Ubuntu No comments yet

Ubuntu upgrade to 10.10 – nVidia problems and how to fix.

By on October 31st, 2010

Today I took the plunge and upgrade from 10.04 to 10.10 on one of my machines and had 2 problems.  The one was self inflicted and the other one is a known issue with the nvidia-96 driver which does not work with Xorg 1.9.  So you may wonder why I use a old driver like nvidia-96 .. well because I have a very old nVidia GFORCE2 MX card in the machine.

I did the upgrade from a downloaded alternate iso which was mounted as a loop device.  The fetching of packages (all 1754 of them – yes it is machine that has been upgrade since 7.04) went fine but halfway through the install the machine totally locked up.  I did a hard reboot and expecting the machine not to properly boot,  I was dropped in recovery mode. I ran sudo dpkg --configure -a and the installation continued at the point where the machine froze.

When the install was finish, I rebooted but XServer had problems with the nvidia-96 driver. It loaded the driver ok but I could not get any resolution higher than 1024×768.  I did some googling and came across this post http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2010/10/nvidia-96-driver-ubuntu-10-10-fix/ which I then promply did and now I have again a machine that run at 1280×1024 resolution.

When my machine froze halfway through the install, I was expecting the worst and already thought that I would have to do a fresh install.  Well that was not necessary and this is what most Windows users do not get.  When  a WIndows upgrade fails like that, there is almost a 100% chance that you will have to do a fresh install.  On Linux there is always a way to recover. 

Now onto my other machine to upgrade .. should be more plain sailing since it has newer hardware and Ubuntu 10.04 is a fresh install on that box.

 

Android, cellphone 54 comments

HTC Desire — upgraded/updated to Android 2.2 – How To!

By on October 10th, 2010

I have decided to not wait any longer for HTC / LEAF to get Android 2.2 on my phone – HTC Desire.  And surprisingly the process was fairly simple.  For the time being I have decided to stick with the stock HTC ROM which can be downloaded from here (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=773997).  This works if you are coming from a stock Android 2.1-update1 phone. So what did I do

  1. Ensure that your phone is plugged into power.  You do not want your phone to die in the middle of an update.
  2. Rooted my phone with Unrevoked — very easy if you run Linux
  3. Did a Nandroid backup just in case — Nandroid come with 2 above.
  4. Rename the downloaded ROM above to update.zip and copy to the root of your SD Card
  5. Switch your phone off.
  6. Power on into recovery mode. (Hold volume minus while powering on the phone)
  7. Select Recovery Mode from menu that come up. (Volume key to scroll and Power key to select)
  8. Select install from sdcard (volume key to scroll and press touch button to select – [the round button at the bottom of your phone])
  9. Scroll down to confirm that you want to install from SD Card (again volume key to scroll and press touch button to select – {what is this button called})
  10. Now be patient and just wait .. do not touch anything.  In about 10 minutes you should have an Android 2.2 phone with all your data intact.

This instructions comes with no guarantee but it worked for me so there should be no reason why it should not work for you.  Oh and when you boot and there is not HTC boot sound .. that is a feature of this ROM .. there is a small update from the link above if you want the sound back.  There is various add-ons at the same link above.

The one small issue I have at the moment is that the Swype keyboard I am using is not working properly.  Keypress typing works but not swype typing. 

Please comment and let us know your experience and mileage.

Happy updating and thanks for nothing LEAF


 

Android, cellphone 1 comment

Believe it .. HTC responded again … but am not hopeful at all.

By on October 5th, 2010

Yesterday I posted the response from HTC on my Open Letter.  I was not happy with their answer and here is what I responded with.

Suzanne, to be honest, your reply is meaningless and does not address the issue. I want to know what will be done regarding the pathetic support that is given to HTC Android users in South Africa by Leaf? I am currently advising all people to stay away from HTC Android phones in South Africa via my blog, twitter account, facebook and word of mouth. This is not due to the HTC products that is bad but purely the support and service from your agent Leaf in South Africa. Why should the upgrade takes so much longer in South Africa than other countries across the world. Regards

Surprising they again responded and here is it for your enjoyment.

Dear Marius Bock,

Dear Mr Marius ,
Thank you for contacting HTC. 

Kindly be notified that your Issue has been escalated to the next level of which we are going to make sure we keep in-touch with Leaf and make sure all HTC users are on the same level with anyone else around the globe,however , the delay in the 2.2 was due to software conflicts that were discovered while testing the software for the Middle East and Africa not just South Africa and currently we are working hard to bring it as soon as possible and we really understand that we promised to deliver it sometime ago.
Leaf is an official HTC retailer in Southern & Sub Saharan region and whatever is provided they deliver.

If you have any other inquiries, don’t hesitate to contact us again. 
Please note that you can contact us via support line which is a toll free number 0800 982 773. For further details, please go tohttp://www.htc.com/europe/CA_Hotline.aspx , Thank you so much for using HTC products. 

Respect & Regards,

James Namauka

HTC Technical Support Team 
http://www.htc.com


To send a reply to this message or let me know I have successfully answered your question log in to our ContactUs site using your email address and your ticket number 10ZACW41ENA000006.

Sincerely,

Suzanne

Well it has been escalated not that I have any idea what that may mean.  And why do we have software issues if the rest of the world does not.  Are we so special in this part of the world … I think not.  This is my response.

I do not understand at all.  Why should there be any software conflicts in Africa .. this just does not make any sense.  Our cellphone networks are not that much different than other GSM networks across the world.  I get the distinct feeling that these reasond are just thrown around to hide a bigger issue, like lack of support from Leaf side.

I would like to be proven wrong — come on, surprise me.

Android, cellphone 3 comments

Response to Open letter to HTC re HTC and Android support in South Africa

By on October 4th, 2010

Yesterday I blogged about the Open Letter that I have send to HTC.  Well, I received a response from them but as they say, it is not worth the paper it is written on.  

Here is the response I received.

Dear Marius Bock,

Dear Mr Marius
Thank you for contacting HTC.

Please kindly accept our apologies for the experience we have put you thruogh.We sincerely regret all the inconviniences we might have caused you.Not even a single HTC supporter like you deserves this .However,note that HTC is currently working hard on bringing you the latest upgrade of your phone,unfortunately we do not have an EXCAT date at the moment since we are still working on it.We would like to thank you so much for your understanding and your patience.

If you have any other inquiries, don’t hesitate to contact us again.
Please note that you can contact us via support line which is a toll free number 0800 982 773. For further details, please go tohttp://www.htc.com/europe/CA_Hotline.aspx , Thank you so much for using HTC products.
Respect & Regards, 
Ntando. 
HTC Technical Support Team
http://www.htc.com

To send a reply to this message or let me know I have successfully answered your question log in to our ContactUs site using your email address and your ticket number 10ZACW41ENA000006.

Sincerely,

Suzanne

HTC

From the above I would assume that “Ntando” is from Leaf since it is a SA Tollfree number that is given.  “Suzanne” is probably from HTC and I have notice that she has nothing to say.  This is just such a big farce at the moment.

 

Android, cellphone 4 comments

HTC – Open Letter to HTC regarding LEAF and upgrade availability in South Africa

By on October 3rd, 2010

Open Letter to HTC. 
I want to lay an official complaint about your (HTC) agent, LEAF in South Africa.
The Android 2.2 upgrade for HTC Desire is available for users around the world for a couple of months already.  However here in South Africa we are still waiting.  Everytime that Leaf get contacted for an answer on when it will be available, they have some excuse and it is never the same.
As more and more applications in the Market depends on Android 2.2, this situation is getting unbearable. 
What is happening now is that more and more user roots their phone and install some custom ROM to get Android 2.2.
Most cellphone user in South Africa has reached the stage where they refuse to get an Android HTC cellphone due to the problems in upgrading the device.  If something drastic does not get done then I am afraid that HTC Android market share will drop to close to zero.
I trust that this will get the attention and action it needs.
Very unhappy HTC Desire user.
Marius Bock
Android, cellphone, Mobile 17 comments

HTC Desire rooted — very easy .. now to upgrade to another ROM.

By on September 26th, 2010

I just got fed-up with the time Leaf (HTC agent in South Africa) take to roll-out the upgrade to Android 2.2 in South Africa.  So I have take the plunge and decided to go the manual way.  

First step was to root my phone.  And this was so easy.  Download Unrevoked 3.2.1 for my HTC Desire – the Linux version.  Unzipped the tar file, ran the executable and plugged my Desire into the USB (make sure USB debugging is enabled).  Hit the OK button and away the process went.  Phone was re-booted a couple of time and after about 3 minutes I have a fully functional rooted device.  

Have installed ROM Manager and made full backups of my phone as it is at the moment.  

The next step is to find a suitable Android 2.2 ROM and here is were I need some advice.  I am looking for an official HTC Desire 2.2 ROM that has been rooted.  I have searched XDA and found some but do not know whether they are the latest versions.  Any direction and URL’s will be appreciated.

Off to go do some more research.

Android, Mobile 11 comments

Android, my biggest pet hate – no proxy settings

By on August 19th, 2010

Earlier this week I started to work at a new company and like most companies these day they have secure WIFI and runs their internal network through a proxy server to connect to the internet.  One have to authenticate with the proxy server to access the internet.  This is normal procedure for about 99% of all companies out there.

Setting up Android to connect to the secure WIFi was a since. The problem started when I wanted to tell Android what proxy setting to use. To my dismay I found there is no way to define proxy settings on Android, nothing, nada, null.  Just google for android wifi proxy server and you will find lots of people complaining about it but I could not find any response from Google on this glaring omission.

Who in their right mind has made a decision like this, and we are not talking here about the first version of Android.  I have version 2.1 so they (google) had ample time to fix this.  I do not know what the situation is in 2.2.  Any 2.2 user want to check for me?

Linux, Ubuntu No comments yet

Happy Birthday Debian – sweet 17

By on August 17th, 2010

I have the privilege to share my birthday with some wellknown  people like Madonna (same age) and also the one thing that underpins the Operating System I use on a daily basis.  Yesterday, 16 August and 17 years ago Debian was born.  And Debian is the grand daddy of Ubuntu and all things **buntu*.

Congrats to Debian and all the people that makes Debian what it is.

Android, Mobile 6 comments

Update on HTC Desire SD Card that loose write access – observation.

By on August 8th, 2010

As you know, my HTC Desire looses the ability to write to the SD Card from time to time.  For the past 3 days or so this has not happened (touch wood) and I was wondering what was different over the past couple of days than before.  Note that I have not upgraded to Android 2.2 yet, still running the stock standard HTC Sense Android 2.1update1. 

The one thing that was different was that my phone’s battery stayed fairly charged.  I think over the last couple of days the battery never dropped below 40% and I kept it plugged into my USB or power socket when I could.  Now this make me think that the loosing of write access has something to do with battery power.  The moment the battery drops below a certain point, then the phone looses write access.  I do not know that much about the amount of power that is needed to write to a SD Card but I would assume it is more than reading the card.  I will be testing this theory out over the next couple of days.  Will keep my phone charged up and see if the write access holds.  If so then I will let it drain down and see what happens.  Will keep you all posted.

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Android, Mobile 65 comments

Update on Froyo (Android 2.2) availability for HTC Desire in South Africa.

By on August 5th, 2010

Here is an update on my earlier post. Leaf, the distributors of HTC phones in South Africa has clarified the situation regarding Android updates in South Africa.  I quote from a article that appeared on MyBroadband:

To make zero-rated firmware OTA (FOTA) possible the operators need to agree to it and the required infrastructure needs to be put in place. Leigh explained that Leaf had already met with all the operators and that the system’s deployment is held up only by the zero-rating agreements and setup of local servers to host the updates.

“We’re a couple of months behind in South Africa, but it is coming,” Leigh said. He added that getting all the agreements and servers in place would be a 2-4 week process.

When asked about those people that did received the update, this was the answer:

There have been numerous reports from South African HTC Desire users receiving an update to Android 2.2 “Froyo” over the weekend and early this week.

Leigh said that this would only be possible for users who didn’t purchase their phones in South Africa. There are users that were able to update their phones that assert that they obtained their phones through operators such as Vodacom and MTN, however.

If these reports are accurate it could suggest that the FOTA systems were being tested during the times that the updates were available or that some devices sold by operators point at international update servers.

This all seems very feasible but I do not like that Leaf nake assumptions on my behalve.  What if I can update my phone via WIFI and have the bandwidth available?  Let me decide when and how I want to receive the OTA.  It is good that they try to get the update zero-rated but I should be given the option to do it now even if there is a cost involved and I am prepared to pay for it.

So it looks like us with network (MTN, Vodacom) supplied phones will still have to wait a while.

Yes, I know I can load an updated ROM like some has done.

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