New N9 user, need advice on keeping the phone
 

Hi all,

I was a long time user of the N900 back in the heyday (and I stil use it) and always wanted an N9 as well. Never got round to getting one until I saw one on Ebay in the UK for £44. Bought it straight away and now I have the device, I'm think returning it because of some defects but I want some advice before I do.

It's a Chinese device, running 003 pr 1.3, is this really a drawback when I can flash 009 onto it with 003 cmt?

Secondly, the headphone port only outputs to one channel (right). Is this a known defect or is this common and fixable?

Also, the simcard try and usb cover are not flush, anyway to fix this with a replacement tray or something?

I was planning on using this as my daily driver to live a more simpler life but these problems (headphone is the major problem for me) are making me think twice with this phone.

Cheers for any insight :)

Re: New N9 user, need advice on keeping the phone
 

Hello there
For that price i believe you can get a better device
I would return it if i were you
I also use a lot the headphone jack
About the chinese firmware i think it is not very easy to change it because of some issues but wait for more opinions

https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=94289

https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=95989

Re: New N9 user, need advice on keeping the phone
 

Careful with the headphones you didnt mention if you were using some generic type or Nokia headphones. Iphone compatible type generic headphones need an adapter to work with the N9. It seems the jack plug terminals are different between n900 and n9. If i recall correctly Jolla 1 was compatible with Iphone compatible headphones. My original N900 headphones seem to work with just about everything.

Re: New N9 user, need advice on keeping the phone
 

Sounds as if device has been refurbished with sub-standard housing of which many have emanated from China, however genuine reinforced USB cover and SIM card holder virtually unobtainable now. Have to say that replacing the headphone port is one of the worst possible jobs upon N9 and would be tempted to return this item.

Ironically it is sometimes worth taking a punt on a "non-working" N9 on Ebay, as in many cases people either can't be bothered or don't know how to restore flat battery via Harmattan flasher. If you're very lucky it might even be 64GB rather than 16GB.

Re: New N9 user, need advice on keeping the phone
 

Hi,

We bought a refurbished N9 for my wife some months ago, it's also a chinese model. I've reflashed the device without problems. All the informations needed can be found here on TMO; some firmwares are also available here or there. Configuring the newly flashed device nowadays can be a time consuming hack, though. :)

Sorry, I can't say anything on the hardware issues.

Let me say a huge Thank You to all of TMO members who gathered the information, tools, firmwares, packages, etc. :-)

- Flashing: ok, variant 009 and CMT of variant 003 worked for us.
- N9repomirror and Warehouse: ok, works.
- AccuWeather removed, MeeCast with the notification screen widget: works.
- Some applications from OVI Store: found in a collection shared here earlier.
- Many applications have failed to install because of some certificate has been expired. However hack-installer helped. If I'll have to reflash an N9 once again, it will be open mode. :)
- Email, CalDAV sync: works (with some old bugs we know and can live with).
- Maps and even Drive: after some configuration, works without the Nokia account.
- Even Facebook works with limited functionality, which is enough for us.

- Regular backups are suggested because of a tracker bug that Nokia didn't have a chance to fix.
- Grob (browser) fails to load some javascript-heavy websites. An old release of Firefox (Fennec) is available for Harmattan, which still can't compete with decent browsers, also a little slow.

Ok, it's not a modern device, we still like it. :)

Re: New N9 user, need advice on keeping the phone
 

Yep, OMTP vs. CTIA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_...TRRS_standards

Re: New N9 user, need advice on keeping the phone
 

My N9 has the original SIM and charger covers on it and they stick out a little bit. I don't really notice it because I keep the soft plastic cover on the phone and it covers everything up nicely. I would actually recommend that you get one of those covers if you don't have one.

For the firmware, it should be a simple matter to flash it with the UK/Ireland one.

Re: New N9 user, need advice on keeping the phone
 

Hi,

We bought a refurbished N9 for my wife some months ago, it's also a chinese model. I've reflashed the device without problems. All the informations needed can be found here on TMO; some firmwares are also available here or there. Configuring the newly flashed device nowadays can be a time consuming hack, though. :)

Sorry, I can't say anything on the hardware issues.

Let me say a huge Thank You to all of TMO members who gathered the information, tools, firmwares, packages, etc. :-)

- Flashing: ok, variant 009 and CMT of variant 003 worked for us.
- N9repomirror and Warehouse: ok, works.
- AccuWeather removed, MeeCast with the notification screen widget: works.
- Some applications from OVI Store: found in a collection shared here earlier.
- Many applications have failed to install because of some certificate has been expired. However hack-installer helped. If I'll have to reflash an N9 once again, it will be open mode. :)
- Email, CalDAV sync: works (with some old bugs we know and can live with).
- Maps and even Drive: after some configuration, works without the Nokia account.
- Even Facebook works with limited functionality, which is enough for us.

- Regular backups are suggested because of a tracker bug that Nokia didn't have a chance to fix.
- Grob (browser) fails to load some javascript-heavy websites. An old release of Firefox (Fennec) is available for Harmattan, which still can't compete with decent browsers, also a little slow.

Ok, it's not a modern device, we still like it. :)

Re: New N9 user, need advice on keeping the phone
 

In fact, I'm a Chinese N9 user, with a OMTP to CTIA adapter, and an hacked phone with Meego& nitdroid dualboot. But the biggest problem is, many sites are using SSL encryption nowadays. But N9 can't handle many of them, and many certificates on N9 is now out of date. When I tried to access github on N9 it'll be really annoying. xD

Re: New N9 user, need advice on keeping the phone
 

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I think I will send it back, which is a shame but the headphone problem is a blocker for me.

I'm just using normal headphones, none that contain any mic or controls.