Touchpad Toolbox

While most software issues can be fixed with a trip to the doctor, if you (or some previous owner) had been experimenting with alternate OSes, like LuneOS or Android (or both!) and find yourself in a situation where you can't boot and can't doctor, but you can get the device to power on, the Touchpad Toolbox is here to save the day!

The Touchpad Toolbox loads a minimal environment into memory during a rescue boot, and allows you to wipe partitions and start over. You may also use this tool for other kids of experiments -- those will not be documented here, but if you mess up, these instructions should help you start over!

These instructions are provided for quick reference, no guarantee is implied.

Download the Toolbox

The Touchpad Toolbox originated with jcsullins on the XDA Forums, where many cool things happen. As of this writing, those links still work, so start with the XDA post.

If those links go stale, webOS Archive has a back-up of the essential zip archive here.

Running the Doctor

PC Environment

Ensure you have the novacom drivers working on your PC. See the Prepare Your Computer section of the Activation instructions.

The Toolbox has startup scripts that run in most Mac, Windows and Linux environments -- even as of 2026. If one OS doesn't work, try another -- the script will need access to your PC's USB ports, so may need elevated privileges.

Touchpad Environment

Regardless of the software state of your Touchpad, if it powers on, you can probably run the toolbox. But start by powering it off...

  • Connect a known-good USB cable between your Touchpad and the PC where you have the Toolbox installed
  • With the power off, press and continue to hold the Volume Up button on your Touchpad
  • With the Volume Up button still held down, press the Power button until the screen lights up (usually about 5 seconds)
  • When the USB symbol appears on the screen, release all buttons

Running the Toolbox

  • On your PC, run the appropriate tptb_ startup script for your OS -- its best to do this from a Terminal/Command Prompt.
  • If all goes well, the Toolbox will "install" on the Touchpad and boot into its environment
    • If something goes wrong, check that novacom and novacomd can run on your PC (re-visit instructions) and try another USB cable
  • Once it starts, use the hardware Volume keys and Home button on your Touchpad to make and confirm selections
  • For a true "Start Over", select "Complete Data Reset" and confirm it multiple times
  • Once the the data reset completes, select "Create webOS Volumes" and confirm that action as well
  • Finally reboot the device back into recovery mode (hold Volume up while powering up), and run the appropriate Doctor for your device. For most Touchpads, you'll want webosdoctorp305hstnhwifi.jar

Alternate Instructions

This process is similar to the steps involved in Installing Android on your Touchpad.

Community member neon also refreshed the Android install documentation on the webOS Lives forums in 2023.