Steven Paolini Yeager

Tempest in a teapot?

Friday, July 2, 2010 2:00:20 AM

Much is being posted about Nokia's decision to have the N900 auto subscribe to a SMS bot mailing list with no means of opting out...

Originally posted by CommunityCouncil;730580:

The Maemo Community Council raised with Nokia the issue that upgrading to Maemo 5 PR1.2 forces the user to subscribe, via SMS, to the "MyNokia" service. The user has no ability to opt-out: it's either subscribe or don't use the device...

>> http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=57214

The N900 is still the one, the only... open source mobile computer manufactured by a major "playa".

No one said the phone would be open source.

Maemo the OS it's own dang self has always had closed bits and I don't remember seeing an announcement from Nokia saying that this would change in any subsequent versions they released.

Although I recently returned a volley during a recent discusion that may have seemed critical of this fact: The NiT's, and now the N900, have always been able to load alternative OS's. (Proprietary and third party drivers aside.

) PB, then qole, Titan and now dj_steve have provided enough information for an advanced user to do just that.

I suspect that for some time to come when a well known blogger or tech site says that they are going to load up the latest build of whatever exciting new mobile OS they claim is out there (With the exception of any iOS... for now

)., they may actually be loading it on to an N900 to get their first impressions...

But I'm drifting again.

The issue brought up by the council is about not having the ability to opt out and has nothing to do with the OS free or otherwise.

On the topic of the mechanism used...

FMTX revisited

Saturday, June 19, 2010 2:56:17 PM

Originally posted by qwerty12;699907:

@YoDude

Thanks! Alas, not all of Nokia's many closed source stuff is as trivial to clone.
You could probably make something custom with Quick Launch and http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=689762. My MAFW stuff isn't stable so you'd probably not want an applet from me... :\

Worked like a charm dude!
(files attached)

BTW, I haven't even begun to look at your code on this yet so forgive the niavette...

Can Alan's FM-Boost code be added to the enable function for one stop rockin'?

EDIT: Zip added because of questions about the status bar in the screeny.

Originally posted by Me via PM to another party:

A couple of things I've learned about this file (N900:\etc\hildon-desktop\status-menu.plugins) are...

Do not remove what is in the original file or you may loose that associated functionality. For instance: If you remove the Battery entry because maybe you don't like it or suttin', your device will no longer recognize when the charger is plugged in.

Likewise for Bluetooth etc.

With that said make a back-up of the OEM file first.

Any third party Status Bar app can be used in the status bar but it will not have a permanent assignment here if it is not included in this file as you may already have found out.
>> http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=601125&postcount=66

You can however change the order of the permanently assigned entries as I have found out.

ZIP will soon be attached to that post of mine that you refferenced...

...A new zipped archive should now be attached to this post.

Another great idea from Faheem Pervez AKA: qwerty12

Friday, June 4, 2010 2:56:24 AM

Faheem Pervez Member since 2008-01-27
Username - qwerty12
Country - United Kingdom
Job title - Student
Interest - Programming

Originally posted by qwerty12:

Long story short, I didn't want the FM Transmitter status menu applet to hide after I disabled it. Unfortunately, it's closed source and I didn't want to have to add another applet just to enable it. Looking at it, it wasn't complicated so even I could write a clone. It's pretty much a 1:1 clone (with the showing of error messages broadcast by fmtxd over D-BUS, usage of Nokia strings for localisation, and everything). IDA Pro FTW.
Only things I did differently was to ensure that the button is always there in the status area and I made sure that all memory was freed...

With the FM Transmitter off:
[img]http://qwerty12.qole.org/maemo-statusmenu-fmtx/Screenshot-20100204-175150.png

With it on:
[img]http://qwerty12.qole.org/maemo-statusmenu-fmtx/Screenshot-20100204-175214.png

Replacement .so here; source here. Place the .so in /usr/lib/hildon-desktop, being sure to backup the previous one.

...and my reply in >> this thread << on talk.maemo.org

Originally posted by YoDude:

WOW! Thanks for opening this up... you're still the best mang.

This approach if generalized across the board, opens many things up to the imagination.

(heavy sigh) If only I had this...

Instead of this...

...Keep on hexin' mang!

How to view, manipulate, and edit all the files on your N900 from within Windows File Explorer…

Monday, May 31, 2010 10:20:12 PM

The remainder of these posts will be mirrored on a blog I maintain. Don't worry, it is commercial free and I use it to support my forum posts and not the other way around. It is a handy place to link images from and the only reason I mention it now is because it is also a convenient place to store the files and small apps that I am involved with. Because my hosts apparently cut off deep links when a whole bunch of folks hit me up for one of these files I'll also include each mirrored Blog article addy at the bottom my posts where you will always have access to the files.

Now before we begin there are a couple of things you should do:

1. Install rootsh by Faheem Pervez (qwerty12) if you haven't already done so. >> http://maemo.org/downloads/product/Maemo5/rootsh/
This will allow you to Enable root access, via the "sudo gainroot" command from X=terminal
"sudo gainroot" will work without requiring you to enable R&D mode.

2. Purchase a good nail file and use it to file down the tangs on the male end of whatever you plug into the N900's usb port. (chargers, data cables, etc.) There have been plenty of reports of the USB port used on the N900 breaking off the circuit board and coming out completely still attached to the cable. What you will be doing is filing down the little retention hooks on the male end so there is little resistance.

Both 1 and 2 are not required for this next exercise but I thought it best to mention it now while I have your attention.

The following steps will give you complete point and click access to the N900 over your home WiFi connection from the Windows File Explorer. Your N900 will show up as a drive letter whenever you connect.

REGARD! You will now have the power to do the customizations that will be discussed later in an easy to use, familiar environment. You will also have the power to completely FUBAR your phone by just hitting the space key or the enter key from your desktop keyboard when you are in the wrong file at the wrong time. Any of the mods I outline later will not involve files in one of these wrong places and I will show the logic I used when making the changes and provide what the expected results should be.

However, it is my intention that we will all learn from this and more Windows users will eventually become comfortable with the N900's directory structure.
Please familiarize yourself with the flashing procedure outlined in the first post of this thread >> http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1647347

And remember: NO SNIVELING!

***

1. Install Openssh by Ed Bartosh on your N900 >> http://maemo.org/downloads/product/Maemo5/openssh/
(both rootsh and Openssh are available in the maemo.org repository on your N900 in the Application Manager application).

2. During the installation of Openssh you will be asked to set the root password, write this down or record it for later.

You will now have both a Secure shell client and server available on your N900.

3. Download and install the free 30 day demo of ExpanDrive found here >> http://www.expandrive.com/windows/ on your Windows7 32bit machine and you will now have SFTP access from Windows File Explorer.

4. If you haven't already done so make sure you have administrative rights in Win7 and File Explorer is set to show all folders and view all files.

When you set up the connection from within ExpanDrive your user name will be "root" (without the dang quotes) and your password will be whatever you recorded earlier when you installed Openssh on your N900.

For the IP address use whatever your router has assigned to the N900 when it connects to WiFi. (you can find this on your routers set-up page under attached devices)

Now there are other ways to do this that are cheaper (read free) but ExpanDrive gives you a free 30 day trial and it is very simple to set up and is quite stable.

Besides, one of the purposes of this is to show how easy some things are to do in Windows in hopes more Windows users will become involved. One of the biggest hurdles Maemo has faced is lack of easy access and explanation from Windows in the past.

Do you think that the file locations and "how to" explanations that some Maemo heads can rattle off second nature like are because they memorized all of it from the command line in x-term? Maybe for a few but for most it is because SSH connection tools are second nature in the Linux world and most use a GUI file explorer from a Linux desktop.

This can also be done over USB although I haven't tried it. USB networking connection information can be found here >> http://wiki.maemo.org/USB_networking

And les_garten's "Howto Work with N900 as a Drive Letter in Windows" thread on talk.maemo.org can be found here >> http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=47888

Next up: What to do? Icons and Shortcuts

In the mean time cruise over to [N900 drive letter:\home\user\MyDocs] on your new N900 drive in your Windows File Explorer and create a shortcut to this location in the N900 shortcut folder you have on your Windows machine and enjoy easy access to your personal files on the n900 with out having to plug in that dang USB cable.

[N900 drive Letter:\media\mmc1] will give you wireless access to your removable memory card.

Applications vs. Web Pages

Friday, April 23, 2010 12:29:26 AM

In reply to...

Originally posted by nosa101 Today , 06:43 PM:

Posts: 159 | Thanked: 31 times | Joined on Feb 2010 @ College Station, TX

Another good example of the usefulness of apps just occurred to me. I need to check my account but i didn't want to open the full website. I whipped out my iTouch and checked it with the Bank of America app. Sure, the BOA app is not as extensive as the website. But it is a lot faster to use for the simple things.

Kinda ironic since that is the Apple approach to things. Make the simple things fast and forget about the rest until we can make it simple. The n900 should be able to give users that choice.

...posted in THIS thread on talk.maemo.org

Maemo always has given us a choice because of the ease with which you can locally store and browse HTML.

>> http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=28221

The Doppler app found in that^ thread is all presented with locally stored HTML that grabs common images and data found on the net.

Just last night I put together something useful for me on the N900 in about an hour and a half.

For the last couple of weeks I have been using Sygic Maps on my N900 in the car. I prefer portrait mode because it adds another mile or so to my "look ahead". The trouble was, any bookmark that I have for travel info is formatted for landscape. I also wanted an easy way to access all the information with as little effort as possible from Sygic so I put together this by changing one of the templates also posted in the above thread:

And as you can see. I store it locally on the N900...

From there I can punch up Traffic and weather info with one touch...
Zoomable Doppler:

5 Day outlook:

Cropped traffic map of the area in which I'm traveling:

Local accident reports:

And even selected DOT cams of area hotspots:

But with all that info at your fingertips your are still going to run into the inevitable at some point... Dang, a traffic jam. No problem, that last link is to another page of tools:

Where I can get news:

Or find an answer to a problem I'm ruminating:

The whole process from dreaming it up on they way home from work yesterday afternoon to actually using it on my N900 on my way in to work this morning was less than 24 hours. I'm not a programmer, I just used common HTML mark up language to construct the pages that I (and anyone can) learn by using the "View page source" feature found on just about every desktop browser when we see a page layout we like.

As a bonus, we also have this outstanding community. As I was finishing it up I thought it sure would be sweet if I could access it from the new Quick Launch app found in testing so I cruised on over to the thread on talk.maemo.org to ask the actual dang developer. >> http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=46321 (something I doubt is as easy with any other phone OS)
It was a no go but I did learn how to move the status menu items so Quick Launch would appear sooner.

And then Bingo! I remember a post from qwerty12 from back in the N800 days where he helped me do something similar. It took another half hour of searching and some trial and error but I did get something functional. (Again, the forums are a valuable, historic resource that few others offer.)

So, let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up:

The Internet is like a huge feast with every kind of food imaginable. Right now you can choose to partake in one of three ways:

Table d'hôte:
A complete meal of several courses, with limited choices,charged at a fixed price.

À la carte:
Items priced and ordered separately.

Or the all-you-can-eat buffet:
Where you can make your own choice of what an how much of any or all of the food that is offered. Sometimes you can even talk to the Chef or Saucier as your food is being prepared and can make special requests.

I'm a buffet kind of guy and the N900 serves my needs well. YMMV

Sygic Splash Screen

Friday, April 16, 2010 1:23:04 AM

http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=611153&postcount=196

So last night while I was waiting for a POI data base Laughing Man sent me to recompile (and crash, yet again

) I found a way to change the slash screen.

It involves creating a new folder in the Sygic "Res" directory found in MyDocs on the N900 N900:\home\user\MyDocs\Res\skin\others

Open "Res" with the N900's file manager then open the "skin" folder, then open the "others" folder found there. You should see just one folder called mobilemaps. While you are in the "others" directory create a new folder and call it "custom" (or whatever you dang well please).

Now the next part will require an image editor and I used Paint Shop Pro. The next set of instructions or for using a Windows PC (Linux users, being much brighter then us common folk

, I'm sure can transpose them to ones that work for them.)

Connect the N900 to the desktop in "Mass Storage Mode". from your PC cruise into the N900:\home\user\MyDocs\Res\skin\others directory where we were on the N900 before. Open the mobilemapsfolder and select a file called 1_1.dat. Copy that file (do not move it)to the "custom" folder you created earlier.

Now open that copied file with Paint Shop Pro. You should see something like this:

Change that image's dimensions from 130 x 29 to 800 x 480. Do not change anything else.
It will look like hell but that's not the point.

Next open an 800 x 480 image in your editor that you would like to use as your splash screen, copy that image and paste it as a "new selection into the resized 1_1.dat image. Save your new 1_1.dat image to where it came from N900:\home\user\MyDocs\Res\skin\others\custom.
Close up shop. You're done.

Now cruise over to the settings.ini file found at N900:\home\user\MyDocs\Drive\Maemo

Open that file in Notes on the N900 or WordPad or other text editor on your PC.

Edit the line

splash=mobilemaps

found there to

splash=custom

(or whatever you called the dang thing), start up Sygic and enjoy.

This is Q & D and I'm thinkin' with a little tweakin', animated Splash screens will also run.

***

For those playing along at home who want to see it in action simply unpack the attached Splash Screen.zip file and put the two folders found there in the N900:\home\user\MyDocs\Res\skin\othersdirectory.

If you change the line in settings.ini to

splash=custom

...you will get the following as your new splash screen:

A photograph by Anna Nilsson, an artist I found that shares some of the same attractions with me.

If you change the line in settings.ini to

splash=yodude

...you will get this as your new splash screen:

... and you may see why I think crude animations would work.

Have fun.

... But hey, don't go a hurtin' yourself none.

Splash Screen.zip

Apple alone vs. AOL + WinTel

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 12:46:54 AM

Posted in this thread on talk maemo.org

Originally posted by wmarone;607996:

The problem is cited in the segment I quoted. It is not merely that it happens in Apple's gated community, but that others may see Apple's route as a successful idea and implement equally closed ecosystems.

We can, in a way, see that with WP7 which (unless MS does a 180 in the next few months) will be equally closed. This would likely be backed up by demands from media companies of those who wish to carry their content, and relying on public inertia and apathy (or ignorance?) to carry it. The ultimate worry is where such a situation would steer modern personal computing technology.

Personally, I don't enjoy the thought of having to effectively give up ownership of my hardware to stay up to date with the news. For now I'm content to criticize and work against Apple's closed platform.

Hardly. It voices a concern the rest of the media is more than happy to brush under the carpet. After all, -they're- absolutely gung ho about a closed system that makes it really easy to extract payments from everyone. They'd love it if that were the new way of interacting with "The Web" and the -only- way. The new TV, per se.

I don't see a problem at all. An Apple only future will come only if development on every thing else stops. Right now, Apples momentum is formidable. However, things change.

When I first saw the iPhone and it's approach it seemed vaguely familiar...
I posted that it went against the grain of what the internet/web was about regarding open standards...
Then I saw sales take off and looked at the people who were buying it.
I read statements like "Apple knows what I want before I do..." etc. And that feeling of familiarity came over me again.

Newer models and even greater sales numbers followed. A good many of the people who were buying these things though had never owned a "Smart" phone and may have only used their previous phones to make phone calls. For some, the most they ever did other than that was to forward a risqué animated GIF of Santa Claus making Rudolf's nose so bright via MMS.

Cute, but at the end of the month they saw their carriers had nickeled and dimed them for these MMS and SMS messages and that fad sort of died.

Meanwhile geeks were struggling with WAP on 1.2 inch screens and again the carriers and manufacturers were either nickle and diming them for connection costs or manufacturers saw no need to provide much more than a 2 inch screen.

Then the light bulb went off over my head and the feeling of familiarity crystallized for me.
I now saw the IPhone as AOL all over again.

Back in that day. Folks with home computers used them to collect recipes or sort holiday greeting card lists and if the did have a connection it was at most 28K over POT.
The geeks had Comp-U-Serve and this new web thing if they could get a socket up and running, but that was it. Those with MAC had AOL. (It was called something else IIRC)

Once socket connectons became viable you could explore all 2500 or so web pages that were available.

Then BAM! US Robotics @ 56K, Windows95, and those free AOL disks that were every freakin' where.
The geeks kept rockin' the net with Archie, Gopher, Veronica and Jughead... then Mozilla/Netscape... and usage grew slowly at first.

Meanwhile millions of families began buying Buffy and Junior that new PC to help them with their homework... and bonus! The ones at CompUSA (remember them, lol) come with Windows95 and a free trial of this Internet everyone was talking about. It was just what dad was looking for to spend that tax rebate check on. The world was coming off a deep recession (just as it is today) and dang it, this was the future and nothing is too good for Buffy and Junior.

...except it wasn't the Internet dad. It was AOL.

Back then I saw stuff like this:
"It's just like the internet only better!" or,
"AOL is much safer for the kids. God only knows what those geeks are up to."
And the one that lit the light bulb for me, "With keyword searches, it's like AOL knows what I need before I do."

AOL made buckets of money... 10 years ago they bought Time-Warner with all that loot in order to bring "content to America's living rooms in a whole new way". Sound familiar?

What was that guys name anyway? Case? I can't even remember his first name.

The same thing that happened then is happening now, increased bandwidth became available to a larger percentage of the population. And, independent development continued.

As DSL became widely available, AOL users found that they could more easily reach the limits of their walled garden. "Is that it?", they may have wondered.

As browsers and the operating system's that ran them became friendlier, AOL users began to realize that they were paying a dang premium for content the could get for free or for just the cost of their ISP.
"I'm paying how much a month to use AOL when the "real" web is right there?"

I see the iPad as AOL 5.0

It is coming at a time when more people will have access to increased affordable mobile bandwidth and the development of friendlier open source mobile operating systems continues.

Apple will make wheelbarrows full of money but Iphone and IPad users may soon start to ask the same questions that AOL users did then; "Is that it? and, "Including the cost of the hardware, I'm paying how much a month just to use this dang thing?".

The only difference is that this time only one corporate entity is reaping the benefits. (Apple alone vs. AOL + WinTel). Jobs obviously learned from the past. Also like in the past; was there ever another version of AOL that increased revenues as much as AOL 5.0 did?

***

Just like we owe a debt of gratitude to AOL for the low cost of broadband today, in the future we will be grateful that Apple introduced so many more people to mobile internet use. I know I am.

Random screen shots

Friday, April 9, 2010 11:35:43 PM

Just tossing in screenies that I use to support forum posts.

How to Overclock the N900 to a relatively safe(r) 800mhz

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 1:28:16 AM

Using the following method you can flash the kernel on the phone without the need for additional "flasher" software.

1. Download the 800mhz fiasco image

zImage800mhz.fiasco

2. Place this^ file in "MyDocs" on the N900...

3. Run X Term and become root, then type fiasco-image-update /home/user/MyDocs/zImage800mhz.fiasco

(X-term is case sensitive and commands are particular about spaces. What I did was cut and pasted the above text in bold into a note on the N900. I opened this note and just C & P'ed that text in X-term once I was at the root prompt.)

4. Reboot and rock on!

If you want to return to the stock kernel then open X Terminal and become root, then use the following command apt-get --reinstall install kernel kernel-flasher and reboot. (Another command you should keep in that new note file on your N900

)

Have Fun but remember:

Previously available modded kernels will make the about page say <unknown> for the hardware and software. (So the Nokia Software Updater will not work and you will have to manually flash your device if you wish to upgrade to the new firmware). The image found above has been modified not to do this and will show the correct version. Regard, I can't say for sure if the Nokia Software Updater will work because I don't use the dang thing.

* There is an additional speed step down from 250mhz. So instead of 250mhz idle it now sits @ 125mhz idle with lower voltage. 125/250/500/550/800 instead of 250/500/550/600.

* You are sacrificing machine lifetime by running it overclocked and stressing it at 100% for longer periods of time.

* Everything will feel faster and is faster.

* The fastest kernels might not work on your phone, I have heard no such reports with the sucker clocked at 800MHz or below and I have no need to try anything more than 800MHz. Mr. Johnson hasn't gotten any taller because of this 33% increase in my clock speed.

Additional speed increases are not worth the risk vs. any additional benefits IMHO.

* This (the overclocking procedure) requires only flashing the new kernel in, the phone setups and apps will stay. Only the clock speed increases.

With all that was said, it is still possible that an over-clocked N900 might end up like the following...