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Nokia N900 community updates repository is still alive and I think it’s going in really good way and much faster that official releases once every few months. Now I can download new update at least once a week and have real new features.

Last CSSU update I have is so-called PR 1.3.3.7-6.5 and apart from ‘hidden’ bugfixes that I cannot even notice sometimes there are few really nice features introduced in comparison to stock PR1.3 by Nokia.First of all the thing that lot of people was asking for, portrait mode. It appears for new applications, step by step but much faster than before. Right now we can have settings main screen and few settings applications in portrait. Status menu also appears correctly in applications in portrait. You can see complete list of changes on maemo.org CSSU wiki page.

Among the changes you can see .ini file mentioned. It stores configurations for some graphical features of the UI. If you don’t want to fiddle with low-level configuration in text file you can use one of applications available in extras-devel catalogue: CSSU Features Configuration or CSSU Transitions Tuner. Have you seen video with dashboard made to be scrollable and have large windows in it? Now you can have it on your N900.
As you can see CSSU is going much faster than official updates, let’s hope it will be like that for longer time.
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MJ

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We can already consider that official PR1.4 update is just unconfirmed myth, but recent news shows that we can still get some more updates for Nokia N900. Community released its update repository for testing, stable version is still somewhere in the future, but we can already see that some work is being done, current version is also known as PR1.3.3.7-1 update.
After recent reflashing I’ve decided to take the risk and installing testing version of updates. Full instructions how to apply update can be found on maemo.org wiki along with other usefull informations. First of all, as its still considered unstable you need to be prepared to encounter some bugs, but also with using testing you can expect to have something new more frequently.

How does it look in practice? At first glance I haven’t seen anything new or modified, but I trust that bugfixes are really there. I’ve also encountered one bug, after update keyboard shortcuts didn’t work on homescreen, including screenshot Ctrl+Shift+P and the one I use the most – dashboard shortcut Ctrl+Backspace. Quick investigetion got me to bug report, which wasn’t fixed in Community SSU package yet, but it has complete solution for the problem described in comments for bug Bug 11813.
So my fellow N900 users, my suggestion is not to wait for any official PR1.4 firmware update, since it will probably never come from Nokia. It’s better to monitor status of Community SSU untill it becomes stable or if you’re not patient enough try testing version.
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MJ

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After few days of vacation I got back to reality and tracking news about Nokia N900, Maemo, MeeGo and other things related to my work and hobbies. It seems like new year came with some uncertain news about PR1.4 firmware update.
For quite some time people were wandering if Nokia is about to release next firmware update. Since PR1.3 was announced to be the last official upgrade for N900 and MeeGo is under heavy development I think that this won’t change in next few months or ever. Lots of speculations appeared around the web, wishes of what we would like to see in next release (like this 5 things thread at talk.maemo.org) and lot of wishful thinking. Finally some people got really excited with uncertain news about PR1.4 coming this year struggling around this news in another thread.
What’s the fact? The fact is that Nokia is still holding that PR1.4 will never come, at least from them. All of the informations are coming from uncertain sources and none was supported by any official statement from Nokia. We can hope that something changes but we have to keep in mind that Nokia focuses on MeeGo right now, so if we’ll really have this update some day it won’t be as soon as 20011 Q2.
May the patience and hope be with us!
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MJ

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Not so long ago we’ve seen first news about Maemo 5 PR1.3 update and this time we don’t need to wait long. According to Maemo.org wiki and my own observation it’s already out. I’ve noticed Maemo 5 update in App Manager today around 2PM, so without much thinking I started preparations and installation.
At First I’ve encountered small problem when trying OTA update, but there is a way to solve conflicts in packages. Just open details screen, go to problems tab and see if you have any conflicts in packages (see the screenshots). Remember (or write down) package names. At this point you can disable all additional software catalogues, like Mozilla, Opera or extras-devel and extras-testing, it will speed up further steps. Close App Manager, go to XTerminal, then switch to root (using sudo gainroot) and for every package in conflicts type apt-get remove <package_name>. This will give you the list of packages to be uninstalled from your N900, but it’s necessary if you want to update over WLAN. Then go to App Manager again, check if there are some problems and repeat above steps until you can update.
When the update is possible it will download 83MB of data, you should be aware of that if you are using GPRS/3G connection! You should be also aware that during the update (which took me about 40-50 minutes) you won’t be able to make any phone calls (even emergency calls).
And most important thing, what is updated? There’s nothing on wiki. What I’ve found at first glance is that it looks that N900 works better with Nokia Ovi Suite. That’s regular user’s point of view, power users and application developers will find updated Qt 4.7.0 and Qt Mobility packages. It looks like application development for MeeGo can start just now with this. It was also mentioned that PR1.3 will come with possibility to dual-boot to MeeGo, right now I don’t have such functionality, but I assume that it may be announced on MeeGo Conference 2010 next month, I will keep you informed. Until then let’s enjoy brand new PR1.3 update!
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MJ

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Maemo world, as long as N900 develops in many places, with many users writing, commenting and posting. Also all of you – readers take a part in society motion every day.
Flash version – how come does it matter?

Recently I’ve found pretty good analysis of Flash versioning and small inconsistency that makes Flash plugin vulnerable to version cheating. That’s why I feel more comfortable with testing Tweak Flash plugin version application, which may be helpful for everyone that wish to have Flash 10 enabled on N900.
Damage protection – microUSB port
Some poeople reported that microUSB port in N900 just fell out. Well, practically it shouldn’t just fall out, the reason is that in comparison to soldering technique used, the charger plug is big enough to act as lever and give moment of force big enough… but without physical babbling, you need to be careful when using charger and USB cable. Nokia N900 may be marvellous in many ways but still it’s NOT rugged phone for military and we should handle it with care. So please be careful!
Prepare for application updates
Updates are coming in many applications, sometimes there are problems with updating some of them. If you’ve experienced such situation there is a way I’ve found and use recently.

Check if you really use the application, if not, just remove it. If there is a problem with removing, place a comment in Q&A section, I’ll find a solution.
If you still need the application I prefer method remove-clean-install, so:

uninstall the application (if there is a problem check point 1.)
open console, gain root access and run apt-get autoremove command
install application again and enjoy

I hope this will help you now or in the future. If you have any questions you can always ask by commenting
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MJ
Win Solar Charger by posting on our Nokia N900 forum

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I’m reviewing lots of applications, themes and games for N900 and sometimes I’m adding my personal likes, dislikes and expectations. If I recall correctly that at least few times I’ve wrote ‘I hope that in future versions it will..’. But words and expectations is one, reality is… actually quite promising.
My first article on this blog is about Maepad – multi purpose notepad application for Nokia N900. Today we can see that application is really getting better. Once I’ve mentioned vi-like keybindings for Maepad and it wasn’t the last improvement. The flow of events with constant need of portrait-mode applications encouraged developer to include at least checklist portrait mode, belive me it’s awesome while shopping. Lots of minor changes, updates in translations, as for free application it’s getting better and better.
Now something more rapid, if you’ve read about Black Plastic Theme Pack and you use extras-devel catalogue you should already know that this is changing almost every day (!), 5 updates a week is minimum I’ve seen for this theme (I’m not updating every day). When I first installed there was custom transitions, theme itself and small application to configure. In time more color schemes came, configuration was moved to more appropriate place, installation or update doesn’t ask you for theme features choices, so it goes faster and something that was missing in every previous theme – custom fonts. Right, you can now change UI font using Black Plastic!
This is only example and as you can see applications are really improving, some slowly, step by step, some more rapidly almost every day, but there is a real progress. This proves that ‘I hope some day this app will…’ is not always futile
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MJ

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Just as the last time, when new firmware update appeared there might be a problem during installation. Let’s gather some tips how to cope with this process smoothly.
First things first: Before you start updating using any of described methods it’s good to update your data! One of users (thanks Stan) advised to backup everything and restore everything but ‘settings’ (so restore contacts, messages etc. but no settings) not to make N900 ‘sluggish’.
Over The Air (OTA)
First way to install PR1.2 update is the easiest one, it includes running App manager and updating package that appears as Maemo 5. People that have clean PR1.1.1 update installed (without any additional packages) say it’s going smoothly without problems.
If OTA update fails there is possibility that you have not enough space on rootfs, you can have a look at maemo.org wiki page for the solution. Another option is to go to terminal and try to run apt-get upgrade command, which should show you existing problems and conflicts of packages, then you can remove or install problematic packages when you know which it is.
Nokia Software Updater (NSU)
Most of Nokia devices can be upgraded using this windows software, I advise to download the latest version before trying to update. Then all you have to do is run the application and follow the steps displayed on computer screen.
One of users (thanks lee) noted that he ran into situation when NSU stated that he has the newest software and was unable to run update OTA. There is option to reinstall this ‘current version’ (which is PR1.1.1 most probably) and after that device should be ready to update OTA to PR1.2 without any problems.
flasher (flashing device via USB on Windows and Linux)
You can flash device manually using latest binary images for N900. First of all you need flasher itself, available here, available for Windows or Linux and for Mac OS X. The second thing is flash image and most probably eMMC image, available here after putting your IMEI number (you can find this by going to settings ‘About product’ page). I strongly advise to check md5 sums after downloading any …

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We’re all waiting for PR1.2 update for quite long time. Some people say it’s way too long and Nokia doesn’t really care about users. On the other hand there is no point in releasing partially tested update with more bugs than previous version and I think this is good point of view.
While waiting I’m following all of the news I can find. Yesterday there was another speculation about when PR1.2 will come. At first I’ve had mixed feelings, varying from hope to irritation. After PR1.1.1  it was said to be released ‘soon’ and we all found out that amount of time given in such unspecified way may be highly relative. I hope Nokia worked really hard while ‘soon’ was growing.
Apart from speculations I’m frequently checking maemo.org wiki PR1.2 page, at least every morning and… Surprise! According to the latest news our long awaited update will be released to public today (May 25) in UK and tomorrow (May 26) for rest of the world. For most of users this it should be available Over The Air, so you can check App manager for Maemo 5 updates, alternatively there should be possibility to use Nokia Software Updater (for Windows users) or flasher (for Linux users). If you have any problems with this update feel free to ask, I’ll try to point solution for any problem.
What else can I say… Finally!
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For more info on devel and testing catalogues visit Application catalogues tutorial
Please visit Nokia N900 Forum

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As I mentioned in previous news N900 was released in Hong Kong with PR1.2 software, just a day after Chinese websites announced leaked update, that you can flash to your device.
Changelog according to user who tried this update includes smoother scrolling, FM transmitter forcing for devices without hardware, new app manager and flash version and working USSD codes without using additional widget. Image to reflash N900 was uploaded to several sharing servers and are still available for download. Nevertheless Nokia reacted to this quite fast and tweeted warning message:
@nokconv Be careful! Unofficial #N900 v1.2 firmware on web causing damage to devices! Don’t download! Follow @nokconv for official announcements
This is the main reason why I won’t give you any links to download or try this unofficial PR1.2or not even trying myself. Normally I encourage to use software from extras-devel and extras-testing, but this time it’s different, flashing device with firmware from uncertain sources, completely detached from Maemo community, is far more dangerous.
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For more info on devel and testing catalogues visit Application catalogues tutorial
Please visit Nokia N900 Forum

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This time let’s have a look what’s going on all over the world.
N900 with PR1.2 available in Hong Kong!
We’re all waiting for new update but apparently Nokia wants to make us wait for PR1.2 some more time when users in Hong Kong will test it in the wild. During last few days it was released in there and some time after Jussi Mäkinen confirmed that it will be released soon for the rest of the world. I hope that ‘soon’ is a little bit closer than the one mentioned on maemo.org wiki. In the mean time we can watch (below) and get more and more excited.

Motion controlled games on N900
While looking all around the web you may have found johanneskuhlmann’s youtube channel. There you may see some exemplary videos of what can we do with front camera and some software used for face recognition or movement tracking. If games will look at least a little like this I’m really interested. After some productions using accelerometers to control action (for example Bounce Evolution) this will be nice step ahead and I’m looking forward to see at least good demo on my N900. Have a look at videos on youtube.

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For more info on devel and testing catalogues visit Application catalogues tutorial
Please visit Nokia N900 Forum

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If you follow software updates frequently you may have noticed some new updates in extras-devel and extras-testing catalogues which cannot be installed because of unresolved dependencies. I’m fully aware of the date today, but I cannot take everything as a joke and this time I think it’s not a joke. If you follow Maemo 5 development and this blog, you should already know that new system update is almost ready to be released, application developers already have SDK PR1.2 to adapt their applications to this new firmware.
Let’s have a look into App Manager and maybe some of my installed applications. As you can see Maepad 1.5 is available but trying to install it causes error, and going to details shows unresolved dependency of libhildon1 (>= 2.2.10). This package is one of base of Maemo 5 UI and it comes with system. If you’re a little skilled with console and APT you can easily check current version of this package installed (which is for me 2.2.3-1+0m5). Similar situation with QtIrreco 0.3.1-1 update with unmet dependencies of total 5 libqt4 packages (>=4.6.2~git20100224) making update unable to install.
As we know Qt 4.6 will come with PR1.2 update and I assume the same goes to Hildon 2.2.10 so I think that broken updates are not to be afraid of this time. It’s part of good job done by developers, making their packages ready for Maemo 5 PR1.2 update!
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For more info on devel and testing catalogues visit Application catalogues tutorial
Please visit Nokia N900 Forum

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Few weeks ago I was writing about PR1.1.1 update and honestly I was expecting next big update to come in really short time, just like two previous updates PR1.0.1 and PR1.1 but apparently I was wrong. Nevertheless we can already have some look at the features that will come with expected PR1.2 update. If you are familiar with development for N900 you may be already aware of SDK PR1.2 existance. And today you can see which changes from SDK will be included in actual update.
So what’s the difference exactly? SDK changes (you can find more at maemo.org Talk) are quite wide. Virtual keyboard will have new look (not big for me, since I never used it), few updates in browser making it even faster than before (judging from opinions) and more customizable. Moreover, we will most probably have one of the most desired features, rearrangable menu without ‘More…’ element. Phone settings will be enriched with video calls and blocking SMS for landline numbers. In addition to that thee are few more minor updates.
And finally which of that is true? Apparently most of this features will be soon available, if to belive one of the most reliable sources – maemo.org wiki  (or to be exact PR1.2 wiki page) you should know what is the full list of features and bugfixes for upcoming update, just have a look. There is still no release date, but I’m sure it will come in time…
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Please visit Nokia N900 Forum

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Yesterday, as every day, I’ve launched app manager to check new updates and take a peek into new software. Suprisingly i’ve found Maemo 5 update available Over The Air. Small research around the web gave me idea what is it all about.
First system update I’ve noticed before was PR1.0.1, also available via app manager but it was rather small and its main purpose was to prepare device for bigger PR1.1 update. Situation looks similar this time, PR1.1.1 is fairly small, list of changes isn’t astonishing, stability fixes, more support for OpenGL, fix for battery life issue etc. These facts may lead to conclusion that soon we will get a bigger update, most probably in the next few days.
But for now lets get back to reality and what we already have. Update shows on the list as Maemo 5 and it says it’s 16.2 MB download. Nevertheless you will also need around 42 MB of free space on rootfs, if you have applications from testing and devel catalogues you may need to free some space. After preparations update takes around one minute, reboots and it’s done, you can check product info to be sure.
In short the current update isn’t major breakthrough. I think we can take it as announcment of upcoming Maemo 5/PR1.2 release.

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We haven’t talked about the FM Radio Player application for the Nokia N900 available on the Maemo web page yet. As the Nokia N900 has a built-in FM receiver on its’ hardware, the device doesn’t have a Nokia software application complementing this feature. The lack of this complement, give the idea to Martin Grimme who developed the FM Radio Player Application. So by connecting the headphones, you are really connecting the antenna as the headphone cable work as it.
Lately, Martin Grimme promised a new update for the application and its’ finally released. Apart from some bug problem fixed, the new update come with a nicer icon. If you already have the FM Radio Player application installed, it should be a little orange exclamation icon blinking above the Nokia N900 battery icon. By clicking on it, it will start downloading instantly. If you don’t have the application installed on your Nokia N900, you could look it up on the Application Manager or downloading on the Maemo web page by clicking here.

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The lack of Portrait Mode for applications other than the phone on the Nokia N900 has been an issue since its announcement. If you remember on the early post on this Blog, we pointed out this people opinion on the Conversations Nokia poll. Probably because with the device stuck in landscape mode, it’s a two-handed device only. A really challenging experience for common-day-use. But take it easy because fortunately Nokia has promised an update that includes at least partial portrait mode support around Christmas. Just a few days!
However, for the impatient people who can wait until some day near Christmas, it seems that you can trick your Nokia N900 into portrait mode somehow as the following video shows.

Apparently there is an existing bug on the Nokia N900 which gives you this opportunity. The bad news for all the lucky readers that already have the Nokia N900 on their hands is that I wasn’t able to find the exact procedure, sorry. All I know is that you’re supposed to launch the phone application (via accelerometer), and then slide the keyboard open while the phone is launching, then close the phone app just as quickly as you can.
If you already saw the video, you should have caught that the UI isn’t working completely harmonic on the portrait mode. It doesn’t adjust very well due to being a bug and not something on purpose that’s my guess.