The other day we brought you word of how Palm Profiles were disappearing across the nation after users reset or replaced their phones. While Palm stated that they are aware of the issue and are working on correcting it, Sprint has started giving instructions to users replacing their phones on how to avoid the issue. Apparently it all stems from Palm’s servers getting confused by a new phone having a different version number than the new phone, usually an older version because the new one’s been sitting in a box for a while. Big ups to everybody who sent this in, and to bpdamas for putting it up in the forums
Instructions for users:
- Confirm that your replacement webOS phone has been activated.
- Power on the phone and when prompted to enter your old Palm Profile data, instead choose “Create New Profile.”
- Create a fake/dummy Palm Profile using a different (doesn’t even have to be real) email address.
- Once the phone finishes set-up, do not enter any of your cloud accounts (Yahoo, Gmail, etc) into contacts or calendar or email. Just go straight to Updates and check that you are running the latest version of webOS, currently webOS 1.3.1. If you’re not, immediately download the webOS update (if you have a Pre, remember that WiFi will be significantly faster than trying to go over EVDO). If you are running the latest version of webOS, skip to step six.
- Install the update. Let the phone reset and do all it needs to do.
- Open Device Info and confirm that you’re running the latest version of webOS. If not, go back to 4.
- In Device Info, drop to Reset Options at the bottom and select Full Erase. This will wipe the device clean and reset it.
- After the phone has powered back on, you will be prompted to reenter your Palm Profile. This time, enter your original login username and password. Since you’re on the same version as your last backup, this should restore all your data with no issue.
Instructions for Palm
- Fix this.
...More specifically, one would like to see a way to keep Palm Profile information from newer webOS devices from busting up on older versions. When you think about, though, it makes sense that Palm may need to change some of the backup structures on the Profile.
Here's a better idea: make it so that a Pre is able to do stuff like update itself before you enter your Palm Profile credentials. That's the most user-friendly solution - there will eventually be plenty of Pre phones out there that aren't hooked up to active service but would still be perfectly good WiFi/PDA type devices for some folks. Plus, you know, people won't experience having their Palm Profiles janking up on new phones in the future.
Thanks to everybody that sent this in!
Comments
Of course this assumes the old phone is at
the latest version when it dies.
Embrace the cloud, love the cloud, trust the cloud....EFFF the cloud. This is why I don't trust Ecoteric as a wireless consultant. And frankly, his recommendation of the Large pepperoni with onions wasn't so great either and I let the tip reflect my displeasure with his late delivery.
I strongly believe palm profile should have multiple back up points and the ability to sync with them.
because this article is help to prevent lost data, and this means to all!!!
you lost your data cry about it then go rebuild it. you want to make sure this does not happen again, and if it were to happen use this method to restore your data.
just on a note, if the data is backed up on version 1.2.1 u have to restore on version 1.2.1 if it were on 1.3.1 then on 1.3.1.
and being negative over this solution does not help, palm or sprint is trying to give the users a bandage for this major problem
some help is better than none.
well i did not change phone nor version (EU 1.1.3) and the same happend to me after a erase so this is only a partial solution
acekilla, if Palm had properly developed the cloud... This is why desktop synch should have been standard and "cloud" PIM should have been a new and future oriented feature. No one WILL guarantee their cloud system for integrity, reliability or security. Not a good situation for professionals.
I don't see how this helps those of us that have already lost all of our contacts .
of course I'm not certain but loading ur profile to an updated phone shouldn't be an issue but if you have yahoo info for example and you try to restore to a phone that doesn't support then you run in to trouble.
I totally agree that the setup should include the update preferably before loading ur profile...
for all those who have lost their data, does updating the phone and trying to load it again work or do they assume that because it didn't work the first time it was corrupted and deleted ur info?
+1 to Sprint for figuring this out!!!
+1 to Sprint for figuring this out!!!
I lost my data last week before 131 came out with just doing a webos doctor. Maybe genericly till palm gives us the ok to always to create a bogus profile before signinto you're real one?
not sure this will fix the problem. I was on 1.3.1 and doctored using the 1.3.1 doc. I made sure to "backup now"before the doctor and I still lost most of my contacts.... But I had backed up my PalmDatabase.db file so I just pasted it over the new one and all was good. But the version answer doesn't seem to be a full answer
Sorry, but how do we "know" this will work? Until Palm gives us the ability to see what is backed up in our profile and the ability to save it to our ownbackup device this is still a "bastardized solution".
Sorry Palm, sorry Sprint -- try harder!
Don't think you can really blame sprint on this one. The pre is not exclusive to sprint. Palm truly owns this fix solely.
We'll see what happens, personally I will be happy to see DrewPre's backup program. I am impatiently awaiting its arrival.
Would love to see palm make a web based user interface for the palm profile backup, but that still will be what it will be. A solution similar to DrewPre's (while not being for everyone) seams to be the most comprehensive solution regardless of what palm comes up with, allowing you to backup what you want to backup. It's all in the evolution of the platform, palm spent a lot of time on PalmOS, so being an early adopter of WebOS,I still have faith in Palm's ability to adapt and evolve (especially with some of the new crew they have brought on board).
I wish I knew this before I tried to restore my stuff! I think I only lost a few notes in the notepad app though
The Cloud solution sounds more like a STORM cloud to me! Get me the weird Palm guy to comment on that! "The pre is built on alien technology," my ass!
I just recently lost 90% of my palm profile backed up contacts (the ones not associated with gmail,facebook,etc) about a week ago. i ran the webosdoctor before updating to 1.3.1. Bamm, lost. My phone is not new, however this is my replacement phone i recieved in july. major suckage to lose contacts.
Wouldn't it be easier to just run a WebOS Doctor on the replacement phone immediately before even using it? It would update to the latest OS, be completely wiped clean, and would be faster than doing so OTA. You also don't have to go through that nonsense of faking a different Palm Profile account.
That's a good idea, however I just tried, and the Pre will not connect to the computer via USB until after it has been activated.
We NEED a desktop sync as a backup.
I feel like I'm using a 1980s Sharp Zarus. :-(
So, if this isn't working on 1.3.1 then how can I get back to the last version to try and get my contacts? I lost over 750 contacts and will do anything to get them back.
We NEED a desktop sync backup.
Right now I feel like I'm using a Sharp
Zarus from the 1980s. :-(
You should never rely on a single source for your backup. I don't care how reliable a company says their backups are, nothing is 100% reliable. Before coming to the pre, I backed up all my contacts to Microsoft Outlook. I then synced them to Google Contacts. I use Google Calendar Sync so I always have calendar events on both Outlook and Google Calendar. I had to WebOS Doctor my phone the other day, and I made sure to export and email everything I felt was important, including memos and such. I have only 6 contacts on my Palm Profile, and 4 of them are linked to Google. It's not the most convenient, but I am a lot more in control of my data. Same thing with data stored on your pc. You should always back up important data onto an external in case your harddrive ever unexpectedly gives out. And if stuff is really important, you can also use an online backup like Carbonite if you're worried about any externals being stolen/going bad. It's unfortunate that a lot of people don't know this and/or have never been told. I had to learn the hard way several years back.
mike, that sounds easy enough, but what would all us dumb people who had their contacts transferred from their old phone to their palm profile do now? Palm is holding them hoatage...how do I free them?
Did this work for anybody who actually lost all contacts? this is alot to do if its all for not which is what im thinking
I had got a new pre because my power button on the old on was not working anymore. So no that I got the new phone. All of my contacts are gone but their pics and name are still there...weird. Someone please help. Send me an email please, dfed15@yahoo.com thanks.
easy, don't use the palm profile for your PIM. Use google or yahoo. Problem solved.
Agreed, even if Yahoo or Google manage to deep six your data, there will always be a couple dozen guys in China or former soviet republic with a copy of your PIM.
(note, there may be worse things than nobody having all your data, this next threat will rear its ugly head soon enough as hackers learn to mine valuable data in an efficient manner)
I had 1.3.1 on my Pre. Before I did a full erase, I did a back up. After the erase, I tried to restore my data from Palm backup on the same phone, and it did not come back.
This explanation from Palm does not explain what happened to my Backup.
Exactly what i thought. I never changed phone i could never change WebOS version cause i'm here in europe and we only have 1.1.3. But after a partial erase it also happend to me that most of my data was lost. Only 1 of 290 contacts restored and it was exactly the last contact I edited (same in memos and tasks). So this has NOT always something to do with different WebOS versions, the backups itself seem to be corrupted (only partially saved).
Please keep in mind that if you are going to a Sprint service center they are required to "ready now" your phone. This means that the rep is to ensure that all your contacts are on your new phone before you leave the store. Also keep in mind the rep has NO way to determine the os before the transaction. Also the service centers have been aware of this for almost a week. Also keep in mind most Sprint stores do not have open Wifi networks. Sooooo the do rep will most likely do this procedure on every Palm Pre service, since Palm does not allow reps to work on Pre's, they can only exchange your phone. Download is about 20 min and instal is about 20 min. What does all of this mean to you? When you go into a Sprint store to you will have to set aside a min of about 1.5 hours for Sprint to make you happy. Or Palm could fix the problem. But it was awesome that Sprint found the answer.
So am I screwed and can't get my contacts back. I have everything else except fot that
well i tried this trick...got nothing..oh well my phones been blank for 3 days now wasent losing much this is just total fail and im aggravated
Anyone try doing this after they lost all contacts like me? I needed this info on tuesday....I want to make sure it works before i have to erase everything(again) and have to re-install everything(again). Thanks guys.
This is absolutely, incredibly, unbelievable. To learn that people have lost their contacts, irretrievably, because Palm doesn't have an F'ing clue how to write test plans and test their software seems even worse than when we thought it was a failure of the backups themselves.
How can Palm possibly not think to test the case that a profile restore could be to a different version than the backup? They should have tested a restore to versions at least 2 older than current, probably more.
I no longer feel I can trust Palm's software at all, if this reflects the quality of their testing. At this point, it no longer matters to me if Palm makes WebOS feature competitive with other phones or not. I can no longer trust my data to their software, and they provide no method to ensure I have a good backup. My next phone will be from another company. I have completely lost faith in Palm's ability to execute.
Ok. I'm a little confused. For someone who has lost their data and started putting contacts back onto their phone using GOogle Contacts: will this solution work for me now? I'm thinking about trying it only because the contacts I now have are in Google Contacts.
Anywho, let me know. Would love to know.
"a new phone having a different version number than the new phone"
Yeah, I read that too and decided Palm's servers were not the only ones confused. I was totally bewildered by that revelation.
Had to replace my Pre this week. I THOUGHT I had my profile restored until I started to need to look up contacts and calendar appts over the next few days; while some were there, too many were not. The lost work hours trying to replace contacts and the impossible task of restoring all my appts is very dissatisfying. Needless to say I am now looking to Google as my (hopefully) more reliable back up.
I went from having a phone that did EVERYTHING I wanted it to do (700p) to a phone that's still in beta development. (Pre). :-(
No desktop sync
No reliable backup
No eReader
No Splash ID (the present ver. is a joke)
No 5 way navigator
No way to add folders in email program
No way to add categories in Contacts
Did the people in charge ever use a Palm?
WTF was I thinking?
Palm is dead. This is Orange. Similar to Apple, Orange will tell you what you want and provide what you need, little more. All that was good with Palm -- synch, data-carry-over, productive apps -- is gone. They fooled you, they fooled me. Now we know better.
Had problems w/automatic backup but my phone has not crashed. Just want to back up 300+ contacts that are in palm profile from old phone.
SPRINT IS WAY BETTER FOR HELP--if you have the patience to get to advanced support. However, still no solution cause after 2 hrs the solution was pocket mirror and Palms app catalog is having problems and every time for the last 26 hrs I try to download it (get to page & press download now) I get taken to a screen ap catalog is unavailable try again later.
But Palm SUCKS. Sprint rep conferenced into Palm & stayed on line. Palm guy told me yes, better of backing up because their back up in unreliable, but told me there is no way to access that info once it's in their cloud. Jerk said designed thast way.
PALMS SOLUTION: is TO TYPE YOUR CONTACTS IN MANUALLY (If you still have your old phone--I do) OR TO ERASE EVERYTHING AND START AGAIN.
AND DON'T START THE SUPERIOR GAME THAT IT IT MY FAULT!Innocents like me did not know there was the google option when we bought the phone on the 1st day. Nor did we know the palm cloud was inaccessible. So please stop being so condescending--I know I am not the only one who switched to google backup as soon as I was aware of that option.
Palm rep also said any third party software won't work (apps) as Palm designed the cloud to be totally inaccessible.
Sprint rep was so disgusted w/Palm rep that she just said, ok, you can't help, I'll go back to helping myself.
She spoke to an expert in Pocket Mirror who said if you have your contacts on your phone & have wireless on you computer & phone (not sprint connection) it would work. But no way to test as the dammn app has not been able to download for past 26 hrs.
Waiting to see if pocket mirror will back my 1st 300+ contacts from my old phone that are stick in the Palm Cloud disaster. Don't know if it will work or not since can't download the damn app.
It appears Palm is even more clueless than I thought. After reading all the posts above, it seems even people who were already at 1.3.1 lost data, so Palm's explanation is not just sad, it's wrong. Major FAIL, Palm. Why anyone would trust Palm again is incomprehensible to me.
And for those who feel smug because they're using google, so their data is "safe," what makes you think google can't have a major failure? Perhaps it's less likely, but it's not impossible. It happened to Microsoft not long ago, remember? (In case you don't understand the reference, Microsoft owns Danger and the sidekick.)
I was hoping to chime in here but I was busy doing a backup to my 4 GB SD card using BackupBuddyVFS and then, of course, doing a desktop sync assisted by the BackupBuddy desktop (while I opened my recently synced desktop SplashID to log onto a web site).
All on my Sprint (refreshed) Centro. (smiley face)
I have been itching to get a pre and I'm on this site several times a day, but I am so glad I have waited. Without a desktop sync (and I'd also like a destop app) and a local and not cloud sync for SplashID, I'm just going to wait some more.
[A long time Palm user - starting with the Palm Professional.]
Stay on Centro. I'm tempted to pickup a 755 on Ebay and shut down the Pre for the duration of the contract. All this "how to protect against cloud failure stuff and install from back up, is getting more complicated than the US Tax Code.
Hey you guys complaining about not having a local sync solution. This phone is really open. If it's important to you, then write something and share. Where this stuff is stored is documented on webosinternals. Enjoy:
http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/PalmDatabase.db3_File
I likely would have done this by now, but I moved to google for everything when I took a job that doesn't let me plug the phone into the commputer when I'm at work anyway.
If I could write my own code, I'd do it for a platform that could maintain an EVDO stream longer than two hours.
I lost most of my contacts when I restored my phone back to 1.2.1 and then upgraded to 1.3.1. Most of them were the ones linked to a Google profile. Now, thanks to Palm, I have everything on Google...besides, I don't know what my next phone is gonna be. Thank God I still have my old phone around, I would be angry and hysterical if I didn't.
If u still have your old phone with all the contacts in it, go to a Sprint store and transfer your contacts to the Pre again.
What makes you think Google will never have a failure? You put your faith in Palm, and lost, now you're putting your faith in Google. Good luck. Just because they're bigger doesn't make them immune. I want to be able to control my own backups and have multiple version backups.
just lost all my contacts....thanks to the almighty trust in the palm pre "sync" on new phone. oh well...right?
Did this... Had over 1000 contacts on my Palm profile, and only 24 came over!!! DIDN'T WORK!!!
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