os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

Oh my, what a pity. Everything is beautiful in the new OS2008: better interface, much responsive, improved PDF viewer, Maps, new browser, Flash support...but the nasty SD card corruption problem that plagued OS2007 and was finally resolved in the last 2007 firmware has returned.

Now, sometimes both cards dissapear, sometimes only one, sometimes it says the info is corrupted... And then, when I try to access a dissapeared card, I can't turn off the machine. I need to extract the battery.

Please, Nokia, solve this again!!! I can't live without the beautiful new OS2008!!!

In the meantime, back to last 2007 :(

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

Card corruption, as fixed in the last OS2007 rev, was not a issue of cards getting unmounted or directories and files getting scrambled, but of the card controller being toasted for good - a card "corrupted" by that bug is dead for good, and cannot ever be revived or accessed any more.

Whatever you suffer from is obviously something different. Most likely is plain file system damage - memory cards usually pick up some degree of file system damage over the course of time, since they will frequently be hotplugged rather than ejected (even the tablets, which attempt to force an auto-eject through slot and rear panel switches, will fail to do so whenever an application is stuck). Or your rear panel has become loose - that magnet switch may unmount the internal card if the rear wiggles around too much.

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

I have had the exact same problem with the OS2008 beta, and never had this issue with OS2007 using the same equipment. Something new and evil has been introduced with OS2008... and it likes to eat SDHC (and other?) cards...

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

The only problem I have had with OS2008 and the beta, has been resolved by making sure the card was seated and the back panel was closed. My back panel is a little loose and I use some padding to stop the rattle.

I do recall someone else posting a problem with recovering the cards after being connected to the computer. I think he wasn't disconnecting the micro USB from the unit.

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

I don't think its a hardware problem, because the system works fine with os2007 latest firmware. Maybe the cards are already "corrupted" and the new OS is more sensible to corruption, but then why, oh why, when I hard reset the unit (well, if removing the battery is considered a hard reset) everything works okay, the PDF files are ready, the maps works fine... until another "corruption" or system error unmounts or corrupts both one or both cards and start again.

I don't lose any data, but this behavior is very similar to the previous card data corruption I had in all but the last os2007 firmware. And then, the problem was a software one (or a hardware problem solved via software patch).

Thanks for your time.

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

sorrender: Just to rule things out, can you run the dosfsck command in your N800 to check the card(s)? (You need to be root to do this...)

dosfsck -a /dev/mmcblk0p1
or
dosfsck -a /dev/mmcblk1p1

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

Funny, I have the opposite experience. I have an old 1GB SD card that has a chipped corner and had become unrecognizable by Windows, but my N800 loves it.

Still, this issue alarms me since I'm about to go plunk down some cash for bigger SD cards....

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

I reverted to OS2007 version 4.2007.38-2 and all is ok (and ugly, and slow, and poorly designed... but reliable) again.

Now, I hope Nokia reads this forums and give us another update. In short, the list of bugs I viewed (and confirmed after a clean reinstallation of latest OS2008 firmware for n800):

- Trying to check the memory card usage usually crashes file manager and yielded both cards unrecognizable for the system.

- Some freezes of the new MicroB mozilla based web browser.

- Maps app. not opening due a card not recognized.

- Some times, trying to shut down the machine it hangs with the Nokia logo.

- Shut down of the machine flashes the pad light two times (annoying)

- Block keyboard and screen leaves screen with lights on.

- Can't access full on screen keyboard by touching a text field (nor by double tapping).

- Force quit hanged apps doesn't work. All the system freezes.

- After hard reset (removing battery) the load screen does not show the progression bar.

- I suspect all the problems are related to the memory card auto unmount error, because virtual memory was enabled by default and using my internal memory card. It is not corrupted, as I can use it normally with the old system.

And no more beta testing, thanks.

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

If the bugs are posted to maemo bugzilla with decent descriptions, and others vote on them, the likelihood that they will be addressed increases.

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

What I don't undertand I why they release a Final version with major bugs to fix.

The Maemo dev people have a private beta testing, don't they?

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

I agree. A bug I posted just yesterday has already got several replies and has been confirmed by the Nokia team. If they aren't already in bugzilla add them so they too can be confirmed and fixed. That way everyone benefits.

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

To sorrender's post then to Not to be destructive here but to sound more like constructive critisim, what was the point of the beta then ? :(

As with the last two OS2007 releases it sounds as if the OS2008 Beta was a release then the actual OS2008 was "just" an update to the final OS2008 release.

The N810 with OS2008 had been in some ppl's hands for what nearly 2 months until the actual final product actually shipped.

So why does it seem there are so many bugs and problems already with the final OS2008 ? :confused:

Nobody is perfect and no software is ever perfect, but one would think that the maemo platform on the NIT hardware would hold somewhat tighter tolerances and be a bit easier to work things out because basically the NIT is a closed hardware configuration, unlike say a windows platform because there can be so many more variables with the pc platform's hardware and such testing and beta software on the NIT should in theory be much easier to do because of this.

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

Just because somebody is having problems with their tablet it doesn't mean it's a bug. It sounds like some people have corrupted systems. I would recommend re-flashing OS2008 and then testing the system before doing any restores or application installations. Then if you find a bug you can confidently report it.

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

Of course, as all you know, it's impossible to install anything in your nokias right now due to servers being hammered. So, all the problems I describe are happening in a fresh install. The bad thing is that now that I reflashed to latest OS2007, everything works ok again.

And for your information, as I stated early in thi post, I flashed the unit two times, with two different rom files: the result was the same.

So, I consider OS2008 a beta, because it's unable to give me an stable environment with a fresh install.

as I suspected, turning off virtual memory has ended my problems with os2008. Now, I will try to change my 1 GB internal card for another and turn on virtual memory.

It's strange because I use the same hardware with os2007 and I don't have any problems at all.

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

Well, I turned on virtual memory (swap file into internal memory card) and now everything crashes. So, confirmed the sd card corruption bug that plagued os2007 and was corrected in the latest firmware has returned.

I also purchased another sd card and the error appears after 1 or 2 hours of use.

Reinstalling OS2007 again, formatting the corrupted card and everything like a charm. Now, to bugzilla and to report this nasty bug.

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

Related: I notice no problems with virtual memory on the internal card. It's not a vary fast (133), 1Gig card, but I do notice it never appears when the N800 is plugged into a PC. I suspect this is plain Linux behaviour - can't mount the card elsewhere, as it's already mounted. This is probably because the N800 uses an hidden swap file on the FAT partition, instead of creating a swap partition.

I never noticed this on OS2007, but it could be I just didn't notice ;-)

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

It is not the same bug as in OS2007. The OS2007 bug destroyed cards, and this does nothing of the sort.

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

I have a new card, a new n800 and it's only since i flashed it to os2008 that I experience problems with the card... sometimes it just disappears. And it hasn't dropped since i had it last thursday. So something MUST be wrong os2008. Can't be the card or even movement issues... many times I try to remount it manually through ssh remotely... that doesn't work. Only when I reboot it (remotely) it remounts the card on it's own... no movement during that entire period so that rules out movement being an issue totally I think.

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

That's a tad pedantic... it's definitely a bug and it definitely has destroyed my files...

On the other hand, I'm very grateful to Nokia for fixing the bug so that it only destroys my files and not my card.

Re: os2008 on n800: still a beta
 

Maybe pedantic but correct nonetheless...if the symptoms are not the same, then this may not be the same bug...

eaten files != destroyed card