Hack a Palm Pre Wifi hot spot router?  Yes!

Remember back when the Palm Pre debuted at CES and one of the major announced features was the ability to tether via USB cable or Bluetooth?  Well a few weeks before the Pre came out sprint quietly removed the feature from the website and no reason was given.  Well as they say “if there is a will, there is a way” and the almighty Palm Pre community has given its rebuttal to sprints actions and boy is it a big one.    So here is the most recent way to turn your palm pre into a “MiFi Hot Spot”.

First you have to make a decision that is going to affect your wallet.  If you so choose (although it isn’t required to complete the hack) you can pay a ten dollar donation fee and get an automatic 2.0 installer to complete everything for you.  If you’re tight on cash, (what has two thumbs and hates to spend money? This Guy.), then you can download the manual 1.5 version and do everything the old fashioned way.  In this tutorial I will be doing the free version.  Maybe sometime in the near future I will do the 2.0 installer, because it does come with some extra features ala WEP encryption and also cancels the screen from automatically shutting off and therefore ending your connection.

STEP 1
First, you will need to make sure you have Java 6 or higher installed and you will also need to have Virtual Box installed as well.  I know it may seem like a waste now; it will come in handy in just a few minutes.

STEP 2
Next, you need to go register for the Palm Pre SDK at Palm.com.   You will need to follow the link in the email they send you so make sure you give a valid email address.  Follow the link and download the SDK for you operating system.  This download contains the files need to hack your Palm Pre.

STEP 3
Once all three things are downloaded you will need to put your Palm Pre into developer mode.  To do this you need to make sure all your cards are closed and begin typing ‘upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart’.  You will see a pop-up that says “Developer Mode Enabler”, tap that and slide it from ‘off’ to ‘on’.  A dialogue will ask you to reset your phone, say yes and go get yourself a snack because the Pre isn’t known for the quickest reboots.

STEP 4
Once your phone is reset you will need to download novaterm1.zip and unzip it to the C:\Program Files\Palm\SDK\bin.  If you’re under a different operating system or you installed the SDK to somewhere else then find it and unzip it to that location.  Now you need to connect the phone to your computer via usb cable and on your phone select just charge when it pops up.

STEP 5

Open up a command prompt and type
cd “\Program Files\Palm\SDK\bin”

Next you need to enter
novacom -t open tty://

Your command prompt will go to the root@castle.  Okay to some this maybe intimidating but if you follow the directions carefully then everything should go just fine.

STEP 6
Now in your root@castle command prompt you need to enter

wget -qO- http://mytether.net/install.php | /bin/sh

This command will download and install the 1.5 MyTether software directly to your palm pre.   Go to your apps and you will see a “My Tether” application has now appeared.  Open the app and enable tethering my turning the button to on and use DHCP when the app asks you.

STEP 7
Now this is the easiest (and most fun) step of all: Enjoy the fruits of you labor!  On your computer select “AoNet” as your wireless network.  It should connect in mere seconds.  If not reset your computer and phone.    You can connect to multiple devices to your Palm Pre because you just hacked yourself a wireless “MiFi” router!

Please post any and all questions in the comments section and we will accommodate you as soon as possible.  Also if you enjoyed this and want more palm pre articles, let us know in the comments section!

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