these great programs up and running on your Pre. If you had the wherewithal to find this thread in Precentral and currently possess a desire to get the applications in the homebrew section, you can do this. You have my word on it.

Caveat 1: The following is for PC’s only running WindowsXP or later versions. If someone wishes to add an addendum for OSX, Linux, etc. be my guest – because I do not intend to.

Caveat 2: I have one outstanding unresolved issue to date which will be addressed below. So far it has not caused any problems with my Pre, Computer, etc., however it remains unresolved. I guess I should also say that you should try this at your own risk. I take no responsibility for damage done if it should occur, and read the instructions fully before attempting.


A Simple How-to Guide for getting homebrew apps onto your Pre (after 1.0.4)

STEP ONE: Preparing your computer

In order for you to transfer applications from Precentral to your Pre, you will need to download some software onto your computer.

A. First, download Virtual Box, a program that will allow you to run a computerized version of your Pre within a window. You can download it here:

VirtualBox

Follow the instructions for downloading via the wizard. Leave the downloaded files in the location where the wizard suggests for simplicity sake.

B. Next, download the Mojo SDK, which is Palm’s preliminary developer tool, onto your computer. The Mojo SDK has many things that allow programmers to make applications, but you don’t need know how to do any of that. What you do need to know is that the Mojo SDK will load files onto you Pre (See Step Two below). You can find the Mojo SDK here:

PalmSDK-Win-0.3.4.exe

Follow the instructions for downloading. Again, leave the files where the wizard puts them so you can find them easily (see Step Three below).

C. Then, pat yourself on the back, the hard part is now over. Seriously. Once you have the above two programs up and running, you will see a virtual Pre appear on your PC. You can now forget about the programs entirely. You will not need to fool with them again. Furthermore, if you wish to download more apps in the future, you can skip Step One completely.

STEP TWO: Preparing the Pre

Now that your computer is ready, it is time for your Pre. Unlike Step One, this will have to be repeated every time you want to install future homebrew app on your Pre.

A. First, you have to put your Pre into “Developer Mode” which sounds impressive but is really, really simple. This will allow your pre to accept applications via the USB cable. To put your Pre into developer mode all you do is type a Universal Search on the Pre for the following:

upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart

If you type it correctly, as soon as you finish the last “t” a “Developer Mode Enabler” icon will float up to greet you. Tap it, turn on developer mode, and you will be prompted to restart your Pre. Do so.

B. Next, plug your USB cable into your computer and your Pre. Select the “Just Charge” mode. If this is your first time doing so, the file, “Novacom” will automatically install on your Pre. Your Pre will be recognized on your PC as a Novacom device.

C. Then, leaving your Pre hooked to you PC once again, restart your Pre. This need only be done the first time. After the initial installation, subsequent restarts after putting your Pre into developer mode and linking to you PC is unnecessary.

STEP THREE: Getting the homebrew apps onto your Pre

This is the fun part. Precentral already has many great new apps cooked up by members ready for you to install, and there are more and more everyday.

A. Find the app or apps you want by going to the following thread:

http://forums.precentral.net/homebrew-apps/

Click on the attached file which will end in .ipk and download it onto your PC somewhere you can find it, like the Desktop. Do not e-mail the link to yourself, you need the actual file. Some apps require you to go to another site to download the link, but it is still the same thing, simply download the app to your PC desktop.

B. Next, you have to find a file that has been installed onto your PC in Step One. The easiest way to do this on WindowsXP is to click through the following folders:

My Computer
- Program Files
- Palm
- SDK
- bin

Once in the “bin” subfolder you will see a list of files, including the following:

palm-install.bat

This file is key for the last thing you have to do, which is…

C. Drag the .ipk file and drop it into the palm-instll.bat file. That’s it. Really. Once you do that, a command prompt window will open, and a bunch of code will scroll past. The window will then disappear. Viola! The App is now installed onto you Pre. You’re done! It is just that easy.

Except for…

STEP FOUR: Disconnecting everything

This is the one outstanding unresolved issue I am presently having. If anyone wishes to chime in with a solution, by all means, it would be much appreciated. The problem is, that once your new app is loaded, you need to unplug your phone and turn off the developer mode. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a way to “Safely Remove Novacom Device.” For although the option appears when you attempt to safely remove device, an error pops up indicating a program is accessing the device, even after Virtual Box and the SDK are closed. My temporary solution thus far has been to close Virtual Box and the Mojo SDK, and anything else opened, turn the Pre into USB mode by pressing the USB notification on the Pre, and then Safely Removing the Mass Storage Device. However, the Pre still shows up as both a Novacom and Mass Storage Device and the Novacaom Device is still being accessed by something. At this point I simply unplug and turn off developer mode by once again typing in the upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart code and turning off developer mode. I have yet to have any ill effects, however, I wonder if something untoward will occur down the road with continued unplugging with out safely removing hardware. Again if someone has a better solution, I am all ears.

So, NOW, that’s it! Enjoy your new homebrew applications!

(Special thanks go to everyone’s work on the Homebrew thread where I gleaned all this information. I am sorry I can not name you all individually, but your collective work should definitely be rewarded sometime down the line.)
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