maemo.org - Talk - Solutions for common N900 Problems

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- - Solutions for common N900 Problems (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=52595)

Solutions for common N900 Problems

There have been scores of threads recently from people having problems with (and/or complaining about) missing features or what not on the N900. The most comprehensive one being a good source for most of the fixes listed here. :) Most of the feature gaps can be filled by free apps, by tweaking a few settings, or by slightly changing the way one uses the device.

What I'd like to propose is taking those "lists" of issues people have created and detailing a few of the fixes for each of those so people can look at the alternatives. This will help existing (and/or frustrated) owners and those considering purchasing the N900.

If the list becomes too extensive for a thread/posting, maybe we can shift some of it to a Wiki page. The idea being rather than interject for 20 items in a list of 23 (say, to mention fMMS for the 50th time) we can point people looking for solutions to a single place where most of the issues and workaround are listed.

I don't want to get into a debate about using an app for functionality the device should have natively. That's not the point of this thread. The point is to steer people with an existing issue toward possible solutions.

Please note, unless otherwise noted, when apps are discussed here, we're talking about community developed apps, which are free. If you're posting a solution with a for-pay app, please note that explicitly. Most people are saying things like "needs a 3rd party app", which the general public will consume as "you need to pay for it", which is often not the case.

To kick off the list, I've capped a few of the key issues lots of people have with the phone below:

No MMS support:
The app fMMS (now in extras-testing) supports sending and receiving MMS in a very transparent way.

Locking lock volume controls:
This is an issue that has been fixed in PR 1.2, but it's user fixable in previous versions as well, as documented here.

The built in OVI maps sucks and is missing turn by turn:
There are a few options for this, some free some for purchase. The purchasable option is by Sygic, searching for threads will find lots of people with tips and tweeks. A free option is ModRana, a great navigation program for the N900, capable of also running on other platforms as it's 100% python. There are also script hacks for Nokia's OVI maps that allows turn announcement and a few other things.

No call timers / SMS logging / etc:
There's a wonderful logging system built into the phone, but the default Nokia apps don't display most of the info collected. One of the nicer apps to help get this info is glogarchive, which can export the data in a CSV format, or display the info locally in it's own display. The app "Extended Call Info" is also very nice for showing actual numbers and times, vs the default UI which clumps calls together and shows only the contact ID (vs contact ID and number).

Battery life sucks:
There are a number of things that affect battery life, including usage, what version(s) of data connectivity you use (3G/Wifi/2.5), and what apps you have loaded and/or running. A stock phone with minimal usage should last about a day before needing a charge (which is common with most smart phones on the market today.) There are a few "solutions" for extending battery life, only some of which are mentioned here.

One is using the Kernel Power updates originally by Titan, now maintained by Pali. By default they use the same voltages and speeds as the stock Nokia kernel. By loading under voltage kernel most users have seen a 20% to 50% increase in battery life, without "over-clocking". I run in low voltage mode with a slight over-clock to 850Mhz and routinely see battery life of 30 to 46 hours with moderate usage and 24/7 IM running on 2.5G/Wifi.)

Using BatteryGraph you can see when your battery is taking the hardest hits. Sometimes knowing when your battery is draining can tell you what activities are causing a rapid drain.

I can't chat on Yahoo/Facebook/AIM/Jabber/...
The default set of IM interfaces is somewhat Eurocentric, and not the most useful list even there. Early on plugins were made by the community to use libpurple and a few other base libraries from IM clients like Pidgin to allow most popular IM protocols with direct support from the contact pages.

There's no JAVA/J2ME support
There are a few packages for Java, including IcedTea6 and a common Java package in the testing repository. The MicroEmulator package adds an app that can support most J2ME programs. Most games work fine, as do many utilities. A few (notably those using blue-tooth or device-specific APIs) seem to not work yet.

No grouping on the phone
Thanks to cjard for this useful idea:
You can use the nickname attribute like groups for SMS (and maybe a few other apps). It doesn't currently work for e-mail, but may work for other extensions or apps. It works by placing the same group name (or names) into the Nickname field for people in that group. Then when creating an SMS, type in the group name and hit the TO button. Everyone with that nickname will be in shortened search list, and you can tick each one quickly without hunting though hundreds of contacts.

Image tagging of existing libraries takes forever
This one bit me not that long ago, importing thousands of images I wanted available on my cell for quick search and display. The built in tracker system is really nice, and support tagging. Saddly, Nokia's viewer uses a non-standard tagging system. There's a script though that allows for quick and easy image tagging for large batches of files at once.

My device sometimes locks up on heavy graphics use
There's a small driver issue with sgx_misr, in that when you have too many programs (or just one or two) updating the screen too often it can get stuck in a resource staved state and lock up. This happens mainly with very resource intense programs (like GPS/nav or high frame-rate games). There's a script that can monitor it in the background and reset the device if it starts to lock up.

My money-tracking program only has iApps
Why would you want to funnel all your financial information through an app developed by a third-party developer? Your best solution is to use an app that works on the device AND on your desktop and shares a common, encrypted data file. That eliminates the middle-man and keeps your information secure. Moneydance is the solution I found. It runs on anything that runs Java, including PCs, Macs, Linux, and even the N900. Best of all: It's free to try, and very inexpensive to buy, with $0 maintenance costs.

There is also an interesting thread on things you may have missed that the N900 can do. Tricks, hidden features, etc. The list is quite extensive, take a look!

Please add things here! :)