webOS 2.1 for 'Legacy' devices a little easier with WebOS Internals scripts

We've been laying on the warnings pretty thick ever since it became possible to hack together a working webOS 2.1 ROM for "legacy" devices like the Sprint Pre, Verizon Pre Plus, and the like. Those warnings still certainly apply, as there can be problems with your Palm Profile - not to mention that you're essentially opting out of OTA updates (though, really, they're not coming anyway). So unless you're willing to take the risk of getting an unusable device, we recommend biding your time with our webOS 2.1 on an AT&T Pre Plus video.

Ok, now the dangerfun. WebOS Internals has put together a set of scripts that do magical things. They download the necessary webOS Doctor ROMs, mix and match them, and then patch them up in a fairly automated way to create a webOS 2.1 ROM doctor for the following devices:

• Sprint Pre/FrankenPre+
• Verizon Pre+
• AT&T Pre+
• "WR" devices
• Telcel Pre
• Bell Mobility Pre

What's important to note here is that none of these tools actually redistribute any of HP's copyrighted code - it's all on the up-and-up and anybody looking to straight-up download these patched-together ROMs in our forums will be disappointed - neither WebOS Internals nor us are going to allow that. 

Back to the scripts - they do some pretty clever things. The Verizon script, for example, combines the 1.4.5 ROM, features from the Palm Pre 2 2.0.1 ROM like Skype and Voice Dialing, and the European 2.1 ROM. Backups: do them. Palm Profile: get ready to lose backups and possibly data stored there. App Catalog access: works but may not work with webOS 2 apps. Flash: takes some extra work.

Still, if you can handle the terminal and aren't sent running into the hills by the complexity of even this simplified method, it's a neat trick for devices that won't get updated. If you're interested, hit up the PreCentral Forums link below, read all the caveats and warnings, then hit up the instructions, take a deep breath, and then finally let us know if you've taken the plunge (a donation wouldn't hurt in that process, either).

Source: WebOS Internals, PreCentral Forums