Nokia N900 @ CERN Guide

General Comments & Tips

Multilingual (polish-something-polish) dictionaries

• Install a dictionary application. I recommend MStarDict. Any program reading StarDict-formatted dictionaries should work, but you may need to place the database files somewhere else.
• Grab the databases from http://twlostow.web.cern.ch/twlostow/n900/slowniki.tar.gz
• Unpack the downloadad file into ~/MyDocs/mstardict directory of your N900

Syncing Google contacts and calendar

The best option currently seems to do this via a third-party service - https://www.nuevasync.com/ Register for free on that webpage and configure access to your google data, and then configure the N900 to sync with that site (Settings -> Mail for Exchange). The nuevasync webpage has all the information on how to set up the synchronization.

The xterm shell

The default shell seems to be a simplified bash derivative, you can install bash as root via a apt-get install bash if you want. The important thing is the autorun script for aliases etc., and that is /home/user/.profile.

How to get root access

• Open the web browser, go to http://maemo.org/downloads. Find a program called "rootsh" in category System
• Install it...
• Open the terminal and type: sudo gainroot. Voila

gtalk

A gtalk client is built in - go to Settings -> VoIP and IM accounts and you can set it up there

Skype

As above - a client is built in.

yallo

How to check the account status? After dialing "*123#" gives a message "Incorrect number".

This is supposed to be fixed in some firmware release, currently there's a program in Extras-devel that allows to check things like this - just do apt-get install ussd-pad as root and a widget appears on your home screen. You need to configure it - for example enter the *123# number and then a press on the button will give you the yallo credit. Neat.

Firmware Updates

• Download the Nokia Software Updater installer from http://europe.nokia.com/support/download-software/device-software-update
• Install and reboot the PC
• Make sure the SIM card is in and the battery is charged
• Connect the device via USB, select "PC Suite Mode" when prompted
• Start the updater program and follow the steps

But in principle you do not need external computer. Firmware can be updated "on air".

Useful Software

SSH

This is simple - just go to the application manager, choose caterogy Network and find OpenSSH. After that you can run the ssh command in the terminal.

vnc

A vnc client is available in the repositories and works beautifully. The only problem I have right now is I don't know how to right-click... :-/

ROOT

There is a native version of CERN root (attempt) here: https://garage.maemo.org/projects/cernroot/

Opera

Finally a real browser for the N900 :P (still in alpha, but works) Details here: http://labs.opera.com/news/2010/05/11/

Multimedia

The default media playes sucks. There's a thing in the standard repositories called Mediabox - this is much nicer, for example recognizes the folder structure if you put files in folders (but still offers other grouping options for files).

Another thing worth downloading is an app called mussorgsky, currently in the Extras Devel repo - this thing downloads and updates the album art tags of your mp3 files, plus enables you to manually edit basic information in the ID3 tags if you choose so. Very handy!

Fun Software

dosbox

Grooveshark

There is a grooveshark.com client available for the N900 now!. See here: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=52857

BlessN900

An alternative program for taking photos that appears to be genuinely useful. http://blessn900.com/

Problems

• Once the life of battery in my N900 decreased dramatically. I do not know why. That was the time I have installed a graphical interface to syncevolution, but other programs also (ssh daemon). "top" command in xterm was reporting that /usr/bin/python2.5 eats up to 95% of the processor. Finally I have just killed it manually with "kill -1" command. Battery life came back to normal. Software version: 3.2010.02-8.002

Useful links

• A good portal with current information: http://my-maemo.com/index.php
• A bunch of how-to's: http://www.maemo-guru.com/category/how-tos/
• Interesting articles about Nokia: http://thenokiaguide.com/tag/n900/