Preware gains patching abilities, LED notifications in the mix 36
Sun, 04 Oct 2009 10:36 am EDT
Our man jp22382 has pointed out that webOS Internals.org now has its own patches IPKG feed that lets you install webOS patches over the air with minimal fuss, including the LED notifications that Palm didn’t turn on for us in webOS 1.2. To get the patches you’ll have to follow these steps:
- In Preware (installed via webOS Quick Install), select Available Applications and drop down to the IPKG category.
- Select autopatch-feed.
- Click install.
- Close and relaunch Preware.
You’ll now have a new feed in Preware that will provide dozens more patches. Right now not all patches have been updated for compatibility with webOS 1.2, so you should reference webOS Internals’ compatibility table to ensure that what you want to install won’t bork your Pre. You can also see dbSooner's list in our forums as well. Developers are quickly testing and updating patches so that they’ll work with 1.2, and so far most favorites (battery percentage, launcher pages, etc) have already received the 1.2 blessing.
- To install the LED notifications patch, in Preware click on Available Patches, then Screen Lock.
- Select Enables LED Notifications.
- Click install. You’ll have to approve a warning because the patch must run a script to install.
Once you’ve installed the patch, exit Preware and restart your phone - you’ll have to restart the phone every time you want to enable/disable a new patch, though you can install/uninstall multiple patches and restart once to enable/disable them all. To do this, open Device Info (available in Universal Search under ‘reset’), scroll down and click on Reset Options, and then click on Restart. Your phone will turn off and back on.
Once back you’re up and running, open Screen & Lock, scroll down to Notifications and flip “Blink Notifications” from off to on. From here on out, whenever you miss a notification, your phone will blink incessantly but softly until you give it the attention it craves. Sadly, as of yet there is no way to exclude/include apps that can cause the lights to blink, so it’s all or nothing.
36 Comments
it would also be great to be able to change the frequency of blink, duration of notification by blink, and not sure if this is possible with the led that lights up the center button but intensity of blink...
It would be a hell of a lot greater if it had an audible nag instead of (in addition to) a visual nag...
I have this LED patch enabled. It reacts to Twee, FF (Facebook App),incoming texts, my AOL/MSN/Yahoo incoming messages, and incoming email. Twee and FF must have notification turned on.
Instead of restarting the Pre you could download the Luna Manager application and try a Luna Restart instead. This works for most patches, and is a bit quicker.
So this does NOT support 1.2.1 yet, correct?
it is compatible with 1.2.1
Looks like someone already mentioned Luna Manager. I have wanted a simple app to restart luna for a long time, then I finally found it in Preware. A luna reset is WAY quicker that a full reset, and it has worked to apply all of the patches I have tried.
Derek, you should update this story to mention Luna Manager!
Starting/Restarting Luna is very easy, you launch novacom on your linux desktop and then paste
initctl stop LunaSysMgr
initctl start LunaSysMgr
:) I am surprised that any automated system of applying "patches" doesn't just do that automatically at the end.
Anyway, the LED mod took me about 1 min to activate with vi. It is only uncommenting a few lines of code http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/Patch_Enable_LED_Notifications
Just remember to
mount -o remount,rw /
first and
mount -o remount,ro /
after vi'ing files
http://gitorious.org/webos-internals/precomd
Will perware eventually be offered through the app catalog? im just not comfortable with tweaking the current os.
Will these patches/tweaks also be available through WOSQI 2.7? It seems easier to just check mark the tweaks you want and then uncheck them at later date then installing/uninstalling through Preware. I understand Preware allows for the operator to add these mods with out being connected to a PC, which is nice, but if one is available I think WOSQI is easier.
they are cross referenced with one another; whatever tweaks you've made in wosqi will show up in preware under installed packages, and whatever you install in preware will show up in wosqi with checkmarks next to them.....
Just wondering, but does preware/webOS quick install/patches break the warranty on the phone??? Or... is it considering non-rooting and reversible?
Thanks.
-Joe
Typically, you can't break a "warranty" with software. A warranty is a hardware guarantee. If you hose the phone, "support" will just instruct you to restore it to factory defaults using webos doctor.
The LED notification does not really work for me. I left some missed call on my Pre. The LED notification did not show up most of the time. Is it just my Pre?
yep
Did you install patch and reboot?
Just an FYI....the LED notification does not work properly with missed calls. You have to turn the screen on, tap it, then turn the screen off then the LED will start to blink. Sort of defeats the purpose of having the LED notification.
It does work instantly with text messages though.
Well that sucks! I hadn't had any missed calls nor voicemails, so I just tried it. You are right. It is broken. Confirmed.
Seems to work OK with text message notifications (except of course that since there is no AUDIBLE nag, the light is rarely useful to me).
Am I the only one who still has LED notifications even after upgrading to 1.2.1 and without patching my phone?
I haven't loaded 1.2.1 yet, but if you look at the size, you will notice it is not a "full" update size like 1.2.0 was. It probably only replaced files that were changed from the update. So it would not surprise me if the LED notification and certain other patches remain.
hey i tried to uninstall this and it came up with an error...can anyone help me fix that my email is trizzcuitt@yahoo.com....any help would be great..
I'm learning everyday about my palm from you guys. And I appreciate all your efforts.
I have 2 questions: 1) how are patches and packages different? 2) does this IKPG Feed just enable us to add packages/patches to our Pre's w/o QuickInstall?
thanks in advance.
Patches are changes to (usually text) configuration files, already on the system. They are usually designed to change a behavior or function.
Packages contain a mixture of files that are added to the system and comprise a software application.
ikpg is a package manager that allows the installation of software packages in the ipk format.
I'm learning everyday about my palm from you guys. And I appreciate all your efforts.
I have 2 questions: 1) how are patches and packages different? 2) does this IKPG Feed just enable us to add packages/patches to our Pre's w/o QuickInstall?
thanks in advance.
New to Preware. Installed everything correctly. However, under screen lock, I have only two choices; More Standby Times and Reduce Minimum Brightness. I do not have the option to Enable LED Notification. What did I do wrong?
Submitted by crxssi on Sun, 10/04/2009 - 16:34:
Did you install patch and reboot?
Wierd. Went to List of Everything and found the Enable LED Notifications. Went to download it, but only option was to remove it. Somehow I must have downloaded it, but don't remember doing so. Only thing I can think of is that I did intstall via WebOS Quick Install the tweak "LED notifications options in prefs". However, I thought all that did was give you a switch to turn on and off the patch. Anyway, it is working now. Thanks.
I am experiencing the same problems that you had. I installed webos 1.2.1 and enabled the tweek through WebOS Quick Install and it didn't work. Removed the patch with WebOS Quick Install and installed it through Preware and the patch still doesn't work? How did you get it working?
I don't know how to do this. I would love to have this on my phone but need help??????
Does your battery life become much worse with the more patches you install on you pre????
Anyone notice worse battery life after installing patches???
is there a forum or thread where there are instructions for the idiots like me who dont know what is going on.. i mean.. the instructions for themes were simple.. and i got that figured out.. but i dont know how to do this.. any help please.. dgrobe2112@yahoo.com
Why is it when I go to Preware there is no option for patches?
Also when I use webos quick launch to download the virtual keyboard it says that error them not found on device.
If you can...please help with advise?
Thanks
Preware was updated so the patch feed is in the feed list but defaults to OFF. Go to the menu -> manage feeds, and turn the Webos-patches feed on (last one I believe).
the only thing i would change is the pulse rate and maybe if possible a color choice
Hey guys
is anyone having trouble with the led patch?? I just got a new pre from sprint this past wednesday because my other pre's power button got stuck and they replaced it. I successfully installed the patch and it worked fine. I'm not sure what's happening this time around but it gives me an error when attempting to install...
is anyone else experiencing this or should i do something else?? This patch really helped!
I can't find the LED patch on preware...a little help? Its not under available patches...am I missing something?
its under "patches'-->"screen lock"