[Android] Apps for NITdroid
 

NITdroid is working on N8x0 hardware quite well, and I'd like to collect some info on where we can get apps and how well they run. First, here's a quick summary of how to load apps onto NITdroid. To get adb working, follow the instructions at http://code.google.com/intl/fr/andro...devicehardware. If you're using Windows, you'll need gowen's modified android_usb.inf file from http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...&postcount=243 as well. FYI, the adb program will be in android-sdk-windows-1.0_r2/tools after you've downloaded and unpacked the SDK.

To check that adb can talk to your tablet, run

If adb reports `offline' instead of `device', try unplugging the USB cable. I need to do this after rebooting the tablet to make adb happy again.

You can use adb for lots of things other than loading apps. For example, to start a root shell on the tablet use the command:

This provides a handy way for rebooting off the tablet too:

To load applications onto the tablet, you first need to download the .apk files to your host. For example, http://www.androidfreeware.org/ has a few applications, and Meebo.apk seems to run just fine. To install Meebo, I used the command:

and Meebo showed up in the tray automatically.

So, where can we find more apps? I'd really like to find a native multiprotocol IM app, as the one provided with Android doesn't seem to work on my tablet (I can't find a way to add accounts) and Meebo is actually using an HTTP proxy service rather than talking to the IM servers directly. Is there a way to get apps from the marketplace without using the app shipped with the G1?

Thanks to gowen, maxkilla, and jcl for info I've summarized here.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

There are some apps too, like this great IRC software.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

i read there is IM Plus for android...

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

http://www.androidapps.org/
Reviews: http://www.androidapps.com/

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

I'm still having trouble with the adb.
I did just what the instructions said, and it still doesn't work.

Trying to run sudo ./adb devices but it just doesn't show my NIT...

Should the NIT show something on the screen when you plug the USB?

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

No, there's nothing different on the tablet screen to show that adb is working. If you list the USB devices on your host will see a device named `adb driver' when the USB cable is connected. This device will show `Android' as the manufacturer, with product ID 0x0001, serial number 0123456789ABCDEF, and vendor ID 0x18d1.

What OS are you using for adb?

EDIT: I think I've found the problem, at least for MacOS. The adb source code only recognizes the following vendor and product IDs (see http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=pla...09a44e;hb=HEAD and http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=pla...1a6482;hb=HEAD)

Since the product ID for NITdroid isn't 0xd00d or 0xdeed, adb doesn't properly attach to the tablet. We either need to build our own adb binaries, or figure out how to get NITdroid to use a different product ID :-(

Note that this isn't a problem for Windows, as the .inf file specifies the product IDs. So for now, adb only works from a Windows host.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Good store here: andapps.com

"AndApps is website for those who don't have access to the Android Marketplace. Here will be uploaded as much as possible free and/or open source applications for the Android platform."

And my favorite (for now)

http://andappstore.com/AndroidPhoneApplications/apps/



For those in trouble with adb, do not plug in the device before Android starts. Windows gets confused if it is a Android device or a Nokia. Also, make sure in DevTools, adb is enabled.

Also, you install apps like this:
This is the "proper" way, but makes no difference IMO.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Yep, it looks like solca chose that product ID. Looking at http://guug.org/nit/nitdroid/nitdroid_kernel.patch.bz2, in his version of linux-nitdroid/drivers/usb/gadget/android_adb.c he specifies the following:

If we change the product ID to 0xDEED, then the precompiled adb binaries may work with NITdroid. Of course, solca may have had a good reason for choosing a different product ID...

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Yeah, that part really messed me up. Lucky, I had experience changing the Vendor ID's to support "unsupported" hardware. Was not that bad, and gowen's modified android_usb.inf file (look at first post) makes it even easier.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

No, I didn't, was Google.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

OK, should we try changing it to 0xDEED? That might make working with the SDK a bit easier.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

I've found the android market client on that site you've posted:
http://andappstore.com/AndroidPhoneA...ions/apps/7661
But for me it's too late today. Maybe someone would like to try out, if it works...

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

I belive that newer SDKs (as those built with the Android source) supports both IDs, at least my adb in Linux works painlessly. Are you trying with the SDK 1.0r2?

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Yeah, Linux works fine, but the damn Windows drivers don't play nice. The "Cupcake" release has broken the Windows drivers...

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Yes, I was trying with the adb binary from SDK 1.0r2 but from MacOS 10.4. I've managed to get Linux working with the cupcake userspace under Linux, although I had to make a small change to the instructions at http://code.google.com/android/intro...devicehardware. I changed the vendor ID from 0bb4 to 18d1 in /etc/udev/rules.d/50-android.rules:

After that, my tablet works fine with either the adb from SDK 1.0r2 for Linux, or with the adb from http://guug.org/nit/nitdroid/.

BTW, after I flashed the new cupcake userspace (and kernel) onto my tablet it is now showing up as product ID 0x0002. At least that's what is in /sys/bus/usb/devices/1-8/idProduct when I plug the tablet into my Linux system. Perhaps we need to change the product ID in gowen's modified android_usb.inf, and reinstall the driver?

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

OK, for me, it worked plug-and-play under Ubuntu

For Windows, I modded the .inf file.

See attached

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Yep, a one-line addition worked for me too:

I guess the Windows (and probably MacOS) versions of adb are more picky about matching the device than the Linux version.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Thanks man, adding that rule to udev made my adb work again and....don't ask me why, I didn't touch anything else but this time it connected automatically to my Wifi. Without putting in the password for the WPA2!!!!!!!! :eek:

EDIT: A yeah, my bad, I put the config of my wifi yesterday as it wasn't scanning anything, it wouldn't connect or anything but it explains now why it autoconnected hehe

Also, the OnScreen Keyboard works fine now, no strange reappearance of letters after having deleted them.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Silly question: Does the Google Mail/Calendar/Contacts stuff work out of the box? I heard a nasty rumor that they were not available... SAY IT AIN'T SO!

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

so what needs to be done to get it working in osx?

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

For the record:

No Google apps work. Any app the requires your Google account will not work.

Gmail does not work, but "Mail" does.
Calendar does not work
Contacts does not work
Maps do not work, or any app that needs maps*
Market does not work*


*For maps, using Open Street works, like AndNav2.
*3rd party market's work, but not the official.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Wow. That's... quite a disappointment.

Is this by design or is it not part of the OSS Android distro?

Thanks!

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Contacts is working here...

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Maps do work here..

I used the files from a dev phone dump I found at
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...=431115&page=7
(rapidshare link)

.. reflash the n810 with diablo...
copy the maps.apk from system/app to system/app
copy the com.google.android.maps.jar from system/framework to system/framework
.. reflash with nitdroid.. voila :)

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Anyone else see this - Skype Lite announced for Android.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/156654/Skype.html

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Does anyone know of a calendar program that works with NITroid? Thanks.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

maxkilla is putting together a collection of Android apps,see his post http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...&postcount=479
His page is here
http://www.4shared.com/dir/11234070/...0/sharing.html

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

skype lite is in the more folder -http://www.4shared.com/dir/11896367/e4fb2807/more.html

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Having trouble installing apps from the DevPhone dump. I tried copying the Maps.apk and the associated jar file into the respective location on nitdroid, but no such luck. I then tried to adb install the apk file, and getting Failure (-11). I also saw a YouTube app that I was interested in trying (and it doesn't seem to have an associated jar file). Copied that over, didn't work. Adb install failed with the same error.

Anyone have any luck installing apps from the DevPhone dump onto nitdroid 0.3.2? How did you do it?

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Apk installer for windows tested works..get it here http://www.4shared.com/file/81173735...abus1_1en.html

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

So, for the sake of discussion, what functionality do you want out of your NIT? Since its not a traditional cellphone, is your goal just to make it "everything but a cellphone?" Are you anxiously awaiting Fring or some sort of full-blown, widely supported SIP client? Do you want the multimedia capabilities of Canola2 under Maemo?

As for me, I can go through long periods of time where I travel a lot for work. I carry a Blackberry Bold for work. I'm at home for now, but if I start traveling again (and we end up with working Bluetooth) I will most likely swap out the cellular video on my Bold for tethering, and see what value I can get out of carrying the NIT. The Bold gives me free access to AT&T hotspots worldwide (including tethering), so I could send 3G or WiFI connectivity to my NIT anywhere I have 3G service or hotspot access.

First and foremost, I want my Google apps! I want Maps and GMail badly. With 0.4.2, the error message for installing Maps changed from a generic "-11" to actually stating that a shared library was missing. The other apps still show "-11". I would also like to play YouTube videos, but they currently play fine on my Bold, so I'm in no hurry.

What I would really like to do in the long run, however, is to make my NIT a key part of my ham radio setup. Some of the biggest developments in recent years amateur radio came in the form of data transmission methods created using soundcards and DSPs. There are data transmission modes for short distance communications as well as longer distances. The most popular use of short-range digital transmissions has to do with mapping. We can put ourselves on a map, see where other people are located, and exchange short messages with them. The range can be extended worldwide with Internet-connected helpers along the way. And when nothing is blocking our view of the sky, we can even send our signals through satellites in orbit, including the ISS! Pretty good for "short distance" signals.

The long distance digital modes are typically just for live keyboard-to-keyboard chats, similar to IM. We can also send digital pictures over shortwave -- takes about 2 minutes per image. There is also a global network that exchanges emails between the Internet and shortwave radio. Its mainly used by volunteers working in large scale disaster areas (think Katrina) and people at sea who don't have satellite email. Finally, separate from digital data, we hams have had digital audio technology for years similar to "HD Radio" gaining in popularity in the US. Hearing digital FM quality sound on shortwave radio without any static or interference is quite amazing.

All of these functions can be enabled just by linking a laptop or PC with a soundcard to a radio through custom audio wiring. Even that has been made easier than ever with the development of USB soundcards. I can add all of that functionality to any reasonable PC or laptop with a USB port and OS support for the basic soundcard built into the external device. Out of the box, the interface I use is recognized as /dev/dsp1 by Ubuntu so who knows, it may not take much to get Android to recognize it. It may even be less complex than the DSP in our NITs! The question is if Android will recognize USB devices connected through a USB hub.

Next step, of course, is to start poking around for ham radio software for Android.

To see some examples of how ham radio has become so much more than just Morse Code, search YouTube for sstv, psk31, rtty, aprs, and search Google for Winlink 2000. All of that can be done with just a little CPU horsepower, DSP audio, and of course good radios and antennas. And yes, there's still plenty of Morse Code to go around (and software for sending and receiving it) :)

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Hi!

I just recently bought my N810 just for the purpose of testing interoperability with some Android applications I am developing for my company.

I would like to thank all people who contribute to this, for me NITDroid works fine for this purpose, I test my applications in Google ADP1 and Nokia N810 BTW.

I just have some questions:

1. Why Android is different in the ADP1 than in N810? I can't find a newer release for ADP1 so this means that NITDroid is not the released 1.0 Android?

2. Maps API doesn't work, any ideas why?

3. Does Bluetooth and GPS support is planned?

Thanks for all the information you can share.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

NITdroid 0.4 is based on the current master branch of the Android source code tree which is synced from their cupcake branch so there are many differences to the Android 1.0 source code release. App development should not be affected AFAICS they are preserving backwards compatibility in the master branch for their SDK.

Sorry, there is no source code for Maps and Google Login Service, currently Google packs in the tree their API in binary form, it seems in recent versions they make it incompatible to the Maps app as shipped in the G1 if that was your question. Probably their cupcake update for G1 will make it work again with the current API. But honestly I'm not so sure as I haven't used apps from the G1. Probably someone here that run that apps could expand on this...

Doesn't work in latest kernels (currently).

Please share any incompatibility in your apps between NITdroid and Android 1.0 on your ADP1.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Welcome. I am not one of the developers, just a frequent tester.

1. I believe the version we are using has the open source Cupcake updates integrated. The soft keyboard is from Cupcake, for instance.

2. It appears Google hasn't released a version of Maps that works outside the emulator or the G1. It worked here for a very short time, but not for long.

3. We hope Bluetooth and GPS will eventually work! We are a very small group of people centered around one primary developer, Solca (who welcomes all help, btw). I know I'm personally looking forward to Bluetooth networking so that I may tether from my 3G cellphone.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Thanks to both of you for the quick responses, the port works fine and I'm very impressed with it, I love the N810 screen size and is helping me to check if other apps works fine independently of the screen.

By the way the other developers in the office will be getting all a new N810 (now they are cheap) for this purpose too.

We'll report back any problem, again thank you!

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

will any chance be infrastructure mode in wifi be supported?

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

Infrastructure mode (AP mode) and monitor mode both are supported in the stlc45xx WiFi driver shipped in NITdroid 0.4.2.

You would need to provide hostapd though for AP mode.

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

so....how do i go about doing that? =)

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

sorry about asking cuz im not very good in coding stuffs, haha

Re: Apps for NITdroid
 

how about Ad-hoc mode? not possible right?