Re: N900 in Japan?
 

ok now I'm curious, you have to tell us what it's about:)

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

Speaking of people actually testing these things on Japanese networks, has anyone else installed the SCIM/Anthy package Kimitake has uploaded to extras-devel?

Apparently it works for him, but I can't get it to install and start up cleanly in the SDK environment. Has anyone loaded it on their phone, and did anything special have to be done to get it going?

http://kimitakeblog.net/
http://maemo.org/packages/view/scim/
http://maemo.org/packages/view/anthy/
http://maemo.org/packages/view/scim-anthy/
http://maemo.org/packages/view/hildo...-plugins-scim/

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

she is a lady that uses her womanly part to cut an inserted banana into pieces the size you would put on your cheerios for breakfast. she also has a snake that goes in there. no, she is not hot. she is kind of old and real dog too. that takes a lot of the magic out of it...
regardless, i think iv filled my freaky sh*t quota for life.

and i solved a personal mystery -if they dont take american singles, they have a coin purse on their g-string or a bowl at the foot of the stage (im not a strip club kind of guy, but i did always wonder about how they handled the smallest paper money being 1000 yen and thus too expensive to serve as a 'single'). though that could be an okinawa thing, as a lot of businesses accept american currency here, and i havent seen anywhere else on the main island that did.

soooooooo...
i guess im boned.
get a prepaid sim before getting to japan, or have a friend get a new phone and pay them for the hassle.

what the hell, japan?

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

ok , sounds ridiculas - cant be bothered with that, cant even be bothered with seeing hot birds stripe its just a tease.

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

i have been using the mscim package for about a week. it works very well, and aside from the old issue about the Sym key and virtual keyboard not working (the devs say its on their to-fix list, woohoo!), its perfect. just apt-get mscim and it will pull everything it needs.

iv been looking up words all day! fantastic and useful saturday-night words like oshiri =]

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

well this was an oddity, and yes an absolutely ridiculous one. i doubt that anyone desires anything from the banana lady except their money back =]

yeah i agree with you on the tease thing. im back at my hotel now (0245) because i was the only person in my group that didnt find the professional teasers at various snack bars utterly enthralling. its difficult for me to even be there and see it, everything they do is so fake and obvious, but no one else seems to get it.

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

agreed . i either want it for my own pleasure or not at all. i dont need it rammed down my throat all night.

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

Never mind, got it going.

It uses a very weird romanization style and input doesn't act like I expected from SCIM (or Anthy.)

For instance, to get 日 I have to type "niti." Also, it inputs showing romaji and tries to auto-convert mid-input instead of doing a swap once input is complete and I hit space.

I suppose I should look into an mscim/n900 port of Anthy, since it behaves more like I expect.

update:
It also won't activate in XChat, despite nothing being bound to ctrl+space :/

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

This is an almost-confirmation that a SoftBank SIM will work in the N900. The following Japanese shop is selling the N900 and recommends the use of a SoftBank SIM:

http://www.stf-phone.com/shopdetail/...00255/019/000/ (in Japanese)

This means, "You can use it (the N900) inside of Japan. If you use it inside of Japan, we recommend the use of SoftBank SIM cards from our shop."

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

Out of interest if anyone has taken 900 to Japan, does the GPS get a fix? And assuming you can find some maps for over there?

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

Hi fellow gaijins=)
I have N900 and softbank white plan for iphone. Did you get your USIMs working on the nokia? If so, how??
There is "Softbank Mobile Internet" AP available, but when i try to connect it says: "Internet connection failed. Try again?"
Also how to set-up email?
Calls are working though.
Thanks a bunch!

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

found the e-mail settings. just set-up e-mail address, login-id and password in:
https://selfcare.softbank.jp/cca/login.do
(incoming mail server) imap: imap.softbank.jp
(outgoing mail server) smtp: smtp.softbank.jp
server port: 993

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

Good to hear someone is actually using the N900 in Japan. Did you buy it in Japan, or import it? The Japanese import shops seem pretty pricey (up to $1000!), so I'm wondering if there's a cheap way to buy it locally or if I'll have to import myself.

Also, someone asked a very interesting question earlier in this thread... does the N900 GPS get a fix in Japan? And are there maps available for Japan on the N900?

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

i got a GPS fix in okinawa. the ovi maps app didnt have maps for that area built in.
i installed Maep and it pulled maps from openstreet when i was online (via wifi of course).

i will be in tokyo soon, will definitely need street maps (finding my way back to my hotel after a crazy night out, usually). gjiten and mscim are also invaluable with my child-like japanese skills.
even with the phone part being useless (for me without a SIM), the n900 is a fantastic companion in japan.
i took my 770 with me in 2006, my n810 in 2008, and now the n900. havent taken a laptop out of country since 2005 =]

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

Good to hear you got a GPS fix. There have been reports about GPS not locking without a data connection (https://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7026). Since you'll be using GPS and street maps in Tokyo, and presumably without a data connection when you're on the go (no SIM and no wifi), I'd be interested in hearing if the GPS continues to work well for you or if you encounter locking problems as described in the above bug report...

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

i think that was the thread that suggested one turn off Network Positioning for a quicker/better GPS lock. once i did that, i finally got my first GPS fix on the device.

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

I bought my N900 from finland before coming to japan, im finnish so all i can use is nokia=)
Got it for like 700USD. I think the best GPS maps for japan is google maps, im sure the app will
be ported sum day? But yeah, without a fixed data plan it's a no go. Well anyway the prepaids are
ridiculously expensive in japan, so afaik. a big time contract is forced upon those staying for a longer time. 4000yen/month for unlimited free internet is not so bad.

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

I apologize in advance if this is a really stupid question, but I have installed all of the scim and scim-anthony packages that wmarone mentioned but I can't figure out how to use them and there is very little documentation on the subject that I can find.

I would imagine that I need to have the scim daemon running but just starting it in a xterm doesn't seem to do anything. What should I be doing?

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

I also have the same problem. How do I use them? When is an easy-to-use version coming? The iPhone can do this easily out of the box.

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

all iv ever needed to do was install mscim and mscim-tables-ja and then reboot. CTRL+SPACE switches input methods.
just hit ctrl+space and start typing in japanese and a box should pop up with the characters youre typing. press space when you want to accept what is displayed.
and yes, the scim daemon must be running, though the install and subsequent reboot should set that up for you.
check it on the command line with
$ps faux | grep scim

that said, iv had some issues recently with the kana not appearing as i type, though when i press space it appears where i was entering text. weird...

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

I brought the 5800XM to Japan in a trip last year and tried the Ovi Map. It took me a few minutes to get the first GPS fix, but it did work.

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

im heading to japan (tokyo, osaka, and every girl in between ^_-) for a month-long vacation on saturday. one of my friends has a spare softbank phone waiting for me!
ill likely put a data plan on it when i get there as wireless was too sparse to be useful on the n810 last time i was there. at least with the n810 i had an external ethernet adapter to plug in with... why nokia, why??

when i get there ill pop the SIM and report back!

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

works great in tokyo!
though i can only get a 3g connection... i would prefer gsm to conserve battery

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

That's because there are no GSM networks in japan ;)

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

well, better than nothing. people can call me directly now, im happy for that alone =)

there is no open wifi around here (in saitama about 40min from tokyo, atm) so im going to look into a data plan. however i hear its quite expensive...

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

I'm moving to Fussa (25 mins from Tokyo) in about 4 weeks or so. I have perused this thread and it seems possible to get my N900 working there. I read of Softbank's website that most (if not all) Nokia phones are not supported with data plans. My buddy who lives in Japan now actually has a SIM in his N95 on DoCoMo's network. But it seems that with 3G, I should be ok and my deivce should work?

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

mine works fine with a softbank sim, so i think yours should too.

i went out and got really drunk last night and LOST MY STYLUS!
anyone know a place that sells nokia hardware near or around tokyo?

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

if i swap sim card from my softbank iphone, can i still use the flat rate 3g connection?

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

Plan on a Japan vacation in May. What options exist if I want to use my N900 mainly for net access there? Do any of the rental phone services come with data that can be tether to the N900?

Looking into a bit more it seems b-mobile may be the best option for N900 3g data in Japan? Has anyone tried this yet.

The website only shows a USB device; can the sim in it be easily removed & is it usable in the N900?

How does the 150 hours of usage work since were talking about data? Likely much more then I need for a 8 day vacation so can this thing be resold with whatever is left on it?

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

So does anyone know if what I'm asking will work? I'd love to have 3g data net access on my n900 for the 8 days that'll I'll be in Japan. I've read that b-mobile also has another USB modem with 150 minutes but I don't know if it's 3g.

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

Yes, I have the 150 hours prepaid device.

Yes, it can be easily removed and I have done so. There's a sliding tray just above the USB connector that you can slide out with your thumbnail and take out the SIM.

I don't know since I don't have a N900 yet. I assume it would work since it uses the NTT network, which runs on 2100MHz. I think I read about people successfully using it in other Nokia smartphones: http://oniku.blog.ocn.ne.jp/denwa/20...noki_76ad.html

Yes, you can resell it privately to someone else. (You cannot sell it back to the vendor, as they will not refund your remaining balance.) At that point officially the person is supposed to transfer the ownership by re-registering it; otherwise it keeps running under your previous registration.

You have to register the device by calling a phone number with a Japanese cell phone and inputting your device-specific ID number. No other information is needed (pretty convenient). From then on every time you connect, your time gets deducted. One connection always uses up a minimum of 3 minutes (so no 30 second quick mail checks). After the first 3 minutes, time is subtracted from your remaining balance in 1 minute increments.

Officially you're supposed to use some Windows-only proxy program to connect and keep track of your remaining time. But I don't do that (I connect the USB modem either directly to my Linux box, or I connect it to my wireless Cradlepoint router). Since you're not running their official time-keeping software, you need some other way of inquiring about how much time you have left. There's an (unofficial?) administrative website you can connect to that tells you your remaining time. Read all about it here (and bone up on your Japanese skills): http://oniku.blog.ocn.ne.jp/denwa/20...e_3g_c25a.html

Note the service has some traffic shaping so you can't watch Youtube or connect to data-intensive online games like Second Life. For normal surfing and mail checking it's fine though. For Youtube I was able to use an online proxy to watch, but I wouldn't recommend doing that often as they say they can disconnect you if you use "too much" data.

Still, it's one of the few (only?) prepaid data plans available.

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

Has anyone tried b-mobile's data only prepaid SIM? I tried it but no luck... "SIM Registered Failed" error appears on the screen.:(

It worked with other Nokia devices like 5800XM by setting the Packet Setting and "When available" option. Unfortunately I couldn't find this settings from both the
Settings application and various files stored under /etc.

http://translate.google.com/translat...m/setting.html

I feel that this case is similar with 3 (UK) data SIM card problem, which its SIM was unrecognized in previous maemo 5 release. It should be fixed in the current one, but I wonder how Nokia fixed it. Any info? :confused:

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

Looks like we are in the same boat :( I get exactly the same error. I started a different thread here:

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...541#post625541

Maybe these threads should be merged?

A workaround is to connect the b-mobile 3G USB modem to a Cradlepoint mobile router then access the connection via wifi. A bulky solution though - I'd much rather use the SIM in the n900 directly.

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

Sorry, can you say me how did you install gjiten? In my terminal it doesn´t work properly (no radicals are shown), and I have no kanji input method.
Can I also install kanjipad?
[

QUOTE=hallgreng;460529]its an alaskan AT&T 3g-branded SIM.
regardless, the n900 is really badass with gjiten and mscim working. my japanese sucks (i only really know enough to impress the pants off a girl [though my accent and kana penmanship are said to be superb]), so gjiten and mscim REALLY come in handy when im looking for a word.[/QUOTE]

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

you need to download and install the kanjipad binary from the debian repos (the sid version is a good bet) by hand.

i dont know why it isnt showing fonts correctly for you. gjiten shows no deps on my system and my gjiten has always displayed bushu.

here are the fonts i have installed, see if i have any more than you:

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

What's this? It's possible to get kanjipad on the N900??? Please give more details.

Your suggestion which I quoted above is probably enough for experienced debian users. But while I'm quite comfortable with the linux command line, the details of debian are not my strength. My attempts to check into this on the basis of what you wrote have led me down several confusing alleys.

A URL from which do download would be very helpful. I did find my way to a repository with reference to kanjipad in a plain text list of packages, but could not dope out where to find actual armel binaries. I've also found references to sid, but what is it and why is it a "good bet". Is it just a "good bet" or has what you suggest actually been verified to work on the N900?

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

Which reminds me, does anyone know if Kimitake has done any further work on getting Anthy to work on the N900?

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

it worked on my n810, and prior to posting this i just installed and tested it on my n900. works great!

1) download this: http://ftp.ca.debian.org/debian/pool....0-6_armel.deb
2) in an xterm as root, cd into the dir you downloaded the aforementioned .deb into
3) run the command this will install the package. it has no deps, so it should go right in.
4) inside gjiten, open the dropdown menu and select TOOLS->PREFERENCES
5) select the GENERAL button on the lefthand side, then the KANJIPAD tab inside
6) under "path to kanjipad executable:" enter: hit OK
7) enjoy kanjipad!


ill be the one with questions when that meego thing hits -_-;

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

I assume this means it's installing to the rootfs, which is risky depending on how big it is vs. how much you have free.

A proper port wouldn't hurt, I think.

Re: N900 in Japan?
 

this is true, however there things to consider:
1) the .deb is 35k and the binary 24k, so the impact to the rootfs is minor at worst
2) the .deb can be unpacked and the kanjipad binary put wherever a person likes (gjiten must be told where it lives regardless)
3) i am not in the business of making packages... though i must say i may try to build an optified package today just out of curiosity. if anything comes of it ill be happy to share!

UPDATE:
i optified the package but the binary calls specifically for /usr/bin/kengine, so without modifying the source code (trivial) and recompiling the binary, this package can only be half-optified.

seeing as it is less than 35k overall, i dont see the point.