[Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Mer for X86, Nokia N8x0, Neo Freerunner, Nokia 770 and SmartQ5/7 version 0.15

Information about Mer can be found at http://wiki.maemo.org/Mer and everything you need to know about the release on http://wiki.maemo.org/Mer/Releases/0.15. It also has an impressive list of known issues so please read them through first before installing and then complaining about them before checking if we already noticed :)

We have also put up some general installation information and those with clone-to-SD Maemo will find this good to read through.

Please answer in the poll if you consider this Mer release day to day usable on N8x0, after trying it - and tell us what's missing or too broken.

Special highlights
* Kalle Valo is doing a kernel mainlining project - see this - it is very recommended if you have any contributions to make that you make them. It will get us modern kernels on N8x0.
* SmartQ 7 rebate on SmartQ developer programme not possible - but help us get to 10 proposals or above so we can get Q5 rebates!
* How to make your Maemo application compile and run on Mer - developers, please read this and get your applications into shape.

Highlights of this release:
* N8x0: Now uses Xomap instead of Xorg. Should make graphics more smooth.
* N8x0: Open hald-addon-bme (You can enable advanced power and get battery meter)
* N8x0: Mer kernels now have new patches: Japanese FM Radio frequencies for N800, MB2504 fixed, Patch to kernel to allow DSP framebuffer sharing on N8x0 devices) to kernel, nbd in kernel modules, A2DP improvements - thanks to tomaszd for integrating
* 770 support experimental (thanks r2d2rogers, BBB770)
* Faster docpurge (thanks to qwerty12)
* Maemo will be switching to Qt for Harmattan. We'll probably be going same way - but supporting both toolkits. We already have Qt/Maemo running :)
* glib2.20 now used
* Our USB networking now uses IPs 192.168.2.14 for host, 2.15 for device to match with maemo.org documentation
* New webkit browser: Tear, by Bundyo
* E-mail client: Claws-mail, port by qwerty12
* hildon gconf-editor, port by qwerty12
* lbt will be presenting at UKUUG 09: see http://wiki.maemo.org/Mer/Events/UKUUG_09
* Stskeeps and zenvoid will be doing a BoF on DebConf9, 2009-07-25 13:00 on Mer (thanks to Nokia for sending us.)
* Changed default language to en_US, and added new open source strings by timeless
* Added Chinese translations (dalin)
* Proper localization on Neo Freerunner
* No more cursor blinking in X-Terminal
* First boot wizard is now a /etc/first-boot-wizard.d process, like start-hildon.d - easy to add first boot wizard items to run. (epage)
* Removed marquee plugins which were not working or broken
* Add 'Network Settings' option to menu that appears when networking is disabled for nm-applet
* Locale picker by qwerty12 and timeless
* Disable grab in gksu for n800/non-kbd users
* Input, About control panel (epage)

Next release is 17 August 2009 (0.16). Mer is still a work in progress and as such you should not expect too much of it (note long list of known issues). We are in dire need of hands, both coders, architects/designers, testers, or anyone passionate about mobile development, so if you think you can contribute, you're more than welcome to join us in this community effort.

If you would like to participate, read through http://wiki.maemo.org/Mer/People and http://wiki.maemo.org/Mer/Sprints (this includes a guide on how to participate actively - simple procedures!) and see if there's anything you can help out with. We're on #mer on FreeNode, IRC, if you'd like to hang out and discuss.

Thanks to all the people helping out with testing, development, design, etc. This community project wouldn't move ahead without you :) (you're far too many to list by now, but see mer-chatter archives for those active on there).

Obligatory screenshots:

http://wiki.maemo.org/images/c/c1/Me...him_arabic.png

http://wiki.maemo.org/images/2/26/Mer0.14_claws.png

http://www.daimi.au.dk/~cvm/tearfreerunner.png

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Excellent. I'm especially glad to see the experimental 770 support. Is sound or wireless working yet?

Thanks for all of your work. I especially like the poll options :)

Mark

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

The sound and tear alone are great improvements. I am downloading as we speak.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Fn key does not work during first boot setup process.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Nice catch! Feel free to add to known issues

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

And the poll only allows you to vote yes because I shouldn't do late night releases. Notation: Top choice is 'Yes'. Bottom choice is 'No'

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

nice update
but i still couldnt figure out how to install ubuntu apps.

by the way
no it didnt become longer infact it is not starting
after first start power button didnt turn device off and took battery off
now it stucks at the end of loading bar at mer startup screen

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

What is the status for the 770 ? Is it really broken ? Or should I take it for a try ?

Thanks for the really good work !

Fred

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

So it's not an apple sponsored poll then ;-)

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Fbreader installs fine with apt-get, but it's a crummy version of Fbreader rather than the good version available for tablets from the Fbreader site. I tried to install the good version but couldn't copy any files to the tablet.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

How to install Ubuntu Apps in Mer

1. Find app at http://packages.ubuntu.com/|:

2. Open X Terminal (default location in Utilities)

3. sudo apt-get install (name of program)

4. You should be asked for password. If not, you probably installed earlier version of Mer.

5. Program should install. Note error messages.

6. Type program name and hit return key.

I used this procedure with fbreader and gworldclock.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Well it installed very well : I good even configure the wifi acces.
The only downside was that the virtual keyboard was white althoug it works if you know where to press ;)

So I decided to reboot to see how far I could use it : I never managed to get past the background image yet ...

EDIT : talked (wrote ?) too soon : on the 4th attempt it booted completely and remembered my wireless connection ! I can even use Tear and the keybord is visible : I'm a happy camper !!!


Is there any way I could provide feedback ?

Thanks

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

I am still voting no on the day to day use for these reasons. 1 I am a map freak, the gps and map program must be functional. 2 settings is still non responsive, locks. Although, this time it doesn't require a reboot to continue using the device, the os is not yet easy to navigate and customize. And we need a media player.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

While this is a very rough guide, it may help on GPS side:

http://wiki.maemo.org/Mer/Documentation/N810_GPS

And then locate a gpsd compatible mapping program. Settings being non-responsive - I wanted to remove it but we didn't get the replacement ready for the deadline. So it goes.

Media player is interesting - but we're going to solve this by MediaMer or something repositories. The problem is that our build service does not allow mp3 codecs and so on due to patent issues. Else we would have had Canola and such long ago.

Quasar port maybe? http://zenvoid.org/tmp/quasar-smartq5-mer-1.png

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

as soon as sound is available for 770 I start switching to Mer completely

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Cool, you and the rest of the Mer team are the best. Keep up the good work man.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Could you post a link to the deb file. I am unable to download it from their website as its taking me to a registration page. http://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?...7&#entry170927. It looks like a nice player.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Been playing with Mer 0.15 for most of the day, and it seems to be getting close.

I voted no though, as like FRZ, I would like to see support for mapping, and for media playback. Also some of the dialogs in settings etc are still messed up, but I guess you know that.

One thing I have not seen mentioned before though, is that if I rotate the screen on my N800, I loose sight of the status bar controls, so I cannot rotate it back. Only way I could solve was to reboot,

The screenshot of quasar looks very interesting, but the mediaplayer for me currently would be Canola due to it's clean interface which ideally suited for in-car use. Also need IM, Mauku (twitter), and a backup/restore app.

Keep up the great work, it it very much appreciated.
Gaz

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

It woud be nice to have a list of Ubuntu apps that work or don't with notes on their usage.

Example: xboard installs but doesnt work because of font problems i couldn't solve.

Scid installs, works well, would benefit from board rotation.

Twitux works as Twitter client.

If someone starts such a list or table, observations should be dated, so one has a clue about whether they are still true.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

How do I view the Mer file system inside maemo? I want to transfer sample files to it instead of mounting a partition in Mer. The problem I have with mounting partitions is that I always forget to unmount and I think last time I did that in Mer one of my partitions messed up.

And also, is it possible to connect to the pc with the usb cord like in maemo in Mer? yet?

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

I quickly tested Knots 2 on Mer X86 and it worked fine for music.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

There is this page http://wiki.maemo.org/Mer/Documentation/AppCompat

When I installed and ran twitux from xterm I got quite a lot of warnings and errors, although it then started.

It did not appear to put an entry in the menu. Does anyone know how to manually create menu entries, or if either personal menu, or personal launcher works.

another issue, which I think is known, is that when I click a link such an "install now" green button, tear crashes on me.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

I can't seem to locate these two files mentioned in the guide, libsupld1 and gpsdriver. I was able to find the other three by google them but, not on the device using apt-get in maemo or mer.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

I managed to get the system to freeze by clicking on the icons in the top bar, necessitating removing the batteries. But instabilities aside, which I can usually work around, the main issue I have is with the file-open dialog on non-hildon applications such as leafpad and gnumeric -- the dialog takes up about half the screen so that I can't read the directory/file listings. This makes it rather inconvenient to open files by guessing or remembering the order.

The fact that I can apt-get my way to happiness is awesome, once the file-open dialog gets sorted out.

If the ubuntu apps can be made to function well, then I can live without apps ported to hildon.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Same here, and I need a reboot after selecting/removing icons (why isn't the battery applet enabled by default?), they won't reliably appear on the fly.

I agree, like some low-level hacking in the base libraries so an application is automagically hildonized. I read in another thread that qt for maemo already does it.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

it is not running anymore
it is getting stucked at the end of loading bar of startup screen

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

does Digia's @web install in Mer?

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

[QUOTE=McLightning;305901]...but i still couldnt figure out how to install ubuntu apps.....

utility>Xterm> sudo apt-get install ubuntuapps

emelfm2, gnumeric and possibly, abiword, installing right now, on mer 0.14


Edit: I can see my shared network from MSwindow$, but I cannot see my SD, not mmc1 or mmc2. Emelfm2 and gnumeric is up and running, mer 0.14, abiword is installing, try to get ooo, but do not know the package name.

bun

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Sorry if it has already answered somewere, but

1) is possible to use the "soft.img" trick avaiable on the official firmware for Smart Q7 (the one that allows to install additional software on a SD card)? If yes, how to get it working?

2) How to edit the applications menu list as a workaround to the known issue [SmartQ7] Installing an application results in the new application always being placed in the Extras menu. ?

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

i installed firefox
it is slower than iceweasel on deblet

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

I don't know but, tear is pretty nice. It makes it much more usable. After all, it is an internet tablet. Just wish it had bookmarks then it be perfect browser.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

As an update, I did end up signing up to the site and downloaded quasar and installed. It don't start. At the terminal its giving the error while loading shared library: libqt-mt.so.3: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory.

VLC on the other hand works. I was watching Iron man on it. The picture seem fine but, there is no audio.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

I don't know how to change my vote on the poll, but Mer stopped working for me, even after I reinstalled it a few times. Some things worked, but not well enough for day-to-day usage. I look forward to a real working version, and I will eagerly try the next release.

If the version of FBreader was the latest one (which works great on the N810 and N800) and if Scid had continued to work, and if Liqbase was available, and if I could get other things to work better after installing them, I would use Mer happily; at first I was intending to go full-time Mer.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

i think debian was better
all they need to do was fixing sound problem instead of building a totally new os

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Two thoughts: Broken SD card? or maybe the "turn on device through plugging in charger" problem?

Liqbase works fine (I tested it on Xomap). Maybe some reliance on /home/user. Scid?

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

I installed Mer on the Internal memory of my n810, so I don't think problems could be related to a broken sd card. It's also not related to device being plugged in, since it isn't.

Scid is a program I installed from repositories.

I don't know how to install Liqbase.

Good version of Fbreader could probably just be copied from Fbreader site; I just don't know how to do it. As I already said, good version works fine on n800 and n810.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Good release, Mer is getting better and better... but I'm afraid somebody cheated with the poll...
Seriously, am I the only one seeing two yes? :D
Mer can't be "trusted" for daily use because of the charger bug... having just one tablet and no other device to charge the battery could result in a very unpleasant scenario: battery totally empty and no way to charge it...
Apart from that you're really doing a great work ;)

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

Why is it not possible to get those libraries for most of these programs to work? I looked in the maemo repositories and couldn't find them.

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

i voted yes BUT ...

application manager need more stuff straight out of the box

specialy more multimedia stuff.

screen keyboard feedback is flaky

some labels on buttons are not right [nb_rthv_dcx]

BUT, it a fresh alternative for my n800 and the only hope for the 770.

thank you all for your efforts

Re: [Mer] 0.15 released - another month + a week gone by
 

This is the first release I installed, and although I voted for the second "yes" option in the Vorlon poll I must say it looks a lot better than I expected. Well done everyone!

The major showstopper for me is that I haven't managed to get BT DUN connectivity to work.

I haven't done much with it yet, but I'll play with it over the next few days and report any problems I come across. I assume the preferred channel for issues is bugzilla?