Palm Pre in Belgium with Mobile Vikings
First of all: all credit for this trick goes to Andreas at TreoCentral. Here is the exact thread where I found it.
I've bought an unlocked Palm Pre in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, before it becomes usable, it needs to activate itself through your provider's data network. As it happens, I just switched to Mobile Vikings, a provider which the Pre doesn't know.
Oops.
Internet to the rescue!
It is said that WebOS 1.3 offers the possibility to enter custom data settings in the activation wizard. Let's upgrade this baby!
- First of all: my device is originally German (the QWERTZ keyboard is a dead giveaway ;-) ), so I've downloaded the German WebOS Doctor.
- To put the Pre in WebOS Doctor mode:
- Turn it off completely
- Put the wall charger into an outlet and connect the mini USB connector to the Pre. Do not connect the USB port to the wall charger yet!
- While connecting the USB port to the wall charger, keep the "volume up" key pressed. You'll see a USB logo appear on the Pre.
- Disconnect the USB port on the wall charger and plug the Pre into your computer.
- Launch WebOS Doctor and follow the instructions in the wizard (I chose German just to make sure - don't know how important it is). It will recognize your Pre and start upgrading.
- When the upgrade is done, your Pre will restart and relaunch the setup wizard. When it gets to the point where account creation fails, you will be given the option to enter custom data profile settings. Enter your provider's settings et voila, one working Palm Pre.