Touchpad and webOS

Aston Martin

Proudly supports terrible french cars
Joined
Sep 20, 2006
Messages
15,642
Location
Hull, England
Car(s)
Cactus and Panda Classic
Now that some people here have received theirs. Mine in theory early next week.


The first thing to do is update. 3.0.2 is alot better than 3.0.0.
Option one is to tap the arrow at the bottom right of your screen, swipe to the right until you get to the settings page, and select the little icon named "System Updates" (it looks like a present). Allow the system to update, reboot, and attempt to update again. Ultimately (as of 8-22-11) you want it to show your device is up to date with version 3.0.2.

Option two is to get your hands on the latest webOS doctor. You may need to do this as current load on webOS servers is extremely heavy due to the huge influx of new touchpad users. To do this, go to your main PC (NOT your touchpad) and first visit your palm profile and log in:

webOS doctor

From there, go to device options, and select webOS doctor. Once it's downloaded, run the program with your -fully charged- touchpad plugged into the computer and like magic you'll have a properly updated touchpad.

One thing to note - this webOS doctor can fix virtually any problem you manage to cause your poor defenseless touchpad. Keep it, you may find it useful later.


Now that the touchpad is up to date, it's time to take it to the next level. We are going to install some patches and tweaks that are going to make the touchpad run faster, smoother, and be more responsive. This next part will also set you up to start checking out the wonderful world of webOS homebrew in all it's glory. The best part? All of this is simple and safe to do thanks to webOS's approach to an easily usable open system. No jail-breaking required and there is virtually nothing you can do that would hurt your hardware. Worst case scenerio, you can run the webOS doctor listed above and fix your Touchpad.

Lets get started! First you need to put the touchpad into developer mode. This is pretty simple, tap on the "just type" box on your touchpad and type:

webos20090606

That'll bring up a little icon for developer mode. Tap on it and turn it ON. It will ask you to input a password etc, don't put anything in there, just keep clicking through with the password blank and move on.

Next, you'll need webos quick install - set the touchpad down for a minute and go to your home PC or MAC to download it:

webOS quick install

It's a java .jar file, so if you don't already have java on your home PC/Mac you will need to install the java runtime environment to run that file. You can download java here (just install the most recent version):

Download Free Java Software

Now, plug your touchpad into your computer with the usb cable, and open up webos quick install. DO NOT PUT THE TOUCHPAD INTO MASS STORAGE USB MODE, just leave it on normally. The touchpad will ask if you want to go into mass storage mode, tell it no and leave it alone.

Webos quick install will likely need to install a novacom driver to be able to talk to your touchpad, let it do so.

If at this point webOS quick install is STILL not recognizing your touchpad, try rebooting the computer/touchpad, double checking to ensure developer mode is on, and try a different USB port for plugging the touchpad to the computer.

Now your touchpad is ready for homebrew. First things first, you want to install the preware application. On your -COMPUTER- in the webos quick install window, click on the little globe icon on the right. That will bring up a list of applications you can install. Select PREWARE from that list and install it.

Now you can close webos quick install, pick up your touchpad. Go to your downloads folder on the touchpad (click the arrow, swipe over to downloads). Finally, open preware on the touchpad.

Finally you're ready to patch and modify in earnest. Preware lets you do all the downloading, installing, and handling of your various homebrew right on the Touchpad. Yay!

Since you have preware open, tap on "available packages", then "patch", and finally "all". Lets get some speed-enhancing patches on board.

Do/install everything on this list to speed up the touchpad -significantly-:

speedier Touchpad

On top of those suggestions, I'd also recommend removing the tap ripple since it can slow down some PDK apps and imho the pad feels more responsive without it. Remember - this is your touchpad, and customization has been one of the best features of the webOS platform, so feel free to put things however you like, I'm just suggesting the patches etc that made MY touchpad great.

So if you've followed along your patches should look something like this (I've added a few I personally enjoy as well):

ad blocker (or max block - one or the other NOT both)
remove tap ripple
Increase Touchpad Volume (lite)
advanced reset options
faster card animations hyper version
increase touch sensitivity and smoothness 10
muffle system logging
quiet powered messages
remove dropped packet logging
unset cfq io scheduler
unthrottle download manager
private browsing

Feel free to try whatever you like. The patches are easily to remove right inside preware. Have no fear, you won't break anything. Even if you somehow managed to be the rare exception, salvation is one run of webOS doctor away.

While you're in preware, there are other things you might consider doing. For example, you'll find the uberkernel there (which allows overclocking to 1.5ghz - a speed supported by the processor) and govna, a program which will allow you to actually perform this speed upgrade. There are other more advanced options for overclocking (1.7GHZ!) but you'll need to utilize these forums to learn how to perform these actions as going to this extreme is beyond the scope of an average user.

Other programs in preware worth checking out:

pReader alpha (free ebook reader that -rocks-)
internalz (file browser/explorer for your touchpad)
jstop (this program helps keep your phone running tip-top, make sure you put it into "AUTO" mode once you install it, and you might also want to disable notifications inside this program so they don't pop up every time it kills a process - it's all in the options for jstop)

That's just a small sample, feel free to browse and check out what's available.

For our next trick, we can go to HP's official apps catalog. Hit that arrow, swipe to the downloads tab, and hit the HP App Catalog icon.

A few -free- suggestions:

Angry Birds HD (it's free!)
Box.net (free 50gb online storage - this makes swapping files back and forth to the touchpad from your computer a BREEZE, and gives you a nice safe online backup location)
superNES (a SNES emulator that works nicely - I'll also be releasing a new skin or two specifically designed for touchpad soon)
USA Today (an awesome news app with some offline reading capability that is really nice)
DigiCamera Still Life (lets you use the camera to take pictures - something that probably should have been a default feature in the first place)
Epicurious recipes and shopping list (the single nicest recipe/etc app I've ever seen)
Audiophile HD (currently the main available mp3/ogg/whatever player out there, nice if the stock player isn't quite pushing all of your buttons)



Get started at precentral
 
Last edited:
Was I the sole Palm Pre owner on FG? When everyone was having Android circle jerks I was busy using the most elegant mobile OS for years. Sad that my Pre died and I was forced to Android :(
 
So those of you who have one, are you using a screen protector?
Not bothered so much about the screen getting scratched etc, it has Gorilla Glass (which isn't an excuse to abuse) but my phone has a protector on it.
The reason is, when it gets fingerprinted up I can just throw like Windowlene on it, to clean it and it doesn't matter if I damage the protector.


Also because I lucked out with the actual Touchpad, I was looking at XDA at the right time and found this.

We need 5 guys from worldwide to use this case and do a review at XDA. We need $6 shipment cost to worldwide.

I was guy number 2, apparently it was shipped yesterday.
The case in question.

41v8H%2BgkIfL.jpg
41bBgMgwxcL.jpg

419Algdxi2L.jpg
41W9LadnZML.jpg

hpclip4.jpg



It doesn't cover the bezel, unlike the ebay ones. Should be here next week...

Store
Amazon


I think I know the answer to this, but tablet socks are for cunts right?
 
I'm liking my touchpad, however I can't but notice that my processor is drawing more power than most. 700-800ma at load and 500-600ma at idle.

Also does anyone know of a good free media player that doesn't lock you out of your own files when it's offline?
 
Last edited:
9 hours in and I am loving it, a parcel arrived whilst I was out getting this. Which may have been my screen protector, so I'm using the plastic cover it came with.

My bank doesn't work with the app catalog, they don't class $0.00 as a transaction. But I've tried Shrek Kart, which is a shameless knockoff and Hot Pursuit, is accelerometer only which is the worst thing ever. Unfortunately... because it runs fantastic.

I do like Quell, and of course Angry Birds HD. Battery life has been great.

Its heavy.
 
Last edited:
I wen't into more detail in the other thread to my thoughts on the TP, but here are some more highlights after using it more:

I noticed the heaviness myself, its definetly not horribly heavy as some reviews made it out to be, but its something one notices slightly, particularly if they're in bed and holding it upright. Turning off Text Assist has improved my typing, although there is still some cases where my thumb doesn't quite hit the spacebar so words look like this: "andnthen" with "n" being where I thought I hit space. I'm admittedly "doing it wrong" and using my thumbtype method that I reserved for smartphones....it works quite well whether in portrait or landscape. I did it in part due to accidentally hitting shift when I meant to hit "A" when trying to type "normally."

Browser doesn't like some dropdowns..it's annoying I'll admit. For what its worth, the same issue is found in "Advanced Browser" so it must be the rendering engine w/in WebOS. Facebook Chat works great (near perfect web ui for tablets, not that shitty tiny window at the bottom of your Facebook page) via the following url: https://www.facebook.com/presence/popout.php Still wish that the TP offered integration within the Messaging app for FB chat as well as WLM support: the latter is available with 2 IM apps, but I'd rather not pay for apps that wont take advantage of the TP's larger screen size (they're shown in the emulated pre window...bad news) and pricey apps at that.

Speaking of account integration, I realized that there's no real way to upload photos from the TP elsewhere except from probably within the Facebook Tablet app. I wanted to show a friend a screenshot so I took it, and wen't hunting in the photo app for a "send" option....only thing available was e-mail. Really. :| As a reminder, WebOS lets you set up accounts with Photobucket, Dropbox, Box.net, and HP Snapfish. I have my TP setup with Dropbox and that wasn't an option for upload. I tried with Photobucket...ditto. It seems like those are "one way" incoming connections with WebOS on the TP. Disappointing isn't even the half of it, especially since Android does such a great job of integrating services into nearly all aspects of the OS, even if you have to download the apps themselves from the market. EX: I can send a photo to Dropbox, Imageshack, Facebook, etc...right from Gallery. To only be able to send it within an e-mail is functionality I'd expect TEN years ago, not in 20 fucking 11.

Of course, I can print the screenshot, since this is a HP product...yeah...like 90% of users fucking print photos at home anymore HP. :rolleyes: It's called a photo kiosk at the fucking drugstore: better quality, less bullshit with your expensive ass ink, configuring settings, and choosing paper and get this...it's cheaper?!?! who da thunk?!? Thanks for including a feature that no one would use, yet you couldn't be bothered to allow me to offload these pictures in any way besides e-mail or connecting the thing to my computer.

I had more below but of course, the editor on FG fucked everything up and ATE IT due to a massive parsing error with a certain emoticon that I discovered yet forgot about. I can't remember what it said anymore either...oh yeah I recall a few parts now:

The music app leaves a bit to be desired. It's nice enough but the columns in library view aren't resizable/collapseable. Also it's a bit unstable, becoming non responsive sometimes...it can be a bit annoying. It also isn't the best for podcasts since you cant use the seek buttons to fast forward or rewind. Finally I wish the app had a EQ. I'll pretty much have to use a third-party app for podcasts, but that's cool. In any case, for music, it's more than adaquate and syncs are effortless with the Sync/Charge cable and Windows Media Player. I haven't attempted to play video other than flash content from YouTube and various websites own players (engadget, etc) All work fine of course.

The speakers are surprisingly good, whatever Beats Audio enhancements they've done surely paid off.

FFC quality was a bit disappointing, but regular voice chats worked fine over the integrated Skype.

Now that the TP's multitouch screen is functional under Android, would anyone plan on switching from WebOS? For me it would only be if a dualboot comes along. I like WebOS in general that much. It's what a tablet OS should be: refined as all hell, stable, effortless multitasking. Even before the tweaks I never really got any system lag. I haven't done the overclocking because I've read that it actually caused more lag..I'm willing to wait until it's perfected for the TP.

Lastly, here's a screenshot of my TP's homescreen/shortcut bar:

http://img585.imageshack.**/img585/9926/unknown20110709025455.png
 
Last edited:
Dual boot is the only way for me, I love the multitasking too much to give up. Gonna try some video playback, like you only I've really only tried YouTube.
 
Got my Touchpad today. Happy with the video playback so far through kalemsoft media player, plays the TG Polar special in HD nicely. Some bigger .mkv movies lagged though. SD stuff works fine.

I come from symbian 3 smartphones so naturally, everything seems refined for me :p The only thing that is a huuuge let down for me is that the app catalog is geo restricted! Free apps are available but the paid apps are only viewable in US, UK, Canada, Germany, Spain. Trying to get round it with an app from preware called "impostah"
 
Yeah tried 700mb mkv rips with Kalemsoft and they run fine, there's no point for me to run any GB rips.
Still at 1.2 MHz, apart from the occasional "I'm thinking" its been fine. The best game I've played is Galcon.
 
Shame that the browser can't upload stuff. There is no dialog box that opens up to upload images or files.

Yup, i was actually shocked and tried 3 different websites to make sure.....it just doesnt have a dialog box. i had this in my post earlier but the "emoticon parsing" issue ate it and i forgot to include it in the new post.
 
you can't rep anyone either. :-(

there's 2 types of battery a 5647 and a 6281.
Linky


I also keep scrolling, but it minimises the window.
 
Last edited:
Yup, i was actually shocked and tried 3 different websites to make sure.....it just doesnt have a dialog box. i had this in my post earlier but the "emoticon parsing" issue ate it and i forgot to include it in the new post.

There is an extended browser on the catalog with tabbed browsing and more, I wrote the developer if they could implement the dialog thing....
 
Running at 1.5, maybe rose tinted glasses but it seems faster.
 
you can't rep anyone either. :-(

there's 2 types of battery a 5647 and a 6281.
Linky


I also keep scrolling, but it minimises the window.

I've managed to rep people with it, dunno why it's not working for you. Interesting stuff behind the battery. :D

There is an extended browser on the catalog with tabbed browsing and more, I wrote the developer if they could implement the dialog thing....

Advanced Browser rocks, I love it. Hopefully he'll add the dialog.

Running at 1.5, maybe rose tinted glasses but it seems faster.

Any random lags/stutters?
 
damn you webOS, using my phone and I wanted to close an app, I tried closing it like a card.
 
Top