I have used my n800 for one week now. Not very much because I am pretty busy, but over all I am comfortable with the stock options and what not. I have some questions I would like addressed and possibly instructed with very detailed newbie directions. I am going to re flash to the 2008 which I already did, since having the unit I simply added some RSS, did the instant messanger app and attempted the Maps portion.

Couple of questions. First since I havent really done much should I re-flash? I would like to fix the maemo mapper because it installed on the flash memory and the maps filled up fairly quickly, I would like to put the maps on the SD so I dont limit myself.

1. I have a 16 gb SDHC card, 1 gb standard SD, 2 gb standard and the 128 mb that came with the unit. I want to set up the virtual memory, which card should I use and which card to which slot. I can google how to enable the virtual memory, unless you can explain. Is there a max on virtual memory?
***I received some great advice on this issue but it was one for the 16 being internal, one for the smaller one being internal, trying to get more of a mass opinion.

2. Maemo Mapper, I have no interest in adding GPS. I usually have an idea where I am at, I just want street level maps so when Im finding a new location I can simply go to the map, similar to a paper map, but obviously on my n800. I only basically need USA locations. All of Florida, All of Mass and New York City. I would like to get the subways of NYC and Boston also, if anyone has any ideas. Also if I could access these without WiFi that would be great! (if its possible, how?). Also, when I try to shrink down to low levels the text is very huge, not very useful.

3. I have the 16gb SD, I mostly want it for movies. I saw some links to compress dvds, is that the best option. I have DVD shrink on my PC, should I compress then run the .VOBs through some converter? Then, what is the best way to get the movies too the n800. I do not have a SDHC reader.

4. I would like a dictionary. Normal english dict, also a spanish/english translation dictionary. Any suggestions, I tried one, but it could not find the dictionary and was just endless could not find errors.

5. Lastly, I have a lot of .pdf books I would like to put on the SD card any sw that does not crash?

I have ZERO Linux experience and I see the reps off Maemo.org are pretty easy to DL, I am still having issues making the maps accurate.

I have googled most of these options, but seem to answer only bits and portions of my specific issues.

Thanks a million and I will THANKS all that help and assist!

I'll try to answer some of your questions.

Maemo Mapper can download maps for use offline ( menu > maps > manage maps > zoom), but you'll want to set it to use the internal card ( menu > maps > manage repos > cache db). It's easy to download the maps, and then move them, but you might as well start out correctly. Personally, I have a couple hundred MB of maps on my internal card.


Also, the n800 can act as an SDHC reader via a USB cable, but no files can be open on the card(s) at the time, which means placing a swap file on the internal card "disables" it.

From what you are describing you should look into a dual boot setup so that you can keep mm in internal and still have lots of room for others apps and so forth. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply. You say set it to the internal card. You are talking about the internal SD card correct? I am going to put a standard SD card to use the virtual flash until I purchase a second 16gb SDHC card, will that cause any problems?

How should I go about installing a swap file, again will this effect the virtual memory?
thanks

Yep, I meant the internal SD slot (/media/mmc2).

Maemo Mapper's downloaded maps can easily be moved to a new card later. Each map service saves to a single file. Just copy the file(s) to the new card when you're ready. It's easiest if you keep the same directory structure, so Maemo Mapper's settings can stay the same.

As for setting up swap, "main menu > settings > control panel > memory > virtual" will let you create up to a 128MB swap file on the internal card. You'll have to repeat this for a new card.

this might sound horribly newbie, but how do i move the map files? I want them to be on the internal 1 gb card. right now I think they are on the flash ram.
I also want to delete all the free stuff, photos, guides all that, how do i delete those?

In Maemo Mapper, go to menu > maps > manage repos. Once there, the cache db field will show you exactly where the downloaded maps are.

Create a directory to move the maps to (like /media/mmc2/maps ) and move/copy them over. Then just change the cache db field in Maemo Mapper to the new location (I think you'll have to do this once for each map service )

As for the sample files, you should be able to delete them via the File Manager. There's also a tutorial app that can be uninstalled via the app manager.

I am complete newbie at this stuff, I think... and I mean think I moved some over, but now I just see a list of the Yahoo Street and Google street just repeating itself in the list. All I really want is one good map system maybe two. So if I can get the maps for yahoo and google (street level) to work, without being online or gps I would be stoked. I just cannot get it to zoom in very well. The text gets all huge and locks up...

what am i doing wrong. I just put a 1gb standard card for my virtual memory and to install all my maps, but I am not sure if I am doing it correcty.

More assistance...

sorry for my royal newbiness...

I might honeslty need a step by step process. Maybe I should uninstall the maemo mapper and start from scratch.

I really want to get this working before I start adding more sw.

Hmmm. If the map service settings are all screwed up it might be easier to reinstall. You could also try deleting the duplicates in "manage repositories". If you don't have alot of downloaded maps to save you could also just delete the .db files.

Then once your finished with that, activate a map service in the menu (i.e. maps > Google Street). Next, go to "manage repositories" and set the "Cache DB" field to where you want to save the maps (mine is set to /media/mmc2/maps/GStreet.db). Now, you're ready to download maps.

To download maps from the active service for the area onscreen, go to "maps > manage maps > zoom". Now, choose zoom levels to download. Roughly, level 5 is neighborhood, 10 is city and 14 is state. Then, hit OK. A dialog will tell how big the download will be. I like to keep individual downloads to a couple MB, so if the size is too big I'll cancel and uncheck the lower zoom levels.

Repeat the process for any other services you want.

The file transfer will have to be addressed by others since I don't use a USB cable to transfer files. I am using a method of transferring via SSH which can be a bit complex to set up. Anyways, that is half the battle.

You can download a media converter from the following website that installs on your computer. This should convert the media files you have to a format that the Internet Tablet likes. I'm not quite sure how it handles VOB files though. Essentially, the converter can only convert things that Windows Media Player can understand... so you can understand why I think it might work.
http://www.nokia.com/A4688059

Anyways, it is worth a try.

Unless I am not understanding your problem, the Nokia n800 (at least with the latest OS) can natively understand PDF files. There should be a PDF viewer in Utilities > PDF Reader. You should also be able to just double click on a PDF itself from the File manager (Utilities > File Manager). Is there issues doing that?

There is a dedicated Ebook reader called FBReader but I'm not sure if it likes PDF files... I will have to do some research later. A quick test of me trying to add a PDF file as a book came up with the program not seeing the PDFs so I would think that it doesn't work in that program... not that there was really a need for it to work. FBReader can read other formats (txt, ebook formats, alike) but nothing with DRM in it.