View source for User:Wirr/N900 Allrounder

=Introduction=
Since the N900 has been released many developments have been made by the community. This page is to provide a quick start guide to assist new users in getting their devices up and running using current community updates and adhering to commonly accepted best practice.
Instead of laying out all available options to solve common problems this quick start guide only describes one possible option.

=Prerequisites=
To perform the steps described in this guide you need at least the following:
* A Nokia N900, obviously
* A MicroSD card > 2GiB
* Standalone battery charger
* USB A-A adapter
* (Linux box)

=Recommended Hardware Modifications=
One of the most common issues with the [[N900]] is the surface mounted USB port.
If you are not careful with it, the port can be ripped from the PCB.
Due to the design of the port if this occurs, it can be very difficult to repair successfully.

To ease the stress on the USB-Port remove the locking pins on all your microUSB cable connectors. This can be done by filing them down carefully with a small file.

If you feel confident in taking your N900 apart to reinforce the port it is highly recommend to reinforce your USB port by soldering the casing of the USB to the PCB. Information on this is covered in great extent in the [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=75920 talk.maemo.org Fixing USB Thread].

=Bringing your Firmware Up to date=
==Initial Firmware Setup==
So, you have your [[N900]].
The first step especially if it's used is to flash the firmware.
This can be used to clean off any unstable software and make a clean start.

It's recommended to download the latest Nokia firmware images for your region.
The latest versions are highlighted.

[http://wiki.maemo.org/Updating_the_tablet_firmware#N900 Firmware Flashing]


Download flasher from the repositories

/* TODO: Use open source flasher */

Download the firmware flasher:
[http://skeiron.org/tablets-dev/maemo-dev-env-downloads/ Flasher & SDK Downloads]

Download the latest official Nokia Firmware Images for your N900:
[http://skeiron.org/tablets-dev/nokia_N900/ Firmware Image Downloads]
  RX-51_2009SE_10.2010.13-2.VANILLA_PR_EMMC_MR0_ARM.bin
  md5sum: 488809ff96a0a05479d692e9f77aeb4f
  RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin
  md5sum: b9f8690318a3be61767826d15b8c1784

== Flashing the device ==
The following flashing procedure has proven the most stable to me:

{{warning}}Always use a fully charged battery!

* Turn your device off, disconnect USB
* (As root) flash the FIASCO firmware image:
  flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin -f
* When you get "No suitable USB device found" connect your N900 through USB.
* Wait for the flashing to finish.
{{warning}} Don't reboot

* Flash original eMMC image:
  flasher-3.5 -F RX-51_2009SE_20.2010.36-2_PR_COMBINED_MR0_ARM.bin -f
* Wait for the flashing to finish.
* Reboot the device by _reinserting_ the battery

==First Login==
Upon first login, enter your locale settings (Timezone, local time, etc.).

==Latest Nokia SSU Upgrade==
As Nokia no longer maintains their official repositories - the preconfigured download servers ("software repositories") have to be corrected to point to the new community-maintained infrastructure:
- Nokia Apps
- Nokia SSU
- Ovi

/* not really required for CSSU */
Run latest official Nokia SSU (upgrades your device firmware to V1.3.1) by launching App manager / Update from the applications menu.

==Enhanced Kernel==

[[Kernel Power]] is a community developed Kernel that provides addition features and fixes to the Kernel. [[Kernel Power]] also provides the ability to overclock the device with an additional package '''kernel-power-settings'''

While overclocking is not recommended and has been known to reduce the lifetime of the device, the [Kernel Power] package on it's own is recommended and will not alter your device from the standard 250Mhz-600Mhz clock speed.

It provided important features like stable [[Smartreflex]] which will significantly increase battery life.

More information on this is [http://wiki.maemo.org/Kernel_Power here]
Please note Kernel Power page is heavily biased on overclocking and is provided for further reference only. 

==Community Upgrades==

Congratulations, your N900 now runs the latest Community Firmware!
Thanks to many improvements, optimizations and bugfixes your 2009 N900 is now on par with the most 2012 flagship smartphones.
For a list of community improvements see /* TODO */

=Recommended Manual fixes=
Despite there being no user-friendly nor standardized way to perform the following task they're still highly recommended as they help you to unlock the full potential of your device. 

==Mitigating the lack of memory==
===Utilise the SD Card===

The [[N900]] has a uSD card slot, it's a good to use this as much as possible to reduce flash wear from the devices eMMC.

Many users setup there swap space(s) on the uSD card this frees up the I/O of the device.

There has been much discussion on this and applications written to help with this.

Further reading 

[http://wiki.maemo.org/Swap_on_microSD Swap on microSD wiki]
[http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=84296 talk.maemo.org DISCUSS SDCard Swap]

===Swappolube===
Swappolube is a package to modify memory management.
Most users tweak this to suit their device and usage.
If your unsure where to start, the proposed settings are a good base.

More information can be found [http://wiki.maemo.org/Swappolube here]

==USB OTG==

==Purging Unnecessary Software==

===Cherry===
With the PR 1.2 update Nokia introduced "My Nokia" an SMS subscription service on which you receive periodic texts from Nokia.
This was automatically installed/subscribed on devices and was known to cause issues with devices sending and receiving unwanted SMS messages.

This package is one of the first to be removed by members of the community, for obvious reasons. It can be removed by:-

 apt-get remove --purge cherry

===Additional Unnecessary Software===
The following is deemed safe use run in a [[Terminal]] as [[Root]] to remove unnecessary software provided with the Nokia firmware.

 apt-get remove --purge hildon-theme-beta osso-chess-ui gnuchess osso-graphics-game-chess osso-lmarbles osso-graphics-game-lmarbles osso-sounds-game-chess maemoblocks ap-installer amazon-installer foreca-installer facebook-installer skype-installer dtg-installer tutorial-home-applet osso-tutorial-l10n-engb osso-tutorial-l10n-ptpt osso-tutorial-l10n-frca osso-tutorial-l10n-nlnl osso-tutorial-l10n-cscz osso-tutorial-l10n-itit osso-tutorial-l10n-eses osso-tutorial-l10n-svse osso-tutorial-l10n-frfr osso-tutorial-l10n-dede osso-tutorial-l10n-fifi osso-tutorial-l10n-nono osso-tutorial-l10n-esmx osso-tutorial-l10n-enus osso-tutorial-l10n-ruru osso-tutorial-l10n-mr0 osso-tutorial-l10n-plpl osso-systemui-splashscreen sharing-service-flickr sharing-service-ovi chinese-font google-search-widget tutorial-home-applet osso-mahjong osso-graphics-game-mahjong osso-sounds-game-mahjong ovi-promotion-widget

[http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?s=bcad4cd2389b67dd0911decdebb4b503&t=82641 talk.maemo.org Safe to remove?]

=Settings=
==Synchronization==
* Contacts
* Email
* Calendar

==Web access==
===Faking Flash Player 12 for MicroB===
[http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p=1276589&postcount=2219 Post on talk.maemo.org]

* Get [http://www.sendspace.pl/download/YTo0OntzOjc6ImRhdGVfaW4iO2k6MTM0Mzc4MTUxMTtzOjU6InRpdGxlIjtzOjA6IiI7czo5OiJmaWxlX25hbWUiO3M6MjQ6ImFkb2JlLWZsYXNocGxheWVyLTEwLmRlYiI7czo1OiJ0b2tlbiI7czoyMzoiY2MzM2I0MDcyZTgyM2VlMTU4MDkzOWIiO30dfASDF34vasd3245bvs flashplayer 10 binaries] for maemo.

 apt-get remove --purge adobe-flashplayer
 apt-get install hexedit
 dpkg -i adobe-flashplayer-10.deb
 hexedit /usr/lib/browser/plugins/libflashplayer.so

* Once in Hexedit, press CTRL+S and type in 31302e31 and press enter, the string you've just found need to be changed to 31322e31

* Now, press CTRL+S, type "y" and search for 31302c31 and change it to 31322c31

* Press CTRL+S then "y" again.
* Close terminal and enjoy new faked v12.1.98.88 flash player

==Media==
===Watch 720p movies===
[http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=77695 720p Thread - talk.maemo.org]


==GSM==
SMS, MMS, Telephony

==VoIP==
* SIP
* Skype

==Social Networking==
* YouTube
* Facebook
* Twitter

==Camera==
==Games==
==Navigation==
===Network Positioning===
Due to Nokia's supl servers seem to be broken sometimes, your device may be slow at getting a GPS fix.

To fix this the google server can be used.

Navigate to 

: Settings > Location > Network Positioning

then edit the Location server from
: supl.nokia.com

to

: supl.google.com

Check this first if you have any GPS issues. It has been known to revert back to the Nokia server.

=Customizing Maemo=
Customizing the appearance of Maemo

[http://wiki.maemo.org/Customizing_Maemo wiki.maemo.org]

=Backup=
* Backup Application
* BackupMenu

=Appendix=
==Hardware Accessories==
Information on all recommended hardware accessories is [http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Accessories here.]

==Hardware Specifications==

Information on the specs can be found [http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Hardware_Subsystems here]

= Additional information =
* [http://talk.maemo.org The one and only - talk.maemo.org]
* [http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=88707 Repository Mirrors]
* [http://symbians60soft.blogspot.com Blog still posting some maemo news]

= Credits =
My thanks go to jebba, titan, pali, NIN101, MentalistTraceur, sixwheeledbeast, DocScrutinizer05, sEKI, kerio, freemangordon, qwazix, ShadowJK and everyone on #maemo

=Wiki Update Info=
:''Last Updated - sixwheeledbeast - 31 Jan 2013 21:41 UTC''
Huge rewrite to be generic and beginner friendly original page is in Discussion (talk page)
Page still under development


[[Category:N900]]