Nokia N8 - loving it

Tips and tricks for nokia N8 for more battery life for daily use
-use default theme and screensaver since it's already loaded. The AMOLED display in your device consumes more power with white color. Therefore the themes with a lot of white colors (e.g. in wallpaper image) may consume more power than the other themes. Makes sense to use black wallpaper. When I go on vacation trips I use the black image as wallpaper.
-Turn off theme effects. This also speeds up homescreens. Settings -> Themes -> Options -> Theme Effects -> Off
-keep bluetooth off. Menu > Settings > Connectivity > Bluetooth > Bluetooth = Off)
-In the tone profile for normal:
--Set vibrating alert off
--Set volume to 6 bars or less (to reduce sound pollution :-) )
--Set touch screen vibration off instead of level 2
-turn off notification lights. Select Menu > Settings > Phone > Notification lights and disable the breathing light in Breathing light and adjust the light settings for different events in Notification light menu.
-close unused applications whenever possible. Leaving applications running in the background increases the demand on battery power. To close the applications you do not use, press and hold the menu key, swipe to the application in the list and close it by selecting X.

Tips to reduce battery usage under critical conditions
-Change the synchronisation frequency for your mailbox. Select Menu > Applications > Mail, your mailbox, and Options > Settings, and the relevant sync frequency settings.
-Deactivate the Big clock screen saver. Select Menu > Settings > Themes > Screen saver > None.
-Home screen widgets may periodically connect to internet if the home screen is in online mode. If you are not actively using the widgets, the automatic connection can be disabled by selecting Options > Widgets to offline mode on the home screen.
-Features that use wireless LAN (WLAN) increase the demand on battery power. WLAN on your Nokia device switches off when you are not trying to connect, not connected to another access point, or not scanning for available networks. To further reduce battery consumption, you can specify that your device does not scan, or scans less often, for available networks in the background. WLAN switches off in between background scans. When Menu > Settings > Connectivity > WLAN > Options > Settings > Show WLAN availability is set to Never, the WLAN availability icon is not shown in the standby mode. However, you can still manually scan for available WLAN networks and connect to WLAN networks as usual.

Let me know any more tips n tricks and I'll add up.


Updated: Got this link on nokia site, has more tips
http://www.nokiausa.com/get-support-and-software/product-support/n8-00/faq#00

Switched back to Fedora 13 Gnome

After playing a lot with lxde on fedora 12,13 I got bored of it's plain looks, gmixer issue and occasional lxpanel and FF crashes. After looking at kde vs gnome vs xfce vs lxde comparisions I decided to go back to gnome. Above is the screenshot of my system after everything was done.

Downloaded Fedora-13-i686-Live.iso and installed. After installation did following:

echo 'bhupendra ALL=(ALL) ALL' >> /etc/sudoers
After this we can logout as root and run sudo yum ...

vi /etc/selinux/config
Change SELINUX=enforcing to SELINUX=disabled

-Enable touchpag clicks
sudo yum install gconf-editor
Open gconf-editor (not as root) and goto /desktop/gnome/peripherals/touchpad
select tap_to_click
select horiz_scroll_enable
select disable_while_typing

-Download 'yum for linux rpm' from http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ for flash player in browser and adobe reader
yum install flash-plugin AdobeReader_enu

-Download and install skype rpm for fedora 10+
sudo rpm -ivh skype-2.1.0.81-fc10.i586.rpm

-Download picasa rpm from http://picasa.google.com/linux/download.html
sudo yum install lsb libgphoto2 openssl sane-backends audiofile esound-libs openssl-devel
sudo rpm -Uvh picasa-3.0-current.i386.rpm

-Install rpmfusion repos
sudo yum localinstall --nogpgcheck http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm

-Enable mp3 playback on rythmbox
sudo yum install gstreamer-plugins-ugly gstreamer-plugins-bad

-install java 6 and firefox java plugin for applet support
sudo yum install java-1.6.0-openjdk java-1.6.0-openjdk-plugin

-I tried microsoft office 2007 with wine and then with the trial version of code weaver's crossover. Let me tell you, crossover works great and seamless. However I later came to know that openoffice supports word 2007 formats (though partially). If I need full support and I my wish of using linux in my workplace comes true will definatly buy licensed copy of crossover for personal use as it's not at all expensive.
installed openoffice writer(word) and calc(excel)
sudo yum install openoffice.org-writer openoffice.org-calc
Install microsoft fonts for dealing with microsoft word documents
I always refer to mjwired for his excellent work on this. http://www.mjmwired.net/resources/mjm-fedora-f13.html

-removed unwated apps, also ran package-cleanup --leaves to see which packages are not being used
sudo yum remove pino gnome-games vinagre totem brasero sound-juicer

-Install other programs I need, vlc for videos, gimp for image manupulation and xboard as frontend to gnuchess
sudo yum install vlc mozilla-vlc gimp xboard gnuchess proftpd

-Update system
sudo yum update
I rebooted once done for sanity check

-Bluetooth
Bluetooth packages were installed by default
Enabled bluetooth service under services
to get services sudo yum install system-config-services
Bluetooth applet also sows up by default. Right click goto preferences, click 'recieve files' and check 'Recieve files in Downloads folder over bluetooth' and changed accpet files to 'always'.

-Virtual machines using virtualbox
Download Fedora repo file and move to /etc/yum.repos.d from http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads
yum install dkms gcc kernel-headers kernel-devel VirtualBox-3.2
I already had images of windows exported from my previous virtual box so just imported them.
Dont forget to add your user to vboxuser group for usb support on guests.

Show desktop icon available in panel configuration. By default ctrl+alt+D toggles desktop
set top and bottom panels transparent
Enable compiz via system->preferences->desktop effects
Change background image by right click on desktop. Set it default so that it reflects on login screen also.
open terminal goto edit->profile preferences->colors
uncheck use colors from system theme
select white on black system theme
goto background tab, and set transparent background to 50%
I also changed background image to Aqua and made panels transparent.
speed up firefox page loading, type about:config, search for network.dns.disableIPv6 and set it to true


Downloaded screenlets rpm but eventually removed it all since screenlets kept on crashing. Following dependencies were required for it.
sudo yum install gnome-python2-rsvg gnome-python2-rsvg python-imaging python-dateutil

to connect to other machines
sudo yum install rdesktop vpnc NetworkManager-vpnc
I configured vpnc under network manager to connect to my office nw and created office.sh with following
rdesktop -u username -p password -f hostOrIp
Open nautilus, goto edit->preferences->behaviour tab
select 'Run executable text files when they are opened'
This way our script executes directly instead of opening dialog box telling what to do.

Fedora 13 lxde spin - my personal installation

Downloaded fedora 13 lxde spin cd and installed on my dell xps 1210 harddisk. By default it created seperate volumes for root and home partition which was a problem for me due to very less space. It's more convinient for me to have one volume to manage the diskspace so chaged the disk management while installaion.

Download rpmfusion from http://rpmfusion.org/Configuration
rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm
rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm
rpm -Uvh rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm

[All yum and rpm commands needs to be run as root]

yum update

echo 'bhupendra ALL=(ALL) ALL' >> /etc/sudoers
After this we can logout as root and run sudo yum ...

vi /etc/selinux/config
Change SELINUX=enforcing to SELINUX=disabled

-Enable left clicks and scrolling on mousepad
I added following lines to /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf. If you do not have this file, check which conf file is present under /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d
Option "TapButton1" "1"
Option "HorizEdgeScroll" "1"
Option "VertEdgeScroll" "1"
Here is an interesting page to test scrolling: http://www.richinstyle.com/test/dynamic/overflowscroll.html
Reboot system.

-Download flash-plugin-10.0.45.2-release.i386.rpm for adobe flash from adobe's site
rpm -Uvh flash-plugin-10.0.45.2-release.i386.rpm

-Installed needed apps
yum install vlc mozilla-vlc audacious audacious-plugins-freeworld* NetworkManager-vpnc vpnc proftpd

-Default volume on system was less. Gmixer still annoyingly defaults to the mic options instead of speaker volume.
yum install pulseaudio-equalizer
I was able to ehance audio levels using this one.

-gtalk video calls
yum install x264 ffmpeg empathy
Unfortunalty this did not work for me. Though I was testing with 2 laptops where in only one had webcam. Hope this works for all.

-Download and install skype rpm for fedora 10+
rpm -Uvh skype-2.1.0.81-fc10.i586.rpm

-Disable screensaver
-enable ftp in firewall

-Remove unwated stuff
yum remove liberation-mono-fonts liberation-sans-fonts liberation-serif-fonts libertas-usb8388-firmware iok sylpheed lostirc asunder gxine xmms2 gnomebaker lxmusic libdiscid liberation-fonts-common m17n-lib

-cd/dvd burning. Though for kde, this is the best tool for the purpose.
sudo yum install k3b k3b-extras-freeworld
While burning cd-rw, I had to black out existing content which did not work. I got this error
/usr/bin/wodim: Operation not permitted. Warning: Cannot raise RLIMIT_MEMLOCK limits.
After looking at k3b site, it was recommended to disable automount and/or use unpatched cdrtools(wodim)
After looking around real hard, I opened pcmanfm, goto edit->preferences-> volume management tab, uncheck 'mount removable media automatically when inserted'. This did the trick instead of various other good suggestions.

-VirtualBox can now be installed from fpmfusion repos, installing dependencies has never been easier with manual rpm install.
yum install dkms VirtualBox-OSE VirtualBox-OSE-guest
Evils of using opensource edition is that after 2 days when I needed to connect my phone to xp guest, I was not able to add usb. Aparently open source edition does not support it.
So downloaded http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/3.2.0/VirtualBox-3.2-3.2.0_61806_fedora13-1.i686.rpm
yum remove VirtualBox-OSE VirtualBox-OSE-guest
yum install dkms gcc kernel-headers
rpm -Uvh VirtualBox-3.2-3.2.0_61806_fedora13-1.i686.rpm
Add virtualbox group to your user.
Any installation errors can be seen in and reinitialization done via /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup as root
Boot xp guest. I had to change network to intel pro/100 T server for my xps 1210.
Loaded guest additions cd from /usr/share/virtualbox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso and installed on my xp guest
Added shared permanent folder.
To access shared folder under xp, open windows exporer, goto tools, map network drive.
select drive say eg. V
Browse for folder and you should see 'Virtualbox shared folders->//Vboxsrv'
Map it and create shortcut to desktop for easy access.

-Want video chat on yahoo
yum install gyachi

-google picasa. Download rpm from http://picasa.google.com/linux/download.html#picasa30. Will have to install few dependecies first.
yum install lsb libgphoto2 openssl sane-backends audiofile esound-libs openssl-devel
rpm -Uvh picasa-3.0-current.i386.rpm

-ssh between laptops on wireless network
enable and start sshd service under services
ensure firewall has ssh enabled

-ftp between 2 laptops on wireless network
install proftpd on one laptop
start ftp service using
sudo service proftpd start
Ensure ftp is enabled on firewall
Enable port 21 port forwading on router for ip of laptop having proftpd service.

-download google chrome and install rpm
http://www.google.com/chrome/eula.html?hl=en&brand=CHMA&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-bk&utm_medium=ha

-My desktop folders and icons went missing after an update. To get back the icons open following
sudo vi /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE/autostar
Change @pcmanfm2 --desktop --profile lxde
to @pcmanfm --desktop --profile lxde

-Missing java plugin on firefox 3.6
Install openjdk
sudo yum install java-1.6.0-openjdk java-1.6.0-openjdk-plugin
Restart firefox and check if plugin comes up in about:plugins. If not then
sudo alternatives --config libjavaplugin.so
Enter the number for other .so file and restart firefox.

Picasa on fedora 12 lxde spin

Download picasa rpm from http://picasa.google.com/linux/
I downloaded picasa-3.0-current.i386.rpm
sudo rpm -ivh picasa-3.0-current.i386.rpm

Above will ask for bunch of dependencies are required. Hence installed following:
sudo yum install openssl-devel openssl redhat-lsb libexif libgpohoto2 sane-backends-libs esound-libs

Note that without openssl-devel you will not be able to login to web using picasa.

Mount Lvm Partition and backup data using Live linux CD

Once I ran yum update on my fedora 12 lxde spin and it broke. System was unable to boot. I had to take backup before reinstalling so booted with the fedora 12 lxde live cd and ran regular mount command mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/hdd but got error - "mount: unknown filesystem type 'LVM2_member'"

After lot of googling I came across [http://forums.opensuse.org/archives/sf-archives/archives-software/337006-can-not-mount-lvm-partition-2.html] which was a life saver for me and my data. Then I ran following commands with output [indented] to mount my volume.

su

pvscan

PV /dev/sda2 VG vg_xps lvm2 [74.33 GB / 0 free]

Total: 1 [74.33 GB] / in use: 1 [74.33 GB] / in no VG: 0 [0 ]

vgscan -v

Wiping cache of LVM-capable devices

Wiping internal VG cache

Reading all physical volumes. This may take a while...

Finding all volume groups

Finding volume group "vg_xps"

Found volume group "vg_xps" using metadata type lvm2

vgchange -ay -v

Finding all volume groups

Finding volume group "vg_xps"

2 logical volume(s) in volume group "vg_xps" already active

2 existing logical volume(s) in volume group "vg_xps" monitored

Found volume group "vg_xps"

Found volume group "vg_xps"

Activated logical volumes in volume group "vg_xps"

2 logical volume(s) in volume group "vg_xps" now active

vgdisplay -v

Finding all volume groups

Finding volume group "vg_xps"

--- Volume group ---

VG Name vg_xps

System ID

Format lvm2

Metadata Areas 1

Metadata Sequence No 3

VG Access read/write

VG Status resizable

MAX LV 0

Cur LV 2

Open LV 1

Max PV 0

Cur PV 1

Act PV 1

VG Size 74.33 GB

PE Size 4.00 MB

Total PE 19029

Alloc PE / Size 19029 / 74.33 GB

Free PE / Size 0 / 0

VG UUID wDR2Xa-8km9-Q5f3-4y4f-jCyE-ebkn-pQbTev

--- Logical volume ---

LV Name /dev/vg_xps/lv_root

VG Name vg_xps

LV UUID OshzOn-H2WY-6GXP-W0D9-HBJ2-fqRD-6heWXi

LV Write Access read/write

LV Status available

# open 0

LV Size 72.33 GB

Current LE 18517

Segments 1

Allocation inherit

Read ahead sectors auto

- currently set to 256

Block device 253:2

--- Logical volume ---

LV Name /dev/vg_xps/lv_swap

VG Name vg_xps

LV UUID ScYasH-efcp-0yyP-i0FK-lcFJ-g33x-lo3bie

LV Write Access read/write

LV Status available

# open 1

LV Size 2.00 GB

Current LE 512

Segments 1

Allocation inherit

Read ahead sectors auto

- currently set to 256

Block device 253:3

--- Physical volumes ---

PV Name /dev/sda2

PV UUID oENBs0-bYPL-8Uh3-bZsJ-H6nZ-tjDv-DUH99M

PV Status allocatable

Total PE / Free PE 19029 / 0

Note down the "LV Name" for running next command. Here LV name is /dev/vg_xps/lv_root

lvchange -ay -v /dev/vg_xps/lv_root

Using logical volume(s) on command line

Activating logical volume "lv_root"

Found volume group "vg_xps"

cd /mnt

mkdir hdd

mount /dev/vg_xps/lv_root /mnt/hdd

The logical volume has been mounted under /mnt/hdd and we can take backup now.

For those interested in knowing why the yum update created issue with my fedora 12 lxde boot, it's because of kernel update of kernel-2.6.32.10-90 on system. Defect at https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=578217#c8. I tried to install kernel-2.6.32.10-94.fc12.i686.rpm and kernel-2.6.32.10-94.fc12.src.rpm from http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=164636 but same issue. Hence reinstalled lxde spin and sticking to 2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686 by disabling updates untill fedora 13 comes out.